GSL3 Finals oGsMC vs TSL_Rain

Game 1: Delta Quadrant, cross positions
      Rain opens with an interesting barracks/factory/barracks, with both barracks taking on reactors and the factory adding on a tech lab for tanks. Despite seeing the early reactor, MC techs directly to stargate for a void ray. MC uses his void ray to give four stalkers vision to pick off a free depot and reactor from Rain's wall-off. After getting the free kills, MC's forces retreat and start whittling down the destructible rocks at his back door. Rain gets a starport for some vikings. MC gets a robo for immortals, expands to his back door, and start making phoenix from his stargate. As his expansion nexus finishes, MC brings his gateway count up to four.
      At 11' Rain moves out and sets up a contain outside MC's base with five sieged tanks and a few bunkers. MC uses his now six phoenix to deny vision to Rain's tanks, and then to cut off some reinforcements making their way across the map. Once MC has four immortals, he decides it's time to break out of his base. Phoenix run in and lift up four of the tanks as the gateway units and immortals focus on the bunkers. The armies almost neutralize, and MC's second wave cleans up the rest of the contain easily. Still on one base, Rain ends up thirty supply behind his opponent with half as many workers. Realizing how behind he is, Rain sends everything in a second attack that bounces off of MC's army. Rain leaves the game.

A contain at the front when there is a back door expansion seems pretty questionable when you do not expand yourself. It might have been effective if MC had built a lot of buildings near his main's cliff. But he hadn't, and MC had enough phoenix to deny most vision anyway.

MC 1-0

Game 2: Lost Temple, close by air
      Rain opens with one of each production facility. MC again gets a fast stargate followed by a robo. Just as happened last game, MC takes a chunk out of Rain's wall-off with a void ray and stalkers, then retreats. MC gets four gateways, a twilight council, and a dark shrine, all off of one base. Rain actually expands first after adding on a few barracks and starting his tech lab infantry upgrades. After getting a warp prism, MC expands to another main for his first expansion. The warp prism allows some dark templar into Rain's base, which start harassing, but a raven is out that puts an end to that. MC immediately expands to his natural after transferring probes to his hidden base.
      Rain attacks up into MC's main base with his marine tank army. MC has to cancel his natural's nexus. Rain discovers MC's hidden base. Rain's tanks force MC to retreat back into his base to mass up immortals and to wait for charge to finish. Rain manages to destroy three warpgates. After the marines fall to stalkers, immortals clean up Rain's siege tanks. Meanwhile, dark templar have been killing scvs in Rain's main. An eight-marine drop kills some probes at MC's hidden base, but it is fended off. MC expands again to his his natural and gets a templar archives. Storm finishes about the same time stimpacks do.
      Rain sets up a marine/tank/bunker contain outside MC's natural, but MC counterattacks from his second main to buy himself some time. Rain moves against MC's second main and destroys it along with the four warpgates that were there. Rain expands to his side's island as his amry creeps up to MC's natural with bunkers. MC uses a warp prism to cut off Rain's reinforcements with storms and stalkers. He then merges the templar into archons and attacks Rain's natural. It works very well, killing a lot of units and forcing all of Rain's marines to leave the contain and come home. That is MC's cue to break Rain's line. It is six immortals and flanking chargelot against six bunkers and six tanks. It works extremely well; MC is free. MC expands to his own island and forces Rain to lift off from his own. Rain expands to his gold, where a storm drop kills a lot of probes. MC expands to his own gold. Rain chases MC off his island and re-expands there. Rain starts a ghost academy and gets probably the latest concussive shells over at thirty minutes into the game.
      In the middle of the map, two ghosts decimate the shields and energy of the protoss army. MC retreats as he merges two archons with the now useless templar. When he engages, though, the chargelots tear through Rain's marines before the tanks get a chance to siege. Ten retreating siege tanks die to MC's forces. Meanwhile, at Rain's gold, a dark templar becomes an executor with twenty kills. At this point, Rain is actually only mining from his island expansion, and is way down in workers from MC's constant harassment. MC gets his robotics bay and start producing colossi from two robos. MC keeps up constant warp prism in Rain's main.
      MC re-expands to the main he originally took as his second base. The armies meet in the middle, but six colossi convince Rain that he doesn't have much of a chance, and MC's booth magically slide forward across the stage to signify a 2-0 lead.

This was a pretty epic game. MC managed to overtax Rain's multitasking ability and keep his economy quite low, despite being put fairly far behind in the early engagements. Rain managed to kill seven early gateways, but was repeatedly outfoxed by MC's clever unit control. One thing that seemed lacking is this long match were unit upgrades, of which there were none.

MC 2-0

Game 3: Xel'Naga Caverns
      Rain shows a second barracks to the scouting probe, but cancels once the probe is chased off. He builds a factory instead-followed by a starport for cloak banshees. MC gets three gateways and then expands. Cloak finishes for Rain just as MC's robo starts. Rain chooses to target sentries and then probes with his essentially invincible banshees. An observer finally comes out, but only after almost 2000 resources in kills by the banshees. Meanwhile, Rain his expanded , added on four more barracks, and started all his tech lab upgrades.
      MC decides to tech up to colossus, which fends off Rain's first push reasonably well. A few more pokes end poorly for Rain, so he decides to retreat and try to expand to his gold. MC gets brave and attacks across the map to said gold, but Rain simply too big of an army and defends easily. MC leaves the game.

MC was doomed from the point cloak finished. He put up a solid effort to come back, but the banshees did too much damage.

Rain 1-2

Game 4: Steppe of War
      MC builds a proxy gateway at the edge of Rain's base. It is quickly scouted. Rain gets his gas as MC chronoboosts out his first zealots. Rain builds a single bunker that doesn't cover the whole SCV line. After two marines, Rain gets... a tech lab on his barracks, followed by a marauder. MC takes advantage of this to kill all but five scvs. Even with just five scvs mining, Rain keeps one on gas. When a stalker comes out for MC, Rain ggs.

I can not imagine what Rain could have been thinking here. Maybe he did not have confidence in his micro against Rain's, or he had some amazing counter planned. But simply making marines, barracks and bunkers would have easily fended off this attack and provided a transition into a normal game.

MC 3-1

Game 5: Jungle Basin
      MC opens with four gateways. Rain starts with pre-ignited hellions and medivacs. The hellions motor across the map and get into MC's base. MC's four gate force busts its way up Rain's ramp. All of MC's probes die except one, but all of Rain's scvs and forces die as well. Neither player has more than fifty minerals, and Rain gives the GSL its first protoss champion.

A pretty crazy game for the last one of GSL3. Congratulations to oGsMC! He says in his interview that he does not think there is anyone in code S that can beat him, and that certainly proved to be the case this tournament.

MC wins 4-1.

It's like Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiin on your wedding day.

Isn't it IRONic- don't you think?