Battle Report: Blazinghand vs Lakrishna TvT

The solo ladder is a lonely, insular experience. I play someone once and probably never see them again... I go from game to game without continuity, without community. It's just me and my skillset against random players in the same boat. Aside from "gl hf" and "gg" usually the only verbal interaction I get is BM.

Battle.net 2.0 is cold, harsh, dark. The only place I can call home is a chat I inhabit with those few of my friends who still hang on to Sc2. In the very beginning, before chat channels, you could still make "chat rooms" and invite people in. It was in the fall of 2010, in the Day9 IRC that we first found each other, we who would cling together in the frigid, bitter cold of battle.net, seeking warmth and comfort in each others company.

In time, our trials and practice together would bring us from lowly gold leaguers too become stronger, better, tryharder. But that is a story for another day. Know that in time, we fell apart, moving to other games, other pastimes, warmer pastures. At last, it was just me and Lucien. The chat has moved on. It has become something else, something more. Something without me.
Time passed, though, and he too moved on.

At last, there is nobody left to cling to in the darkness.

I have not given up. I am still here.

I am alone.

Grasping through the darkness, I come across another ladder match, another brief respite in the darkness, an intersection of two souls in the purgatory of mid Master league. I read his handle, Lakrishna, and soon realize that we are alike, he and I. Though today we are enemies, we share a common understanding.

We are both Terran.

Replay + VoD at the end.

My gl hf fades into the oppressive silence of the game, and without reply, he splits and makes his scvs. Game on.

We duel in silence.

In this way, too, we are the same-- 12 rax, 13 gas.

My scouting scv-- Thoreau, let's call him-- is fated for doom. His brief respite from the life-risking "scout the enemy base" mission is well-earned, but ultimately will not last.

Rest well, Thoreau-- you deserve it.

Thoreau runs up the ramp and dies to a few marines and a tank. In the mean time, my patented 1 gas banshee expo sees very modest success. A few scv kills, I see his starport, and I gotta get away from his viking.

He actually catches my own viking as it pops so I have to land it for safety.

At last, there is no more denying it, no more waiting. Perhaps Lakrishna had had one too many long TvTs. Perhaps he always did this. Maybe he was in a hurry. Whatever the case was, the Red Terran opted for a 1 base marine/tank all in. A scary force indeed.

Right-- scary Lakrishna army. Left-- Blazinghand's army shitting itself.

I lay down all the standard preparations for situations like this. I pre-emptively rebuild my walling depots, and move my nat to the back of my main. It's time to batten down the hatches-- or CCs, as the case may be, and gear up to fight.

Oh shiiiiiiii

gogogogo

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welp.

So, things are looking bad. Real bad. This is the kind of situation your build order should never let happen: opponent walks army into your base EZ at 9 minute mark. Hm. Should I give up? No, no, not yet-- I'm Terran. I have one final trick. Just like offering the bouncer a blowjob and hoping he's gay, this should only be used as a last resort: pull scvs and make a desperate attempt to hold the all in.

Ok yes I did pull a mule to fight.

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Now I'm only 10 food behind yay

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TvT math! 1 viking + 11 repairing scvs > 2 vikings

Suck it. Banshee. You gotta go home.

Bleeding a few scvs, I was able to actually fend off the all in. My economic advantage was a hefty price to pay for getting ahead, though. Although his all-in didn't end me, he dealt a lot of damage. Surviving it was good, but losing so many scvs in the process lost me my worker lead. I do have ONE card left, though.

I still have my expo CC.

god-DAMN I'm sexy.

I'm not purely ahead, however. He too has an ace in the hole-- his siege tech is done and he's got a pretty hefty army, and will have a pretty easy time transition to the mid game. And me? I've got a bunch of random starport units and 2 hellions. A marine tank transition would be hilarious but implausible at this point. Having come this far, there's only one option left. I must invoke a ghost, a spectre, if you would, that haunts TvT. A revenant of undeniable power, who can be relied upon in these harsh situations: iEchoic.

Honestly, do you see another transition for me here?

Lakrishna wastes no time in getting out on the map again. He brings more scvs this time, hoping to catch me unawares. Luckily, I was smart enough to grab the watchtower with a hellion, as the ghost of iEchoic whispers me to do. Unfortunately, I have the minimap awareness of a blind man eating thick molasses, and lost said hellion.

This could happen to anyone.

My adversary has a better idea of the whole "banshee" thing this time and brings along a sizeable viking fleet with his push. He intends to win right here. He pulled scvs and everything! This is a pretty serious attack.

Rebel 2. Ready? Action!

It seems he failed to account that fighting right next to my starports means I'd be able to reinforce vikings more quickly than him, though.

Sup tanks? Oh, what's that? A banshee's up? And you can't shoot up? oh snapppppp

With a bit of micro, I pick off all his tanks, leaving myself with a very, VERY comfortable food advantage. Heh, what a moron! Losing air control like that because your opponent made more vikings is an amateur mistake. I'd never make a mistake like that! And I certainly wouldn't blunder my 15 food lead because of it either! Right?

Oh, wait, I'm am imbecile.

Well, that's embarassing. I guess I have to hide my vikings on the ground until I can be assured I have more than him ;_; and hope I can somehow hold his next push without any banshees...

Viking A: what the hell are we doing
Viking B: This commander is a moron
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Luckily, defender's advantage brings me even on vikings....
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and I have ONE marine shooting up, causing me to win the air fight.

Defeating his Vikings is only the beginning, however. For reasons that escape me, I decided that I should make a raven. Which is TOTALLY useful against tanks, especially when supported by 2 vikings.

Guys what are we even doing
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Landed vikings trade evenly with tanks right? *bad poker face*

And then... And then it happens. Lakrishna goes there. He GOES THERE. In this epic battle, this confrontation of fate, this clash between the titans (he and I), he decides that no, this is good. He's got it covered. He doesn't need to worry. Blazinghand's dead.

He manner mules me. Twice.

There is only one response to a manner mule. You pull scvs. And you HOLD.

Fuck yeah scvs counter the shit out of goddamn tanks
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Don't worry, this army is totally reasonable to have 19 minutes into a TvT.

By about now, Mains are getting mined out. I know that his 2 base allin can't last much longer. He'll be making a final push, and soon. I begin thinking about my own options. I get blue flame and produce more hellions. I keep on making scvs. And I get ready for the final battle. If I can hold him here, I can make it.

For once I kind of have an army that looks okay, and his amy doesn't look that great. I guess that fast expand is finally paying off... 20 minutes in.

I don't wait for him to walk into my natural this time, nor do I wait for myself to start to lose to pull scvs. I immediately grab my army and several scvs from my natural and go to meet him out in the midfield. He will be unsieged. He will be afraid. He will lose.

I'm coming at you bro

We are joined on glorious battle, and fight until one of us is no more. There will be no more expansions, no more midgame, no more anything. We pit the results of our macro together with whats left of our micro and strategy, and in a final death flail come together in a glorious symphony of death and destruction. There will be no more scvs pulls, no more near holds, after this. This is the end, one way or another.

Our duel ends as it began: in silence.

At long last, the fight is over. The beautiful struggle has ceased. The game is over, and we will likely never speak again. The darkness of Battle.net 2.0 closes in on me yet again, and in a sense I am mournful that the game must end. The death of our game heralds the beginning of a new one, as Join Game is clicked once more, and the familiar whoosh fills my ears. Onwards, then. Onwards to new horizons, new enemies, silent, manner, and BM. Onwards to a brighter future.

gg

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Battle Report: Blazinghand vs Lakrishna TvT

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