The Nietzsche Toss

GSTL- When your team needs a hero, turn to your unproven Protoss Player?

MVPTails

The MVP team was worried. Their handsome terran ace Keen was outmeched by a man named Happy. The random player now Protoss player Guineapig played PvT like it was 10 months ago and massed 10+ colossus, and he watched all of them get obliterated in 10 seconds by Happy’s Viking fleet. Genius, the man who always has a proxy stargate hidden up his sleeve, lost to a 3-base bio timing attack that hit a few seconds before Genius’s Templars had storm. A maxed out bio army against gateway units with no AOE? This would even make the most hardened zealots cry.

DRG, the Terran Killer or the “EZ PZ” Zerg, comes up to bat and does work. He made Happy and Youngwha look like Platinum players, and his epic game versus Losira might have had the most Roaches produced in a professional game. His reign of terror came to an end though when IM throws out one of their final bosses (Yeah there’s two in this game) 3 time GSL winner MVP. Fearing the map for ZvT (Xel’naga Fortress), DRG executes an early roach rush that does damage, but enough damage and loses to the counter Siege Tank/Marine push that would come from MVP.

Their 4 most well-known and seasoned players have been fielded, and with MVP in the booth and Nestea looking smug on their bench, all hope looked lost for the MVP squad and their fans. The camera pans to the bench, who is it? It is….. MVPTails! Wait what? The Code A mainstay or errr player? The teams, commentators, and all the spectators wait in anticipation, will he do the impossible?

About an hour later, a Korean E-sports reporter would nickname him the “Nietzsche Toss,” because “God is Dead.” A name that I think is completely fitting of the situation.

Yes he is pouring Nestea on his head, the drink that is.

Tails showed some crafty defense to MVP’s 1/1/1 build on his against him on Crossfire. Not being flustered by the banshee focus of the IM’s terran version of this “imbalanced build.” He keeps his cool and eventually ends up winning by the work of one Phoenix in sky. MVP is known as the “Conscious Terran” in Korea for stating publicly that this build is

too strong against Protoss players, and he refuses to use it. Oh the irony of this situation.

While Nestea is certainly the best player in the world, I think he is unbeatable in a BoX format, like the GSL tournaments, but in a format like the GSTL, he is beatable but it is not an easy task. I like the build Tails used, a tricky build off a FFE that was a reaction to Nestea’s taking of the gold on Antiga Shipyard. It is Quick 5 gateway pressure that may or may not work but puts the Zerg on the defense, and forces him to make units. While Nestea was producing an absurd amount of units, little does he know that the Dark Shrine is warping for the MVP Protoss. Tails was losing his Zealot/Sentry/Stalker army so badly, but during that time he was sneaking in 3 Dark Templars into Nestea’s main base, where it was the only place that had no spore crawlers (Nestea played a macro based heavy T1 style, that got a sick amount of drones a

nd units, but no tech). Just like that Nestea lost his hatchery that was morphing into a Lair, and all of his tech structures, but this just evens the game as Nestea takes his 3^rd, and retains his macro lead though. This is just a testament to Nestea’s calibre as a player, Tails punished him hard but still has no definitive advantage.

The game becomes much more standard after this, and Tails wins the game not through some gimmicky DT runby, but just solid defense of his expansions as Nestea came with a mass Roach/Hydra drop style. Nestea probably didn’t realize how even it was as he

was trying to do some ultra-aggression T2 tech style that ran into a wall that is Tails’s Stalker/Collossus ball. He had time to tech to Broodlords and Infestors. Nestea GGs out and Tails gives much meaning to the cliché saying and Oliver Stone film, “… On any given Sunday.” Just another great day of Starcraft in the GSTL.

Sorry Zergbong, Reach is not here to carry you like in BW

Zerg Units and Pro Association

Since the Protoss “Heroes” so to speak were discussed last week, it is only appropriate that the Swarm get the same treatment.

Larvae- Idra, the Macro monster himself, just his traditional view of the game really can only be summed up by these maggots that spawn from Hatcheries

Creep Tumor- Seal, see his game versus Bomber,

Overlord- Haypro, well known for his drop play, he is often credited as being one of the 1^st Zerg users to use baneling drops in ZvP

Overseer- Zenio, See GSL S2 Ro16, Idra gets gooped

Drone- Ret, self proclaimed King of Drones

Queen- Spanishwa, well whether or not he was the sole creator of the no gas build for Zerg, he sure did popularize it

Zergling- DRG, well not only does he love his mass ling play, but check out his Zergling impersonation for the 1^st GSTL that his team MVP participated in

Baneling- Fruitdealer, the Zerg hero from Season 1 who even received personal art from the Blizzard art team (see top picture), I really want to put the Wind here though because of this match

Roaches- Sheth, see his ZvT, blind roaches every game

Hyrdras- Moon, may be the only player who used Hydras and yielded positive results, see the IEM World Championships where he got 2^nd place

Mutalisk- Sen, in all matchups, he uses them, for better or worse (remember his ZvZs at Dreamhack versus July?)

Infestor- Dimaga, he used them before they were cool and buffed, see his ZvTs circa the GSL World Championships

Corruptor- JulyZerg, a harder one to call, but his game versus MC on Blistering sands in GSL S3, where MC was going heavy stargate play and July plays cool and calm and doesn’t get Hydras (What pretty much every Zerg did at the time), but instead builds 8-9 Corruptors that just completely shuts down MC and takes the game.

Broodlords- Stephano/Nerchio/Darkforce, 3 Zergs that exemplify the EU scene, they all are well known for creating this turtle zerg style where the name of the game is survive until you get broods.

Ultralisk- Dimaga, the Muscle Zerg is such a bad-ass that he gets 2 mentions, nowadays, when people watch Destiny do his Ling/Infestor/Ultra build, just remember Dimaga was doing that strategy last year.

Spine Crawler- Nestea, watch his game versus Hongun Prime on Dual Sight (GSL Code S July), it was so good even Dustin Browder gets excited when talking about it

Spore Crawler- Honestly I don’t know, still looking for a match ; (

Nydus Worm- Losira, his game versus MC at MLG Columbus. The map was Tal’Darim Altar and Losira was building worms all over the MC’s base, showing tenacity and persistence

Infested Terran- Morrow, wins championship with Terran, “too ez” he says, let’s play Zerg, and one of the only race pickers right now in SC2 (ZvP ZvT TvZ)

Broodlings- MasterAsia, "I have the Broodlings" Probably the most watched SC2 game on Youtube.com

The Money of E-Sports

The Money of E-sports

If anyone is still negligent to the fact that there is no money in playing video games, show them the site Sc2earnings.com. On this site, the creators make a global database on the top earners of Starcraft II. It is important to remember that prize money for most players is just icing on the cake, as salaries, lessons, or streaming tend to be more of steady and reliable source of income for players. With such a young game, and plenty of players already making 6 digit of money solely on prize money, it really is astonishing what the future will hold.

Some interesting notes

* While the top earners are obviously Koreans who have excelled in the GSL, Ukraine's White-Ra leads the foreigner the pack in prize money, passing Huk through his IPL Season 2 Title.

* Nestea has shown that he doesn't need to travel (...MC) to international events to get the money, rather just focusing on GSL and producing amazing results. But still, MC has won (No pun intended) everywhere (Denmark, USA, China, etc.)

* Puma, who has not even qualified for a GSL, holds the 8th spot, showing his fellow countrymen that even if you struggle through the gauntlet that is the GSL qualifiers, there is still way to hone your hours of practice on the alarming amount of international events.

* Online cup warrior Kas is remarkably ranked 50th, with his biggest cash only being 3,000 dollars, those small cup victories do tend to add up

GSL July Lessons

Farewell to Code-S July: Lessons Learned

By: Fionn

from TeamLiquid.net

Another GSL is over and what a surprise, it ended in a 4-0 stomping. Luckily for us, the games were good, but it marks the third straight final where one player couldn't win a single game. Now, with the tournament behind us, it's time to look back on the things that we've learned from this GSL:

1. First and foremost, Nestea is the best player in the world.
2. Code-S is becoming a really even competition. All of the "upsets" this season weren't so much about the underdogs getting lucky; it's just that the gap between the underdogs and favorites has closed significantly. Except Nestea, he's still 500x better than everyone.
3. If you pick Clide into your group expecting to beat him, you'll end up getting knocked down to Code A while he makes it out of the group stages.
   
4. Immediately after getting out of the group and looking great doing it, Clide will then fall apart and never make the quarterfinals.
   
5. Wolf and qxc are the best Code A tandem GOM has put together so far. Many houses have been burned in their wake.
   
6. MarineKing can not only get 2nd place in countless GSL's, but he also can go 0-2 in the Round of 32 as well.
   
7. Putting makeup on kids who play video games for a living wasn't the greatest idea in the world.
   
8. It doesn't matter if he never wins a GSL title, Nada will always be a champion to me.
   
9. Real ESPORTS fans care.
   
10. sC's decision to pick MVP first in his group can be summed up in one word: oops
    
11. Optimus is beatable in TvP, just don't fall for his tricks.
    
12. It doesn't matter if Huk is Korean, American or Canadian. All I know is that he's a really good Starcraft 2 player.
    
13. Foreign pro-gamers clearly don't watch enough GSL, as their horrifying deaths to unexpected blue-flame hellions at MLG shows.
    
14. Foreign fans clearly don't watch enough GSL, as their surprise at the horrifying deaths of foreign pro-gamers at the hands of blue-flame hellions at MLG shows.
    
15. Despite all the gloom and doom at MLG, Sheth, Jinro, and Huk showed that success is not TOO far away.
    
16. Zenio can't actually win a match when he's half asleep.
    
17. If you bribe your player with a puppy as a reward, he will more than likely make the semifinals of a GSL.
    
18. It doesn't matter how long a PvP series is. In the end, 90% of the games will come down to 4gate.
    
19. Leenock is still the unluckiest player in the entire universe.
    
20. Puzzle has a bright future ahead of himself and will be a force to be reckoned with in the upcoming Code S season.
    
21. HongUn has a guardian angel following him around.
    
22. Any time Artosis starts saying you're the best at something, and your name isn't Nestea, you will more than likely get eliminated right after.
    
23. It doesn't matter how much you hype up a GSL final because it will always end up 0-4 or being a terrible series. It is known.
    
24. While sC looks foolish for picking MVP with his first choice and getting knocked back to Code A, Losira looks like a genius for picking MarineKing, beating him, and ending up in the finals.
    
25. Did I mention that Nestea is the best player in the world?

Finals...

Incredible Miracle teamates Nestea and LosirA in the first ever Z v Z finals of a GSL.

Like most GSL Finals this one did not disappoint in terms of being onesided with very little doubt about who was going to win. Nestea dominated LosirA. Nestea showed some great skill and awesome play, but ultimately I had to go through yet another lopsided and 4-5 game GSL Finals where you have to wonder if the GSL is designed to showcase only the skills and strategies of one player and for the other it is like a massive month long Punk'd episode.

The Funniest Moment in Starcraft 2 History

This is, in my opinion the funniest moment in Starcraft 2 up until this point in human history.

May 7, 2011. GSL May Semi-Finals. sCfOu v. IMNesTea.

Game 5, in a best of 5.

Tasteless and Artosis, casting what has been an epic and insane match so far. Now down to the final game on Crossfire, which is a notoriously difficult map for zerg to survive on since their third base (second expo) is so difficult to take and safely defend, NesTea who was the favorite to win the whole thing, now looks in bad shape.

After taking his third in the top left corner, and having sC push to take it out with marines and siege tanks, NesTea burries a group of banelings on the path their from the middle in hopes of catching the next attack offguard. The exchange really shows how the hysterical commentary of Tasteless and Artosis really depends on their awkward bromantic intimacy.

Once the banelings go off:

Artosis: OH YEAH! Oh YES!

Artosis: (Laughing) Ho ho, I need a cigarette!

Tasteless: (Laughing) I need to change my underpants.

Artosis: Go make me a sandwhich Tasteless, cause I am so happy!

Na'chalek Este

Liquid Jinro Interview

In the past two GSL tournaments (Season 3 and Code S) Jinro from Team Liquid made it into the semi-finals, the Round of Four, but lost both times. Against oGsMC he was soundly defeated, and while things were sometimes close against MarineKingPrime.WE, he still lost 1-3. Most of the things I read about Starcraft 2 are from American sources, in English and so they are naturally biased towards non-Korea or "foreign" players. In the case of Jinro, since the most popular Starcraft website in the world is dedicated to the team he is a part of, he gets far more attention than most. But one thing you have to like about Jinro is both his honesty and his humility. I think he'll

I've been let down by the incredible dominance of Terran players in both the Code S and GSL Season 3. It has led to some incredibly exciting and mind-boggling T v T, but also to alot of Terran Cheese Rushes, which are probably the least interesting to watch. I'm not really looking forward to the finals for Code S later this week, even though I find MarineKing's style to be unorthodox and interesting to watch. I've already noticed that Zerg are finding ways to come back on the ladder, developing various cheesy rush tactics of their own to take our Terran and Protoss just in the way they've been taken out with SCV all ins and Four Gate rushes. I hope that at the highest levels of SC2 the best zergs in the world can find similar ways of coming back. I did see some fantastic play from IMNestea in Code S, although he did not make it to the finals.

When my brother made it to the Master's League and then broke back into the 3000 points level, I decided to buy him some Jinro to celebrate. I told him, hopefully someday he'll be able to drink Jinro with Jinro at the OGS house in South Korea. Returning to LiquidJinro, I came across this interview on TeamLiquid.net after his loss last week, and decided to paste it below.

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Tough loss. What's your take on what happened vs. MarineKing?Hm, well I was definitely outplayed in the last game, in the Jungle Basin game I just messed up really hard because I got overenthusiastic when my marines were killing his depot :D . In the Steppes game, I got a bit overeager to end it too, and then his good defense bit me in the ass. Game 1 went according to plan, except for him getting siege tanks - didn't expect that.

MarineKing plays a very unique style. How did you do against it in practice?

Decently, but I think to beat him I'd need more prep time, as he plays this style everyday whereas most other Terrans don't play in that style, so I don't know this specific matchup (his style vs a more normal terran style) as well as he does.

Looking back on your Code S run, what are you especially proud of? What do you regret?

Winning TvP with mech on TV was a very nice feeling. I regret losing games I should have won, such as vs Check and the first match against MarineKing, which led to team mates getting knocked out. I also regret not setting my goal as winning the tournament and nothing else (I had a goal of making it back to the semis), as during the semis I didn't feel nearly as nervous as during any other game, which isn't good - it indicates I didn't want the win enough.

In a previous interview, you said you felt you needed to prove last season's run wasn't a fluke. You made it back to the semifinals, where you finished before. Do you consider that progress?

I think I played a lot tougher opponents this time, and even in the games where I lost (ie vs MarineKing), I was at least for the most part playing pretty well. So yes, progress in that regard.

Do you feel player and fan opinion about you has changed in Korea?

The reception to me losing seem to have been a lot better than last time I lost, i.e. no "overrated" posts at all from what I've seen but I have no idea how I'm supposed to tell if people are see me differently apart from that. The oGs guys treat me like they've always done. Lots of people ask for autographs, but that's not new.

We've heard you've been feeling under the weather lately. Are you going to take a break or rest up before the next Code S tournament? How long do you have?

Well, as soon as the games vs MKP ended I noticed a pretty serious throat-pain, and everything just got worse from there - fever etc. I actually thought it was all caused by not getting any sleep, so I even went to the gym when I got back. Not such a good idea as it turns out, now I'm sick AND sore. I don't know when the next GSL starts, I didn't plan to take any real time off but since I'm sick there's no choice really.

What are your goals for the next GSL?

To win and only to win. Both this and the last GSL my goals weren't victory focused enough - for GSL 1, I wanted code S and when I played the semis I was kinda expecting to lose. For GSL 2, I wanted to prove my last run wasn't a fluke so once I got to the semis, I wasn't really expecting to lose but I was a bit too... satisfied I guess.

You felt different before these matches?

For every other GSL game, aside from last Semis, I've been nauseatingly nervous. Every time I'd have something to drink after the first game, my arm would shake - especially if I'd just won. But this semis, nothing. While its good in that I didn't make the kind of mistakes I sometimes do when nervous, like miss depots etc, I don't think its good from the standpoint of being mentally sharp, on edge. So my goal for next season is to get into the semis, feel terrible and win them then get into the finals and feel the same way and win those too.

How will you prepare differently next season?

I want to work on my overall game and mechanics for the next GSL. Both MarineKing and MVP are extremely active ladder players, and I think their ability to just beat opponents with standard, strong play saves them a lot of mental strength in the earlier rounds of GSLs, whereas I usually spend a lot of time and effort preparing new things from the first round to the last, energy that could be better saved for the later rounds I think.

Any last words for your fans?

Thanks for watching and supporting, hopefully I'll see you at the finals next GSL.

Thanks for the interview, feel better!

Thanks.