NW vs LRM seemed like a very close and hard to predict match, as both team are playoff contenders on paper, and were undefeated before this match. As expected, the match opened with a ZvZ, with none other than Technics vs Pike. Pike got the early build-order advantage with 12-hatch against 12-pool, but is quickly negated as Technics sneaks a few drones before mutas, gets a free overlord, starts carapace upgrade earlier and gets a third hatch. After accumulating mutas for a while, Technics went for a carapace timing that ended up in an even trade, but his macro advantage meant he was very ahead. He also took a third, while Pike decided to tech to hive, and to attack with his first devourer. When that attack failed, he had to type out.

Second game saw the return of a beloved player, in the form of Kolll, who went up against Sneazel on Outsider. Kolll opened 12-pool in what seemed to be a two-hatch-muta opening. He scouted a huge gap in the wall and only one cannon, and reacted by gas stealing the natural with his drone, which Sneazel had to react to, as he wanted to get two-stargate to defend the two-hatch-muta. But the German wonder kid had decided to ling all-in, and all this meant it worked perfectly and Sneazel had to gg. This was followed by a pretty standard PvZ on Fighting Spirit between dOTY and Trutacz. Trutacz got a hydralisk army trapped as he tried to deny the Protoss' third, which meant he couldn't defend the subsequent attack on his natural, and just like that, LRM was surprisingly leading 3-0.

SouthPark reacted for NW by beating Bakuryu in a quick 9-pool-mirror where the German Zerg tried to sneak an earlier natural but lacked the lings to defend it. But then Semih went out on Heartbreak Ridge and defeated Bonyth in a short PvP. He indeed went for 4-gate, but after being scouted, he canceled one and got the robo, which meant he was in a perfect position to defend the DTs of Bonyth. He then went to attack the natural Bonyth had tried to take, and with nice goon micro took the battle. NW 1-4 LRM.






FR against iFU is an interesting match-up, mostly because the roster of FR is relatively unknown to the casual gamer or viewer who doesn't frequent defiler.ru, yet they have a few strong players. iFU on the other hand has potential to go far in this league, but it comes down to if they have enough of their key players at the clanwar to pull off a victory. Anyway, game 1 starts off with the battle of Eonzerg vs Idegel on Polaris Rhapsody in a ZvP matchup. Eonzerg opens with a 4-hatch hydra taking the closest mineral only as his third, whereas Idegel starts off with a 4-gate +1 zealot build. Eonzerg's timing proved to be a bit off as he was on the defense early game and happened to lose his third hatchery. Idegel then took a quick third base, with a gas, defending it well with cannons and a high templar, however it didn't seem to matter as Eonzerg's less than decent economy seemed to be the beginning of the end for him. Another few attacks occurred until Idegel's army size became just too much for Eonzerg to handle, and with a slight upset FR ends up 1-0.

Game 2 was on Outsider with the players FR.Gargoyle and iFU.Cryoc battling it out in a TvT. Gargoyle who has done quite well in defiler tournaments would appear at first to be the favourite, however it looked more to be Cryoc's game from the get-go. After a long game, Cryoc proved to be the victor maintaining his undefeated streak and tied up the score at 1-1. In the third game, we had a PvT with FR.werdi vs iFU.Marwin on Fighting Spirit. The game opens with a two gate aggression from Werdi who surprises Marwin and almost breaks his mine defense at the natural. With some solid macro, Werdi establishes his third and gets a size-able army for a timing attack as Marwin set up his own third. The game ended right then and there as this attack was the finishing blow to Marwin, who looked to be at almost half the supply by this time.

Down 1-2, iFU sends LancerX to square off against Bandy at Heartbreak Ridge for the fourth match. LancerX has the ability to compete and beat almost anyone in the foreign scene. Unfortunately this was not one of those games as it looked like his build timing was quite off and Bandy won this rather easily, pushing FR's lead up to 3-1. On the back foot, iFU's next player was TTF and it was to a little luck that FR ran out of their top line-up and had to resort to the manager FR)Yoda. Now don't get me wrong, Yoda is a complete badass, but this proved to not be enough to close the series as a failed all-in ling bust turned into a disaster on Tau Cross and TTF ends up closing the game with a sunken bust.

The sixth set was on Eye of the Storm, iFU's ZerGgboy was paired against FR.Moro. This game was short and sweet as ZerGgboy followed in Idegel's steps with a zealot +1 timing to end it. The ace match was return of Eonzerg in a ZvZ against Bandy. Eonzerg got the BO advantage in cross spots on Jade and took the game with haste. Down 3-1, iFU came back to take the CW 4-3 in an exciting fashion. I would say that if FR can grab a few other players to show up during clanwar times that have the caliber of their top line-up they could become a real play-off contender.






Another tough defeat for Fox. Arcneon started by disposing of Quirinius in a very one-sided game that was decided fast as early zealot got a ton of damage. Then Cosy and Wallace had a very long macro game on Outsider, but Wallace never seemed in a winning position as he was at an economic disadvantage all game long, even if a few questionable decisions from Cosy made the game a bit longer than needed. Fold then got an excellent position against Moxie on Fighting Spirit by scouting and denying a hidden third. Despite this, he wasn't ready for the subsequent all-in push, which meant Fox was now 0-3. Finally Assault took out Shrinker on Heartbreak Ridge in a pretty long macro game that was mainly decided by a contain which Shrinker never managed to break. PaiN 4-0 Fox.






SJ with a diminishing roster went up against the titans of the league, sas. While one may think that sas is expected to win, I am not sure many predicted a 4-0. SJ is looking like they are on a downfall and will need to go into intensive training or add new members to the roster to gain momentum and have a shot to qualify into the playoffs. A quick recap, Game 1 at Rhapsody Polaris was Terror vs Sziky. The game was short and sweet and Sziky won via ling and muta through superior micro. Game two was supposed to be Funny vs Michael, but unfortunately due to some time issues, SJ lost this one via Walkover. Down 2-0, SJ then sent M0b who had a 3-0 record going into the clanwar to face-off against Locdog. With some over aggression and sloppy execution, M0b suicided his initial army after already being behind in build order openings. The game ends rather one-sidedly afterwards with a victory for Locdog.

The final game had potential to be an epic clash between Dewalt vs Napoleon. These guys have been facing off a lot recently in various meetings, providing awesome games. However, this time, Dewalt starts off the game with a successful cannon rush destroying Napoleon's third hatchery and base, then predicting Napoleon's tech to muta. The game was kept in Dewalt's favour until he finally closed it with a heavy 2 base push while taking his own third. GG to sas and the clean sweep.

Hot off the one sided victory against NW, LRM is looking for that number one spot on the standings. iFU on the other hand needs to either win or not lose too badly in order to remain playoff contenders. It will be a tough fight, but they’ve managed to bring the top team sas to a close 4-3 game. It’s not entirely impossible for them to take one over LRM.

Prediction: iFU wins 4-3



While it was obvious from the start that Fox were the underdogs, they don’t get it any easier this week with their opponent being NW. Being dead last in the standings and against the current second place team, it’s hard not to predict a ruthless 4-0 sweep by the Polish team. It will take nothing short of a miracle for Fox to be a contender for playoffs. Even though they have the most females on their team, it might not be worth their souls to make that sort of miracle a reality.

Prediction: NW wins 4-0



FR had some great planning last week that almost resulted in a one sided win over iFU, but they fell just short of taking the jugular. Despite being second last, it might be too soon to scratch them off the list of potential playoff contenders if they keep playing as well for the remainder of the season. iwL is in a slightly better but still similar position; both teams can’t afford to lose for it will effectively mean out of playoffs, so it’s likely to expect fights to the bitter end for both these teams.

Prediction: iwL wins 4-2



Four weeks and four wins, sas has been on a tear from the very start. Without doing any complicated math, it’s safe to say if they win these next two weeks, they will have effectively clinched playoff spots. That’s not to say their remaining opponents will be easy. PaiN will also be fighting tooth and nail to remain a playoff contender, but a devastating loss here would cut that possibility short.

Prediction: sas wins 4-1