Series recap:

Series recap:





Young Seo 'TaeJa' Yoon Grand Final - Live Stream Min Chul 'MC' Jang 1 - 4



Game 1 Entombed Valley - Winner: TaeJa

Game 2 TSL4 Metropolis - Winner: TaeJa

Game 3 ESV Cloud Kingdom - Winner: MC

Game 4 GSL Daybreak - Winner: TaeJa

Game 5 TSL4 Antiga Shipyard - Winner: TaeJa



TaeJa beats MC 4-1 in the Grand Final, Congratulations to Taeja.



Series recap:

When we talk of a player like Min Chul 'MC' Jang the group stages become merely a formality. At the end of day 1 & day 2, Min Chul 'MC' Jang finds himself yet to lose a series.A lot of people were worried he would've been challenged in his second group stage, as it was by far the toughest group. But not MC, he dominated his group 2-0 and cruised into the Quarter finals.First up today in the Quarter Finals will be MC verse the Polish superstar Mana. The DreamHack Summer champion will be a tough hurdle for MC but can anyone challenge MC in his current form? time will tell.It was hard to argue that MC wasn't the favourite to take this series before a single game was played. But the games showed something that no one would have predicted. Not only did MC take the series 3-0 but the games were probably the most dominant performance in PvP we've seen from MC so far.In game 1 every decision MC made was perfect. His multitasking ability to hold the front while harassing the mineral line was just a step above MaNa. It's standard for MC to sit back and let his opponent try to break him which most of the time is their downfall. Once MC held the front it was just a matter of time before he pushed out and ended the game.Game 2 highlighted the swagger MC has in his games. Opting to open with a very fragile phoenix build. Although this was deflected doing very minimal damage. The game transitioned into both players standing off each other and building up a Collosus army. MaNa was forced to engage MC's army at his 3rd base, despite having a perfect engagement MC was able to hold and turn what looked like win for MaNa into an advantage for MC. Once MC got his mothership out he pushed his advantage even further and forced MaNa out of the game to take a 2:0 lead in the series.The final game of the series saw MC continue to be confident. Although going against his normal play of sitting back and defending. MC became the aggressor and set the pace of the game with his blink stalker opening. MC spotted the immortal transition from MaNa and once again making the perfect decision to fall back and expand.Once MC began to build up his Collosus, blink stalker army he caught MaNa out of position and punished him by cleaning up his entire army and took the series in a clean 3:0 sweep.MC's Semi final match was a lot bigger than many understand, the SK verse fnatic rivalry has been a big part of many games and now we have the continuation in StarCraft II.The opening game of the series started very standard, with both players going for quick expansions. MC would be the one to go on the offensive, with his feared Stargate play which was handled surprisingly well by Moon. The game from there became a stand off but that didn't last for long.Moon is known for his heavy drop play. Which was handled perfectly by MC, his control was exactly on point as he took minimal losses. MC was under a lot of pressure but he never looked like he was about to lose. The game was decided when Moon tried to attack at the natural and third of MC which was again deflected. All that was left was for MC to march across the map and end the game.Probes are a very dangerous unit in Protoss Vs Zerg but in the hands of MC it has the potential to lose you games. At the start of game 2, MC was able to not only deny the natural of Moon but he also forced a cancel on the third base which put Moon behind right from the start. Knowing this MC set up for his deadly 2 base Immortal timing push which once again Moon opted to use drops to defend. Which once again didn't go well for Moon. MC cleaned up the units of Moon and he once again moved into the natural and claimed a 2:0 lead in the Semi Final.Once again MC found himself in a position to take a series 3:0. He returned to his normal defensive play and let Moon be the aggressor. Moon set up for a multi pronged attack on the natural that was shut down by some of the best force fields we've ever seen. Yet again Moon decided he was going to go for drop play which did catch MC off guard but he reacted in time to prevent any damage to his tech structures but he did lose a lot of his main army.At this point Moon was very far behind and it was only a matter of time before MC rebuilt his army and his tech kicked in. From here on MC had eyes on Moon's army the entire time. Any move he made MC was there waiting for him. MC once again denied another attack from Moon at the third base which then gave MC the chance to push on for the win. However technical difficulties caused the game to lag and be paused which threw both players off balance. MC retreated to his 3rd to gather his army and himself. Once his mothership came out it was a battle of positioning which did favour Moon but the far superior army of MC crushed Moon and he was forced to GG out.MC is now in the Grand Final of ROG 2012. He has yet to drop a single map since group stages and will face a Taeja in the final. Stay tuned for updates on the final!The Grand Finals kicked off with the exact tempo we expected from these two. TaeJa is known for being very aggressive and he lived up to that, with some effective Hellion and Marine aggression. However he found himself behind economically and instantly threw down his third command centre. MC began teching expecting another push to come at anytime. MC once again deflected the aggression from TaeJa but most of the damage inflicted came from a pair of auto turrets killing around 10 probes.TaeJa continued to push the pace going into the mid game and became a battle of who could engage the best, TaeJa made his move and landed some perfectly placed EMPs and we saw MC's army evaporate and he called GG.Game 2 got off to a very quick start with TaeJa setting up for a cloaked Banshee opening. Although the Starport wasn't scouted MC showed his genius mind at work as he predicted the banshee opener and responded with his own Stargate play to intercept the Banshees, he managed to kill the first Banshee before cloak had finished. The second banshee slipped through the defence of MC and did some economical damage.The mid game was filled with action, both players going all out to see who could come out on top. MC had a huge advantage in terms of tech and army size but upgrades were his downfall. Taeja knew he was behind and if he didn't do something about it the game was over. With a last ditch effort to win he successfully broke MC's defence and took the win right from MC's hands.MC isn't a player to sit back and let someone walk over him, in game 3 MC shut down everything TaeJa could throw at him. With both players opening fairly standard it was on TaeJa to attack MC. TaeJa was in his comfort zone while setting up multiple drops around the map but MC showed us why he's one of the best players in the world. Defending every location without losing too much he got himself so far ahead.Moving out once he felt safe, he caught TaeJa's army in the middle of the map and cleaned him up, losing hardly any units. With a heavy advantage MC fell back and continued to get further and further ahead. With two very well positioned High Templars, MC dropped storms on the army of Taeja as he made a dash into MC's main base which secured him the win.With MC now back in the series they moved onto MC's choice of map, both players once again opted to open very standard taking their naturals fairly quickly. MC set himself up for his trademark 2 base timing push. This was scouted by TaeJa giving him enough time to set up defence. However MC pushed on and lost a few sentries in the middle of the map which forced him back to his base.Nothing seemed to be going MC's way. TaeJa had the perfect read on what his unit composition was going to be and denied MC from taking a fourth base. Regardless MC pushed out to try and take command of TaeJa. With amazing force fields and well placed storms he managed to deal a hefty blow to the army of TaeJa. However this wasn't enough and TaeJa sent waves of units towards MC's base. This was too much for MC to handle and he had to tap out after holding off for as long as he could.The series was now in Taeja's hands, he needed one more game to win the championship. The maps now moved onto the less favourable maps for MC. He decided to open a lot safer this time. TaeJa however was setting up for an aggressive mid game push timing attack. Antiga Shipyard is difficult map for Protoss, if you're not aware of the Terran's position it can cost you dearly.MC began his tech towards an Immortal gateway composition while upgrading but he was baited away from his main base which opened the door for TaeJa to drop into the main and wreak havoc. This assault of units continued for a few minutes with MC losing power to his entire gateway cluster. While dealing with the drop in the main TaeJa began an assault on the third base splitting up MC's army.MC however managed to barely defend the attack. But it wasn't enough, TaeJa had smelled blood and once again went on the offensive catching MC's army between the third base to force the GG and take the ROG 2012 Championship.