2011.09.03

By far the best match of Starcraft 2 in GSL history came on a quiet November afternoon in 2010.  In the second season of the biggest Starcraft 2 tournament, two second calibar players blossomed and became legends in a single series. And it all started with this match. 

MarineKingPrime.WE(Boxer at the time) was the nemesis. Christened Fake Boxer by the foreign community, the only people who cheered him on were the people who wanted to see Boxer vs Boxer.  Breaking out into the round of 8 for the first time, he had something to prove to the world. That indeed he was the heir to Boxer, that the nickname he wore was not just symbolic, but that his micro parreleled the Emperoer.

Meanwhile Kyrix was just as new. We would grow to love(or hate him) throughout the coming seasons, but the famous "banelings vs marines" series would catapult him into the position of "the" baneling buster.

The game was going to end. MarineKing opted for a early expansion, and prepared to go for a marine tank push. As he moved out, 18 banelings(more than Marine King had marines) were being morphed.  There was no hope for Marineking.

This was not the era of bunker rushes. This was not the era of 12 drone rush or cliff dropping. This was Starcraft 2: Rush Edition, and when Kyrix went in everyone thought of the next game.

The tanks got surrounded. The supply depot was raised but there was still a hole in the middle. But something happened.

MarineKing didn't die.

No. His marines didn't die. They danced. For the 18 banelings that Kyrix got in, only 10 marines died.  

Yet Marine King had not won. Kyrix had more up his sleeve as he massed more zerglings and prepared for banelign bust round 2. And yet not a single SCV died while Kyrixes whole army died.

Marine King int hat game introduced a revolutionary Terran vs Zerg concept. While zerg's massed banelings to kill marines, terrans revolved their strategies around killing banelings. An art arose to minimize the damage they caused, as terrans learned to master the art of splitting and targeting banelings with tanks.  Despite Marine King NOT EVEN HAVING combat shields, he basically went head to head with banelings and came out ahead.

This game changed Starcraft 2. No longer would it be based around "powerful" units, as Marine King would show that skill can outdo it. When faced with dangerous situations the whole entire game, Marine King stayed strong and ended out victorious, and showed the rest of us a masterpiece to behold.

And that is why this is the best match of Starcraft 2 history.