Orangemarmalade's 1 vs. 2 comeback explained
by Zach Yonzon 
Mar 28th 2009 at 4:00PM
Orange is my master now.
It's fairly common to see professional Arena teams to concede defeat after losing a member in tournaments. It happens all the time. You wouldn't fault them for it, either, considering that if you do the math, 3 will always be more than 2, and 2 will always be more than 1. So it was no surprise that when SK-Gaming Asia went up two players to one in the fourth match of their best of five series against H O N, even the commentator was congratulating them and writing H O N off. Most players would've left the match.
Orangemarmalade, H O N's Mage who was left in a lopsided situation against SK-Gaming's Priest and Mage, showed us all why he's one of the greatest Mages to ever PvP. Korean team H O N won the ESL Global Finals in a most dramatic fashion and will always be remembered as one of the best moments in professional Arena competition. This video from th Electronic Sports League gives us the play-by-play on how Orange pulled off such an improbable win.
Although impressed by Orange's comeback, my first thoughts on the match was that SK-Gaming's Kwana and Hyoga committed too many mistakes. I was wrong. Kwana and Hyoga only made one mistake, and that was overextension which you honestly can't fault them for considering they were two against one, both at 100% health, going in for the kill against a nearly OOM Mage who was at less than 1/3 life. The video breaks down exactly what Orange did, and it blew me away because every single move was calculated, clever, and displayed a complete mastery of his class and the situation.
Did he get lucky with Missile Barrage and Arcane Concentration? Sure. But he orchestrated it so that he would survive long enough to get lucky, setting it up with the use and abuse of Incanter's Absorption and Mana Shield, to Spellstealing the Power Word: Shield, and quickly target switching to cast Slow on Hyoga. Few players can retain that kind of composure with that kind of pressure. The video is something every player can learn from, if not be inspired by.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Palatel Mar 28th 2009 4:10PM
I arena veeeeery casually and don't follow the tournies at all. But damn, this is fascinating! Kinda weird how the pros usually give up if they lose one though...
slartibart Mar 28th 2009 4:13PM
Nah, the conceding defeat thing is very much like in professional chess tournaments.
One player will concede and this without an indepth knowledge will have no idea why, but both players are seeing the next 15 moves, and the coming 'mate.
Although the nature of this beast being a little different with procs, and rng's does lend itself to some amazing comebacks like this.
Kakistocracy Mar 28th 2009 4:53PM
I get the chess reference, but given what was at stake, and the propensity for people to make mistakes while over confidant, I would think that the focus would be more on how he succeeded than why he tried.
And though the video says he refused to give up, I'd save that claim for whoever, after losing a character in a fight, starts throwing things at his or her opponent.
But, yeah, a nice comeback.
Zul Mar 28th 2009 4:13PM
Thats ahh cool. It would prob. be more amusing if I knew what just happen...
Kraf Mar 29th 2009 12:57AM
SK gaming vs Hon, Sk had 2 wins, Hon had 1, SK would have gotten a 3rd win and taken home $30k from this arena tournment. But a cool lil mage on HON's side, decided to whip out some cool mage tricks and make some literally split second decisions which seems like, to me atleast, would've been really hard and need a CRAPLOAD of focus...but ya anyway he did some cool lil mage moves and killed SK's mage and then it was HON Mage vs SK priest....still don't understand what happened? >.>
Mage kill mage, HON wins, =P
Haimdall Mar 28th 2009 4:14PM
Simply brilliant. I'm no PvPer, but even I want to set up a team after watching this.
Demosthenes Mar 28th 2009 4:14PM
Inspiration to mages
Edanas Mar 28th 2009 4:27PM
Man there is that Zach Yonzon being all "mean" again. First calling people scrubs and now saying Orange got lucky. ZOMG This is supposed to be a serious blog and retain a level of professionalism.
On a serious note, I want to pick up my level 70 mage again.
VSUReaper Mar 28th 2009 4:36PM
Ummm.... no where did he call anyone scrubs. Yes, he did say he got lucky, which the mage was. He got EXTREMELY lucky that everything went like he wanted it to.
Nonetheless, awesome vid, they deserve to win, and this is a perfect reason to NEVER give up until you are 0/0 hp. This goes for PVE and PVP.
In both environments, I have pulled off amazing comebacks myself, granted not as awesome as this was...
Kakistocracy Mar 28th 2009 4:48PM
VSUReaper, there is a rumor that the "Zach Yonzon" that wrote this article is the same "Zach Yonzon" that wrote the other ones which are listed as being by a "Zach Yonzon".
Of course I'm with you, it's all just a bizarre coincidence, I mean really, when you don't understand something, don't assume there's some information you lack, assuming someone else is wrong, right?
Edanas Mar 28th 2009 4:52PM
Apparently my feable attempt at humor is lost on a few. I was referring to the outrage of this article:
http://www.wowinsider.com/2009/03/28/the-southern-graveyard-is-a-trap/
Jagoex Mar 28th 2009 4:39PM
I believe Orange was signed to a $500 million (US) contract with a Korean gaming league for his play over the next 3 years.
Global recession my a$$. =)
Justin Mar 28th 2009 4:45PM
NOW THAT IS FUCKING PRO.
Meethan Mar 28th 2009 4:45PM
He spellstole PW: Shield and orchestrated 2-3 perfect wards in a matter of seconds. You can't right that stuff.
mitch Mar 28th 2009 8:03PM
No you can't, but you can write it :D
Clbull Mar 28th 2009 5:03PM
I'm still asking myself, how did Orangemarmalade coordinate this so well, and manage to get a victory whilst being the only player left at 10% health.
Lemons Mar 28th 2009 5:04PM
That was pretty insane. Someone going 2v1 in high level arena and winning is just legendary.
It's easy to see how the other team got caught in his trap. He still had his game face on while they were just thinking "Ha, it's 2v1 now, there's no way we can lose this, let's pwn this noob and collect our check."
If that was feudal Japan they would have fallen on their swords after that loss.
kabshiel Mar 28th 2009 5:08PM
His story will inspire children everywhere. I know I'm going to tell my kids about this.
Secondaidkit Mar 28th 2009 5:38PM
FFS guys. I agree with Zach. Orange got lucky. L-U-C-K-Y. I don't take away that Orange is a great mage and the use of the wards, counterspell, slow, and spellstealing wasn't an accident.
What Orange got lucky on was the Arcane Concentration procs. The video is too blurry for me to see Orange's hp and mana numbers, but without AC, I doubt Orange would have had the mana to cast counterspell, arcane blast, and arcane missles. He got that counterspell for free. The rng blessed Orange at just the right time which augmented his incredible play, propelling him into the stratosphere among mages.
And another thing, about the whole "scrub" thing on the last article, people who are bad players and hurting their team should be called out on it. You think most raid leaders are nice 100% of the time on Thaddius on 25 man? That fight is the definition of separating decent players from the ones simply converting oxygen to carbon dioxide.
Its different from Heigan, where individual failure is suffered individually for the most part (until enough individuals go down) since a single person can royally screw up an attempt for the whole raid, wasting time, feasts, and repair bills because they can't get their act together. These kind of people, coupled with the southern gy-cappers fully deserve the title scrub. In fact, Blizzard should make it a title that overwrites the current one you have for a set amount of time. A month would be fine by me.
For those who are calling Zach "unprofessional" should probably go and write their own column...oh, that's right, virtually all of them don't have one. This is a fan site that has a reputation for calling Blizzard itself out on shortcoming, and the topic of that article (about SotA) is so prevalent that it deserved to be addressed. Forcefully if necessary.
That is all.
Okabe Mar 28th 2009 6:28PM
You can have all the luck in the world and you'll still lose if you don't know what to do with it.
The knowing part is called skill.