Road to BlizzCon #15 - SKT.INnoVation - WCS 2015 Text by TL.net ESPORTS Graphics by shiroiusagi, dravernor Story

Player Spotlight

Analysis The Road to Blizzcon - Ch XV - INnoVation







Chapter XV Streets of Fire by lichter







How quickly remembered.



INnoVation stood before the gates of Glostalea, his army behind him. This was the site of heroism, of despair, of legend, of history, and Mount Mvp cast a shadow on the capital in the morning sun. This was the very last step in INnoVation's campaign against the forces of ByuL, against whom many of his kin had fallen. The zerg leader was the one general that had halted the march of his mechanical army, and the tattered capital, nearing the end of its reign, would be his last defense.



"The Machine", as he was known, was not chosen. He was not baptized the savior of his race. And yet he was the last terran to control Glostalea before his ignominious defeat during the blizzard of yesteryear.



That, of course, was the Great Rebellion. INnoVation had just fulfilled his ambition to control the capital, but he had not the time to celebrate before he was recalled into action immediately. It was a gathering of the world's greatest generals, and INnoVation was chief among the terran.



The scepter preyed upon their deepest desires, and brother turned against brother in order to become the one true king. As INnoVation stormed into the keep, he trampled upon the hapless HyuN before locking into a stalemate against a familiar foe. It was the terran TaeJa, in the sunset of his military career.



They kept their distance and traded blows, but were chanced upon by the castle guards. Neither man noticed as the snipers readied their guns and fired, but it was INnoVation's back that was turned. Three rounds interrupted the duel, and INnoVation cried in agony, the first time anyone had ever seen him so unmistakably disturbed.



He was irate and slew the men where they stood, but TaeJa knew that this fight was his for the taking. He probed with patience and took his time, observing his opponent's blooming wounds. INnoVation pressed on, but he could not last much longer with a bullet in his back. His resentment grew with the pool of blood at his feet, and he collapsed with a view of the castle obstructed by the flight of other usurpers.



He awoke in a hospital bed a few weeks later, the world changed without him. His apprentice, Dream, had taken over his role as SKT's terran commander. His nemesis, Life, possessed the scepter of power as well as the capital. His rival, Maru, was now the leader of terran. Nothing was the same.



His failure during the Great Rebellion weighed heavily upon him, and his assignments in the new order reflected his loss in stature. He was no longer at the vanguard of the most important campaigns. Instead, he settled petty disputes against the lower clans of Prime and Samsung. His record was spotless and his power evident, yet others continued to rise in his stead. INnoVation seethed with envy, but he was resigned to mopping up insignificant bogs in the outskirts of Spostalea. He spent months in those dire marshes, and it wasn't until a fortuitous conflict arose that he regained the trust of the elders.



Across the world, one of their overseas interests in Ayem was being threatened by foreigners. With their numbers committed elsewhere, INnoVation was fielded for what would become the turning point in his year. Despite his obvious talents, he had always struggled when sent to battle across the sea, but with domestic opportunities few, this was INnoVation's only chance to prove his worth once more. He settled the dispute without much fuss and claimed his first international victory.



Upon his return he appeared refreshed, and he climbed back up the ranks with a string of authoritative expeditions. The maturation of technology favored the terran campaign, yet no terran could best the likes of ByuL, Rogue, Classic or herO. They had shuffled their decks more than once—first to TaeJa, then to Maru, then to Dream, and then even to GuMiho—but with perseverance, INnoVation's name was once more on top. He strode directly towards the capital, and now he was back to where it all began.



INnoVation stood before the gates of Glostalea, his prize before him. This would be the site of his heroism, of ByuL's despair, the sequel of his legend, the closing chapter in the history of a great city. Mount Mvp cast a shadow upon him, and he understood the challenge. This would be the end of his campaign, regardless of the result.



Yet ByuL left him little time to contemplate the significance of the moment, when his supply lines were raided by a murder of mutalisks. Without turrets in place and with his army beside him, he turned his back upon the gate and withdrew. His men scrambled to repair the damage, and the Machine was visibly vexed. ByuL would not wait for him to rally his troops, however, and another early attack followed. This time, the terran army was prepared, and held the rush before immediately counterattacking. Finally, INnoVation entered the city gates, and his army set up their bunkers within view of NesTea's Stronghold.



His advantage clear, INnoVation grew overconfident. Instead of sieging from a distance, he chose to deploy his infantry and invade what was left of Fruitdealer Market. He was unaware, however, that much had changed since his last visit, and that the area had been remodeled into a fractured canyon. His forces were repeatedly trapped in unfamiliar channels, and with a whimper his first assault was routed. Still, he held a secure position, and he finally entrenched himself for a war of attrition. Camped in Minchul Square, INnoVation watched as waves of zerg smashed into the mechanical meat grinder. Perhaps fatigued from a year of war, ByuL showed none of the craft and creativity that had butchered the best that terran had to offer. Instead he hemorrhaged his command until his army seized control of the majority of urban Glostalea.



Engagements occurred well into the afternoon, and the sun struck Mount Mvp with an ominous glow. INnoVation knew that ByuL's energy had to have been spent and that the specter of another grand defeat had robbed him of his determination. The district just below the hallowed mountain was ByuL's last stronghold, and INnoVation had camped just across it.



ByuL was pinned against the monument of his former lord and he recalled his days as a page in the Greatest One's army. His divine resoluteness resembled the mountain's own, and the broken zerg commander resolved to perish under a worthy sword. He marshaled all that was left of his swarm, directed them through the hidden back streets of the city, and prepared for the terminal charge.



Only to realize that it was too late.



ByuL's desperate attack proved unwise, and the remnants of his forces joined the dust of growing ruin. He had decided to fall with his creatures and to finally end his tortured existence, but those most loyal to him compelled him to escape.



"There is still so much you have to accomplish!"



"You're the only one that can save us."



"It is not your time."



The zerg commander was tired, too tired. Yet he understood the responsibility that his powdering bones had to carry, and he was forced to retreat on the very last ultralisk in his army. The narrow alleyways of the Gangnam district masked his escape, but the battered walls that offered him shadows soon became his coffin. His scattered footsteps startled a mine that had lain dormant since the start of the battle and it fired into the building beside him. Although he had avoided the explosion, he and his beast were thrown into a cul de sac and disappeared under the crumbling ramparts. His forces fled, leaving his grave unmarked and his final hurdle again unconquered. There was no moment of silence for the year's glorious loser, the gears of terran cheering into the city.



INnoVation walked into the central plaza undisputed, a year after he had first fulfilled his dream of becoming its ruler. As his nerves discharged and his hands stopped shaking, he surveyed his conquest only to realize he had won an empty state. Glostalea was no longer the pinnacle of civilization or the light of a nation, but a shell ready to be abandoned. The penalties of war; the dues of time; the price of greatness. His triumph was bittersweet, mired in low definition. This was the fruit of his labor, but not the city he had known. This was the end of an era.



As he subjected himself to the rinds of his nostalgia, one of his lieutenants approached him with a message, breaking his distaste. "It's General Dream, sir. He's left to chase after Classic. He said there was a scepter."



INnoVation looked puzzled. He had warned the younger general about his overeager quest for revenge, and that it had begun to consume him. Dream had idolized INnoVation upon joining the SKT clan, and he had developed into the land's most feared raider under his tutelage. Yet INnoVation could do little to soothe him after his failure in Spostalea and Classic's betrayal. Dream shut everyone out during his recovery, and while other terrans grew in stature as the year wore on, Dream eschewed the fashionable army of mech against zerg and forced his aggressive strategies. And now the young man was off to fight for a scepter he was not prepared to win.



At that moment, INnoVation finally accepted that he had been an inadequate mentor; that he had taught Dream how to fight but not how to lead. Still, he had grown weary of his ward even though he knew that he had to swallow his frustration for the good of terran and SKT. He was conflicted. He remembered every time he had held Dream in his arms after defeat, and he remembered the magnificent scepter that he had been so close to claiming.



"Sir, your orders? The city is burning." And he remembered where he was standing.



He held the capital in his arms, but everyone else had left. A more important prize lay in store to the West, as the city would mean nothing without the palace. His protege, Dream, had gone to pursue the tormentor Classic, but the older terran knew that a greater ambition had covered the young man in blisters. He tried—in vain, as it was obvious to everyone—to assuage the bullets from last year's rebellion. Yet he was just like any other man, overcome by the pangs of vengeance. He rationalized—a lie, as it was obvious to everyone—that his was a mission of peace and unification: first, to mend the bonds of his quarreled clanmates; and second, to fly one flag over castle and capital, to bring order to a chaotic land. Yet could a man of such preternatural talents watch as others contested the singular symbol of power in the world?



He gathered his remaining forces and razed the city behind him. Not out of madness, but out of need. He understood that the metropolis had lost its influence and that a new kingdom required a worthy imperial seat. Thus, he marched west, the embers of an ancient city granting him passage in the night, the final Lord of Glostalea.



"I am the capital, and I will be king."



The brightest lantern on the continent flickered and expired forever.







How quickly forgotten.How quickly remembered.INnoVation stood before the gates of Glostalea, his army behind him. This was the site of heroism, of despair, of legend, of history, and Mount Mvp cast a shadow on the capital in the morning sun. This was the very last step in INnoVation's campaign against the forces of ByuL, against whom many of his kin had fallen. The zerg leader was the one general that had halted the march of his mechanical army, and the tattered capital, nearing the end of its reign, would be his last defense."The Machine", as he was known, was not chosen. He was not baptized the savior of his race. And yet he was the last terran to control Glostalea before his ignominious defeat during the blizzard of yesteryear.That, of course, was the Great Rebellion. INnoVation had just fulfilled his ambition to control the capital, but he had not the time to celebrate before he was recalled into action immediately. It was a gathering of the world's greatest generals, and INnoVation was chief among the terran.The scepter preyed upon their deepest desires, and brother turned against brother in order to become the one true king. As INnoVation stormed into the keep, he trampled upon the hapless HyuN before locking into a stalemate against a familiar foe. It was the terran TaeJa, in the sunset of his military career.They kept their distance and traded blows, but were chanced upon by the castle guards. Neither man noticed as the snipers readied their guns and fired, but it was INnoVation's back that was turned. Three rounds interrupted the duel, and INnoVation cried in agony, the first time anyone had ever seen him so unmistakably disturbed.He was irate and slew the men where they stood, but TaeJa knew that this fight was his for the taking. He probed with patience and took his time, observing his opponent's blooming wounds. INnoVation pressed on, but he could not last much longer with a bullet in his back. His resentment grew with the pool of blood at his feet, and he collapsed with a view of the castle obstructed by the flight of other usurpers.He awoke in a hospital bed a few weeks later, the world changed without him. His apprentice, Dream, had taken over his role as SKT's terran commander. His nemesis, Life, possessed the scepter of power as well as the capital. His rival, Maru, was now the leader of terran. Nothing was the same.His failure during the Great Rebellion weighed heavily upon him, and his assignments in the new order reflected his loss in stature. He was no longer at the vanguard of the most important campaigns. Instead, he settled petty disputes against the lower clans of Prime and Samsung. His record was spotless and his power evident, yet others continued to rise in his stead. INnoVation seethed with envy, but he was resigned to mopping up insignificant bogs in the outskirts of Spostalea. He spent months in those dire marshes, and it wasn't until a fortuitous conflict arose that he regained the trust of the elders.Across the world, one of their overseas interests in Ayem was being threatened by foreigners. With their numbers committed elsewhere, INnoVation was fielded for what would become the turning point in his year. Despite his obvious talents, he had always struggled when sent to battle across the sea, but with domestic opportunities few, this was INnoVation's only chance to prove his worth once more. He settled the dispute without much fuss and claimed his first international victory.Upon his return he appeared refreshed, and he climbed back up the ranks with a string of authoritative expeditions. The maturation of technology favored the terran campaign, yet no terran could best the likes of ByuL, Rogue, Classic or herO. They had shuffled their decks more than once—first to TaeJa, then to Maru, then to Dream, and then even to GuMiho—but with perseverance, INnoVation's name was once more on top. He strode directly towards the capital, and now he was back to where it all began.INnoVation stood before the gates of Glostalea, his prize before him. This would be the site of his heroism, of ByuL's despair, the sequel of his legend, the closing chapter in the history of a great city. Mount Mvp cast a shadow upon him, and he understood the challenge. This would be the end of his campaign, regardless of the result.Yet ByuL left him little time to contemplate the significance of the moment, when his supply lines were raided by a murder of mutalisks. Without turrets in place and with his army beside him, he turned his back upon the gate and withdrew. His men scrambled to repair the damage, and the Machine was visibly vexed. ByuL would not wait for him to rally his troops, however, and another early attack followed. This time, the terran army was prepared, and held the rush before immediately counterattacking. Finally, INnoVation entered the city gates, and his army set up their bunkers within view of NesTea's Stronghold.His advantage clear, INnoVation grew overconfident. Instead of sieging from a distance, he chose to deploy his infantry and invade what was left of Fruitdealer Market. He was unaware, however, that much had changed since his last visit, and that the area had been remodeled into a fractured canyon. His forces were repeatedly trapped in unfamiliar channels, and with a whimper his first assault was routed. Still, he held a secure position, and he finally entrenched himself for a war of attrition. Camped in Minchul Square, INnoVation watched as waves of zerg smashed into the mechanical meat grinder. Perhaps fatigued from a year of war, ByuL showed none of the craft and creativity that had butchered the best that terran had to offer. Instead he hemorrhaged his command until his army seized control of the majority of urban Glostalea.Engagements occurred well into the afternoon, and the sun struck Mount Mvp with an ominous glow. INnoVation knew that ByuL's energy had to have been spent and that the specter of another grand defeat had robbed him of his determination. The district just below the hallowed mountain was ByuL's last stronghold, and INnoVation had camped just across it.ByuL was pinned against the monument of his former lord and he recalled his days as a page in the Greatest One's army. His divine resoluteness resembled the mountain's own, and the broken zerg commander resolved to perish under a worthy sword. He marshaled all that was left of his swarm, directed them through the hidden back streets of the city, and prepared for the terminal charge.Only to realize that it was too late.ByuL's desperate attack proved unwise, and the remnants of his forces joined the dust of growing ruin. He had decided to fall with his creatures and to finally end his tortured existence, but those most loyal to him compelled him to escape."There is still so much you have to accomplish!""You're the only one that can save us.""It is not your time."The zerg commander was tired, too tired. Yet he understood the responsibility that his powdering bones had to carry, and he was forced to retreat on the very last ultralisk in his army. The narrow alleyways of the Gangnam district masked his escape, but the battered walls that offered him shadows soon became his coffin. His scattered footsteps startled a mine that had lain dormant since the start of the battle and it fired into the building beside him. Although he had avoided the explosion, he and his beast were thrown into a cul de sac and disappeared under the crumbling ramparts. His forces fled, leaving his grave unmarked and his final hurdle again unconquered. There was no moment of silence for the year's glorious loser, the gears of terran cheering into the city.INnoVation walked into the central plaza undisputed, a year after he had first fulfilled his dream of becoming its ruler. As his nerves discharged and his hands stopped shaking, he surveyed his conquest only to realize he had won an empty state. Glostalea was no longer the pinnacle of civilization or the light of a nation, but a shell ready to be abandoned. The penalties of war; the dues of time; the price of greatness. His triumph was bittersweet, mired in low definition. This was the fruit of his labor, but not the city he had known. This was the end of an era.As he subjected himself to the rinds of his nostalgia, one of his lieutenants approached him with a message, breaking his distaste. "It's General Dream, sir. He's left to chase after Classic. He said there was a scepter."INnoVation looked puzzled. He had warned the younger general about his overeager quest for revenge, and that it had begun to consume him. Dream had idolized INnoVation upon joining the SKT clan, and he had developed into the land's most feared raider under his tutelage. Yet INnoVation could do little to soothe him after his failure in Spostalea and Classic's betrayal. Dream shut everyone out during his recovery, and while other terrans grew in stature as the year wore on, Dream eschewed the fashionable army of mech against zerg and forced his aggressive strategies. And now the young man was off to fight for a scepter he was not prepared to win.At that moment, INnoVation finally accepted that he had been an inadequate mentor; that he had taught Dream how to fight but not how to lead. Still, he had grown weary of his ward even though he knew that he had to swallow his frustration for the good of terran and SKT. He was conflicted. He remembered every time he had held Dream in his arms after defeat, and he remembered the magnificent scepter that he had been so close to claiming."Sir, your orders? The city is burning." And he remembered where he was standing.He held the capital in his arms, but everyone else had left. A more important prize lay in store to the West, as the city would mean nothing without the palace. His protege, Dream, had gone to pursue the tormentor Classic, but the older terran knew that a greater ambition had covered the young man in blisters. He tried—in vain, as it was obvious to everyone—to assuage the bullets from last year's rebellion. Yet he was just like any other man, overcome by the pangs of vengeance. He rationalized—a lie, as it was obvious to everyone—that his was a mission of peace and unification: first, to mend the bonds of his quarreled clanmates; and second, to fly one flag over castle and capital, to bring order to a chaotic land. Yet could a man of such preternatural talents watch as others contested the singular symbol of power in the world?He gathered his remaining forces and razed the city behind him. Not out of madness, but out of need. He understood that the metropolis had lost its influence and that a new kingdom required a worthy imperial seat. Thus, he marched west, the embers of an ancient city granting him passage in the night, the final Lord of Glostalea."I am the capital, and I will be king."The brightest lantern on the continent flickered and expired forever.





Stats are from Aligulac.com







Cut to the start of 2015, and those same flaws were still present. Losses began to pile up in Proleague, while a record of one starleague quarterfinal reached in four attempts was a grave disappointment, alongside his second round exit to a struggling Zest at the IEM World Championships. However, something clicked inside him after his Season 2 failures. He switched up his play style for the first time—jettisoning the bio style that had first lifted him to lofty heights as a debutante—picking up mech play in both TvZ and TvT. An easy cruise through the IEM gamescom bracket (albeit with a defeat to FanTaSy in the groups) brought him his first silverware of the year, but it was his victory against Zest in the GSL quarterfinals in Season 3 that truly excited us. For the first time, we saw INnoVation tailor a set of fresh builds specifically for an opponent, brushing past the KT ace with a convincing 3-1. That he followed up with similarly well-planned victories over previous nemeses Maru and ByuL to claim his second GSL title elevated him back into contention for a spot at the tip of the Korean SC2 pyramid.



This isn’t wholly new, of course. We’ve seen an in-form INnoVation show up to foreign events in the past, before woefully underperforming. Compare and contrast his online win rate for the year achieved in the comfort of the teamhouse—over 75%, with 70+% records in all three matchups—to his meek surrender against TaeJa this time last year when technical problems ravaged the flow of their quarterfinal clash. He may be showing up with new tricks, but conquering the pressure of events like BlizzCon will be his final test.



WCS Points:





Top 5 Games







1. INnoVation vs Life, IEM Katowice 2015 - Vaani Research Station

“Anything Dream can do, I can do better.” While it’s unfortunate that INnoVation will likely never utter those words in an interview, the desire to upstage his teammate must have been strong coming into his double header against Life in the GSL and at the IEM World Championships. Life may have taken the bragging rights with a 3-2 win in the GSL quarterfinals, but in Poland, INnoVation returned the favour. With the scores locked at 2-2, hellbat banshee was the build of choice from INnoVation. It’s been Life’s perennial weakness all year long, and yet again it proved to be his downfall. The initial aggression did its part, stifling the zerg economy, before a succession of drops left Life reeling. A snipe on both Life’s evo chambers left INnoVation 2 upgrades up, but an incredible engagement from the zerg suddenly brought him back into the game. A mutalisk counter took out the terran natural, leaving INnoVation reliant on one final all-in with his maxed out army. With great widow mine connections, his 3/3 marines crushed through the 2/2 zerg, leaving Life with his head in his hands as mules rained down from the heavens.







2. INnoVation vs ByuL, SSL Season 2 - King Sejong Station

While INnoVation’s TvZ was once indisputably the best in the world, ByuL has proven himself in 2015 to be the finest anti-bio zerg we’ve seen yet. Prior to their mech battles of the second half of the year, they first played out this bio series in the SSL Challenge, with the pick of the games coming on King Sejong Station. INnoVation’s ability to continuously perish to baneling busts nearly cost him again, losing a large chunk of army as well as mining at the natural, before just about managing to stabilize with his last batch of marines. ByuL’s attack may have been strong, but it still didn’t do enough damage, and with 3/3 on the way for INnoVation, the terran wasn’t out of the game yet. Constant muta harassment may have been annoying, but INnoVation’s defence held strong while the superior efficiency of his troops began to tell, and a final maxed out push ended ByuL’s resistance.







3. INnoVation vs Zest, GSL Season 3 - Echo

While INnoVation vs Roach-Bane deserves a shoutout, TvP has been the SKT terran’s weak link for quite a while. Despite displaying solid ghost play on the rare occasions that he has decided to tech up, his go-to standard has forever been the SCV pull. Just as zergs began to hit him with early busts, protoss have been taking advantage of his predictability with ease. A perfect example was his defeat in the Proleague Round 4 playoff finals to Zest less than a week before their GSL encounter, where Zest couldn’t have been more prepared for the inevitable mid game all-in had he turned on maphacks. INnoVation’s departure from the norm here thus caused a great disturbance in the force. Widow mine drops are pretty standard fare in TvP, but INnoVation’s twist on the formula was to rush out drilling claws. This led to a Maru-esque cavalier attitude, ignoring Zest’s stalkers to simply drop straight into the mineral line with immediate results. Zest struck back with a DT drop, but a misguided attempt to take a third was too greedy. An immediate counter was far too much for the protoss to handle, as INnoVation turned on the style to sandwich Zest’s meager army between a wave of marine marauder and a line of fast burrowing mines.









4. INnoVation vs Maru, GSL Season 3 - Vaani Research Station

Remember what happened the last time INnoVation met Maru in a starleague semifinal? The young Prime prodigy’s brain scrambling mind games led to a rapid 4-0, and it was arguably the start of INnoVation’s decline in 2013 and loss of his status as ‘Best Player in the World’. While the reverberations of INnoVation’s successful 4-1 reversal this time round weren’t quite as impactful, there was still the sense that this represented a changing of the guard following Maru’s dominance in the early year. On Vaani Research Station, INnoVation gave us a clinic in how to play mech vs bio/tank in TvT. Despite losing a large chunk of his army after overcommitting to harass at Maru’s third, INnoVation still managed to gain control of his side of the map, setting up his fourth and maxing out.



A mass drop by Maru in the main did significant damage, but reinforcing tanks allowed the SKT terran to stabilize. With both sides posturing for position and time, INnoVation’s army was soon replenished and back in business. A banshee transition caught Maru off-guard, dealing significant damage to his mostly marauder/tank composition, and a subsequent attack from INnoVation allowed him to set up a forward camp deep in Jin Air territory. Banshees continued to deal out consistent damage, while INnoVation’s enormous tank count meant that Maru couldn’t engage. The fourth and fifth were taken out in quick succession, before a final siege up at the main ramp left Maru out of options.







5. INnoVation vs sOs, SPL Grand Finals - Vaani Research Station

After we were treated to Dream and Maru’s back and forth TvT in game 2, we all thought that we’d seen the game of the finals. Happily enough, INnoVation and sOs proceeded to prove us very, very wrong indeed. Ever since the widow mine buff last year, templar play in PvT has been essentially nonexistent; here, sOs tried his hardest to bring it back. An archon drop in the natural, along with a gigantic warp in, started the madness as sOs caught INnoVation with his army on the other side of the map. Successful defense left INnoVation on nearly double the army supply of his opponent, but a failure to convert his advantage again left openings at home for the protoss to exploit. DT drops ravaged the natural, while huge zealot warp-ins in the main helped to reduce the deficit. Back and forth the two players went, but the overwhelming macro of INnoVation and cost efficiency of his army slowly began to make its effect felt. sOs fought valiantly all the way, but with ghosts blanketing his army with EMPs, he could only watch on helplessly as INnoVation took SKT to match point.



Since his debut in late Wings of Liberty, INnoVation has forever been depicted as the pure mechanical ideal made flesh and blood. Certainly, that characteristic was the ability that drove him to such success in the early days after switching over. Think of the ruthlessly punishing parade pushes in early HotS TvZ—grinding down his opponents by both sheer numbers and effortless finesse—or of his unparalleled success in the hellbat era. However, despite the strength of his gameplay in each matchup, the predictability of his strategies soon came to haunt him. Roach-bane all-ins compelled SoulKey to a reverse all-kill in the GSL Finals, while protoss everywhere soon learnt to harass early or prepare for the inevitable SCV pull. His one true strength—executing a strategy perfectly time after time—had become his biggest weakness.Cut to the start of 2015, and those same flaws were still present. Losses began to pile up in Proleague, while a record of one starleague quarterfinal reached in four attempts was a grave disappointment, alongside his second round exit to a struggling Zest at the IEM World Championships. However, something clicked inside him after his Season 2 failures. He switched up his play style for the first time—jettisoning the bio style that had first lifted him to lofty heights as a debutante—picking up mech play in both TvZ and TvT. An easy cruise through the IEM gamescom bracket (albeit with a defeat to FanTaSy in the groups) brought him his first silverware of the year, but it was his victory against Zest in the GSL quarterfinals in Season 3 that truly excited us. For the first time, we saw INnoVation tailor a set of fresh builds specifically for an opponent, brushing past the KT ace with a convincing 3-1. That he followed up with similarly well-planned victories over previous nemeses Maru and ByuL to claim his second GSL title elevated him back into contention for a spot at the tip of the Korean SC2 pyramid.This isn’t wholly new, of course. We’ve seen an in-form INnoVation show up to foreign events in the past, before woefully underperforming. Compare and contrast his online win rate for the year achieved in the comfort of the teamhouse—over 75%, with 70+% records in all three matchups—to his meek surrender against TaeJa this time last year when technical problems ravaged the flow of their quarterfinal clash. He may be showing up with new tricks, but conquering the pressure of events like BlizzCon will be his final test.“Anything Dream can do, I can do better.” While it’s unfortunate that INnoVation will likely never utter those words in an interview, the desire to upstage his teammate must have been strong coming into his double header against Life in the GSL and at the IEM World Championships. Life may have taken the bragging rights with a 3-2 win in the GSL quarterfinals, but in Poland, INnoVation returned the favour. With the scores locked at 2-2, hellbat banshee was the build of choice from INnoVation. It’s been Life’s perennial weakness all year long, and yet again it proved to be his downfall. The initial aggression did its part, stifling the zerg economy, before a succession of drops left Life reeling. A snipe on both Life’s evo chambers left INnoVation 2 upgrades up, but an incredible engagement from the zerg suddenly brought him back into the game. A mutalisk counter took out the terran natural, leaving INnoVation reliant on one final all-in with his maxed out army. With great widow mine connections, his 3/3 marines crushed through the 2/2 zerg, leaving Life with his head in his hands as mules rained down from the heavens.While INnoVation’s TvZ was once indisputably the best in the world, ByuL has proven himself in 2015 to be the finest anti-bio zerg we’ve seen yet. Prior to their mech battles of the second half of the year, they first played out this bio series in the SSL Challenge, with the pick of the games coming on King Sejong Station. INnoVation’s ability to continuously perish to baneling busts nearly cost him again, losing a large chunk of army as well as mining at the natural, before just about managing to stabilize with his last batch of marines. ByuL’s attack may have been strong, but it still didn’t do enough damage, and with 3/3 on the way for INnoVation, the terran wasn’t out of the game yet. Constant muta harassment may have been annoying, but INnoVation’s defence held strong while the superior efficiency of his troops began to tell, and a final maxed out push ended ByuL’s resistance.While INnoVation vs Roach-Bane deserves a shoutout, TvP has been the SKT terran’s weak link for quite a while. Despite displaying solid ghost play on the rare occasions that he has decided to tech up, his go-to standard has forever been the SCV pull. Just as zergs began to hit him with early busts, protoss have been taking advantage of his predictability with ease. A perfect example was his defeat in the Proleague Round 4 playoff finals to Zest less than a week before their GSL encounter, where Zest couldn’t have been more prepared for the inevitable mid game all-in had he turned on maphacks. INnoVation’s departure from the norm here thus caused a great disturbance in the force. Widow mine drops are pretty standard fare in TvP, but INnoVation’s twist on the formula was to rush out drilling claws. This led to a Maru-esque cavalier attitude, ignoring Zest’s stalkers to simply drop straight into the mineral line with immediate results. Zest struck back with a DT drop, but a misguided attempt to take a third was too greedy. An immediate counter was far too much for the protoss to handle, as INnoVation turned on the style to sandwich Zest’s meager army between a wave of marine marauder and a line of fast burrowing mines.Remember what happened the last time INnoVation met Maru in a starleague semifinal? The young Prime prodigy’s brain scrambling mind games led to a rapid 4-0, and it was arguably the start of INnoVation’s decline in 2013 and loss of his status as ‘Best Player in the World’. While the reverberations of INnoVation’s successful 4-1 reversal this time round weren’t quite as impactful, there was still the sense that this represented a changing of the guard following Maru’s dominance in the early year. On Vaani Research Station, INnoVation gave us a clinic in how to play mech vs bio/tank in TvT. Despite losing a large chunk of his army after overcommitting to harass at Maru’s third, INnoVation still managed to gain control of his side of the map, setting up his fourth and maxing out.A mass drop by Maru in the main did significant damage, but reinforcing tanks allowed the SKT terran to stabilize. With both sides posturing for position and time, INnoVation’s army was soon replenished and back in business. A banshee transition caught Maru off-guard, dealing significant damage to his mostly marauder/tank composition, and a subsequent attack from INnoVation allowed him to set up a forward camp deep in Jin Air territory. Banshees continued to deal out consistent damage, while INnoVation’s enormous tank count meant that Maru couldn’t engage. The fourth and fifth were taken out in quick succession, before a final siege up at the main ramp left Maru out of options.After we were treated to Dream and Maru’s back and forth TvT in game 2, we all thought that we’d seen the game of the finals. Happily enough, INnoVation and sOs proceeded to prove us very, very wrong indeed. Ever since the widow mine buff last year, templar play in PvT has been essentially nonexistent; here, sOs tried his hardest to bring it back. An archon drop in the natural, along with a gigantic warp in, started the madness as sOs caught INnoVation with his army on the other side of the map. Successful defense left INnoVation on nearly double the army supply of his opponent, but a failure to convert his advantage again left openings at home for the protoss to exploit. DT drops ravaged the natural, while huge zealot warp-ins in the main helped to reduce the deficit. Back and forth the two players went, but the overwhelming macro of INnoVation and cost efficiency of his army slowly began to make its effect felt. sOs fought valiantly all the way, but with ghosts blanketing his army with EMPs, he could only watch on helplessly as INnoVation took SKT to match point.

INnoVation vs Zest

Code S 2015 Season 3 Ro8 - Echo LE

by: Jer



At the end of the expansion, you’d imagine that the game would have been figured out for the most part. The meta game’s pretty stable, and all the matchups are figured out, right? Apparently not for INnoVation. Even in the last legs of HotS, he’s been able to find new builds and execute them to perfection to claim easy wins. Widow mine drop builds have been around for a long time, and protoss players have been having an easier and easier time figuring them out and holding them. But when you mix in a completely new way to do them, things get a little tricky for protoss players as we saw in the first set of INnoVation vs Zest in the GSL Season 3 2015 quarter finals.



Right out of the gates we saw something unorthodox. The standard in TvP is to go for a reaper opening through rax then gas, but INnoVation went for a gas first. This signified that he wanted to do an aggressive play, and an aggressive play he did. Meanwhile on the other side of the map, Zest went for a standard 1 gas expansion build. The first scout came from Zest with a probe, and he sent it across the map to see what INnoVation was doing. While not seeing any structures, he did see an early hellion, which essentially gave away the gas first opening. Zest’s response was to chronoboost a stalker, and while it did kill the hellion, the hellion scouted the entire base of Zest.





Back in INnoVations base, he continued with his aggressive opening by getting a second gas. His build incorporated six marines by the 5:30 mark (which is a standard oracle timing) and a widow mine. This infrastructure came at the cost of his economy; INnoVation had yet to start a second command center, while Zest had already completed his second nexus. The game took a sharp turn when INnoVation dropped an armory at 5:30. This is an extremely early armory, and is normally only done in TvZ for an early hellbat push. What no one saw coming was INnoVation’s true intention: fast drilling claws. He would do the Maru style of continuously dropping widow mines to keep Zest pinned in his base, while he himself would get his tech up and running.







This build was timed out very nicely. INnoVation planned this build around the armory timing, while having money for a medivac immediately after the startport finished, and widow mine production never ceased. When the medivac finished, he sent it across the map with a single widow mine, while a contingency force of six marines and another mine would move on foot to Zest’s natural. Behind this, INnoVation would start his addons with a reactor on the barracks, and a tech lab on the factory. Finally, a command center was placed in his natural after claiming map control with the pushout. Predictably, when the armory finished, INnoVation had just enough resources to start the upgrade immediately; this just shows how well INnoVation had prepared this build. The widow mine drop in Zest's main base killed off a single probe, while his push was denied by photon overcharge. This was all expected though, as protoss players have figured out the terran timings revolving around widow mine drops and marine pressure at the front.



Following the first drop and marine pressure, INnoVation pulled back and waited for his drilling claws upgrade to finish. Once the upgrade finished, he swapped the barracks and factory on their addons, and started stim and double widow mine production. From there, he would try to find openings around stalkers and use his widow mines to kill off probes. An opportunity presented itself right after drilling claws finished; Zest was distracted by a potential marine drop in his natural, and INnoVation took advantage of the situation by dropping the main base with two mines. These drilled unexpectedly fast for Zest, and a late probe pull only made it worse for him as he lost twelve in total to the duo mines.









This gave INnoVation a big lead in the game. He had his second and third barracks on the way, his bio upgrades well underway, and had the continuous threat of widow mine drops over Zest's mind. Zest had to play conservatively at this point; another widow mine drop could have hit him at any time, and so he had to keep his stalkers guarding each mineral line. The only safe pressure that Zest could apply would be through a warp prism, and that’s exactly what he did. INnoVation was unable to scout the dark shrine that Zest had made, and the latter somehow got a warp prism though all of the map vision that INnoVation had. A DT drop in the main base of INnoVation picked off nine SCVs, and slowly Zest was crawling back into the game. Behind the drop came a third nexus, which was a risky decision considering how much Zest had invested into the dark templars and how little defense he had against a push.





After defending the DT drop with some SCV losses, INnoVation pushed across the map with his forces. He realized how little Zest could have had with the early investment into stalkers, dark templar drops, and an early third base. His ground army could pulverize anything Zest had back at home. His five barracks production with constant widow mines and medivacs would be more than enough to finish the game outright. He pushed across the map, with the threat of drops still lingering, and took a decisive fight at the third base of Zest. Zest didn’t have his full army defending the third base because there were still widow mine drops on the outskirts of his base, and at that point any decision he could have made would have lost him the game. INnoVation also had medivacs full of widow mines that he would boost on top of Zest's army and, combined with the drilling claw upgrade, destroy what was left of Zest's army. An overwhelming bio force charged into Zest's natural, and a last ditch effort to defend the push was made by Zest, only to be widow mine dropped in the main base again, dealing the final blow.







click here to watch the game



At the end of the expansion, you’d imagine that the game would have been figured out for the most part. The meta game’s pretty stable, and all the matchups are figured out, right? Apparently not for INnoVation. Even in the last legs of HotS, he’s been able to find new builds and execute them to perfection to claim easy wins. Widow mine drop builds have been around for a long time, and protoss players have been having an easier and easier time figuring them out and holding them. But when you mix in a completely new way to do them, things get a little tricky for protoss players as we saw in the first set of INnoVation vs Zest in the GSL Season 3 2015 quarter finals.Right out of the gates we saw something unorthodox. The standard in TvP is to go for a reaper opening through rax then gas, but INnoVation went for a gas first. This signified that he wanted to do an aggressive play, and an aggressive play he did. Meanwhile on the other side of the map, Zest went for a standard 1 gas expansion build. The first scout came from Zest with a probe, and he sent it across the map to see what INnoVation was doing. While not seeing any structures, he did see an early hellion, which essentially gave away the gas first opening. Zest’s response was to chronoboost a stalker, and while it did kill the hellion, the hellion scouted the entire base of Zest.Back in INnoVations base, he continued with his aggressive opening by getting a second gas. His build incorporated six marines by the 5:30 mark (which is a standard oracle timing) and a widow mine. This infrastructure came at the cost of his economy; INnoVation had yet to start a second command center, while Zest had already completed his second nexus. The game took a sharp turn when INnoVation dropped an armory at 5:30. This is an extremely early armory, and is normally only done in TvZ for an early hellbat push. What no one saw coming was INnoVation’s true intention: fast drilling claws. He would do the Maru style of continuously dropping widow mines to keep Zest pinned in his base, while he himself would get his tech up and running.This build was timed out very nicely. INnoVation planned this build around the armory timing, while having money for a medivac immediately after the startport finished, and widow mine production never ceased. When the medivac finished, he sent it across the map with a single widow mine, while a contingency force of six marines and another mine would move on foot to Zest’s natural. Behind this, INnoVation would start his addons with a reactor on the barracks, and a tech lab on the factory. Finally, a command center was placed in his natural after claiming map control with the pushout. Predictably, when the armory finished, INnoVation had just enough resources to start the upgrade immediately; this just shows how well INnoVation had prepared this build. The widow mine drop in Zest's main base killed off a single probe, while his push was denied by photon overcharge. This was all expected though, as protoss players have figured out the terran timings revolving around widow mine drops and marine pressure at the front.Following the first drop and marine pressure, INnoVation pulled back and waited for his drilling claws upgrade to finish. Once the upgrade finished, he swapped the barracks and factory on their addons, and started stim and double widow mine production. From there, he would try to find openings around stalkers and use his widow mines to kill off probes. An opportunity presented itself right after drilling claws finished; Zest was distracted by a potential marine drop in his natural, and INnoVation took advantage of the situation by dropping the main base with two mines. These drilled unexpectedly fast for Zest, and a late probe pull only made it worse for him as he lost twelve in total to the duo mines.This gave INnoVation a big lead in the game. He had his second and third barracks on the way, his bio upgrades well underway, and had the continuous threat of widow mine drops over Zest's mind. Zest had to play conservatively at this point; another widow mine drop could have hit him at any time, and so he had to keep his stalkers guarding each mineral line. The only safe pressure that Zest could apply would be through a warp prism, and that’s exactly what he did. INnoVation was unable to scout the dark shrine that Zest had made, and the latter somehow got a warp prism though all of the map vision that INnoVation had. A DT drop in the main base of INnoVation picked off nine SCVs, and slowly Zest was crawling back into the game. Behind the drop came a third nexus, which was a risky decision considering how much Zest had invested into the dark templars and how little defense he had against a push.After defending the DT drop with some SCV losses, INnoVation pushed across the map with his forces. He realized how little Zest could have had with the early investment into stalkers, dark templar drops, and an early third base. His ground army could pulverize anything Zest had back at home. His five barracks production with constant widow mines and medivacs would be more than enough to finish the game outright. He pushed across the map, with the threat of drops still lingering, and took a decisive fight at the third base of Zest. Zest didn’t have his full army defending the third base because there were still widow mine drops on the outskirts of his base, and at that point any decision he could have made would have lost him the game. INnoVation also had medivacs full of widow mines that he would boost on top of Zest's army and, combined with the drilling claw upgrade, destroy what was left of Zest's army. An overwhelming bio force charged into Zest's natural, and a last ditch effort to defend the push was made by Zest, only to be widow mine dropped in the main base again, dealing the final blow.













