Team aAa Profile Joined August 2014 France 8 Posts Last Edited: 2014-09-03 00:49:01 #1

This weekend, Flash conquered his first individual SCII title at IEM Toronto. And the least one can say is that he impressed, as if on parade. Without erecting a statue in his glory, symbol of the return of the God Terran, it is necessary to make a report of the tournament and to notice that you didn't need to be a seer to predict this result, and probably the next ones to come. Portrait of a living legend.





The Return of the King



FlaSh is a bonjwa (Korean locution describing a player who has dominated professional Starcraft for a long period of time), a winner and it’s in his blood. You just need to listen his post match interviews this weekend, where he reminded the audience several times that he was not one to bend under pressure. You have to agree that with his display, it is impossible to prove him wrong.



Is it needed to state again what a monster FlaSh was in Brood War ? Yes and no. Yes, because it’s undeniable that his great experience in Starcraft 1 helped to reach his current level and overcome obstacles without meeting a mental hurdle. No, because like most of the mythic Brood War players, the transition to Starcraft 2 was rather complicated. By the war, only Jaedong from the Brood War legends managed to win an individual in the second opus. Flash’s success in Starcraft 2 was not a foregone conclusion determined by his prowess in Brood War.



The first months of his transition are the best illustration, with only a few feats, except a lost final to Life in the first Heart of the Swarm MLG, where his hunting table was not that garnished. It was to the point that in a recent interview he confessed that by the discretion of his coach, he thought about switching to Protoss, which would have fit his style (based on turtling) more than Terran.





A good sketch of FlaSh’s Brood War play



But it didn’t happen, and FlaSh went back to Korea in order to train and look again at his classics. During a very long year, he progressively took shape, progressed until this mid 2014 where he managed, before this IEM, some remarkable performances. Firstly he’s the key player in the victory of his team KT Rolster in Proleague, finishing among the best in the tournament where he got key victories (notably in the playoff where he crushed sOs and Parting). Secondly, a stronger omen, he destroyed his opponents in the hardest league in the world: GSL’s Code S. He’s on the road to the championship after having won seven consecutive matches and dropping only one map. Here is what he has to say about his recent results :



“Since this year I changed my state of mind, I increased my training regiment and I began to really work on my strategies. It looks like I am beginning to collect the dividends.”

FlaSh is a bonjwa (Korean locution describing a player who has dominated professional Starcraft for a long period of time), a winner and it’s in his blood. You just need to listen his post match interviews this weekend, where he reminded the audience several times that he was not one to bend under pressure. You have to agree that with his display, it is impossible to prove him wrong.Is it needed to state again what a monster FlaSh was in Brood War ? Yes and no. Yes, because it’s undeniable that his great experience in Starcraft 1 helped to reach his current level and overcome obstacles without meeting a mental hurdle. No, because like most of the mythic Brood War players, the transition to Starcraft 2 was rather complicated. By the war, only Jaedong from the Brood War legends managed to win an individual in the second opus. Flash’s success in Starcraft 2 was not a foregone conclusion determined by his prowess in Brood War.The first months of his transition are the best illustration, with only a few feats, except a lost final to Life in the first Heart of the Swarm MLG, where his hunting table was not that garnished. It was to the point that in a recent interview he confessed that by the discretion of his coach, he thought about switching to Protoss, which would have fit his style (based on turtling) more than Terran.But it didn’t happen, and FlaSh went back to Korea in order to train and look again at his classics. During a very long year, he progressively took shape, progressed until this mid 2014 where he managed, before this IEM, some remarkable performances. Firstly he’s the key player in the victory of his team KT Rolster in Proleague, finishing among the best in the tournament where he got key victories (notably in the playoff where he crushed sOs and Parting). Secondly, a stronger omen, he destroyed his opponents in the hardest league in the world: GSL’s Code S. He’s on the road to the championship after having won seven consecutive matches and dropping only one map. Here is what he has to say about his recent results : FlaSh after his IEM Toronto ro8 victory over Snute.



It was not a big risk to predict that FlaSh would perform well in this IEM because it is simply the logical following step in his recent path. However the way and the final result still impressed. For the first time FlaSh was the player everyone expected him to be. A solid, dynamic, precise, present on every front player reading his opponents like an open book. And that feat in the three match-ups.





A lacking TvZ



FlaSh demonstrated with his last runs in GSL and Proleague that he was probably the best TvZer (he did not lost to a Zerg since 2 months), and it is still his best match up. It was a certitude coming to the IEM and the easy 2/0 over Scarlett, an expert in ZvT, was a warning for the next swarm player to cross his path.



However it was Snute, a foreigner zerg, who would be his toughest opponent of the IEM in the ro8. If you just look at the score without watching the match it looks like Snute was on par with the terran God. The Norwegian player, the perpetrator of beautiful game this last month, one of the best European macro player was indeed someone who could have fight head to head with FlaSh. After carefully watching the games, it appears that Snute went all-in whenever he could, using alternatively a Baneling Bust, a Violet Push or a Roach all-in. The games were not closed immediately after the attack, Snute managing to transition into a macro game after dealing enough damage to FlaSh. It’s nevertheless interesting to notice that against FlaSh, Snute clearly did not use his usual style.





It’s gonna hurt, babe



Did he think that FlaSh had studied him and that he would take advantage of that to surprise him ? Did he fear the fact that a macro-game was the terran comfort zone and that playing a “fair game” was risky ? There will never be an answer to these questions, but the fact that once FlaSh was down 2-0 in the bo5 he stopped being in danger. He managed masterfully the next three games, was never surprised by the aggressive strategies elected by Snute (he even did a very aggressive build in the third game, forcing a counter all-in from Snute). In a nutshell, despite the close score Flashed demonstrated that he was way superior to Snute in this ro8, Snute tactics looking like a desperate attempt.



FlaSh’s TvZ is quite unique. He is one of the few top Terrans to play without widow mines, using bio (marines and especially marauders) backed up by a bit of mech (hellbats and the very important thors). This style allows him to avoid the randomness of mine shots (subject to both randomness and zerg micro), and keeping control of the outcome of any battle where the Terran micro is the deciding factor. It is without a doubt one of the deciding factor in FlaSh’s dominance in the match-up, his unique style forcing the Zergs to adapt and go out of their comfort zone.



FlaSh did not get the opportunity to show off the fortitude of his TvZ like he did in the GSL. Many hoped for a final against Life in order to get revenge from the 2012 MLG final. He still managed to send a message to every other pretender after easily coming back from being down 2-0: his weakness, if he has one, will not be mental.





TvT, Mech it happen !



Going in his match vs TaeJa, FlaSh found himself in a relatively confident position. A day ago while the FlaSh vs Snute match was played, Taeja was asked who he would like to face. The Liquid terran answered that given the state of his TvT. facing Snute would be the better option. After having been rolled on 3-0 by Polt a few days ago in the final of Red Bull Battlegrounds Detroit, it was impossible to say that the Liquid player was a favorite going into this match. Another piece in the favor of FlaSh was his exclusive choice to go mech. He had said in an earlier interview that it reminded him of Brood War TvT, that he was confident in the raven’s potential and that it was easier on his arm (if you notice the scar on the back of his right arm, it is the result from a surgical operation aimed to correct some problems caused by his training regiment). Mech play in TvT strains less on mechanics than bio play, especially when both style clash the bio player cannot take a frontal engagement into a sieged position without losing instantly the game.



That's a lot of ravens.



Confident, both in his mental and in his play itself, FlaSh began this bo5 against the best player playing outside of Korea. It is however TaeJa who took the upper hand by winning the first game. A gas first opening into banshees against some late defense from the ill-optimized 15 gas build from FlaSh gave a quick win to the Liquid player. The same mistake did not happen twice, and he tied up after a weird base-trade that the KeSPA player managed better than his opponent. The third game was without a doubt the best, delivering a clash of styles between mech and bio. Taeja displayed the full range of his skills, utilizing marvelously his multitask and positioning. Unfortunately for him FlaSh managed to accumulate a raven fleet and won the air battle that doomed TaeJa. If the Liquid player’s mid game was mastered at a very high level, FlaSh’s superiority in the late game prevailed.



The 4th and final game was way shorter but demonstrated FlaSh’s superiority over Taeja. On King Sejong Station, there are only a handful of TvT games where the position near the natural’s rocks is not exploited; there is a list of specific builds in order to take advantage of this feature. Taeja chose one of these but he did not take into account the cunning of FlaSh who broke the rocks early in the game and attacked Taeja’s army before he can positioned it. Taking such an advantage the rest was just a formality for FlaSh who used a counter attack, hellbat drops and a fast third base to force Taeja to surrender and come back home at a stage unusual for him.





What ? Where did the rock go ?



To sum up, FlaSh showed that he was intrinsically better than his opponent, having he better build orders and being on top in the nerves war on Merry Go Round. His main opening was a 15 gas (the go to build popularized by ForGG) making his early game almost unbreakable when executed correctly. His fast three starports strengthened his mid/late game, allowing to reach a stage where his management skills can shine. It is almost two months since he lost a TvT, with wins over Maru, Gumiho and Reality in the qualification for this IEM.





In TvP, the shield as a sword ?



Before talking about the final against Zest, it is important to talk about the only player who managed to beat FlaSh in the tournament: MC. The Bosstoss has a style that his extremely well-suited to play against FlaSh. The latter plays an extremely dynamic and aggressive TvP, with lots of multi-fronts. MC is one of the few Protoss who dares to play without Colossus and gets lots of immortals and an early blink, allowing him to be nearly drop proof. Taeja with his more solid and less risky play, who waits the good moment to strike, has way better odds against MC.



FlaSh’s TvP is by far the match-up where he is the least comfortable (with regards to his ratio, calling it the worst is stretching a bit too far) and it is one whom many call one of the best protoss in the world that he managed to beat with the undisputable score of 4-1. FlaSh and Zest are teammates, train together and we will see how it shaped the games.





That’s what you call a hero marine



Nothing too interesting in the first game except that Zest chose to go for a quick two base colossus all in that got scouted by a marine. Reacting quickly and countering efficiently the terran takes the advantage and close the game after a final defense that was still hard-fought. The next game is on King Sejong Station and shows FlaSh’s understanding of his teammates range of strategies. Zest did an immortal all in (like in one of the best game of the tournament, Taeja vs Zest g3) with a proxy robo that FlaSh scouts almost immediately. However, an excess of confidence after an initial promising defense from the terran leads him into an over commitment. Zest takes a lead and with his micro, the game shortly afterwards.





The moment when the protoss is disappointed



The third game is interesting to note FlaSh’s adaptation to Zest play. The protoss player has a tendency to play very aggressively, especially with his first colossi. After a blink opening dealt without trouble by FlaSh, next came a colossus push from Zest. It was without acknowledging FlaSh intelligent play, who perfectly read his opponent and got only two medivacs, late upgrades in order to produce more Vikings and ground army. It was a winning bet for the terran player, who dealt effortlessly with the assault and won the game.



The fourth game on Deadwing is probably the least interesting of the series because FlaSh did a combat shield timing which killed no less than 16 probes due to a misplaced placement of his mothership core from Zest. Contrary to most terrans, FlaSh gets his combat shield before stimpack, a move which has a double kisscool effect: better pressure since the marines get 10 extra hitpoints and a better defense against timings that come before stimpack is done since the research time is shorter. After his successful attack, FlaSh applies meticulously Artosis’s motto “when you are ahead, get more ahead” by tranquilly setting up his economy and his army, capitalizing on his advantage. Pushing with a 50 population lead, and dividing the small protoss army on several fronts, he forces Zest to give up and gg.





When there are more ghosts than zealots, you are in dire straits.



The last game that seals Zest’s fate is a true demonstration from FlaSh. Taking a quick hidden expansion on Nimbus, he outmacroed Zest very badly, and after toying a bit with him by making him run between his bases, he managed to perfectly pick several winning fights with his ghost and bio micro. Zest, who looked so much better than Yoda in the ro8, is totally dismantled and overpowered by FlaSh’s assaults, and the terran player imposing himself without too much trouble and get his first title under the applause of the Canadian public.





On the road to BlizzCon ?



FlaSh said it just after his victory, he is very happy to fulfill his promise of reaching a similar level in Starcraft 2 than in Brood War. After what we witnessed, successively in Proleague, in the GSL and this week end at Toronto we can consider him to be one of the world’s finest players. His proleague commitment with his team KT Rolster prevented him to go to other foreigner tournaments this year, he currently stands at a modest 34th place in the WCS ranking, while only the top 16 has a rendez-vous at blizzcon in November for the world finals.





We all pray Terran God !



The GSL is with the recent KeSPA cup the last opportunity to win WCS points in Korea, it was mandatory for FlaSh to win this IEM, getting in the blizzcon being one of his short term goals. He needs at least a top 4 in two competitions that are among the hardest in the world in order to get his trip to Anaheim and officially belonging to the top of the top. The next weeks look thrilling and decisive for FlaSh and some dreamers already call FlaSh as the first sc2 bonjwa. The chessboard is in place. The pieces are moving. The king is coming.





An article written by Only for Team aAa.

Many thanks to Imre and Padre for the translation.

You can support us by following : Only - Imre - Padre



It was not a big risk to predict that FlaSh would perform well in this IEM because it is simply the logical following step in his recent path. However the way and the final result still impressed. For the first time FlaSh was the player everyone expected him to be. A solid, dynamic, precise, present on every front player reading his opponents like an open book. And that feat in the three match-ups.FlaSh demonstrated with his last runs in GSL and Proleague that he was probably the best TvZer (he did not lost to a Zerg since 2 months), and it is still his best match up. It was a certitude coming to the IEM and the easy 2/0 over Scarlett, an expert in ZvT, was a warning for the next swarm player to cross his path.However it was Snute, a foreigner zerg, who would be his toughest opponent of the IEM in the ro8. If you just look at the score without watching the match it looks like Snute was on par with the terran God. The Norwegian player, the perpetrator of beautiful game this last month, one of the best European macro player was indeed someone who could have fight head to head with FlaSh. After carefully watching the games, it appears that Snute went all-in whenever he could, using alternatively a Baneling Bust, a Violet Push or a Roach all-in. The games were not closed immediately after the attack, Snute managing to transition into a macro game after dealing enough damage to FlaSh. It’s nevertheless interesting to notice that against FlaSh, Snute clearly did not use his usual style.Did he think that FlaSh had studied him and that he would take advantage of that to surprise him ? Did he fear the fact that a macro-game was the terran comfort zone and that playing a “fair game” was risky ? There will never be an answer to these questions, but the fact that once FlaSh was down 2-0 in the bo5 he stopped being in danger. He managed masterfully the next three games, was never surprised by the aggressive strategies elected by Snute (he even did a very aggressive build in the third game, forcing a counter all-in from Snute). In a nutshell, despite the close score Flashed demonstrated that he was way superior to Snute in this ro8, Snute tactics looking like a desperate attempt.FlaSh’s TvZ is quite unique. He is one of the few top Terrans to play without widow mines, using bio (marines and especially marauders) backed up by a bit of mech (hellbats and the very important thors). This style allows him to avoid the randomness of mine shots (subject to both randomness and zerg micro), and keeping control of the outcome of any battle where the Terran micro is the deciding factor. It is without a doubt one of the deciding factor in FlaSh’s dominance in the match-up, his unique style forcing the Zergs to adapt and go out of their comfort zone.FlaSh did not get the opportunity to show off the fortitude of his TvZ like he did in the GSL. Many hoped for a final against Life in order to get revenge from the 2012 MLG final. He still managed to send a message to every other pretender after easily coming back from being down 2-0: his weakness, if he has one, will not be mental.Going in his match vs TaeJa, FlaSh found himself in a relatively confident position. A day ago while the FlaSh vs Snute match was played, Taeja was asked who he would like to face. The Liquid terran answered that given the state of his TvT. facing Snute would be the better option. After having been rolled on 3-0 by Polt a few days ago in the final of Red Bull Battlegrounds Detroit, it was impossible to say that the Liquid player was a favorite going into this match. Another piece in the favor of FlaSh was his exclusive choice to go mech. He had said in an earlier interview that it reminded him of Brood War TvT, that he was confident in the raven’s potential and that it was easier on his arm (if you notice the scar on the back of his right arm, it is the result from a surgical operation aimed to correct some problems caused by his training regiment). Mech play in TvT strains less on mechanics than bio play, especially when both style clash the bio player cannot take a frontal engagement into a sieged position without losing instantly the game.Confident, both in his mental and in his play itself, FlaSh began this bo5 against the best player playing outside of Korea. It is however TaeJa who took the upper hand by winning the first game. A gas first opening into banshees against some late defense from the ill-optimized 15 gas build from FlaSh gave a quick win to the Liquid player. The same mistake did not happen twice, and he tied up after a weird base-trade that the KeSPA player managed better than his opponent. The third game was without a doubt the best, delivering a clash of styles between mech and bio. Taeja displayed the full range of his skills, utilizing marvelously his multitask and positioning. Unfortunately for him FlaSh managed to accumulate a raven fleet and won the air battle that doomed TaeJa. If the Liquid player’s mid game was mastered at a very high level, FlaSh’s superiority in the late game prevailed.The 4th and final game was way shorter but demonstrated FlaSh’s superiority over Taeja. On King Sejong Station, there are only a handful of TvT games where the position near the natural’s rocks is not exploited; there is a list of specific builds in order to take advantage of this feature. Taeja chose one of these but he did not take into account the cunning of FlaSh who broke the rocks early in the game and attacked Taeja’s army before he can positioned it. Taking such an advantage the rest was just a formality for FlaSh who used a counter attack, hellbat drops and a fast third base to force Taeja to surrender and come back home at a stage unusual for him.To sum up, FlaSh showed that he was intrinsically better than his opponent, having he better build orders and being on top in the nerves war on Merry Go Round. His main opening was a 15 gas (the go to build popularized by ForGG) making his early game almost unbreakable when executed correctly. His fast three starports strengthened his mid/late game, allowing to reach a stage where his management skills can shine. It is almost two months since he lost a TvT, with wins over Maru, Gumiho and Reality in the qualification for this IEM.Before talking about the final against Zest, it is important to talk about the only player who managed to beat FlaSh in the tournament: MC. The Bosstoss has a style that his extremely well-suited to play against FlaSh. The latter plays an extremely dynamic and aggressive TvP, with lots of multi-fronts. MC is one of the few Protoss who dares to play without Colossus and gets lots of immortals and an early blink, allowing him to be nearly drop proof. Taeja with his more solid and less risky play, who waits the good moment to strike, has way better odds against MC.FlaSh’s TvP is by far the match-up where he is the least comfortable (with regards to his ratio, calling it the worst is stretching a bit too far) and it is one whom many call one of the best protoss in the world that he managed to beat with the undisputable score of 4-1. FlaSh and Zest are teammates, train together and we will see how it shaped the games.Nothing too interesting in the first game except that Zest chose to go for a quick two base colossus all in that got scouted by a marine. Reacting quickly and countering efficiently the terran takes the advantage and close the game after a final defense that was still hard-fought. The next game is on King Sejong Station and shows FlaSh’s understanding of his teammates range of strategies. Zest did an immortal all in (like in one of the best game of the tournament, Taeja vs Zest g3) with a proxy robo that FlaSh scouts almost immediately. However, an excess of confidence after an initial promising defense from the terran leads him into an over commitment. Zest takes a lead and with his micro, the game shortly afterwards.The third game is interesting to note FlaSh’s adaptation to Zest play. The protoss player has a tendency to play very aggressively, especially with his first colossi. After a blink opening dealt without trouble by FlaSh, next came a colossus push from Zest. It was without acknowledging FlaSh intelligent play, who perfectly read his opponent and got only two medivacs, late upgrades in order to produce more Vikings and ground army. It was a winning bet for the terran player, who dealt effortlessly with the assault and won the game.The fourth game on Deadwing is probably the least interesting of the series because FlaSh did a combat shield timing which killed no less than 16 probes due to a misplaced placement of his mothership core from Zest. Contrary to most terrans, FlaSh gets his combat shield before stimpack, a move which has a double kisscool effect: better pressure since the marines get 10 extra hitpoints and a better defense against timings that come before stimpack is done since the research time is shorter. After his successful attack, FlaSh applies meticulously Artosis’s motto “when you are ahead, get more ahead” by tranquilly setting up his economy and his army, capitalizing on his advantage. Pushing with a 50 population lead, and dividing the small protoss army on several fronts, he forces Zest to give up and gg.The last game that seals Zest’s fate is a true demonstration from FlaSh. Taking a quick hidden expansion on Nimbus, he outmacroed Zest very badly, and after toying a bit with him by making him run between his bases, he managed to perfectly pick several winning fights with his ghost and bio micro. Zest, who looked so much better than Yoda in the ro8, is totally dismantled and overpowered by FlaSh’s assaults, and the terran player imposing himself without too much trouble and get his first title under the applause of the Canadian public.FlaSh said it just after his victory, he is very happy to fulfill his promise of reaching a similar level in Starcraft 2 than in Brood War. After what we witnessed, successively in Proleague, in the GSL and this week end at Toronto we can consider him to be one of the world’s finest players. His proleague commitment with his team KT Rolster prevented him to go to other foreigner tournaments this year, he currently stands at a modest 34th place in the WCS ranking, while only the top 16 has a rendez-vous at blizzcon in November for the world finals.The GSL is with the recent KeSPA cup the last opportunity to win WCS points in Korea, it was mandatory for FlaSh to win this IEM, getting in the blizzcon being one of his short term goals. He needs at least a top 4 in two competitions that are among the hardest in the world in order to get his trip to Anaheim and officially belonging to the top of the top. The next weeks look thrilling and decisive for FlaSh and some dreamers already call FlaSh as the first sc2 bonjwa. The chessboard is in place. The pieces are moving. The king is coming.You can support us by following : aAaGaming against All authority