Victory from the jaws of defeat
by Zach Yonzon 
Mar 13th 2009 at 9:00AM
Hate Arenas all you want, but I love it for the fact that you will sometimes see the grandest display of skill and mastery of the game in PvP and when those moments happen... it's magic. How appropriate then, that the most magical moment in quite possibly all professional Arena Tournament history was performed by none other than a Mage. It's a phenomenal comeback tale that ranks right up there with the greatest comebacks in sports -- and not just eSports.
Team H O N was down 1-2 against SK-Gaming Asia, better known as the Council of Mages, winners of the Worldwide Invitational in Paris. Both teams from Korea sported the same RMP comps, with some spec changes in between matches to keep everyone guessing. In the fourth match, played in the Ruins of Lordaeron, SK-Gaming showed superb control despite H O N going offensive in the first few minutes... so superb, in fact, that at one point the shoutcasters were already congratulating SK-Gaming. If you've kept abreast of the tiny bits of the ESL Global Finals here at WoW Insider, you'd already know that H O N won the tournament so it should be no spoiler that they escaped from being down 1-2 to tie and eventually win it all.
That's not the magical moment, though. You have to see it for yourself. Don't worry, the video might be long (that's just the first part of the match) but the most jawdropping moment happens right before the four minute mark. The movie may well be Moviewatch material if only because it's so unbelievable you're tempted to think it's all machinima. But the coolest thing about it is that it's not, and OrangeMarmalade will be celebrated as one of the greatest PvP Mages of all time.
Despite the astounding display, it must be noted that H O N is widely regarded as the best team in Asia, making SK-Gaming the underdogs despite their deceptive respective paths to the Finals (H O N emerged from the lower brackets during the tournament). These are the moments that make tournaments like the ESL Global Finals completely worth it. Unparalleled skill, escalating drama, and jawdropping excitement. More great videos of the ESL tourney as well as other Arena gems can be viewed on ESL TV or on their youtube channel.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Netherscourge Mar 13th 2009 9:14AM
Watching people jumping non-stop and running around in circles only confirms the stupidity of Arena's.
Freedomfighter Mar 13th 2009 9:20AM
Because either standing still and straight burning or occasionally stepping out of void zones requires so much skill, amiright?
NoTomorrow Mar 13th 2009 10:54AM
It may look stupid, but it takes a ton of skill. And a little luck on procs too... (e.g. That arcane barrage marmalade got to kill the other mage)
Concordz Mar 13th 2009 11:21AM
Coordinating an AB team or a 40 man raid is still the biggest thing in WOW.
PVE and PVP are easy mode now.
lol vortex, pve cleared in Test servers lol easy pve now
lol pillarhumpang lol 4vs4 arena lol duels
Osc Mar 13th 2009 12:18PM
Watching people sheep and run confirms the stupidity of arena.
It's like having a 1v1 Quake or Unreal Tournament match with health packs up. 90% of your match turns into people fleeing like crazy, trying to reset themselves back to full health with every weapon and max ammo just to start over again.
Until arena gets rid of the pathetic "strategies" that allow matches to go on like this until one person gets caught with their pants down due to cooldowns failing to line up properly, arena will always be a joke.
Bloodletter Mar 13th 2009 9:18AM
"It's a phenomenal comeback tale that ranks right up there with the greatest comebacks in sports -- and not just eSports."
...
....
LOLWUT?!
percinho Mar 13th 2009 9:42AM
This is the correct response. No comeback in a computer game, no matter how dramatic, should be ranked in the same light as any comeback in a physical sport.
Dah Mar 13th 2009 9:24AM
Indeed awesome skill, but that lucky Missile Barrage proc against the other mage was really what made the 2 v 1 possible.
Zach Mar 13th 2009 9:27AM
Luck plays a part in all sports. In this case, though, SK-Gaming Asia made critical errors at the worst times. Both the Mage and the Priest overextended themselves, and the Priest played too offensively when he should've been paying attention to his partner's life.
A PW:S and a defensive Penance might have changed the outcome of that match. If SK's Mage survived the burst -- and he could have with the Priest's help -- they'd have eventually taken Orange down.
Marveen Mar 13th 2009 10:48AM
The priest was wanding - she was oom and was too dry to drop anything on the mage. I blame the mage for overextending himself with a dry healer.. but then again I play a healer (in PvE).. :D
Kris Mar 13th 2009 11:49AM
The priest did cast PWS but Orange spell stole it before he ran to the starting area.
Ace Mar 13th 2009 9:46AM
All the buildup ... where's the rest? *sigh*
Zach Mar 13th 2009 9:35AM
You can watch the rest of the match (Round 4b) -- which goes on for another ten minutes -- over at ESL's Youtube channel. It gets driven to a stalemate, basically. But because of ESL's rules where matches are awarded to the team that dealt the most damage, H O N pulled off the victory. As much as I enjoyed the drawn out play, the best parts were all in the first four minutes of the match.
issachan Mar 13th 2009 9:53AM
Vid doesn't work no more. =(
Punjab Mar 13th 2009 9:40AM
Jesus Chris, hyperbole much?
Firestride Mar 13th 2009 9:39AM
I know this is my fault and not the video's, but all I see is a Mage blinking around and then casting Arcane Missiles.
Dahk Mar 13th 2009 10:10AM
Ya, it's really one of those things where you see more as you get a larger understanding. Basketball, for example, looks like nothing but a couple people running back and forth throwing balls at a hoop to a casual audience. However, a pro basketball coach watching the same game will see every defensive and offensive formation, the small moves players use to communicate, and every other little detail that show that there is indeed a large amount of strategy behind the apparent chaos.
zappo Mar 13th 2009 10:19AM
I'm not too familiar with watching this sort of stuff myself but I saw a actual diagrams (yeah srsly) of what was done. The mage ate an early counterspell, then got the other mage to over extend himself. He then used spellsteal on the priest get the power word: shield to keep himself up, and blew all his cooldowns and threw it at the opposing mage. I wish I could remember where the link was, it was fairly interesting.
Note that the commentary about "playing like it's over" is a sort of subtle catch. The priest was using his wand... It was a bit of luck, some determination, and a hellofa good reaction time to turn it around.
bod Mar 13th 2009 9:47AM
是和您是蠢貨
jaxson_bateman Mar 13th 2009 9:54AM
It was good to watch, and I'm glad the wording encouraged me to watch it.
However, I wouldn't consider this the greatest comeback ever, or even close, in any medium. You want a great comeback? Watch the famous "Ken comeback" from one of the Street Fighter tournaments. Ken's got the tiniest sliver of health left, with Chun-Li on about 30%. Chun-Li unleashes her super move (Ken's on such low health that even just blocking it would kill him from the chip damage). Ken parries EVERY SINGLE STRIKE, and then performs a fantastic combo culminating in his own effective super move. It can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgSAOxwr0xE
This arena match wasn't even of the same calibre. Again, it was good, and I enjoyed watching it, but the comeback wasn't brought about by an insane level of skill such as the Ken player demonstrated. Yes, Orangemarmalade showed quite significant skill himself, but the large majority of the comeback was brought about by the rush of SK to finish the match. The 'losing' team rushing in for a win doesn't make the best comebacks (IMO, of course, and everyone is free to disagree); I feel it is the winning team/player pulling off the victory *despite* skillful playing by the other team.