Let me at once make it clear this isn't fanmail. I've never been much of a fan of you. It's hard to point out exactly why this is - I've just never felt any kind of fondness towards you. Not that I don't respect your play. I do, occasionally, allow myself to be amazed by your more ingenious works. Yet it is not out of admiration that I felt compelled to write you.
It's hard to pinpoint when exactly you entered my StarCraft world. The Incruit OSL would be a good place to start I guess. Your Mech build vs GGPlay was, I imagine, quirky at the time, but later became known as the "Fantasy Build". And not only did you get a build named after yourself, it issued in a period of Mech-based play in TvZ. Pretty impressive feats, I will admit, and I haven't even mentioned your two Silvers yet.
As, like I mentioned, I'm not a fan, I never really bothered to "define" you. It was FakeSteve who did this for me, saying: "Fantasy is better because he's smarter". Like any Steve-fearing StarCraft fan I accepted his word as the law (as becomes of a good TL-netizen) and, although more than once I interpreted your work as Boxer rubbing off on you, this is how I mentally stored you: A smart StarCraft player.
It is therefore that I write this. Your recent performances in TvZ have been puzzling me. At first, I wrote it off as a certain stubbornness. We know you're a player with a plan and having to divert from this mustn't be easy. Although StarCraft greatly involves adaptation, I guess we'll grant you this one flaw. However, in more recent games you were being downright dumb. But I'm getting ahead of myself...
Let me take you back to the Bacchus OSL Semis versus Jaedong. Jaedong is a pretty good player you know. He also knows (as everyone does) that you love the Mech. Jaedong decides that, with you relying on so little units to defend, early agression is the counter of choice. He shows you so on Holy World with a 4 Pool that you somehow end up not defending. This brings me to the first game I want to point out: the next game in that series on Return of the King.
Jaedong, similar to the previous game, opens with an agressive 9 Pool, whereas you decide to wall in like this:
The wall was most probably one part of a grander design that no doubt would have worked and stomped Jaedong in 3/4ths of all cases. In your case, however, you spawned top right, in which case your Marines spawn on the outside of your wall, only to be torn apart by Zerglings.
A bit of position-related stubborness? It probably would have been fine versus 12 Hatch, but still, taking a chance like this versus a Zerg you know can be agressive? Ah well...
Flash forward to your game vs type-b on Heartbreak Ridge.
This game is a great example of how your builds start cutting corners. Relying on 2 Fact Vults and the backdoor entrance to do damage is a pretty big risk to take. Type-b smells it coming from miles ahead and some simple sim-city-ing nullifies the Vulture damage and Mutas quickly rort out the Vultures. All goes downhill from here. You try to get an expansion up but superior Muta numbers take down your Golis, deny your expansion and you take 5 more minutes trying to find that second g button.
Your game against Hoejja was glorious. We all know how well you played and I mean it when I say I couldn't have done a better job myself.
After this though your games have been bad and worse.
It's not completely fair to start with this game. StarCraft is a game that can hinge on tiny moments. One mistake can cost you very dearly indeed and that's what happened to you. Calm, of course, is the kind of player to attempt a backstab rather than macro-battle it out in the middle or outplay you with a weird strat. This is a concept it seems you fail to grasp.
Type-b isn't the kind of player to cut zerglings to get those Mutas out just a bit faster. Nah, he'll just make 12 more lings. When you then, after a failed bunker rush, move out with 7 rines, 1 bat and 2 medics the following happens:
With that army gone, Mutas start picking away at your base, another group of Zerglings comes in to, again, rape your army and Type-b eventually forces your Nat to lift off. Needless to say you end up on your backfoot and, although some Wraith shenaniganry turns this into a rather interesting game, you'd pretty much lost it from there on out.
Your next game is versus Shine. Dunno if you've heard about that kid but he's pretty agressive. Stork (as well as some random cheerful) even bestowed on him the title of The Typhoon - and justly so I might add. My predictions for the match were: Fantasy will cut it close on Marines and Shine will just make some extra Zerglings and win. Proof:
Right before the match started Pholon wrote:
Fantasy will cut it close on Marines and Shine will just make some extra Zerglings and win.
Fantasy will cut it close on Marines and Shine will just make some extra Zerglings and win.
Oh how I love to be right. When his first Mutas pop out you rely on four Marines, a Wraith
and some poorly placed Turrets to defend. To what gain? Getting that super duper fast Vessel? Shine isn't the kind of player who cares. He'll just 2 Hatch Muta, make more Mutas and win. Irradiate wasn't even researched in time.
At this point I'm getting worried. You're better than both these players but you're losing. Stop cutting corners that don't need to cutting! What's your next game? Versus Killer? Well THAT you can win for sure.
+ Show Spoiler +
FFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
Let's stop for a second here and take a look at that wall.
No seriously, look at this wall.
That's two minutes later with still only two Marines defending a wall that isn't Ling-tight. And you know that it isn't. And Killer knows it isn't. And he even knows your Marine count. And you know he knows your Marine count.
I know Terrans are good at defending and all that, but did you expect him to not try and break it? The guy isn't called Killer because he likes to sit around. Why would you do this build against him? In a 100 Liquibets I wouldn't vote him over you once. Go 1 Rax Expand and you will win, I guarantee you (and you can save your super kick-ass build for some other time). I can't begin to fathom why you did this.
I suspect you hoped on playing the Dong that day, preparing this build just for him. Although I'd love to see your newest Terran build or unit combo or whatever rip apart a Jaedong or an Effort, don't cut corners against players called The Typhoon or players who are worse than you simply because they would over-invest in those extra Lings or Mutas. Why would you let their flaw become your Achilles heel? I'm sure your builds did very well during training but that's because you practise against Hyuk who is fucking bad.
So yeah, please get your shit together Fantasy.
Love,
Pholon