EPT
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/9Z9GBR1.png)
Since it's been several days since the Ro8 concluded, it's time for a recap of all the games played in order to determine who advances further in the tournament and who has been eliminated. These games have been some of the most exciting and tense games in BCTV Starleague so far since most of the players were closely matched in skill:
Group A
Snow <
Fighting Spirit> 
Killer
Snow <Circuit Breaker> Killer
Snow <Blue Storm> Killer
Snow <Neo Electric Circuit> Killer
Snow <Fighting Spirit> Killer
Snow <Fighting Spirit> KillerSnow <Circuit Breaker> KillerSnow <Blue Storm> KillerSnow <Neo Electric Circuit> KillerSnow <Fighting Spirit> KillerGame 1: Cross spawn on FS. Snow opened with a gateway expand against the hatch first of Killer. Some early zealot pressure did minor damage. Snow decided to go for his trademark unit, reavers. With sair/reaver, he dropped Killer's main and managed to just snipe the spire with the zealots while the reaver had several drone kills. Snow ended up harassing some more with the reaver at the natural then attacked with a speed zealot army with 2 reavers for support. This was too much for Killer's hydras to handle promoting the gg.
Game 2: Spawning close positions (1 and 5) on CB, Snow went for forge FE while Killer opted for pool first. Not much harass occurred as Snow decided to go for 2 stargate sair vs 3 hatch spire. Lots of overlords were killed early on supply blocking Killer. A small zealot army also ran into Killer's main as Snow took a hidden 3rd which was scouted. Snow would lose it only to take the mineral only expansion as its replacement. Killer eventually took a 4th and though down in upgrades (0/0 to 2/0), managed to barely defend against the constant attacks from Snow (pic). Snow grabbed a 4th then went for a massive attack on Killer's natural. Killer held, double expanded then went into aggression mode when defilers were out. With some dark swarms, the 4th of Snow was taken out. Snow re-established a 4th at the 12 o'clock position and re-took the previous 4th to go up to 5 bases however with constant attacks from Killer, he couldn't hold his 4th anymore. Another big battle took place at Killer's mineral only expansion though with plagues and a ton of units streaming from Killer's other bases, it's cleaned up with Snow calling the gg.
![[image loading]](http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj236/BigFan_2008/SnowvsKiller-Game2n_zps7b6a8dc2.jpg)
Magical defense.
Game 3: Both players went with a similar start to game 2 with a pool first from Killer and a forge FE from Snow. Some probes were pulled off to hold off the zerglings while the cannons warped in. Killer saw the expansion, grabbed a third and got a hydra den. The probe was prevented from scouting until it was too late. Snow puts up lots of cannons waiting for the attack however once Killer reached a critical mass, he moved in, target fired the cannons and won the game to go up 2-1.
Game 4: Snow opened with forge FE to Killer's expansion first build. Killer quickly took his inbase hatchery going up to three bases. Both players were pretty passive when Snow took his own inbase expansion while going for sair/reaver. Killer took his fourth soon after. Before disruption web was finished, Killer defended well however it became much harder late on. Snow went for Killer's 4th (3 o'clock) causing massive damage before losing his reavers . The aggression wouldn't stop as Snow dropped Killer's newly established 5th then his 4th again taking it down before going for his newly established 6th (12 o'clock) and took that down too as he transitioned to 5 stargate carrier. He would even get Killer's 3rd and cause massive casualties in his main as well (pic). Killer decided to counter by taking down Snow's 4th but not before losing most of his hydra army. Once Snow reached critical carrier/corsair numbers, he would go around in a counterclockwise fashion starting from about 5 o'clock killing Killer's base before reaching his natural to tie the series 2-2.
![[image loading]](http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj236/BigFan_2008/SnowvsKiller-Game4n_zpsb955041f.jpg)
29 kill reaver!
Game 5: 1 gate expand against early pool into expansion from Killer. Killer managed to get some zerglings inside Snow's base and kept him busy as he took a third. After the zerglings ran out, Snow transitioned to sair/reaver while Killer went for hydras but it got scouted by a probe. Once scouted, Snow went mass cannons while Killer decided to kill his forge/gate/pylon before retreating. Snow became aggressive with his first reaver though Killer's defense was impeccable losing only a single hydra. This wouldn't stay the case though as Snow found a weakness in Killer's third and managed to net himself some drone/hydra kills using 2 zealots+a reaver. Soon after, he would go on the offensive again with about a control group of zealots+1 reaver but Killer was more than prepared as he wiped it all out. Seeing an opportunity, Killer went on the offensive. He attacked Snow's 3rd with mass hydras from 2 sides and managed to take it down after he went for a mutalisk switch that caught Snow offguard. At this point, Killer took a 4th then a 5th soon after as he continued with mass hydras and came knocking at Snow's natural. Snow barely held on and countered at Killer's third but his little army was wiped out. Snow gg'd and Killer took the series 3-2!
![[image loading]](http://giant.gfycat.com/PotableDisastrousCaimanlizard.gif)
Micro madness!
Group B
Mind <Fighting Spirit> Sea
Mind <Circuit Breaker> Sea
Mind <Blue Storm> Sea
Mind <Neo Electric Circuit> Sea
Mind <Fighting Spirit> Sea
Mind <Fighting Spirit> SeaMind <Circuit Breaker> SeaMind <Blue Storm> SeaMind <Neo Electric Circuit> SeaMind <Fighting Spirit> SeaGame 1: Both players opened 1 rax fac followed by a cc. Sea tried some marine aggression with his forward rax but no luck however he does use it to block the machine shop while he got his own. Both players got their armories and transitioned to some goliaths though Sea managed to contain Mind. Both try to get their third though a vulture killed Sea's SCV while a vulture runby delayed Mind''s 3rd. Sea decided to attack as Mind's army tried to kill the vultures netting himself a cancel on Mind's third as his own went up. This also allowed him to further contain Mind. Mind went for a drop while trying to expand to the 9 o'clock base which was stopped my mines. After Sea double dropped Mind, Mind decided to attack into Sea's expansion since Sea's third was well protected but with reinforcements building in time, Sea easily held promoting the gg from Mind:
![[image loading]](http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj236/BigFan_2008/MindvsSeaGame1_zps76dde70a.jpg)
Final attack!
Game 2: It was now Mind's turn to try his hand at a forward rax. Both players opened rax though Sea skipped his first marine going for a faster fac and then cc which got denied by the 2 marines. Some vulture wars took place and Sea's cc was delayed several times. Eventually, he managed to get it up though Mind went up to 3 fac, researched mines and ended up hitting right before the first 2 tanks of Sea taking out some workers, mining his expansion and forcing Sea to gg out.
Game 3: Both players opened with a similar build, 1 rax fac into cc except Sea skipped his first vulture for a faster machine shop. Both went up to 2 fac with machine shops though Mind eventually added 2 more factories to Sea's 1 fac addition. With the middle of the map established as no man's land, Sea took the bottom right corner as his third and left his narrow choke undefended. Mind seized the opportunity, sieged Sea's expansion close to the choke and with Sea unable to break it, Mind went on to win the game and go up 2-1.
Game 4: Both opened up with the same build again getting their first marine, first vulture before machine shop then getting the cc at the expansion though Sea's was slightly faster. They both went up to 2 fac and went for mass vultures as well. Things diverted though as Sea added another fac and starport while Mind went for 2 more fac going up to 4 fac (eventually 5 fac). Mind tried to break Sea's expansion with mass vultures+mines but Sea managed to hold on and went for his inbase expansion for his third. Mind tried to block the NW exit out of Sea's base but couldn't and had to retreat. At this point, Sea showed his prowess as he managed to win a big engagement and use its momentum to push all the way to the bridge outside Mind's natural. Sea expanded behind this going up to 4 bases and a 5th base followed soon after. With Mind dedicating most of his army for defending his natural, Sea caught him off guard as he went for an attack on his third base causing massive eco damage and cutting down his army (pic). With that, he grabbed a 6th and kept up the pressure on Mind to tie the series 2-2.
![[image loading]](http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj236/BigFan_2008/MindvsSeaGame4b_zpsed0740ec.jpg)
You don't mess with Sea!
Game 5: With everything on the line, it all came down to Game 5. With close spawns on FS, Mind decided it was time to finish this off with a 2 fac. Sea decided to go for 1 fac expand getting the cc in his main. A couple of vultures managed to lay down some mines and with a mine drag, many SCVs were lost (pic) however Sea retained his tanks and with another tank+vulture went on the offensive. Using mines, he managed to isolate a tank and a vulture from Mind's army. With several more vultures joining the fight for Sea, he laid down mines, took many SCVs down and was up a tank when Mind gg'd out giving him the series. Sea moves on to the Ro8!
![[image loading]](http://giant.gfycat.com/DimMisguidedHen.gif)
Mine drags.
Group C
hero <Fighting Spirit> Larva
hero <Circuit Breaker> Larva
hero <Blue Storm> Larva
hero <Neo Electric Circuit> Larva
hero <Fighting Spirit>Larva
hero <Fighting Spirit> Larvahero <Circuit Breaker> Larvahero <Blue Storm> Larvahero <Neo Electric Circuit> Larvahero <Fighting Spirit>LarvaGame 1: Both players went for pool first with gas for speedlings. After pool was finished, both made zerglings and engaged in zergling combat which hero won. hero ended up getting the fast lair. More zergling engagements took place as Larva tried to break into hero's base but was stopped. hero had the first mutalisks out and went around hunting overlords supply blocking Larva. With Larva having to spend money on overlords, his mutalisk count was less than hero's who ended up attacking Larva, killed his mutalisks and took game 1.
Game 2: hero opened with pool first to Larva's expansion first. hero would end up expanding as well with both players getting their lair and spire at around the same time. Anticipating a zergling attack based on how much zergling Larva pumped out, hero made a sunken. Larva saw an opening and tried to run his zerglings into the main but was stopped by some zerglings at the top (pic). hero barely held on though a small zergling followup attack saw him lose 2 drones. With mutalisks out, hero managed to get his count higher than Larva and with some scourge, attacked Larva's mutalisks wiping them out to go up 2-0.
![[image loading]](http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj236/BigFan_2008/Larvavsherog2_zps4a52cfde.jpg)
Good defense!
Game 3: In the shortest game in the Ro8, Larva went for a 9 pool while hero decided to expand first. This proved to be his undoing as Larva kept pumping zerglings and rallying them to his base. It looked like hero would hold with a sunken morphing however Larva managed to surround it and took it down. With his zerglings dying as they spawned and no chance of surviving, hero gg'd out.
Game 4: Both players opened pool first and expanded soon after. hero would go on to make mass zerglings and attack larva's expansion. Upon scouting them moving on, Larva made some of his own and with some great positioning, came out on top. As this battle raged on, both players were getting their spires. Larva tried a counter attack with his zerglings several times but hero held on. With mutalisks out for both players, the battle took to the air. With great micro, hero managed to take out many scourge and eliminate Larva's mutalisks. His followup zergling attack caused Larva to gg with Hero taking the series 3-1 to advance to the Ro8!
Group D
PianO <Fighting Spirit> sSak
PianO <Circuit Breaker> sSak
PianO <Blue Storm> sSak
PianO <Neo Electric Circuit> sSak
PianO <Fighting Spirit> sSak
PianO <Fighting Spirit> sSakPianO <Circuit Breaker> sSakPianO <Blue Storm> sSakPianO <Neo Electric Circuit> sSakPianO <Fighting Spirit> sSakGame 1: PianO went fac expand to sSak's 1 rax FE. sSak added a fac soon after expanding and went for a starport. Using his SCV to scout, sSak realized that PianO was preparing for an attack so he made some extra bunkers to defend and buy time. Right after PianO killed the first 2 bunkers and moved into the natural, a tank from the high ground+another from the low ground with SCVs acting as buffers helped sSak defend. As this battle was ongoing, PianO went for 2 port wraith as a followup though it got scouted with a wraith from sSak. After defending the wraith followup from PianO, sSak moved on and scouted PianO going for his third. Using some SCVs to buffer, his large army of tanks+goliaths was more than enough to crush PianO's who tapped out after his natural got sieged.
![[image loading]](http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj236/BigFan_2008/PianOvssSakG1_zps5d811ec8.jpg)
SCV train!
Game 2: PianO went 1 rax FE while sSak went for factory expand getting a vulture first before getting his machine shop. Anticipating a drop, PianO kept some units in his base and managed to catch it before it did any damage. With his small tank/goliath army, PianO moved out and attacked sSak's expansion. Workers had to be pulled but he managed to survive and would grab his third mineral only soon after. PianO tried to deny this but couldn't so he attacked into the expansion again but faced resistance leading to him withdrawing. After getting a sizable army, PianO tried yet again and managed to take down the third as he took his own. Seeing as a good portion of PianO's army was on the high ground near his ex-third base, sSak took the opportunity to try and contain PianO while taking the 9 o'clock base. PianO realized this, set up a large surround then went for the break (pic). He crushed sSak's army, took out his third while he established his own fourth. sSak managed to get up a third a bit later though PianO still had the higher base count. PianO tried to deny the newly established third of sSak but couldn't however he engaged sSak's army yet again near the high ground and crushed it. With his air superiority gone (some wraith vs valkyrie battle offscreen) and his army left in shambles, sSak gg'd giving PianO the game.
![[image loading]](http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj236/BigFan_2008/PianOvssSak-Game2_zps36431b0d.jpg)
Surround!
Game 3: Both players opened with 1 rax fac though PianO got a cc soon after then got a machine shop, researched vulture speed and went mass vultures. sSak on the other hand, got a starport after fac before getting his cc. Once PianO had the first couple of vultures, he became really aggressive. He forced sSak to block his entrance to the main with his rax (since PianO's rax was also there) meaning SCVs couldn't escape so 4 vultures cleaned up. More vulture runbys into the main and some in the expansion kill more workers and mine the area causing 2 tanks to fall. When another group of vultures from PianO kill sSak's vultures, sSak gg'd out going down 1-2 in the series.
Game 4: With this possibly being the last game, PianO wanted to finish with style. He went with a 1-1-1 proxying both factory and starport close to sSak. sSak ended up going for cc first leaving him quite vulnerable in the early game. Though sSak does manage to scout the fac and block his choke with the cc+bunker, it wasn't enough. After getting the first vulture, PianO added a machine shop to get tanks and research siege mode. sSak knew what was coming and went for 2 factories with no machine shops and added an armory. PianO end up finishing his first bunker for the contain then after breaking down sSak's bunker, moved in and secured the choke (pic). sSak was forced to engage however PianO's position was too good as he lost all his army+SCVs for a tank and two wraith. With that, he gg'd out and PianO won the game. PianO is headed to Ro8!
![[image loading]](http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj236/BigFan_2008/PianOvssSak-Game4_zpse97244b1.jpg)
Hard contain!
Recommendations:
Semifinals Preview:
With all the matches played, we now have a good idea of the race distribution in the semifinals. We will have 2 Terrans (Sea and PianO) and 2 Zergs (Killer and hero) advancing on. Unfortunately, there is no Protoss representative though Snow came close to defeating Killer so maybe next season. The semifinals will be a bo5 played on the same map pool as the Ro8. It will take place on Thursday, Sep 11 1:00pm GMT (GMT+00:00) which is in :
Match 1:
Sea vs KillerThis is one of the matches that is highly anticipated by many people. Back when the BW scene was transitioning after the last OSL finished, both of these players rose up to claim the top spots of their respective races. They would constantly meet each other in many finals. Their battles in the current BW scene were reminiscent of the Flash and Jaedong rivalry that was missed by many. Though the level of play is a notch lower than their counterparts, the rivalry has been going on for several years now and has produced some very entertaining and lopsided games to watch. Anyone who has been following SRTs when they were still ongoing will also notice one other thing about the rivalry. Sea always seemed to have Killer's number. Even when Killer was up 2-1 in a bo5, he could never close the series:
![[image loading]](http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj236/BigFan_2008/SRT_zps02302618.jpg)
No deception here, Sea has beaten Killer in all their SRT finals!
Though that's all in the past, there is no doubt that Killer still remembers those losses. What also makes things worse for Killer is that he just lost the 41 Starleague finals to Mind, a Terran that has vZ on par or possibly worse than Sea's. Killer did beat a notable Terran player in PianO on his way to the semis so he's certainly capable of beating good Terrans however his record since January 2014 sits at 8-20 with losses to Mind, sSak, Mong, Sea and Shinee. His ZvT is his Achilles' heel and he needs more work on it to get it to the level of his other matchups.
On the other hand,
Sea's vZ record sits at 72% with a 14-5 record since January 2014. He's beaten all kinds of Zerg players such as Larva, ZerO, Terror, Modesty, beast etc... Like the Sea, his repertoire of builds seems rather infinite and he's not afraid to bust out a forward rax if he feels like it. He understands the matchup well and has good decision making skills which contribute to his success. Of course, Sea makes mistakes and pays for them. In his game against Cola in 41 Starleague Ro16, after failing his forward rax, he was knocked down to the loser's match because he couldn't hold on against Cola's muta micro. In his game against Terror in 2014 Gabangpop 1st Sonic Proleague, he lost the game after Terror decided to go for a zergling all in seeing that Sea's bunker wasn't completed yet. As much as I would love to say that Killer will take this, I have no choice but to take Sea's side. Killer is one strong Zerg player and I have no doubt that he'll be able to take some games however I just can't see Killer taking a series off Sea coming off his recent loss on top of all their history together.
Prediction:
Sea > Killer, wins 3-2. Match 2:
PianO vs heroThe other TvZ matchup is also between two players that are well known in the scene but lack the deep history that Sea and Killer have. Looking at stats alone, PianO has an 85% win rate with a sample size of 20 games. He's won against players such as Modesty, Kwanro, Killer, Cola and others. His wins against Modesty who is the best ZvTers in the current scene show that he's able to elevate his game to the next level if need be. He has really great multitasking and mechanics and isn't afraid to go to the late game where he shines the most. In addition to all this, he's beaten Modesty twice with a 2-0 score back in Ro32. In Ro16, PianO made an example of beast as he easily won the series 3-0 before going against all odds and dispatching sSak 3-1 in the Ro8. His TvZ is rock solid and he can also be very dedicated if rumours of his 14 hours a day practice when he first came to the Afreeca scene aren't exaggerated.
His opponent is none other than hero, a player with a dominant vP but a lacking vZ. From a sample size of over 100 games, his current record stands at 48% with loses to sSak, Ample, Sea and others. hero made his way to the semis on the backbone of his Protoss and Zerg game. He's faced PianO once before in Gabangpop 1st Sonic Proleague where he beat him on Mist. Aside from that, both players have met on ladder before resulting in quite the thriller which hero took.
With all these details, everything seems to be in PianO's favour. He plays the matchup well, has shown that he is able to compete and his record speaks volumes about his capabilities. However, hero isn't someone to be doubted either even if his vT can be shaky at times. He's played games before against capable Terrans and crushed them. If hero can come prepared with a variety of builds and manages to throw PianO off his game, he still has a chance seeing as he's beaten PianO before. With all that said, PianO is still the favourite to advance.
Prediction:
PianO > hero, wins 3-1. Who do you think will advance? Will Killer be swept away or will he fight the currents? Will PianO easily beat hero or will hero be worthy of his name, a Zerg that shines when needed? Discuss!
