In what many are already dubbing one of the best finals in SC2 history, NASL has concluded its first season with a spectacular grand finals. In a weekend full of games from the Ontario Convention Center, MC and PuMa fought their way through extremely tough adverseries to face off in a full Best of 7 series.
PuMa was widely considered the underdog coming into the series, as he was an unknown to the scene at large. He had fought his way up through an extremely grueling open bracket and knocked out players of high calibre such as Ret, Squirtle and July on his way to the finals. MC, of course, being a two-time GSL winner and always consistently performing at a high level obviously had huge expectations on him.
PuMa started out the series by showing unbelievable micro and multitasking and dropping everywhere; All this while MC went phoenix/void-ray which should’ve shut that down. Regardless, MC was unable to cope with PuMa’s activity and went down quickly, making the series 1-0 in PuMa’s favor. The next game was very much the same, with almost identical builds and the same outcome, the series now 2-0. MC was in dire straits, as a 3-0 come-back is extremely rare. The next game would be pivotal. He managed and somehow won with a very similar build to the previous games. His high templar use was perfect and he used storm impeccably, and the ghosts of PuMa were not able to get the snipes/EMP’s they needed.
With the series at 2-1, the stage seemed set for an epic final. That promise was however shaken up a bit as MC faltered and fell in the following game, bringing the set to 3-1 for PuMa. One game away from taking his first major championship, the nerves were surely felt from PuMa. In an amazing game where MC seemed to be absolutely everywhere and reading the mind of PuMa, intercepting every drop and picking off every unit, MC took the game making the series 3-2. The following match was one of the greatest TvP games to date, taking the set to 3-3 in unparalleled play by MC showing a new dimension in TvP. The unit control was impeccable and it seemed that PuMa was feeling a bit nervous and was faltering in the unit control department.
The final game was set, and as some thought MC opened it with a cheese, doing a 4-gate all-in which was held beautifully by PuMa, who did not have any units and frquently pulled SCV’s off the line. This was however not something that put him behind, as he had fast expanded against MC’s cheese, and he had a massive lead. With perfect ghost control, PuMa capped off an incredible series with a defintive win showing he is a spectacular player.
In front of a crowd of 85,000 people by the end, the two players from oGs and TSL showcased the beauty of StarCraft 2 and displayed phenomenal skill. They fought and clawed their way to the finals, overcoming adversity and showing amazing amounts of discipline.
More information about the NASL and VODs can be found here.