The soso column #11: Coming through in the clutch

This week’s column was originally going to focus on the start of Major League Gaming’s pro circuit in Dallas over the weekend. Unfortunately, my primary way to “watch” that event was by incessantly hitting F5 on twitter and witnessing the action unfold 140 characters at a time. The streams simply couldn’t handle the traffic and were crashing constantly. Too many people wanted to watch eSports. On the spectrum of problems to have - from being Will Smith in I Am Legend: family dies right in front of you and you’re constantly hunted by flesh eating zombies, to being Will Smith in Hitch: handsome dating coach, a little awkward on your own dates but you still ultimately end up banging Eva Mendes - being so popular that you can’t handle the traffic on your stream is much closer to Hitch’s Will Smith. They should have done a better job dealing with the problems, but at least there weren’t any vicious zombies maiming the spectators.

So I’m sure there’s a good story there. Probably about NaNiwa going undefeated through the open bracket, overcoming incredible odds and persevering with admirable stamina and determination to become the champion of MLG Dallas. But I was too busy laughing at captioned screen shots of Day9 and DJWheat to find it.

Fortunately there’s one player who I can always count on to create a hell of a story. With his unique style, unbelievable micro, and endearing displays of emotion, MarineKingPrime proved yet again why he’s a soso column favorite. I’m of course talking about his epic series against MC at the GSL World Championship’s semi-finals.

MKP entered the series as the underdog, facing two time GSL champion, oGsMC. But from the very first game on Metalopolis, it was apparent that he had some new tricks up his sleeve. MarineKing opened the series by lifting off his starting command center, capturing the gold base and very nearly winning the game outright with overwhelming marine aggression. Unfortunately, MC managed to only lose his expansion and came back to win despite being caught completely off guard early on. Game two didn’t go well for MKP either, when his proxy thor rush was thwarted by simple gateway pressure that broke through his front wall and ended the game before it even really began.

All of a sudden MarineKing was down 0-2 in a best of five series against the reigning GSL champion. On the Will Smith scale of problems, this is like in The Pursuit of Happiness when he’s sleeping on the floor of a public restroom, covering his kid’s ears, while crazy homeless guys bang on the door. Not a place you’d want to be, but again, no flesh eating zombies. Until the crazed walking dead show up, there’s still hope.

In game three, MC tried an aggressive zealot/void ray all-in that would have surely finished off almost any Terran player. The only possible way to defend the attack was with perfect micro. Showing why he’s the king, MKP used brilliant tactics, shielding his marines with a mule while he stutter stepped around his base, fending off wave after wave of warp ins. Only a handful of players in the world who could have maintained that level of control in such a clutch situation. One mistake and he would have been knocked out of the tournament. But he played flawlessly, pushed back the onslaught and won the game.

Then it was like something clicked for MarineKing. He realized that he didn’t need to use any tricky thor rushes or beta-esque starting command center lifts. If he relied on his solid micro and merciless marine heavy attacks he could win. In the fourth game, he pushed out with a couple banshees, a few siege tanks and a backbone of marines. The defining moment of the attack came when the two armies first collided. There were explosions everywhere and units falling left and right for both sides. Then as the smoke cleared, an overpowering force of marines emerged amongst the wreckage of fallen banshees and damaged siege tanks to finish off what was left of MC’s army, assault his base and tie the series.

Game five epitomized what MKP is known for. He survived MC’s early stalker push by using only marines; that’s right, before his bunkers finished, he was able to micro his marines so effectively that he held off the faster, longer ranged stalkers. Incredible. Then he attacked while MC was vulnerable, again using marines to tear through the outnumbered gateway units and take a substantial lead. By the time the final battle came, MKP simply had too much “stuff” and was able to obliterate MC’s colossi/stalker death-ball, completing the epic comeback.

Staying true to form, MarineKing could do nothing to hold back his tears after the match: a mix of relief, vindication, and a dash of euphoria. I always feel some validation when players display such raw emotions, like I’m not quite so ridiculous for getting emotionally invested in the outcome of a computer game that I’m not even playing. Gotta love MarineKing for that.

Now he gets to face IMMvp in the finals; a rematch of the GSL finals where he got 4-0’d. That story practically writes itself.

Links:
MKP vs MC Semi-Final: http://www.gomtv.net/2011championship/vod/64353

Woody "soso" Favinger is the author of The soso column, published every Wednesday on GosuGamers.net. You can contact him via email at [email protected] or follow him on twitter at twitter.com/wfavinger