BlizzCon '09: StarCraft II - The Escapist Showdown

Weeks of slapdash talk came to an end this weekend when Keane Ng and John Funk at long last met in battle in StarCraft II's multiplayer. Did Keane emerge triumphant once again, or did Funk get his loveable, sweet revenge?

Quail and I have been employed hard at BlizzCon 2009, simply we've been playacting hard as well. No, we didn't go to whatever crazy room parties full of Stoc Elf female person cosplayers (in my dreams, fellows), this was some serious business: StarCraft 2's multiplayer.

If you guys remember, to begin with this year I defeated Funk to claim first home in The Escapist's Street Fighter Quaternion showdown. Since then atomic number 2 has been looking for a take chances to redeem himself. Beingness a vast Snowstorm fanboy, helium naturally saw his chance in StarCraft II. So I humored him. We did a best two out of three series of StarCraft II 1v1 matches at BlizzCon this weekend. Here's how it went down.

Keane: You can't be good at everything in life. I'm good at quite a few things – Tough, origami, eating noodles – but occasionally I'm forced to realize that there are some things I just can't do well. One of those things, unfortunately, is acting real-time scheme games.

I induce never beaten the first StarCraft. I hadn't even been able to get historical the first two levels until last year. My creative thinker and my hands aren't made for "little" and "macro instruction," unless you'rhenium talking about making crying macaroni and cheese in the microwave. So I feature to give Funk credit for striking Maine powerful in my weakspot. He did good. But I didn't go blue every bit easy as I had feared I would.

The first game was a travesty. I spent the entire time holed up in my protrusive counterfeit, not expanding, impartial trying to retrieve the Terran technical school trees. Uh, how coiffe I draw tanks? How do I produce planes? When Funk showed up with units other than marines, I was scarce thinking "What the HELL is that thing and how doh I make it?" Halfway through and through I was prepared to lose. But atomic number 102. Funk had to savor it. I didn't see a single attacker for ten minutes, then it come to: a massive assault capped off past a nuke exit off in the center of my base. It was undignified.

I learn quick, though. The second crippled was different. Much closer, mostly because I actually swollen to have three bases and a decent handle of producing troops and maintaining resources. I expanded properly next to one of Funk's areas. He didn't seem to notice. But when I set my Siege Tanks to Siege Mode and they started firing – I did non lack this to happen – my position was given gone.

Recoil, seeing that I was development a ground lame, sent in aircraft. I countered with anti-air turrets. But little planes gave way to giant motherships, which gave way to giant motherships and infatuated walkers firing laser beams and giant motherships simultaneously. "Gamy over man, game ended," I thought. I watched all three of my bases expire up in flames. Funk had done the impossible. He had beaten me.

Winner's Program line: The original StarCraft has a considerably-merited report atomic number 3 one of the most well-balanced multiplayer games ever made, and while SC2 probably inevitably a bit more crop, it's getting on that point. And so, escort what happens when Keane can't rely on tier-whoring? Yep, that's what I thinking.

I volition break Keane credit, though. I whitethorn have absolutely destroyed him in the number 1 lame – dropping six Medivacs' Worth of Marines, Marauders, and Besieging Tanks in the undefendable back of his base and having a Ghost call down a nuclear strike to deliver the coup First State grace – but he well-read quickly. In our second game, atomic number 2 expanded, set up a secret base right outside of my rich-mineral expansion, and supported his opposed-air turrets well with a wall of Siege Tanks that made approaching him tricky.

But he forgot to fend for his rear flanks, and erst that forward base fell, he had nothing to lento the advance of my Immortals, Stalkers, and Colossi except a Bunker OR two – imagine a relentless force of alien walkers with church bench church bench lasers burning swathes through a earthborn dependency, and you'll have something kind of what information technology looked like. The Mothership was only the seal on the deal.

Atomic number 2 learns cursorily, and if we play again, information technology might be even closer. But beat Pine Tree State?

Sorry, Keane. No chance in hell.

https://www.escapistmagazine.com/blizzcon-09-starcraft-ii-the-escapist-showdown/

Source: https://www.escapistmagazine.com/blizzcon-09-starcraft-ii-the-escapist-showdown/

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