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My Opponents Part 1 - Idols
 

We will forgo the sentimental introduction this time around. I'll be doing a multi-part blog about my feelings towards some of my most memorable opponents in my SC2 Journey. The names listed were either my idols and/or rivals. I am happy to say that the majority of them I can claim to be my friends as of today.


This is part one - Idols.


NirvAnA - This was the name I typed into youtube and google when I was still a developing player trying to learn the game. He was my idol and the reason my early playing style was so low economy and aggressive. I remember the first time I got good enough to catch Nirvana on ladder, I was absolutely stoked and scared at the same time. Like good old Nirvana-fashion(which I would later learn), he proxied 2 gated. I was able to scout it and defend it off easily, but lost to his followup anyway because he was much much better than me, this cemented his legendary status in my mind. He is such a talented player that his brief stints (even with Terran)after his retirement still gave me a lot of trouble when I was an active player.

When I stumbled upon SC2SEA and realised it was being run by Nirvana, I quickly became a regular visitor and started easing into the community. We have had our different opinions on various subjects in the past(mostly due to TA-Involvement), and he holds evidence to some of my darkest moments. However, he was still able to look past all of that and grant me the status of MVP for SC2SEA. I have an utmost respect for the man and what he has done for this community.


Azz - The other legendary Protoss player whose plays on youtube baffled me. Cannon contains against Terran into mothership rush? I actually tried this stuff, never worked out the way it worked out for him. Azz was a player that resembled the most brilliant of Protoss players. That creative/gimmicky flare that makese Protoss so frightening. I always loved talking to Azz about strategy because he came up with some of the most bizzarre but effective strategies I've seen for a Protoss player. He is a big inspiration of how I was able to develop some of my gimmicky strategies that were so effective regardless of minimal practice.


RedArchon - My obsession with RA is well recorded in TA skype and TS chatlogs. I would always rave about how freaking good he was, partly because he was the guy who stopped me in every online tournament. My aggressive one basing which worked against every other Terran in SEA didn't work against RA and his magic SCVs. RedArchon was a unique name that quickly became legendary for me as time and time again I see him beating my idol Nirvana. One of the only time I've ever taken a game off him early in my career, I made sure to put it on a show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoguAJYNCio

My Thai friend was able to comedown for the 2011 WCS Oceania tournament. He was predicted to come 7th/8th because everyone thought he could only play BIO TvT, which was heavily unfavoured against the new mech TvT then. He surprised everyone by being able to knock out many of his Terran opponents with mech. He was one of the few Terrans that admitted how imbalanced TvP was back in the day, stating that despite the Protoss buffs that recent patch, Terran is still going to be able rip through Protoss. They did. Until they were nerfed about 12 more times.

To this day, he is still the Thailand national champion, but his days of being dominant over nGenLight is long gone. Oh and he also lost a drinking contest to me =D.


Filthy - Back when I used to "gl hf" every game, this guy never replied. I originally thought this guy was one of those silent veterans with a disgusting name. Then I found out his name was Phil, and it all made sense. He was one of the few people who played at really late hours, where I would find him on ladder many games in a row, and proceed to lose all of them no matter what race he spawned as (He was random). I remember only ever beating him once during those days, which was a 4Gate against his Zerg. Being able to take him out in a series at NRG was one of the greatest milestones for me skill-wise. I also never "gl hf" anymore, having to reply to them in a normal ladder game is such an effort! Even recently, his Protoss was able to put me to an incredible hard PvP series. Ironically enough, when I found him on KR recently, he actually said "Hi, gl hf" despite not knowing who I was (IIIIIIIIII).


Roz - The main guy that I was hitting on ladder 4am in the morning. I would get him on ladder again and again and again, and never win a single game. I just kept searching because I wanted to find a way to beat him, but I never could. Finally I got so frustrated that I added him on my friend list and waited for him to get a game. He would change his status to away to prompt me to search, I'd get him, and I'd insta-quit. This is a strategy that I would learn to punish many dodging a**holes for years to come. I really looked up to this guy as a top tier Protoss and always took notes whenever I observed his games. It astounded me how good he was despite having such a low APM and never using chronoboosts. He was just such a clean player who never made much mistakes or unnecessary actions. I learned the most important aspect of Protoss from him - emphasis on build order.

Even after I've became a more celebrated player then he was, we would still go into a series of 5-20 pvps on the SEA server in which we'd split 8-7 or something. He was the hero of Race Wars 2011 in which he managed to all-kill the Terran Team. Was a complete asshole in SEACL2 with his words of hatred directed against Benji and Xeria. But at the end of the day he is someone I consider a good friend. He was one of the only people whom spoke to me when I on KR laddering and feeling very lonely.


Aaron - Remember when people started referring to me as the best Protoss in SEA? That was around the time when this guy stopped playing. This guy was a hero in my eyes and was out-of-the-question better than me. Why? He was the only Protoss to be able to beat RA in a series back then. It really baffled me back then on how he was able to do it. I really missed this name, as it gave me a superior Protoss who I could aspire towards like I did with Nirvana and Azz back in the day. I remember losing blink stalker wars to this guy, then rage and blame his 1ms Singaporian connection to the server, classy.


YYJ - I absolutely hated this guy. He was terribly BM towards me, and he was unbeatable. I think I was able to beat him once, out of luck or something. Do you know that feeling when you lose to someone who you think you are way better than? Well I assumed that was what he felt because he started bming the crap out of me and smashing me in every game. Remember when I said Nirvana holds evidence to my darkest moments? Well that involved this guy. I dodged this guy on ladder because I was scared of his banter and his skills to back it up with. This is the first person to make me fear the Korean FPS marine.

However, he was also one of my greatest inspirations. I didn't want to be beaten by someone who thought very little of me(and my race). At NRG, I finally had my revenge, I beat him 3-0. But his reaction after losing was so graceful that it completely defied my perception of him. Over a few drinks, we've suddenly turned from rivals to friends, and I was finally able to meet the absolutely amazing and hilarious character he actually was. Thanks in part to us turning our hatred towards a common enemy - Zerg. YYJ, the most frightening player I've ever had to play against.


Stay tuned for Part 2 - arCMSi. Ft. Edge, Rossi, Pinder, Voices and Deth.

Rayray

Re: My Opponents Part 1 - Idols
 

Being teammates with Azz right now, I can relate to how ******* baffling some of his strategies are and also how ******* intelligent the guy is.

Re: My Opponents Part 1 - Idols
 

Good read! I wish I was around at the time when NirvAnA was at the peak of SEA, from what I've been hearing he was crazy good in the earlier days of SC2, as well as in broodwar. Very interesting to hear of Idols talking about their Idols! Most of these guys have moved on, so this blog puts an interesting perspective forward for me as I wasn't part of the community back then. I only knew of nGen and TA, who dominated the scene for quite some time, from the battle.net forums which I used to lurk for quite some time before gaining the courage to post.

Keen for part two! Good read Light

Re: My Opponents Part 1 - Idols
 

ctrl-f petraeus

................

Re: My Opponents Part 1 - Idols
 

Cool blog, really interesting read. I didn't really get the chance to see any of these players play unfortunately, as they were a bit before my time ( ) but I always find it interesting to read about their strengths and who they were, as it's very clear that they played a part in shaping the community and who its people are today.

Re: My Opponents Part 1 - Idols
 

Were you even old enough to play this game during the time he is referring to?

Re: My Opponents Part 1 - Idols
 

Good read!

I was thinking about some of those guys recently as well, and wondering how they'd go up against the current SEA elite. Would be interesting.

Re: My Opponents Part 1 - Idols
 

crtl f nirvana 13 matches
ok rated! 5 star blog!

Re: My Opponents Part 1 - Idols
 

Mack you weren't exactly my idol, so you ain't in this part. You will most likely be in part 4, and the last person I perceived as a rival.

Eddie: The current level of players are so strong, things that used to make players standout back in the day are what every mid-master player can do now. The speed of newer players learning tricks and builds the veterans have developed is way faster than we can develop them. i.e. mineral stacking, few players did this back in the day, now it's standard diamond level stuff.

Re: My Opponents Part 1 - Idols
 

Yeah a lot of stuff is common place/mechanics now, but like you mentioned some of those guys were very innovative and naturally talented. Mechanics can be learned/trained. Talent is special.

Re: My Opponents Part 1 - Idols
 

miss you rayray!

Re: My Opponents Part 1 - Idols
 

I am sad I will not make this list for this list is reserved for people who actually beat ray at starcraft.