The Real Hero

[s]korea[/s]

Youth vs. Veteran,... or is it? The Sky Proleague 2006 Round 1 got off to a usual start, with expected results and showings from the usual big-names, but one match shined through.

KTF MagicNs

vs.

MBC Hero

With the usual performances from KTF's GoodFrienD and Chojja, and MBC's PuSan[S.G], the 1 on 1 matches would have stood at 2:1 in favor of KTF.

The turnaround for MBC Hero came when 16 year old gamer Sea[Shield] had to match up against one of the biggest names in Progaming; Nal_rA.

vs.

First Glance

On first looking at just the pictures of these two, you feel sorry for the little kid about to take on the serious looking competitor, just like I did.

The Game

Nal_Ra warped in at 11, and Sea[Shield] landed at 5. Nal_rA underestimated Sea[Shield] and decided to attempt a fast a expo with only 4 goons defending it.

Many youthful players would have a natural fear of attacking a veteran so early in the game, but Sea[Shield] advanced up the map with 6 Vultures and 4 Marines, and with impressive mine control, took out all four of Nal_rA's goons with 2 of his vulture's remaining.

From there, the game was was full of small skirmishes and Reaver micro by Nal_Ra but Sea[Shield] suprisingly did not turtle up and instead played like a protoss, sending wave after wave of units at Nal_rA's defenses.

Sea[Shield] would not bend to Nal_Ra's constant reaver drops on his mineral lines, and the most impressive move from Sea[Shield] was his willpower in ignoring the destruction of his SCV's and continuing his attack on Nal_Ra's natural.

In the end, Sea[Shield]'s constant aggressive style and control (mixing goliath tank and vulture to defend against Nal_rA's Goon/Reaver combo) combined to eliminate Nal_rA's expo and claim the game.

Sea[Shield]

>

Nal_Ra

MBC Hero

3:2

KTF MagicNs

The Point.

The point is not that Nal_rA lost, but instead that Sea[Shield] won. It could have been any numbers of pros against Sea[Shield], but he drew Nal_rA as his opponent. Any youthful rookie would be extremely nervous, and like many, even some in this series ( Saint[z-zone] for one), could fumble the game. Saint[z-zone]'s showing looked more reminiscent of a US-West public game than a Sky Proleague match.

Sea[Shield] may be 16 years old, but his mental state is that of a pure veteran. He has gone 2-0 in the OSL recently, and is making a move to become one of the stars of progaming. He has broken into the KeSPA rankings, and I believe will soon be near the top of the progaming world.

Links
TL.net Torrent - Sea[Shield] vs. Nal_rA