[OSL] 2010 Bacchus Semi-Final: Stork v Modesty Text by Waxangel Graphics by SilverskY

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Results and Battle Reports



A Cursed Line



Finals Preview





I have to say, Korean Air really spoiled us with their Finals venues. First we got an aircraft hanger where the players were lowered from the ceiling or entered via jet plane. Then in season 2, the OSL went international by holding the final in Shanghai.



And for the 2010 Bacchus OSL ...We're going back to Gwangju.



+ Show Spoiler [Gwangju? Where?] + Why my fellow e-Sports fans, Gwangju is a major city in southwest Korea, and the location of the previous Bacchus Starleague final in 2008. To be completely honest, it's not the most glamorous place in the world.



Gwangju is seated in the Honam region, a bit of backwater in Korea. All sorts of business politicking (and political politicking) throughout South Korea's history has seen the the area miss out on the economic development experienced elsewhere. It's funny that people in such a small country have regional prejudices, but that's just how it is. A lot of catching up has been done, but it's the old country in some ways. It's a place where farmers still till the soil and 5,000 won ($5) will buy you a feast. Gwangju is the one major city amidst such pastoral surroundings. Not a place for a city boy like me, but I must admit it is pretty peaceful down there, and the food is pretty damn good.



With a venue that holds around 9,000 people, the whole thing looks to be a relatively modest affair. If OnGameNet wants to up the energy factor here, they should again work with their sponsor. Okay, so Korean Air probably provided their hangar for their first OSL, and air travel for the entire OSL production crew for their second. Hard to top? Maybe if you didn't have the option to give away FREE BACCHUS. You get a throng of sufficiently caffeinated people, and there's no telling what could happen. Also, I hear that ban on vuvuzelas will be revoked just for this occasion....



Semi-Final: Modesty vs Stork



Quick Results



+ Show Spoiler [Results and VODs] + Match B:

Stork 3-0 ►Advances to Finals

Modesty 0-3 Eliminated



[VOD] Stork < Aztec > Modesty

[VOD] Stork < Gladiator > Modesty

[VOD] Stork < Pathfinder > Modesty

[VOD] Stork < Icarus > Modesty

[VOD] Stork < Aztec > Modesty

3-0 ►0-3[VOD][VOD][VOD] Thanks to flamewheel for formatting.



Battle Reports



by Kwark







+ Show Spoiler [Game One - Aztec] +



(Stork's build was a similar variant on the standard Bisu opening that we've seen him and Kal use quite a lot recently. Rather than get a fast second pylon for continual probe production he cut a probe or two for a faster gas and a core the moment his gateway finished. This was followed by citadel before stargate and a very quick second gas without +1 attack. This was not, as NukeTheStars said, a "pretty standard Bisu build opening". Stork was getting similar stuff but in a different order, the corsairs would be delayed and defensive while the dts would be extremely quick.)



Modesty went for an ambitious six hatch off of lair with spire on the way, delaying his second gas and producing no zerglings in favour of defensive scourge and sim cities. He made a hatchery wall at both naturals and took his fourth base in the 5 main. Stork added a second gateway to coincide with the archives' completion and pushed out with dts and zealots. Fortunately he found Modesty had just one overlord at the 5:00 natural, which was killed by the first corsair which had skipped its scouting duties to go on an overlord hunt. Modesty's third was completely torn up, losing a lot of drones, three sunkens and a hydralisk den before the zealots and DTs could be overwhelmed by mass speedlings.



(I want to stress how brilliant this is because it's built around the type of abusive six hatch builds a lot of Zergs have been attempting recently. The standard three hatch spire five hatch hydra build is extremely safe but Zergs have recognised that a lot of stuff like overlord speed aren't actually urgent most the time and that if they focus their build a bit they can actually grab a quick fourth base and/or a sixth hatchery. It's been really tough to counter because standard Protoss openings get their tech too late or can't break the wallin before the Zerg has six hatcheries online. However Stork rushed his archives, skipping a few probes and going citadel before stargate with a delayed +1 ground because he knew overlord speed was going to be later than standard and that he'd get a window there.)



So, Modesty managed to overwhelm the zealots but with six hatcheries against two gateways that was hardly surprising. However the damage was done, Stork had been given several minutes breathing room to get his stuff together whereas Modesty hadn't been able to power drones at all and had missed his timings. Stork responded by playing his PvT style, putting some units on the map, taking his mineral only and pressuring. Modesty desperately threw down sunkens and powered drones, abdicating map control in favour of just going with the plan to secure four base hive.



(Modesty's plan was as standard as could be, it wasn't wrong. Every Zerg is using this build and doing very well with it. It looks kinda silly when he's making ten sunkens behind a wall to defend but Modesty had nothing to gain from playing the midgame against Stork, he already had his fourth gas and six hatcheries, as far as he was concerned he just needed to get to the lategame. Aztec is a three player map, so by quickly securing the second main and natural you take a commanding position on the map for the late game. Modesty had missed all his timings because of the drone massacre at 5 and the forced speedling production, but the basic plan was still in effect.)



Stork wasn't interested in attacking, instead he secured the skies with a pack of corsairs and just expanded again to the gas base at 11. It's worth stressing how far inside his comfort zone he was at this point. Stork was presented with an unassailable defensive line and a load of zealots and dragoons having total map control. With a pack of corsairs neutralising mutalisk threats Stork had suddenly found himself playing PvT, and anyone who has seen Stork play PvT recently will understand what that means.



Stork got out a single shuttle to ferry zealots into Modesty's main with his mass corsairs as an escort, killing a lot of drones and the spawning pool. Modesty tried a late mutalisk and scourge twitch to try and gather some momentum with a surprise attack in the Protoss main, but Stork was fifty supply ahead by this point and simply counterattacked Modesty at his 5 natural base. His zealots ran in and simply killed the walling hatchery despite seven sunkens hitting them, while the returning mutalisks were made impotent in the face of mass storm. The defences were broken and Stork wiped out the bases at 5 forcing a GG.



This was incredibly standard play by Modesty to the point that I'm not convinced he did anything wrong. The mass mutalisks after a Protoss has that many storms are a bit weak but Modesty's timings were all messed up, he should have been at hive and defilers by that point. I feel that from the DTs onwards Modesty was making the best of a bad situation. Therefore I intend to concentrate on our Protoss hero.



Admittedly he was a bit of a gambler. He lost his scout probe very early, delayed his corsair and then threw his first corsair away without getting any scouting done. There are countless builds he would have been in real trouble against, two zealots and two cannons are simply not enough to defend hydralisk cheese. I would have been way happier if he had at least hidden a second probe on the map early and then scouted once the lings were committed to containing him. It was needlessly risky and I worry for the only hope of Protoss. That said, his build was tight, clever, and most of all, it was right. He came into the game with a clear idea of what he thought Modesty was going to do and then he just killed his opponent. He played to his strengths and made the matchup become a question of macro and map control and there's no player on earth right now who can best him at that game.



Wax's Take: Stork played an extremely clever variant of sair-DT, which essentially won him the game. Going citadel first got his DT out faster than his opponent could have expected, and he followed it up by making a normally incorrect play where he sent his very first corsair straight to Modesty's third base. Though he had to sacrifice this late-first corsair to scourge, he managed to sniped the single overlord that was in the vicinity. Alongside his correct prediction that Modesty would be initially pumping pure drones from the hatchery at his third base, Stork was allowed a very fast and unpredictable DT rush to take a firm advantage.



Match Ratings



Kwark:

Modesty - 3/5(your build got owned, no worries)

Stork - 5/5(very clever adaptation of the opener)

Game - 4/5(HULKSMASH!!)



WaxAngel:

Modesty - 2/5

Stork - 4/5

Game - 2/5



Modesty spawned at 12 in purple while Stork got red at 8 on Aztec . Modesty went with an overpool and scouted correctly with his overlord while Stork scouted the wrong site and had to blind forge. Modesty followed with a quick expansion and then made six zerglings but Stork stayed safe with a nexus followed by two cannons. Stork delayed pumping probes and went for a fast gateway and gas while Modesty went for a quick third base at the 5 natural to allow him to secure four gases off just two defensive lines in the midgame.(Stork's build was a similar variant on the standard Bisu opening that we've seen him and Kal use quite a lot recently. Rather than get a fast second pylon for continual probe production he cut a probe or two for a faster gas and a core the moment his gateway finished. This was followed by citadel before stargate and a very quick second gas without +1 attack. This was not, as NukeTheStars said, a "pretty standard Bisu build opening". Stork was getting similar stuff but in a different order, the corsairs would be delayed and defensive while the dts would be extremely quick.)Modesty went for an ambitious six hatch off of lair with spire on the way, delaying his second gas and producing no zerglings in favour of defensive scourge and sim cities. He made a hatchery wall at both naturals and took his fourth base in the 5 main. Stork added a second gateway to coincide with the archives' completion and pushed out with dts and zealots. Fortunately he found Modesty had just one overlord at the 5:00 natural, which was killed by the first corsair which had skipped its scouting duties to go on an overlord hunt. Modesty's third was completely torn up, losing a lot of drones, three sunkens and a hydralisk den before the zealots and DTs could be overwhelmed by mass speedlings.(I want to stress how brilliant this is because it's built around the type of abusive six hatch builds a lot of Zergs have been attempting recently. The standard three hatch spire five hatch hydra build is extremely safe but Zergs have recognised that a lot of stuff like overlord speed aren't actually urgent most the time and that if they focus their build a bit they can actually grab a quick fourth base and/or a sixth hatchery. It's been really tough to counter because standard Protoss openings get their tech too late or can't break the wallin before the Zerg has six hatcheries online. However Stork rushed his archives, skipping a few probes and going citadel before stargate with a delayed +1 ground because he knew overlord speed was going to be later than standard and that he'd get a window there.)So, Modesty managed to overwhelm the zealots but with six hatcheries against two gateways that was hardly surprising. However the damage was done, Stork had been given several minutes breathing room to get his stuff together whereas Modesty hadn't been able to power drones at all and had missed his timings. Stork responded by playing his PvT style, putting some units on the map, taking his mineral only and pressuring. Modesty desperately threw down sunkens and powered drones, abdicating map control in favour of just going with the plan to secure four base hive.(Modesty's plan was as standard as could be, it wasn't wrong. Every Zerg is using this build and doing very well with it. It looks kinda silly when he's making ten sunkens behind a wall to defend but Modesty had nothing to gain from playing the midgame against Stork, he already had his fourth gas and six hatcheries, as far as he was concerned he just needed to get to the lategame. Aztec is a three player map, so by quickly securing the second main and natural you take a commanding position on the map for the late game. Modesty had missed all his timings because of the drone massacre at 5 and the forced speedling production, but the basic plan was still in effect.)Stork wasn't interested in attacking, instead he secured the skies with a pack of corsairs and just expanded again to the gas base at 11. It's worth stressing how far inside his comfort zone he was at this point. Stork was presented with an unassailable defensive line and a load of zealots and dragoons having total map control. With a pack of corsairs neutralising mutalisk threats Stork had suddenly found himself playing PvT, and anyone who has seen Stork play PvT recently will understand what that means.Stork got out a single shuttle to ferry zealots into Modesty's main with his mass corsairs as an escort, killing a lot of drones and the spawning pool. Modesty tried a late mutalisk and scourge twitch to try and gather some momentum with a surprise attack in the Protoss main, but Stork was fifty supply ahead by this point and simply counterattacked Modesty at his 5 natural base. His zealots ran in and simply killed the walling hatchery despite seven sunkens hitting them, while the returning mutalisks were made impotent in the face of mass storm. The defences were broken and Stork wiped out the bases at 5 forcing a GG.This was incredibly standard play by Modesty to the point that I'm not convinced he did anything wrong. The mass mutalisks after a Protoss has that many storms are a bit weak but Modesty's timings were all messed up, he should have been at hive and defilers by that point. I feel that from the DTs onwards Modesty was making the best of a bad situation. Therefore I intend to concentrate on our Protoss hero.Admittedly he was a bit of a gambler. He lost his scout probe very early, delayed his corsair and then threw his first corsair away without getting any scouting done. There are countless builds he would have been in real trouble against, two zealots and two cannons are simply not enough to defend hydralisk cheese. I would have been way happier if he had at least hidden a second probe on the map early and then scouted once the lings were committed to containing him. It was needlessly risky and I worry for the only hope of Protoss. That said, his build was tight, clever, and most of all, it was right. He came into the game with a clear idea of what he thought Modesty was going to do and then he just killed his opponent. He played to his strengths and made the matchup become a question of macro and map control and there's no player on earth right now who can best him at that game.Kwark:Modesty - 3/5(your build got owned, no worries)Stork - 5/5(very clever adaptation of the opener)Game - 4/5(HULKSMASH!!)WaxAngel:Modesty - 2/5Stork - 4/5Game - 2/5



+ Show Spoiler [Game Two - Gladiator] +



Both players were as standard as they could be, stargate first with plus one air from Stork and three hatch spire five hatch hydra from Modesty. The citadel finished its speed and his single gateway had produced sufficient zealots to give him map control and allow him to pressure, forcing a few sunkens while Stork got all his tech up. Even on a single gateway Stork was able to secure himself and tech to archives and robotics. Modesty secured the southwest corner of the map by taking a fourth base at his mineral only, and pumped a lot of drones to get six hatch hydralisk macro going.



With enough corsairs massed, Stork started to fly around hunting overlords. He found a gap for a DT to slip into the 6:00 base, and although Modesty reacted quickly, he still lost several overlords and drones before enough hydralisks could arrive. While Modesty's forces were occupied defending that base at 6, five zealots struck at the new mineral only and got it down to 153 hp before returning hydralisks managed to kill them off. At the same time Stork began to take the gas expansion at 12.



(The game was in a weird place at this point. Modesty had succeeded in all his goals, he'd established his third and fourth bases (but was still on three gas), gotten a good defensive force up which was capable of responding to any threat across his relatively narrow front, had a lot of drones and was heading to hive. However he wasn't actually winning, despite everything going as he had hoped. On the other hand, Stork had managed to exert a lot of pressure with one gateway and one stargate while getting all his tech up, making a load of gateways and equalising the gas expansions at three each. Although Modesty was getting to where he wanted to be, Stork was making even better progress while pressuring his opponent with fewer units. Strategic use of a few speedlots, a single dt, a speed shuttle and a pack of corsairs had conjured up threat where none existed. Modesty surrendered map control without a fight while Stork kept on powering to the lategame.



In my opinion this was entirely mental, in the first game Stork had messed with Modesty's plan and Modesty had ended up in a "if I can just hold onto these bases then I can get back on familiar ground and win" mentality while allowing Stork to do anything he wanted. Now one nil down in his first high pressure game against the best player in the world [Editor's note: I never said we weren't shameless instigators] Modesty was in a completely defensive mindset, sticking to the bases he had decided he needed to win and ignoring the reality of his opponent's situation.)



As Modesty kept pumping drones and added lurkers to his defensive line, Stork hit with a storm drop at 6 which did better than it should have. Despite seeing the shuttle coming Modesty reacted slowly and lost a lot of drones, although they were quickly replaced. Meanwhile Stork had finally assembled all the stuff he wanted, with two reavers, a shuttle and a big ground army with high energy HTs supported by three gas bases. The shadows that Modesty had been fighting all game finally materialised into a fully formed late game Protoss army as Modesty hit hive. I find a certain irony in this, Modesty had been sitting in his corner thinking "OH GOD he's gonna kill me any second now, I just know it, pull yourself together man, just hold on and get to hive then everything will be okay" and then just as he makes it to hive Stork shows up with a fully formed lategame Protoss army and the econ to back it up. And then suddenly, PvT: a single, relatively immobile defensive line trying to hold on against Stork's macro and map control.



The rest was fairly predictable. Stork had map control, macro and a lategame PvZ army, add into that the best reaver micro in the world and it was just a bad time to be in Modesty's shoes. Modesty replied with rushed plague and some really nice defiler use and actually managed to grind Stork's first army into the ground as the first push tore up his 6:00 base, but it wasn't enough. Modesty hadn't expanded in the midgame and had forfeited map control, his only hope at this point was a hidden expansion and Stork immediately scouted that at 3. Stork could take the bonus mineral only expansion (it's not a real expansion, just a few minerals that you can get if you have map control and lose the moment you lose map control) and kept up the pressure. Stork struck with another force at Modesty's mineral only and managed to finish it off before being worn-down through more attrition, but it just didn't matter at this point, Stork was expanding again to 9. It was one hundred and twenty supply against forty and he just hulksmashed his opponent. GG.



Modesty was way too passive this game. His plan was to establish his four bases with seven hatcheries and get to the lategame but he invested a lot of minerals in midgame units to defend against a timing attack that never came. Modesty thought Stork wanted to stop him from getting to the lategame but with Modesty on just three gas Stork was happy to accept the gift of map control and let the game go long. It was rather ironic that when the hive tech finally happened it was Stork with the reaver, dragoon and storm combo and Modesty lacking in gas income and upgrades, despite the game being played to Modesty's plan. I think he just let his nerves and the first game get to him and lost sight of the game. Meanwhile Stork played PvT. Fast expand, harass, pretend to have units and harass and do stuff while expanding and heading to the late game and then macro/hulksmash/map control/expand more. Sound familiar? Stork was so far inside his comfort zone here that I doubt he'd have been more at home curled up in bed with a hot water bottle and cell phone games. He played exactly like Stork does and these days that's a byword for good. Comfortable, competent and overwhelming victory.



Wax's Take: It was surprising to see yet another Zerg get knocked around by sair/DT, two games in a row at that. If twitter had a PvZ regional setting, "Bisu Style" would be trending like crazy (alongside the new Bisu style: +1 speedlot rush). Modesty made a fundamental error in his anti-Bisu defense by not having sufficient anti-air coverage at all three bases. If you skimp on scourge and go with speed overlords and hydralisks for defense, you cannot match the mobility of corsairs. So unless your hydras are already setup at key locations, some losses are inevitable.



Stork used his corsairs to draw Modesty's hydras towards his natural 9:00, and then quickly changed direction to hit 6:00. There were few hydralisks left at the 6:00 base, which let Stork massacre overlords and slip in his DT. Modesty sent hydras to defend as soon as he realized what was happening, but the damage was already done during the travel time.



Match Ratings



Kwark:

Modesty - 3/5 (execution, not bad, strategy, way too passive)

Stork - 5/5 (forget JvZ, I bring you SvX)

Game - 3/5 (bit more one sided than I really like them)



WaxAngel:

Modesty - 2/5

Stork - 4/5

Game - 2/5

Stork spawned at 10 in green while Modesty got 8 in blue on Gladiator . Stork scouted correctly and saw that Modesty again went for an overpool expansion. Modesty made six zerglings but couldn't attack with two cannons defending, so he took a quick third at 6 while Stork again opted again to skip a second pylon in favour of a faster gas and quick core. Unlike the previous game Modesty couldn't take a quick fourth and Stork went for a quick stargate before citadel, clearly showing he was reacting and adapting to his opponent and the maps.Both players were as standard as they could be, stargate first with plus one air from Stork and three hatch spire five hatch hydra from Modesty. The citadel finished its speed and his single gateway had produced sufficient zealots to give him map control and allow him to pressure, forcing a few sunkens while Stork got all his tech up. Even on a single gateway Stork was able to secure himself and tech to archives and robotics. Modesty secured the southwest corner of the map by taking a fourth base at his mineral only, and pumped a lot of drones to get six hatch hydralisk macro going.With enough corsairs massed, Stork started to fly around hunting overlords. He found a gap for a DT to slip into the 6:00 base, and although Modesty reacted quickly, he still lost several overlords and drones before enough hydralisks could arrive. While Modesty's forces were occupied defending that base at 6, five zealots struck at the new mineral only and got it down to 153 hp before returning hydralisks managed to kill them off. At the same time Stork began to take the gas expansion at 12.(The game was in a weird place at this point. Modesty had succeeded in all his goals, he'd established his third and fourth bases (but was still on three gas), gotten a good defensive force up which was capable of responding to any threat across his relatively narrow front, had a lot of drones and was heading to hive. However he wasn't actually winning, despite everything going as he had hoped. On the other hand, Stork had managed to exert a lot of pressure with one gateway and one stargate while getting all his tech up, making a load of gateways and equalising the gas expansions at three each. Although Modesty was getting to where he wanted to be, Stork was making even better progress while pressuring his opponent with fewer units. Strategic use of a few speedlots, a single dt, a speed shuttle and a pack of corsairs had conjured up threat where none existed. Modesty surrendered map control without a fight while Stork kept on powering to the lategame.In my opinion this was entirely mental, in the first game Stork had messed with Modesty's plan and Modesty had ended up in a "if I can just hold onto these bases then I can get back on familiar ground and win" mentality while allowing Stork to do anything he wanted. Now one nil down in his first high pressure game against the best player in the world [] Modesty was in a completely defensive mindset, sticking to the bases he had decided he needed to win and ignoring the reality of his opponent's situation.)As Modesty kept pumping drones and added lurkers to his defensive line, Stork hit with a storm drop at 6 which did better than it should have. Despite seeing the shuttle coming Modesty reacted slowly and lost a lot of drones, although they were quickly replaced. Meanwhile Stork had finally assembled all the stuff he wanted, with two reavers, a shuttle and a big ground army with high energy HTs supported by three gas bases. The shadows that Modesty had been fighting all game finally materialised into a fully formed late game Protoss army as Modesty hit hive. I find a certain irony in this, Modesty had been sitting in his corner thinking "OH GOD he's gonna kill me any second now, I just know it, pull yourself together man, just hold on and get to hive then everything will be okay" and then just as he makes it to hive Stork shows up with a fully formed lategame Protoss army and the econ to back it up. And then suddenly, PvT: a single, relatively immobile defensive line trying to hold on against Stork's macro and map control.The rest was fairly predictable. Stork had map control, macro and a lategame PvZ army, add into that the best reaver micro in the world and it was just a bad time to be in Modesty's shoes. Modesty replied with rushed plague and some really nice defiler use and actually managed to grind Stork's first army into the ground as the first push tore up his 6:00 base, but it wasn't enough. Modesty hadn't expanded in the midgame and had forfeited map control, his only hope at this point was a hidden expansion and Stork immediately scouted that at 3. Stork could take the bonus mineral only expansion (it's not a real expansion, just a few minerals that you can get if you have map control and lose the moment you lose map control) and kept up the pressure. Stork struck with another force at Modesty's mineral only and managed to finish it off before being worn-down through more attrition, but it just didn't matter at this point, Stork was expanding again to 9. It was one hundred and twenty supply against forty and he just hulksmashed his opponent. GG.Modesty was way too passive this game. His plan was to establish his four bases with seven hatcheries and get to the lategame but he invested a lot of minerals in midgame units to defend against a timing attack that never came. Modesty thought Stork wanted to stop him from getting to the lategame but with Modesty on just three gas Stork was happy to accept the gift of map control and let the game go long. It was rather ironic that when the hive tech finally happened it was Stork with the reaver, dragoon and storm combo and Modesty lacking in gas income and upgrades, despite the game being played to Modesty's plan. I think he just let his nerves and the first game get to him and lost sight of the game. Meanwhile Stork played PvT. Fast expand, harass, pretend to have units and harass and do stuff while expanding and heading to the late game and then macro/hulksmash/map control/expand more. Sound familiar? Stork was so far inside his comfort zone here that I doubt he'd have been more at home curled up in bed with a hot water bottle and cell phone games. He played exactly like Stork does and these days that's a byword for good. Comfortable, competent and overwhelming victory.Kwark:Modesty - 3/5 (execution, not bad, strategy, way too passive)Stork - 5/5 (forget JvZ, I bring you SvX)Game - 3/5 (bit more one sided than I really like them)WaxAngel:Modesty - 2/5Stork - 4/5Game - 2/5



+ Show Spoiler [Game Three - Pathfinder] +



Stork's scout probe just refused to die and kept its eyes on Modesty's main and zerglings while he headed to stargate followed by citadel with two gas and plus one ground attack. Modesty went for three hatch spire - five hatch hydra and pumped a lot of hydralisks out to defend against Stork's two gate pressure which was never going to do any real damage. Stork was just trying to put his opponent on edge while teching to storm and harassing with corsairs; the moment the zealots saw how many hydralisks Modesty had they ran straight back to the safety of the cannons. However Modesty had paid a price for his defence, his drone count could have been higher and he had just five hatcheries.



Modesty took the back mineral only at 8 which I don't really like. That narrow path down the left of the map is difficult for hydralisks to defend against storm. However Stork hadn't scouted it and instead sent his first big attack down the middle, a group of zealots backed up by just two HTs. The attack was too early and predictably failed, with Modesty splitting his hydralisks into two groups, one skirmishing with the zealots while the other threatened to snipe the high templar. Stork was torn between rushing forwards with the zealots to engage the sniping hydralisks and leaving his HTs behind, or just letting hydralisks dance in and out of range. He tried to get the most out of his attack, and even managed to get one good storm which did a surprising amount of damage against Modesty who apparently can't micro three groups of hydralisks at once. Still, Stork definitely wasted a lot of troops in a losing battle, and the few overlord kills he got later did little to undo it.



However, Stork's macro was up and running and he had another group of zealots out. He divided them into three forces, the main army looping around and hitting 6 from the right entrance while a few stray zealots ran past Modesty's units into the mineral lines at the natural and mineral only. Although Modesty had more than enough units to defend they were spread poorly, with too many cleaning up the zealots at 8 and too few to wipe out the zealots at 6. He lost many drones and the corsairs again exacted a price on him during the confusion. Stork hadn't won any decisive engagements - the best he'd been able to do was break even at 6 while Modesty was committed elsewhere - but Modesty had completely surrendered map control to Stork's harassment multitasking and the result was Stork taking a third gas at 10. He'd switched into dragoons, ht and observers, the perfect midgame combo and was pushing down the narrow corridor into 8.



Modesty sent a few hydralisks to try and block them and they were massacred by storm. Rather than try and further engage Stork's army which hard countered his own and had significant terrain advantages Modesty all-ined with a counterattack. His hydralisks and lurkers responded by wiping out Stork's natural. The players went into a base race in which both played entirely correctly. Stork had by far the greater force, the perfect midgame army to fight hydralisks and lurkers but he had just two observers and had lost his robotics alongside his natural. Modesty had inflicted more economic damage but didn't have the forces to overwhelm Stork and instead cleverly sniped the observers and used lurkers, turning it into a micro game.



Fortunately for Stork his unit production was concentrated in his main while Modesty's hatcheries were spread between his bases and his tech buildings had been used for walling in. Despite having thousands of gas Modesty failed to morph all his attacking hydralisks into lurkers and instead tried to push up into Stork's main with hydralisks, only to be stopped by speedlots holding the ramp. Meanwhile Stork was move fire microing his dragoons and despite having no detection he was able to pick off the few lurkers that attempted to resist. With his base safe Stork returned to flooding units into Modesty's and promptly won. GG.



I disagree with Modesty's choice to take the fourth that he took, Stork was always going to attack down the left side of the map and Modesty was always going to struggle to defend it with hydralisks. The other natural expansion, or even staying on three bases, would have been better choices. I also feel Modesty could have been more aggressive in the midgame, Stork was primarily using zealots while Modesty used hydralisks and lurkers, clearly the balance lay in Modesty's favour. Stork was able to get damage done because he attacked with small forces on multiple fronts and spread Modesty's forces about, not because he had a superior force. As in the two games preceeding it Modesty responded by shutting down and holding the line which meant that when Stork at last got a legitimate midgame army out he could act freely with it and immediately pressure 8. At that point Modesty would have been forced to create defensive lines on multiple fronts, or just all-in.



Modesty's choice to allin was fine but he needed to lurker-morph all those hydralisks. Stork had no observers and no robotics, but Modesty's hydralisks died to pure zealots trying to force their way into Stork's main. If he'd lurkered them he'd have completely shut Stork into his main. Equally Modesty needed to throw less hydralisks away in a futile defence of 8 and realise earlier that his only hope lay in lurkers and scourge. The realisation that he needed maybe four lurkers to defend came at about the same time he lost his hydralisk den which isn't really ideal. The observers snipes were inspired but there simply weren't the lurkers to back it up.



Wax's Take: It was surprising to see all games take on a similar pattern without significant variation. Stork succeeded at some sort of lair-stage harass in every game, to which Modesty responded by going into turtling-recovery mode, to which again Stork responded by taking map control and a free third gas. Modesty's wonderful Pathfinder game against Kal last week made me think he was capable of mixing it up against Stork as well, but in reality he was trying to play every game like the one on Aztec.



Fans might hate all-ins and one-time-only strategies, but that's really the best play for underdogs. You can't really commend Modesty for trying to go toe to toe with Stork when it did not help him win at all.



Match Ratings



Kwark:

Modesty - 3/5 (strong play but again, too passive)

Stork - 4/5 (you'd have been in real trouble there if he'd sniped the observers faster)

Game - 4/5 (pretty intense at times)



WaxAngel:

Modesty - 2/5

Stork - 3/5

Game - 2/5 Stork spawned in yellow at 12 while Modesty spawned in orange at 8 on Pathfinder . Modesty opened with an overpool double expansion and Stork responded with forge - nexus - cannon - gateway - cannon. I really don't like that second cannon because Stork had obviously made the judgement that he wasn't getting ling rushed off the bat (or it'd be too late because the gateway came first) and then Stork had a probe in Modesty's main being chased by all of Modesty's zerglings. I'm not sure what that second cannon was to defend against, Stork could see every single zergling on the map and knew that they were in Modesty's main. You can use those minerals to rush tech out without cutting probes and it's just annoying to see a player of Stork's calibre not adapt his build to scouting. Anyway...Stork's scout probe just refused to die and kept its eyes on Modesty's main and zerglings while he headed to stargate followed by citadel with two gas and plus one ground attack. Modesty went for three hatch spire - five hatch hydra and pumped a lot of hydralisks out to defend against Stork's two gate pressure which was never going to do any real damage. Stork was just trying to put his opponent on edge while teching to storm and harassing with corsairs; the moment the zealots saw how many hydralisks Modesty had they ran straight back to the safety of the cannons. However Modesty had paid a price for his defence, his drone count could have been higher and he had just five hatcheries.Modesty took the back mineral only at 8 which I don't really like. That narrow path down the left of the map is difficult for hydralisks to defend against storm. However Stork hadn't scouted it and instead sent his first big attack down the middle, a group of zealots backed up by just two HTs. The attack was too early and predictably failed, with Modesty splitting his hydralisks into two groups, one skirmishing with the zealots while the other threatened to snipe the high templar. Stork was torn between rushing forwards with the zealots to engage the sniping hydralisks and leaving his HTs behind, or just letting hydralisks dance in and out of range. He tried to get the most out of his attack, and even managed to get one good storm which did a surprising amount of damage against Modesty who apparently can't micro three groups of hydralisks at once. Still, Stork definitely wasted a lot of troops in a losing battle, and the few overlord kills he got later did little to undo it.However, Stork's macro was up and running and he had another group of zealots out. He divided them into three forces, the main army looping around and hitting 6 from the right entrance while a few stray zealots ran past Modesty's units into the mineral lines at the natural and mineral only. Although Modesty had more than enough units to defend they were spread poorly, with too many cleaning up the zealots at 8 and too few to wipe out the zealots at 6. He lost many drones and the corsairs again exacted a price on him during the confusion. Stork hadn't won any decisive engagements - the best he'd been able to do was break even at 6 while Modesty was committed elsewhere - but Modesty had completely surrendered map control to Stork's harassment multitasking and the result was Stork taking a third gas at 10. He'd switched into dragoons, ht and observers, the perfect midgame combo and was pushing down the narrow corridor into 8.Modesty sent a few hydralisks to try and block them and they were massacred by storm. Rather than try and further engage Stork's army which hard countered his own and had significant terrain advantages Modesty all-ined with a counterattack. His hydralisks and lurkers responded by wiping out Stork's natural. The players went into a base race in which both played entirely correctly. Stork had by far the greater force, the perfect midgame army to fight hydralisks and lurkers but he had just two observers and had lost his robotics alongside his natural. Modesty had inflicted more economic damage but didn't have the forces to overwhelm Stork and instead cleverly sniped the observers and used lurkers, turning it into a micro game.Fortunately for Stork his unit production was concentrated in his main while Modesty's hatcheries were spread between his bases and his tech buildings had been used for walling in. Despite having thousands of gas Modesty failed to morph all his attacking hydralisks into lurkers and instead tried to push up into Stork's main with hydralisks, only to be stopped by speedlots holding the ramp. Meanwhile Stork was move fire microing his dragoons and despite having no detection he was able to pick off the few lurkers that attempted to resist. With his base safe Stork returned to flooding units into Modesty's and promptly won. GG.I disagree with Modesty's choice to take the fourth that he took, Stork was always going to attack down the left side of the map and Modesty was always going to struggle to defend it with hydralisks. The other natural expansion, or even staying on three bases, would have been better choices. I also feel Modesty could have been more aggressive in the midgame, Stork was primarily using zealots while Modesty used hydralisks and lurkers, clearly the balance lay in Modesty's favour. Stork was able to get damage done because he attacked with small forces on multiple fronts and spread Modesty's forces about, not because he had a superior force. As in the two games preceeding it Modesty responded by shutting down and holding the line which meant that when Stork at last got a legitimate midgame army out he could act freely with it and immediately pressure 8. At that point Modesty would have been forced to create defensive lines on multiple fronts, or just all-in.Modesty's choice to allin was fine but he needed to lurker-morph all those hydralisks. Stork had no observers and no robotics, but Modesty's hydralisks died to pure zealots trying to force their way into Stork's main. If he'd lurkered them he'd have completely shut Stork into his main. Equally Modesty needed to throw less hydralisks away in a futile defence of 8 and realise earlier that his only hope lay in lurkers and scourge. The realisation that he needed maybe four lurkers to defend came at about the same time he lost his hydralisk den which isn't really ideal. The observers snipes were inspired but there simply weren't the lurkers to back it up.Kwark:Modesty - 3/5 (strong play but again, too passive)Stork - 4/5 (you'd have been in real trouble there if he'd sniped the observers faster)Game - 4/5 (pretty intense at times)WaxAngel:Modesty - 2/5Stork - 3/5Game - 2/5



+ Show Spoiler [Game Four - Icarus] +

Stork won 3-0.





+ Show Spoiler [Game Five - Aztec] +

Stork won 3-0.









A Cursed Line



by Milkis and WaxAngel



There are overarching rules and laws that govern the universe. Out of the many laws I could talk about, I would like to talk about two of them. One such law is that the buttered toast always lands buttered side down. Another law is that a cat will always land on their feet. What makes these two laws interesting is that it's really easy to imagine a scenario involving these two laws that would, theoretically, lead to disasterous consequences -- what would happen if we tied a piece of buttered toast on a cat and dropped it?



Of course, the world is a little bit better designed than our rather childish thoughts regarding the matter -- the cat would simply land on its feet and the universe does not implode from an infinite loop. When two such laws collide -- exceptions are made, and it is only through these exceptions that the buttered toast, for once, does not land buttered side down.



Hence is the story behind Fantasy and Stork -- Stork, the buttered toast, and Fantasy, the cat, who are prominent members of the Kong line -- the recepients of Yellow's curse.



Hong Jin Ho aka Yellow came to prominence in the landmark 2001 Coca Cola OSL, the seminal tournament that provided the vision of what e-Sports' would eventually become. Though Boxer was the guiding light of the tournament, Yellow brilliantly played the role of the rival, the counterpart with whom when combined, would together shine even brighter.



And so Yellow was born as the very first Zerg superstar, but he could not have expected his career would become one of a most bittersweet nature. His fame would endure for over a decade, even after his considerable skill had passed. But oh, for all the wrong reasons!



Five second place finishes, all against the greatest Terran players in the world (Boxer x2, Nada, Xellos, iloveoov), twice after perfect records up to the finals, in a two year period where he was the best Zerg in the world. This uncanny feat became a magnet for both great sympathy and great mockery, two powerful forces which fermented in the darkness to bring forth e-Sport's most legendary curse.



So legendary is that players immediately begin shaking in their boots the second they win a silver. Are they cursed? Are they to be second place for the rest of their careers? The thoughts begin to plague the players as begin to think of themselves as cursed, and Yellow's demented, cackling visage appears to inhabit their nightmares.





With three consecutive losses to Flash, even Jaedong is haunted by the idea that he is now the part of the Kong line, as he has mentioned in an interview.



Fantasy, of course, was the perfect target of Yellow's curse. It is quite fitting, and to an extent a triumph of karmic justice that Boxer and iloveoov's protoge who became afflicted by Yellow's silvery whispers. After all, wasn't it Boxer who denied Yellow gold twice? And iloveoov who denied Yellow the final chance to free himself?. With all five of Yellow's silvers given out by a Terran, was it any surprise then that Fantasy -- the Crown Prince to continue the Emperor's Terran reign -- would be afflicted by the very same curse? Indeed, Fantasy was a marked man the second he had joined SKT under the wings of Boxer and iloveoov. Fantasy is the cat -- the one who is predetermined to always land on one's feet -- with no real fault of his own.



Meanwhile, Stork, as a young player, insolently challenged Yellow in an MSL group ceremony and proceeded to get his face smashed in. There was nothing to back up his bravado (of course, this seems to happen often whenever Stork says something), and as God punished all those who sought to harm Cain, Stork was punished for his disrespect of the mark bearer by himself becoming a member of the Kong line. Stork was soon buttered up, and three consecutive silver medals followed, at the hands of Bisu, Jaedong, and Flash.



The 2008 Incruit OSL was very eventful, of course. The cat and the buttered toast were tied and dropped -- who would land? Not surprisingly, the cat had stronger instincts -- and Stork managed to win Gold for the first time in his life. And now, in 2011, we have a repeat of what has happened in history -- Stork wanting to prove that he is now out of the Kong Line with his Gold -- while an older, "wiser" (supposedly), Fantasy challenges Stork once again, hoping for revenge. Both players want Gold -- and with Fantasy's curse weakening due to the departure of Boxer, and Stork winning a gold prior, both players want to prove that they can overcome the curse.



Of course, we all know that what's actually happening is a buttered toast tied onto a cat being dropped. Only future games will be able to tell us if these players will be able to overcome this ancient curse.

There are overarching rules and laws that govern the universe. Out of the many laws I could talk about, I would like to talk about two of them. One such law is that the buttered toast always lands buttered side down. Another law is that a cat will always land on their feet. What makes these two laws interesting is that it's really easy to imagine a scenario involving these two laws that would, theoretically, lead to disasterous consequences -- what would happen if we tied a piece of buttered toast on a cat and dropped it?Of course, the world is a little bit better designed than our rather childish thoughts regarding the matter -- the cat would simply land on its feet and the universe does not implode from an infinite loop. When two such laws collide -- exceptions are made, and it is only through these exceptions that the buttered toast, for once, does not land buttered side down.Hence is the story behind Fantasy and Stork -- Stork, the buttered toast, and Fantasy, the cat, who are prominent members of the Kong line -- the recepients of Yellow's curse.Hong Jin Ho aka Yellow came to prominence in the landmark 2001 Coca Cola OSL, the seminal tournament that provided the vision of what e-Sports' would eventually become. Though Boxer was the guiding light of the tournament, Yellow brilliantly played the role of the rival, the counterpart with whom when combined, would together shine even brighter.And so Yellow was born as the very first Zerg superstar, but he could not have expected his career would become one of a most bittersweet nature. His fame would endure for over a decade, even after his considerable skill had passed. But oh, for all the wrong reasons!Five second place finishes, all against the greatest Terran players in the world (Boxer x2, Nada, Xellos, iloveoov), twice after perfect records up to the finals, in a two year period where he was the best Zerg in the world. This uncanny feat became a magnet for both great sympathy and great mockery, two powerful forces which fermented in the darkness to bring forth e-Sport's most legendary curse.So legendary is that players immediately begin shaking in their boots the second they win a silver. Are they cursed? Are they to be second place for the rest of their careers? The thoughts begin to plague the players as begin to think of themselves as cursed, and Yellow's demented, cackling visage appears to inhabit their nightmares.Fantasy, of course, was the perfect target of Yellow's curse. It is quite fitting, and to an extent a triumph of karmic justice that Boxer and iloveoov's protoge who became afflicted by Yellow's silvery whispers. After all, wasn't it Boxer who denied Yellow gold twice? And iloveoov who denied Yellow the final chance to free himself?. With all five of Yellow's silvers given out by a Terran, was it any surprise then that Fantasy -- the Crown Prince to continue the Emperor's Terran reign -- would be afflicted by the very same curse? Indeed, Fantasy was a marked man the second he had joined SKT under the wings of Boxer and iloveoov. Fantasy is the cat -- the one who is predetermined to always land on one's feet -- with no real fault of his own.Meanwhile, Stork, as a young player, insolently challenged Yellow in an MSL group ceremony and proceeded to get his face smashed in. There was nothing to back up his bravado (of course, this seems to happen often whenever Stork says something), and as God punished all those who sought to harm Cain, Stork was punished for his disrespect of the mark bearer by himself becoming a member of the Kong line. Stork was soon buttered up, and three consecutive silver medals followed, at the hands of Bisu, Jaedong, and Flash.The 2008 Incruit OSL was very eventful, of course. The cat and the buttered toast were tied and dropped -- who would land? Not surprisingly, the cat had stronger instincts -- and Stork managed to win Gold for the first time in his life. And now, in 2011, we have a repeat of what has happened in history -- Stork wanting to prove that he is now out of the Kong Line with his Gold -- while an older, "wiser" (supposedly), Fantasy challenges Stork once again, hoping for revenge. Both players want Gold -- and with Fantasy's curse weakening due to the departure of Boxer, and Stork winning a gold prior, both players want to prove that they can overcome the curse.Of course, we all know that what's actually happening is a buttered toast tied onto a cat being dropped. Only future games will be able to tell us if these players will be able to overcome this ancient curse.



We probably scared some little children with that picture.



Finals Preview: Stork vs Fantasy

Head to head

8 – 3 Fantasy



Stork 8 – 3



The stats may say that Stork has a commanding lead over Fantasy, but their eleven meetings took place over an extended period of time. They have only played twice in the last year, with the most recent game taking place in July of 2010. While Stork won that





Recent TvP performance

Records since the Korean Air OSL Season II.



Fantasy: 16 - 9

: 16 - 9



Even though the peak of Fantasy’s TvP power has long passed, he is still an extremely skilled player. Since his showdown with Stork at the 2008 Incruit OSL, his TvP has never fallen below #2 in the world at worst.



Recent results show he retains his core strength, playing an aggressive mid to early game matched by few. Though he can



On the other hand, his late game play has been inconsistent. Playing





Stork: 15 - 2

: 15 - 2



What’s amazing is that this isn’t even Stork’s best statistical TvP stretch. His TvP tends to go through cycles between “really good” and “best in the world,” being at the latter at the moment.



There hasn’t been a single “bad” win in the most recent batch, with most of them being ridiculously one-sided to boot. Carriers have featured prominently in this recent run, with many games following the pattern of Stork staying even with his opponent until the mid-game, and then casually winning after a carrier transition.



Stork has shown a weakness to dropship tactics, often being caught completely unprepared. This was directly responsible for one of his two recent losses, where Hiya’s drops crippled Stork’s economy on map positions with obvious dropship abuse potential. Flash accounted for the other loss, where even Stork’s carriers couldn’t handle Flash’s “bat an eye and I’ll have half the map” macro ability.





Maps



(5-2) –

Map stats in order of Protoss - Terran Gladiator (5-2) – Aztec (28-13) – Pathfinder (4-3) - Icarus (15-8) – Gladiator



With all four maps favoring Protoss, the only way things could have been worse for Fantasy was if Aztec was drawn twice. Fortunately none of the maps really invite carrier abuse, which bodes well for Fantasy and his recent carrier woes. Even so, four of five games will be played on relatively wide open, macro friendly maps where Stork will feel very much at home.





Altogether



Though there’s no one thing that's going to seal Fantasy's doom, the deck is stacked against him as Stork has a moderate edge in every department.



The styles match up favorably for Stork. Fantasy is great at early-mid aggression and harassment, but Stork is equally as good at rolling with those early jabs and transitioning into the late game. On the flipside, Stork’s late game management (especially when it includes carriers) is of unsurpassed quality, while Fantasy is good but still not on the same level. It’s all too easy to envision a scenario where Fantasy comes equipped with a strong 5 fact push, only to have Stork survive by the skin of his teeth and become a late game juggernaut.



Nonetheless, Fantasy is always well prepared for Bo5 series, and we can expect him to bring some interesting one-time-only strategies. Dropships don’t typically figure into Fantasy’s everyday TvP plans, but he often brings them into play for important games (once before against Stork himself, at the Incruit final). Such strategies can circumvent the disadvantages that show up on a map when a game is played to length, so that’s a partial solution for the map pool.



Should he show up with a strategy that catches Stork completely off-guard, there’s an easy GG in it for the crown prince. If he can get that ‘easy’ win in hand, Fantasy is definitely good enough to claw out two more in straight-up play. A 3-2 in aforementioned fashion appears to be his most realistic winning scenario.



As for Stork, he's probably going to be his safe, standard self. While Stork could prepare a standard game plan for all five games and win the series, he could just as easily take a page out of Flash's book and mix in a cheese build. When opponents are terrified of your macro-management abilities, the cheese-rush becomes that much easier to mask.





Kwark's Prediction: Stork wins 3-0

+ Show Spoiler [He actually wrote it this week] +

Well, I'll be honest, I think Stork is going to win this. And not just because I think Fantasy is overrated and gave a shameful display in the semis (although that is undoubtably true) but because Stork is #1 PR right now and deserves it. Right now Stork is the best player in the world bar none. His play is a fusion of the strongest aspects of every Protoss player. He combines his own macro and reaver play (the best in the world) with the legendary pushbreaking ability of Jangbi, the harass of Bisu, the micro of Free and somehow avoids the spontaneous suicide of Kal. His builds are clever, ambitious and exploitative and he has the control to get the most out of it. Time and time again we've seen Stork use reavers to do the impossible and hold off pushes when he should have lost. If Fantasy lets Stork play the game Stork wants to, and Stork is pretty good at imposing his will on the game, he's going to lose. And lose badly. As we saw last week, Fantasy is awful. As we've seen all season Stork is amazing. From this I'm going to go with a 3-0 Stork win.



But, in the spirit of news around the world, I thought I'd ask the uninformed general populace who would win. I asked the TL eve corp (Editor's note: The degenerates who play the game EVE Online) who was gonna win and got the following.



"Stork"

"Stork"

"Stork"

"I'm a fan of Fantasy but I still think Stork is going to win"

"Stork is too good"

"Yeah, Stork is OP"

"Today, er, Song Byung Gu, yeah"



And the scores?

"3-1"

"3-1"

"3-0"

"3-1"

"3-0"



I'll be honest Fantasy, it's not looking good.



Milkis' Prediction: Stork wins 3-1

+ Show Spoiler + Fantasy will take at least one game via a very good build. There's no doubt that iloveoov and Flash will give Fantasy valuable builds and insight into Stork's play, and Fantasy is mechanical enough to be able to pull this off at least once perfectly. However, Stork's momentum is too good to be reckoned with -- Stork was never as good as he is now, and I believe Stork will use this opportunity to finally get himself out of the Kong Line.



Stork should be able to take the series quite easily, unless of course, Flash really is a genius and provides Fantasy with godly insight to be able to take it 3-2. But giving such insight to Fantasy is like giving pearls to swine -- Fantasy is too inconsistent to be able to dismantle Stork's monstrous momentum with raw skill alone -- and Fantasy lacks the game sense to use proper timing attacks. Hence, I believe Stork will take the series 3-1.



Wax's Prediction: Stork wins 3-2

+ Show Spoiler + I have too much respect for the amount of preparation and focus Fantasy puts into Bo5 series to think that he won't take two games somehow. Even so, I don't think he has a chance of actually causing an upset. Stork is just playing some incredibly good PvT right now, and nothing short of equally incredible TvP is going to stop it.



It all goes to show what a terrible friend Flash is. If he really cared about Fantasy, he would have stayed in the OSL to knock out Fantasy during one of the earlier rounds, as to save him the shame of a third silver medal.

The stats may say that Stork has a commanding lead over Fantasy, but their eleven meetings took place over an extended period of time. They have only played twice in the last year, with the most recent game taking place in July of 2010. While Stork won that meeting he had the advantage of playing on an incredibly carrier friendly map. In truth, Stork’s favorable record by itself doesn’t tell us much about what will happen this time around.Even though the peak of Fantasy’s TvP power has long passed, he is still an extremely skilled player. Since his showdown with Stork at the 2008 Incruit OSL, his TvP has never fallen below #2 in the world at worst.Recent results show he retains his core strength, playing an aggressive mid to early game matched by few. Though he can win games with just vultures , he is rarely given the opportunity anymore as Protoss players tend to play it safe and over-defend against this threat (using six, even seven pylon walls on the most open expansions). Even without contributions from his signature unit, Fantasy is always dangerous when he pushes On the other hand, his late game play has been inconsistent. Playing against Free , he was more than capable of deploying his army swiftly across a sprawling battlefield, staying on top of Protoss efforts to spread disorder and chaos. In other cases, against inferior opposition in Jaehoon and Tyson , he was unable to adequately deal with delaying tactics and had the plodding nature of his mech armies constantly exploited. Hit and run carriers in particular, are a problem. They seemed to unbalance his play, even in winning efforts like his game against Tempest What’s amazing is that this isn’t even Stork’s best statistical TvP stretch. His TvP tends to go through cycles between “really good” and “best in the world,” being at the latter at the moment.There hasn’t been a single “bad” win in the most recent batch, with most of them being ridiculously one-sided to boot. Carriers have featured prominently in this recent run, with many games following the pattern of Stork staying even with his opponent until the mid-game, and then casually winning after a carrier transition.Stork has shown a weakness to dropship tactics, often being caught completely unprepared. This was directly responsible for one of his two recent losses, where Hiya’s drops crippled Stork’s economy on map positions with obvious dropship abuse potential. Flash accounted for the other loss, where even Stork’s carriers couldn’t handle Flash’s “bat an eye and I’ll have half the map” macro ability.With all four maps favoring Protoss, the only way things could have been worse for Fantasy was if Aztec was drawn twice. Fortunately none of the maps really invite carrier abuse, which bodes well for Fantasy and his recent carrier woes. Even so, four of five games will be played on relatively wide open, macro friendly maps where Stork will feel very much at home.Though there’s no one thing that's going to seal Fantasy's doom, the deck is stacked against him as Stork has a moderate edge in every department.The styles match up favorably for Stork. Fantasy is great at early-mid aggression and harassment, but Stork is equally as good at rolling with those early jabs and transitioning into the late game. On the flipside, Stork’s late game management (especially when it includes carriers) is of unsurpassed quality, while Fantasy is good but still not on the same level. It’s all too easy to envision a scenario where Fantasy comes equipped with a strong 5 fact push, only to have Stork survive by the skin of his teeth and become a late game juggernaut.Nonetheless, Fantasy is always well prepared for Bo5 series, and we can expect him to bring some interesting one-time-only strategies. Dropships don’t typically figure into Fantasy’s everyday TvP plans, but he often brings them into play for important games (once before against Stork himself, at the Incruit final). Such strategies can circumvent the disadvantages that show up on a map when a game is played to length, so that’s a partial solution for the map pool.Should he show up with a strategy that catches Stork completely off-guard, there’s an easy GG in it for the crown prince. If he can get that ‘easy’ win in hand, Fantasy is definitely good enough to claw out two more in straight-up play. A 3-2 in aforementioned fashion appears to be his most realistic winning scenario.As for Stork, he's probably going to be his safe, standard self. While Stork could prepare a standard game plan for all five games and win the series, he could just as easily take a page out of Flash's book and mix in a cheese build. When opponents are terrified of your macro-management abilities, the cheese-rush becomes that much easier to mask.Stork wins 3-0Stork wins 3-1Stork wins 3-2



Get well soon, Violet.

I have to say, Korean Air really spoiled us with their Finals venues. First we got an aircraft hanger where the players were lowered from the ceiling or entered via jet plane. Then in season 2, the OSL went international by holding the final in Shanghai.And for the 2010 Bacchus OSL ...We're going back to Gwangju.With a venue that holds around 9,000 people, the whole thing looks to be a relatively modest affair. If OnGameNet wants to up the energy factor here, they should again work with their sponsor. Okay, so Korean Air probably provided their hangar for their first OSL, and air travel for the entire OSL production crew for their second. Hard to top? Maybe if you didn't have the option to give away FREE BACCHUS. You get a throng of sufficiently caffeinated people, and there's no telling what could happen. Also, I hear that ban on vuvuzelas will be revoked just for this occasion.... Administrator Hey HP can you redo everything youve ever done because i have a small complaint?