Vod on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL20O1Nh7KQ?t=23m55s

Demo:
http://trance.gg/Quake-demos/QuakeCon%202013/...3-SK-rapha(POV)-vs-102evil-lostworld.dm_73

Every timestamp=ingame clock timestamp.
E= Evil
R= Raffer
LGYA= yellow armor close to lightning gun
PGYA= yellow armor close to plasmagun
If you don't know the major items and weapons just FO.

Let's get it started!

OPENINK
a bit crazy. E takes the RL and rushes the MH forcing an encounter. R has still time to take the MH and run.

0:10
R decides to push in without any fear. Evidently E doesn't expect this move but it is foundamentally sound, as R'll have the 50hp bubble and MGSGRL vs a YA and MGRL.

0:15
R decides to rush the other YA. This move is tought to counter possible aggressive RJs from E as he very often does in the beginning. Also taking the LG means having the luxury to hold the open ground and deny E's best weapon.

0:25
R sneaks around, scared of an RJ and a trap and ends up opening himself to E. After E's first rocket R is crippled (100 vs 100-150) and bouncing around. But E favors the LG pickup to actually killing R. An opportunity he'll regret missing soon enough.

0:30
Here's the first evident hint of what will be R's tactic all game long: Aggressivly and activly denying the upper ground at all costs.
He has very few resources but still hangs around spamming the choke point, ignoring the major items which are soon spawning.

0:35
After the PGYA pickup R is aware of the fact that both MH and RA are up, so instead of denying an RJ that probably won't happen, he goes the safest route possible from PGYA to LGYA.

0:45
R wants to gather infos about the mega pickup that he could be late to deny the upper floor to E. Also, after the MH pickup the other player is very much unlikely to hang in there are there's nothing.

1:05
After checking the area and syncing the lower shards to the rotation, R indeed spots E upstairs. The rockets are really strong and makes them very close stackwise.
It's worth noticing that as R sees evil falling down, he uses the RA as a bait to gain position upstairs.

1:15
R is aware one of the YA is gone so takes the otherone to keep his rotation going. It's worth noticing that he moves and switches weapons expecting an E rush in every situation.
Then R goes aggressivly in the mid, and switches his focus on the MH exits as it's up either very soon or just was. R is behind by 50 armor more or less.

1:20
I don't know if R is forcing the encounter here or just wants to hang around MH to gather infos.
The fights looks a little random to me, R comes out massivly on top thanks to a prediction rocket. I have no clue if he actually predicted E was missing some RL ammo or wanted just to deny the little possible LG angle.

1:30
E did not fall into the lava so gets mega. R takes health, a YA and still has the higher ground. He's pretty much ok as the stack are close (200 vs 170 total) so he keeps his tactic: stalk his opponent from above. Engage little fights with an high upside of efficency in damage dealing.
R is aware of the fact RA is up so ignores the PG bouncepad.

1:45
R hits a good rocket from above but rushes the following one and misses an opportunity. Still, after this shot, stacks are again not so distant and he keeps a good position. Very good awareness by E not taking damage on his way out.

2:03
Is worth noting that R took the YAs taking the route from midground, denying an RJ as long as possible. And he seems to time the PGYA to the second lol.
He rushes in from the LGYA because he's aware of the MH timing so he's confident E won't hang around there as he is now the one with the stack advantage.

2:15
amazingly enough R holds his ground in this LG fight after a very dangerous beginning. Stacks are more or less even at the beginning and at the end of the fight.
It's the second time in this situation R is not afraid of taking a fight like this as the upside is very high: he has position on every other resources afterwards and during the fight there E has very little room to chase, do combos or dodge.
The position he takes afterwards is really good as it's close to a 50hp bubble, in the middle of the YAs and it is very protected.

2:20
R successfully scares away E, very dangerous situation for him but it turns out to be the same situation yet again: R holds the upper ground, E goes for the bigger item, as Zoot switches away from R's POV in the Vod and messes this thing up.

2:40
And again E is too scared to give away the MH and of R's positioning. R moved really carefully through the map as E usually exploits situations when his opponent is moving around to catch him and score damage, but not this time. Stacks are still pretty even when R keeps the timing of the mega and hit some splashes.

2:45
R tries to force a fight yet again in the same way.

2:55
And again, YAs and upper ground vs RA and worse position. Again R keeps the route through the mid to keep an eye there as long as possible.

3:00
R heard E, so takes the lower route this time.

3:05
And yes, he has those shards in the rotation now and keeps timing the MH.

3:20
Using the RA time to get higher position again. After the prediction rocket on the pad, stacks are once again dead even.

3:30
The next YA is not worth that much for R, E finally knows about the LGYA and actually needs those 50 points of armor and doesn't want to push in through the chokepoint. Still E's overall behavoir seems to be overly passive for his standards.

3:35
Stacks are still pretty even, the first rocket'll actually swing the fight massivly so R forces the engagement in an enviroment that really suits his best fighting skills: shooting and dodging rockets. Sadly for him, E's rockets are equally amazing, so he very smartly does not overcommit.

3:45
R's stack is good enough to hold his ground. For the nth time he gets on top while E is at RA, this time much more confidently around the corners.

3:50
Keeping MH timing to the second, the rocket is shot to prevent an RJ after the pickup. And immediatly follows E to deny RJs. Position is everythink dudes.

4:00
He adjusts very fast to the fact that E now has a grip on the LGYA, as he keeps not needing it that much.


4:10
Leet 360 is leet.

4:20
Time for a move at MH. He messes up big time the jump out and that costs him 100 more health. A nice rocket probably brings Evil under the 250 collected health for armor.

4:30
Even with a starting stack, denying position is everything for R. Being so fast is key here.

4:35
E actually leaves this fight with FIVE hp and can be pretty lucky to be alive.

4:40
If i'm not mistaken this is the first RA for R.

4:50
E is now back to 100-100 after taking both the YAs. Yet he decides to take the lower route, probably still scared by R's traps in those corridors. Anyway hitting the floor is a pretty big fail by R as he'll be forced to go back to his previous plan: YAs and position.

5:00
R is still there stalking, hearing if E RJs up and ready to counter his opponent or force him in a favorable fight.


5:15
Back to the MH+RA vs YAs+Position. Very good job not receiving damage, Evil has now the upper hand stackwise i believe, even if very very slightly.


5:25
Finally E takes the middle.


5:35
R doesn't really want to push for the fight, MH is soon to spawn so he hoped to catch E jumping down, hit free damage and retain the upper ground once again.
He has an easy excape tho, as that position is really favourable for the +B game.


5:55
Same old story again. Now it's now beyond clear that E is not playing his usual style as he's been very scared to RJ up or take one of the pads since the beginning, taking very few aim-based gambles.


6:05
R is now afraid that E might have the upperground so decides to take the safer route to YA again and exploit this great defensive position inbetween YAs.

6:20
Again and again, stacked up armorwise, he knows MH is up so he's not scared to take the middle. He even gets RA timing.

6:30
Deducting the MH time.

6:40
Time to prepare for the MH again. Here R dodges a couple of massive bullets: E rushes his first rocket and totally misses EVERYTHING, then R bounces E away with a rocket ruining DDK ejaculation if you are listening to the VOD.

6:50
R isn't sure of the MH timing so randomly spams a little. Than as usual takes the middle. They are still even-ish stackwise.

7:00
Still pretty even after the health pickup and back to the same stalemate.

7:15
R avoids the fight, he has a stack that's 2/3 of E's, not worth to take a fight.

7:30
R is pretty much gambling moving around right now, you can see he's aware of this. After the RA pickup he has half of E's stack.

7:40
R doesn't go to the other YA because it wouldn't be a big boost nor he'd be in time to deny the position after the MHRA pickup. And he'll have something to fall back to if he takes a fight.

7:55
R opens himself again a good chance after a very big rocket.. But for the second time he really messes up the following rockets, probably feeling a little too much adrenalin.

8:05
100-200. Mega is soon to spawn and it's time for some action finally.

8:15
Taking this route grants safety, a little boost with the 5 hp bubbles if they are up and a good angle for rockets, R's best bet.

8:20
Finally a fight. R is not afraid of taking it as it is what he likes, even with a lower stack (by 50 or so). The first rockets fully gives him the confidence to commit to the fight.
After E returns two decent ones there's the best biggest moment of the whole finals: E switches to LG after bouncing him, losing the right moment to own R, not the wisest choise. After that, R just waits a little both twice to shoot his rockets, still confident thanks to the MH behind him, and end up hitting to great ones. He had the advantage pretty much all fight thanks to his positioning and E's switch.


8:25
The fluidity and precision of R's execution after taking the MH and E's falling are just poetic. E takes an unnecessay gamble yet again: 90 seconds left, save your health and trying to run away is the right choice, but he just fails to switch to a more conservative mindset. The denial of the RA is just top notch execution.


8:30
R has the whole map. He knows the rotation perfectly, he has the weapons and he has the stack.


8:35
R guesses right where E spawn was. So he knows his stack (120-50) and weaponery (LG).. Interestingly enough he pushes in with LG, probably expecting E to rush away or maybe fearing E's brilliant rocket dodging while shafting perfectly.


8:40
The kill is fairly clean, but going for this shards will cost him as E pulls out a crazy move out of his ass, as usual.


8:45
R has the positional, weapon and a slight stack (but good if you consider the other factors) advantage.. And he knows where E spawned more or less. Or so he thinks.


8:50
In a interview afterwards R says he was confused by the spawn system and didn't expect E spawning at the LG. What actually happens is that E spawned at the PGYA, kept silent to avoid the spawn rape and sneaked his way to the LG, while R was taking the shards at 8:40.
The amazing sound system of QL does the rest.


8:55
R is now forced to a worse position of his opponent. He's still aware of the time and his opponent HP situation tho, so he decides to fully commit to the RA to deny E a big stack and the momentum to get some kills in a row. His plan is probably to make E as low as possible and be sure to deny the RA even at the cost of his life.


9:05
E takes the RA and unbelievably kills R a tenth of a second before he'd hit a 100 damage SG blast that would definitively end the game. Even in this situation, sill R has the cold blood to delay his spawn a little bit, just enough to spawn at the LG side of the map, where a YA is waiting for him. And it's a little bit easier to defend yourself and it's the opposite side of the map where E'll be next as MH is up.

9:15
Again this great defensive position. R's LG after the last RA pickup means they are still pretty even stackwise so E has to be carefull.

9:20
After hearing E, R goes to the side of the map with a little bit of shards he always collects and where the only relevant item was just collected. SG is a decent weapon against a rushing opponent around 200 total health for armor.

9:30
E is forced to RJ away to avoid the LG rape, this lowers is stack to R's level. No reason to take the fight for R tho, as he has all the time in the world to go away.

9:35
R listens and just goes the other way E is. E's LG even helps his retreat as he keeps dealing damage anyway so that the stacks are again dead even. He'll gain upper position again.

9:45
E's last desperate attempt. He couldn't go to take a major item because of the clock.. R has even the stack advantage and just needs to use the sound to secure the victory.

What is the safer option? Going for the major items, or just let your opponent stack up and live on the blade of a razor, holding the upper grounds and stalking his position every single time?

What is harder to do, abuse your aim with stack advantage or applying a lighting quick guerrilla, always being outstacked and betting everything on your ability to predict your opponent and quickness?

Is it harder to read a scared guy running desperately for lesser items or to make perfect reads against a stacked guy who could crush you just with a lucky or good shot?

EDIT: It's worth noticing that the positional denial R applies to the map influences E's mindset greatly, being there almost every time brings E to a state of uncomfortableness that really hurts E's game as he needs a ton of confidence to apply succesfully his style. The psychological impact on E really made him lose a number of openings on the upper level of the map and it's the first big factor that brought E to defeat in my opinion.

R's skill and awerness when out of control has no predecessor as far as i'm concerned. The display of deep understanding of the game, both in his big strategic aspects and his little fight tactics, is simply stunning, to the point that it looks clear and simple to anyone. But i dare you to do that against anyone and don't get crush repeadetly. R is a Quake genious and it shows. It shows in how clearly good his moves are AFTERWARDS he made it, it appears obvious then what was the best option in an extremely tense situation against a tanked and (let's face it) better opponent skill-wise. R deserved this map greatly, he won because of his opponents mistakes and his prowess and traning in this type of situations.

On the other end, E didn't play up to his standards. From the very beginning and throughout the whole match he didn't play his style and his game. He lacked his usual genious while attacking, and never forced fights when the stacks were even or slightly better for him, abusing his superior fighting skill and his unmatched offensive game. He never left a big item up to gain a better position to catch R and played a strangely dry and standard game from what he's used to.
The so called lucky rocket was caused by a couple of his questionable decision (switching to lg midfight in suck a tight enviroment, rushing an RJ towards RA). And the "only" spark of genious we usually see in his game was "just" after the second kill, when he sneaked his way to the LG side and catched R with his pants down. Too little, too late. E lost this match because he deserved to lose and didn't even create situations he could take advantage from.