EPT
Overall, I think I've realized I should pack some food to these events, and maybe some soda to help fight fatigue. I could feel my play getting worse as they day dragged on. Also, I need to keep a cool head re: decisions. There were a couple games where I cheesed either in a manner I shouldn't have, or in a situation I shouldn't have.
That being said, I'm also glad I know how to cheese. In TvP and TvT, I never cheese on the ladder (all of my games at the tournament were vP and vT, but I learned how to in games against practice partners). In a BoX situation, hitting your opponent with a well-executed, Master League cheese can throw him off in the following games, and also catch him by surprise if he was anticipating a macro game. Knowing a diverse set of builds, including some map-dependent builds, really helped me here. I wish I played some zergs, I guess-- but other than that I had a great time.
I got to the Ro32, where I lost to a Protoss I basically deserved to lose to (though it did go to game 3, so I had a chance). In the loser bracket I advanced several rounds before losing to a Terran player who outplayed me pretty handily-- the equivalent of advancing another round in the upper bracket. Overall, I felt pretty good about my play, and had a lot of fun. Without further ado, here are my results, with game summaries (screenshots included), replays and VoDs. All my opponents were master league except for one plat player in the lower bracket.
Upper Bracket Round 1 (Bo3): Blazinghand (T) [Master] vs Sky (T) [Master]
Results:
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Blazinghand 2-0 Sky
Notes:
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Game 1 was an open-and-shut "banshees pretty good in TvT 50% of the time on Shattered Temple" situation. I always go gas-first on Shattered just because of how hilarious it is to effectively proxy a starport without proxying it. + Show Spoiler +![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/17X01l.jpg)
Game 2 was a case of "hellions pretty good in TvT on Tal'Darim Altar" except that he too went reactored hellions. I, however, had a 2nd Fact for even MORE hellions.+ Show Spoiler +![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/QZthxl.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/5ue2Bl.jpg)
Game 2 was a case of "hellions pretty good in TvT on Tal'Darim Altar" except that he too went reactored hellions. I, however, had a 2nd Fact for even MORE hellions.+ Show Spoiler +
Replays:
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VoD:
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Upper Bracket Round 2 (Bo3): Blazinghand (T) [Master] vs Golf (P) [Master]
Results:
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Blazinghand 1-2 Golf
Notes:
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Game 1 I employed a combination of rare aggressive tactics to form a legendary TvP cheese that I used to great effect: Paratrooper Thor. Specifically on Antiga shipyard, IF the protoss player is clockwise from you, you can make a Factory in your main and fly it into his third to make a thor, making your thor rush unbelievably strong and much lower-risk. :D+ Show Spoiler +![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/EysrTl.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/GxAptl.jpg)
Game 2 I went for my "big air" style play, and totally flubbed it. I think I generally got outplayed here, in terms of both macro and decisionmaking.+ Show Spoiler +![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/WyAOdl.jpg)
Game 3 is the one game this tournament that, going back, I really wish I could have replayed. At this point I was not feeling too great so I 11/11ed him. Believe it or not, my 11/11 TvP isn't so terrible-- it works with about a 50% success rate on small/2-spawn maps against my ladder opponents. This guy shuts it down fairly easily though. + Show Spoiler +![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/3vdchl.jpg)
Game 2 I went for my "big air" style play, and totally flubbed it. I think I generally got outplayed here, in terms of both macro and decisionmaking.+ Show Spoiler +
Game 3 is the one game this tournament that, going back, I really wish I could have replayed. At this point I was not feeling too great so I 11/11ed him. Believe it or not, my 11/11 TvP isn't so terrible-- it works with about a 50% success rate on small/2-spawn maps against my ladder opponents. This guy shuts it down fairly easily though. + Show Spoiler +
Replays:
+ Show Spoiler +
VoD:
+ Show Spoiler +
Lower Bracket Round 2 (Bo3): Blazinghand (T) [Master] vs Ekans (P) [Master]
Results:
+ Show Spoiler +
Blazinghand 2-1 Ekans
Notes:
+ Show Spoiler +
Game 1 I employed a combination of rare aggressive tactics to form a legendary TvP cheese that I used to great effect: Paratrooper Thor. Specifically on Antiga shipyard, IF the protoss player is clockwise from you, you can make a Factory in your main and fly it into his third to make a thor, making your thor rush unbelievably strong and much lower-risk. :D+ Show Spoiler +![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/sEasCl.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/6Izmbl.jpg)
Game 2 I went for my "big air" style play, and eventually got overwhelmed.+ Show Spoiler +![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/keaqKl.jpg)
Game 3, it was my turn to pick map, having lost game 2. I won't apologize for what I did. I picked Tal'Darim Altar so he would fast expand, and 6-raxed him. Tal'Darim lacks the defensive features by the nat and main that most maps have, making Protoss more susceptible to this sort of play. If you can't stop my 6-rax, I see no reason not to use it. Risky FEs are called 'risky' for a reason: 6-rax looks exactly like 1 rax FE... and at a tournament I cannot afford to pull my punches. + Show Spoiler +![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/3nwzQl.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/1AN4Wl.jpg)
Game 2 I went for my "big air" style play, and eventually got overwhelmed.+ Show Spoiler +
Game 3, it was my turn to pick map, having lost game 2. I won't apologize for what I did. I picked Tal'Darim Altar so he would fast expand, and 6-raxed him. Tal'Darim lacks the defensive features by the nat and main that most maps have, making Protoss more susceptible to this sort of play. If you can't stop my 6-rax, I see no reason not to use it. Risky FEs are called 'risky' for a reason: 6-rax looks exactly like 1 rax FE... and at a tournament I cannot afford to pull my punches. + Show Spoiler +
Replays:
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VoD:
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Lower Bracket Round 3 (Bo3): Blazinghand (T) [Master] vs Goodspeed (P) [Platinum (?? how did he get so far?? ._.)]
Results:
+ Show Spoiler +
Blazinghand 2-0 Goodspeed
Notes:
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Game 1, after defending some truly uninspiring warp prism harass I roll over him with some banshees. + Show Spoiler +![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/yMUosl.jpg)
Game 2, I'm not really sure what he was doing here, but he expoed slowly and died to paratrooper 6rax.+ Show Spoiler +![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/meNjvl.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/bidwIl.jpg)
Game 2, I'm not really sure what he was doing here, but he expoed slowly and died to paratrooper 6rax.+ Show Spoiler +
Replays:
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VoD:
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Lower Bracket Round 4 (Bo3): Blazinghand (T) [Master] vs FinalForm (T) [Master]
Results:
+ Show Spoiler +
Blazinghand 0-2 Goodspeed
Notes:
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Game 1, I open with a poorly-executed Reactor Hellion attack. I recover slightly, but my expansion is too slow, and after a bad engagement or two he is able to overwhelm me with tanks.. + Show Spoiler +![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/FRtX1l.jpg)
Game 2, at this point I'd been playing for about 8 hours without really eating. So I decided that 6-rax would be a good strat in TvT ._. kind of a poor choice. Lost to a single banshee.+ Show Spoiler +![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/OApeOl.jpg)
Game 2, at this point I'd been playing for about 8 hours without really eating. So I decided that 6-rax would be a good strat in TvT ._. kind of a poor choice. Lost to a single banshee.+ Show Spoiler +
Replays:
+ Show Spoiler +
VoD:
+ Show Spoiler +
My favorite moment of the entire tournament:
"terran pretty good"
That's all, folks! Feel free to comment and offer advice etc. Also, if you were one of my opponents or also at HWG's Zerg Christmas, shout out for being awesome!
