EPT
Cast starts: Sunday, Apr 03 6:00pm GMT (GMT+00:00)
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Introduction
“Knees weak, army are heavy.” Five words and you, the reader, already know what song I’m referring to. One shot at the first TLS Championship is on the table. One shot at the highest foreign prize pool in the last half decade. One shot at claiming to be the best foreign Starcraft: Brood War player in the world. One shot at glory no one else can share.
We often forget, as viewers, what it takes for an international Brood War player to remain competitive. Korea offers a way to self fund practice. Streaming, entertainment, skill, all are keys to success at Starcraft in the Korean world. This is not the case in Europe or the Americas. Dsaqwe, a Croatian, and DragOn, a Canadian, simply don’t get to choose the same life style. And our average age group of Brood War fans and players is gradually shifting to older and older. Starcraft 1 is eighteen years old. In 1998, Google was founded, Armageddon the film was released, Spice Girls were still relevant and Teletubies were still on television. Most of us were still in elementary and middle school, but now are in college, have real jobs or even started families. Life doesn’t get easier for anyone as Brood War ages.
So what does it take for Dsaqwe and DragOn to get to this stage? Hours of practice scrunched in between full time jobs. They both are training on Korean Fish Servers where they can’t read any of the UI text and now must have Korean friends offer phone numbers in order to hold Fish accounts. It’s insane the level of effort these two put into practice to reach this level. The bottom line is, these two players don’t just need us to show up as viewers on Sunday, they deserve it. We owe it to them, our hard working casters, and dedicated TLS staff team to show up, pop some popcorn, and enjoy the best international Starcraft can offer.
Semifinals Recap
In games one and two on Neo Electric Circuit and Aztec respectively, dsaqwe went for 3 gate aggression. In both cases, he microed really well against LancerX, especially in the second game where he overcame a high ground disadvantage and made it into LancerX's base. From there, he killed probes and took two quick games.
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Uphill battle
In the third game on Neo Jade, dsaqwe went for proxy 2 gates while LancerX opted for 1 gate core. Upon scouting the zealots, LancerX added a shieldbattery and it seemed like he was going to come on top. Alas, poor shieldbattery usage and better micro from dsaqwe sealed his fate:
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Shieldbattery!
On Neo Electric Circuit, koget opened with a proxy rax and bunker-contained DragOn who lost a lot of probes trying to prevent the bunker from going up (gif). Koget went on to double expand behind this and easily thwarted DragOn's attempt to get back into the game by trying to shuttle goons into his base.
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Bunker Rush
Game two on Aztec allowed us to see some intense micro early on from both players as kogeT tried to expand while being constantly attacked by zealots from DragOn's gateway. kogeT ended up establishing his expansion and taking control of DragOn's large ramp, however, the lack of aggression from that point onwards allowed DragOn to grab a 3rd and 4th base, get his macro going and recall several times into kogeT's main. With several recalls, kogeT plummeted in supply and his contain grew weaker to the point where DragOn ran in a large army and easily took the second game shortly after (gif).
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Recalls and Frontal Break
In game three on Neo Jade, DragOn went for 2 gate goon aggression and managed to break kogeT's bunker, take down several tanks and SCVs. Behind this aggression, he double expanded to try and take an eco lead. However, kogeT mine-tricked his way though DragOn's pylon wall at his third while expanding behind it (gif). Despite this setback, DragOn eventually cleaned it up and with 8 gateways, destroyed kogeT's army and attacked into his natural to take game three.
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"Is this guy a genius?" -Sayle
The final game took place on Neo Overwatch. After a failed double pronged attack (gif), kogeT expanded behind it and went for a 5 factory attack. He took the bridge outside DragOn's base to keep up the pressure but DragOn never relented and forced him back every time. After DragOn took his third and eventual fourth base, his macro was too much for kogeT to handle and he conceded defeat after his re-established third was taken down.
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Double Trouble
Finals Preview
dsaqwe vs 
DragOn is going to be a PvZ played out in a best of 7 series. DragOn will be race picking Zerg as he avoids playing mirror matchup PvPs.
Game 1: <Neo Electric Circuit>
This is an extremely favorable map for Dragon to start on. It’s easy access to three mining bases and easily defendable 3 gas base makes this map an easy pick on paper. Dragon has an arsenal of aggressive moves on this map too. Similar to Heartbreak Ridge, there is a Temple that can be destroyed for backdoor damage or Zerg can simply overlord drop lurkers on to the high grounds causing lots of chaos for the protoss player. Dsaqwe’s best chance here is to focus on key building placements that will allow him the best range of map vision and defense. That or a proxy two gate would be acceptable moves in game 1.
Game 2: <Neo Aztec>
This map is about as even as it can get. Both players come in undefeated on this map. A strong familiarity with this map and plenty of old replays to watch really give these players a wealth of knowledge on how PvZ should played. I think Dsaqwe comes in with the slight advantage as both players won as Protoss players and DragOn’s ZvP practice on this map might be lacking.
Game 3 and 6 (if needed): <Neo Jade>
Neo Jade is a second and possibly third opportunity for DragOn to pull himself ahead of the pack. Honestly, this map pool is very forgiving to Zerg players. Jade has proven over the SOSPA era, that Z > P. The best way to play this map is very aggressively. Dsaqwe did defeat TrutaCz on this map in the round of 8, but similar to Free vs Effort in the Terror Starleague, it’s hard to imagine Protoss winning a second time.
Game 4 and 7 (if needed): <Fighting Spirit>
Fighting Spirit requires little analysis at this point. The only data we lack are games played by Dsaqwe and DragOn. Both players only had to play on Fighting Spirit once each as they swept the rest of the tournament. However, given that it could be a decider map, stats show that ZvP has a record of 203-203 with only sheer protoss bias making this a predictable map.
Game 5: <Neo Overwatch>
The unique addition of this map to the pool is one of the coolest decisions. From the tileset and aesthetic design to the unique gameplay the layout provides, it’s become difficult to determine who has the larger advantage. For PvZ, the map has a similar third base that makes expanding more easily defensible for a Protoss player. Being able to take a safe third is critical to having a strong mid game for Protoss players. Zergs also have a nice time expanding outward across the map as the game progress. This is truly a coin flip map at a crucial time in the best of series.
Final Results:
dsaqwe <Neo Electric Circuit> DragOn
dsaqwe <Neo Aztec> DragOn
dsaqwe <Neo Jade> DragOn
dsaqwe<Fighting Spirit> DragOn
dsaqwe<Neo Overwatch> DragOn
dsaqwe <Neo Jade> DragOn
dsaqwe<Fighting Spirit> DragOn
dsaqwe 4:3 DragOn
Good luck both players and may my prediction curse not harm you!
Streams
Resources
Credits
Writers: BisuDagger and BigFan
Editors: BigFan
Graphics: v1 
In games one and two on Neo Electric Circuit and Aztec respectively, dsaqwe went for 3 gate aggression. In both cases, he microed really well against LancerX, especially in the second game where he overcame a high ground disadvantage and made it into LancerX's base. From there, he killed probes and took two quick games.
Uphill battle
In the third game on Neo Jade, dsaqwe went for proxy 2 gates while LancerX opted for 1 gate core. Upon scouting the zealots, LancerX added a shieldbattery and it seemed like he was going to come on top. Alas, poor shieldbattery usage and better micro from dsaqwe sealed his fate:
Shieldbattery!
On Neo Electric Circuit, koget opened with a proxy rax and bunker-contained DragOn who lost a lot of probes trying to prevent the bunker from going up (gif). Koget went on to double expand behind this and easily thwarted DragOn's attempt to get back into the game by trying to shuttle goons into his base.
Bunker Rush
Game two on Aztec allowed us to see some intense micro early on from both players as kogeT tried to expand while being constantly attacked by zealots from DragOn's gateway. kogeT ended up establishing his expansion and taking control of DragOn's large ramp, however, the lack of aggression from that point onwards allowed DragOn to grab a 3rd and 4th base, get his macro going and recall several times into kogeT's main. With several recalls, kogeT plummeted in supply and his contain grew weaker to the point where DragOn ran in a large army and easily took the second game shortly after (gif).
Recalls and Frontal Break
In game three on Neo Jade, DragOn went for 2 gate goon aggression and managed to break kogeT's bunker, take down several tanks and SCVs. Behind this aggression, he double expanded to try and take an eco lead. However, kogeT mine-tricked his way though DragOn's pylon wall at his third while expanding behind it (gif). Despite this setback, DragOn eventually cleaned it up and with 8 gateways, destroyed kogeT's army and attacked into his natural to take game three.
"Is this guy a genius?" -Sayle
The final game took place on Neo Overwatch. After a failed double pronged attack (gif), kogeT expanded behind it and went for a 5 factory attack. He took the bridge outside DragOn's base to keep up the pressure but DragOn never relented and forced him back every time. After DragOn took his third and eventual fourth base, his macro was too much for kogeT to handle and he conceded defeat after his re-established third was taken down.
Double Trouble
Finals Preview
dsaqwe vs DragOn is going to be a PvZ played out in a best of 7 series. DragOn will be race picking Zerg as he avoids playing mirror matchup PvPs.Game 1: <Neo Electric Circuit>
This is an extremely favorable map for Dragon to start on. It’s easy access to three mining bases and easily defendable 3 gas base makes this map an easy pick on paper. Dragon has an arsenal of aggressive moves on this map too. Similar to Heartbreak Ridge, there is a Temple that can be destroyed for backdoor damage or Zerg can simply overlord drop lurkers on to the high grounds causing lots of chaos for the protoss player. Dsaqwe’s best chance here is to focus on key building placements that will allow him the best range of map vision and defense. That or a proxy two gate would be acceptable moves in game 1.
Game 2: <Neo Aztec>
This map is about as even as it can get. Both players come in undefeated on this map. A strong familiarity with this map and plenty of old replays to watch really give these players a wealth of knowledge on how PvZ should played. I think Dsaqwe comes in with the slight advantage as both players won as Protoss players and DragOn’s ZvP practice on this map might be lacking.
Game 3 and 6 (if needed): <Neo Jade>
Neo Jade is a second and possibly third opportunity for DragOn to pull himself ahead of the pack. Honestly, this map pool is very forgiving to Zerg players. Jade has proven over the SOSPA era, that Z > P. The best way to play this map is very aggressively. Dsaqwe did defeat TrutaCz on this map in the round of 8, but similar to Free vs Effort in the Terror Starleague, it’s hard to imagine Protoss winning a second time.
Game 4 and 7 (if needed): <Fighting Spirit>
Fighting Spirit requires little analysis at this point. The only data we lack are games played by Dsaqwe and DragOn. Both players only had to play on Fighting Spirit once each as they swept the rest of the tournament. However, given that it could be a decider map, stats show that ZvP has a record of 203-203 with only sheer protoss bias making this a predictable map.
Game 5: <Neo Overwatch>
The unique addition of this map to the pool is one of the coolest decisions. From the tileset and aesthetic design to the unique gameplay the layout provides, it’s become difficult to determine who has the larger advantage. For PvZ, the map has a similar third base that makes expanding more easily defensible for a Protoss player. Being able to take a safe third is critical to having a strong mid game for Protoss players. Zergs also have a nice time expanding outward across the map as the game progress. This is truly a coin flip map at a crucial time in the best of series.
Final Results:
dsaqwe <Neo Electric Circuit> DragOn dsaqwe <Neo Aztec> DragOndsaqwe <Neo Jade> DragOn dsaqwe<Fighting Spirit> DragOn dsaqwe<Neo Overwatch> DragOndsaqwe <Neo Jade> DragOn dsaqwe<Fighting Spirit> DragOn dsaqwe 4:3 DragOnGood luck both players and may my prediction curse not harm you!
Streams
Resources
TeamLiquid Legacy Starleague Championship
They deserved more respect!
