Blast from the Past: GCPL Finals

I wrote this back when the GCPL was actually wrapping up, but never got it posted. It seems a little out of date for the tourneys section now, so I figure I'll just throw it up as a blog.

Now, with the TSL, GSL, GSTL, TeSL, NASL, and IPL, you may have missed the little ol’ GCPL. And I think that’s a shame, because the GCPL gave us eight of the best international clans battling it out in a round robin over almost three months, competing for a $10,000 prize (and if you watched any of the broadcasts, you won’t have any trouble remembering who provided that money). Liquid, EG, Mouz, Dignitas, Root, VT, FnaticMSI, and Empire started the competition, but as is the way of these things, only two of them could make it to the finals.

The regular season proved to be remarkably competitive; after a series of lead changes week to week, four teams finished with 5-2 records. An impressive 19-8 game record gave Liquid the first seed, with EG second, Dignitas third, and FnaticMSI rounding out the semifinal field.

Semifinals

versus

TLAF-Liquid` versus FnaticMSI
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TLO versus Fenix
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1 - 2

Ret versus KawaiiRice
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1 - 2

Jinro versus TT1
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1 - 2

Ret versus Sen
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Fnatic won 3-0

Ace
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Fnatic won 3-0

The semis got off to a surprising start, with Fenix using a string of banshee openings to take down TLO 2-1. KawaiiRice followed that up by taking down Ret in a macro-heavy 2-1 victory that involved more expansions before the 6 minute mark than I’ve ever seen in a best of 3 before. With elimination looming for the strongest team in the regular season, Liquid sent out Jinro, fresh from a loss to HongUnPrime in his worst GSL performance yet and presumably roaring for protoss blood. Fnatic appeared happy to oblige, matching him up against TT1. TT1 took the first game, catching Jinro with his vikings just far enough out of position to let his colossi devour the bioball. Jinro promptly turned the tables, sniping enough over-aggressive colossi with his vikings to turn the tide in his favor for game two. Game three seemed set for the clash of titans one might expect, but the combination of Xel’Naga’s unforgiving terrain and Jinro’s taking his eyes of his army at just the wrong time led to forcefields dissecting his army and half of it disintegrating anticlimactically. From there, Liquid’s elimination a few minutes later was a foregone conclusion.

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EvilGeniuses versus Dignitas
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Axslav versus Select
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2 - 1

Idra versus Killer
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2 - 0

Incontrol versus Naniwa
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0 - 2

Strifecro versus Sjow
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1 - 2

Ace
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Idra versus Naniwa
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1 - 2

EG versus Dignitas kicked off with Select-Axslav. Select took game one with strong multipronged bio play, but Axslav fought back with a combination of solid macro and sneaky DTs to win 2-1. That sent us to ZvZ, in which everyone’s favorite bad boy Idra straight up outplayed Killer 2-0. This left it up to Naniwa to pull his team back from the brink of destruction, which he did handily, displaying his mastery of the complex art of PvP by four gating a lagging Incontrol twice. The onus was now on Sjow to beat Strifecro to force an ace match. He took the first game with a standard marine-tank slow push, but got a little greedy in game two and didn’t prepare for the baneling bust Strifecro hit him with. Some great marine drops and an overcommitted baneling bust put him ahead in game three though, and from there there was nothing Strifecro could do but GG.

vs.

Pic of Naniwa shamelessly "borrowed" from gosugamers.net

Both teams made the logical choice for Ace; Idra for EG and Naniwa for Dignitas. Naniwa went up a game quickly, as Idra tried and failed to roach bust his three gate expo and then tapped out as soon as he saw a void ray. Idra’s second attempt at a bust went a lot better, forcing a cancel on Naniwa’s third and almost forcing a GG in game two. It turned out the GG was just delayed; after the first push Idra let his macro lead mount for a bit and then moved out with roach-hydra to seal the deal. Game three took the duel to Shakuras Plateau, where a well controlled push and some excellent ramp management from Naniwa held Idra off long enough for him to get the beginnings of a death ball up. The first big battle cost Naniwa his colossi and Idra his entire non-corruptor army. From there Idra never quite managed to regroup; Naniwa’s blink micro let his roving band of stalkers continue to demolish scattered groups of hydras. Idra left the game with a bit of his trademark BM, and Naniwa took his team into the finals.

Finals
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Dignitas versus FnaticMSI
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Sjow versus Sen
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1 - 2

Bischu versus KawaiiRice
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0 - 2

Naniwa versus Fenix
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2 - 0

Naniwa versus Sen
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2 - 0

Ace
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2 - 3

Now, I could drag this out some more with a segment on the third place match, but let’s just say that didn’t go so well for our boys in blue either and get on to the finals. Dignitas met Fnatic, the three and four seeds battling it out for first and second with a $5,000 difference in prizes. Fnatic got off to a good start, kicking things off with zerg hero Sen taking out Sjow 2-1. Dignitas responded by mixing things up, sending out a relative unknown in Bischu, but he couldn’t quite stand up to the onslaught of KawaiiRice and went down 0-2.

Down 0-2 and unwilling to settle for second place, Dignitas decided to go with a more experienced protoss this time. It took Naniwa about 40 minutes and 15 colossi to beat Fenix 2-0 and get his team on the board. He then passed the torch to Select, who scared the daylights out of Dignitas by narrowly surviving a dramatic base trade with TT1 in game one. He kept the pressure on in game two with a bunker rush, capitalizing on a missed pylon to amass a significant economic lead. TT1 went all-in for one last push, but Select held out, sending the series to an ace game.

There was the usual brief pause as both teams deliberated on who to send out, but with $5,000 on the line neither team was in the risk-taking mood. Both teams went with one of their strongest players; Sen for Fnatic and Naniwa for Dignitas. In the first game, Naniwa showcased the power of a well upgraded and well microed gateway army, using excellent force fields and a mass of blink stalkers to repeatedly destroy Sen’s roach-hydra balls. Moving into game two, both players stuck with similar strategies, but a lost nexus early at his natural, a more hydra-heavy mix from Sen, and a steadfast refusal to build any kind of aoe combined to cost Naniwa the game.

If those were templar warping in, this might have gone differently

Game three took the pair to Metalopolis, but the strategies still stayed fairly similar. Sen took an early macro advantage with a quicker third, and a couple of key nexus snipes compounded that lead. Naniwa tried to sneak some DTs in to catch up, but they were sniped off quickly, leaving him with not quite enough gateway units to beat the waves of roach-hydra Sen kept cranking out. With Sen now up 2-1, and Dignitas once again teetering on the edge of oblivion, the action moved to Terminus. Both players decided that it was time to mix things up, with Naniwa opting for early phoenixes and Sen countering with a spire full of mutas and corruptors. Naniwa strangely decided that since Sen was building corruptors this game, it was time for colossi, and Sen settled into a standard corruptor-roach build. Both players massed up huge armies before Naniwa pushed at Sen’s fourth. The next 8 minutes were spent in a tug-of-war between both player’s fourth bases, but Naniwa managed to switch to immortals at just the right moment, while Sen built a few too many corruptors and not enough roaches. The corruptors spent their free time pooping on stalkers, and then Sen GGed.

Corruptors corruptors everywhere, and not a colossus to kill

This set the stage for an ace game in the ace set of the grand finals of the tournament, pitting two of the strongest international players against each other. Sen chose Crevasse for the ultimate showdown, which prompted Naniwa to choose another aggressive phoenix build. This caught Sen totally unprepared; he’d been busy putting up an early third and skimped on anti-air, so Naniwa’s investment of four phoenixes netted him 5 queens and plenty of overlords. Forced to scramble for a counter, Sen committed to heavy air. Naniwa smelled a timing, and pushed out with a blink stalker-sentry-immortal force, expecting to roll over Sen’s weakened mutas. Unfortunately for him, Sen’s early third meant he stayed ahead economically even while phoenixes were shredding his queens, so the welcoming committee for Naniwa’s push included a chunk of zerglings and more mutas then anticipated. All it took were a few missed forcefields and a zergling surround to seal his fate, letting Sen and the rest of Fnatic walk away with the $7,000 prize.

Those zerglings aren’t supposed to be there...

The GCPL brought us lots of great games and a thrilling final series; a quirk of scheduling and an embarassment of starcraft riches mean it didn't get the attention it deserved. I'd definitely encourage people to go back and watch some games they may have missed, and join me in thanking the people who made the league happen and hoping season two is coming to a stream near us soon!

Blast from the Past: GCPL Finals

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