Slivers of Perfection by Manifesto7 TeamLiquid: Final Edits
Preface - After having watched thousands of pro games for more than 6 years, I find myself on occasion tiring of the constant battle between Terran, Protoss, and Zerg. After all, is this not merely a computer game? How much can one actually see before they are simply watching a repeat of what has come before? But then there are those moments. Perhaps you must be in the right mood, or perhaps the drama, that we as an English site so clumsily set up, appeals to us in just the right way, or perhaps it is an old hero, grasping at one more chance for victory. Whatever the reason, we have those moments where everything else ceases to matter and the fans of the game stop to watch. Your heart quickens, the excitement grows, and for an instant you are really there, witnessing a great game between fierce competitors. This game was one of these moments for me, and inspired me to write this battle report. I hope you enjoy it.
Looking back at my previous list of the top ten maps of all time, the eye is continually drawn towards BiFrost. Something about that map made StarCraft special. It was played in the era where creativity and inspiration trumped 1a2a3a4a5a6sz7sz8sz9sz0sz. When Boxer pulled his rax floats, and July played Yellow in 30 minute ZvZ games, the fan was treated to StarCraft at its finest. Mistakes? Sure, but it didn't matter because the personalities were lively and the story lines dramatic.
Then along came perfection. Xellos. Olympus 2003 was meant to end in another epic clash between Yellow and Boxer, continuing the story-book rivalry that the fans craved and TV executives banked on. Instead they got a (-_-). A sunglasses wearing, CJ face sporting assassin who sniped Boxer in three straight games and then took part in one of the greatest 5 game sets ever, dashing Yellow's major league hopes and entering the hallowed hall of OSL winner. He became known as the "Perfect Terran" due to his stellar BiFrost play, but really it was his fundamentals that allowed him to accomplish so much. He dominated everyone in that OSL with blazing fast hands. Little did we know, as the bandwagon overflowed, that this would be the pinnacle of his career.
Xellos in 2004 and 2005 remained a steady competitor in the StarCraft scene, with third place finishes in both an MSL and OSL; but that was it. In the foreign scene his presence was felt with his WCG appearances in those same years, but on TeamLiquid what counts is OSL and MSL pins. His WCG victories merely increased expectations on the pro level that Xellos was not meeting. In 2006 Xellos was officially written off by TeamLiquid. He appeared in zero OSL tournaments, and posted weak results in the two MSL tournaments he entered. The time of Savior was here, and while Xellos may have been the star power that gathered in the CJ sponsorship, it was the new crop of blank stares that would be paying the bills.
However, the potential for perfection, though tarnished, still resided within. Sometimes this perfection bubbled forth out from under the self-doubt and critics. On December 12th it did not so much bubble forth as erupt in an explosion of fury.
Xellos vs Yellow[arnc] on Blue Storm
Yellow[arnc] is another such player who has showed sparks of brilliance but has not yet realized his potential. Both players were fighting to resuscitate their dreams in the OSC, hoping to avoid the quagmire of the Dual Tournament.
As is typical, the game opened with fast expansion builds with Xellos as the blue terran at 1 and his teal zerg opponent at 7. Quickly, minerals were gathered and armies rose as both players scrambled to exert control over their sides of the map. While Yarnc took his second gas and dropped a spire, Xellos built up a solid brick of barracks. It became apparent early on that the key to Xellos’ success would be the small choke leading from his natural into the middle of the map. By utilizing this terrain feature, Xellos could avoid the uphill ramps and long trek around Blue Storm and strike directly at the middle of the map. His early marine forces rallied forth as upgraded gauss rifles were being manufactured in the engineering wing. Using the short distance between the two bases allowed Xellos to mount early pressure on Yarnc’s double expansion attempt. While his stab at killing the mineral-only hatchery was unsuccessful, his marines had inflicted enough damage on the zerg army to prevent mutalisks from being any more of a harassment threat. It was time for lurkers.
Yarnc knew that if he could hold his two new expansions until they were up and running, he would stand a great chance of overrunning Xellos in mid-game. He placed his initial lurkers in various locations around the map, hoping to stall the purely MM forces as they attempted to wipe out the zerg hatcheries. Meanwhile, Xellos had added two ports and designated his gas for vessels. The announcers bellowed “SK TERRAN SK TERRAN” so loudly into the arena that even Yarnc must surely have heard what was coming.
Lurker traps
While Yarnc used his lurker/ling/muta combo to hold Xellos at bay, he could make little headway into terran territory. Xellos constantly gathered up significant bionic armies and marched up and down the center trench. Despite the fact that he often fought lurkers uphill, his vessels gave him constant vision and his early upgrades paid great dividends. It was his micro however which truly shined. Time and time again Xellos swept in with a wave of marines. Quickly analyzing which troops would trigger the lurkers' targeting, he grabbed those drugged up grunts and sprinted them to the side, drawing away the deadly spines and allowing his remaining forces to burst the subterranean-zerg. After scoring a huge victory in the center of the map, Xellos marched double-time towards the zerg encampment where Yarnc barely survived by throwing up his first darkswarm.
Because Yarnc had been unable to get a foothold on the east side of the map, Xellos had taken his mineral-only and the corner expo, allowing him a third gas to maintain vessel production and start tanks. They would prove later to be the perfect counter for units under the swarm. Yarnc teched to ultras and tried to expand to both 6 and 12, but in doing so stretched his frontline to the entire height of the map. As Xellos again took up residence in the middle of the field swarms enveloped his troops. With tanks ripping great gouges in the twilight landscape and marines pumping round after round into the pulpy mass of zerg, the Terran forces bent but did not break. With the zerg army in tatters and Yarnc frantically issuing orders to defend his ramp, the small gap between his natural and the center came into play yet again.
With a force of 14 marines and 4 medics, Xellos showed Yarnc what perfection really was. Stimming through the gap into the sunken-less choke, it appeared at first as if this would simply be some moderate harassment from Xellos. Yarnc had a problem however, as he had lost all his lurkers in his last attack and controlled an army of pure zerglings. Without giving much thought, he commanded two groups of zerglings to take out the trespassers. What followed was the StarCraft version of Thermopylae.
1. Xellos Charges with a group of MM 2. Xellos secures the choke. 3. He irradiates the defilers at the zerg rally. 4. The first wave of lings are poorly managed and do nothing. 5. A second wave of lings come, again they are mowed down. 6. Xellos has a spare moment to target the hatchery. 7. Yarnc sends a third wave of lings, this time with micro, but it is too late. 8. The hatch falls, and the hero marine is dmatrixed. 9. The brave survivors continue to spray death into all new zerg units.
Round after round, clip after clip. Xellos controlled his marines enough to give them a fighting chance, but also maintained his crushing macro blitz. Yarnc initially underestimated the threat, and then was left with not enough to deal with it. Versus upgraded marines more than sixty zerglings met their fate. This sealed the game as Yarnc had nothing left to stall the main force soon headed his way. Firebats handled the swarm threat with the help of dmatrix, and late ultraslisks were too slow and too sparse to make a difference.
Xellos 1:0 Yellow[arnc]
Post Script – I have no doubt that some of you will wonder why I chose to write about this game. Xellos ended up losing the next two and missing his chance at a direct OSL berth. But when you read this, I want you to remember those times when you watch BW and time slowed, excitement grew, and for whatever reason you became caught up in the struggle of wills between two players. For me, that is what keeps this passion alive, what causes me to still play the game, and why I will continue to tune in week after week.
You can watch the full game now, uploaded to YouTube by Jon747 and added to the TLPD by Kennigit.
Manifesto7
Last edit: 2007-12-21 22:01:28
@Manifesto7 - Who says terran is underpowered! I'm #1 Gold
This battlereport forced me to run over to the Small VOD Thread and start downloading. Thanks a bunch Mani It's nice to read something written with such passion and flair.
what liquid use in fuck? (sAviOr for life)
ATeddyBear Canada. December 21 2007 14:31. Posts 2780
Woha, Manifesto's on a tear so many great articles in such a short time. Great stuff, I heard lots about this game, seems like Xell0s has proven again that there are times when even an imbalanced map can't hold a player back.
ilovejonn Canada. December 21 2007 15:17. Posts 2510
Post Script – I have no doubt that some of you will wonder why I chose to write about this game. Xellos ended up losing the next two and missing his chance at a direct OSL berth. But when you read this, I want you to remember those times when you watch BW and time slowed, excitement grew, and for whatever reason you became caught up in the struggle of wills between two players. For me, that is what keeps this passion alive, what causes me to still play the game, and why I will continue to tune in week after week.
Oh my god, have my babies.
Snowflakes in January, Heart warm like February, I wouldn't ordinarily..
Moletrap United States. December 21 2007 15:32. Posts 1282
On a related note, we again saw some of those moments of awesomeness in his game against Firefist. I actually made a little vid of his highlights from that game...
savior[gm] : What is a “yawn” rape ;; Masumune - It was the year of the pig for those fucking defilers. Chill - A clinic you say? okum: SC without Korean yelling is like porn without sex. konamix: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY!
Last Romantic United States. December 21 2007 16:23. Posts 20146
On December 21 2007 16:23 Last Romantic wrote: s2 Nice article.
Though I'm still bitter that he won Olympus, XellOs is a truly awesome player.
LOL LR you're seriously the most dedicated KTF fan ever -_-
savior[gm] : What is a “yawn” rape ;; Masumune - It was the year of the pig for those fucking defilers. Chill - A clinic you say? okum: SC without Korean yelling is like porn without sex. konamix: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY!
LordofAscension United States. December 21 2007 16:35. Posts 587
On December 21 2007 15:32 f10esqftw wrote: Excellent fucking writeup! (/pictures/etc)
On a related note, we again saw some of those moments of awesomeness in his game against Firefist. I actually made a little vid of his highlights from that game...
Store
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Hot_Bid/TLFE/SliversofPerfectionbyMani.jpg)
Then along came perfection. Xellos. Olympus 2003 was meant to end in another epic clash between Yellow and Boxer, continuing the story-book rivalry that the fans craved and TV executives banked on. Instead they got a (-_-). A sunglasses wearing, CJ face sporting assassin who sniped Boxer in three straight games and then took part in one of the greatest 5 game sets ever, dashing Yellow's major league hopes and entering the hallowed hall of OSL winner. He became known as the "Perfect Terran" due to his stellar BiFrost play, but really it was his fundamentals that allowed him to accomplish so much. He dominated everyone in that OSL with blazing fast hands. Little did we know, as the bandwagon overflowed, that this would be the pinnacle of his career.
Yellow[arnc] is another such player who has showed sparks of brilliance but has not yet realized his potential. Both players were fighting to resuscitate their dreams in the OSC, hoping to avoid the quagmire of the Dual Tournament. ![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Manifesto7/Perfect_FE/first_sequence.PNG)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Manifesto7/Perfect_FE/second_sequence.PNG)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Manifesto7/Perfect_FE/third_sequence.JPG)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Manifesto7/Perfect_FE/fourth_sequence.PNG)
Because Yarnc had been unable to get a foothold on the east side of the map, Xellos had taken his mineral-only and the corner expo, allowing him a third gas to maintain vessel production and start tanks. They would prove later to be the perfect counter for units under the swarm. Yarnc teched to ultras and tried to expand to both 6 and 12, but in doing so stretched his frontline to the entire height of the map. As Xellos again took up residence in the middle of the field swarms enveloped his troops. With tanks ripping great gouges in the twilight landscape and marines pumping round after round into the pulpy mass of zerg, the Terran forces bent but did not break. With the zerg army in tatters and Yarnc frantically issuing orders to defend his ramp, the small gap between his natural and the center came into play yet again.![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Manifesto7/Perfect_FE/fifth_sequence.PNG)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Manifesto7/Perfect_FE/raid_sequence_pic.JPG)
December 21 2007 14:30. Posts 5000
alffla Hong Kong. December 21 2007 15:55. Posts 20254
Last Romantic United States. December 21 2007 16:23. Posts 20146
jkillashark United States. December 21 2007 18:08. Posts 5245
fanatacist December 21 2007 21:51. Posts 10000
i knew i should have gone ingame to check. there is a baseball player named Troy Glauss
