GSL Code S RO8: Day 1

The first day of the round of 8 is about to get underway. Today we have Fnatic's aLive taking on SlayerS_MMA in the first best of 5, followed by FXOpen's GuMiho taking on SlayerS_Puzzle.

MMA showed up to the stupid wearing a mask signifying that he may, in fact, be sick. Hopefully the games are not affected.

Match 1

Game 1 will be on Dual Sight, where we see both players opening up with 1 barracks and a gas; MMA's gas is slightly behind. Next, we have a tech lab for MMA and a factory for aLive. Our SlayerS terran opts for reapers as a 2nd gas is placed down by aLive as he gets a reactor on his initial barracks. We have a starport next for aLive, presumably for banshees, along with a single hellion.

The reaper of MMA makes its way to aLive's base, but aLive is prepared and with only 2 marines he catches and kills it. In a twist, aLive then goes for a raven from his starport. Next, aLive moves out onto the map with his marines and single hellion.

A skirmish takes place near the natural of MMA, and while MMA has combat shields done aLive's hellion proves to make all the difference. MMA loses all of his marines that were on the map allowing aLive to begin attacking the tech-lab researching stim and the supply depots at the top of his ramp. The raven then hits the battle as aLive begins to produce banshees in the background. The tech-lab of MMA falls followed quickly by a depot as the raven begins dropping auto-turrets.
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A siege tank and banshee arrive as siege mode is started by aLive. Auto-turrets allow a slow push to occur until siege mode finishes. Once it's complete aLive is able to shell MMA to death.
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It's nice to see a fresh new build from a terran player. I, for one, never thought I would see a raven before banshee in that fashion.

Game 2 will be played on Entombed Valley. MMA goes gas first as aLive opts for the barracks before his gas. An early SCV is sent out by MMA in an attempt to proxy a factory in the third location of his opponent. ALive, however, has a marine scouting everywhere for such a thing, and the SCV building the factory is killed with it 3 seconds from completion. Behind forcing a cancel on the proxy aLive begins his second command center and 2 additional barracks while researching stim. ALive also opts for a reaper and is able to get information on an expansion started by MMA due to its scouting. MMA, in addtion to the expansion, is also going for cloaked banshees.

ALive gets +1 attacks as stim finishes and he begins combat shield right after. He is able to see the banshee from MMA en route with a SCV and this triggers aLive to move all of his marines across the map in an attempt to deal a killing blow.

The banshee arrives in aLive's base as he reaches the center of the map.
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MMA realizes what is going on and begins a second bunker at his natural ramp. ALive attacks in when his upgrades complete, but this allows the second bunker to finish. No repairs go down on the bunkers of MMA, but as they fall SCVs are pulled and MMA defends.
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While he does lose a lot of units and SCVs, he comes out significantly ahead with 2 banshees ravaging the worker count of aLive.

With the clear lead now in hand MMA begins a 3rd command center; aLive does the same. Siege mode begins for MMA as well as medivacs. His banshees continue to hang around the base of aLive doing damage where they can. ALive is now just barely beginning his factory tech, he also starts +2 armor.

+2 weapons, combat shield, +1 vehicle weapons, and +1 armor are on the way for MMA as his siege mode finishes and he pushes up the natural of aLive. The attack seems too much for aLive to handle as the natural, and all of the workers there, fall.
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ALive, in a last-ditch effort, loads up a drop. It does no damage and aLive concedes game 2.

Game 3 has aLive opening a very fast gas at 11 supply. MMA opts for his gas after a barracks. Both players add factories, 2nd gases, and starports; aLive is ahead on all accounts. The players deviate now as aLive gets a single hellion while MMA chooses a bunker at his main ramp. A banshee and cloak begin for aLive with MMA going for a raven. MMA then adds a 2nd barracks while getting a viking and siege tank.

The first banshee hits MMA's base and is able to get 6 worker kills before being taken out. In the background aLive begins his siege mode and his first tank hits the field. MMA moves out with his entire army and aLive sends a second banshee into the main of MMA. A waiting viking is moved away by MMA as the banshee hits and it begins killing tons of workers.

Siege mode finishes for aLive and MMA has not even started it as MMA his the main ramp of aLive. As soon as MMA comes up the ramp the tanks of aLive begin firing, MMA isn't able to hold on and GG's.
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Game 4 will be played on Daybreak with aLive sending out an early SCV to proxy a barracks and adding a gas soon after. MMA gets his barracks at home and looks to 1 rax, expand. MMA scouts aLive's base and sees no barracks as the tech lab finishes for aLive. First marauder hits the field and MMA really has no defense. MMA opts for a 2nd barracks instead of a bunker while aLive takes his 2nd gas at home. MMA scouts the inital marauder and still refuses to throw down a bunker.

MMA moves out with 4 SCVs in an attempt to fight the first 2 marauders head-on. He gets a great surround with SCVs and takes out 1 marauder easily.
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ALive still continues to produce out of the proxy as he puts a factory and a bunker in his main base. Marauders continue to hang around the main of MMA, but MMA is able to get a flanking force of marines and take out the remaining 2. ALive lifts his barracks and goes home. Behind the attack aLive techs up to cloaked banshees, as well as getting his natural expansion and beginning blue-flame hellions. The first banshee begins to move into MMA's base, though it is not very effective getting only a few worker kills before dying.

ALive now has a medivac to drop blue flame hellions. A 2nd banshee of aLive moves into the main now and is able to do much better than the first as there are no scans. This one manages 9 scv kills before falling. The blue flame drop follows the second banshee and MMA takes major economic damage.
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26 workers now killed for aLive. Back in his base he is gearing up for mech and getting his 3rd command center up. 2 addtional command centers are being produced for MMA. +1 mech attacks begin for aLive while he continually produces hellions and tanks out of his now 5 factories.

2-2 begins for MMA as aLive begins +2 mech attacks of his own and gets a 4th command center. 3 ghost academies go up for MMA. Ghost production begins as well as 2 nukes and ghost cloaking. aLive takes a planetary at his central 4th location, as MMA has a central 4th of his own.

MMA is caught near his 4th base by the patroling army of aLive and it is forced to lift and float away. MMA tries to move out on the map again, but aLive scans and sees the army forcing an engagement in the center. Too many tanks and nice PPDs from aLive allow him to come out ahead in the engagement.
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Now with a 60 supply lead, aLive continues on to the 3rd of MMA and forces that to lift as well.

The game is over at this point but MMA sticks around for a bit nuking here and there with no results. Eventually he leaves and aLive takes the series, as well as the first spot in the semi-finals.

ALive played great. I truly hope that MMA's health did not play a factor in the outcome of the series. While some small mistakes were made here and there they could have been the result of anything. It looked to me that aLive simply had better builds and preparation. MMA couldn't handle the diverse strategies that aLive threw at him, and that lost him the series.

Match 2
Our second quarterfinal has GuMiho taking on one of 3 remaning protoss, SlayerS_Puzzle.

Game 1 opens up on Metropolis with a nexus frist for Puzzle and a 1 rax expand for GuMiho. Double gas and a factory follow GuMiho's command center while Puzzle gets his 2nd gas. GuMiho throws down a bunker at his natural as he begins a starport looking to go for cloaked banshees. Puzzle takes a fast 3rd as GuMiho takes his 3rd gas. Puzzle next adds 7 gateways, but fails to add a robotics facility. Siege mode is started along with tank production as the first banshee hits Puzzle's base. This triggers Puzzle to put on the pressure.

Two tanks defend GuMiho's natural choke from the high ground in his main, in addtion to the bunker at the front. The bunker does fall, but the tanks coupled with the remaining wall of GuMiho prove to be too much for Puzzle's attack.
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Banshees still deal tons of damage back in the base of Puzzle. GuMiho now has a gigantic lead as Puzzle's robo finally finishes. After the banshees are thwarted GuMiho takes a 3rd and 4th base while adding 3 barracks and 2 engineering bays. Stim, combat shield, 1-1, 3 more barracks, ship weapons +1, and concussive shells are researched for GuMiho. The first two medivacs his the field as Puzzle gets a warp prism.

Storm starts for Puzzle and he begins warping in high templar for defense. His warp prism makes its way to the main of GuMiho as GuMiho loads up a drop and sends it to the main of Puzzle. 2-2 starts for GuMiho as both players drops unload. In GuMiho's base we have some zealots attacking 3 constructing barracks, while in Puzzle's marines and marauders attack the mineral line. Both drops do little damage, but as Puzzle is distracted GuMiho's main force makes its way into the natural of Puzzle and he snipes 2 storm-ready high templar. A battle now takes place.
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GuMiho trades well and he grows his lead to 30 supply.

Another battle takes place soon after at the upcoming 4th of Puzzle. Some nice storms allow him to defend with minimal losses. 4th and 5th command centers are in position now for GuMiho as 4 medivacs are loaded up to drop the main of Puzzle. The drop occurs and a small force from GuMiho is sent to the 4th base of Puzzle at the same time. The main drop gets into a nice position and is able to force a lot of zealots through a choke in Puzzle's main.
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Storms are eventually able to clean up the drop, but the 4th of Puzzle does fall. GuMiho now leads by 80 supply as he moves another squad of units into Puzzle's 3rd, meanwhile also dropping the natural. 70 probes have been killed and the assault continues from all angles. The natural nexus falls and the game concludes.

Game 2 takes place on Bel'shir Beach. Puzzle opens standard with 1 gas, while GuMiho goes for 2 rax with no gas. Instead of putting on early pressure GuMiho opts for an expansion. Next, GuMiho takes 2 gases, and Puzzle puts up a nexus followed by two more gateways, bringing his total to 3. GuMiho gets his factory as Puzzle adds a robo. A starport follows the factory and reactor hellions begin production. Puzzle takes his 3rd and 4th gases and gets a twilight council as GuMiho beins stim research.

A Hellion drop is loaded up as Puzzle goes up to 6 gateways. The drop is quickly spotted, and caught by Puzzle. It turns around, doing no damage and losing a single hellion. Templar archives begin as well as zealot charge.

There is a small engagement in the center of the map. Puzzle drops some nice force fields on a group of marines, but stim is finished and the non-force fielded marines do nice damage, killing all of the sentries and 2 stalkers.
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GuMiho seems to be doing tank, marine, as Puzzle now has a finished psi storm. Puzzle takes a 3rd. GuMiho attempts to attack up into the new 3rd, but Puzzle greets him, and there is a battle.
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The superior composition of Puzzle ends the engagement in his favor, with a 20 supply lead, but GuMiho is able to kill a good amount of templar and all of the sentries again. A small group of zealots begin harassing the newly finished 3rd of GuMiho. This triggers GuMiho to lift it, meanwhile the rest of Puzzle's army makes their way to that location. GuMiho does not have enough to defend. The third falls and the army of Puzzle attempts to attack into the natural, next. With archons now in the mix, Puzzle just has too much and takes the 2nd game.
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Game 3 begins on Cloud Kingdom with Puzzle going nexus first while GuMiho gets a barracks and a gas. When GuMiho hits 100 gas he puts down his factory, followed by his 2nd gas, while Puzzle hangs around with just 1. A reactor goes up on the barracks as a tech lab on the factory is swapped to a starport so banshee production can begin. GuMiho scouts the main of Puzzle with a single, annoying hellion; Puzzle adds a robo.

GuMiho looks like he may want to get cute and poke around with a small marine, tank force, but he quickly retreats upon seeing an immortal. The banshees dart in and out getting probe kills when they can. A Medivac is now on the field for GuMiho as he loads up 2 tanks into it and drops into the main. He takes out a decent number of probes before getting out with 1 tank still intact.
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Puzzle gets a single phoenix, to deal with the ever annoying banshees, while in the center of the map he is being very indecisive with his units. He accidentally splits up his army losing a stalker for nothing to the entire army of GuMiho. GuMiho gives chase to the remainder of Puzzle's army and Puzzle runs straight into a dead end in the bottom-right of the map. GuMiho kills another portion of army with very minimal losses this time.
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This leaves GuMiho with a nice 30 supply lead. He continues to push into the natural of Puzzle, and his army is too much for Puzzle to handle.

Puzzle is looking very confused. He showed a decent game in his 1 win, but in that game GuMiho basically handed it to him with a silly composition.

Game 4 starts on Dual Sight. GuMiho looks to open 2 rax with a gas, and Puzzle chooses the standard with 2 gas. 1 reactor and 1 tech lab go down for GuMiho, and stim begins. GuMiho moves out with 3 marines and a marauder. Puzzle has a stalker at the natural of GuMiho but he doesn't see any of the units moving down the ramp. Puzzle cancels his nexus upon getting a decent scout of the army make-up of GuMiho, and he throws down a robo and 2 more gates.

GuMiho now takes an expansion and produces a single reaper. Stim finishes and combat shield begins as the reaper scouts Puzzle's main base and gets a few probe kills. The first immortal is now out for Puzzle as GuMiho takes a small army and attacks the again building nexus of Puzzle. After a skirmish, where Puzzle defends, the nexus stands at 170 life.
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GuMiho now has a starport on the way as +1 attack is nearly finished. He pokes around the map with a small group of marines as he gets his natural up and running back home. 2 medivacs are loaded up and move out to drop as Puzzle sends his entire army north to GuMiho's base.

More units warp in at a nearby pylon as Puzzle waits to attack. 3 immortals are now in the army for Puzzle as he charges in. The main ramp of GuMiho is force fielded, a healthy amount of the natural SCVs are killed, and the command center is forced to lift.

Meanwhile, the drop of GuMiho continues onward. He unloads at 6 o'clock and makes his way to Puzzle's natural, taking it out easily. The units continue on into the main base while Puzzle is in his own main ransacking the place. As it stands Puzzle's army is superior and both players begin to base trade.

GuMiho has a nice chunk of units at home and he takes a gamble, pulling all of his SCVs and attacking the army of Puzzle. Somehow GuMiho gets a wonderful engagement and he quickly takes out the 3 immortals before targetting other units.
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With his drop remaining unopposed in the main of Puzzle, he is now looking in a dominant position.

The last available units pop out for GuMiho and the army in his base is cleaned up. His drop continues to target down buildings and it is over for Puzzle.

Well we now have 2 of the 4 semi-finalists decided. We round out the rest of the group tomorrow with 3 protoss and a zerg battling it out. In a nice twist, there is not a possibility of another TvT until the finals if at all. Time they are a-changin'.

GSL Code S RO8: Day 1

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