When the dust settled, Stats was forced to yield the stage to TY. Reduced to an afterthought, Stats deserve more recognition for his inarguably impressive tournament run. Highlighted by victories over TY, Neeb, jjakji, Nerchio, ByuN and Dark, it highlighted just how far Stats had come since playing second fiddle to Zest on KT Rolster. Despite the who’s who list of conquests, Stats was sent home without a trophy.
For Stats it’s just another stumble in a journey which has taken him all over the globe. He displayed excellence at Katowice, defeating formidable opponents in all three matchups; that alone confirms his status as the best Protoss in the world. Despite all the talk of Stats' failures he’s kept his nose to the grindstone, putting forth a dedicated effort in every event. He’s looked great in everything he's participated in over the past few weeks. Stats qualified for both VSL and SSL, one of only 5 players to do so (Solar, Zest, ByuL, Patience were the other four). He’s also locked up another trip to California with his semifinals appearance in TING Season 3.
How is Stats juggling so many plates with so little apparent effort? The first place to look is his PvZ and PvP. Stats posted a 13-3 mark in these matchups against foreign and Korean competition during March, including the aforementioned Dark and Nerchio as well as herO and Rogue.
One would think Stats would be disappointed to face a Terran in the semifinals. While the matchup has recovered somewhat from its disastrous 60% mark in Terran’s favor, Terran is still winning 55% of the time. PvT remains the most uneven matchup by a good margin, which would justify qualms in most players and especially for someone with a history of being unstable in PvT. However, Stats has ascended within the pantheon of new age ex-KeSPA Protoss gods to become their undisputed king. Through March Stats was 12-3 against Terran, with a series win against INnoVation in the quarterfinals a week earlier. He didn't discover anything revolutionary to pull this off; instead, he relied on his ability to optimize builds to give himself the best edges. He has made a matchup which many considered unwinnable appear easy with graceful play. Every decision looks effortless, every action crisp. Besides his attempts to open robo against TY, something he likely won’t duplicate versus Ryung, Stats almost always looks a step ahead.
There is no doubt that Stats is the clear favorite heading into the second semifinal. He’s the stronger player all around. He's shown himself superior at planning as well as executing strategies, more adaptable, wilier and the best Protoss in the world. The thing is, superlatives don’t mean anything and Stats knows this better than most.
Drowning in Mediocrity
1568 days.
That’s how much time has elapsed between Ryung’s GSL semifinal appearances. A little over 4 years, 10 GSL’s and 2 expansions later, Ryung finds himself in the same spot he was back in 2012.
He got close back in Season 2 of 2016. He gave eventual champion ByuN the most trouble during the latter's championship run. This time around he managed to clear the Round of 8 hurdle. He looked completely dominant in TvT against Maru, but isn’t that something people have come to expect from him? Ryung has always been viewed as a TvT expert and with his precarious shifts in forms in the other two, TvT has been his bedrock. Surprisingly his two deepest GSL runs have been built on the back of the non-mirror matchups. During that other semifinals run in 2012, Ryung didn’t play a single Terran until the Round of 8 when he defeated MarineKing. In this current campaign he only played Terran once out of 6 matches in the group stages.
How good is Ryung really? For a player who has advanced so deep in the hardest tournament in the world, you would expect him to shine in other events. Yet beyond GSL, he hasn't displayed the consistent form expected of a top-tier player. Ryung started off IEM well but was quickly disposed of by INnoVation. Since then he failed to appear at the VSL qualifiers and limped to a place in SSL Challenger League. Most of the time he swims neck deep in mediocrity, but his recent GSL showing and brief peaks of success early in Starcarft 2’s history suggest a potentially dangerous player lurks below the surface. All of this paints the picture of someone who can't put it all together for long stretches of time.
What exactly is keeping Ryung back, then? It can’t be a lack of experience. Ryung is one of the oldest veterans in the scene: Aligulac counts 2250 recorded games for Ryung, almost 1000 more than his opponent. It shouldn’t be mechanics – Ryung appears to be everywhere at once in TvT. Perhaps he lacks the series planning, game understanding or the killer instinct exhibited by players like sOs or Maru. Maybe his uneasy footing in TvZ and TvP never allowed him to constantly go the quarterfinals/semifinals of events beyond the lucky draw.
The bottom line is Ryung never steps up when the stakes are high. For all his games played since the launch of Starcraft 2, he is unfamiliar with a stage of this magnitude. If Ryung wants to finally break the semifinal barrier, he’ll have to transcend his leanings towards mediocrity and become the version of himself he needs to be.
More than a pretty face
Seeing these two facing off in 2017, it would be hard to tell they came from different worlds. Groomed for years in a KeSPA team house Stats was seen as a polished product, a KT protege who had refined his game to prefabricated specifications. Ryung, on the other hand, was one of many Brood War players who eagerly seized the opportunity to win fame and fortune in a new game.
Lately the community has been forced to question their perceptions of players like these two. Stats is no longer Zest’s sidekick whose only hallmark was unrealized potential. He has risen from the wreckage of KT Rolster as a new man, one who can be a champion like his former partner. One of the first to adopt the banner of a foreign team, Stats is also streaming and offering perspective on a man who had formerly been given so few opportunities to express himself. He is garnering new fans with his newly acquired, but not new, fun-loving reputation as much as he is wowing with his in-game skills.
Ryung is celebrating a coming-out party of sorts. He languished in anonymity for so long that it was easy to forget he still played, but his host of victories over the past 6 months have thrust him into the spotlight. Still perceived as somewhat of a TvT specialist, Ryung is little by little changing his reputation.
The first GSL of 2017 has offered unprecedented access to all participants. For players like Stats and Ryung, who have earned the most time to promote themselves, it has been exceptionally beneficial. It only took a few weeks to confirm that their newfound sponsors made a wise decision, as they quickly shed their old images.
Stats was a rising star perpetually ready to break out, while Ryung was never good enough to attract much attention. Besides their results, the community was never given much opportunity to form new opinions outside of those reputations. Now that they’ve gradually reshaped their public identities, there’s no going back. No longer are players cardboard cutouts. Stats and Ryung are perfect examples of how players are actual people, with complex emotions and personalities that exist beyond the games.
Yeah Ryung winning this would even be the greatest upset of GSL ever! Every terran is failling TvP, Ryung has been mediocre in every matchup bar TvT, terran has just been nerfed, Stats is currently on fire as well as the best protoss and very competent in PvT.
I would laugh so hard if Ryung manages to shock everyone and win (he'll barely be able to win one game off of some cheese I guess?) the bo7 but it's never going to happen. So I'll cheer for Ryung, the ultimate underdog.
This is probably the only match that I basically don't care who wins. Not a fan of either Stats or Ryung... But I guess I will root for the underdog AKA Ryung. Go Ryung!
On March 17 2017 22:47 TeamLiquid ESPORTS wrote: No longer are players cardboard cutouts. Stats and Ryung are perfect examples of how players are actual people, with complex emotions and personalities that exist beyond the games.
i totally disagree. players have no emotions or personalities.
thanks for the coverage... especially the details about Stats... i'm looking forward to the series!
On March 17 2017 23:25 Poopi wrote: Yeah Ryung winning this would even be the greatest upset of GSL ever! Every terran is failling TvP, Ryung has been mediocre in every matchup bar TvT, terran has just been nerfed, Stats is currently on fire as well as the best protoss and very competent in PvT.
I would laugh so hard if Ryung manages to shock everyone and win (he'll barely be able to win one game off of some cheese I guess?) the bo7 but it's never going to happen. So I'll cheer for Ryung, the ultimate underdog.
How is every Terran failing in TvP? That's so far from the truth. Besides, there have been far greater upsets in GSL than Ryung beating Stats.
On March 17 2017 23:05 Charoisaur wrote: this might be on paper the biggest mismatch in the gsl semifinals ever.
It'll be interesting to see what Stats has tweaked since IEM, I can see Ryung going for some of the same technical tank pushes that TY did. No way Ryung's gonna play for late game here
On March 17 2017 23:05 Charoisaur wrote: this might be on paper the biggest mismatch in the gsl semifinals ever.
It'll be interesting to see what Stats has tweaked since IEM, I can see Ryung going for some of the same technical tank pushes that TY did. No way Ryung's gonna play for late game here
naw, TRUE was good at ZvZ back then and even beat soO earlier that season. Plus, y'know ZvZ in general..
NesTea vs Hongun was the greatest semifinal beatdown I've ever seen. In fact, NesTea's entire 3rd gsl run was filled with mismatches aside from Losira xD
==
I agree with the 4-1 prediction for Stats. Still, Ryung pulling it out wouldn't be that insane. Occasionally he shows some good TvP.
Now, Ryung beating soO is just something I don't see at all. If that happened, I will truly believe soO is cursed and destined to never win gsl.
On March 17 2017 23:25 Poopi wrote: Yeah Ryung winning this would even be the greatest upset of GSL ever!
Not even close. Just a few off my head:
- San beating NesTea even in a bo1 back in the day
- Jjakji beating Leenock to win a gsl
- PartinG not making it out of a group of Terrans at the end of HotS
- Jinro beating MC twice to advance to the ro8
- TRUE destroying Zest in the ro8 with corruptor/queen/ling
and perhaps my all-time favorite, because it was totally fucking epic:
- DRG defeating Bogus in a bo3, all macro games
Ryung beating Stats in a bo7 is a far greater upset are you joking? Like San beating Nestea in bo1? It's bo1, Nestea lost a ton of ZvP on ladder... Jjakji was not the favorite but it wasn't that big of an upset. Again bo3, groups of death happens, not a big upset. Jinro beating MC is quite an upset but MC was cheesy and in the same team iirc so Jinro "just" had to play it smart. TRUE beating Zest? Ok so what? When?
DRG was the ZvT monster for a long time in WoL, him beating Bogus isn't especially an upset.
On March 17 2017 23:25 Poopi wrote: Yeah Ryung winning this would even be the greatest upset of GSL ever!
Not even close. Just a few off my head:
- San beating NesTea even in a bo1 back in the day
- Jjakji beating Leenock to win a gsl
- PartinG not making it out of a group of Terrans at the end of HotS
- Jinro beating MC twice to advance to the ro8
- TRUE destroying Zest in the ro8 with corruptor/queen/ling
and perhaps my all-time favorite, because it was totally fucking epic:
- DRG defeating Bogus in a bo3, all macro games
Ryung beating Stats in a bo7 is a far greater upset are you joking? Like San beating Nestea in bo1? It's bo1, Nestea lost a ton of ZvP on ladder... Jjakji was not the favorite but it wasn't that big of an upset. Again bo3, groups of death happens, not a big upset. Jinro beating MC is quite an upset but MC was cheesy and in the same team iirc so Jinro "just" had to play it smart. TRUE beating Zest? Ok so what? When?
DRG was the ZvT monster for a long time in WoL, him beating Bogus isn't especially an upset.
I really don't think a previous season semi finalist beating the previous season's champion was particularly an upset.
On March 17 2017 23:25 Poopi wrote: Yeah Ryung winning this would even be the greatest upset of GSL ever!
Not even close. Just a few off my head:
- San beating NesTea even in a bo1 back in the day
- Jjakji beating Leenock to win a gsl
- PartinG not making it out of a group of Terrans at the end of HotS
- Jinro beating MC twice to advance to the ro8
- TRUE destroying Zest in the ro8 with corruptor/queen/ling
and perhaps my all-time favorite, because it was totally fucking epic:
- DRG defeating Bogus in a bo3, all macro games
Retired man Taeja knocking out GSL champion Zest
TANGTANG knocking out Zest from Code A qualifiers
Wasn't even code S x). Iirc it was on LotV after Zest won his GSL, when he became bad for some time. Bo3 so not really a big upset, there is more variance in bo3 than in bo7.
It's a waste of time trying, Ryung beating Stats at that point in time would be the greatest GSL upset :o.
Like, Stats was eating chicken legs with his buddies jjakji and TY few days before his match... he was so chill. I don't understand Korean but I'm pretty sure he said to jjakji: "Ryung so bad in TvP you could beat him with your offrace Protoss!" (Jjakji played protoss for a few games on stream that day or a few days before).
Whereas Ryung was busy practicing, crying every time he lost to protoss.
On March 17 2017 23:25 Poopi wrote: Yeah Ryung winning this would even be the greatest upset of GSL ever!
Not even close. Just a few off my head:
- San beating NesTea even in a bo1 back in the day
- Jjakji beating Leenock to win a gsl
- PartinG not making it out of a group of Terrans at the end of HotS
- Jinro beating MC twice to advance to the ro8
- TRUE destroying Zest in the ro8 with corruptor/queen/ling
and perhaps my all-time favorite, because it was totally fucking epic:
- DRG defeating Bogus in a bo3, all macro games
Ryung beating Stats in a bo7 is a far greater upset are you joking? Like San beating Nestea in bo1? It's bo1, Nestea lost a ton of ZvP on ladder... Jjakji was not the favorite but it wasn't that big of an upset. Again bo3, groups of death happens, not a big upset. Jinro beating MC is quite an upset but MC was cheesy and in the same team iirc so Jinro "just" had to play it smart. TRUE beating Zest? Ok so what? When?
DRG was the ZvT monster for a long time in WoL, him beating Bogus isn't especially an upset.
On March 17 2017 23:25 Poopi wrote: Yeah Ryung winning this would even be the greatest upset of GSL ever!
Not even close. Just a few off my head:
- San beating NesTea even in a bo1 back in the day
- Jjakji beating Leenock to win a gsl
- PartinG not making it out of a group of Terrans at the end of HotS
- Jinro beating MC twice to advance to the ro8
- TRUE destroying Zest in the ro8 with corruptor/queen/ling
and perhaps my all-time favorite, because it was totally fucking epic:
- DRG defeating Bogus in a bo3, all macro games
Ryung beating Stats in a bo7 is a far greater upset are you joking? Like San beating Nestea in bo1? It's bo1, Nestea lost a ton of ZvP on ladder... Jjakji was not the favorite but it wasn't that big of an upset. Again bo3, groups of death happens, not a big upset. Jinro beating MC is quite an upset but MC was cheesy and in the same team iirc so Jinro "just" had to play it smart. TRUE beating Zest? Ok so what? When?
DRG was the ZvT monster for a long time in WoL, him beating Bogus isn't especially an upset.
On March 17 2017 23:25 Poopi wrote: Yeah Ryung winning this would even be the greatest upset of GSL ever!
Not even close. Just a few off my head:
- San beating NesTea even in a bo1 back in the day
- Jjakji beating Leenock to win a gsl
- PartinG not making it out of a group of Terrans at the end of HotS
- Jinro beating MC twice to advance to the ro8
- TRUE destroying Zest in the ro8 with corruptor/queen/ling
and perhaps my all-time favorite, because it was totally fucking epic:
- DRG defeating Bogus in a bo3, all macro games
Ryung beating Stats in a bo7 is a far greater upset are you joking? Like San beating Nestea in bo1? It's bo1, Nestea lost a ton of ZvP on ladder... Jjakji was not the favorite but it wasn't that big of an upset. Again bo3, groups of death happens, not a big upset. Jinro beating MC is quite an upset but MC was cheesy and in the same team iirc so Jinro "just" had to play it smart. TRUE beating Zest? Ok so what? When?
DRG was the ZvT monster for a long time in WoL, him beating Bogus isn't especially an upset.
1. I think you underestimate how much of a joke San was coming into that encounter. Also it was a drawn out macro game and NesTea probably lost a lot on ladder (he almost never streamed so who knows) but not offline, which is what the game was.
2. Are you kidding me? Jjakji beating Leenock was absurd and he did so in spectacular fashion. Leenock was the best ZvT at that point in time. He had just won MLG Providence coming from the open bracket, and recently defeated Mvp twice and MMA. Jjkaji had almost no TvZ data to back him and many were surprised he was even in a final.
3. Are you aware of PartinG's PvT record? Him not making it out of that group is like watching a shark get eaten by a pool of seals.
4. MC absolutely demolished Jinro 4-0 in the previous season so coming into the encounter it was seen as an even bigger mismatch than what you see here.
5. When did TRUE beat Zest? In the middle of 2014. In the year of Zest (second most dominant year ever). After Zest won a gsl. After Zest all-killed SKT. After Zest won the World Championship. After pretty much every Zerg before him (including soO and Soulkey) got rekt by Zest. That's when.
6. Yeah DRG was pretty sick in WoL, but this was in the early days of HotS, where DRG had pitiful results leading up to this encounter and was sadly looking to go the way of NesTea. Also consider, it had been month after month after month of Zergs being destroyed by Bogus. Bogus was so good at TvZ that going into a macro game against him was suicide. If he safely got 3 orbitals down, it felt like the Zerg was better off leaving the game. So for DRG of all people to show up one day and crush him at his own game was extraordinary.
On March 17 2017 23:25 Poopi wrote: Yeah Ryung winning this would even be the greatest upset of GSL ever!
Not even close. Just a few off my head:
- San beating NesTea even in a bo1 back in the day
- Jjakji beating Leenock to win a gsl
- PartinG not making it out of a group of Terrans at the end of HotS
- Jinro beating MC twice to advance to the ro8
- TRUE destroying Zest in the ro8 with corruptor/queen/ling
and perhaps my all-time favorite, because it was totally fucking epic:
- DRG defeating Bogus in a bo3, all macro games
Ryung beating Stats in a bo7 is a far greater upset are you joking? Like San beating Nestea in bo1? It's bo1, Nestea lost a ton of ZvP on ladder... Jjakji was not the favorite but it wasn't that big of an upset. Again bo3, groups of death happens, not a big upset. Jinro beating MC is quite an upset but MC was cheesy and in the same team iirc so Jinro "just" had to play it smart. TRUE beating Zest? Ok so what? When?
DRG was the ZvT monster for a long time in WoL, him beating Bogus isn't especially an upset.
1. I think you underestimate how much of a joke San was coming into that encounter. Also it was a drawn out macro game and NesTea probably lost a lot on ladder (he almost never streamed so who knows) but not offline, which is what the game was.
2. Are you kidding me? Jjakji beating Leenock was absurd and he did so in spectacular fashion. Leenock was the best ZvT at that point in time. He had just won MLG Providence coming from the open bracket, and recently defeated Mvp twice and MMA. Jjkaji had almost no TvZ data to back him and many were surprised he was even in a final.
3. Are you aware of PartinG's PvT record? Him not making it out of that group is like watching a shark get eaten by a pool of seals.
4. MC absolutely demolished Jinro 4-0 in the previous season so coming into the encounter it was seen as an even bigger mismatch than what you see here.
5. When did TRUE beat Zest? In the middle of 2014. In the year of Zest (second most dominant year ever). After Zest won a gsl. After Zest all-killed SKT. After Zest won the World Championship. After pretty much every Zerg before him (including soO and Soulkey) got rekt by Zest. That's when.
6. Yeah DRG was pretty sick in WoL, but this was in the early days of HotS, where DRG had pitiful results leading up to this encounter and was sadly looking to go the way of NesTea. Also consider, it had been month after month after month of Zergs being destroyed by Bogus. Bogus was so good at TvZ that going into a macro game against him was suicide. If he safely got 3 orbitals down, it felt like the Zerg was better off leaving the game. So for DRG of all people to show up one day and crush him at his own game was extraordinary.
cannot believe you put all that effort into shutting down Poopi of all people
On March 17 2017 23:25 Poopi wrote: Yeah Ryung winning this would even be the greatest upset of GSL ever!
Not even close. Just a few off my head:
- San beating NesTea even in a bo1 back in the day
- Jjakji beating Leenock to win a gsl
- PartinG not making it out of a group of Terrans at the end of HotS
- Jinro beating MC twice to advance to the ro8
- TRUE destroying Zest in the ro8 with corruptor/queen/ling
and perhaps my all-time favorite, because it was totally fucking epic:
- DRG defeating Bogus in a bo3, all macro games
Ryung beating Stats in a bo7 is a far greater upset are you joking? Like San beating Nestea in bo1? It's bo1, Nestea lost a ton of ZvP on ladder... Jjakji was not the favorite but it wasn't that big of an upset. Again bo3, groups of death happens, not a big upset. Jinro beating MC is quite an upset but MC was cheesy and in the same team iirc so Jinro "just" had to play it smart. TRUE beating Zest? Ok so what? When?
DRG was the ZvT monster for a long time in WoL, him beating Bogus isn't especially an upset.
1. I think you underestimate how much of a joke San was coming into that encounter. Also it was a drawn out macro game and NesTea probably lost a lot on ladder (he almost never streamed so who knows) but not offline, which is what the game was.
2. Are you kidding me? Jjakji beating Leenock was absurd and he did so in spectacular fashion. Leenock was the best ZvT at that point in time. He had just won MLG Providence coming from the open bracket, and recently defeated Mvp twice and MMA. Jjkaji had almost no TvZ data to back him and many were surprised he was even in a final.
3. Are you aware of PartinG's PvT record? Him not making it out of that group is like watching a shark get eaten by a pool of seals.
4. MC absolutely demolished Jinro 4-0 in the previous season so coming into the encounter it was seen as an even bigger mismatch than what you see here.
5. When did TRUE beat Zest? In the middle of 2014. In the year of Zest (second most dominant year ever). After Zest won a gsl. After Zest all-killed SKT. After Zest won the World Championship. After pretty much every Zerg before him (including soO and Soulkey) got rekt by Zest. That's when.
6. Yeah DRG was pretty sick in WoL, but this was in the early days of HotS, where DRG had pitiful results leading up to this encounter and was sadly looking to go the way of NesTea. Also consider, it had been month after month after month of Zergs being destroyed by Bogus. Bogus was so good at TvZ that going into a macro game against him was suicide. If he safely got 3 orbitals down, it felt like the Zerg was better off leaving the game. So for DRG of all people to show up one day and crush him at his own game was extraordinary.
So basically only true vs Zest was a comparable upset, but ZvP was easier back then than TvP right now, and Ryung has even less chances than TRUE to win!
On March 17 2017 23:25 Poopi wrote: Yeah Ryung winning this would even be the greatest upset of GSL ever!
Not even close. Just a few off my head:
- San beating NesTea even in a bo1 back in the day
- Jjakji beating Leenock to win a gsl
- PartinG not making it out of a group of Terrans at the end of HotS
- Jinro beating MC twice to advance to the ro8
- TRUE destroying Zest in the ro8 with corruptor/queen/ling
and perhaps my all-time favorite, because it was totally fucking epic:
- DRG defeating Bogus in a bo3, all macro games
Ryung beating Stats in a bo7 is a far greater upset are you joking? Like San beating Nestea in bo1? It's bo1, Nestea lost a ton of ZvP on ladder... Jjakji was not the favorite but it wasn't that big of an upset. Again bo3, groups of death happens, not a big upset. Jinro beating MC is quite an upset but MC was cheesy and in the same team iirc so Jinro "just" had to play it smart. TRUE beating Zest? Ok so what? When?
DRG was the ZvT monster for a long time in WoL, him beating Bogus isn't especially an upset.
1. I think you underestimate how much of a joke San was coming into that encounter. Also it was a drawn out macro game and NesTea probably lost a lot on ladder (he almost never streamed so who knows) but not offline, which is what the game was.
2. Are you kidding me? Jjakji beating Leenock was absurd and he did so in spectacular fashion. Leenock was the best ZvT at that point in time. He had just won MLG Providence coming from the open bracket, and recently defeated Mvp twice and MMA. Jjkaji had almost no TvZ data to back him and many were surprised he was even in a final.
3. Are you aware of PartinG's PvT record? Him not making it out of that group is like watching a shark get eaten by a pool of seals.
4. MC absolutely demolished Jinro 4-0 in the previous season so coming into the encounter it was seen as an even bigger mismatch than what you see here.
5. When did TRUE beat Zest? In the middle of 2014. In the year of Zest (second most dominant year ever). After Zest won a gsl. After Zest all-killed SKT. After Zest won the World Championship. After pretty much every Zerg before him (including soO and Soulkey) got rekt by Zest. That's when.
6. Yeah DRG was pretty sick in WoL, but this was in the early days of HotS, where DRG had pitiful results leading up to this encounter and was sadly looking to go the way of NesTea. Also consider, it had been month after month after month of Zergs being destroyed by Bogus. Bogus was so good at TvZ that going into a macro game against him was suicide. If he safely got 3 orbitals down, it felt like the Zerg was better off leaving the game. So for DRG of all people to show up one day and crush him at his own game was extraordinary.
So basically only true vs Zest was a comparable upset, but ZvP was easier back then than TvP right now, and Ryung has even less chances than TRUE to win!
They haven't even played yet, it's like saying that DRGLing winning GSL last year would have been the biggest upset in GSL history. This whole thread is confusing me
On March 17 2017 23:25 Poopi wrote: Yeah Ryung winning this would even be the greatest upset of GSL ever!
Not even close. Just a few off my head:
- San beating NesTea even in a bo1 back in the day
- Jjakji beating Leenock to win a gsl
- PartinG not making it out of a group of Terrans at the end of HotS
- Jinro beating MC twice to advance to the ro8
- TRUE destroying Zest in the ro8 with corruptor/queen/ling
and perhaps my all-time favorite, because it was totally fucking epic:
- DRG defeating Bogus in a bo3, all macro games
Ryung beating Stats in a bo7 is a far greater upset are you joking? Like San beating Nestea in bo1? It's bo1, Nestea lost a ton of ZvP on ladder... Jjakji was not the favorite but it wasn't that big of an upset. Again bo3, groups of death happens, not a big upset. Jinro beating MC is quite an upset but MC was cheesy and in the same team iirc so Jinro "just" had to play it smart. TRUE beating Zest? Ok so what? When?
DRG was the ZvT monster for a long time in WoL, him beating Bogus isn't especially an upset.
1. I think you underestimate how much of a joke San was coming into that encounter. Also it was a drawn out macro game and NesTea probably lost a lot on ladder (he almost never streamed so who knows) but not offline, which is what the game was.
2. Are you kidding me? Jjakji beating Leenock was absurd and he did so in spectacular fashion. Leenock was the best ZvT at that point in time. He had just won MLG Providence coming from the open bracket, and recently defeated Mvp twice and MMA. Jjkaji had almost no TvZ data to back him and many were surprised he was even in a final.
3. Are you aware of PartinG's PvT record? Him not making it out of that group is like watching a shark get eaten by a pool of seals.
4. MC absolutely demolished Jinro 4-0 in the previous season so coming into the encounter it was seen as an even bigger mismatch than what you see here.
5. When did TRUE beat Zest? In the middle of 2014. In the year of Zest (second most dominant year ever). After Zest won a gsl. After Zest all-killed SKT. After Zest won the World Championship. After pretty much every Zerg before him (including soO and Soulkey) got rekt by Zest. That's when.
6. Yeah DRG was pretty sick in WoL, but this was in the early days of HotS, where DRG had pitiful results leading up to this encounter and was sadly looking to go the way of NesTea. Also consider, it had been month after month after month of Zergs being destroyed by Bogus. Bogus was so good at TvZ that going into a macro game against him was suicide. If he safely got 3 orbitals down, it felt like the Zerg was better off leaving the game. So for DRG of all people to show up one day and crush him at his own game was extraordinary.
the PartinG 1 is not true, at the time that group took place, he had already been not playing much SC2 (iirc he cruised through ro32 on full chill and didn't really care)
Of course it would have been. DRGLing is a rookie. Of course Natural beating Stats in bo7 in GSL ro4 would be a bigger upset than Ryung but he'll struggle to even qualify for code S.
On March 17 2017 23:25 Poopi wrote: Yeah Ryung winning this would even be the greatest upset of GSL ever!
Not even close. Just a few off my head:
- San beating NesTea even in a bo1 back in the day
- Jjakji beating Leenock to win a gsl
- PartinG not making it out of a group of Terrans at the end of HotS
- Jinro beating MC twice to advance to the ro8
- TRUE destroying Zest in the ro8 with corruptor/queen/ling
and perhaps my all-time favorite, because it was totally fucking epic:
- DRG defeating Bogus in a bo3, all macro games
Ryung beating Stats in a bo7 is a far greater upset are you joking? Like San beating Nestea in bo1? It's bo1, Nestea lost a ton of ZvP on ladder... Jjakji was not the favorite but it wasn't that big of an upset. Again bo3, groups of death happens, not a big upset. Jinro beating MC is quite an upset but MC was cheesy and in the same team iirc so Jinro "just" had to play it smart. TRUE beating Zest? Ok so what? When?
DRG was the ZvT monster for a long time in WoL, him beating Bogus isn't especially an upset.
1. I think you underestimate how much of a joke San was coming into that encounter. Also it was a drawn out macro game and NesTea probably lost a lot on ladder (he almost never streamed so who knows) but not offline, which is what the game was.
2. Are you kidding me? Jjakji beating Leenock was absurd and he did so in spectacular fashion. Leenock was the best ZvT at that point in time. He had just won MLG Providence coming from the open bracket, and recently defeated Mvp twice and MMA. Jjkaji had almost no TvZ data to back him and many were surprised he was even in a final.
3. Are you aware of PartinG's PvT record? Him not making it out of that group is like watching a shark get eaten by a pool of seals.
4. MC absolutely demolished Jinro 4-0 in the previous season so coming into the encounter it was seen as an even bigger mismatch than what you see here.
5. When did TRUE beat Zest? In the middle of 2014. In the year of Zest (second most dominant year ever). After Zest won a gsl. After Zest all-killed SKT. After Zest won the World Championship. After pretty much every Zerg before him (including soO and Soulkey) got rekt by Zest. That's when.
6. Yeah DRG was pretty sick in WoL, but this was in the early days of HotS, where DRG had pitiful results leading up to this encounter and was sadly looking to go the way of NesTea. Also consider, it had been month after month after month of Zergs being destroyed by Bogus. Bogus was so good at TvZ that going into a macro game against him was suicide. If he safely got 3 orbitals down, it felt like the Zerg was better off leaving the game. So for DRG of all people to show up one day and crush him at his own game was extraordinary.
the PartinG 1 is not true, at the time that group took place, he had already been not playing much SC2 (iirc he cruised through ro32 on full chill and didn't really care)
Also not advancing out of a group with Flash, INnoVation and Gumiho isn't a very surprising thing, no matter how insane your vsT record is.
Also a bo1/bo3 upset isn't nearly as much of an upset as a bo7 upset. Ryung beating Stats would definitely be top 3 upset for me.
Meh, Stats will tear Ryung apart without even trying. No tension, no competition. Not even worth getting up to watch, unless you are a huge fan of Stats or really really believe in Ryung.
On March 17 2017 23:18 zealotstim wrote: Question is can Stats keep up that level of play for this long? I think he can, but there's always a chance Ryung makes it.
Stats was a beastly consistent player in the BW proleague. Even if Flash failed, Stats would get a win. I couldn't believe some of his wins. He'd win by either playing pretty much immaculately, or winning from far behind by doing everything perfectly, move by move, and slowly coming back. The only reason he wasn't as known is because his starleague results were lagging behind his proleague ones, but anyone who followed proleague knew he was a monster. It seems he finally got himself together and applied the same logic to a starleague format. I'm really happy for him, since he's probably my favorite protoss player from BW and SC2.
I will admit, Stats is the better of the two players on paper, yet I refuse to believe Ryung will go down so easily without a fight. I am hoping this series makes it to game 6, if not a game 7, but I guess it all really just comes down to how well each player has prepared, and ultimately how well they can execute what they've prepared in-game vs their opponent.
Here's to hoping Ryung really gets an honest shot at a finals vs soO!
The zest upsets were definitely bigger than this match. Him losing to someone who wasn't even the best player on Prime was the most crazy in my mind. Yes, it was best of three, but the skill level difference should have made it basically impossible for him to lose. Had it been on liquibet, not one person would even have thought for a second about voting against him. I think ryung deserved at least a second of thought, even as an underdog.