EPT
On to the game. This game was played 12 years ago as a special game in the 2002 GhemTV Starleague (the pics are a bit blurry). The starleague ran for a few seasons with top StarCraft players having participated. At the time, NaDa was the best player on Earth (I’m sorry ChoJJa), Reach had just completed the Legend of the Fall at the expense of BoxeR, and guys like YellOw, SynC, XellOs, Side, ChRh, Junwi, Kingdom, Nal_rA and ZeuS, were wreaking havoc in the scene. On the other hand, H.O.T-Forever was at the declining period of his career.
The map is Isles of Siren, a symmetrical island map with a natural expansion similar to Parallel Lines.
HOT-Forever starts at 1 o'clock with the usual 12 hatch with his ovie going the right direction while NaDa goes for Barracks-Gas-Ebay at 10 o'clock.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/0g5iJp7.png)
2002 H.O.T-Forever
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/eI2Yt88.png)
NaDa is so young, damn.
NaDa seems intent to be aggressive early, skips the expansion and puts down a second rax and a factory. Meanwhile HOT’s lair finishes and begins spire tech. NaDa’s drop will hit after mutas appear so it will rely on the +1 attack and the mass of MnM to do damage.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/gl5Tz9y.png)
Mutas poke in just seconds before the first dropship
After reaching critical mass, NaDa moves over to the nearest crossing. HOT waits and a little dance ensues.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/c9zE6d7.png)
NaDa moving out
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/ai1C3ot.png)
Scourges on the right., mutas on the left
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/Gb8DL2Z.png)
With nowhere to go for the dropship, disaster.
HOT coordinates the snipe brilliantly, leaving NaDa with no means to attack. Undeterred, he secures the nat and expands to keep him on even bases. However, HOT gambles that he can hold the line while he double expands at the 5 o’clock main and the expansion at 3.
NaDa brings up another dropship to ferry his stagnant troops. HOT blocks the landing spot with his mutas, so NaDa looks for another way and retreats his dropship.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/qtzTLXe.png)
Sneaky little bastards.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/7ELQEZi.png)
NaDa must have panicked when he saw the scourges. 
Once again, the HOT stifles NaDa’s aggression and his bases remain untouched. Now he musters several lurkers for a drop which is easily stopped by MnM. HOT then takes a lone overlord and lands 2 lurkers at the nat mineral line. NaDa rushes in and clears the pests with some losses and stays there without knowing that the lurkers have landed in his base outside his line of sight.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/BVfQSg5.png)
HOT’s scary force at NaDa’s base
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/Wq3Quyv.png)
After NaDa’s amazing micro
NaDa repels the assault with vessels and marines. After this, he discovers the 5 o’clock expo and pumps out a few tanks and a dropship. He then assembles some MnM to raid the 5 expo. HOT meanwhile has teched to hive to get a greater spire and has expanded yet again at 7’s main, this time behind the attack. Using his star sense, HOT rushes to a spot in the fog of war where NaDa is dropping MnM near the 5 expo NaDa kills some drones but HOT quickly takes care of the MnM.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/So6Ed33.png)
Star sense
HOT isn’t quite done with his mutas, keeping the pressure, he morphs them into guardians and an all out battle errupts at NaDa’s natural. Guardians attack the mineral line force NaDa to evacuate his workers. Then a group of wraiths and vessels repulse the guardians.Then HOT flies his hydralurk over the natural and they clash with SCVs and MnM.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/VbjkEmL.png)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/AQkAg51.png)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/jeliuqv.png)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/x9Fp4Pn.png)
How could H.O.T. mess up this opportunity?!?
NaDa parried blow after blow but his situation is getting more dangerous, he is stuck at one mining base while HOT has 6 bases, all mining. It will only be a matter of wearing NaDa down unless he does something.
In the next few minutes, HOT takes 5’s natural expo, a min only and 7’s natural and briefly denies mining at NaDa’s new 9 expo. NaDa fortifies his new base with lots of turrets. After reclaiming the expo, he drops nearby destroying the 7 natural expo and takes his min only.
HOT strikes again. He drops ultras near NaDa’s natural as decoys and then doom drops his main.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/HVw5Pqx.png)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/b3vWVy7.png)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/LMBJ45J.png)
As if it was a huge physics experiment, the two armies cancel each other out, leaving NaDa with half of his army of MnM and a vessel cloud.
HOT tries to harass NaDa’s fourth and do another doom drop but they are foiled both times by irradiate and d-matrix.
A peek into NaDa’s first-person view shows an unusual amount of starports and he’s been banking gas and minerals; NaDa is preparing for battlecruisers.To ensure that the BCs will smash HOT, NaDa has prepared a stakeout for the only thing that can threaten his BCs-the greater spire. He brings 2 dropships’ worth of MnM and they are chased by a control group of ultralisks that resembles something from Pacman.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/RhoXMf7.png)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/cepKaYg.png)
Two marines left
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/hWygICM.png)
The last marine downs the Spire before going down
In retaliation, HOT brings a doom drop of ultras and defilers to NaDa’s island where they meet battlecruisers. As anyone would expect, ultras aren’t of much use against BCs but HOT told them to shrug off the pain and continue attacking.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/WtN0MED.png)
PLAYGUUUU!!!!
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/KSxgiBf.png)
PLAYGUUU AGAINNNN!!!
NaDa is back in the game. He can turn the game around with his powerful armada, so he turns his flying fortresses of doom toward the HOT’s main. HOT has another thing in mind though, he could have rescued those ultralisks earlier but he didn’t. Instead, he used them to buy some time to remake two spires (to make sure) to deal with NaDa’s intimidating fleet.
From all of his bases came out scourges and they all converged at the 12 expo. And so the stage is set, all that’s left for now is to micro…
![[image loading]](http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/images/5/5c/Divine_Wind.gif)
Ladies and Gentlemen, The Divine Wind
At this point, I think it’s safe to say that NaDa is now just playing for show.
On the bright side, even after all that, NaDa still has his humor in tact as he smiles while his vessels suicide over spores and he even yamato’d a hydra.
HOT-Forever has taken over the map. A peek at his screen says he is banking 10k minerals and 4k gas. But even then, the Genius terran didn't quit. He proceeds to take the central expo and demolishes HOT’s main and 3 more bases with his leftover bachanic.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/6IZEvEt.png)
NaDa taking the central expo
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/Gw7pOXg.png)
HOT taking the central expo
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/4l78m8y.png)
NaDa in HOT’s main
NaDa also takes out the central expo. HOT doesn’t like what NaDa is doing so he does the same thing to him. The Genius terran saves his base and both players rebuild their armies.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/BeLug5V.png)
NaDa’s army going out.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/ilPLtIK.png)
HOT’s army going in.
NaDa ignores his under attack main and evacuates everything he has to the central expo and put on an epic last stand with MnM and good amount of d-matrixed battlecruisers.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/EWiElKj.png)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/cHmDrTq.png)
More scourge to BC action
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/ci2AVC5.png)
NaDa’s last base
HOT destroys the terran presence all around the map and then overuns NaDa from all sides. NaDa is finally forced to concede.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/NTyCbt9.png)
“Good Game” indeed
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/lpnZs5z.png)
Your winner! H.O.T-Forever
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/UUQ9Lek.png)
Sorry NaDa
Although his career was declining, H.O.T-Forever put up an amazing display of StarCraft and was a step ahead of his opponent the whole time. Also, hats off to NaDa for being so competitive till the very end there.
Well, that’s all for now. I think this has become too long for my liking.
Thanks for reading.
