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NASL Playoffs Recap / Grand Finals Preview
by confusedcrib, emythrel, and JimLloyd
by confusedcrib, emythrel, and JimLloyd
Table of contents
Brought to you by:
Elly the ESPORTS Elephant
Why You Should Come to the NASL Grand Finals
Playoff Recap
Game of the Week
I, for one, welcome our new Korean overlords.
It's still hard to believe that all of this is really happening. Three months ago, NASL started as one of the most ambitious projects in this game's short history. Trials and tribulations, those there were no shortage of. From missed games to inexperienced announcers, or problems with the player pool, it seemed like everyone had a bone to pick with the NASL.
And yet, here we are, days away from the Grand Final, where the NASL is prepared to realize and maybe even surpass all of its lofty goals. The sixteen players assembled in the finals represent a breadth of talent and international diversity that is unlike anything we've ever seen on a live stage. At the very least, this will be a one of a kind experience.
This weekend, NASL will have all of the elements needed to make this one of the greatest tournaments ever held.
I hope they pull it off.
And yet, here we are, days away from the Grand Final, where the NASL is prepared to realize and maybe even surpass all of its lofty goals. The sixteen players assembled in the finals represent a breadth of talent and international diversity that is unlike anything we've ever seen on a live stage. At the very least, this will be a one of a kind experience.
This weekend, NASL will have all of the elements needed to make this one of the greatest tournaments ever held.
I hope they pull it off.
To hype up the NASL Grand Finals, we have invited Xeris as a special guest contributor. Working behind the scenes, Xeris has been deeply involved in NASL since day one.
The North American Star League will be unlike any event we have seen. We will be witnessing the best players competing on the biggest stage, for the most money we've seen outside Korea. Unlike tournaments such as MLG and Dreamhack that have a foreign majority, or the GSL which has a Korean majority, both worlds will have an equal presence at the NASL Grand Finals. Moon, BoxeR, MC, July, Squirtle, Alive, Zenio, and PuMa will represent Korea while Ret, Sheth, MorroW, HasuObs, Sen, DarkForcE, and White-Ra will represent “The World,” [SeleCT is the middle-man, essentially representing both Korea and the World!].
The biggest question, is of course, will a foreigner be able to come out on top? One of the most interesting facts about NASL season one has been that, barring BoxeR, every Korean player has lost a game to a foreigner. Sure, the Koreans may have faced some disadvantages such as playing their games at 4am through unpredictable latency conditions, but that didn't stop them from dominating the Open Tournament and Season 2 qualifiers. There's no way around it: The Koreans faced the very best the world had to offer during the regular season.
Three Koreans couldn't even make it this far – oGs’s Ensnare narrowly kept his spot in the league, Startale’s Rainbow finished at the bottom of his division, and ST_Ace fell to the German terror, HasuObs in a deciding playoff match.
Looking at the foreign players; Ret earned his stripes by taking down MC in the regular season, Sheth defeated Moon, MorroW beat both Rainbow and Moon, Sen bested Zenio, DarkForcE topped Ensnare, and HasuObs edged out Ace (in addition, Strelok took down both NaDa and Squirtle). In fact, SeleCT is the only foreigner in the finals who failed to defeat a Korean player, although in his words, he took it easy against MC in his final group stage match.
The LAN environment, however, is a game changer. Outside LiquidHuK's incredible tournament run last June, Koreans at LAN events have been almost unbeatable (and many will argue that HuK's success was due to his Korean training). Despite HuK taking 1st place, places 2nd through 4th were occupied by Koreans at DreamHack, while at MLG Columbus the top 3 place finishers were all Korean.
Three Koreans couldn't even make it this far – oGs’s Ensnare narrowly kept his spot in the league, Startale’s Rainbow finished at the bottom of his division, and ST_Ace fell to the German terror, HasuObs in a deciding playoff match.
Looking at the foreign players; Ret earned his stripes by taking down MC in the regular season, Sheth defeated Moon, MorroW beat both Rainbow and Moon, Sen bested Zenio, DarkForcE topped Ensnare, and HasuObs edged out Ace (in addition, Strelok took down both NaDa and Squirtle). In fact, SeleCT is the only foreigner in the finals who failed to defeat a Korean player, although in his words, he took it easy against MC in his final group stage match.
The LAN environment, however, is a game changer. Outside LiquidHuK's incredible tournament run last June, Koreans at LAN events have been almost unbeatable (and many will argue that HuK's success was due to his Korean training). Despite HuK taking 1st place, places 2nd through 4th were occupied by Koreans at DreamHack, while at MLG Columbus the top 3 place finishers were all Korean.
There are some terrific match-ups in the first round. Sheth, a foreigner who has landed on the Korean home front matches up against Squirtle, the pioneer of international invasion himself. We have DarkForcE, an unexpected yet dangerous dark horse player takes on yet another surprise entrant, and team Korea's own underdog in Alive. HasuObs, whose dramatic victory over Ace gave him a coveted spot at this prestigious event is going to be playing Moon, whose seeks to purge himself of the regret from DreamHack.
If you’re a lover of ZvZ then you won’t want to miss Zenio against Sen, who are some of the best ZvZ players in the world. One player who won’t be playing ZvZ however, is Sweden’s MorroW, who has officially announced his switch to playing Terran against Zerg against the Brood War legend, July. A virtual unknown until a few weeks ago, TSL_PuMa has torn through all competitions lately, including Code-A, GSTL, and finally the NASL Open Tournament to earn a shot at regular season champion LiquidRet. Both players came from humble backgrounds, and in fact it is very likely that they were both practice partners in the eSTRO pro-gaming house at the same time in the fall of 2009. Interestingly enough, their paths cross again!
The Beast From the East, who managed to advance to the Grand Finals despite only playing six of his nine matches (two of which were forfeit losses, and one of which was a forfeit win) is going to duke it out with SeleCT, the in-betweener of the tournament. SeleCT and White-Ra both have incredibly unconventional styles based off of harassment and aggression. White-Ra is one of the most prominent user of the warp prism, oftentimes to deadly effect, while SeleCT himself has claimed that his multitasking is ‘the best’.
And last, but not least, we’ll be seeing MC, the head of the first very Starcraft II dynasty go up against the one known simply as the Emperor.
If you’re a lover of ZvZ then you won’t want to miss Zenio against Sen, who are some of the best ZvZ players in the world. One player who won’t be playing ZvZ however, is Sweden’s MorroW, who has officially announced his switch to playing Terran against Zerg against the Brood War legend, July. A virtual unknown until a few weeks ago, TSL_PuMa has torn through all competitions lately, including Code-A, GSTL, and finally the NASL Open Tournament to earn a shot at regular season champion LiquidRet. Both players came from humble backgrounds, and in fact it is very likely that they were both practice partners in the eSTRO pro-gaming house at the same time in the fall of 2009. Interestingly enough, their paths cross again!
The Beast From the East, who managed to advance to the Grand Finals despite only playing six of his nine matches (two of which were forfeit losses, and one of which was a forfeit win) is going to duke it out with SeleCT, the in-betweener of the tournament. SeleCT and White-Ra both have incredibly unconventional styles based off of harassment and aggression. White-Ra is one of the most prominent user of the warp prism, oftentimes to deadly effect, while SeleCT himself has claimed that his multitasking is ‘the best’.
And last, but not least, we’ll be seeing MC, the head of the first very Starcraft II dynasty go up against the one known simply as the Emperor.
These undoubtedly amazing games will be made even better by the stellar group of announcers who will cast the event. The casting archon, Tasteless and Artosis will be flying from South Korea to lend their unique flavor to the games. Their reputation has reached legendary status and they are widely considered the best English casting duo ever to pick up a mic. Joined by them will be Day9, who retired as a professional gamer in 2007 and has been one of the biggest community men ever since. His contributions range from running tournaments, providing countless insight and analysis for new players, and as we all know, using his charm and wit on the broadcast stage. And of course, where would we be without our own anchors, iNcontroL and Gretorp. These two full-time progamers have shouldered the burden and carried the league all the way from its inception until now. These five casters will enhance what already promises to be a most epic event.
The Grand Finals are the culmination of a long labor of love that began in November of 2010. Back then, the NASL wasn't much more than a fantasy, a ‘wouldn’t this be cool?' idea. We had seen OSL and MSL for ten years, and we had just seen the creation of the new GSL as well. Could we, a ragtag group of e-Sports fans, with our motley agglomeration of talent and experience, re-create that pinnacle of e-Sports experience, for the first time in America? And so, we built this studio from the ground up and worked hard every day to prove that if you have enough passion, desire, and motivation, you can make anything a reality.
Whether the NASL lasts 3 seasons or 300, we believe that we're leaving a positive impact on the community. We've spent more nights than we care to count, working in the office until 4 AM, since we know that it's all worth it. Because as much as we're excited to run a tournament and crown a worthy champion, in the end we know that it's the members of the Starcraft II community who are the true winners.
So to all the long-time fans, casual viewers tuning in, or naysayers giving us a final chance: the NASL Season 1 Grand Finals will be one to remember. The greatest players in the world, in front of the greatest fans in the world, playing for a prize worthy of them. That's what we sought out to achieve, and we hope you will enjoy the weekend, the games, and all the fun.
Whether the NASL lasts 3 seasons or 300, we believe that we're leaving a positive impact on the community. We've spent more nights than we care to count, working in the office until 4 AM, since we know that it's all worth it. Because as much as we're excited to run a tournament and crown a worthy champion, in the end we know that it's the members of the Starcraft II community who are the true winners.
So to all the long-time fans, casual viewers tuning in, or naysayers giving us a final chance: the NASL Season 1 Grand Finals will be one to remember. The greatest players in the world, in front of the greatest fans in the world, playing for a prize worthy of them. That's what we sought out to achieve, and we hope you will enjoy the weekend, the games, and all the fun.
NASL Playoffs Recap
by confusedcrib
Bracket One
Zenio < 2 : 1 > dde - Don't watch this, it was messy
+ Show Spoiler +
I no longer like to watch Zenio's ZvT. Although he managed to take games one and three off of DDE, his play style seemed so unrefined that I didn't very much enjoy it. In game one DDE was far ahead of Zenio after a big timing push, but Zenio relied on a hidden fourth base to keep his economy going. He nearly lost several times until he got enough broodlords out to finish off the vikingless DDE.
That takes us to game two, on Tal'Darim Altar, where DDE was able to clearly out play Zenio, using well timed pushes and positioning to whittle Zenio's army down enough to take the game. But if there is an opposite of Idra, it is Zenio, at least for this game. The game was pretty clearly decided for about the last five or ten minutes, but Zenio didn't gg until he was down to one base rebuilding his spawning pool.
Game three caused me some physical pain. DDE went for a maka two barracks, making it look like a one barracks expand and even got multiple bunkers up outside Zenio's main. Zenio pumped a ton of zerglings and was able to barely hold before the marines would have killed his hatchery. The speedling counter attack got to DDE's base just before his barracks landed for the wall off, and that was game.
Zenio man, I don't really like the way you've been playing lately. Watching this series made me want to take a shower. Zenio barely won his two games, and in such a messy way. He didn't scout very well, his aggressive timings didn't seem to be based on anything, and he didn't control very well in big army engagements.
That takes us to game two, on Tal'Darim Altar, where DDE was able to clearly out play Zenio, using well timed pushes and positioning to whittle Zenio's army down enough to take the game. But if there is an opposite of Idra, it is Zenio, at least for this game. The game was pretty clearly decided for about the last five or ten minutes, but Zenio didn't gg until he was down to one base rebuilding his spawning pool.
Game three caused me some physical pain. DDE went for a maka two barracks, making it look like a one barracks expand and even got multiple bunkers up outside Zenio's main. Zenio pumped a ton of zerglings and was able to barely hold before the marines would have killed his hatchery. The speedling counter attack got to DDE's base just before his barracks landed for the wall off, and that was game.
Zenio man, I don't really like the way you've been playing lately. Watching this series made me want to take a shower. Zenio barely won his two games, and in such a messy way. He didn't scout very well, his aggressive timings didn't seem to be based on anything, and he didn't control very well in big army engagements.
IdrA < 2 : 0 > MaNa - Moletrap summarized this series better than I can: "poor Mana." Poor Mana indeed. Watch it IF you like to watch Zerg dominating.
+ Show Spoiler +
In game one Idra was able to mess with Mana in the early game, using his drone and zerglings to scout everything and pressure early on. Mana's entire build got delayed as a result. Idra took advantage of the delay by doing his favorite thing - S n' D. Idra then exploded with huge numbers of roaches and hydras off his powerful economy, and was able to use a multi-pronged drop to kill of Mana's main base and third base. The game continued for a little longer as Mana tried to stabilize, but he was simply too far behind and was forced to gg.
It becomes really obvious when Idra thinks he has a game won and just stops trying. That's exactly what happened in game two, but Idra was so far ahead that it didn't matter. Idra was able to abuse Mana's unsafe opening with a roach ling timing that nearly killed Mana outright as he is tried to get his third base. Idra then just pulled back and sends wave after wave of roach baneling zergling infestor broodlord until Mana could no longer hold.
The casters constantly mentioned during these games that Mana feels very uncomfortable at PvZ at the moment, and it really showed. Mana's openings were hesitant in their execution and tended to go down every tech path at once. Hopefully Mana is able to improve as time goes on, as he's a great player to watch.
It becomes really obvious when Idra thinks he has a game won and just stops trying. That's exactly what happened in game two, but Idra was so far ahead that it didn't matter. Idra was able to abuse Mana's unsafe opening with a roach ling timing that nearly killed Mana outright as he is tried to get his third base. Idra then just pulled back and sends wave after wave of roach baneling zergling infestor broodlord until Mana could no longer hold.
The casters constantly mentioned during these games that Mana feels very uncomfortable at PvZ at the moment, and it really showed. Mana's openings were hesitant in their execution and tended to go down every tech path at once. Hopefully Mana is able to improve as time goes on, as he's a great player to watch.
Zenio < 2 : 0 > IdrA - Cheesy games, but they're not so basic that they should be dismissed out of hand.
+ Show Spoiler +
Well, in game one Zenio opened with a ten pool into ling/baneling play against Idra's hatch first. Zenio got some good banelings hits off and took the game. Not that I need to say it, but there was no gg.
Zenio: Where's the gg?
Idra: Earn it
In game two, Zenio opened ling baneling into roach, and then delayed his third for a surprise mutalisk attack. Idra just wasn't prepared for the 13 sudden mutalisks and was forced to leave the game.
I really didn't like the way that Zenio played. He took a lot of risks and relied on surprise tactics for almost every ZvZ. I wouldn't expect him to beat Sen in the grand finals.
Zenio: Where's the gg?
Idra: Earn it
In game two, Zenio opened ling baneling into roach, and then delayed his third for a surprise mutalisk attack. Idra just wasn't prepared for the 13 sudden mutalisks and was forced to leave the game.
I really didn't like the way that Zenio played. He took a lot of risks and relied on surprise tactics for almost every ZvZ. I wouldn't expect him to beat Sen in the grand finals.
Bracket Two
NaDa < 2 : 1 > TT1 - Watch this series. Both played very aggressively, perhaps to a fault (but in a way that made for some dramatic games)
+ Show Spoiler +
For game one, TT1 went for a six gate timing attack, and since Nada was going for medivacs before adding on additional barracks he didn't have enough infantry, despite four bunkers, to hold the attack. Despite TT1 having a big advantage after the initial battle, he made a foolish decision to run into Nada's main and ignore his army. That puts TT1 in a terrible position where he ended up donating most of his army. After Nada cleaned up that army, he counter attacked for the win.
If there's such a thing as economic cheese, that's what TT1 executed in game two. He went for nexus first, and then grabbed a third when he only had three or four units. TT1 almost threw away his huge lead after losing a ton of units through another positioning error, but his warpgate reinforcements allowed him to kill Nada's army and secure the win.
In game three both players opened with some big one base aggression. Both players were defiant, doing their best to just not die to eachother. After one basing back and forth, both players were forced to expand. Nada was able to keep up with a better tempo, keeping TT1 on the defensive for the majority of the game. TT1 barely got his tech out in time (medivacs) for when TT1's big gateway push hit is front. Nada forced TT1's army to retreat and was able to chase it down and force TT1 to gg.
If there's such a thing as economic cheese, that's what TT1 executed in game two. He went for nexus first, and then grabbed a third when he only had three or four units. TT1 almost threw away his huge lead after losing a ton of units through another positioning error, but his warpgate reinforcements allowed him to kill Nada's army and secure the win.
In game three both players opened with some big one base aggression. Both players were defiant, doing their best to just not die to eachother. After one basing back and forth, both players were forced to expand. Nada was able to keep up with a better tempo, keeping TT1 on the defensive for the majority of the game. TT1 barely got his tech out in time (medivacs) for when TT1's big gateway push hit is front. Nada forced TT1's army to retreat and was able to chase it down and force TT1 to gg.
MorroW < 2 : 0 > Socke - Amazing army composition by Morrow that was able to demolish everything Sock Tried. Watch it
+ Show Spoiler +
In game one Socke opens with air pressure into an expansion while Morrow just droned like crazy while defending against air with the bare minimum required. Socke pushes out at a nice timing with the standard colossus stalker composition, which Morrow completely rolled over with infestor zergling, barely losing any supply. Truly a must watch for Zergs.
In game two, Morrow got zergling speed at 8:30, and literally did not have a single fighting unit until 9:00. Morrow went for a massive speedling baneling drop while droning up to 95 harvesters. Socke held with fairly few losses and then pushes out with zealot, stalker, templar sentry, only to get rolled by an even bigger zergling, baneling, infestor army. Another must watch game - but feel free to fast forward to about 12 minutes in, up until then it's just drones and probes.
In game two, Morrow got zergling speed at 8:30, and literally did not have a single fighting unit until 9:00. Morrow went for a massive speedling baneling drop while droning up to 95 harvesters. Socke held with fairly few losses and then pushes out with zealot, stalker, templar sentry, only to get rolled by an even bigger zergling, baneling, infestor army. Another must watch game - but feel free to fast forward to about 12 minutes in, up until then it's just drones and probes.
NaDa < 1 : 2 > MorroW - Watch Morrow make a lot of drones and completely out play Nada. Watch it if you really like the matchup
+ Show Spoiler +
In game one, for whatever reason, Morrow decided to go for his well known early baneling bust, but due to Nada's bunker and marine spacing, it failed miserably. Morrow's follow up baneling bust was almost enough to break Nada, but Nada barely held on again. Once siege tech was finished, Nada prevented any further busts and forced Morrow to gg. A good demonstration of baneling bust defense.
In game two we saw Morrow completely outplay Nada, which is no easy task. After Morrow used the bare minimum of troops to hold Nada's initial push, he was able to drone up to ninety drones virtually uncontested. After Nada held off three waves of muta ling baneling, Morrow got infestors, corrupters, and Brood Lords up, finally able to force the gg.
Game three had Nada just not playing aggressive enough to make Morrow stop drone production. Despite his blue flame hellions doing some good damage, Morrow got into an incredibly good economic position. He was able to throw away his baneling muta army, use spine crawlers to delay, remake a new infestor - brood lord army and take the final game.
In game two we saw Morrow completely outplay Nada, which is no easy task. After Morrow used the bare minimum of troops to hold Nada's initial push, he was able to drone up to ninety drones virtually uncontested. After Nada held off three waves of muta ling baneling, Morrow got infestors, corrupters, and Brood Lords up, finally able to force the gg.
Game three had Nada just not playing aggressive enough to make Morrow stop drone production. Despite his blue flame hellions doing some good damage, Morrow got into an incredibly good economic position. He was able to throw away his baneling muta army, use spine crawlers to delay, remake a new infestor - brood lord army and take the final game.
Bracket Three
Ace < 2 : 1 > BRAT_OK - Maybe Watch it. It's the sort of series were you want to fast forward to the big battles because they're pretty, but other than that, there really isn't too much action.
+ Show Spoiler +
Game One: Brat_OK went for a nicely timed ghost push that had the potential to win the game but he got overconfident and miss microed just enough to let Ace get the few extra shots he needed to come out ahead. Ace got his third base up earlier than Brat_OK but threw away his lead in a poorly planned attack. Brat_OK came out far enough ahead to just counter attack for the win.
Game Two: Brat_OK went for an inventive opener, involving a two barracks raven expand. He went to pressure Ace, but Ace used some amazing forcefields to kill half of Brat_OK's army for free, forcing Brat_OK to pull back. Ace then repaid the favor by getting into a poor engagement, donating a lot of his stalkers in turn.. Afterwards, Brat_OK's follow up push was almost enough to take the game, but Ace barely defended with warp in reinforcements.
Twenty minutes later...
With a mothership covering the battlefield, Ace comes out on top after the maxed armies clash.
Game Three: To wrap up an otherwise exciting series, Ace six gates! And it works!
Game Two: Brat_OK went for an inventive opener, involving a two barracks raven expand. He went to pressure Ace, but Ace used some amazing forcefields to kill half of Brat_OK's army for free, forcing Brat_OK to pull back. Ace then repaid the favor by getting into a poor engagement, donating a lot of his stalkers in turn.. Afterwards, Brat_OK's follow up push was almost enough to take the game, but Ace barely defended with warp in reinforcements.
Twenty minutes later...
With a mothership covering the battlefield, Ace comes out on top after the maxed armies clash.
Game Three: To wrap up an otherwise exciting series, Ace six gates! And it works!
Fenix < 0 : 2 > HasuObs - Fenix didn't show up, so HasuObs got to advance.
Ace < 1 : 2 > HasuObs - Pretty exciting PvP with both sides making some mistakes, but the series was still fun to watch.
+ Show Spoiler +
Game One: Ace got his third pylon inside his main, which indicated that he was not doing the most hardcore four gate on Tal'Darim Altar, a map where four gating is practically a requirement (no one-FF ramps anywhere). Meanwhile, HasuObs went four gate, and we all know who wins a four gate vs. a three gate where you can't block the ramp, so HasuObs took the game.
Game Two: Ace was able to contain HasuObs with blink stalkers and sentries while he expanded. HasuObs cancelled his robo bay after it was scouted and instead went for a four gate + immortal one base all in. By the time the engagement occurred though, Ace was up in production and economy and easily held the attack.
Game Three: Both players were very manner and copied eachothers expand based openings. While HasuObs did the more intuitive followup, with a third base and more colossi, upgrades, and stalkers; Ace instead proxied two stargates, researched air weapons and begins stockpiling Void Rays. HasuObs only scouted it once he was near maxed and unable to build anything in response. This doesn't really matter, however, as in the aftermath of a major engagement, HasuObs' warped in stalkers are more than a match for the voidrays. The composition ends up not panning out for Ace and he was forced to concede the win to HasuObs.
Game Two: Ace was able to contain HasuObs with blink stalkers and sentries while he expanded. HasuObs cancelled his robo bay after it was scouted and instead went for a four gate + immortal one base all in. By the time the engagement occurred though, Ace was up in production and economy and easily held the attack.
Game Three: Both players were very manner and copied eachothers expand based openings. While HasuObs did the more intuitive followup, with a third base and more colossi, upgrades, and stalkers; Ace instead proxied two stargates, researched air weapons and begins stockpiling Void Rays. HasuObs only scouted it once he was near maxed and unable to build anything in response. This doesn't really matter, however, as in the aftermath of a major engagement, HasuObs' warped in stalkers are more than a match for the voidrays. The composition ends up not panning out for Ace and he was forced to concede the win to HasuObs.
Bracket Four
NaNiwa < 2 : 0 > Axslav
+ Show Spoiler +
Game One: Axslav did a great hold of Nani's four gate, using his small probe advantage attained from doing a defensive four gate to come out ahead. Axslav added on his robo slightly after Naniwa but managed to squeeze in an expansion. It seemed like a pretty brilliant follow-up, netting himself an to force Naniwa to attack, but at the same time getting an equally timed colossus. Despite this great followup, Naniwa was actually ahead on probes, with Axslav cutting too many to hold an attack that never came. Naniwa just took it slow, turning the game around and taking the win later with a superior colossus count to win the game.
Game two can't be found on Justin.TV
Game two can't be found on Justin.TV
SjoW < 1 : 2 > DarKFoRcE - Sjow is amazing at slow pushing but DarkForce had good tech timings. Very good TvZ to watch.
+ Show Spoiler +
Game One: Sjow went for some Hellion pressure but due to some uncharacteristically poor micro he lost all of them for nothing. Darkforce almost went for a huge baneling bust to make use of his forced zerglings, but smartly pulled back after seeing Sjows large marine tank army. Sjow got his third base up and began a very well executed slow push down to DarkForce's base. DarkForce got brood lords out right before Sjow could prepared for them, and barely took the win.
Game Two: Sjow's opening push was shut down quite handily by Darkforce. Sjow followed up rather quickly with a slow push with turrets and bunkers that took multiple attempts from DarkForce to break. Sjow was able to get his third up quickly and just outpower Darkforce for the win.
Game Three: After a ling counter attack during a Terran two base timing push, both players come out wounded and pretty even ground. From there, the match turned into a 50 minute slugfest until the entire map was mined out. In the end, Sjow just couldn't put together the right composition to fight against infestor brood lord.
Game Two: Sjow's opening push was shut down quite handily by Darkforce. Sjow followed up rather quickly with a slow push with turrets and bunkers that took multiple attempts from DarkForce to break. Sjow was able to get his third up quickly and just outpower Darkforce for the win.
Game Three: After a ling counter attack during a Terran two base timing push, both players come out wounded and pretty even ground. From there, the match turned into a 50 minute slugfest until the entire map was mined out. In the end, Sjow just couldn't put together the right composition to fight against infestor brood lord.
NaNiwa <0 : 2> DarKFoRcE - watch these matches, Darkforce shows the strength of roach hydra corrupter when done creatively and with proper positioning.
+ Show Spoiler +
Game One: Naniwa opened stargate, but Darkforce did a nice job defending. In a close game the ensued, DarkForce was able to dismantle Naniwa with some great roach into infestor play.
Game Two: Naniwa again opened stargate, but this time Darkforce got a lot of mutalisks that did great damage to an unsuspecting Naniwa. He then put together an interesting mix of ling / hydra / muta. DarkForce got roaches and corrupters out just as Naniwa pushed, and due to some great positioning and micro, he is was able to dominate Naniwa's army and do some major damage in the counterattack before Naniwa can clean it up. In the second major engagement, with DarkForce again got the better of Naniwa with good army positioning. He transitioned to brood lords to secure the victory.
Game Two: Naniwa again opened stargate, but this time Darkforce got a lot of mutalisks that did great damage to an unsuspecting Naniwa. He then put together an interesting mix of ling / hydra / muta. DarkForce got roaches and corrupters out just as Naniwa pushed, and due to some great positioning and micro, he is was able to dominate Naniwa's army and do some major damage in the counterattack before Naniwa can clean it up. In the second major engagement, with DarkForce again got the better of Naniwa with good army positioning. He transitioned to brood lords to secure the victory.
Bracket Five
MC < 2 : 0 > CrunCher - Pretty good PvP's, MC makes smart moves and has great micro.
+ Show Spoiler +
Game One: MC went blink stalkers while Cruncher rushed a little too quickly for colossus, not even getting an immortal first. MC managed to blink past a forcefield and the game was quickly over.
Game Two: Cruncher did a much safer robo build this game, getting immortals out before colossus. MC took advantage of that by expanding. There' was good micro from both sides as Cruncher moved out with his one base colossus, but MC was able to hold convincingly, with only the colossus surviving for Cruncher. Cruncher went for one more push that MC was able to beat with a ton of immortals and take the game.
Game Two: Cruncher did a much safer robo build this game, getting immortals out before colossus. MC took advantage of that by expanding. There' was good micro from both sides as Cruncher moved out with his one base colossus, but MC was able to hold convincingly, with only the colossus surviving for Cruncher. Cruncher went for one more push that MC was able to beat with a ton of immortals and take the game.
KiWiKaKi < 2 : 1 > MoMaN - Fun PvZ worth watching, both of the players used very creative styles.
+ Show Spoiler +
Game One: Moman went for a super early pool to force KiwiKaki to lose his forge and pylon from his forge FE. Kiwikaki decided to proxy three gateways at Momans third in response, but Moman was making enough speedlings to defend. The speedlings counter attacked and killed a lot of probes, as well as the one cannon KiwiKaki managed to get up. Kikikaki tried a quick air transition to change his fortune, but was finished off by a hydra-ling push.
Game Two: KiwiKaki went for a huge blink stalker timing and used some fantastic micro to come out ahead of Moman's roach-hydra with his +2 weapons upgrade.
Game Three: Moman almost got a lucky win, going for a hydra ling all in while KiwiKaki happened to be going for an air opening. Kiwi barely held on though with some great forcefields and emergency cannons. He followed up by rushing for colossus. Moman was behind in economy, and being forced to stay on roach hydra against a colossus based army cost him the game.
Game Two: KiwiKaki went for a huge blink stalker timing and used some fantastic micro to come out ahead of Moman's roach-hydra with his +2 weapons upgrade.
Game Three: Moman almost got a lucky win, going for a hydra ling all in while KiwiKaki happened to be going for an air opening. Kiwi barely held on though with some great forcefields and emergency cannons. He followed up by rushing for colossus. Moman was behind in economy, and being forced to stay on roach hydra against a colossus based army cost him the game.
MC < 2 : 0 > KiWiKaKi - MC just outplayed Kiwikaki, not worth watching
+ Show Spoiler +
Game One: MC went for a four gate, but KiwiKaki was barely able to hold with his smart three gate into blink stalker. MC was able to pull back before he sustained too many losses though, getting robo tech without being too far behind. Both players went into four gate + immortal + blink off of one base, neither being able to expand without putting himself in immediate danger. MC choose to focus more heavily on immortals, and this handed him the victory once the two armies clashed in the decisive battle.
Game Two: MC offensive four gated while KiwiKaki defensive four gated. MC's micro was just slightly better in the initial engagement, and that is enough to take the game.
Game Two: MC offensive four gated while KiwiKaki defensive four gated. MC's micro was just slightly better in the initial engagement, and that is enough to take the game.
KiwiKaki vs MoMan on Terminus
The highlight game of the play-offs is another great ZvP, thought I really think I ought to be giving other match-ups some love. However, they simply aren't producing the goods right now in NASL. The entire series between Kiwi and Moman is one well worth seeing, as both these players are very creative and fun to watch; the following game being a prime example.
The game begins with Kiwi spawning at the 9 o'clock position and MoMan at the 6 o'clock. The chess game begins almost immediately with the Zerg choosing to 8pool while Kiwi looks to going for a forge expand. Kiwi is the first to find his opponent and immediately scouts the early pool with MoMan's overlord scouting the low-ground pylon and forge seconds later.
The first round of lings pop and head right for the Protoss main, but Kiwi is one step ahead, he immediately throws down a cannon at his main mineral line, 6 lings run right by the forge and in to the Protoss main to be greeted by the warping cannon and MoMan decides that the unprotected pylon and forge are a better target for now.
Meanwhile Kiwi has hidden a proxy pylon at the Zerg's 3rd location and follows it with 3 gateways, he cunningly places the gateways to make it almost impossible for the Zerg to attack the pylon.
Kiwi builds an extra gateway back at his main, allowing him both to disguise his intent with the proxy gates and to provide some small protect for his main. Believing he has foiled Kiwi's plans, Moman begins to Drone pump and take his first gas. The lings run back in to Kiwi's main and this time are greeted by an operational cannon.
The proxy gates have now finished and Kiwi is Chronoing out Zealots as fast as he can while the last 3 lings continue to run around the Protoss main. Moman is still pumping drones, thinking he is completely safe, but a scouting ling spots 3 advancing Zealots as they run up the ramp from the 3rd to the nat. 5 Zealots waltz in to the Zerg's main completely uncontested and begin to go to work, 12 lings pop and moman pulls everything he has in to the defence. Some incredible kiting micro by Kiwi means that he only loses one zealot in the first engagement while Moman takes slightly more significant loses.
Kiwi decides that his best move for the moment is to wait at the Zerg's ramp while he waits for his next round of Zealots to finish and Moman continues to pump lings. The Zealots move in once more and kill a morphing Spinecrawler but are then quickly surrounded by lings and drones. Having dealt with the pressure for now Moman sends his ling force out for a counter but then decides to go for the proxy gates instead. The placement of the gates and pylons prove to be too good for any significant damage to be done before Kiwi's Zealots are able to defend them however and the lings have to fall back to the Zerg main.
Kiwi has been making probes while Moman has been forced to make only lings and the Zerg is stuck on only 14 drones. The Zealots return to the Zerg main for another attack and once more get surrounded, but this time Kiwi manages to position them in a more effective formation.
Just as it seems the Zealots will be cleaned up, 2 Stalkers arrive at the party but are also quickly surrounded and killed. It seems the rush is finally over as Moman has enough lings to deal with any newly spawning units while he works on killing the proxy gates.
The worker count stands at 14 to 24 in favour of the Protoss, however Kiwi still only has 1 gateway, 1 cannon and a cyber core back at his base. With the Proxy gates gone it looks like he might be in some trouble and Kiwi decides that a Stargate is his best option for a follow up. With the rush now dealt with, Moman begins to pump drones once more and starts to level the playing field. The Zerg finally expands at the 11 minute mark as the first Voidray begins to build.
A huge ling force arrives at Kiwi's main, but some excellent worker micro allows the 1 stalker and 1 cannon to do significant damage and Kiwi cleans up the army losing only his cannon and about 8 Probes.
Having seen the Stargate, Moman begins to build multiple Queens as he still only has a spawning pool and 2 Hatches. The creep spread has not yet connected the main and nat but MoMan already has 2 Queens in his main ready to fight. Upon reaching the Zerg main the first Voidray turns tail and instead begins to start picking off outlying Overlords. After making a second Voidray, Kiwi begins Phoenix production. Moman sends a ling counter to the Protoss main, Kiwi has very little defence but somehow manages to clean up the attack.
The supply and worker counts both favour the Zerg heavily but Kiwi has the tech advantage for now and keeps Moman occupied with the Voidrays. Kiwi finally expands as his Phoenix force becomes large enough to pick up the majority of Momans 5 Queens. The Hydralisk den has finished but Moman has yet to produce any, and the Voidrays roll in with Phoenix support and go to work on Momans Queens. However, Kiwi makes a huge misstep and doesn't lift all the Queens and instead allows them to transfuse, leading to the loss of BOTH his voidrays. Kiwi does manage to kill off 3 Queens with the Phoenix before Hydralisks arrive to drive them off.
The game settles down as Kiwi finally has a small standing army back home of Sentries and Zealots. Moman is going for mass Hydras and sends them to the front of the Protoss nat accompanied by a small ling force. Kiwi throws down 3 more cannons just before the attack hits and the fight is on. The forcefields from Kiwi aren't great and combined the excellent range of the Hydras it spells doom for Kiwi's Zealots. The second set of FF's are much better but only delay the inevitable push forward in to the nat.
Moman brings in more and more lings and Hydras along with some overlords to absorb cannon shots and distract the small flock of Phoenix. When the FF's finally break Kiwi is forced to pull all the probes from his nat in to the fight as he is left with only Sentries in his army. Moman decides to focus the Cannons as they are the only thing dealing significant damage at this point; once they fall the Sentries and Probes follow quickly. Kiwi warps in some last ditch Stalkers but there are simply too many Hydras for him to deal with and he is forced to GG.
fin
In our last article, I pointed out a few players in the Open Tournament whom I thought were interesting and could potentially qualify for Season Two. Well, a funny thing happened on the way to “press” -- an entire Korean proteam signed up for the event! So I was a little off with some of my predictions. ThorZaiN and NightEnD looked good in the tournament, both qualifying for next season, but the others didn’t do as well. Minigun ran into MajOr in the Round of 64, who then ran into a Korean (Heart). DeMusliM made it to the Round of 16 where he lost to LoWeLy. DIMAGA decided that chilling on TaKe’s couch was more important than the NASL qualifier, and YourFriend -- despite the best support I know you gave him -- lost to LzGaMeR in the first round.
Koreans have done pretty well the last few weeks. They went 33-0 by series against non-Koreans in the Open Tournament, and did phenomenally well in the Season Two Qualifier (all but three of the last sixteen players were Korean). Of the twelve players replaced by new qualifiers following last season, nine are Korean. Entire teams signed up for the tournaments and a chance to play in the NASL. The NASL is quickly becoming infused with Korean talent, and a lot of people seem to be worried, or at least seem to think that this is another opportunity to mock a foreign league. I think they’re missing a very important point.
Everyone wants to see the best players play against the best players. Everyone knows that you have to compete against the Koreans to be considered serious, and (up until now -- spoiler alert!) that Korea is the only place to do that. If you wanted to become great, you had to make the trip to Korea, the promised land, and see if you had what it takes.
That’s a great story, but TT1 here and Xeris here have noted the high costs involved in trying to get into the GSL as a non-Korean, costs that have nothing to do with Starcraft play. Even if you can play well, find success, and have a team to support you, you might begin to notice the value of having your friends and family less than thousands of miles away and decide that it’s not worth it to you (e.g., TLO, Ret). Even if you’re given a free ride to Code A (or are already safely in Code S!), it might not make sense to take it. And as explained in those posts, the economic incentives right now just don’t support a system whereby people who do well in the foreigner scene ought to try to “make it” in Korea and forsake all the potential income from other tournaments.
The core concerns in both Xeris’s and TT1's critiques of the then-status quo were the barriers to entry into the GSL from non-Korean players. NASL provides an opportunity for foreigners to play with Koreans -- the best in the world -- without imposing those barriers to entry, i.e., the costs of traveling to a foreign country, establishing yourself there, and cutting yourself off from friends, family, teammates, and (importantly) local events.
This isn’t a simple case of “to beat the best you have to play the best,” where foreigners will have an opportunity to play against Koreans. At most, players are going to play a couple of best-of-threes against Korean pros in the course of the eight week regular season, which by itself isn’t going to make anyone good. But there’s the opportunity to compete with the Koreans, to compare one’s performance to the Korean pros, and to be heartened by victories over them. Now, all the reasons to want to go to Korea to play exist in a venue where most of the costs have been mitigated or removed entirely. (And yes, some additional costs are imposed on the Koreans -- lag, inconvenient schedule, etc. But SlayerS, TSL, oGs, fOu, and StarTale don’t seem to consider them too onerous. Compare those to requiring the Koreans to move to Los Angeles to play and forsake Korean events.)
Is this good for the development of eSports in North America, or is it just the Koreans stealing our money? The NASL FAQ mentions that one of its goals is to “foster the prominence” of eSports, and I’d say that broadcasting a league with the top players in the world at North American “prime time” certainly counts -- look at that bar in Seattle that now hosts Starcraft nights. The NASL isn’t going to act as a farm system to let people get better so they can try their hand in tougher leagues, but why should it? They want to “bring [viewers] the best experience [they] can,” and including the best players in the world will certainly do that.
I’m sure some players in North America (and Europe, and Latin America) will be inspired to train hard and develop more institutional infrastructure to support Starcraft 2 because of the opportunity to play against Koreans presented by the NASL. (And don’t forget their sponsors, whose players will now be competing in a premiere league broadcast all over the world -- don’t fail to note that as more top Koreans enter the league, the critique that the NASL has a less talented player base loses its relevance.) It’s not that the NASL is becoming a “Korean” league -- it’s becoming a league with great players. For many years, that was synonymous with “Korean,” and due to the structure of the system, it involved physically being in Korea, but not anymore. Rather than work on integrating foreigners into the Korean pro-scene, the NASL addresses the issue from the opposite direction, creating an international league in which Korean pros may play. (Of course, it must be noted that the two approaches are in no way exclusive.) As the NASL develops, it’s going to provide an opportunity for the potential development of great players from all around the world. Which will lead to a larger and better developed Starcraft community; isn’t that what we all want?
The final criticism: what about its name, you say, the North American Star League? Well, it’s broadcast in North American prime time (and seemingly every other prime time, on re-run) and the offices are located in sunny Southern California -- isn’t that enough for the name? Remember that the GSL stands for “Global Starcraft II League,” and to play in it you basically have to live in one single country, if not one city in that country. If it’s disingenuous to call the NASL “North American,” maybe we could change its name to something more appropriate for what it really is . . . how about the Global Starcraft II League?
Koreans have done pretty well the last few weeks. They went 33-0 by series against non-Koreans in the Open Tournament, and did phenomenally well in the Season Two Qualifier (all but three of the last sixteen players were Korean). Of the twelve players replaced by new qualifiers following last season, nine are Korean. Entire teams signed up for the tournaments and a chance to play in the NASL. The NASL is quickly becoming infused with Korean talent, and a lot of people seem to be worried, or at least seem to think that this is another opportunity to mock a foreign league. I think they’re missing a very important point.
Everyone wants to see the best players play against the best players. Everyone knows that you have to compete against the Koreans to be considered serious, and (up until now -- spoiler alert!) that Korea is the only place to do that. If you wanted to become great, you had to make the trip to Korea, the promised land, and see if you had what it takes.
That’s a great story, but TT1 here and Xeris here have noted the high costs involved in trying to get into the GSL as a non-Korean, costs that have nothing to do with Starcraft play. Even if you can play well, find success, and have a team to support you, you might begin to notice the value of having your friends and family less than thousands of miles away and decide that it’s not worth it to you (e.g., TLO, Ret). Even if you’re given a free ride to Code A (or are already safely in Code S!), it might not make sense to take it. And as explained in those posts, the economic incentives right now just don’t support a system whereby people who do well in the foreigner scene ought to try to “make it” in Korea and forsake all the potential income from other tournaments.
The core concerns in both Xeris’s and TT1's critiques of the then-status quo were the barriers to entry into the GSL from non-Korean players. NASL provides an opportunity for foreigners to play with Koreans -- the best in the world -- without imposing those barriers to entry, i.e., the costs of traveling to a foreign country, establishing yourself there, and cutting yourself off from friends, family, teammates, and (importantly) local events.
This isn’t a simple case of “to beat the best you have to play the best,” where foreigners will have an opportunity to play against Koreans. At most, players are going to play a couple of best-of-threes against Korean pros in the course of the eight week regular season, which by itself isn’t going to make anyone good. But there’s the opportunity to compete with the Koreans, to compare one’s performance to the Korean pros, and to be heartened by victories over them. Now, all the reasons to want to go to Korea to play exist in a venue where most of the costs have been mitigated or removed entirely. (And yes, some additional costs are imposed on the Koreans -- lag, inconvenient schedule, etc. But SlayerS, TSL, oGs, fOu, and StarTale don’t seem to consider them too onerous. Compare those to requiring the Koreans to move to Los Angeles to play and forsake Korean events.)
Is this good for the development of eSports in North America, or is it just the Koreans stealing our money? The NASL FAQ mentions that one of its goals is to “foster the prominence” of eSports, and I’d say that broadcasting a league with the top players in the world at North American “prime time” certainly counts -- look at that bar in Seattle that now hosts Starcraft nights. The NASL isn’t going to act as a farm system to let people get better so they can try their hand in tougher leagues, but why should it? They want to “bring [viewers] the best experience [they] can,” and including the best players in the world will certainly do that.
I’m sure some players in North America (and Europe, and Latin America) will be inspired to train hard and develop more institutional infrastructure to support Starcraft 2 because of the opportunity to play against Koreans presented by the NASL. (And don’t forget their sponsors, whose players will now be competing in a premiere league broadcast all over the world -- don’t fail to note that as more top Koreans enter the league, the critique that the NASL has a less talented player base loses its relevance.) It’s not that the NASL is becoming a “Korean” league -- it’s becoming a league with great players. For many years, that was synonymous with “Korean,” and due to the structure of the system, it involved physically being in Korea, but not anymore. Rather than work on integrating foreigners into the Korean pro-scene, the NASL addresses the issue from the opposite direction, creating an international league in which Korean pros may play. (Of course, it must be noted that the two approaches are in no way exclusive.) As the NASL develops, it’s going to provide an opportunity for the potential development of great players from all around the world. Which will lead to a larger and better developed Starcraft community; isn’t that what we all want?
The final criticism: what about its name, you say, the North American Star League? Well, it’s broadcast in North American prime time (and seemingly every other prime time, on re-run) and the offices are located in sunny Southern California -- isn’t that enough for the name? Remember that the GSL stands for “Global Starcraft II League,” and to play in it you basically have to live in one single country, if not one city in that country. If it’s disingenuous to call the NASL “North American,” maybe we could change its name to something more appropriate for what it really is . . . how about the Global Starcraft II League?