The Best Starcraft Game Ever Played

Colton Royle
Link to Match:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-0oGVFCC9s

Chapter 1: Before you Watch

The South Korean’s equivalent to Football Americano in the United States is undoubtedly Starcraft. It’s a televised nationally recognized sport. It has radio commentators and televised arenas. It has seating for fans to watch live. It hires professional computer camera men who can click and observe the combat effectively. They get paid to do this. The South Korean Air Force has their own Starcraft Team. This is how big it is there. So with that basic level of understanding: we will never play star craft like them. We can never hope to become as good or better than them because they are the best at this game. If the whole world would be decided on games of star craft, they would take the cake and then eat it in front of us, then poop it out in our very own toilets. The first thing you as the viewer will notice as you watch is how skilled they are. Their actions per minutes are in the hundreds, and they do several actions in game simultaneously that take us multiple steps.
    When Erich Late and I were freshman roommates, we spent a great deal of time, in fact probably most of our video game time playing star craft. I also got heavily into watching pro Korean games. Not only for tips and tricks, but also because I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s important to understand that me enjoying this is not a new thing, and it’s not even nerdy anymore. I’m not just trying to defend myself here. This is how big video games are becoming. The fact that even politics got into star craft in south korea says a little about the rise of video game in human history, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

There are a couple things you should know

Before starting this video (which I hope you didn’t because you might get confused), you should read these next sections to get a firm grip on jargon and terms and history.

The Commentators

The commentators of this match thank God speak English and they are SC2GG.com’s very own Klazart and Cholera. Klazart will be the british sounding, louder voiced commentator while Cholera is the American quieter other. For duel commentators they will usually have a straight and a bent set up. What this means is there is one commentator who is straight up facts and tells of events happening while the second is bent which means they stray off and mention other facts and broad ideas in the game. Cholera in this video, while he does make some theories, is the less talkative “Al Michaels” straight commentator. Klazart, the brit, is the bent. Klazart is also widely mentioned as SC2GG.com’s most eccentric and fastest talking commentator they have. Also understand that these guys bust their asses to get English commentary to us in America as all their funding is through donation. They do all this for free as their hobby. If you’ve ever seen their site, this is very hard to do, and furthermore they are good at it.

The Game

Starcraft for those reading, is a strategy game that came out in the mid 1990s and featured a simple approach to strategy and tactics. While it’s not quite as simple as to have a “paper beats rock approach”, it definitely is not complex enough to boggle the minds of many. This made it a sweeping phenomenon. Like the wii, or Halo, or Counter Strike, or Gears of War, it redefined a genre in gaming. Apparently for all our big talk as men discussing strategy, people want something relatively simple and arcade-like to compete with their friends. Starcraft’s style made games very quick, approximately 20 minutes on average compared to other strategy games now and then that take hours. This gave players the opportunities for more rapid adaptation and adjustment. It also allowed people to play more than one round before or after work or school and still feel accomplished. People often over look that simple and quick is not always a bad thing. In fact, blizzard made a sequel almost technologically exactly like the first with some improvements, and people kissed their feet for it. After a decade and a half of strategy games, all people wanted was more star craft. That says something about how domineering this game is. It owns strategy. You cannot have a conversation about strategy games and leave out the achievements Blizzard has made in their games, especially when an f-ing country uses it as an official sport.

The Map

The particular match that we are discussing in this essay will be played on “Neo Medusa”. Medusa is a map that is seemingly like all the other professional grade maps made for South Korea E-Sports. Neo Medusa (NM for short) is a map with resources and rough terrain on the outside edges in a complete circle around the map for bottlenecks and territorial advantage. The inside is a big flat landscape designed for no advantages for any race. This may seem easy since it’s a video game, but unfortunately it’s not. Now when mentioning maps, the commentators will mention this term: “Flash is starting at the 3 o’clock position.” This means that if you take the mini map in the bottom left hand corner and considered it a clock, then he would be located where a three would normally be; the right side of the map. So when they talk about the ever important 12 o’clock position on this map, that means it’s the top of the map. They use this a lot. Also keep in mind the resources available in general. If you notice there are hardly any resources in the middle except to prevent entry into certain locations on the map. The outer edges are meant for production while the middle is kind of a boxing arena. Flat and uninteresting. But NM does have several landmarks we should take into account. There are several bridges that like in real world encounters, do play a part. There is also destructible buildings that prevent entry into other areas, but it doesn’t play that big a part in this match in particular.
    Also when they say “expo” they mean expansion. This is a position with resources that is not the initial location of the player, but instead is a position that the player places a base on to expand his territory of control. Usually pro maps will have an expansion right outside the initial location to rapidly accelerate games in their resource gathering phase.

The Players

The players in the match today are the best of the best. Flash, on the right as you start the video, is a legend already in the making. Most pro players are in their twenties. Flash was kicking ass at age 16 when he played this. Klazart makes a notion that Flash loses to himself more than other players and this is true. Flash is almost this super genius that becomes lost sometimes either in his own pride or battle strategy. He will sometimes make such grand mistakes that he has sometimes been doubtful when considering big events. This is also because of his age. Flash is THE best Terran at least in this point in history, and also is statistically the best Terran vs. Terran player, which means he wins best when he plays against his own race. Flash’s experience has also been proving well throughout time, and unlike other older players who crack and can no longer compete (I’m not kidding), Flash has plenty of time to adjust and perfect.
    FireBatHero on the left is a new-ish up and coming star. While being embarrassed and made fun of time and time again by analysts in the beginning of his career, FBH worked on his strengths and now is one of the best Terran players out there. FBH has been known to lose to weaker opponents but win to stronger ones, and no one really knows why. FBH may have some hidden belief in the honor of battling more experienced opponents. Although FBH is best against Zerg, he also fairs well against other Terrans.
    While neither of these is my very player (who is Jaedong, a Zerg pro and wildly popular, convinced me of many of the strategies I use today), they are both extremely talented players who could take on three or me or you and not blink.

Terran vs. Terran

This match features a same race conflict, which means that already certain strategy will be apparent. You’re going to see a Mech build. This means no marines, no medics, no troops. You’re going to see tanks. Lots of tanks. There will be goliaths that provide anti air and close combat, but nothing is more important than the siege tanks and their long range guns. The second thing you’ll see is dropships. Dropships are faster than tanks and goliaths and can move over rough terrain easier. Dropships increase maneuverability and allow easier flanking and attacking. Terran on Terran is great to watch because of all the cannon fire and how real it feels. You can’t relate to Protoss tribal thought or Zerg infestation all that well but you can relate to tanks and marines and dropships.
    In the early stages of pro star craft, there were so many exploits and glitches used that they had to take away some glaring ones to keep the game fair. One of which is building lift-off blocking turrets. The terran are the only race with the ability to lift their buildings off to other locations. They can also build anti-air turrets for cheap. Now because the game is a point-and-click interface that’s 2D and one angle only, then a player could keep a building hovering over an anti-air turret and the enemy would not be able to click on the turret for their forces to kill it. They would have to blow up the building first, giving the turret a huge hit point shield. So when you wonder why they are not doing this in this match, because there are definitely a lot of turrets and definitely a lot of buildings moving, this is why.


So Why this Match?

My view of this game as the best in history is not the common view at all. I have no idea what is viewed as the best star craft game officially ever played. My view is my own and not many else’s I guess. I have seen quite a few, and this is the best, because many things taken for granted or assumed about star craft in korea or anywhere are thrown out the window. This match provides a true insight into the intensity and grit of the sport, and also helps us understand it’s important in the world of video games, and it says a little about us as human beings.
    First off the game is a whopping hour and four minutes. Most pro star craft games last an average of fifteen minutes. There’s not a lot of room for mistakes or delays at that level of play. But this match becomes a brutal war between two players. And it’s awesome. It’s awesome because we hardly see a star craft map played this far, and interesting tactics arise and unbelievable events occur that make me love it even more.
    Second both players make terrible mistakes. To some this may seem trivial, but the reason this game lasts so long is both players make dumb mistakes over the course of this game that change the way each play. At such a high level, even the pros make careless mistakes. It also comes from the fact that most players do not play such long games, and later strategy and handling of everything from production to force movement becomes impossible to perfect. We simply aren’t computers.
    Third this is the golden age of star craft. It was right during star craft 2’s popular stage of development and right before the whole political debacle that I’ll discuss later. More people cared now than ever before, and it mattered then and it matters now.
    Fourth this match has a lot of historical parallels to real life encounters. I think this is really interesting as a history major. I’ll list some in the chronological order of events.

Chapter 2: While you Watch

So now you may watch the video. The commentators do an excellent job of pointing out actions and events but if you want a chronological order of important events, I have them here with my own notes afterward.

Game Start - Flash is located at the 3 o’clock as forest green while FBH is in the 7 o’clock position as the yellow. Resource gathering begins and initial scouts are sent out. The most important factor in star craft after economic protection is information. Always know what your opponent is doing.
3:49 - By this time both players have blocked off their entrance. This means they physically place buildings in the way of their entrance to keep the enemy out. This also means they keep themselves in, but since this is Terran on Terran, they will eventually lift off the Barracks and use them as airline scouts.
5:00 - By this time the first factories are being built. Pro players will build anywhere from 4 to 12 factories to maximize rapid construction. Assembly line design is akin to the American tanks in World War Two, or British Naval Construction in the same conflict.
5:37 - Flash has expanded. Expanding first makes you vulnerable because it is so costly, but if you succeed, then you are ahead of your opponent significantly for later fighting. Remember this.
6:00 - Vultures are out. These are the first available units in the factory and are very fast and allow scouting, spider mines, and harassment of bases. Vultures combined with over vehicles are extremely effective, but are usually replaced in the late game.
7:45 - FBH builds his first starport. While this is early, he will use a wraith to scout incoming anything, and eventually will use it to build dropships.
9:15 - Flash tries an initial blitzkrieg that fails, unlike the Germans through Poland and France.
11:00 - FBH makes his first push with Siege Tanks that obliterate Flash’s main force. Players cannot individually tell siege tanks what to fire on, and SCV’s are provided as literal cannon fodder to ward off blows.
13:00 - Flash loses control of the center, and will not regain it for a considerable time.
13:20 - Turrets go up. Many are used to form a line of attrition that spans across the map for scouting and dropship control.
14:00 - Siege Tanks from FBH gather along ridge and siege Flash’s main base. Much like the geography in the Battle of Toulon in Napoleon’s early years. Unlike history however, Flash overcomes it.
14:25 - Flash sends out a flanking force to cut off the siege from reinforcements
16:14 - To truly understand how good these players are it often goes into First Person view to see how fast they are going. This is an example.
17:00 - Flash senses a blockade of Missile Turrets and Siege Tanks forming around him.
18:00 - A Stalemate begins with FBH placing a turret line and Flash rebuilding. Kind of like WWI trench warfare, but not too much like it.
19:38 - Flash expands to the 1 o’clock position: a staging area for a major battle in the game at the 12 o’clock
19:50 - Flash also lands units around resources at 12 o’ clock that will begin the major conflict in the game.
20:00 - Stalemate Two.
22:30 - Flash makes a push at the 12 o’clock position. The real fighting begins.
The units at the 12 are cut off on all sides by turrets and tanks. Much like the paratroopers at Bastogne in World War II
23:00 - Stalemate Three. Both players are poking and prodding for weaknesses.
25:00 - Major push by Flash in a BARBAROSSA attack through the center like in World War Two with the Germans against the Russians on the Eastern Front. Retakes middle.
26:42 - Massive drop by both sides that may have been most decisive battle in the match. FBH wins.
27:00 - Flash carelessly lets two dropships die to goliath fire.
29:00 - Flash desperate for forces, makes a quick Vulture squadron
30:15 - FBH makes a violent attack on the 1 o’clock expansion and blockades it.
31:00 - Flash retaliates by using superior height from the south to shell blockade
32:00 - Flash drops vultures behind enemy lines to cut off FBH’s line at 12 o’clock.
Destroys southern line.
34:17 - FBH attempts to reestablish southern line and middle with massive siege tank force
35:30 - Flash foolishly lets SCVs die on way to 1 o’clock position.
35:50 - Flash continues to reinforce 12 o’clock
36:20 - FBH makes an attack on middle, regaining lost ground and gaining mobility.
Flash continues to hold high ground south of 1 o’clock
37:00 - First Person view again.
38:00 - FBH reestablishes southern force at 12 o’clock
Minerals are running low across map. Late game tech considered
39:55 - FBH foolishly lets dropships die in worthless attempt
40:00 - Stalemate Four.
42:00 - FBH builds physic’s Lab on science building and builds more star ports. Proof that FBH will utilize Battlecruisers in late game.
42:52 - Flash from 1 o’clock retakes southern position AGAIN at 12 o’clock with massive force. FBH cannot retaliate because of Battlecruiser decision.
43:45 - FBH retakes southern position
44:00 - Camera men show that resources are gone across map.
44:44 - Flash retakes southern position
45:49 - Flash takes western side of 12 o’clock with huge landing force. FBH cannot retaliate because of Battlecruiser decision.
46:33 - In the luckiest scan of all time, Flash discovers Battlecruiser plan, and now has the time to stop it. Much like the Americans at Midway decoding the Japanese Naval Code. Flash now has crucial information on the enemy.
47:43 - FBH attempts to spear middle.
53:00 - Flash begins to systematically destroy FBH’s base. FBH does not retaliate. Instead he continues with Yamato pot shots at tanks at 12 o’clock.
54:32 - Trail of Tears for FBH’s factories
1:00:00 - FBH is completely surrounded by Flsash forces and eventually goes down in a proper shit storm.
1:00:45 - Flash rushes out of the playing room as the victor of the match. FBH can only sit in silence as he realized how he lost

Chapter 3: After Watching

So What Happened?

It was unfortunate that Flash discovered the Battlecruisers. Had he not, then Flash might have not had enough Goliaths to attack the battle cruisers and they could have hugged the northern coastline and harassed Flash because neither had any resources to build fighting force. While FBH played an excellent first third, Flash defended well and kept building forces! FBH grew stagnant towards the end. Flash’s experience in the game more than outweighed FBH’s.
    It’s important to understand that had FBH kept pushing in the first twenty minutes, Flash would’ve lost. But FBH was psychologically over-analytical and grew restless and shy. In fact, Flash played the defense throughout the whole game until his systematic destruction of FBH’s base in the late game. Most of his drops were to break FBH’s blockades. Flash’s defensive play is surprisingly effective when you consider how low he started. Instead of playing the short game, FBH established missile turrets and blockades for a long term game, and lost because of it. Flash was capable of deterring every blockade.
   
So What Happened After?

They kept playing star craft. They are both playing rather well, but Flash was never quite as good as he was in his early teens. Flash and Jaedong were rivals for a while because they always ended up at the end of tournament brackets. But eventually Flash caved in because of rising vulture gameplay. Vultures as a legitimate strategy came back and Flash was not able to adapt. Either that or Flash refused to adapt. His ego-centric nature or his inability to play differently let him be overtaken. I do not know much about FBH. He never really was a top tier player, but he’s always above average. It’s amazing how well he played against Flash, and yet he still lost.
    This was all right before a large bit of hell broke loose over the most amazing story of star craft in South Korea ever: gambling. Yes, just like Sumo-wrestling and baseball, word spread of cheating and rigging games in pro star craft leagues. Several pro players were caught. Flash and Fire Bat Hero were innocent, and so was this match. It all started with systematic tells in gameplay that simply were not possible as strategies. Missing scouts on purpose. Delaying in expansions. Lack of troop movement. Small things added up, and people confessed. But all this doesn’t have me worried.
    I’m excited.
I’m excited that video gaming has risen to such a grand level. I’m excited that people are now taking it seriously. But it makes you wonder:
    Could this happen in America?
I say no, because our culture may be irrevocably centered around stereotypes that we’ve liked since the 70s. And although “nerd” was a word invented by Dr. Seuss, it sticks on people hard. Even though everyone has played a game sometime in their lives, some refuse to believe that video games are an art. And even if they did televise Starcraft 2 games, would you watch them? Would you really keep up on all the stats and players and follow teams and go to matches?
    I would, because I’ve embarrassed myself all my life anyway.
But for people that “want to be taken seriously” they’ll watch football: a true test of might. Physically that may be true, and maybe even mentally, and that’s why it could never happen here. And Eastern Philosophically based nation that includes a rejection of the body and a focus on the mind is begging for star craft, because it is the culmination of this and military strategy, something that the Asian world has always been fascinated with since Genghis Khan. A western, individualistic, physical mindset begs for us to make stars out of people who sex up women and snort cocaine off of more women. We want heroes, and those guys are people that live up to all the pleasures in life. We do not want a man who plays for a “team.” We do not want a humble but powerfully intellectual hero that bows politely, celebrates modestly, and returns to his teammates happy with them that they will succeed.
    And this shows a profound amount of knowledge into who we are as Americans and who they are as Koreans. America is truly the Roman world, with Coliseums, corrupt politics, and dirty cities to boot. South Koreans seem to be bound by such better fundamentals like honor, dedication, intellectual prowess, humility, deep attention and silence. If you watch more of these videos, South Koreans hide their faces if camera men point the cameras at fans. They all hold up signs praising the player or the team in front of their face. That is such a different way of viewing a simple thing. I’ve never seen one person in America not blatantly wave at a camera at a baseball game.
    It is rare for video games to get this kind of fame, and most often it does not. Most people have no idea about video gaming as a sport in South Korea. Most know that on the news they hear about GTA IV, and Mass Effect sex scenes and how “video games make kids kill their classmates” and other bullshit like that. Until Video Games accept themselves as art and remove unnecessary nudity (I like Mass Effect’s because there’s story there), until Video Games accept they’re an art and quit going for really shallow directions like the “family market”, until people recognize that video games are no longer “kill boxes”, and until people like those in Australia and radicals in California remove attempted political censorship of a new art, then life as a gamer will continue to be underrepresented.
    I don’t hate America, I love America. I want to teach American History. I know I will usually never get my way. But I can always watch star craft that happens half a world away. And even though America may never change, I know in my little apartment I’ve changed, because of games like star craft.

Mediocrity

Bullets are flying, and I need air support. Venezualen radicals fighting in a revolution and I’m in their way. The sun is setting as huge billowing clouds of smoke arise from destroyed jeeps and Armored Personnel Carriers. I can barely see a light tank on an opposite hill firing shells in my face. I am inevitably doomed. If only I had the air support to provide cover as I’m running through the smoke and through the sun. Suddenly, rocket propelled grenades are shot from all sides, and I’m dead. I’m nothing more than a withering hulk thrown against the side of a ship of chaos.

But suddenly I’m back, ready to die again. My wounds are healed, and there is a pistol in my hand. There is a jeep outside and another mission waiting for me. This is not real life. This is me playing the thoroughly mediocre video game Mercenaries 2: World in Flames and even though there is nothing in this game I haven’t seen elsewhere, it speaks to me as I live through one of the terrible moments in my life.

Sequel to Pandemic’s hit game Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction it becomes quite clear what the underlying theme of their games are: “blow shit up.” Pandemic also brought games like Star Wars Battlefront , a game where you blew shit up in Star Wars. And like some, well maybe most games out there, it attempts to be an escape rather than a piece of art. So the Mercenaries franchise simply places a plot like, “someone is taking over a government” so you can have multiple factions competing for power, and then have someone like you, a mercenary to take missions from all sides. Because you don’t care about the conflict, you care about the money. To the player however, all you care about is the destruction.

And while the first game was received rather well, Mercenaries 2: World in Flames was almost an unmitigated disaster. “That Mercenaries 2: World in Flames isn't better seriously bums me out. Even in its current state you can see so much potential for breakneck, anarchic fun, which makes its laundry list of problems that much more frustrating.” said GiantBomb.com’s own Ryan Davis. It seems like a lot of potential was possible on the Xbox 360 rather than the original, but it just did not get used. However, the game was not a complete failure. Ryan Davis also states: “The thing is, for all its problems, the basic act of blowing shit up in Mercenaries 2 is incontrovertibly awesome. The way a jeep will flip up into the air in a fiery ball; the wince-inducing white flash of an exploding oil container; the belching dust and debris of a crumbling building; these things are all immensely satisfying, and they make up for a lot of the shortcomings in Mercenaries 2.”

This is to me, a pure classification of something that is mediocre. When you’re the best of the worst and the worst of the best, you are Mercenaries.

So here I am, playing this so-so game and shooting rockets at tanks, and dodging gunfire, wondering if I will ever escape my own prevailing feeling of self destruction.

Mediocrity feels everywhere. Not just in Garth Brooks’s Friends in Low Places but everywhere. Tyler Durden in Fight Club knows exactly what I’m talking about. And while I cannot stand the thought of being mundane, I unknowingly embrace it. Pall Malls are $4.50 a pack and Big K at Kroger is $2.19 for a 12 pack. You can’t beat that, but it’s almost like I am now embracing the low class things in life as a sort of rebellion. And even that attempt is mundane and has been done before. What do you think Garth Brooks is talking about in that song? It’s a pride thing. It’s saying, “Yea those are my friends, but they’re more than you’ll ever have.”

Stop trying to be perfect. The whole philosophy behind Fight Club doesn’t quite revolve around this, but it is tangentially affected by a rebound from consumerism. I cannot help but be whoever anyone wants me to be. We are who people want us to be. I think people say, “it’s rude to talk about yourself” because people mostly don’t care. And people want me to be mediocre.

C’s are the worst grades in college to get on essays. In one way, you peaked the teacher’s interest enough to keep you from failing. On the other, you still failed to grasp some underlying approach that was key. It’s the kiss of death for your moral.

So when I go into Naval History and come out with a 75 on my ten page essay, I’m angry. I’m really angry. Not only is it a terrible grade, but it is a shot at something I feel I work at a lot and that is my writing. And when something shoots directly at your strengths and cuts them down you wonder if there was a strength there at all. Once again, I could not escape mediocrity. It was there in my very face, on a piece of paper marked 75: pure objective proof that I was a failure. That’s why I hate essays sometimes. You pour all this work into it, when you could just bullshit it and still get a 75, but you don’t even know if that is true.

What is my worth anymore? Betty Draper in Mad Men wonders that after her divorce. How do you define yourself in a world of so many when you are so few. And while Betty is able to woo mechanics into fixing her broken down car late at night by selling something she’ll never give away, I feel a little short. What would Rachel Menken be without that Jewish department store around the corner? It’s hard to find an objective display of your own personal worth. That’s probably why I prefer writing and singing to complete strangers. Because friends always have a preconceived notion to be your friend. They’ll never tell you, “you are quite magnificently mediocre.” What does that even mean? Strangers however, will easily ignore you if you present a mediocre work. Ever been at a high school concert where everyone knew that they were bad, but no one will out right say it?

I’ve always had a problem with mediocrity. As much as I try to avoid its glaring and all encompassing stare, it always seems to come back to me. At one point I thought I was a good football player. That was before I met people like Shane Lockridge in junior high that could grow facial hair before I could grow hair…anywhere. I thought I was a good baseball player. That was before I collapsed under my own insecurity that I was not destined to be great. I thought I was a good singer. That was before I went to UNT, and while I love this college from the bottom of my heart, there was a realization that I was in the ocean, and the ocean was too cold and bottomless for me. So what does someone like Colton Royle do when they get a 75 on a paper? I don’t get drunk. I go to the mall and buy ten dollar Mercenaries, because that is how I want to vent. I want to escape reality and blow up some buildings. And inadvertently I threw myself back into mediocrity without even thinking it.

Do you know why tragedies exist? People hate the idea of someone being that great, so we have to destroy our ideal persona and we are still laughing and cackling in the background. Most of us in our lives will be mediocre, and it pains us to see someone better than us in every way. It hurts me so bad that I cannot breathe. I literally could not think straight on the bus ride to the mall to buy the stupid game that violently reflected this conflict in my mind. And I paid them to do it.