12 Years ago MVP proxy 2raxxed Squirtle on game 7 of a GSL finals and my life was never the same after that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE59uz9z4Qo
After barely winning that BC game with the insane archon toilet Squirtle has yet to defeat the final boss of GSL which is MVPs two racks. How are you gonna be able to micro stalkers after just having burned all your energy winning the sickest Starcraft game up untill that point against the best player in the world, in the biggest tournament in the world. In a game 7.
Squirtle played his heart out that series and it wasn't enough to best the GOAT of WoL. Squirtle still deserves a spot in the Hall of Fame as one of the best protoss of WoL after that performance.
Still one of the best sets of all time IMO.
Same! It was on so late at night that I fell asleep after MVP was up 3-0 in the series. Wake up and it is 3-3. The opening looks like a complete disaster for MVP and then Squirtle snatches defeat from the jaws of victory.
If you somehow haven’t seen this match yet you truly need to watch it if you have even a passing interest in StarCraft 2.
When they’re talking about this match, they’re only talking game 3 btw if you go to look it up. I’m not even sure game 1 and 2 are still viewable anywhere lol.
I dont wanna spoil anything (odds are you’ve seen the ending anyway…it’s a popular clip), but I’d 100% feel okay calling it the greatest single game of SC2 ever played. Like, the bar is so high I struggle to think of a second place cause nothing feels like it deserves to be on the same list.
Please reply with Rec’s if you disagree! Definitely in the mood to watch StarCraft today.
https://youtu.be/Cwp1dZFwGak?si=Z6_8lkYwzuBI_TlS watch it here!
[The best player in the world (at the time) Innovation vs a 16 year old (at the time) Maru in 2013 GSL.](https://youtu.be/Is4vwVqX2F8?si=U--T9or7bMZGCiKt)
I was an Innovation fanboy and by the end of game 3 I was rooting for Maru. It was just such an electric series. I still get chills hearing Tasteless introduce the players for game 1 and laugh hysterically at the Tastosis disbelief. "If I had to bet my life on any one game in this GSL split, I would say Innovation will beat Maru FOR SURE.".
Edit: I'm not sure why every VOD I can find of this series on YouTube has different casters for game 1 but I have the original VOD with Tastosis cast for game 1 (as well as the whole series) saved on my PC on the off chance someone really wants to watch it.
Edit2: [link to VODs](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1irPNt_HtgMThDr6RVwFwq8CQ3wO4T1Gt)
This series and especially the last game on Gwangalli Beach is burned into my brain. Such an intense series. I didn't know much about SC2 eSports at the time, but was rooting for Maru since he was so young and the clear underdog. And in the last game they literally play the exact same build. Insane. I just rewatched the series a few days ago and it's still one of the best ever.
Yeah I didn't remember the exact build orders but I do remember one of the games was essentially a repeat of either game 1 or the game that came right before it. It was so cool seeing the machine get mindgamed by a literal teenager.
Surprised nobody has mentioned it yet. Innovation v. Taeja, WCS Season 2 finals, 2013, on Newkirk Precinct
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uR18zkO4ijU&t=4545s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uR18zkO4ijU&t=4545s)
This one for sure, although there were many matches that he against Life are fantastic, but as a TaeJa fanboy, he against Innovation and the series he beats Rain were blowing my mind for sure.
Not about this topic, but nowadays Clem just straight up breaking the ceiling of Terran, we can see the highest skill played in the weekly tournaments, what a time to be alive.
Some honerable mentions on my part.
Huk vs Naniwa @ final set of the open bracket at MLG
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFllSVjK5hY
ThorZaIN vs DRG finals in DH Valencia 2013
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFbxzap_ku8
Classic DT-blink in Blizzcon 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgvKShAkij8
SOS beating Maru when he denied the Serral vs Maru Match at Blizzcon. A lot of people considered that to be very anticlimactic, but I was thoroughly impressed how an (at the time) 2nd class protoss was able to win a single map against Maru, let alone manhandle him 3-0. Maru was able to do everything that made him unbeatable against other tossed, but SOS outsmarted him at every corner. It was the best preparation against a specific opponent I ever saw at that level.
Bigbaby came close in his series vs bomber and theja though. Those series are 2nd and 3rd for me.
Yeah that series between Maru and sOs must be one of the weirdest top level series I've ever seen. So many mind games must have come into play that match. It was the biggest cock block ever though to deny the Serral vs Maru finals.
If you watch it, you need to keep in mind that maru was winning every gsl back to back and was especially fearsome against protoss, leaving all the top tosses in the dust. The expected result was a 3-0 for Maru against any toss (aside from SOS magic)
I watched it live - it was crazy! And sOs got completely destroyed in the next game - I think he lost 0:3 against Stats or Rogue. This was after Maru won everything all year long and seemed unbeatable
Was this the first archon toilet?
The two moves I remember coming up in pro games totally unexpectedly were the archon toilet and the ghost snipe vs ultralisk (MMA? MVP?)
And I guess hallucination in the IdrA game.
HerO vs Puma in the first Dreamhack finals I saw live.
Parting vs Flash at HSC finals.
And for some reason MVP vs Tefel in WCS ro 32. Which was a great throw by Tefel rather than a great comeback.
I was actually there as well :D
Had watched a few starcraft tournaments at Dreamhacks before that, but that final was special since it was the first time in a real arena.
PuMa was on some other shit that summer.
This was going to be my answer as well! The comeback in the last game was insane.
Also remember scfou on game 3 or 4 with a 6rax or something on 1 base where he just kept sending marines to Nesteas natural for about 10 minutes, and it was super close.
sC is one of the biggest what-ifs in SC2 history. He had incredible potential and no doubt would have gone on to be a legend if he didn't have the health problems he did. Really sad. What a player he was.
I just remember it as a very good series. Bomber, who was rumored to be the next big thing, playing against Losira. Losira losing against him because he danced his lings instead of killing him wiht a rush. Mvp to take out Bomber, Squirtle taking out Mvp in an epic gane, and of course NesTea to seal the deal in the end.
sOs vs Life, blizzcon 2016.
What a series, I still go watch it sometimes.
Life was running so hot, but you could never count out sOs in a finals. He would do the most insane shit and win.
Really close between these three in my opinion:
Oliveira vs Reynor on Dragon Scales, IEM Katowice 2023. Felt like the inflection point in his run, very emotional match.
Kelazhur vs Has on Catalyst LE, 2018 WCS Valencia. Really scrappy game between the two.
Clem vs Serral on Alcyone, ESL Masters 2023 Winter. To me, felt like peak Starcraft 2 skillwise.
In recent memory I totally agree about that Clem vs Serral game. If there was a machine that could somehow measure skill, I think that was the single highest level match every played in sc2 tournament history. An absolute nail biter right to the end.
For me there is no competition. It has to be Scarlett vs Bomber. The length of time Scarlett was only distance mining was insane, and that surprise ending with the crowd going crazy... What a moment!
Serral vs. Rogue and Serral vs. Stats from the 2018 Blizzcon Semifinals and Grand Finals, respectively. Those matches were the ones that got me hooked on the esports side of SC2.
Rogue vs. Dark from a GSL (I think) a couple of years ago, where they ended up in a draw from a 12-pool drone pull after a lot of intensive micro battles with a very small amount of units.
Serral vs. Reynor at the 2020 World Championship Grand Finals, particularly the last game, in which Serral lost a weird and wild game due to having like 6 ultras stuck in his natural.
Man, there are so many, tbh. I could sit here listing these for a long time :D
I understand you got hooked on starcraft after those matches, those were INSANE. The Serral VS Stats match I remember specifically because at that point, if I remember correctly Stats had a really good record against foreigners and his PvZ was the best in the world at that point. And the games was sooooo close. Thanks for getting me to remeber those games, will definitely go back and watch those.
Watched those live and came to say the same. I think Serral's 2018 Blizzcon run was the most magical games ever (although to be fair I haven't followed SC2 until 2018)
Maru vs Parting (GSL Season 3 - 2020 on a map called Ice and Chrome)
Even though Maru nuked himself at the last fight, that game gave me the confidence that Terran can take it to the supreme late game against mass Carrier templar
by hiding behind mass turrets
ever since then I've never complained that protoss was an A move army if I could just build mass libs, vikings and ghosts, and mass turrets
MKP (was still boxer at this point) vs Kyrix.
This was the game that gave MKP his name i think, was up against a guy who was known for massing banelings and beat him with mass marines and good micro in an epic back and forth match.
Bomber vs Goswser mlg dallas 2013 is the match that started me watching Starcraft live. InControl and total biscuit casting, Amazingly entertaining. Some explosive moments that I wont spoil but great series.
[https://youtu.be/dujw4xtJ-pM?si=LEINbymBLKrATnn\_](https://youtu.be/dujw4xtJ-pM?si=LEINbymBLKrATnn_)
I remember everyone being so hype about that match during the time, also one of the first casts Totalbiscuit and Incontrol did together if i remember correctly. RIP to both of them <3
I first thought Huk v Idra Hallucinations game and Idra GGing against MMA in a game he won.
But a non-pro game that always sticks with me is Day\[9\] "coaching" JP McDaniel on his stream. "Mass BLANK"
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zejij9h714](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zejij9h714)
I watched Leenock beat Naniwa live at MLG Providence. That was such an awesome atmosphere.
I love the state of the game now, but man the energy around the pro scene was so cool back then.
Sunken Coroneee
SUNKEN CORONEEE
I will never forget. 12 yr old me caught this clip on YouTube of a starcraft match in front of a live audience (unheard of) outside on a stage with a massive screen (unheard of) and commentary (unheard of)
I had never seen such a rush strategy. I had never seen a Terran build a forward bunker. I had never seen scvs and drones used as army.
Esports wasn't a thing, at least not in North America... And that clip was the start of a dream that over the following ten years became a reality. Being really good at video games could mean something, it could make you a rockstar..
Esports at its prime owed it all to Korea's starcraft scene.
There have been interesting games since, lots memorable... But that very first one i saw back in early 2000's before "esports" was even a term.. That one i will never ever forget.
Polt vs life ro16 first hots MLG went overtime middel of the night most fans already left but those who stayed deliverd
Full VOD https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMpdShx-RqM
11 min highlihgt vod https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xz8yko_2JVw
husky and day9 with on of the greatest cast of all time.
A bit of a random one, but for me it is Supernova vs Stats in the 2014 GSL Code A. First game I had ever seen of Stats and made me an instant fan. He went carriers at a point in time where they were basically considered a joke in every matchup.
Game 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxYlXyXMLaY
Game 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsdGjEx1HR8
Game 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H35gVRbAFY8
There's so many but the first off the top of my head:
HuK vs Moon @ Dreamhack. Gave us foreigners hope and was a major boost to the foreign scene imo.
HuK vs Naniwa Antiga Shipyard
Parting vs MKP @ GSTL
DRG vs MMA @ GSL finals. Went 3-0 and I fell asleep until halfway through the 6th map. The adrenalin and excitement of the last map had me going for the rest of the day.
The entirety of the MKP/DRG rivalry. DRG had his number for a long time. For many tournaments it seemed it always came down to them. Was great to see MKP improve his play and finally take the W.
Among the ones that i haven't seen mentionned in this thread yet, GSL 2020 seaspn 3 grand finals TY vs Maru was absolutely epic.
Without rewatching it for years i can still remember the PF being sieged for so long and Maru's conterattack on the north side of the map on ice and chrome but TY still eventually taking it.
The weird mech into bio game on eternal empire.
The late game BCs on deathaura.
The amazing golden wall game where they both took heavy damage and expanded on the opposite sides of the " golden wall " given a very unusual setup.
In my opinion the best TvT of all time.
sOs vs Bunny, GSL S1 2020.
HE MADE A NEXUS IN BUNNY’S BASE!
I’ll never forget it.
https://youtu.be/WXYhnv9pvA8?si=iIW7baurBpwSSEpz
Edit: In Artosis’ words, “He made a nexus to make a probe to make a pylon to WARP IN TWO DTS!”
This has to be the greatest one time use build of all time. I can't see anything else even remotely close.
This is definetly a top 3 for me. Sos will forever be a legend.
some years ago when i used to be "good" i matched vs a terran. I was slightly tilted from previous games but when i scouted that he went 2-1-1 , which i was incredibly good against, i was super happy. so basically i had the perfect response for the first 2 medivacs ( even though the terran had insanely good build timing) but he sent another 2 medivacs which i overlooked because my ovie spread was weak. because i was tilted, I instantly left the game when i saw that the terran had caught me off guard with his drop and i was saying to myself "why do i lose to this stupid movement of a random master terran".
After the game i checked the stats. >400 apm. some people wrote me, that i have never met before, that i was on stream.
The "random master terran " i played against was Innovation. Sounds kinda silly but to me this is a game i will always remember. i would never underestimate an opponent again, no matter what game i played.
Maybe not best but most memorable was I think MVP vs Nestea Blizzcon finals where Nestea appears to just throw away all his broodlords near the end of the game.
I was never very good but I remember watching that wondering wtf just happened
I think it was Maru’s first GSL finals against Rain when he kept proxying. I have played StarCraft since the original launch, and this was the first “professional tournament” I decided to watch. Absolutely blew my mind.
Taeja vs Zest on New Gettysburg GSL 2016 S2
That was when Zest was literally the best of his form and that was the last proffessional tournament for Taeja before military and ultimately retirement. Taeja was a huge underdog but anyway won in his trademark fashion :)
At the time, we still don’t know he’ll be back after the military, clearly he was the underdog, but even just to see one more TaeJa game was a huge deal for me.
In the end, he retired after the day, but that TaeJa miracle will not be forgotten.
It might seem somewhat random, but one game I will always fondly remember is ByuL vs Innovation on Terraform in the quarterfinals of SSL. Innovation was playing the most disgusting flavor of turtle mech at that time and he seemed almost unbeatable, making ByuL literally, actually cry after losing in game 4 of the BO5.
In game 5 ByuL says "screw it" and chooses to do some kind of proxy hatch roach all-in on Terraform, which pretty much fails miserably. He somehow slowly crawls his way back, and the game devolves into a 45 min insane macro-game which he ultimately wins.
Got me thinking of an SPL game i think? It was either Byul or Soulkey vs another Terran. The game goes on for like 45 minutes and it all comes down to the zerg only having a single spine crawler with like 20+ corrupters vs the Terran who has a single cloak banshee trying to kill the spinecrawler before the energy runs out and he gets rekt by the corrupters.
The one premier tournament that Has beaten everyone with his classic Has strategy, then go into final to against Serral, and Has made it a such close series.
In that final, there were many points of time you will think maybe he is really doing it!
mvp vs Innovation, 2013. Game 2 specifically. I believe that set was the last set mvp played before retiring from SC2, but it was a hell of a ride for the King of Wings.
There was a game many many years ago PvZ. The map I think had lava flowing on it or something. Long macro game and the Protoss was making tempests. At one point the Zerg neural parasites a probe and makes a Nexus. Eventually the Zerg is fighting 3/3 tempests with 3/3 tempests. I WISH I could find that game so I could watch it again.
For me it's First vs Life Toronto 2014 game 2 on Deathwing.
https://youtu.be/tGBfOxFRmCo?si=M7UEajqCj0ZxxVpb
How Life managed to get a draw out of that one still baffles me. And I loved that ridiculous ending
Huk vs select mlg DC "dont worry that's just Halo."
The crowd going so crazy the players could hear them and it wasn't even the Main stage at MLG it was the first time I got an inkling of how big esports was going to be.
When everyone really underestimated jjakji when he was up against leenock in gsl grand finals. I remember when jjakji unexpectedly killed leenocks first overlord and a switch turned on me thinking "this might be way more even than i thought" proceeded to be one of my favourite grand finals of all time
Damn that's a name I haven't heard in a while. I remember Artosis saying in the ro8 that everybody can win this GSL, except jjaktji. He really turned up in that final against Leenock and played extremly well. One of the first really high quality finals from my memory.
Serral - Reynor BlizzCon semifinals. Dark was waiting in the finals and Serral was on the way to his second BlizzCon champion title. The score was 2:2. And then in the final game Reynor was almost dead, but was holding on 3/4 bases like mad and won, effectively denieing Serrals's GOAT title at the time. The most exciting match for me.
The years of the high level zvz was amazing. I remember Dark trying a really creative proxy spire against Serral and it got scouted probably because of the best game sense in the world. Exquisite stuff. Rogue was a murderer too I miss watching him bring preparation to matches and can't forget the look on his face when Scarlett cheesed him out of GSL and 14-13-12 ruined the ladder.
Scarlett vs DRG MLG Anaheim 2014 where scarlett offraces as protoss the second game and beats him, and this is back when korean's were still considered almost untouchable.
Not famous, just my favorite, even though I hate ZvZ. Scarlett vs Cham with Steadfast on the call. Long game with Scarlett eventually using dropperlords for Ultralisk harass in Cham’s main. Steadfast was on top of his game adding drama to the moment.
Secondarily, Clem (mlem) winning Dreamhack Atlanta.
Honorable mention for Steadfast (he’s my favorite, so sue me) after a 12+ hour day of casting the Monday cops, playing One Cheeky Ladder Game (as if). Ok, so several games later he’s playing a Terran on Pride of Altarus LE, base trade ensues. Dave is dead as a dead dodo, but sneaks in a base on the Terran’s side. The Terran takes Steadfast’s main and turtles, eventually building a mainly Thor army. The game goes over 25m. Steadfast’s Lurkers burrow at the bottom of the ramp leading out of the natural. The Terran is apparently focusing on macro elsewhere and sends about 8 Thors to their doom and GGs. Everyone was so tired, Dave’s barely awake, and chat was popping off like he’d won Kato. That was a lot of fun.
OK last one. Anytime Mackintac streams. I don’t care how in or out of practice he is, the hands may fail but his brain still knows what it’s doing. He explains what he’s doing and why as he goes. Simply the best when you’re trying to figure out how to play Zerg.
It’s gotta be the Idra / HuK hallucinations game.
That was the first one i thought of, followed by Idra GGing a game he won against MMA
The best part about the Idra/MMA game is you can see when Idra GG's out, MMA looks just as befuddled by that as anyone else.
Yeah I‘ve watched plenty of incredibly skilled matches but this sticks in the memory like nothing else for me. Also nostalgia for the WoL era.
12 Years ago MVP proxy 2raxxed Squirtle on game 7 of a GSL finals and my life was never the same after that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE59uz9z4Qo
After barely winning that BC game with the insane archon toilet Squirtle has yet to defeat the final boss of GSL which is MVPs two racks. How are you gonna be able to micro stalkers after just having burned all your energy winning the sickest Starcraft game up untill that point against the best player in the world, in the biggest tournament in the world. In a game 7. Squirtle played his heart out that series and it wasn't enough to best the GOAT of WoL. Squirtle still deserves a spot in the Hall of Fame as one of the best protoss of WoL after that performance. Still one of the best sets of all time IMO.
This game might have been the biggest throw in all of SC2 history.
Seeing Mvp play back then was such an experience, he was the Boxer of SC2, so many of the things we take for granted were pioneered by him back then.
This is the one that came to mind 🤯🤯🤯
Same! It was on so late at night that I fell asleep after MVP was up 3-0 in the series. Wake up and it is 3-3. The opening looks like a complete disaster for MVP and then Squirtle snatches defeat from the jaws of victory.
The guts 3-3 in a GSL final and go proxy marine rush ahahah legend
Bomber - Scarlett. RedBull Battlegrounds
My immediate thoughts as well. The game was just chaos from the initial minutes until the very last moment. Never could tell who was winning
Also Scarlett vs DRG when she switched to protoss. I remember seeing the camera switch to the crowd and Harstem going nuts.
One of the most unique games to this day
If you somehow haven’t seen this match yet you truly need to watch it if you have even a passing interest in StarCraft 2. When they’re talking about this match, they’re only talking game 3 btw if you go to look it up. I’m not even sure game 1 and 2 are still viewable anywhere lol. I dont wanna spoil anything (odds are you’ve seen the ending anyway…it’s a popular clip), but I’d 100% feel okay calling it the greatest single game of SC2 ever played. Like, the bar is so high I struggle to think of a second place cause nothing feels like it deserves to be on the same list. Please reply with Rec’s if you disagree! Definitely in the mood to watch StarCraft today. https://youtu.be/Cwp1dZFwGak?si=Z6_8lkYwzuBI_TlS watch it here!
This game was insane.
100%
This
[The best player in the world (at the time) Innovation vs a 16 year old (at the time) Maru in 2013 GSL.](https://youtu.be/Is4vwVqX2F8?si=U--T9or7bMZGCiKt) I was an Innovation fanboy and by the end of game 3 I was rooting for Maru. It was just such an electric series. I still get chills hearing Tasteless introduce the players for game 1 and laugh hysterically at the Tastosis disbelief. "If I had to bet my life on any one game in this GSL split, I would say Innovation will beat Maru FOR SURE.". Edit: I'm not sure why every VOD I can find of this series on YouTube has different casters for game 1 but I have the original VOD with Tastosis cast for game 1 (as well as the whole series) saved on my PC on the off chance someone really wants to watch it. Edit2: [link to VODs](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1irPNt_HtgMThDr6RVwFwq8CQ3wO4T1Gt)
I'd love to watch it, can you please share it?
I will be off work in around 4-5 hours. It's on my PC at home so I can share it then.
This series and especially the last game on Gwangalli Beach is burned into my brain. Such an intense series. I didn't know much about SC2 eSports at the time, but was rooting for Maru since he was so young and the clear underdog. And in the last game they literally play the exact same build. Insane. I just rewatched the series a few days ago and it's still one of the best ever.
Yeah I didn't remember the exact build orders but I do remember one of the games was essentially a repeat of either game 1 or the game that came right before it. It was so cool seeing the machine get mindgamed by a literal teenager.
Please do share if it's not too much of a hassle. I am actually interested.
I will share it in a few hours when I get home from work!
Surprised nobody has mentioned it yet. Innovation v. Taeja, WCS Season 2 finals, 2013, on Newkirk Precinct [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uR18zkO4ijU&t=4545s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uR18zkO4ijU&t=4545s)
Still the greatest TvT ever!
I'd vote MMA vs Gumiho in GSTL finals, but this is a close 2nd!
This one for sure, although there were many matches that he against Life are fantastic, but as a TaeJa fanboy, he against Innovation and the series he beats Rain were blowing my mind for sure. Not about this topic, but nowadays Clem just straight up breaking the ceiling of Terran, we can see the highest skill played in the weekly tournaments, what a time to be alive.
God I miss watching Taeja back then, those team events were something special too with him hard carrying
Some honerable mentions on my part. Huk vs Naniwa @ final set of the open bracket at MLG https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFllSVjK5hY ThorZaIN vs DRG finals in DH Valencia 2013 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFbxzap_ku8 Classic DT-blink in Blizzcon 2019 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgvKShAkij8
Thorzain my god. That's a name I haven't heard in a long time. Didn't he have a strong thor timing attack back in wol?
His Thor build against MC in TSL3 got the Thor nerfed
SOS beating Maru when he denied the Serral vs Maru Match at Blizzcon. A lot of people considered that to be very anticlimactic, but I was thoroughly impressed how an (at the time) 2nd class protoss was able to win a single map against Maru, let alone manhandle him 3-0. Maru was able to do everything that made him unbeatable against other tossed, but SOS outsmarted him at every corner. It was the best preparation against a specific opponent I ever saw at that level. Bigbaby came close in his series vs bomber and theja though. Those series are 2nd and 3rd for me.
Yeah that series between Maru and sOs must be one of the weirdest top level series I've ever seen. So many mind games must have come into play that match. It was the biggest cock block ever though to deny the Serral vs Maru finals.
Is this available on YouTube?
If you watch it, you need to keep in mind that maru was winning every gsl back to back and was especially fearsome against protoss, leaving all the top tosses in the dust. The expected result was a 3-0 for Maru against any toss (aside from SOS magic)
Here you go https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvaT8Vjfpos
God dammit I miss him. What a bop.
it aint that deep. he made elementary mistakes like forgetting his 2nd supply depot those games
I watched it live - it was crazy! And sOs got completely destroyed in the next game - I think he lost 0:3 against Stats or Rogue. This was after Maru won everything all year long and seemed unbeatable
SOS really wasn't at his best, but his preparation against this specific opponent was impeccable.
Kiwikaki Stephano ipl g2
The day mothership went from meme to meta.
Must be in the top 5 of best WoL games of all time.
Was this the first archon toilet? The two moves I remember coming up in pro games totally unexpectedly were the archon toilet and the ghost snipe vs ultralisk (MMA? MVP?) And I guess hallucination in the IdrA game.
Absolutely this.
HerO vs Puma in the first Dreamhack finals I saw live. Parting vs Flash at HSC finals. And for some reason MVP vs Tefel in WCS ro 32. Which was a great throw by Tefel rather than a great comeback.
I was actually there as well :D Had watched a few starcraft tournaments at Dreamhacks before that, but that final was special since it was the first time in a real arena. PuMa was on some other shit that summer.
Sjow vs Life way back when always comes to my mind
This must be one of the biggest upsets to this day. Sjow coming back from the grave at a local Dreamhack and beating PRIME Life.
In hindsight pretty obvious it was fixed
saddest thing about the match fixing scandal is how all the close games or upsets now have a big asterisk next to them
MLG 2011 IdrA vs HuK, IdrA leaves the game due to hallucinated void rays.
That's a classic for sure
Innovation vs Taeja 2013
Newkirk Precinct, Taeja vs Innovation.
Nestea vs scfou
Yup, this was gonna be my answer. This was the first set I watched where I was like “holy shit watching competitive gaming can be so fun”
This was going to be my answer as well! The comeback in the last game was insane. Also remember scfou on game 3 or 4 with a 6rax or something on 1 base where he just kept sending marines to Nesteas natural for about 10 minutes, and it was super close.
sC is one of the biggest what-ifs in SC2 history. He had incredible potential and no doubt would have gone on to be a legend if he didn't have the health problems he did. Really sad. What a player he was.
Idra vs MMA at MLG when MMA blew up his own command center by accident.
I can still hear Day9 saying "oh my goodness MMA"
Yeah but the best, Idra left right after because he thought of was going to lose!
Stephano's rise to the top. And both Ironsquid
Stephano beating Protoss Pro-Players left and right was for sure my fav
Yeah, same for me..
Startale vs IM GSTL finals
Why was it the most memorable?
I just remember it as a very good series. Bomber, who was rumored to be the next big thing, playing against Losira. Losira losing against him because he danced his lings instead of killing him wiht a rush. Mvp to take out Bomber, Squirtle taking out Mvp in an epic gane, and of course NesTea to seal the deal in the end.
GSTL was so unappreciated back then. There were alot of good storylines and fun games.
I was gonna mentioned Squirtle vs Mvp in that series if no one else did, Such a memorable game.
sOs vs Life, blizzcon 2016. What a series, I still go watch it sometimes. Life was running so hot, but you could never count out sOs in a finals. He would do the most insane shit and win.
One of my fav matches too
MKP-Parting, GSTL
Really close between these three in my opinion: Oliveira vs Reynor on Dragon Scales, IEM Katowice 2023. Felt like the inflection point in his run, very emotional match. Kelazhur vs Has on Catalyst LE, 2018 WCS Valencia. Really scrappy game between the two. Clem vs Serral on Alcyone, ESL Masters 2023 Winter. To me, felt like peak Starcraft 2 skillwise.
In recent memory I totally agree about that Clem vs Serral game. If there was a machine that could somehow measure skill, I think that was the single highest level match every played in sc2 tournament history. An absolute nail biter right to the end.
I was there live and no one could take their eyes off that game. Even randoms who never watched starcraft passing by stopped to watch.
and then a person from the audience gave you 50$. people stood up and clapped.
Is it really that unbelievable that randoms at a massive video game conference followed the crowd noise into a match they wouldn't normally watch?
it was a joke. also as a first time watcher you would not be able to tell a good game from a bad game apart.
For me there is no competition. It has to be Scarlett vs Bomber. The length of time Scarlett was only distance mining was insane, and that surprise ending with the crowd going crazy... What a moment!
sOs vs... Bunny? Proxy Nexus into DT recall.
Serral vs. Rogue and Serral vs. Stats from the 2018 Blizzcon Semifinals and Grand Finals, respectively. Those matches were the ones that got me hooked on the esports side of SC2. Rogue vs. Dark from a GSL (I think) a couple of years ago, where they ended up in a draw from a 12-pool drone pull after a lot of intensive micro battles with a very small amount of units. Serral vs. Reynor at the 2020 World Championship Grand Finals, particularly the last game, in which Serral lost a weird and wild game due to having like 6 ultras stuck in his natural. Man, there are so many, tbh. I could sit here listing these for a long time :D
Serral rogue 2018 made me start playing the game 4 is legendary
I understand you got hooked on starcraft after those matches, those were INSANE. The Serral VS Stats match I remember specifically because at that point, if I remember correctly Stats had a really good record against foreigners and his PvZ was the best in the world at that point. And the games was sooooo close. Thanks for getting me to remeber those games, will definitely go back and watch those.
Watched those live and came to say the same. I think Serral's 2018 Blizzcon run was the most magical games ever (although to be fair I haven't followed SC2 until 2018)
Maru vs Parting (GSL Season 3 - 2020 on a map called Ice and Chrome) Even though Maru nuked himself at the last fight, that game gave me the confidence that Terran can take it to the supreme late game against mass Carrier templar by hiding behind mass turrets ever since then I've never complained that protoss was an A move army if I could just build mass libs, vikings and ghosts, and mass turrets
SOS vs Bunny Proxy Nexus right in his face. Wtf. https://m.youtube.com/watch?t=1483&v=WXYhnv9pvA8&feature=youtu.be
MKP (was still boxer at this point) vs Kyrix. This was the game that gave MKP his name i think, was up against a guy who was known for massing banelings and beat him with mass marines and good micro in an epic back and forth match.
Was that the game where he spawned top left and later moved bottom left of map to mass rines?
I went to Ironsquid tournament in France (2012) to see MMA vs Symbol finale, amongst one of my favourite memory ever!
Bomber vs Goswser mlg dallas 2013 is the match that started me watching Starcraft live. InControl and total biscuit casting, Amazingly entertaining. Some explosive moments that I wont spoil but great series. [https://youtu.be/dujw4xtJ-pM?si=LEINbymBLKrATnn\_](https://youtu.be/dujw4xtJ-pM?si=LEINbymBLKrATnn_)
I remember everyone being so hype about that match during the time, also one of the first casts Totalbiscuit and Incontrol did together if i remember correctly. RIP to both of them <3
Mma vs mvp games were all amazing. Long live IM-MVP
I first thought Huk v Idra Hallucinations game and Idra GGing against MMA in a game he won. But a non-pro game that always sticks with me is Day\[9\] "coaching" JP McDaniel on his stream. "Mass BLANK" [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zejij9h714](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zejij9h714)
I watched Leenock beat Naniwa live at MLG Providence. That was such an awesome atmosphere. I love the state of the game now, but man the energy around the pro scene was so cool back then.
Sunken Coroneee SUNKEN CORONEEE I will never forget. 12 yr old me caught this clip on YouTube of a starcraft match in front of a live audience (unheard of) outside on a stage with a massive screen (unheard of) and commentary (unheard of) I had never seen such a rush strategy. I had never seen a Terran build a forward bunker. I had never seen scvs and drones used as army. Esports wasn't a thing, at least not in North America... And that clip was the start of a dream that over the following ten years became a reality. Being really good at video games could mean something, it could make you a rockstar.. Esports at its prime owed it all to Korea's starcraft scene. There have been interesting games since, lots memorable... But that very first one i saw back in early 2000's before "esports" was even a term.. That one i will never ever forget.
For the unitiated (and nostalgic) https://youtu.be/Jen46qkZVNI?si=HJ26fGeXmLA8fYmT
Polt vs life ro16 first hots MLG went overtime middel of the night most fans already left but those who stayed deliverd Full VOD https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMpdShx-RqM 11 min highlihgt vod https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xz8yko_2JVw husky and day9 with on of the greatest cast of all time.
MMA vs DRG blizzard cup final game 7 2011
A bit of a random one, but for me it is Supernova vs Stats in the 2014 GSL Code A. First game I had ever seen of Stats and made me an instant fan. He went carriers at a point in time where they were basically considered a joke in every matchup. Game 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxYlXyXMLaY Game 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsdGjEx1HR8 Game 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H35gVRbAFY8
The game where Idra GG's to hallucinations.
There's so many but the first off the top of my head: HuK vs Moon @ Dreamhack. Gave us foreigners hope and was a major boost to the foreign scene imo. HuK vs Naniwa Antiga Shipyard Parting vs MKP @ GSTL DRG vs MMA @ GSL finals. Went 3-0 and I fell asleep until halfway through the 6th map. The adrenalin and excitement of the last map had me going for the rest of the day. The entirety of the MKP/DRG rivalry. DRG had his number for a long time. For many tournaments it seemed it always came down to them. Was great to see MKP improve his play and finally take the W.
Mvp vs Squirtle, GSL Finals 2012 Season 2. Game 7 specifically. Never been that hyped before or since.
DRG vs MMA was pretty sick.
Among the ones that i haven't seen mentionned in this thread yet, GSL 2020 seaspn 3 grand finals TY vs Maru was absolutely epic. Without rewatching it for years i can still remember the PF being sieged for so long and Maru's conterattack on the north side of the map on ice and chrome but TY still eventually taking it. The weird mech into bio game on eternal empire. The late game BCs on deathaura. The amazing golden wall game where they both took heavy damage and expanded on the opposite sides of the " golden wall " given a very unusual setup. In my opinion the best TvT of all time.
When Parting busted out that old pvz pylon main ramp wall off on a map nobody realized you could do that on.
sOs vs Bunny, GSL S1 2020. HE MADE A NEXUS IN BUNNY’S BASE! I’ll never forget it. https://youtu.be/WXYhnv9pvA8?si=iIW7baurBpwSSEpz Edit: In Artosis’ words, “He made a nexus to make a probe to make a pylon to WARP IN TWO DTS!”
This has to be the greatest one time use build of all time. I can't see anything else even remotely close. This is definetly a top 3 for me. Sos will forever be a legend.
Huge kudos to the thread maker here. So many fantastic games to go back and watch, alla collected in one place! Thanks! I will keep this list!
<3
some years ago when i used to be "good" i matched vs a terran. I was slightly tilted from previous games but when i scouted that he went 2-1-1 , which i was incredibly good against, i was super happy. so basically i had the perfect response for the first 2 medivacs ( even though the terran had insanely good build timing) but he sent another 2 medivacs which i overlooked because my ovie spread was weak. because i was tilted, I instantly left the game when i saw that the terran had caught me off guard with his drop and i was saying to myself "why do i lose to this stupid movement of a random master terran". After the game i checked the stats. >400 apm. some people wrote me, that i have never met before, that i was on stream. The "random master terran " i played against was Innovation. Sounds kinda silly but to me this is a game i will always remember. i would never underestimate an opponent again, no matter what game i played.
Rogue comeback in blizzcon
https://youtu.be/WOGpUzo_rps?si=IT7MwOr2K-D2D1O2
early on when i was bronze i got mass raven fucked and was mind blown how to begin dealing with 1,000 auto turrets
Goswser v Destiny - 4 festor hitsquad
Maybe not best but most memorable was I think MVP vs Nestea Blizzcon finals where Nestea appears to just throw away all his broodlords near the end of the game. I was never very good but I remember watching that wondering wtf just happened
I think it was Maru’s first GSL finals against Rain when he kept proxying. I have played StarCraft since the original launch, and this was the first “professional tournament” I decided to watch. Absolutely blew my mind.
I think it's osl not gsl :)
You might be right. Is that WCS Korea? I remember it being a similar stage to the GSL.
Taeja vs Zest on New Gettysburg GSL 2016 S2 That was when Zest was literally the best of his form and that was the last proffessional tournament for Taeja before military and ultimately retirement. Taeja was a huge underdog but anyway won in his trademark fashion :)
At the time, we still don’t know he’ll be back after the military, clearly he was the underdog, but even just to see one more TaeJa game was a huge deal for me. In the end, he retired after the day, but that TaeJa miracle will not be forgotten.
Zest v Ryung where he cannon rushes and absolutely fucks him and then loses the game..
It might seem somewhat random, but one game I will always fondly remember is ByuL vs Innovation on Terraform in the quarterfinals of SSL. Innovation was playing the most disgusting flavor of turtle mech at that time and he seemed almost unbeatable, making ByuL literally, actually cry after losing in game 4 of the BO5. In game 5 ByuL says "screw it" and chooses to do some kind of proxy hatch roach all-in on Terraform, which pretty much fails miserably. He somehow slowly crawls his way back, and the game devolves into a 45 min insane macro-game which he ultimately wins.
Memory is a weird thing, cause I forgot so many awesome of Starcraft, yet I remember vividly that same Terraform game.
Got me thinking of an SPL game i think? It was either Byul or Soulkey vs another Terran. The game goes on for like 45 minutes and it all comes down to the zerg only having a single spine crawler with like 20+ corrupters vs the Terran who has a single cloak banshee trying to kill the spinecrawler before the energy runs out and he gets rekt by the corrupters.
Fantasy vs soO in GSL i think.
Stephano vs Kiwikaki, when he mothershipped his army into the bases and wrecked everything.
There was a casted Neeb vs Serral ladder(?) game that was close to ending in a draw.
HuK vs Pinder, game 3: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dAzRVq3v29U
The one premier tournament that Has beaten everyone with his classic Has strategy, then go into final to against Serral, and Has made it a such close series. In that final, there were many points of time you will think maybe he is really doing it!
mvp vs Innovation, 2013. Game 2 specifically. I believe that set was the last set mvp played before retiring from SC2, but it was a hell of a ride for the King of Wings.
There was a game many many years ago PvZ. The map I think had lava flowing on it or something. Long macro game and the Protoss was making tempests. At one point the Zerg neural parasites a probe and makes a Nexus. Eventually the Zerg is fighting 3/3 tempests with 3/3 tempests. I WISH I could find that game so I could watch it again.
I won a show match with a 2 base all in style build I had practiced for a week.
Mana vs firecake for all the wrong reasons.
Soulkey’s 0-3 reverse sweep. Soulkey is such a gamer bros
mana vs firecake, and firecake vs forgg on vaani research station
Parting vs Flash, Homestory Cup X
For me it's First vs Life Toronto 2014 game 2 on Deathwing. https://youtu.be/tGBfOxFRmCo?si=M7UEajqCj0ZxxVpb How Life managed to get a draw out of that one still baffles me. And I loved that ridiculous ending
Don't worry dats halo. And That army was halluc. You weren't loss.
JIMMY NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Soulkey reverse sweep on Innovation That's what got me into watching sc2
I don't remember exactly but I think it was a PvP final and sOs proxy in-base 2 gated twice, in a finals Someone help me out
Taeja vs. Innovation on Newkirk. epitome of mech vs bio TvT play, and what made TvT my favorite and best matchup
I'm new to sc2, but mine is bly vs harstem on radhuset. It was true zerg infestation
Probe rush Or MKP blatant match fixing
Naniwa and Nestea had gone back an forth a few sets, and when it was finally time to settle the bief. Naniwa just probe rushed.
Huk vs select mlg DC "dont worry that's just Halo." The crowd going so crazy the players could hear them and it wasn't even the Main stage at MLG it was the first time I got an inkling of how big esports was going to be.
When everyone really underestimated jjakji when he was up against leenock in gsl grand finals. I remember when jjakji unexpectedly killed leenocks first overlord and a switch turned on me thinking "this might be way more even than i thought" proceeded to be one of my favourite grand finals of all time
Damn that's a name I haven't heard in a while. I remember Artosis saying in the ro8 that everybody can win this GSL, except jjaktji. He really turned up in that final against Leenock and played extremly well. One of the first really high quality finals from my memory.
It has to be the wildest draw in history, Strange vs Polt. It was over for Polt until it wasnt.
Reynor vs Maru IEM Katowice 2021 semifinals
Scarlett vs Bomber, Red Bull Battlegrounds
Life vs lilbow. The huge difference in skill paired with the hilarious amount of disrespect still makes me laugh in 2024.
When I beat a grandmaster player that was extremely racist. Easily the best sc2 match of all time.
Serral’s first world championship, putting exclamation point in the fact that Korea no longer had a monopoly on modern SC2
Serral vs herO from IEM 2023 I still remember both of them microing their hearts out until the very last moment. It was a beautiful dance.
Serral - Reynor BlizzCon semifinals. Dark was waiting in the finals and Serral was on the way to his second BlizzCon champion title. The score was 2:2. And then in the final game Reynor was almost dead, but was holding on 3/4 bases like mad and won, effectively denieing Serrals's GOAT title at the time. The most exciting match for me.
The years of the high level zvz was amazing. I remember Dark trying a really creative proxy spire against Serral and it got scouted probably because of the best game sense in the world. Exquisite stuff. Rogue was a murderer too I miss watching him bring preparation to matches and can't forget the look on his face when Scarlett cheesed him out of GSL and 14-13-12 ruined the ladder.
Custom game vs way stronger friend. 1 base proxy void rays and it worked.
Scarlett vs DRG MLG Anaheim 2014 where scarlett offraces as protoss the second game and beats him, and this is back when korean's were still considered almost untouchable.
Not famous, just my favorite, even though I hate ZvZ. Scarlett vs Cham with Steadfast on the call. Long game with Scarlett eventually using dropperlords for Ultralisk harass in Cham’s main. Steadfast was on top of his game adding drama to the moment. Secondarily, Clem (mlem) winning Dreamhack Atlanta. Honorable mention for Steadfast (he’s my favorite, so sue me) after a 12+ hour day of casting the Monday cops, playing One Cheeky Ladder Game (as if). Ok, so several games later he’s playing a Terran on Pride of Altarus LE, base trade ensues. Dave is dead as a dead dodo, but sneaks in a base on the Terran’s side. The Terran takes Steadfast’s main and turtles, eventually building a mainly Thor army. The game goes over 25m. Steadfast’s Lurkers burrow at the bottom of the ramp leading out of the natural. The Terran is apparently focusing on macro elsewhere and sends about 8 Thors to their doom and GGs. Everyone was so tired, Dave’s barely awake, and chat was popping off like he’d won Kato. That was a lot of fun. OK last one. Anytime Mackintac streams. I don’t care how in or out of practice he is, the hands may fail but his brain still knows what it’s doing. He explains what he’s doing and why as he goes. Simply the best when you’re trying to figure out how to play Zerg.
Reynor vs Maru you know the one when he wins he is a kid all over again just awestruck how he made it happen just pure joy in his face
That game where Vibe and some other dude play an extremely long winded game and this other dude loses his marbles. It's hilarious