Despite the rather one-sided results of WCS Season 2’s finals series, the Cologne-based SC2 tournament has been rife with nail biting, heart attack inducing matches, with the most notable ones being during the group stages and quarterfinals.
Midway through the new week, we at GosuGamers can’t help but relive the tournament’s most memorable games. Check out what we believe to be the top five games of the WCS Finals.
Why was it good: INnoVation is beatable, this fact has been proven in the recent past. But to be bested by a foreigner? If there is any such player able to defeat INnoVation, it would be one who practices with the Koreans and it certainly was. NaNiwa’s recent successes have been notable. The young, ambitious and emotionally vested Swede is proving that he has what it takes to be a world class SC2 player. His 2-0 victory over INnoVation, though not a steamroll by any means, still spells out INnoVation’s vulnerabilities while showcasing the potential of hardworking foreign players.
Why was it good: When’s the last time you saw Tempests in a TvP pro match? It’s been awhile I’m sure, the last match I personally recall was during the WCS Season 1 Grand Finals between sOs Vs. INnoVation on Neo Planet S and it didn’t showcase Tempests to be a powerful unit in the matchup.
Thid match started off relatively slow, with Alive pushing an economic advantage while First rushed for tech. Any drop aggression from both players were nullified by heavy defenses, First surrounded his base with observers while Alive walled off his perimeter with missile turrets. The real battles only began to brew as both players approached the 200 supply mark at which point it became a battle of unit control – feedbacks versus snipes, vikings trying to snipe colossus while avoiding blink stalkers and storms. The two pros traded blow for blow… and then the Tempests came.
A base race scenario launched, which was eventually met by an inevitable collision between both players’ armies. Alive’s viking fleet rained fire on the colossus instead of the Tempest, killing the majority of colossi, but falling to First’s nearly intact Tempest force. With nearly no income raking in for either player, First’s superior standing army made quick work of Alive’s very small Viking count. With feedbacks, storms, and the sieging prowess of Tempests, Alive had no choice but to GG a very unusual, very epic, TvP.
Why was it good: The resurgences of tyrants do not come without friction and who better to provide the struggle than Protoss revolutionist MC.
So often do Protoss two base all-ins result in a brisk anti-climactic finish - either the Zerg successfully defends and crushes the economically inferior Protoss or the Toss’ push proves too formidable and the Zerg crumples to the seemingly endless supply of warp-ins as the mechanical legs of immortals walk over lifeless Zerg carapaces. This match, however, does not develop in any sort of typical fashion.
MC gains an early advantage with a cannon rush that denies Jaedong’s early third, priming the Protoss player for an aggressive two-base window that he, due to two critical errors, misses. The first: powering six gateways with a single pylon, and the second: leaving a gap in his wall allowing Jaedong’s zerglings to rush into MC’s base and kill aforementioned pylon. With no other choice but to pull back his offensive forces, MC readies himself to defend against an economically superior Zerg force. Despite his disadvantageous position, MC manages to hold against all odds with a bastion-like defense in conjunction with hatchery and drone slaying counterattacks that abate Jaedong’s ultralisk/zergling army. The rest of the always entertaining match includes tech switches, psi storms, and a culminating battle between two high-tech armies running off one-base economies.
Why was it good: The reason is quite simple – INnoVation brings back Hellbats with some of the hottest (pun attended) mech play versus TaeJa’s bio army.
If you’re tired of marine/tank mirrors, please do yourself a favor and watch this match, but grab snacks because you’ll be in it for the long haul. This epic 52 minute game involves Hellbat drops, seeker missiles, and expansions at every possible location. Back and forth, both players edge on the precipice of defeat in multiple instances throughout the match.
Why was it good: It’s hard not to root for Scarlett, the foreigner who invested so much into SC2, who moved away from the comforts of home to South Korea in order to foster her talents. Watching the WCS Finals you’ll find that the results of her sacrifice are evident, even admirable and this match against Brood War veteran, Bomber, adequately exemplifies Scarlett’s progress.
Both players open macro heavy, Scarlett with a three hatch before pool while Bomber opens with a command center first. Things look grim early on for the foreigner as Bomber manages to drive four hellions in Scarlett’s main before she gets speedlings resulting in 15 crispy drones. Scarlett climbs back in the match despite the early economic blow through a near perfect four base ling, baneling, mutalisk defense that abates Bomber’s aggressive 3 base marine/mine shove. A role reversal comes into play after several successful engagements from Scarlett’s end. Using her immensely mobile army, lings and mutas in conjunction with some very clutch Overloard creep, Scarlett goes on the offensive, constantly denying Bomber’s fourth base with surgical precision. If you weren’t a fan of Scarlett before, this match may sway you to her side.
