Sun Tzu vs. Clausewitz at the GSL Finals
Introducing the Players
Tasteless: Welcome, everybody, to the GSL Finals. I’m Tasteless, joined as always by Artosis, and we have one hell of a series ahead of us.
Artosis: This is probably the most strategically overqualified final we’ve ever had.
Tasteless: In the bottom-left, playing Zerg under the ID SUNtzerg—
Artosis: Sun Tzu.
Tasteless: And in the top-right, playing Terran as vonClausew1tz—
Artosis: Carl von Clausewitz.
Tasteless: Best-of-five. Winner takes the championship.
Artosis: Mechanically, these two have looked very close all tournament. Neither player is here because he’s substantially faster. Neither is winning through some absurd micro advantage.
Tasteless: So what’s separating them?
Artosis: Decisions.
Tasteless: Sun Tzu’s Zerg has been very strange to watch.
Artosis: Constant information. Constant movement. He’ll show you units he doesn’t intend to use, threaten places he doesn’t care about, disappear when you finally respond, then reappear somewhere else.
Tasteless: His quarterfinal against Hannibal was incredible.
Artosis: Hannibal spent twenty minutes trying to set up the perfect surround.
Tasteless: Sun Tzu just wouldn’t go in.
Artosis: He looked genuinely offended.
Tasteless: Then Sun Tzu beats Musashi 3–1 in the semifinals. One of those games ended with Musashi having the larger army.
Artosis: And no bases.
Tasteless: Turns out that’s still important.
Artosis: Huge balance issue.
Tasteless: Clausewitz has looked completely different.
Artosis: Very structured. Strong positions, Siege Tanks, bio, methodical movement. But the defining thing is what happens once he decides something matters.
Tasteless: Everything goes there.
Artosis: Everything.
Tasteless: Marines?
Artosis: Yes.
Tasteless: Tanks?
Artosis: Yes.
Tasteless: SCVs?
Artosis: Probably.
Tasteless: Observer crew?
Artosis: If they’re nearby.
Tasteless: He beat Jomini in the quarterfinals and Napoleon 3–2 in the semis.
Artosis: Napoleon typed “imba” before leaving Game Five.
Tasteless: So here we are.
Artosis: Sun Tzu.
Tasteless: Clausewitz.
Artosis: Zerg versus Terran.
Tasteless: Let’s get into Game One.
Game One: All Warfare Is Based on Deception
Tasteless: And we’re in. Overlord moving out immediately.
Artosis: Naturally.
Tasteless: Standard opener from Clausewitz. Command Center timing looks normal, Factory coming in. Nothing strange.
Artosis: Sun Tzu takes his third.
Tasteless: Look at these Overlords, though. One over the main path, one toward the third, another moving around the edge of the Terran main.
Artosis: He wants the whole map talking to him.
Tasteless: Clausewitz scans.
Artosis: And he sees Roaches.
Tasteless: Roach Warren is done. Several Roaches coming out. Clausewitz sees the whole thing.
Artosis: Bunker immediately.
Tasteless: Tank production.
Artosis: Marines gathering at the natural.
Tasteless: Very safe response.
Artosis: Yep.
Tasteless: You don’t sound convinced.
Artosis: I’m looking at the Zerg main.
Tasteless: Spire.
Artosis: Halfway done.
Tasteless: Clausewitz hasn’t seen it.
Artosis: No.
Tasteless: Roaches moving across the map now. Tanks siege.
Artosis: Watch the Roaches.
Tasteless: They stop.
Artosis: Mm-hmm.
Tasteless: Move forward again.
Artosis: And stop.
Tasteless: Is he waiting for more units?
Artosis: Maybe.
Tasteless: Clausewitz brings another Tank forward.
Artosis: Keep watching.
Tasteless: Roaches move up again—
Artosis: There.
Tasteless: Twelve Mutalisks heading into the main.
Artosis: And everything Terran has is at the front.
Tasteless: HERE COME THE MUTAS!
Artosis: Nothing in position!
Tasteless: SCVs going down immediately! Marines trying to run back!
Artosis: Look at the Roaches now.
Tasteless: They’re moving in!
Artosis: Clausewitz turns around.
Tasteless: Roaches back off.
Artosis: Mutalisks return.
Tasteless: Oh, that’s horrible.
Artosis: Yeah.
Tasteless: Clausewitz moves the Marines back again.
Artosis: Roaches forward.
Tasteless: He turns—
Artosis: Roaches stop.
Tasteless: This is ridiculous.
Artosis: Clausewitz has a good army.
Tasteless: A very good army.
Artosis: That’s what’s making this painful.
Tasteless: He’s just not fighting anything with it.
Artosis: Right.
Tasteless: Mutas back into the natural. Zerglings hitting the third now.
Artosis: And Clausewitz has to decide again.
Tasteless: Main or third?
Artosis: Or the Roaches.
Tasteless: He can’t cover all three.
Artosis: No.
Tasteless: Supply 171 to 128.
Artosis: Look at the worker count.
Tasteless: Oh wow.
Artosis: This isn’t really about killing the Terran army anymore.
Tasteless: It’s about keeping it moving.
Artosis: Exactly.
Tasteless: Another mineral line gets hit. Clausewitz finally catches some Mutas—
Artosis: But the Roaches are at the third.
Tasteless: He’s turning again.
Artosis: And they’re leaving again.
Tasteless: How do you fight this?
Artosis: You don’t fight this. That’s the problem.
Tasteless: There’s the pause.
vonClausew1tz: gg
Tasteless: GG! Sun Tzu takes Game One.
Artosis: I don’t think we had a single major engagement.
Tasteless: Clausewitz built an army for fifteen minutes and never really got to use it.
Artosis: He concentrated his force perfectly.
Tasteless: In the wrong place.
Artosis: Repeatedly.
Tasteless: Sun Tzu leads 1–0.
Series: Sun Tzu 1 – Clausewitz 0
Game Two: The Decisive Point
Tasteless: Game Two. Let’s see the adjustment.
Artosis: Fast second Barracks.
Tasteless: That’s early.
Artosis: Engineering Bay too.
Tasteless: Stim coming quickly. Combat Shields. Medivacs.
Artosis: Clausewitz has had enough cardio for one evening.
Tasteless: But he’s scouting much harder this game.
Artosis: Natural scan.
Tasteless: Third.
Artosis: Main.
Tasteless: He’s spending a lot of energy on information.
Artosis: He spent Game One reacting to possibilities. This time he wants to know which possibility actually matters.
Tasteless: And that scan sees the Drone count.
Artosis: There it is.
Tasteless: Sun Tzu has been greedy.
Artosis: Extremely.
Tasteless: Very light army. Fourth base already coming.
Artosis: Clausewitz sees it.
Tasteless: He could wait for another Tank.
Artosis: He won’t.
Tasteless: Secure his third?
Artosis: No.
Tasteless: Marines moving out.
Artosis: This is the moment.
Tasteless: Tanks crossing the map too.
Artosis: Sun Tzu bought economy with military weakness. If Clausewitz waits, that weakness disappears.
Tasteless: Tanks siege outside the third!
Artosis: Bio moving forward.
Tasteless: Zerglings trying to slow this down—
Artosis: Not enough.
Tasteless: BANELINGS FROM THE SIDE!
Artosis: Great split!
Tasteless: Beautiful Marine split! Almost nothing connects!
Artosis: Tanks get another volley.
Tasteless: Third Hatchery goes down!
Artosis: And watch Clausewitz.
Tasteless: He’s not leaving.
Artosis: Exactly.
Tasteless: Reinforcements streaming across the map.
Artosis: He found the opening. Everything goes into it now.
Tasteless: Fourth canceled.
Artosis: More Marines.
Tasteless: Another Tank.
Artosis: Another Medivac.
Tasteless: Sun Tzu counterattacking the Terran third!
Artosis: Clausewitz sees it.
Tasteless: He’s ignoring it.
Artosis: He should.
Tasteless: That’s a lot of Zerglings, Artosis.
Artosis: Doesn’t matter.
Tasteless: SCVs are dying.
Artosis: Doesn’t matter.
Tasteless: You’re sounding very confident here.
Artosis: Look at the Zerg natural.
Tasteless: Oh.
Artosis: That’s the center of gravity of this game. Not the Terran third. Not those SCVs. This army right here.
Tasteless: Tanks leapfrogging forward.
Artosis: Clausewitz has made the game simple.
Tasteless: Sun Tzu setting up a surround!
Artosis: It has to work immediately.
Tasteless: Zerglings from behind! Banelings coming in!
Artosis: Reinforcements arriving!
Tasteless: Marines splitting again!
Artosis: Tanks still firing!
Tasteless: The surround isn’t enough!
Artosis: No.
Tasteless: Zerg supply collapsing.
SUNtzerg: gg
Tasteless: GG!
Artosis: That’s Clausewitz.
Tasteless: Six minutes ago Sun Tzu had four bases and a beautiful economy.
Artosis: And Clausewitz saw one moment where none of that had matured yet.
Tasteless: Then just went.
Artosis: That’s the dangerous side of commitment. If you’ve identified the right point, hesitation only helps your opponent.
Tasteless: Series tied.
Series: Sun Tzu 1 – Clausewitz 1
Game Three: Friction
Tasteless: Game Three, and Clausewitz is opening much more defensively.
Artosis: Notice the structure.
Tasteless: Bunker coverage. Tanks farther back.
Artosis: Units spread between the main and third.
Tasteless: Zerglings show themselves near the third.
Artosis: Clausewitz barely moves.
Tasteless: Dropperlord toward the main.
Artosis: Units stay home.
Tasteless: Roaches on the left.
Artosis: Scan goes right.
Tasteless: He’s guessing.
Artosis: Of course he’s guessing.
Tasteless: You say that like it’s good.
Artosis: It’s unavoidable.
Tasteless: That’s different from Game One.
Artosis: Completely.
Tasteless: In Game One he tried to answer everything.
Artosis: Now he’s accepted that half the information he gets is going to be late, incomplete, or deliberately misleading.
Tasteless: So he’s just… okay with that?
Artosis: Not okay. Prepared.
Tasteless: Medivac gets caught near the fourth.
Artosis: Bad loss.
Tasteless: Zerglings run into a Widow Mine.
Artosis: Also bad.
Tasteless: Tank caught unsieged on the left.
Artosis: Ugly.
Tasteless: Sun Tzu’s fourth gets delayed.
Artosis: Nothing in this game is clean.
Tasteless: For either player.
Artosis: That’s what I like about Clausewitz’s position here.
Tasteless: Because it’s messy?
Artosis: Because he isn’t expecting it not to be.
Tasteless: Explain that.
Artosis: People talk about friction like it’s a mistake in the plan. It isn’t. The mistake is believing there will ever be a game without it.
Tasteless: So missed scans, bad engagements, units arriving late—
Artosis: That’s the game. Clausewitz isn’t waiting for all of that to disappear before making decisions.
Tasteless: Sun Tzu setting up what looks like a base trade.
Artosis: Zerglings into the main.
Tasteless: Twenty of them!
Artosis: Clausewitz sees it.
Tasteless: He’s turning around—
Artosis: No.
Tasteless: You’re right. He stops.
Artosis: Half a second.
Tasteless: Then keeps going.
Artosis: That’s important.
Tasteless: Zerglings in the production!
Artosis: Clausewitz doesn’t care.
Tasteless: Terran army hitting the Zerg fourth now.
Artosis: And he has the Hive.
Tasteless: Greater Spire exposed.
Artosis: That’s the target.
Tasteless: Greater Spire goes down!
Artosis: Hive next.
Tasteless: HIVE DOWN!
Artosis: Now look at the trade.
Tasteless: Terran production is getting wrecked.
Artosis: Yes.
Tasteless: Isn’t that terrible?
Artosis: In ten minutes, maybe.
Tasteless: Ah.
Artosis: Clausewitz already has his army. Sun Tzu just lost the ability to rebuild his.
Tasteless: Clausewitz finally turns home.
Artosis: Because the important damage is done.
Tasteless: Remaining armies meeting in the center.
Artosis: And there’s nowhere left for Sun Tzu to go.
Tasteless: No flank?
Artosis: Not a meaningful one.
Tasteless: No base trade?
Artosis: Already happened.
Tasteless: So he has to fight.
Artosis: Yes.
Tasteless: Tanks siege.
Artosis: Bio forward.
Tasteless: Banelings looking for an angle—
Artosis: Mine hit!
Tasteless: Huge connection!
Artosis: That’s it.
SUNtzerg: gg
Tasteless: GG! Clausewitz leads the series!
Artosis: That’s a fantastic adjustment.
Tasteless: He didn’t beat Sun Tzu at information.
Artosis: No.
Tasteless: He didn’t stop the deception.
Artosis: No.
Tasteless: He just stopped requiring certainty.
Artosis: Exactly.
Tasteless: Clausewitz is one map from the championship.
Series: Clausewitz 2 – Sun Tzu 1
Game Four: Attack the Strategy
Tasteless: Potential final game. Sun Tzu needs something different.
Artosis: He’s giving us different.
Tasteless: Early Zerglings across the map.
Artosis: Baneling Nest behind it.
Tasteless: Clausewitz scouts the whole thing.
Artosis: Bunker.
Tasteless: Second Bunker.
Artosis: Tanks.
Tasteless: Marines coming down.
Artosis: He’s ready.
Tasteless: Zerg arrives outside the natural.
Artosis: And stops.
Tasteless: Banelings just sitting there.
Artosis: Yep.
Tasteless: He’s looking for an opening.
Artosis: Maybe.
Tasteless: More Terran units arrive.
Artosis: Another Tank.
Tasteless: Sun Tzu can’t break this now.
Artosis: Probably not.
Tasteless: Then this has gone badly for him.
Artosis: Has it?
Tasteless: He’s built a bunch of early units, Clausewitz saw everything, and now he’s sitting outside two Bunkers doing nothing.
Artosis: Look at the production tab.
Tasteless: What am I looking for?
Artosis: Drones.
Tasteless: …Oh.
Artosis: Now the bases.
Tasteless: Third is finished.
Artosis: Fourth?
Tasteless: Halfway done.
Artosis: There you go.
Tasteless: He was never trying to get in.
Artosis: No.
Tasteless: The attack was fake.
Artosis: I wouldn’t even call it fake.
Tasteless: What would you call it?
Artosis: A question.
Tasteless: “Will you defend this?”
Artosis: Exactly.
Tasteless: And Clausewitz answered yes.
Artosis: With a lot of money.
Tasteless: While Sun Tzu answered with Drones.
Artosis: Look at the worker gap.
Tasteless: That’s enormous.
Artosis: This is the nasty part. Clausewitz saw every unit. There was no hidden tech. No secret army.
Tasteless: He had perfect information.
Artosis: About the units.
Tasteless: Not the intention.
Artosis: Right.
Tasteless: Zerg finally backs away.
Artosis: Their job is finished.
Tasteless: Clausewitz moving out now, though, and this army is huge.
Artosis: Very dangerous.
Tasteless: Tanks. Marines. Marauders. Medivacs.
Artosis: If Sun Tzu takes a straight fight against this, he probably loses.
Tasteless: Terran moving toward the fourth.
Artosis: Zerglings into the main.
Tasteless: Clausewitz ignores them.
Artosis: Another group hits the third.
Tasteless: Still moving forward.
Artosis: Mutalisks at the natural.
Tasteless: Still moving forward.
Artosis: He wants the army.
Tasteless: Fourth Hatchery goes down.
Artosis: Sun Tzu leaves.
Tasteless: Clausewitz advances.
Artosis: Fifth under attack.
Tasteless: Fifth goes down too!
Artosis: Sun Tzu leaves again.
Tasteless: This looks terrible for Zerg.
Artosis: Maybe.
Tasteless: You keep saying that.
Artosis: Look at the Terran side.
Tasteless: Main almost mined out.
Artosis: Natural?
Tasteless: Barely anything.
Artosis: Third?
Tasteless: Zerglings on it.
Artosis: Fourth?
Tasteless: Mutalisks.
Artosis: There you go.
Tasteless: Clausewitz has the best army in the game.
Artosis: Absolutely.
Tasteless: And no economy.
Artosis: That’s the trade Sun Tzu wanted.
Tasteless: Clausewitz reaches the Zerg natural.
Artosis: Sun Tzu is turning.
Tasteless: Finally.
Artosis: Look at the timing.
Tasteless: Terran reinforcements—
Artosis: There aren’t any.
Tasteless: Right.
Artosis: That’s why he’s fighting now.
Tasteless: Zerg coming from the north!
Artosis: Banelings south!
Tasteless: HERE WE GO!
Artosis: Tanks firing!
Tasteless: Marines splitting!
Artosis: Good splits!
Tasteless: Clausewitz is winning this fight!
Artosis: Yes.
Tasteless: Tanks are still alive!
Artosis: First wave is gone.
Tasteless: Another Zerg wave coming in.
Artosis: Terran bio is low.
Tasteless: Another wave behind that!
Artosis: No reinforcements for Clausewitz.
Tasteless: Last Tank firing—
Artosis: Gone.
Tasteless: Marines trying to retreat.
Artosis: Nowhere useful to go.
Tasteless: And that’s it.
vonClausew1tz: gg
Tasteless: GG! We’re going to Game Five!
Artosis: Clausewitz won the battle.
Tasteless: And lost everything required to fight another one.
Series: Sun Tzu 2 – Clausewitz 2
Game Five: The Supreme Art of War Is Apparently a 360-Degree Surround
Tasteless: Game Five.
Artosis: Winner takes the championship.
Tasteless: And gets quoted by business consultants for another two thousand years.
Artosis: Minimum.
Tasteless: Very cautious openings.
Artosis: Neither player wants to define this game early.
Tasteless: Clausewitz scouts.
Artosis: Sun Tzu scouts.
Tasteless: Expansions coming up on both sides.
Artosis: No overreaction.
Tasteless: Ten minutes.
Artosis: Nothing decisive.
Tasteless: Fifteen minutes.
Artosis: Both of them have changed.
Tasteless: Clausewitz isn’t committing too early.
Artosis: Sun Tzu isn’t constantly pulling the game apart.
Tasteless: They’re taking away the things that worked in the previous maps.
Artosis: Exactly.
Tasteless: Clausewitz moving toward the center.
Artosis: Sun Tzu sees him.
Tasteless: Here comes the counterattack—
Artosis: No.
Tasteless: Nothing toward the Terran bases.
Artosis: No.
Tasteless: He’s not retreating either.
Artosis: Look at the minimap.
Tasteless: Wait.
Artosis: Look at all of it.
Tasteless: Ultralisks moving from the west.
Artosis: Banelings south.
Tasteless: Zerglings north.
Artosis: Infestors behind.
Tasteless: Everything is converging.
Artosis: Yes.
Tasteless: He’s putting the whole army on one point.
Artosis: He is.
Tasteless: That’s Clausewitz.
Artosis: Look at how he got there.
Tasteless: Clausewitz scans.
Artosis: Sees the northern group.
Tasteless: Not the Ultras.
Artosis: No.
Tasteless: Tanks siege.
Artosis: Bio forms up.
Tasteless: Clausewitz has the position.
Artosis: Sun Tzu chose it.
Tasteless: Neither player moving.
Artosis: Clausewitz thinks he sees the battle.
Tasteless: He doesn’t.
Artosis: No.
Tasteless: BANELINGS FROM THE SOUTH!
Artosis: ULTRAS ON THE TANKS!
Tasteless: ZERGLINGS FROM THE NORTH!
Artosis: FUNGAL ON THE BIO!
Tasteless: TANKS FIRING INTO EVERYTHING!
Artosis: Marines trying to split!
Tasteless: THEY CAN’T GET OUT!
Artosis: Ultras through the front!
Tasteless: Clausewitz pulling back!
Artosis: There’s nowhere to go.
Tasteless: Banelings connect!
Artosis: Tanks are gone.
Tasteless: Army supply collapsing!
Artosis: Look at the numbers.
Tasteless: 112 TO 34!
Artosis: This is over.
Tasteless: The entire Terran army is gone.
Artosis: Yeah.
Tasteless: Clausewitz finally got the decisive engagement.
Artosis: Yeah.
Tasteless: Just not the one he chose.
Artosis: Exactly.
Tasteless: Zerg streaming across the map.
Artosis: Nothing left.
Tasteless: Command Center lifts.
Artosis: Doesn’t matter.
Tasteless: Zerglings underneath everything.
Artosis: Here it comes.
vonClausew1tz: gg
Tasteless: GG! SUN TZU WINS THE GSL!
Artosis: Three games to two.
Tasteless: And in the final game, he wins by putting overwhelming force at the decisive point.
Artosis: After spending the entire game making sure it was the right point.
Final Score: Sun Tzu 3 – Clausewitz 2
After the Match
Tasteless: So what actually decided this series?
Artosis: They adapted.
Tasteless: That’s it?
Artosis: Pretty much.
Tasteless: Game One, Sun Tzu controls the information.
Artosis: Clausewitz keeps reacting to what he sees.
Tasteless: Game Two, Clausewitz sees an actual weakness—
Artosis: —and commits before it disappears.
Tasteless: Game Three, Sun Tzu creates chaos.
Artosis: And Clausewitz stops needing the chaos to go away.
Tasteless: Game Four, Clausewitz sees everything.
Artosis: Except what it means.
Tasteless: Then Game Five…
Artosis: Both players know the other’s game.
Tasteless: Until Sun Tzu suddenly concentrates everything and takes the decisive fight.
Artosis: Right.
Tasteless: So Sun Tzu wins by becoming Clausewitz.
Artosis: No.
Tasteless: No?
Artosis: He wins because Clausewitz realizes he’s playing Clausewitz about thirty seconds too late.
Tasteless: That’s strategy.
Artosis: Unfortunately.
Tasteless: Same time next week?
Artosis: Obviously.
Tasteless: Who’ve we got?
Artosis: Machiavelli versus Bismarck.
Tasteless: Protoss mirror?
Artosis: Obviously.