The quarterfinals saw a glorious resurgence of Zerg players performing well, here's a selection of five games worth watching, or re-watching!

The Mind Game

by BLinD-RawR

Bisu vs Mind is not a rivalry in the traditional sense, in fact one could easily argue that its not a rivalry at all -- if one takes a glance at their head-to-head records in both tjhe KeSPA and post-KeSPA eras, one would see Bisu coming out ahead, but there's a lot more to the story, especially the games that Mind has won.

Back in 2007 Bisu was the undisputed best Protoss at the time and the dominator of the MSL with back-to-back MSL titles over sAviOr (The birth of the revolution) and Stork. When the 3rd GOMTV MSL came there was no doubt that Bisu would make it to the finals again and on the other side of the bracket there was Mind, the dark horse of the tournament beating iloveoov in the Ro16 and denying a sAviOr vs Bisu rematch by beating sAviOr in the semifinals taking one of the hardest routes to a finals at the time. Much to the shock of everyone, as a series that was widely expected to be a cakewalk for Bisu with favorable maps and his superior experience, it emerged as a 3-1 victory for Mind.



Fast forward ahead seven years to 2014 with Bisu and Mind playing in their first SSL (SSL9), as they meet again in the Ro16 group stage sharing a group with Kwanro and sSak. This would be their first series since 2010(KA OSL S2), resulting in Bisu taking the series 2-1 over Mind. Bisu would then advance from the group 2-0 and eventually win the tournament.



The next time Mind and Bisu met in a “Best-of" series was the Ro8 of the inaugural season of the KSL, which Mind won 2-0 in one of the most dominating matches that anyone had seen in the post-KeSPA era, although one could argue that had a lot to do with the lack of familiarity that Bisu had towards the new maps (Demian and Avalon).

And now, here they stand, Bisu and Mind once again facing off, this time in the semifinals of the SSL11. This would be their first Bo5 since the 2007 GomTV MSL, with both players undoubtedly the best at their respective races. Bisu has the map pool advantage with New Heartbreak Ridge being the opener and closer in a tournament where Terran is yet to win on the map.

The stage is set, will we see a repeat of the 2007 GOMTV MSL S3 or will Bisu pull through to the finals?

While you’re waiting for the day to arrive, enjoy the last time Bisu and Mind faced off in one of the best TvPs I’ve seen all year:

Many thanks to LaStScan for the analysis of the high level of play expected from this series!


HBR has a PvT win-rate of 7-1 (lone loss: Sharp > Lazy in the Challenger Round) in this SSL. Terran players don't tend to prepare for a longer game where they would be at a larger advantage because it is difficult to expand to a fourth and fifth base on the map. This would most certainly be the case for Mind against Movie in the Ro16, as Mind aggressively opted for a bunker timing tactic and lost all his marines, vultures and a handful of SCVs to preserve the bunker. This time, however, Mind may play more conservatively on the map aiming for a 4-6 fact timings or dropship play (Terrorist style!).

Bisu has several options available to him for the early game and its likely that he’d elect for an aggressive opening, as he has previously shown that he's very confident playing the mixup game transitioning from early cheese to standard play. As a Protoss, Bisu would likely prefer to end the game before it reaches a split map situation. DTs or shuttle/reaver play are the most likely options with a mix of harassment and forward army control, such that Bisu might choose to engage Mind in a multitasking war.



Maps with mains on low ground are notoriously disadvantageous for Terran in the TvP matchup, as any kind of success during early aggression on the higher ground natural could lead to a contain. As such, the aggressor is favored and the game would, under most circumstances, end shortly thereafter.

Mind is likely to open more safely with a factory expand in his main, unless he won the first set, in which case he might opt for a rax on the higher ground natural for a faster expansion. On the other hand, Bisu has a similar set of options in going for a two-gate goon-heavy strategy or play a more greedy and aggressive style depending on how the first set goes for him.

It's very important to note that the gas geysers at the thirds only have 1500 vespene gas instead of the standard 5000, meaning that it is imperative that Bisu takes his forth expansion as fast as he can. Jade also features the wide ramp between the natural and third, which either player can exploit to apply pressure on the main, natural and the third from roughly the same spot, whether it be a Terran tank push or Protoss land force.



La Mancha is a challenge for Terran players because of how difficult it is to take a third. Unlike Jade, or a map like Fighting Spirit, the path leading to the third is much more open and wider, making it more difficult to defend against a Protoss land force than a traditional narrower tank-defended choke point. Mind will likely look to keep Bisu as far away from it as possible. As such, Bisu will likely try to capitalize by going for a lot of early gateway pressure to contain Mind, while Bisu tries to expand to his own third. Mind might opt for riskier plays such as a bunker contain if scouted early enough, or getting a starport for vulture drops as soon as the natural is secure, all to enable Mind to continue harassing for as long as possible while trying to expand at the same time.

Expect a lot of action right from the early game on this map.



Circuit Breaker is the home of many great mech pushes due to the structure and layout of the map. A Terran mech army can go through bases in one push, provided the Terran is given such an opportunity. Circuit Breaker is the macro map of the tournament, but Bisu has a few advantages in his favor. Mind will likely have a hard time trying to deny a third expansion unless he makes a big commitment towards it by sacrificing SCVs for early armories.

As such, Mind is likely going to play a bit more standard and try to get his upgrades as fast as he can, enabling him to push out while maxing his supply with 2/1 upgrades. For better or worse, Bisu may elect to go carriers on the map.

Both players are familiar with each other and recognize how close they are to the SSL championship. The series is likely going to be intense with either one potentially victorious. The map pool may favor Bisu, but Mind has shown his ability to prepare diligently (i.e. defeating TvT titan sSak thrice during group play). The two are truly the best at their respective races.

Toss-up: Mind or Bisu to advance 3-2.

free’s PvZ has not been impressive at all. Yes, he’s 7-3 in his last 10 games against Zerg players, but that is inflated by his 3-0 victory over ZerO in the Draemong Starleague, where ZerO looked like he forgot how to play ZvP. Overall, free’s games have been rather lackluster as he commits to attacks that do not do much damage and relies on the Zerg to throw the lead by refusing to go aggressive or fail to defend. Against someone of hero’s caliber, however, free cannot rely on his opponent to make a mistake and throw the game.

While free's psi storms seem to be on point thus far, his templar control itself has been poor, which can be attributed to a lack of multitasking/micro. To make matters worse, free has shown that he has a hard time against Zerg players who can out-multitask him, constantly bombarding his expansions at the same time:



The biggest threat that free will have against hero will be his lack of multitasking ability, especially since hero and his 350-400 APM excels at being able to manage multi-prong attacks at the same time. For free to win this series, he will need to use effective sim cities and static defenses at his expansions (make reavers there!). At the same time, he needs to more decisive with his army movement around the map to keep hero from freely sending out constant streams of Zerg units. It should be noted that free was, however, able to overcome hero in their last BoX series 2-1 in the DSL. Perhaps free will play to his strengths from his previous victories and defend against the scary force that is hero.

hero is still on a roll and he is a monster that cannot be stopped. He’s on a 11 game win streak and is undefeated in the SSL at present. And now hero is pitted against a mediocre PvZer in his best matchup in the semifinals. The aggressive play style that hero has shown in his ZvT is no different than his spectacular ZvP, boasting an incredible 72.5% win rate in the matchup. He is 6-4 lifetime against free, and 5-3 against him in the post-KeSPA era; however, I expect this matchup to slide further in hero’s favor.

hero’s greatest strength in his ZvP matchup is his ability to take map control early on with early hydra builds and hold the Protoss opponent to his own bases. If the Protoss attempts to move out, then hero will be more than ready to intercept it. This is supported by hero’s choice to go for 3 or 4 hatch hydra to fake the hydra bust, forcing the Protoss to over commit to cannons. If he notices the Protoss is getting greedy, he can adapt his build to go for the bust and punish his opponents. From there, hero will be aggressively taking fights and map control. hero’s weakness, however, has been playing against late game Protoss play where the map is split and not being able to adequately defend against shuttle drops as hero tends to stick to his hydra/lurk composition much longer than other Zerg players would in ZvP. However, his insane army control and extremely strong multitasking ability will be more than enough to overcome free. As long as he can maintain his impeccable map control, and properly defend his bases when free moves out, he should have no trouble moving on to his second straight offline finals.

The map pool consisting of La Mancha, Neo Jade, New Heartbreak Ridge, and Circuit Breaker also seems to favor hero’s aggressive play style. The wide open maps like Jade, La Mancha, and Circuit Breaker favor hero’s aggressive and map control oriented play. Circuit Breaker, especially, with many avenues to attack expansions, will definitely favor hero in the long term. We’ll see how free’s sim city and army control fares on the wide open maps.

hero to advance 3-0.