With all those terrans on the Korean scene it was almost inevitable for us to see a TvT final. And if there is no shocker in seeing MVP make it all the way, having TOP in the grand final was something few people expected to get when the season started.
The long march for both terrans finally came to its end, each player aiming for a similar, yet entirely different goal. When MVP had the burning desire of not staying behind his teammate NesTea (who he beat earlier in the tournament) in terms of won championships, TOP was here to proved that he can be more than "that guy who is kinda good but never makes it much far". And there was a Bo7 series ahead of them to determine who will return home with his quest complete.
Game 1 @ Daybreak.
The game started passively as expected from a mech mirror and the players just sat back, mustered their armies and upgraded them heavily in anticipation for the battles to come.
TOP was the first to do a mistake, moving too far out with his tanks which allowed MVP to swing from the north and claim a lot of free hellions. MVP followed this up with a hellion attack of his own, bypassing the natural and hitting TOP's third. The run-by, combined with a hellion drop at the same time and at the same place cost TOP all his SCVs and he had to start resaturating from scratch.
By the 20th minute Daybreak was split in half and it was time for the fight to take flight. MVP and TOP started their transition into vikings and ravens but multiple ghost academies were also erected. TOP was the first to launch a nuke and those were shot upon MVP's main and 12 o'clock expo. Although no game-breaking damage was done, those perfectly calculated stipples started turning this TvT into a work of art.
In contrast to TOP's minor moves, MVP took the high road and moved in for a huge drop into TOP's main. Three thors, some ghosts and a ton of vikings arrived at the crime scene and in seconds TOP's base was covered in the red dots of nuclear missiles. And just as he came, MVP moved out and repositioned his army at the centre, having dealt enough damage for the cost of almost no units.
The final moments of the game were played just west of TOP's natural. Both terrans started spamming seeker missiles and PDDs in attempt to get an edge but in the end it was MVP's macro that won the day. Having way less vikings than his opponent, TOP tapped out of this awesome opening set.
Game 2 @ Dual Sight
The second set was a complete turnabout. MVP opened with preigniter hellions into an expansion but TOP was not going to let this go into late game. He attacked with 1/1/1 army and caught MVP in a bad position. The IM terran, though, was not easily discarded. After a perfect poke with his hellions, MVP downed TOP's marines to almost none and then immediately rallied his preigniter army into TOP's main. TOP was too slow to raise his depots and the hellions stumbled upon a free meal of SCVs. As every single worker met his dead, TOP tapped out.
Game 3 @ Xel'Naga Fortress
Both players opened very similarly with TOP going for 1/1/1 on the back of slight banshee pressure and MVP opening preigniter hellions but bunkering his expansion a bit faster and just in time for TOP's attack. The oGs player's army looked scary but once again MVP played his defender role perfectly. Swooping from behind with his hellions to target the marines and pulling SCVs to surround the tanks, MVP dealt a huge blow to TOP, coming far ahead of his opponent.
It was time for MVP to sit back and get on with his macro style that he so much loves. By the 19th minute mark he already had a healthy number of thors and viking and was also double expanding behind this, taking his 4th and 5th to gain an economic lead. And if MVP's strength has a perfect moment to shine it is when army size matters. As the two-times champion moved forward to fight his opponent, TOP found himself in dire straits: he had less vikings, his tanks were doing almost no damage to the perfectly spread out thors and he had no way to reinforce his defences. He had to GG for third time in a row.
Game 4 @ Belshir Beach
TOP opened with a very technical rush, going for a double-pronged attack with preigniters to the natural and landed vikings in MVP's main. A single bunker was all that kept MVP alive throughout the attack but mining in his main was denied for a healthy amount of time.
Eventually, TOP had to retreat and both players started normalizing their economies. TOP finally got his natural and started gearing up for mech play while MVP did the same with occasional preigniter attacks that did not bring any significant results.
And suddenly something happened that rarely happens to MVP. After a series of tank pushes, which took advantage of MVP's mispositioned army, the former champion found himself checkmated. Although he kept pushing TOP back he lost an enormous amount of SCVs during one of the attacks. With only 24 workers it was a long way towards a recovery which MVP never actually reached. TOP had three full bases running and even got his hands on the gold as well as the bottom left base. A couple of pushes later and the score was 3-1.
Game 5 @ Terminus
Bio vs Mech is always an entertaining match-up to watch and MVP showed us why in several machine-like moves that threw the audience in awe.
His initial marine pressure was easily denied by a bunker and some hellions so MVP fell back to work on his economy, much like TOP did. But marauder's mobility is an easy thing to abuse and soon MVP was at the centre of the map, pressuring TOP's fourth and taking two more bases behind this. TOP was forced to move all his tanks down to protect his expansion and that is when MVP struck for the jugular.
Five medivacs flew in TOP's main under the protection of a PDD and unloaded all hell. In seconds TOP was supply blocked and his production facilities were burnt to cinders and in the middle of all this his planetary at the fourth was under marauder fire. When the smoke cleared, MVP had 180 to 120 supply advantage - an absolutely unlosable situation. Some minutes later TOP accepted the truth and GG-ed out. MVP was the second three-times champion in GSL history!
A moment of personal words
This has been the most impressive GSL run I have ever seen which should shut those people's mouths, asking when is MVP coming back on top. As if there was time that he wasn't there. His MLG Anaheim performance put even more light on MVP and now he did it again, bringing yet another gold home.
And when I say it's the best GSL run in all GSL history I want to make sure you know why. Not only did he drop just two maps throughout the entire season, but he went through reigning champion NesTea, the dreaded tosses MC and HuK, Super tournament champion Polt and the God of War July to reach the finals. Oh yeah, and he got TOP at the end. Those are six of the top 8 players in the GSL rankings. If he had MarineKing it would be a full-house achievement, but knowing that he had already beaten him twice (and convincingly) we can let that one slide. Not to mention this victory puts him ahead of NesTea and on top of the GSL ranking, a place well deserved.
So what does the future hold for the terran beast? The first images of what is to be will be revealed tomorrow as the GSL groups will be drawn. And next month the reigning champion has a Blizzcon to attend. And I don't see a situation where MVP will stop being a safe bet.
