That Time France Went Toe-To-Toe With Korea in SC2
You read that title right, and this was back in 2015, before players like Serral started dumpstering Koreans and made it a regular thing. The event was Nationwars III, an event for those of you who might not be familiar, where teams of players representing their home nation faced off in SC2, for the glory of their country. The format was something called “All-Kill", meaning that the player who wins stays on and plays the next opponent. This event only had 3 players per team, so with the finals being a Bo9, each team had 4 “revivals” for fallen players. Players were voted in by fans, so it wasn’t necessarily the best players from each region that were chosen, but could be something of a popularity contest. Representing Korea were Hydra, InnoVation and PartinG, with HyuN as a sub. France had Lilbow, Stephano, and MarineLorD, with PtitDrogo as a sub on their roster. Obviously, Korea was a heavy favorite going into this final, but the two standout players in this finals were surely InnoVation and MarineLorD. InnoVation boasted an impressive, 9-2 record, where MarineLorD was sitting at a staggering 16-2. No matter who came out on top, it was a special moment to have the host nation of the Nation Wars represented, going up against the perennial powerhouse that was Korea.
In the first set we had Hydra up against the French ace, MarrineLorD. Zerg opened up into Roaches and a quick 3rd, so pretty standard. Terran also played conservatively, took a natural and teched into starport. With excellent Liberator placement and lack of anti air from Zerg, MarineLorD was able to inflict some serious early game damage, killing a queen, some drones, and forcing a lot of missed mining time. Hydra cleaned up the attack with his first Mutalisks of the game, but was unable to find any counter damage. The mid game saw Zerg on 4 base to the 3 of Terran, so a fairly equal position. MarineLorD’s first real push traded reasonably well, but was a big loss, especially considering he did no economic damage. Constant Zergling counter attacks kept Terran’s focus split, and helped Hydra clean up the units in his bases. The key moment in the game came when an army from MarineLorD pushed into Hydra’s 4th, and caught 5 Ultralisks before Chitinous Plating was able to complete. The loss of those key units broke the Zerg’s back, and after his 4th base fell, we saw the GG.
In the second match we saw MarineLorD face up against the terrifying Korean Terran, InnoVation. Their openings were similar with one key distinction, both were going straight into Reapers, but MarlineLorD opened 2 barracks, where InnoVation stopped at the 1, and took a natural expansion. Snagging 4 worker kills and a few Marines with his first 4 Reapers was a solid, if not extraordinary start for the French Terran. Having skirted his next 4 Reapers around the forces from InnoVation that had just moved out, MarineLord was able to pick up another 13 SCVs. Knowing he was in a bad spot, InnoVation pushed across the map with a poultry force and lost even more units, accomplishing nothing. The next fight came when InnoVation flew 2 Medivacs full of Marines into MarineLorD’s main, but with units in position, the French Terran cleared the threat with ease. With a 30 supply advantage, MarineLorD pushed across the map, and in a mid-map fight, the French player’s army crushed the Korean Terran’s forces, effectively sealing the deal. When MarineLorD took out the 3rd of InnoVation, Inno tapped out, sending us to a 3rd game, with France up 2-0.
The 3rd game was between PartinG, and the on fire MarineLorD. PartinG opened up aggressively with 2 gateways and a cybernetics core before his natural. The Terran, also playing off of one base, went straight into a factory, and then a starport, which matched the stargate of Protoss. A single Hellion got into the Protoss main, killing a couple workers, meanwhile at the Terran front, the first two adepts were held off. PartinG’s Oracle similarly found almost no damage, so the game was looking to favor the Terran. The push from PartinG didn’t end there though, warping in a pylon right outside the Terran main, Protoss kept the pressure on with Stalkers and Adepts. PartinG finally found some worker damage, but at the cost of his Oracle and a few more Adepts. In that moment though a drop from Terran found a ton of counter damage, planting a Widow Mine in the mineral line of Protoss, who had no detection after losing the Oracle. Things started to swing in the favor of Protoss though, taking a supply lead, with 15 workers to the 9 of Terran. Having walled off his main, Terran sent out another drop and killed another 5 workers, forcing PartinG to pull his workers. The Oracle returned home to clean up the drop, while a Protoss army was trying to break in the back door of the Terran. Some excellent micro from MarineLorD caused Protoss to pull his army back, giving the French player some breathing room. A risky counter push from Terran was able to break the natural ramp of PartinG though, which allowed Siege Tanks to siege up right on top of Protoss’ main. PartinG, in an uncharacteristic move, marched his army single file into the range of the tanks, and under Liberator fire, throwing away his remaining forces, and his hopes in the game. The French Terran took a 3rd game in a row, and put France in a position nobody expected, up 3-0.
Korea chose to immediately use a revive on Parting, so game 4 was a rematch between him and MarineLorD. This map saw both players opening conservatively with a quick expansion. We then saw Protoss go into a stargate, and a quick robotics facility. Terran on the other hand went into a factory, relying on Cyclones and Marines. Then, Protoss started up Phoenix production, and Terran Liberator production. Fairly little army interaction prompted both players to move on to a 3rd base, but Terran decided he wanted to take his first meaningful fight of the game. Some forcefields on a choke kept the Terran army at bay, but the range of the Liberators and Tanks forced the Protoss army back on top of his natural ramp. A whiffed Disruptor shot gave MarineLorD a great opportunity, and he seized it. The Bio Tank force of Terran chewed through the Protoss army at the ramp, and gave MarineLorD an amazing position between the natural and 3rd of Protoss. The damage output onto the bases from the Tanks proved to be too much, and the French player cut the income of PartinG down by more than ⅔. PartinG took the 4th base position to compensate, but it wouldn't matter. With reinforcements arriving, MarineLorD pushed into the main and pushed the French lead to 4-0, 1 game away from total victory.
The 5th set, of course, saw Korea sending out their ace again, InnoVation. This TvT opened with both players taking a quick expansion, but with MarineLord opting to stay at home with Marines for defense. As a result the first Reaper from Inno found no damage. A drop from InnoVation grabbed a couple SCV kills without losing much, but was otherwise not of note. A more committed drop from Inno looked like it could be dangerous, but with good control, MarineLorD made short work of it. Having built a 3rd CC, the French Terran was looking to be in a commanding position after the early defense. Innovation knowing that playing down a full base would mean the end of him, geared up for a 2 base all in attack. In a bizarre moment of poor decision making, Innovation dropped his tanks isolated from the rest of his army, and had his Medivacs full of Marines get shot down by the Vikings of MarineLorD. A disastrous attack by Innovation left MarineLorD with an equal army supply, but up a base, and 17 workers. Feeling like he had the game in the bag, MarineLorD took a fight at a poor angle, and just before his combat shields upgrade was about to complete. InnoVation took a very favorable engagement and went up to a 20 army supply advantage. Knowing this was his best shot at closing out the game, InnoVation scooped up his whole army and flew into the rear of MarineLorD’s base for a doom drop. MarineLorD, spotting that move early, pounced on the army of the Korean Terran before it could properly siege up. InnoVation’s army melted away in seconds, and so too did his chances in that game. The last GG was called out and the ALL-KILL was complete. The French stream cast absolutely lost their minds, jumping around the studio, and popping bottles of Champagne.
This was perhaps the greatest upset in the history of Nation Wars, and maybe even of any team league in SC2 history. Nation Wars (or O’gaming for that matter) may not be around anymore, but their torch has been picked up by orgs like ComebackTV, and events like the WTL. This legendary win by MarineLorD goes down as one of the best stories from a French player in SC2 history in my opinion, right next to Stephano’s many incredible feats.
