[BW Blog] Noob gets a Taste of E-Han Timing

The stage was set...
Ever since starting my 1v1 career in ICCUP, I have faced defeat after defeat... humiliation after humiliation....
I was down, but not out...bent, but not broken.
Yes, there was still a drop of fighting spirit in my heart, a spark of hope that conquers all despair.

But will that be enough?
Standing in the way of victory was a D+ ranked Zerg named Gyella.
To D players, D+ guys are like gods...their build orders...precise. Their micro...flawless. Their macro....unfailable.

But in the game of Starcraft, there is no such thing as invincibility.
Even the seemingly most perfect player has a chink in the armor...an achilles heel.
And for me to have a chance, I needed to strike that...with all my might and strength.

Yes folks.
This, is a story of a noob who tasted what it feels like to attack at an E-han timing.

The dice have been thrown...the arrow have left the bow.
There is no turning back now.
It's game on!


As always, the map was Fighting Spirit. My opponent, purple Zerg at 5, and me, Yellow Terran at 7, the best color for a terran in my opinion



At the time, I have been playing 1v1 BW for maybe 2 weeks at most, so I was getting my ass handed to me in ICCUP by everyone I played.
The only time I would win is when I was up against people who somehow was worse than me at macroing, which I didn't think was possible, but apparently it was.
And I'm not sure what was going through my head that made me play a D+ Zerg. Insanity when I look back.

I opened with standard 1 rax fe with weird supply depot position, and you will see why shortly.

You see, this was me back then...I thought it was sheer brilliance to wall off the natural (even though it's not ling tight at all and ugly as hell) despite never seeing a progamer do this on Fighting Spirit.


My opponent goes for a classy 12 hatch opening.


He then proceeds into building his 3rd hatch.


I scout him last, but since hes not doing some ling allin shenanigans, I happily saturate my mineral lines in both bases and pump marines.

But wait! He's taking his 3rd gas!

I had no idea he took his 3rd this fast...what a greedy son of a....

Once I had a group of marine and 2 medic, I decided to poke at his front to force some sunkens.


I still had a very weak concept of build order, so after 1 rax fe, I just did whatever I felt like doing, which was...double ebay! Faster the upgrade, the better no?


I actually had no intention of fighting, but somehow, my units got sucked in by sunken while I was not looking, and I got encircled by his lings and all my army died...shit..





Meanwhile, now that he got rid of my army, hes building his 5th hatch at his 3rd! And his mutas aren't even out yet! What a greedy bitch...he will pay for this.


I, for some reason had no scan, but with my precog spider senses, I correctly guessed that he went muta instead of lurkers and started my turret wall.

Knowing this, my enemy sends in his special forces to delay my project.

I clean up with some scv losses, but turrets are not delayed.

And once his mutas are out, the inevitable and grueling chapter of TvZ begins.



Gosh I hate defending muta micro on FS. It's really annoying...destroying my turrets and killing my marines, but I take almost no scv damage from his muta harass.
Despite my surplus of gas, which I didn't notice, I start my 3rd cc in my main...all before factory And I'm not going SK terran lol.
2 base, 4 rax, no factory into 3rd...


But don't worry. I had a plan.
Double Ebay means armor upgrade will be faster, and I planned on taking full advantage of it.


I emptied out my base and marched out.



What was crucial is that his overlord is way way too far down, so he DIDN'T SEE ME MOVING OUT.
THIS WAS HUGE.


I scanned his nat, saw he only had 2 hydras and 2 sunkens.

No lurkers yet, only 2 sunk..."The time is now!" I said to myself. "As soon as my armor upgrade finishes, I'm striking"

While I'm waiting for the upgrade to finish, his mutas are having a time of their lives killing my unprotected scv line.


And he uses his first available gas to morph his hydras at the 3 instead of his nat to lurkers. Again, HUGE


Heres what happened. Maginot Line happened. well...sort of.
He must have predicted that if I were to attack him, I would attack him at his 3rd, therefore, he needs to invest in defending his 3 first and foremost.
Here was the problem for him.
1. I didn't know he had a 3rd gas at 3 LOL
2. His intelligence agency has failed him, completely missing the fact that my army was gearing it up to attack his natural, not 3.
3. Most importantly, he failed to predict that I was a player with AUDACITY, and BOLDNESS, and COURAGE to attack straight at his natural.

The long awaited armor upgrade is almost finished.


I scan his nat 1 more time. Still only 3 hydras, 2 sunks.


Once upgrade is done, It's game on! I immediately stim my units and charge into his nat.


His hydras don't even know what hit them before they died, and his 2 sunkens don't stand a chance either to my blitzkrieg.



Caught completely off guard, my opponent hurries his muta back, and his work of maginot line at 3 was all moot. He quickly brings his lurkers to his nat.



If you ever played chess, you probably know this feeling.
A feeling that you got everything under control and is about to capture his queen/rook, but then realize...."oh wait...if he moves this here instead of there, I lose a queen/rook....oh...FUCK"
That's exactly what he must have felt.

My main focus right now was to destroy his natural hatch, by thus removing his vital money source.




With lurkers closing in from behind, I decide to enter his main, and wreck more havoc there.
He tries to resist me with ling/muta, but my 1/1 super marines are just too strong for them.





I stream into his main, and he evacuates his drones, but since there is only 1 exit/entrance, it just ends up being a turkey shoot.




And my units get in the way of the lurkers who are trying to come up the ramp haha


Now that I killed units, it's time to kill buildings. Spawning Pool, you first.

Lair, you next


I micro my units to stay away from lurkers whenever they burrow (I'm sure this drove him NUTS)

Hydra den, you're next

Soldiers, you have done your duty well. I just let them kill as many units until death.


WAIT Wait wait...Let's recap what just happened.

His lurkers are about to pop, his bases are about to be secured, his macro's about to kick in.
But with 23 marines and 6 medic, I...


uhh...


My opponent


Oh man....this moment ranks as my top 3 best feeling in my BW career.
With 2 groups of marine, 6 medic, micro of a life time, and zero macro, I punched him in the mouth, knocked him flat on the ground, stepped on his face, and broke his nose.

At this point, he can officially only produce drone, overlord, muta, and scourge. He has 1 mining base.

Still, he has a D+ reputation that he needs to live up to. Giving up was not in his dictionary. After all, he still has 5 lurkers he can depend on. I had no tanks and vessels.
1st things 1st. Hes in a big hole, so he simultaneously builds 3 bases and starts his spawning pool at his 3rd.





After I catch a breath and process what incredible feat of success just happened, I manage to calm myself a bit and land my 3rd cc at 9, and send my next army towards his base.



He moves his lurkers out to position them on the bridge, but when I saw that his lurkers were unborrowed, I stim and snipe 2 of them and back out once they're burrowed. haha 2 down, 3 left.



boy my micro was crisp.

A little later, I scan him, and he only had 2 lurkers burrowed in front of the bridge, so I stim again, and wipe them out, but with some casualty.


But in times like this, trading unit is advantageous for me, like in chess.

I realized I had a massive lead and the momentum must be kept in my favor.
I don't know where his other lurker went, but it's just 1 lurker. I didn't want to give him any breathing room, so I storm his natural once again, knowing he has very little to defend with.


Because he only has a spire, he has no choice, but to make mutas with his larvas.


Poor him...his nat isn't even finished, but he has to cancel his hatch.


Now that his natural is compromised, I again march into his main without any resistance. Ahhh...the triumphant feeling...


I knew hatchery is economy to zerg, so I focus fire the first hatchery I see, and realizing that his mutas aren't gonna pop in time (not that it would have made any difference),and that he has just been HAMMERED in one blow by a D player, and that he is in an unclimbable hole, my opponent shamelessly quits without gg.


Victory was complete. I had beaten a D+.

And so ends my battle report
This was one of rare games where the universe just aligns itself so everything that can go right goes right.
Man this game was soooo fun.
Hope you all enjoyed it!
Here's the link to the replay if any one you are interested. http://repdepot.net/replay.php?id=40589