EPTThis weekend, Imperial played its first series of 2012, against Exeter.
Game 1
Kicking this series off, we have Core, the Terran from Imperial, taking on TGxEcstazy, Exeter’s Protoss, on Dual Sight. Both players expand early, but Ecstazy pre-emptively hid a pylon behind Core’s mineral line, completely bypassing the bunkers at the front and forces him to lift his Orbital. The aggression continues with a Warp prism drop, but Core fends it off with ease, and counters with a drop of his own, with just as little success. A large fight erupts as Core attempts to secure his 3rd base – Ecstazy looking strong with some beautiful storms, but half his Zealots are carving up SCV’s instead of the Terran bio, allowing Core to drive the Protoss back.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/AdaCd.jpg)
Great storms, but Zealots focusing the refinery....
Even so, Ecstazy’s economic advantage allows him to re-max faster than the Terran, and Core’s marines and marauders finally disintegrate under thermal lances and a blanket of storms, giving Exeter the 1-0 lead.
Game 2
Imperial’s BurningPanda dukes it out with Exeter’s Thanatos on Shakuras Plateau for the second match. Thanatos brings the noise early with some 2 barracks pressure, doing a good amount of damage to BurningPanda’s command center first build. BurningPanda catches up in economy, but realizes he is way behind on tech when siege tanks come knocking at, and down, his front door (bunker). Abandoning his natural, he sends a lone dropship while trying to buy himself as much time as possible, but Thanatos pushes forward relentlessly, and without enough tanks or siege mode of his own, BurningPanda is forced to surrender.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/R0AuG.jpg)
A little late to start researching Siege mode?
Game 3
Up 2-0, Exeter’s Callum (Zerg) and aGGa (Terran) attempt to close out the series with an early rush against Imperial’s Paincarnate (Protoss) and SpartaN (Terran). Paincarnate’s probe, whether by skill or sheer luck, sees aGGa’s 2 SCV’s on their way out, and with some pretty micro, takes out the supporting SCV, before going after the one building the proxy barracks. Callum’s zerglings arrive just in time as the SCV hides beneath the barracks to save itself in the last second. Paincarnate’s zealots valiantly hold their ramp against the overwhelming number of zerglings, but with aGGa’s marine backup, they start to drop, until SpartaN pushes in from the flank and puts an end to the push. Consolidating their forces, team Imperial pushes out – SpartaN’s marines managing to squeeze in behind Callum’s mineral line, using the Zerg’s own Pool against him. However, this elation is short-lived as it quickly turns into a deathtrap, with banelings crawling in from one side and zerglings blocking off the other.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/Q3qE0.jpg)
This is not going to end well.....
Despite this, a second wave of marines pushes in with Protoss support, and when the Callum's hatch falls, the GG is called, bringing the series to 2-1.
Game 4
Metalopolis sees the next showdown between Imperial’s Imposter (Terran) and Exeter’s Invex (Zerg). Invex goes for an early expand, but Imposter is having none of it, pushing hard with marines, hellions, and a medivac. Imposter makes very good use of the cliff, but Invex hits him right as half his force in inside the medivac. Imposter’s reinforcements, led by a banshee, arrive in time to stop zerglings cleaning up, and Invex pull everything back to his main. Invex eventually drives out the Terran forces, but with 4 drones to 40 SCV’s, Imposter soon evens up the series 2-2.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/mMDQx.jpg)
29 kill Banshee, the main culprit responsible for the worker difference
Game 5
Tied at match point, it would all come down to the ace match on Antiga Shipyard. Without Dragonite or Kazen, Imposter stepped up again for Imperial, while Exeter’s TGxEcstazy made another appearance.
Ecstazy starts by stealing Imposter’s gas, who promptly presses forward with marines and concussive marauders. Having early expanded, Ecstazy is forced to pull his probes, losing a significant amount before finally clearing the Terran out his base.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/dXPu8.jpg)
29 to 16 workers. Not a good spot for Protoss.
He immediately chronoboosts probes, and soon catches up in the worker count, but Terran's push comes too soon for the Protoss to handle. Imposter pushes through to take the game.
All in all, quite a tense series. Exeter putting up a good fight, but Imperial coming back strong, winning the series 3-2!
Stay tuned for next week's update, as Imperial takes on Manchester Metropolitan University!
