EPTTABLE OF CONTENTS
Qualifiers #3 and #4 Recap
Find out what you missed last weekend!
By: Falling and Kiante
Battle Report
Liquid'Drone vs Naugrim
By: itsjustatank
Winners Interviews
Interviews with Julia, Draw, Andrey and Southpark.
By: BisuDagger
Sitting Down with Elegant
We talk to the other half of our caster pair to get his thoughts on the TLS thus far!
By: Epoxide
Turn on Reading Mode
Included within will be recaps of the third and fourth qualifiers that were played on Saturday and Sunday last week. Additionally we have a battle report featuring an exciting game between two old school players Liquid'Drone and Naugrim from the Saturday qualifier. Both players managed to make a respectable showing, with Drone (aka Eriador) managing to place himself currently within the top 12 players in the points competition and Naugrim putting himself within striking distance assuming he can show his current form in the final two qualifiers. Finally we have a selection of interviews, with all of the players who qualified for the TLS in qualifiers three and four along with a quick chat with the other half of the TLS casting duo, Elegant.
The final two qualifiers will be played this coming weekend at the same times as usual on Saturday and Sunday and we encourage everyone to join in and take their shot at becoming a part of the first Teamliquid Legacy Starleague.
Points Standings
| Rank | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  TerrOr | 148 |
| 2 |  vOddy | 104 |
| 3 | Jim | 97 |
| 4 | TTF | 82 |
| 5 |  EnjoYmE | 73 |
| 5 |  NeMu | 73 |
| 7 | Eriador | 65 |
| 7 | hellerine | 65 |
| 7 | ZZZero | 65 |
| 10 | Dewalt | 62 |
| 10 | OctZerg | 62 |
| 12 | Ace | 53 |
| 12 | Pike | 53 |
Qualifier Recap
Qualifier #3
After the success of the first two TLS qualifiers, the strength of foreign Zerg players came to the fore, leaving the watchers with one question. Could a Terran or Protoss fight through so many talented Zerg players to qualify?
For those that simply could not get enough Starcraft, Kiante entertained viewers as the warm-up act by casting early qualifier replays. A couple of notable TL staff participated in this week's qualifier including Kwark and Chill. However Liquid-Drone had the most success, fighting up to the Round of 32 where he was taken out by Naugrim (see Battle Report.)
In previous qualifiers, TerrOr the Peruvian Terran had gotten as high as the semi-finals. However, this time he was stopped short at the Round of 16 by Julia the Polish Zerg. VOddy the Swedish Zerg has twice been eliminated by dRaW, and although he avoided the Canadian Protoss, this time he was stopped short by the Russian Protoss dewalt in the Round of 16. Dewalt then faced and lost against the Polish player, SouthPark, who played random instead of his main race Zerg. In a surprising turn, the relatively unknown Zerg, Jim_Raynor, eliminated the Russian Terran/Protoss Ramms in the quarter-finals while dRaW halted TTF's run. A couple of strong Zergs still remain as Pike dropped out in the Round of 16 and ZZZero took out Julia in the quarterfinal.
Semifinal 1
The first series was between the two Polish Zerg players ZZZero and SouthPark.
In the first game, ZZZero went ten-hatch, nine-pool in his main to make a large zergling ground army, but was unable to bust into SouthPark's base. There were several clashes with increasingly larger zergling armies, but SouthPark's earlier mutalisks and ZZZero's attack into a zergling concave sealed the first victory for SouthPark.
In the second game, SouthPark went pool first and his early six zerglings found ZZZero's fast teching base defended only by two zerglings. A scrappy battle followed whereby SouthPark picked off ZZZero's spawning pool leaving ZZZero incapable of making any military units until the spire completed. SouthPark's slow reinforcements allowed ZZZero to drive off the offending zerglings with his newly spawned mutalisks. But without zerglings, he was forced to play defensively while his spawning pool rebuilt. Mutalisks and scourge clashed and SouthPark's zerglings raced up the ramp to secure his victory and to move on to the final series.
Semifinal 2
The second series in the semi-finals pitted the Bulgarian Zerg Jim-Raynor against the Canadian Protoss dRaW, who fought to break the Zerg hold on the TLS qualifiers.
In the first game, dRaW's standard forge-fast expand was tested by a double hydra den build that sent waves of hydralisks against the hastily constructed cannon defence. Probes were pulled to defend, but the hydras were rebuffed and dRaW was able to push out to take his third base. From there the intrepid Protoss pivoted and dropped high templars into the Zerg's mineral lines. He double stormed the main and stormed the natural expansion wiping out Jim's drones. The two armies clashed in the middle multiple times and psionic storms ripped through clumped lurkers and Zerg armies sandwiched and mauled the Protoss armies. However, dRaW continued storming drones and two zealots picked off an undefended expansion. Jim could no longer match the Protoss army and gg'd.
In the second game, Jim faked a hydralisk bust and forced dRaW to wall in with cannons. In reply, dRaW sent out a shuttle to harass with dark templar... and to build a bm nexus in Jim's mineral only expansion.
dRaW's follow up reaver harass was killed off and he was effectively contained. Then came the doom drop into the main base. Lurkers and hydralisks destroyed dRaW's gateways, pylons, and main nexus, which forced the workers to flee. Jim's simultaneous lurker drop in the natural shredded up 22 workers. dRaW countered with reavers and cannons for defence and shuttle harass in the Zerg's main base. Two more doom drops occurred, but dRaW was able to stabilize while Jim's forces were depleted. Finally, the bm expansion nexus was discovered and destroyed. dRaW pushed out with six reavers, archons, and high templar and clashed with waves of ultralisks, hydralisks, and zerglings. The valiant Protoss army held off the Zerg swarm, but dRaW was unable to expand further and his army melted away.In the third game, Jim opted to get an early armour upgrade, but dRaW came in swinging. His zealot strike force destroyed the Zerg's distant third expansion along with several drones and zerglings. Jim's +1 attack, +1 armour zerglings protected his next third expansion, but he was unable to mine from it. dRaW's first two corsairs had uncontested air superiority and hunted down any and all overlords. The two players settled into poking around for hidden expansions with dark templars and probing the Protoss third base for weaknesses. The zerglings were able to loop around to kill off many probes and cannons. However, after they are driven back dRaW elevatored his army into the Zerg main, Jim gg'd, and dRaW moved on as the first non-Zerg to qualify for TLS.
The Finals
Game 1
Although technically a PvZ, SouthPark opted to go random as he did to knock out dewalt. However, he spawned his main race Zerg anyways. dRaW scouted correctly and was able to block the hatchery forcing SouthPark to go pool first.
dRaW then sent out his first five zealots to attack and SouthPark sent out around ten zerglings to protect his third base. Unfortunately for him, dRaW went straight for the throat and passed through the undefended natural and into the main. A couple of drones were killed, but clutch stacked drone micro prevented the zealots from attacking and the zealots were wiped out, crippling dRaW's early army.
The Protoss then switched to double stargates and began pumping out corsairs to control the air. SouthPark tried to follow up his advantage by attacking dRaW's wall. The gateway fell, but a momentary hesitation in front of cannons meant SouthPark lost his zergling advantage.
With both armies reset, dRaW's new corsair fleet swept back and forth slaughtering overlords as they spawned, supply blocking the Zerg, and shutting down unit production. Even the scourge were no match for the corsairs. Dark templar were dropped in the main, with no overlords in sight they wiped out the drone line and SouthPark gg'd.
Game 2
Once again SouthPark chose random, but spawned as Zerg just the same. SouthPark's opened nine-pool speed and dRaW scouted SouthPark late. The zerglings raced across the map to dRaW's unprepared base; however as SouthPark had not scouted, he calculated wrong and sent them to the empty cross position. By the time the zerglings arrived, dRaW was well prepared. Next, SouthPark gathered up a great hydralisk force off one hydra den and two gas. The hydralisks poked in, but the reinforced cannon wall held. The corsairs came out and dRaW added even more cannons. With the Protoss boxed in, SouthPark expanded behind and sent in his mutalisks to keep the Protoss on his back foot. However, dRaW threw down some epic storms and with a couple corsairs, the entire force was wiped out with little damage suffered.
dRaW then began his now signature drop harass as he bided his time and looked for an opportunity to break the contain. More and more Zerg expansions were thrown down. At last, dRaW partially broke the contain and got a small strike force out. SouthPark pushed back, reestablished the now weakened contain. However, dRaW pulled out double shuttle harass
which turned to triple shuttle harass. Zealots, high templar, and dark templar harried the Zerg, knocked out bases, stormed mineral lines, and caught reinforcements in the main. Meanwhile, dRaW's main army had grown massive, which roamed the map, destroyed the far flung expansions and drove back the greatly weakened Zerg army. The final triple drop stormed the last of SouthPark's drones and he gg'd.
Qualifier #4
With 131 players checked in to play the fourth Legacy Starleague qualifier the competition to earn a spot to the main tournament was in no way slowing down. With a number of Zergs (and dRaW) already qualified, the air was ripe with hopes for non-Zergs to make it through.
After some debilitating lag conflicts, the Ro128 featured the unfortunately star-filled match-up between Pike vs Beamface. This match was over almost as quickly as it began, as Beamface’s attempt to proxy BBS was overrun by the equally cheesy 9 pool from the Polish Zerg. The Ro128 also featured G5 making an early exit, dropping a PvP to Breach_hu.
Throughout the tournament, the big story seemed to focus on the progress of Naugrim and Drone, the old school ToT players who showed their worth in a game that was cast in the third qualifier. Both players did not disappoint, with Drone making it all the way through to the semis, while Naugrim dropped out in the Ro16 to the infamous Octzerg.
In addition, the relatively unknown player Hellerine’s run through the tournament was quite impressive. Hellerine made it through to the semifinals and defeated some incredibly talented players along the way. His performance in the bracket certainly establishes him as a force to be reckoned by his opponents in the final two qualifiers to be held this weekend.
Semifinals
The first semifinal featured the hometown hero, Liquid’Drone, playing Protoss in a match against the fearsome talents of Julia. In the first game Julia was swift and brutal. Opening with quick three hatch mutalisk play, he was able to inflict significant damage to Drone’s economy after Drone decided to skip the traditional Corsairs and instead rushed for archons. Julia followed up with a brutal Lurker drop that forced Drone out of the game almost immediately. The second game was a longer one, with Drone initially put on the back foot by a early zergling run-by and a followup lurker drop that significantly delayed Drones corsair reaver build. Drone was behind from that point on, with Julia being able to deflect Drone’s harass and disruption web plays. After shutting down Drone’s attempts to take a fourth base with his superior economy, Julia forced Drone to tap out, and Julia was granted passage into the TLS Ro24.The second semifinal showcased the talents of the previously unknown player, Hellerine, against the more well known player, Andrey. Andrey attempted a quick two-base push in the first game, but Hellerine showed exceptional patience and waited until he had enough forces to storm down the ramp and take out the push, and win the game, with ease. After this poor start, Andrey came out swinging with a quick and dirty two factory rush that just barely succeeded in overrunning Hellerine’s defences and forcing the series into a third game. The final game opened up with Hellerine on the offensive with a proxy DT rush that was completely shut down by Andrey’s solid wall and fast turrets. He was able to initiate a quick push and end the game in his favour, taking the series down two to one, and securing his spot in the Legacy Starleague.
The Finals
The finals opened up once again with aggression, with Julia’s early pool putting Andrey on the back foot, buying him enough time to get lurkers out. Exploiting the maps architecture, he broke lurkers in through the back door and forced Andrey into a base trade situation that he couldn’t win. The second game saw Julia’s aggression dealt with much better by Andrey early on, allowing him to get into a good position heading into the midgame. Unfortunately, when he moved out, he didn’t wait for his science vessel and walked his army into a group of hold lurkers. With his army decimated it was all downhill for Andrey, who couldn’t establish any relevant map control after that point. After some effective Guardian harass on Andrey’s natural and some good swarms, Julia was able to overrun the Terran defences and take the qualifier final two to zero. As the fourth qualifier winner in the Teamliquid Legacy Starleague, Julia will be granted the fourth pick of groups when the selection process for the Round of 24 begins.
Battle Report
In the round of 64 of the third qualifier tournament of the TeamLiquid Legacy Starleague, Liquid`Drone and Naugrim clashed over who would get to advance further into the tournament. Drone, playing Protoss, spawned at the top-right spawn position of Jade, while Naugrim, playing Zerg, spawned opposite, at the bottom-left corner of the map.
Naugrim opened with the intent of going for mutas off three bases. He took an early gas and then established two expansions, at his natural and the natural expansion of the bottom-right spawn position.
Drone opened with a forge expand and, after scouting Naugrim's opening play, opted for a +1 Speedzeal timing push.
Expecting the imminent Protoss attack, Naugrim built a number of lings in response. The zealots broke through the ling defense and headed straight for the main, where they destroyed the spire and pool, disrupting Naugrim's mining.
With his initial plan to go mutas thrown out of sorts by the loss of the spire in the main, Naugrim opted to rely more heavily on hydras and lurkers.
Drone took the opportunity to set up his third base and complement his force with a few High Templar and Dragoons after the first push ended.
Drone took the opportunity to set up his third base and complement his force with a few High Templar and Dragoons after the first push ended.
At the eleven minute mark, he tried for Naugrim's natural for a second time. His push looked extremely dangerous, and for a time it appeared as though Naugrim did not have the capacity to respond.
However, Naugrim bought enough time for himself in defending his natural expansion, time which allowed him to build a strong relief force of Hydralisks from his third base.
However, Naugrim bought enough time for himself in defending his natural expansion, time which allowed him to build a strong relief force of Hydralisks from his third base.
These units, used in a two-sided counterattack against Drone's forces, compounded with Drone's lack of reinforcement for those units while harassing the natural, led to the destruction of the second Protoss push.
During one of these patrols, a small portion of Drone's army wandered into Naugrim's waiting burrowed lurkers, resulting in the loss of a few units.Drone fell back in order to regroup, while Naugrim moved against the ten o'clock expansion and the base that Drone was beginning to establish there. The pace of the mid game became more passive, as both players attempted to build up their economies. Drone sought to maintain map control, and the initiative, throughout this time. Remaining active across the middle of the map, Drone sought to pick off Naugrim's stray units as they transferred from base to base.
This was not without risk, however.
This was not without risk, however.
The drop succeeded in doing a bit of economic damage, but the base remained viable and the drop forces were eventually destroyed.At this stage of the game, the two players' respective late-game strategies began to emerge. Naugrim developed defilers and ultralisks, while Drone invested in developing the ability to drop zealots and high templar across the map.
While Naugrim once again moved to deny Drone's ten o'clock expansion attempt, Drone initiated drop harass against Naugrim's four o'clock bottom-right corner base.
While Naugrim once again moved to deny Drone's ten o'clock expansion attempt, Drone initiated drop harass against Naugrim's four o'clock bottom-right corner base.
Drone followed up this attack with a dedicated move against Naugrim's three o'clock expansion, but strong lurker placement combined with dark swarm made it difficult for Drone, causing him to abandon the effort.
Naugrim was able to scout this incoming attack as it developed in the middle of the field, and managed to get off a timely plague on the flight of shuttles as they passed overhead.A short time later, Drone consolidated his forces in order to attack Naugrim's natural for the third time in the game. This third attack incorporated a drop, with a number of shuttles loaded with zealots and archons. Despite the plague on the shuttles, Drone's drop force remained unharmed and he was able to drop units successfully into Naugrim's main while his primary force engaged Zerg forces outside of Naugrim's base. The drop took out a number of key base structures after Drone supplemented it with two Reavers.
At the same time, Naugrim engaged Drone's main force from the rear with a number of Ultralisks.In response to seeing the Ultralisks on the field, Drone committed his main force to attacking Naugrim's natural, with his drop force destroying Naugrim's main throughout all of this.
As his main force fell prey to the combined might of Naugrim's army, Drone began to morph dark templar into dark archons.
Dark archons make a rare appearance in the PvZ match-up, with their intended use being the employment of maelstrom in order to stun ultralisks and get off free damage against them before they can retaliate.
Dark archons make a rare appearance in the PvZ match-up, with their intended use being the employment of maelstrom in order to stun ultralisks and get off free damage against them before they can retaliate.
Despite the judicious use of maelstrom, Drone was never able to effectively deal with the large numbers of ultralisks that were now present on the field.However, by this point in the game, Drone had completely lost the initiative, and the tide shifted towards Naugrim. With a few lings and ultras, he cleaned up what was left of Drone's attacking army. He then initiated drop harass with Lurkers against Drone's ten o'clock expansion, which he was finally able to establish after multiple attempts. This action hampered Drone's ability to mine; in general, Drone's economic circumstances at this point in the game were quite unfavorable, with only two mining bases versus Naugrim's three.
Finally, Naugrim went on the offensive and began to wear down Drone's expensive Archon-heavy force with every passing engagement.
With the destruction of the last of Drone's army, Naugrim was able to pick off his opponent's bases, forcing Drone to type out of the game.
With the destruction of the last of Drone's army, Naugrim was able to pick off his opponent's bases, forcing Drone to type out of the game.
Winners Interviews
With this weekend heralding an end to the pure zerg dominance we observed in the first two qualifiers we took the time to sit down and have a chat to the lucky players who will be taking a slot in the TLS proper.
S.A-Julia ![[image loading]](/images/flags2/pl.png)
+ Show Spoiler +
Julia, you won it all! As another Zerg to enter the ranks how do you feel?
It was nice to qualify, but I do hope more Protoss and Terrans will qualify since ZvZ is quite boring to watch, maybe it's a good time to switch to PvZ. ;-)
Your semifinals opponent was Liquid'Drone, did you feel bad eliminating someone with a Liquid tag?
Haven't really given any thought about the team tag, now it struck me I should not eliminated the team that organizes the tour, faux pas lol. I remember Eriador played NaDa during some Blizzard tournament some years ago, I really like his play and do hope he makes it and qualifies.
In both games you favored you favored mutas. This was especially key in your first Victory. Do you often play with mutas?
It may seem like that, but much depends on what's happening in game. The first game was actually to be a Hydra/Lurk plan, but he managed to harass my economy a bit early with zeals and the mutas seemed a better choice at that time, it was a rather sloppy situation, guess muta worked better than expected.
The second Game proved very exciting. At one point you double dropped lurkers. Were you worried when the drop in the main was defended?
I was a bit surprised to see those reavers, but even though it was countered, the damage was also done to my opponent and he could not amass reaver/sair. It was still a favourable drop amid loses, and allowed me to cut on defenses and expand.
After your tech switch to muta you were very brave and made guardians + devourers + Ensnare. Was this a treat for the audience or a build from practice?
Definitely didn't think of them as a treat for the audience, they are very useful units, but again it's all rather situational. Ensnare/parasite on shuttles is great against reaver harass and corsairs. Devourers are great support against sairs too. It's just I didn't want to over invest in those units, since I though he will be switching to ground units any time soon. Had I committed to pure devourer/muta/guardian at that point, it probably would win me the game faster due to lack of storm/ground army on Protoss side.
You were harassed by double reaver drop. Did this strike put you behind or did you still feel in control of the Game?
I guess the damage wasn't that significant and the Protoss investment was pretty big, every time the Protoss attacked he lost some units, in the end his forces weren't growing steadily enough to mount a harder attack. It felt rather comfortable, there was a bit of damage done, but all in all I traded units for units and just lost a few drones. There was also a greater spire destroyed, but it was immediately remade at another expo. It all went rather unfavourably for the Protoss.
In a final showdown drone almost defended perfectly with a combination of d-web and reavers. How relieved were you to see the GG?
Back then I was trying to figure out a combination of units to finally win, since it was getting a bit annoying smashing my head against a reaver/d-web wall, at the same time having most of the map. Hard to call it a relief, it was just a fun game to play, I'm happy to have won it.
In the finals you met Andreyy, were you intimidated when you found out his in game name would be gym-bag?
Very. The morale of my zerglings and hydralisks plummeted down almost immediately...
Game 1 was going rough at First and Terran seemed to have an advantage. The tide turned with a very brave move to perform hold lurkers as the Terran army walked into you trap. Andreyy famously quoted, "that's fun". Well, was it fun?
That was a very evil move yea, he sent an SCV and it died on the lurker field near my natural, so I decided it's time for repositioning, now that he "knows" where my lurkers are. The lurkers had a lot of fun, I confirm. :>
The game ended in quickly after that. What did you tell yourself to mentally prepare for the NEXT game?
Just wanted to play something stable, didn't put any pressure on myself in those games.
Game 2 began with a Gas steal and when Andreyy finally pushed out with his army his medics ran in the wrong direction across the map. Had you pushed with your four lurkers at that time his army would have melted. Were you aware that his medics went missing or did you see this in the replay?
I was unaware there is a mutiny going on between his ranks. My lurkers only saw the front line of marines and acted accordingly.
You dropped lurkers into his base. Drops have been really effective for Zergs in this tournament, is this a strategy we should expect to see since the map pool will remain the same?
I hope so, attacking play and lots of drops are always very entertaining to watch.
You continued to wreck the Terran base but somehow the Terran army was able to assault your main. Could you tell the viewers how that happened since it was off camera?
I admit missing it too lol, it was probably an invisible dropship or they just teleported there.
There are many games in the qualifiers who was your easiest and toughest opponent?
It all went rather smooth for me. The ZvZs are always an unknown, I had done a tactical mistake in a game vs ZergBOy but he didn't capitalize on it, that was probably the worst situation during my games that day.
There are many Zergs qualified now, are you confident in your ZvZ?
With a rate of about one or two random ZvZ games per week, I am confident that I need to find a ZvZ training partner lol. Else my ZvZ is rather poor now due to lack of play at all. It all comes down to practice.
Is there anything else you would like to say to your fans out there?
I don’t know for fans, but for friends I play with, I hope that they had as much fun watching this tour as I had fun watching the previous ones .
Thank you for the interview and good luck in your future games.
dRaW ![[image loading]](/images/flags2/ca.png)
+ Show Spoiler +
Draw, first congratulations on qualifying and many might say "it's about time!" How great do you feel?
I actually feel a little unsatisfied, my macro mechanics have dropped quite a bit lately and I need much more preparation for the proceeding rounds of the tournament. Although it's nice to win, I was very sure I would at least qualify from points, so this is maybe why I didn't feel that great after winning the TLS Qualifier #3 (also, I had tried twice previously and lost both).
You have become the Protoss personality of the TLS with in game performances and fun banter in the forums. Can we expect more of this behavior from you?
I think that most people are dry and boring, or don't show their true selves during downtime between rounds and events. Since I am a prolific active BW forum poster (and stream dweller) I try to hype up anything I can just for the sake of entertainment. If I get more confidence I will do some bold talking and strategies later in the tournament, so I guess you can expect some shenanigans.
The quarterfinals was a match again Jim who is now known as "The real jimbag". Did you find him worthy of such an intimidating nickname?
The real jimbag was exactly that, a gym bag. I tossed my smelly socks in them and threw it to the corner of the front hall where it sits. I guess that means he is worthy of that title.
Game 1 went great for you. Jim went for a double hydra den opening. How are you so good at defending hydra busts?
Well, I can say that defending hydra busts comes mostly from experience, good Zergs will hide the strategy much more effectively. However, I noticed he had a late gas and there is a trend going for Bulgarian Zergs to play of this style so as I saw his first hydra I just assumed he would use it.
(The style I am referring to is hydra/lurk and no spire or late spire).
(The style I am referring to is hydra/lurk and no spire or late spire).
Many engagements went well due to storms, but your dragoons betrayed you and ran purposely into a corner where they were slaughtered. Have you any words for them?
My dragoons were obviously not very smart, at least they managed to deal some good damage before demolishing so humiliatingly.
In the end you won because of harassment on every front. How hard is it to manage that many engagements?
The multitask is just my style, I am actually playing at a much lower rate during these qualifiers than in practice (i.e 140eapm from the normal 170~). I think that you should just use your strengths in Brood War, so while this style is good, I don't always use my multi-management and then I end up getting into some troublesome games where others' mechanics in one particular aspect surpass my own.
During game 2 you put a hidden nexus by the Zergs base. Surely the Protoss race must think you are an insane commander but stayed put for some time. Is this an expansion that you often take based on positions?
This base was purely for entertainment. However, since I took my mineral only at around the same time, my gateway explosion was quite late. He then proceeded to play a low-ish econ hydra/lurk drop (which I actually predicted pre-game but then fell into the trap of trying to put on such a wild game) and this caused to be too insurmountable.
The game went 37 minutes and you lost to a stampede of cows. Were you concerned that this would be a repeat of the last qualifiers defeat?
Sorry, Jim[BG] seems like an okay guy but the last map was Fighting Spirit and I didn't feel threatened at all.
Game 3 Jim opened up with a 11 ling aggression. Your aggression had many difficulties at first, did this strategy surprise you?
I got a good spawn on FS (although this is a 50% chance) so already I was in a comfortable position. Ling masses at the point of the game where my wall-in is complete pose no threat resulting in a calm game. His strategy didn't really surprise me, it's a typical response to gateway expansion.
Your zealot harassment was amazing in the end. Did you sense victory?
The game was rather easy, I knew that I won when he was chasing my probe and I had 4 zealots already en-route to his third since his ling count was too low.
Your final battle was against SouthPark who chose random. Do you think he believed he was better then you?
I don't know what Southpark thinks, but I was not very appreciative of his skills in the past. This resulted an embarrassing loss in Gambit Cup two seasons ago. My plan was just to play safe and get revenge for this loss.
The first game went well as you made a standard vZ opening anyway and probe blocked South Parks main. Do you practice probe control?
Every game I play is practice with probe control, you need to have good strategy and probe control to keep it alive long enough to deduce what possibilities that a Zerg opponent can follow up with, so gas timing and initial ling production is very important to note.
Again you had a game that transitioned into sair/DT, As a Protoss player what advice do you give to those learning how to make the most out of their corsairs?
The biggest thing to Protoss is map awareness and patience. Sure most people say they are the easy race because of fundamental mechanics but this falls down the toilet when you are playing decent people who know Protoss weaknesses, making it one of the harder races to play at the top level. For sairs, I believe you need to keep this thought of patience and if you don't see any openings to kill overlords simply forget about the corsair harass at that point in time of the game and leave them on hold or patrol near your base to intercept possible drop-play. After you have established the Zerg's full decision in composition you can then plan when you will utilize the corsairs again. Large hydra army? Wait until you dwindle it down with some storm engagements, then use sairs. Zerglings/lurker or just a muta army? Use those sairs! Remember if they mass muta, you don't necessarily have to engage, just wait until you are in a favourable position with storm or a few archons.
Game 2, the final game looked like it would be tough for you when SouthPark's mutalisks made their way across the map. You landed a magnificent storm and told SouthPark, "Don't play with fire". Should we expect more badass lines from your in game chat?
Actually probably not, I didn't know if there was a typing in-game rule or not but generally I don't talk at all in games, even saying GL HF GG normally I don't do.
Your signature multi-prong harassment won the game for you again. You are not only the first Protoss qualifier but a first place finisher. What is your mindset going into the main tournament?
My current mind set going into the tournament is just to rank as high as I can, since the grand final will probably be some sort of points accumulation over the next few tournaments. Since there are many Zergs I feel that my chances to progress into the second round should be good.
Overall, the TLS has made been a great success, do you have any words for your fans and viewers?
I appreciate all the work from the staff and casters, also just TeamLiquid in general for supporting this tournament. I must thank my team mates for always keeping some motivation to play, even if we don't practice that much (skzlime/locdog/zaraki/etc). There's also the SkypeTV Starleague group that have been hanging out watching VODs and discussing the community which is great, I wish all of them luck if they participate in the following qualifiers. WHICH YOU ALL SHOULD! I also want to say that NinaZerg is a great friend of mine that I have known for a long time, so if you are one of those guys who give her a hard time, I will find and destroy you. O,o
To any viewers or fans, thanks for watching and if you want to see any whacky viable strategies PM me on TeamLiquid.net and I will see what I can do for you to keep the game entertaining (of course I will try to win first and foremost). I will try my best to make sure the casting archon of Elegant and Sayle have dark archon play in the finals.
Finally, sorry if this is too long but I want to say that I plan fully to revenge anyone who has beaten me in the past while. While I did get immediate revenge on Trutacz in Nation Wars after my qualifying loss I never consider being even with someone a successful revenge. So; eonzerg / trutacz / sziky and michael are all opponents that I hope to end up playing in this tour. :D
To any viewers or fans, thanks for watching and if you want to see any whacky viable strategies PM me on TeamLiquid.net and I will see what I can do for you to keep the game entertaining (of course I will try to win first and foremost). I will try my best to make sure the casting archon of Elegant and Sayle have dark archon play in the finals.
Finally, sorry if this is too long but I want to say that I plan fully to revenge anyone who has beaten me in the past while. While I did get immediate revenge on Trutacz in Nation Wars after my qualifying loss I never consider being even with someone a successful revenge. So; eonzerg / trutacz / sziky and michael are all opponents that I hope to end up playing in this tour. :D
Thank you again for the interview Draw and best of luck.
Qualified Players
Andreyy ![[image loading]](/images/flags2/us.png)
+ Show Spoiler +
SJ.SouthPark
+ Show Spoiler +
Andreyy, congratulations on being the first Terran to qualify! How does it feel?
Honestly, while it feels good to have seemingly accomplished something, it is depressing that this is the only thing going for me in my life.
You chose to call yourself Gym-Bag throughout the bracket, was this key to your success?
I believe the key to my success was that the opponents in my bracket weren't trying very hard that day.
Hellerine was your opponent in the quarterfinals and there was quite a bit of chat. Do you feel you won the mind games?
I said some regretful things and I feel bad. I am sorry to those I ever offended. I don't mean what I say, these are just my own insecurities coming out.
The first game you went for an early five tank push. The contain was almost complete when your opponent was able to make a bust. Losing the first game must have been tough. Were you nervous for game 2?
I was pretty angry that I lost game 1 the way I did, so I was determined to win the series no matter what.
In game 2 you had great defense against a 2-gate cannon rush. Are you cheesed often by Protoss?
I cannot remember the last time I was cannon cheesed, but I have a solid understanding of how to react to it from past experience with it.
You must have felt great watching your spider mines slaughter dragoons. Anything you'd like to say to future Protoss players?
Please keep your observers away from your goons and use the move command as much as possible. And never get observer speed or sigh range upgrades.
The second game ended with more chatter and Hellerine must have been really worried because he went for a DT rush. Were you sensing he went for DTs?
I knew he went proxy DT tech because he overcompensated and had 3 early pylons in his base by the time my SCV scouted him. I have no idea what possessed him to go DTs, and then to lose them one after the other.
Siege expand is less economic then a 1 rax expand, why do you choose that opening?
Siege expand is so sexy. With 1 rax expand before gas you are making assumptions about what your opponent is doing and it is not as sexy terran-esque as siege expand.
The finals was against Zerg opponent Julia. Have you played Julia before?
I have played with Julia a number of times. Zergs generally do not concern or scare me.
Games 1 and 2 both ended to lurker aggression. How does that make you feel about lurkers?
I did not focus on the finals games, having already reached my goal, which was to qualify. Though I would prefer to show good fun games, I was not in the mood to play any more by that point and I am glad the viewers had something fun to watch with the stop lurkers.
Now that you qualified into the main tournament, how will you prepare for the many opponents ahead?
Fish server.
Is there anything else you would like to say to your fans?
If you have a sister, please let me have sex with her.
Thank you for the interview and best of luck in the main bracket.
SJ.SouthPark + Show Spoiler +
Congratulations on qualifying! How do you feel about advancing to the main tournament?
I feel good that what I have managed to do has made me happy because I wanted to make the main event.
You had a good play through the bracket, what would you say was your greatest challenge in today's game?
At the beginning I was expecting when I saw the bracket to play in the ro16 against Infernal and I knew that the game would not last longer than 5/6 minutes ^ ^. That's why Dewalt was the toughest opponent. Fortunately, Terran and Protoss are a great work around my main race I knew then that I would succeed because I'm doing well in ZvZ.
You played a ZvZ in the quarter finals with great success. Are you someone to be feared in ZvZ?
As I wrote above, I feel good in ZvZ, so I won. I'm afraid of only Trutacz and Pike. They are the only people who will be able to beat me and the rest on the surface seems to be good.
The quarterfinals opponent was ZZZero, do you have any previous history playing against each other?
I played a lot of games with him and I knew that I could easily play 12h exp. ZZZero is now inactive and because of this it was quite easy to win.
During game 1 your opponent went for a 10 hatch 9 pool. This immediately turned into a build order win for you. This brought up the question, is 10hatch9pool a valid strategy?
For me 10h9p is a typical allin in ZvZ. Obviously 12h> 10h because the outcome of the meeting was not uneven. If I had played against 9p you'd have a different outcome.
Game two went quickly in your favor as you chose to go over gas vs 9 pool. As a Zerg player what goes through your mind in each game, do you prepare each build order or just choose what feels right at the start of the game?
I always know what to play ahead of the game. You must decide your opening beforehand. I wonder what my opponent will play and think as he thinks. It’s always a little funny and can easily make you change your mind, but never change your mind once the game begins.
In the finals you met Draw, the first qualifying Protoss. Is it because he plays Protoss you decided to go random, because you believe the race is so inferior?
I waited 2 hours for the final. I was tired knowing that I would have to play a macro game. With this knowledge I decided to do allins. 90% of my games are allins so I wanted to surprise Draw. I believed my chances were better landing an offrace.
Playing random went your way as both games landed Zerg. Did you sense an advantage?
Of course I felt advantage, but the opening by Draw allowed for a normal PvZ to pass. I would have been happy if he played risky but he did not.
In the first game Draw blocked your natural several times. Often when this happens Zergs choose to take their 3rd as their expansion and claim the natural later. What is the key in making such a decision?
I never liked to play schemes, because I never learned them. Maybe it would be better, but I prefer to play as I like and do what I fell in the moment and what I think is better.
During game to you had a strong mutalisk force. Draw responded with a massive storm and said "Don't play with fire". Do you feel this is the beginning of a rivalry between you two?
Hehe, everyone likes to compete with each other and I think Draw has a competitive complex. After he lost the Gambit cup to me he stopped liking me. Nevertheless, he plays and trains but does not have the skill he should. No offense Draw.
In the end it felt like you gained many fans with your success on the qualifier 3 bracket, do you have any final words for them?
Thank you TL.net for organizing the tournament. I hope for many more tournaments. If there are any fans I would love to greet them so find me on NetWars.pl. (Sorry for the English, but used a translator. TN: I edited his responses accordingly) May the force be with you 9p!
SC: BW> ... > SC2
SC: BW> ... > SC2
Thank you for the interview and good luck in your main tournament run.
Thanks.
Sitting Down With Elegant
We also took a moment to chat with the other half of our beloved casters of "Saylegant" the Posh Toss casting duo. Epoxide sat down with Elegant to pick his brain on his thoughts on the TLS so far.
Epoxide: Could you tell us a bit about yourself for those who don't know you?
Elegant: I'm EleGant, long-time member of AoV and pretty hardcore Brood War guy. I was quite late onto the scene in 2008 or so (I know, it seems so long ago now!), and dreamed of being a top player back then. But commentator is pretty good too. In everyday life I'm Mote Keatinge and I'm a musician. Sounds glamorous, but don't be fooled
Epoxide: Behind you during the casts several instruments can be seen, which instruments do you play?
Elegant: At the moment I play guitar, both six and seven-string, piano and synth. In the past I've played countless instruments, and I'll probably pick up more as time goes on. I spend a lot of time working with software instruments as well- I'm an orchestral composer with, sadly, no real orchestra.
Epoxide: That's a lot of instruments.
Hacklebeast posted in the TLS announcement thread saying that I didn't mention you being a professional model. Is this something you would like to talk about?
Elegant: The only thing I've modelled even vaguely professionally is my Razer headset. But, I'll happily model quite unprofessionally for anyone willing to provide more gear...
Epoxide: How did you get into casting?
Elegant: That actually really makes me think. At the time when established casters left the scene and a sort of caster vacuum formed, I was looking for more ways to be involved in BW and to get the revival going! It was desperate times as I'm sure many remember, but I had true faith in the idea that we could turn things around, and that we had the right game already. I considered being an admin, but as in every aspect of my life the fame and fortune of being a caster attracted me more. I remember, I had to commentate a privately streamed test for LRM)Game before an event. That was nerve-wracking, and my knowledge of the particular matchup at the time (it was a PvZ) truly sucked.
Epoxide: Being alone with Game? That is scary.
How come your brother didn't start with you? Brothers should have amazing synergy right? + Show Spoiler +
Elegant: Oh, well it's funny you should say that because he's wanted to be involved in casting several times, but we've never quite found the opportunity to make it happen. The synergy would be great I'm sure. To this day we still have in-depth conversations about matches and the scene regularly, and I have such a strong memory of standing at the bar in a pub in York, grabbing all the salt and pepper pots to demonstrate a Terran defensive line right on the counter. But I don't know why we didn't start simultaneously. I suppose he's always had a more relaxed approach to the whole scene, whereas I'm characteristically a very intense person.
Epoxide: I'm looking forward to it : )
Elegant: well hopefully the chance will arise. Sayle only needs to be ill for one weekend... if you catch my drift... joking, of course, forgive me Sayle!
Epoxide: How big do you think the chances are for Poetic to qualify?
Elegant: I would honestly say that in this run of qualifiers, he'd have to get quite lucky to find himself in a qualifying spot. However, I know how he's playing and how much he wants this, so he's one to watch out for in future qualifiers. This is clearly something the general public weren't aware of before his casted game last week. As an aside, people can be really brutal if there's a player they don't know! Streamchatters, play nice on me and Poetic – he's going to go far, and it's going to be soon.
Epoxide: I'll ban them kekekeke.
Elegant: I was glad they hung around to be proven wrong. dRaW was living on the very edge in that match. Poetic though, in classic modest style, didn't even hang around for the post game accolades in the chat. He was already laddering a new match. What a boss!
Epoxide: Who else are you rooting for and who do you think will be in the finals of the last two qualifiers?
Elegant: Well, I'm a sucker for oldschoolers at times, and having played against both G5 and Horror on ladder in the run-up to the TLS, I was rooting for them to go far. However, both haven't really made much of an appearance though obviously there's still good time, so I'd have to say that WandS is the player with my fondest hopes at the moment. He's a teammate, he's a hard-worker, and has come a long way since being a contender in the ASL only a year or so ago. He's the sort of guy to really be cheering for right now, truly an up-and comer.
He's also not Zerg! As the players tend to be in the finals... I'd have to say TerrOr as one, because he has been damn good from start to finish so far, if falling just short each time and for some reason, something in me wants to say Naugrim, but over him I think I'd have to say Liquid'Drone. Maybe that's a sentimental call, but I think he has what it takes. Who knows though, with the way things are going, ol' gymbag stands a bizzarre but definite chance to find himself in a final. He's become a strange character. I don't know if he's a fan-favourite but something in me wants him to go far!!
Epoxide: gymbag hwaiting~
Bonus question. Why were you naked during the stream testing for TLS?
Elegant: Hey, you do a surprise stream-test, you're going to get EleGant unwrapped. My room was warm, my chair isn't leather or anything... I was a free spirit.
"I will show better commentaries in the future. Cheer for me~~"
Elegant: I'm EleGant, long-time member of AoV and pretty hardcore Brood War guy. I was quite late onto the scene in 2008 or so (I know, it seems so long ago now!), and dreamed of being a top player back then. But commentator is pretty good too. In everyday life I'm Mote Keatinge and I'm a musician. Sounds glamorous, but don't be fooled
Epoxide: Behind you during the casts several instruments can be seen, which instruments do you play?
Elegant: At the moment I play guitar, both six and seven-string, piano and synth. In the past I've played countless instruments, and I'll probably pick up more as time goes on. I spend a lot of time working with software instruments as well- I'm an orchestral composer with, sadly, no real orchestra.
Epoxide: That's a lot of instruments.
Hacklebeast posted in the TLS announcement thread saying that I didn't mention you being a professional model. Is this something you would like to talk about?
Elegant: The only thing I've modelled even vaguely professionally is my Razer headset. But, I'll happily model quite unprofessionally for anyone willing to provide more gear...
Epoxide: How did you get into casting?
Elegant: That actually really makes me think. At the time when established casters left the scene and a sort of caster vacuum formed, I was looking for more ways to be involved in BW and to get the revival going! It was desperate times as I'm sure many remember, but I had true faith in the idea that we could turn things around, and that we had the right game already. I considered being an admin, but as in every aspect of my life the fame and fortune of being a caster attracted me more. I remember, I had to commentate a privately streamed test for LRM)Game before an event. That was nerve-wracking, and my knowledge of the particular matchup at the time (it was a PvZ) truly sucked.
Epoxide: Being alone with Game? That is scary.
How come your brother didn't start with you? Brothers should have amazing synergy right? + Show Spoiler +
Poetic is Elegant's brother.
Elegant: Oh, well it's funny you should say that because he's wanted to be involved in casting several times, but we've never quite found the opportunity to make it happen. The synergy would be great I'm sure. To this day we still have in-depth conversations about matches and the scene regularly, and I have such a strong memory of standing at the bar in a pub in York, grabbing all the salt and pepper pots to demonstrate a Terran defensive line right on the counter. But I don't know why we didn't start simultaneously. I suppose he's always had a more relaxed approach to the whole scene, whereas I'm characteristically a very intense person.
Epoxide: I'm looking forward to it : )
Elegant: well hopefully the chance will arise. Sayle only needs to be ill for one weekend... if you catch my drift... joking, of course, forgive me Sayle!
Epoxide: How big do you think the chances are for Poetic to qualify?
Elegant: I would honestly say that in this run of qualifiers, he'd have to get quite lucky to find himself in a qualifying spot. However, I know how he's playing and how much he wants this, so he's one to watch out for in future qualifiers. This is clearly something the general public weren't aware of before his casted game last week. As an aside, people can be really brutal if there's a player they don't know! Streamchatters, play nice on me and Poetic – he's going to go far, and it's going to be soon.
Epoxide: I'll ban them kekekeke.
Elegant: I was glad they hung around to be proven wrong. dRaW was living on the very edge in that match. Poetic though, in classic modest style, didn't even hang around for the post game accolades in the chat. He was already laddering a new match. What a boss!
Epoxide: Who else are you rooting for and who do you think will be in the finals of the last two qualifiers?
Elegant: Well, I'm a sucker for oldschoolers at times, and having played against both G5 and Horror on ladder in the run-up to the TLS, I was rooting for them to go far. However, both haven't really made much of an appearance though obviously there's still good time, so I'd have to say that WandS is the player with my fondest hopes at the moment. He's a teammate, he's a hard-worker, and has come a long way since being a contender in the ASL only a year or so ago. He's the sort of guy to really be cheering for right now, truly an up-and comer.
He's also not Zerg! As the players tend to be in the finals... I'd have to say TerrOr as one, because he has been damn good from start to finish so far, if falling just short each time and for some reason, something in me wants to say Naugrim, but over him I think I'd have to say Liquid'Drone. Maybe that's a sentimental call, but I think he has what it takes. Who knows though, with the way things are going, ol' gymbag stands a bizzarre but definite chance to find himself in a final. He's become a strange character. I don't know if he's a fan-favourite but something in me wants him to go far!!
Epoxide: gymbag hwaiting~
Bonus question. Why were you naked during the stream testing for TLS?
Elegant: Hey, you do a surprise stream-test, you're going to get EleGant unwrapped. My room was warm, my chair isn't leather or anything... I was a free spirit.
"I will show better commentaries in the future. Cheer for me~~"
See you next week!
That about wraps it up for this week's coverage of the TLS. Be sure to tune in this Saturday and Sunday at 20:00 GMT (+00:00) for another exhilarating cast. If you missed last week's cast, you can catch the VODs for Qualifier #3 and Qualifier #4.
Players. It's your time to shine! Registration is open for Qualifiers #5 and #6
Check out the results and standings thread for more information. Also, be sure to give Liquipedia some love and head on over there not only to stay up to date on the TLS but to help contribute in any way you can!
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Now I really want him to do well so he doesn't become depressed, but I don't want him to do well because one more interview like that and we will all become depressed.
