Grubby and sLivko put on a StarCraft 2 show at IEM Singapore last weekend, this video is a must-watch

IEM_Singapore_Grubby_v_Slivko_Game_4

I’m late to the party on this, having taken a pass on IEM Singapore to focus on DreamHack Winter. This is the kind of conflict that hopefully the partnership between ESL (who run the IEM series), MLG, and DreamHack can avoid next year, and we won’t have to gamble on which tournament will best reward our viewing time.

But if you missed IEM like I did, this seminfal best of five between Manuel “Grubby” Schenkhuizen and Artem “sLivko” Garavtsov is the best StarCraft match I’ve seen in months. Certainly my favorite series since Mvp and Life went to seven games in the last GSL Final.

The entire set is worth watching for its dramatic arc (it starts at around 1:33:00), but if you’re pressed for time, the game that starts at around 2:30:00 on this replay is where the real magic happens. Grubby shows off Protoss harassment tactics on Cloud Kingdom that have to be seen to be believed. Grubby is managing so many fights at once that you will swear there are two of him.

It’s hard enough to follow in replay, where there seem to be two or three major engagements taking place at once: one can only imagine what it must have been like in sLivko’s shoes, where that tactical picture must have seemed like complete chaos.

(Thanks, Nick Breckon.)