Bang Tae Soo (방태수) or TRUE as most will know him has finally achieved his dream of becoming a StarCraft Champion. After winning WCS Circuit Summer in Montreal in dominating fashion. TRUE dropped 2 maps across the whole tournament en route to his first ever championship.
TRUE finally received his visa meaning his only chance to make it to Blizzcon for the WCS Global playoffs was to win the remaining WCS Circuit event which gave a direct seed to the WCS finals.
TRUE had already qualified for the hardest tournament in SCII, GSL Code S after defeating CJ Entus Bunny 3-2 in Code A. Upon receiving his visa TRUE dropped out of the tournament to participate in the global circuit.
WCS Summer
Heading into the tournament I thought TRUE had a good shot at winning and completing the Cinderella story, however he was by no means a favourite by the public or experts. The Korean Zerg also had the misfortune of drawing Snute. The Norwegian had just recently taken the top spot has the highest earning SC2 foreigner and was seen as one of the best players in the global circuit.
As it turned out Snute had the misfortune of drawing TRUE as the Korean triumphed 3-0 in a relatively easy and quick series. Eliminating Snute from the tournament. This result caught the attention of spectators and analysts alike. This was a show of strength from TRUE not many saw coming.
Following his defeat of Snute he drew Harstem. The Dutch Protoss player who had recently won Homestory cup early this year, a tournament where TRUE was eliminated in the RO8 by Scarlett. Another hard draw for TRUE with predictions being split by the analysts before the game. TRUE dispatched with Harstem in another easy series 3-0. This result in isolation is impressive but when preceded by his victory against Snute is hard to believe. This started the narrative that maybe TRUE was going to roll straight through the tournament.
TRUE’s next opponent was Welmu who knocked out ROOT’s Hydra, a former WCS champion to reach the RO8. The Fin had already reached expectations by reaching this stage, but with a victory over a Korean Zerg in the round before he showed some promise for this matchup. However, that was cut very short as he was defeated 3-0. Granting TRUE had a 9-0 record on route to the semi-finals.
In the semi-finals TRUE ran into his first Terran, HeRoMaRinE who had powered his way to the finals despite being a heavy underdog, beating Showtime and Major and MarineLorD previously. The German was the first player to take a game away from TRUE before falling 3-1 again winning in convincing fashion with his signature mass queen ling bane style.
Polt awaited TRUE in the finals after beating the North American hope Alex “Neeb” Sunderhaft 3-1. ZvT is TRUE’s worst matchup and Polt is an incredibly skilled player so heading into the final it seemed likely that we would see TRUE finally be tested by his fellow Korean. Polt played well throughout the series and was able to beat TRUE on Dasan Station after losing the opening map, Apotheosis. This series was a strong example of just how incredible TRUE’s multitasking is, with run byes being split from widow mines regularly. As well as constant drops and run byes, while macroing near perfect. After Dasan Station TRUE took the following 3 maps in strong fashion to complete the Cinderella story.
TRUE’s Style
The most powerful part of TRUE’s play is his unique style, massing lings and banelings. Predominantly using Queens as his only anti-air. His use of ling counter attacks reminds viewers of the glory days of Lee “Life” Seung Hyun. TRUE’s often uses banelings with his run byes against terran as well as using overlords to drop banelings. TRUE’s ability to buy time with run byes and counter attacks is a key part of his play and allows him to produce new forces to defend a push. Often forcing players to commit more to the attack than they were planning as the counter attack deals crippling damage. This has potential to be a trap for TRUE, as we saw on Dasan Station, Polt’s only victory in the finals came off a two base all in. As TRUE was trying to counter attack he did not have enough defense to deal with the all in. If TRUE was aware the attack was all in, he could have mounted a stronger defense and not needed to counter attack. TRUE’s goal was to force the push to turn around or have to commit as TRUE deals damage at home, but the Polt’s intentions where to end the game with that push, which he did.
The competition outside of Korea are not fully acclimatised to TRUE’s different play style, and combined with his strong mechanics and multitasking he was able to dominate the foreigners. As time progresses and TRUE attends more tournaments his style will be more familiar to competitors and possibly less successful.
The Next Step
TRUE has secured himself a last minute trip to BlizzCon and should be looking to avoid the Korean Terrans for the best chance at progressing. The likes of TY and Byun would be favoured against TRUE. TRUE’s best shot is hoping for a weaker Protoss such as Patience or Dear as his opponent. Especially Patience, I see patience as a good matchup for TRUE, with his sloppy multitasking being compensated by strong macro. TRUE may be able to overwhelm the Afreeca Protoss with his powerful multitasking and strong style. However, Patience isn’t a shoe in for BlizzCon. Dark and Potentially Solar who will represent the Zergs from Korea would also be a good draw for TRUE, as he has strong ZvZ as we saw against Snute, as well as the matchups notoriously volatile nature.
I think its unlikely TRUE will be challenging to Zest, TY and Dark for the $200,000 1st prize, but he is certainly capable of pushing past the first round and with a kind draw could make a strong run.
Regardless of your feelings about the WCS system this year you should be grateful to have TRUE, an incredibly likable and fun character with the skill to challenge the top for our scene. TRUE streams regularly on www.twitch.tv/truesc2 if you want to learn his style or watch an entertaining high level Zerg you should check it out.
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