I've had my eye on a certain progamer for awhile now. Ever since the return from the off-season, Tempest has put together a solid season, a respectable start for a rising progamer. His amateur replays are well known for their unbelievable macro. Last season, he beat Pure on Katrina in one of the more impressive moments of micro that made GARIMTO and Nal_rA nudge each other in glee (he also lost to Zeus in a pretty good timing proxy). He has been 4-3 since this August, losing to RuBy, FrOzean and Pure.
Tempest versus Pure, 4th Set, Proleague 2007
Some of the best zealot versus zealot micro since Garmito at 5:30, and Garmito acknowledging it at 6:50
The lack of Protoss on KTF's bench is clear after Reach and Nal_rA left. LuCifer and Violet aren't the type of Protoss needed to carry KTF through Proleague or its subsequent playoffs. Flash and Luxury can only carry the KTF so far. Tempest has the opportunity to fill the void left by Kang Min and Park Jung Suk and carry on the legacy of KTF.
Although the amount of games Tempest has played this season is small, his games indicate that he's going to be an exciting player to watch. Excluding his PvP against Pure (which, I'm not sure of, because I haven't seen the VOD yet), Tempest has shown that his play, at least at the mid-tier level, is superior.
Tempest has had a mixed bag of wins. The thing most striking about them are their unorthodoxy. The closes thing to a standard game was Luxury, who ended up trying a largely ineffective run-by. In Tempest's second most standard game, DarkElf chokes, loses his first tank in the FD against 2 goons and a zeal. then Tempest cleans up the game, following up his quick nexus with two 10+ kill DT and again, rushes tech. Tempest 12 nexus'ed against Fantasy, fending off the bunker rush and rushing straight into DT after that. Finally, he cannon rushes RuBy, Nal_rA style, winning the game in an exciting manner as he proxy DT techs behind RuBy's main to finish him off.
Tempest versus Luxury, MSL Survivor
Tempest versus Darkelf, MSL Survivor
Tempest versus Fantasy, MSL Group Stage
Tempest versus Ruby, MSL Group Stage
I cannot ignore the losses the games that Tempest has lost. Or his single proleague game, where he apparently sucked (and lost). But past that, his loses are as elucidating as his wins and indicate where his game is weak and where he must improve if he is to be the player that he can be.
Tempest versus Ruby, MSL Group Stage
In his game against RuBy, Tempest shows that he is still a macro player. He delays his Arbiter tech until after he's taken his fourth base. He builds ninety supply worth of pylons at his natural. He eventually loses because of solid vulture harass from RuBy and, although he breaks RuBy's army the first time, Tempest fails to shut down any of RuBy's expos and RuBy's macro and grades kick in. Although Tempest's army is up to par, his tech isn't. Tempest's army melts beneath RuBy's push.
Tempest versus Frozean. MSL Survivor
Against FrOzean, Tempest again loses to vulture harass. Tempest again goes for an early nexus-dt build. In potentially the biggest what-the-fuck moment of the year (the obs don't even catch it), DarkElf sneaks vultures into Tempest's main and kills many probes and scouts the dark templar tech. Tempest sprint techs into Arbiter but can't fend off the vulture harass that caps his macro and eventually is crushed against FrOzean's push.
The vulture harass indicate some of the biggest weaknesses in Tempest's style. It could indicate many things, weak mini-map eyes, slow hands, poor multitasking, or the inability to close the seams in his builds. Tempest also shows he's vulnerable to big army pushes without tech, which he has a tendency to delay in favor of more expos. He also doesn't like harassing, another skill that Tempest must be willing to incorporate into his game play to become a championship caliber player.
At the same time, Tempest shows his mechanics are solid. In both his games versus Fantasy and DarkElf, he shows that his micro is solid, taking out the FD with minimal units and both of Fantasy's bunkers without batting an eye. In all games, Tempest ends the games with an unheard of number of gateways in his main. Tempest's macro and micro should not be the limiting factor of his game play.
Tempest plays with flair that is instrumental in any good player. He is pioneering a new Protoss build which ultimately might become the norm: A Reach-esque 1 zeal before gas and core, a nexus plant after the 2nd goon, into a sprint toward DT drop that diverges into more expos or Arbiter tech. It seems to be a strong build, weak to vulture harass (note that in Tempest's game against DarkElf, Tempest fends off the vulture harass with one good and a pylon wall) and it has the potential to be the next development in PvT of the on going developments in PvT.
It is too early to see if Tempest will restore the glory of KTF Protosses. Tempest has shown he has been influenced by the KTF Protoss of yore– the cannon rush screamed rA and the way he charged Fantasy's natural was like something out of a Reach highlight video. Tempest may yet fill the shoes of Nal_rA and Reach, or he may just turn into just another Protoss. He could be a champion or a flop. His play to scrape himself out of his MSL groups seems to dictate his desire to innovate and be part of the former rather than the latter.
Last edit: 2008-10-10 14:13:24
Every time Jung Myung Hoon builds a vulture, two probes die.
thunk United States. October 10 2008 14:06. Posts 5608
As I looked up statistics to write this, I noted that KTF is truly Yellow's team: they have never won a first place in Proleague. They have gotten a whole lot of seconds though.
Luxury versus Tempest is some of the worst play out of Luxury I've ever seen. And there has been some bad play out of Luxury in his career. He took out like 6 probes total with 12 lings and accidentally canceled his lair. In an odd way, Tempest's unorthodoxy reminds me of Luxury; both show the desire to play beyond the book, not by the book. I hope Tempest grows beyond what Luxury is now.
Does anyone know how to find images on Formos and Fighter Forum and places like that? I'm having trouble with it, but I dunno if Tempest is the type of person to get his picture on any of those websites.
Every time Jung Myung Hoon builds a vulture, two probes die.
Tempest is showing alot of potential in MSL, but they were against terrans.
Problem with KTF (before lux came in) was that the majority of the team didn't have a decent player to practice with (only flash).
For example, Flash. Who is Flash's #1 training partner? Guess what hes not in KTF. Stork is Flash's #1 TvP partner (which explains why their TvP and PvT is great).
I mean training with Flash's TvP, Tempest has got to be good at PvT.
Oh heres the picture from fomos, he looks mad buttery though
< Post 5000 Countdown >
Avidkeystamper United States. October 10 2008 14:36. Posts 6666
When I saw his first game against Ruby, I was like HOLY FUCK that's a lot of zealots, but his game sense is a bit lacking, the first big attack was lacking HT's and just melted as a result.
щ(ﾟДﾟщ) Life keeps getting tougher and easier. Crazy Complex and Confusing.
I like to eat my poptarts with the frosting side face down so my tongue gets the full force of a big-bang of flavor.
ilovezil United States. October 10 2008 23:24. Posts 3572
Tempest)IS( is truly the definition of a macro player. I remember the small time period after my iccup binge and before my BW exodus, I looked at several games and replays with Tempest in it. He is very talented in determining the exact # of gates/expos/unit ratios, probably one reason why his macro is unbelievable. I also remember someone commenting the fact that another reason that Tempest's macro is off the charts is due to his zealot production ratio, since they are cheaper than goons.
In any case, great write up! I'll be watching some of these clips, expecting some epic games :D
GHOSTCLAW United States. October 11 2008 04:12. Posts 10240
His game against darkelf was...simply put, cheesy.
He has the tools, and he has shown signs of greatness, most notably in his macro wins. However, he hasn't yet shown that he can win a game straight up. The fact that his macro suffers from vulture harass (consistently) in a longer style game, and the fact that he hasn't played and won against any of the current (or even former) S class players leads me to suspect how well he might do. Also, in televised games the only zerg he has beaten was...luxury, which was noted.
He has potential as a rising player, but if he makes it, he'll play in the same form as flash-known for cheesy play when he first started, but now known as someone who has macro like no other. His other path is to go down as a cheesy, interesting player, like upmagic, who doesn't look like he's ever going to make it.
Liquipedia. Drop me a pm if you've got questions/need help.
thunk United States. October 10 2008 14:04. Posts 5608
Tekin October 10 2008 14:09. Posts 1405
MrHoon 
October 10 2008 14:33. Posts 4905![[image loading]](http://www.fomos.kr/board/interview/1223122982_1.jpg)
Avidkeystamper United States. October 10 2008 14:36. Posts 6666
ilovezil United States. October 10 2008 23:24. Posts 3572
GHOSTCLAW United States. October 11 2008 04:12. Posts 10240
