"Mechanically, this game is stupid, how hard it is." - Artosis

Brood War release date: November 30th, 1998 ASL Grand Finals date: September 10th, 2016

ASL Teaser video

The matchup is Terran vs. Protoss, a very map-dependant matchup where Terran statistically has pulled ahead, but remains an arguably less difficult matchup for Protoss to execute. Risen from the dead, this grand finals was played in the outdoor Children’s Grand Park arena in Korea, taking place right before the GSL finals.

On the way to the grand finals, Sharp, the Terran player, defeated Sea 3-2 in a close set. On the other end of the bracket, Shuttle (currently going by ‘Eyewater’) defeated Last, a tough feat considering Last defeated Flash, the greatest video game player of all time 3-0 in a TvT mirror matchup.

Many people have been told that Terran is the most overpowered race in Brood War given an infinite skill ceiling. In Terran vs. Protoss, Terran is required to “turtle up” while utilizing the highly mobile Vultures to harass and deal damage to the Protoss economy before their options become insurmountable.

The Protoss requires a superior base count, strong utilization of tech unit tools, and flank attacks to defeat the Terran, who’s maxed out ground army is significantly stronger in a head-to-head attack.

The world's best PvT player utilizing Stasis Field to lock up chunks of Sharp's army.

As with most matchups, a proper balance is important. Staying walled up until 200/200 does no good if your Protoss opponent expands rapidly to exploit Terran’s poor mobility with their siege units and techs to Carriers on a less open map.  Similarly, Protoss cannot be too greedy with expansions and tech advancement or they are susceptible to early pushes that will lose them the game outright.

Following these basic principles, how is it that Shuttle managed to take the grand finals 3-0 in one of the biggest stomps in a Brood War grand finals set imaginable without following the cookie-cutter win conditions above? Not only was he greedy with tech, but he often defeated the Terran army head-on multiple times.  Does this mean Protoss is overpowered? Welcome to Brood War, an esport predating the philosophy of mandatory developer-balance involvement.

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Perhaps one of the greatest internet phenomenons was Starcraft’s ability to develop a community whose collective mentality was to adapt more frequently than to whine about balance.  In many different eras, different races were thought to be the strongest.  Often times, this was shuffled based on each era’s individual map pool. In Brood War, jobs actually exist specifically to create new professional maps.

Largely due to this forced adaptive process, the meta has never grown stale, and continues to evolve in strange and sometimes miraculous ways after close to two decades. TvZ is one of the most varied matchups in the game’s lifespan -- a topic I will expand upon in a future article.  Most commonly, the matchup has been played with a mix of bio and tank. At one point, it was played with only bio.  Now, once thought completely unviable, it begins with bio and transitions into full tech.

TvZ may be the most extreme example, but every matchup has evolved significantly, and will continue to evolve as the maps change.  Even units that were once considered practically useless, such as Queens, Valkyries, and Dark Archons, have all seen use in this season of ASL (Sorry boys 'n' girls, no Scouts still).

In 18 years, no single mastermind of any race has “figured out” the game. Even the world’s best player, Flash, can not only be defeated, but crushed in a perfect series -- this is someone who fans have theorized is the most “perfect” a human being can ever possibly play the game.

In general, you’d think that the incredibly unforgiving barrier of entry into a game as complex as Brood War would weed out many competitors: those of old age, those who have never made a name in the scene, so on and so forth.  Yet, as the ASL has proven, the top placings are an open door for new blood and veterans alike -- a somewhat comical fact when much less mechanically and strategically intensive games have players retiring early or have veterans incapable of keeping up despite an inferior skill floor.

If almost twenty years of evolving player narratives and meta aren’t enough to prove the game’s continued longevity, there’s several other facets that make the game a unique playing and viewing experience.  One of my favorites to touch on is the often misunderstood and controversial topic, APM (Actions Per Minute).

A classic but effective video at showcasing APM in RTS games like BW and WC3.

APM is anything but exclusive to Starcraft.  However, in Brood War, moreso than any other game in existence, APM is not just a measure of your playing speed, but an invisible yet vital resource in the game.  There is no multiple building select, and control groups are limited to 12 units.  What some may consider a poor QoL (Quality of Life) choice in Brood War is actually a fundamental part to what makes Brood War so special; without it, it loses a lot of its magic.

“"If you lose your army, you have that much less to juggle.” - Tasteless

The depth of APM utilization requires a book of biblical nature to explain the nuanced intricacies of it alone, but we’ll consolidate that as much as possible for your sanity's sake.

For one, no one can ever truly be “perfect” at Brood War. You must constantly reapply rally points one building at a time, reform control groups, and always be panning your camera while setting new hotkeys for those areas of the map. It is physically impossible for a human being to perfectly play Brood War late game because there is too much to do. This is where APM is measured as a resource and not simply a recorded capacity of speed.

Because of the futility of managing everything, you have to actively choose what to manage in real-time. Your attention span is limited, much like your Gas and Minerals. Should you choose to focus more on macro, or would it be more efficient to micro and keep the units you have alive?  After all, if your harass is causing your opponent to put more mental and physical energy to deflect than it costs you to inflict, you are taking one of his resources, just as a Reaver drop on SCVs would drain resources.

Brood War is the only game where you can effectively exhaust a player’s stamina in the same way that it hurts quantifiable in-game resources.

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When managing armies, the bigger the army, the harder it is to manipulate. This in and of itself creates a unique comeback mechanic, where a bigger army is objectively and mathematically superior, but cleverly utilized smaller armies can -- and often do -- still win.  This is because an attack with a large army is fully committal. Unlike Starcraft 2, you cannot simultaneously pull back your death ball. If you attack with everything, your troops are probably not returning home from the skirmish. Brood War certainly had situations that could snowball, but with proper micro and wit, any result is possible in nearly any situation.

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Infinite depth, the spearhead that lead to the explosion that is modern-day Korean esports, the birth of celebrity-status gamers, the first ever stadium-filling video game: Brood War is phenomenal and has indisputably the greatest accolades of any esport.

Like everything beautiful, though, Brood War had to come to an end.

Brood War’s projected funeral was on August 4th, 2012, where JangBi won the last ever OSL finals against Fantasy.  Alongside this, to commemorate the end of Brood War, Boxer and Yellow, two of the oldest rivals in esports, played a showmatch, filling the arena with bittersweet nostalgia.

The preview of the last ever OSL grand finals.

If that wasn’t enough to create nerd tears, a heart-sinking “Let it Be” ceremony closed out the broadcast (a moment which, unfortunately, no longer exists in VOD form.)

4 years have passed, and the universe has slowly become self-aware of this existential crisis. The death of Brood War was not meant to be.  Tournaments began propping up again over the years. Aspiring champions, both new and old, have continued practicing on private servers such as Fish and ICcup, knowing that full well that the game is just too damn good to be buried as a historical relic.

Brood War’s time is not up.

 Oftentimes as a grown-up, you face a psychological dilemma.  You begin contemplating whether things in your past were truly better than they are now, or if rose-tinted goggles have skewed your perception. Certainly, the magic found in certain things at a young age will be diminished as you grow wiser and open your doors to other outlets and sources of entertainment.

Many years ago, I invested so much time watching Brood War and loving it. As new esports have come and gone, I’ve enjoyed the ride, but always felt an insatiable gap in my esports journey.  I’d always ask myself, “If I watched Brood War, would I even enjoy it as much?  Could such an old game hold a candle to the more modernized esports, built from the ground up to be competitive unlike their roots?”

If you used to watch Brood War and loved it, you won’t just enjoy it like you once did before, you’ll love it even more. Perhaps you've grown wiser and have begun to understand the depth to a degree you never thought before.  Maybe you feel the same void I did and acknowledge the fact that while accessibility can be nice, the raw talent and strategy that goes into Brood War is unmatched. Some of you might just been influenced by old legends like Bisu, Flash, Jaedong, NaDa, Boxer, Yellow, and so on, and want nothing more but to see them again, or for others to live up to their legacy.  

Watch ASL, tell your friends about ASL, because the best game in the world is risen from the grave, and it never intends to return.

Michale Lalor is the Editor-in-Chief at Esports Heaven. Give him a follow on Twitter if you liked this content at @ESHDrexxin.

Cover photo courtesy of PGR21 by KimBilly.