Snow vs. Shine
As the day kicked off with a PvZ on Roadkill, the general consensus was that Snow would make it out of the group without a hitch. The runner-up of ASL5, however, had his wings clipped in game 1, as a muta + scourge dive from Shine made quick work of Snow's Corsairs early on in the match, thus allowing the Zerg to follow up with a 3-base Hydra push to close out the map. Adapting his play on Gladiator, Shine opened up with 9 pool speed, though ultimately failing to punish Snow's 1 gate opener. Acknowledging the Protoss player's advantage, Shine once again resorted to a quick 3-base Hydra bust. As the push bounced off Snow's defense, the Zerg tapped out.

Staying true to his nature Shine repeated the same opener on Fortress, this time being deflected by Snow's FFE and a fortunate scout. Opting to shut down the Protoss player with yet another aggressive follow-up, Shine committed to a 2-base Hydra drop into the main. Juggling the units in and out of the Overlords for a good 5 minutes, Shine ultimately failed to break through Snow's defence, putting his opponent on match point.

Moving onto Circuit Breaker, Shine took his foot off the throttle, switching things up and opening with an Overpool. An FFE from Snow slowed the pace down, allowing Shine to macro up on three bases, likely looking to replicate the result from the first game. The Mutalisks found little damage, though, and the heavy commitment to Spire units ended up spelling Shine's doom. Snow closed out the series by means of a counterpush with a Dragoon-and-Corsair-heavy army and a hefty number of High Templar, which made quick work of Shine's inferior force.


Sharp vs. Sea
TvT, just like any other mirror matchup, often revolves around taking risks to eke out any little advantage possible. Sharp's 8 Rax, although seemingly a strong counter to the forward 12 rax of Sea, failed to deal any direct damage. As Sea was forced to pull workers off the mineral line to deal with the aggression, Sharp fell back to his natural and proceeded to macro up on 2 Factories. Likewise, Sea's plan was to stabilize on 2 Factories. Sharp's commitment to Vultures and a map-control oriented approach to Roadkill put him behind, as Sea quickly realized the right way to punish his opponent. Setting up a contain outside Sharp's base, Sea's macro engine kicked in and secured the ASL2 runner-up a 1-0 lead.

More conservative openings on Fighting Spirit seemed to be the name of the game, as both players opted for a 1 Fact expo. However, Sea's command centre ended up being started slightly behind Sharp's, as the former's resource optimization indicated he might be following up with a quick Starport. Although Sharp's CC started being built earlier, a Vulture runby disrupted the construction with Sharp failing to realise the expansion hadn't been completed on time. Sea's plan indeed involved Wraith play, as 2 starports were constructed in the centre of the map for that very purpose. Sharp caught wind off the shenanigan, put down additional Factories, and ran Sea over before the latter managed to amass sufficient Wraiths. Game three took us to cross-spawn Circuit Breaker. Sea's 1 rax CC secured him an early economic advantage, however the Vulture drop that followed failed to inflict any damage onto Sharp, whose extra Factories allowed him to secure a foothold in the centre of the map, cutting off Sea's third gas. Sea kept taking poor engagements, falling behind with an army, whose large chunk of supply was invested in Valkyries meant to counter Sharp's wraiths. Failing to break out of the contain, Sea gave up another point.

As the players moved on to Gladiator, it became evident a Vulture-heavy playstyle was the preferred approach to TvT for Sharp. Sea decided to counter with a quick 5th Factory before a 3rd CC, whereas his opponent opted to outposition Sea with quick dropships. Dropping units on an unprotected third pulled a hefty chunk of Sea's army out of position, leaving the main vulnerable. Sharp followed up with two consecutive drops in the main base of Sea, dealing critical damage and closing out the series.

Winners' Game - Sharp vs. Snow
Despite having his Reaver drop countered and the 2 base Carrier follow-up scouted, Snow never lost his composure. Playing from behind against an omniscient Terran proved a walk in the park for the PvT specialist, whose ability to assess any engagement's outcome allowed him to claw his way back into the game. Breaking Sharp's spirit on Gladiator, the two moved on to Circuit Breaker with Snow in the lead. The ASL5 runner-up took a massive risk by opening with a Nexus first, which got immediately scouted by the Terran. Pulling the trigger, Sharp rushed towards the Protoss base with a handful of Marines and SCVs, sending in Vultures to try and break through into the main of his opponent. Successfully completing a bunker on the low ground left the Nexus vulnerable.

Snow, having lost his natural expansion, broke out to combat the contain, lest tanks arrive. Transitioning into Reaver play, Snow regained map control, whilst going up to three bases. Snow's economy quickly got out hand, as the Protoss had control of over 5 mineral lines in under 15 minutes. Securing an economic advantage, Snow held out until the Carrier transition and once again finished off the Terran by taking favourable trades all game long. On Polaris Rhapsody things quickly fell apart when Sharp botched his micro, allowing a Zealot to sneak past the Bunker on the natural. Snow jumped on the opportunity, sending in Dragoons to continually run into the main base, wreaking havoc and generally ruining Sharp's day. Snow advanced out of group B in first place, only dropping a single map.


Losers' Game - Shine vs. Sea
Game 1 on Roadkill ended in quick fashion, as Shine did what Shine does best. Noticing Sea had skimped on building a Bunker in the natural, the GSL Observer decimated the Marine count, allowing his mutalisks to reign supreme in the mid-game. Circuit Breaker saw Sea take on an aggressive stance, placing a forward 8 rax in hopes of crippling the Zerg's economy, but, alas, the Zerg had spawned diagonally across the map. With the game stabilizing and both players slowly transitioning into their late game compositions, Sea's computer crashed and the game had to be restarted. Though the players spawned in different spots this time around, the game progressed as it had before the rehost. Sea's SK Terran heavily contested the Zerg, who kept losing mutalisks due to poor map awareness. Losing all his anti-air, Shine was caught off guard and died to a squadron of battlecruisers, to which he had no answer whatsoever.

Falling back to his signature aggression on Fighting Spirit, Shine opened up with a 9 pool. Sea, despite letting a couple of Lings into his main, kept his composure and recovered. Deflecting all aggression from Shine, including a bunch of Lurker drops into the main, Sea mustered up a formidable mech force and pushed down the Zerg to put himself on match point. Spawning in the Terran-favoured bottom left position on Blue Storm put Sea in a comfortable spot, not having to worry about any early aggression coming his way. Recognizing the position he was in, Sea decided to move out with the first few Marines in hopes of pushing down a potential Hatchery opener. Shine, however, had opened with a pool + gas, which allowed him to easily deflect the rush. Shine's predictable Spire opener was once again countered by Sea's 4 rax, who, having transitioned into SK Terran, outplayed Shine to close out the series and get another shot at moving on to the Round of 8.

Finals' Match - Sharp vs. Sea
The rematch started with cross-spawns on Gladiator, where Sea, bearing in mind Sharp's go-to TvT opener, decided to fight fire with fire, heavily investing in Vulture-based map control. Although taking a quick third could have been risky, Sea properly assumed a defensive stance, allowing him to run away in terms of economy. Aware of the threat of drops, Sea prudently positioned his forces to prevent the same scenario from the previous series repeating. After 25 minutes of poking and prodding Sea gained control over the game with a massive Wraith fleet. Sharp, assessing the situation, tapped out.

The following game progressed in similar fashion with both players establishing tank lines in the centre of the map. Sea's greed allowed him to run away with the game, having nearly a 50 supply lead at the 20th minute mark. However, a momentary lapse in judgment caused Sea to give up a crucial position, allowing Sharp to drive a wedge in between Sea's third and his fourth. Sea retaliated with a push towards his opponent's main, though with the supplies evened out, Sharp managed to take Sea's pushing force into a vice to get a foothold in the series.

As the players moved on to Circuit Breaker, Sea's indecisiveness when pushing cost him a large chunk of eco, as Sharp, dragging mines onto a reinforcing tank, snuck a squad of Vultures past the pushing army, playing havoc in the enemy natural. Sea proceeded to contain Sharp on two bases, however the latter managed to outposition Sea with quick dropships, breaking the siege line outside his natural with relative ease. Sea, reinforcing with a tank + Vulture heavy army, failed to correctly assess the threat posed by Dropships and lost a large chunk of his force, gaining very little in return. The game progressed into the later stages with Sharp having an extra hidden base go undetected, right under Sea's nose. Failing to acknowledge his adversary's macro capabilities, Sea transitioned into Wraiths far too quickly, getting pushed down by the ground army in return. Sharp once again put himself on match point.


Shaking this up on Fortress, Sea opted for a 1:1:1 to try and deal with Sharp's 1 Fact expansion. Running two Vultures into the main of his opponent, Sea took down a few SCVs and managed to disrupt the construction of the Armoury. Sharp's response was a quick push to delay Sea's natural, as the latter did not even attempt to harass with the initial Wraith.

No, he was far too preoccupied with taking down a landed Barracks.

Deflecting Sharp's push without taking critical damage, Sea added a few Factories and switched to dropship production. Utilizing the massive swathes of barren land next to the main mineral line, Sea dropped a large chunk of his army behind enemy lines. Sharp, however, anticipating that eventuality, had his own dropships ready. Pulling SCVs and clearing out the remainder of Sea's army, Sharp sent a counter drop towards the ASL runner-up's main. Left without an answer, Sea tapped out, with Sharp moving on to the Round of 8.

Shuttle vs. Soulkey
The spotlight in the classic ZvP matchup undoubtedly shined on Soulkey. While Shuttle relied on strong armed macro plays, Soulkey whimsically ran circles around him to outdo his all too straight forward style. In game 1 on Gladiator, Shuttle using the momentum of his 1 gate pummeled Soulkey into submission with relentless zealot, high templar, and zealot attacks. In game 2 on Fighting Spirit, Shuttle's storm drops and frequent attacks were unable to kill Soulkey outright. Forced to expand to a late third, Shuttle slowly starved out from Soulkey's impregnable lurker contain. Game 3 on Roadkill featured a 3 hatch hydra drop strategy. Utilizing several fake drops and frontal busts with hydras, Soulkey dismantled Shuttle's reaver defenses. Game 4's back and forth on Blue Storm saw two reaver pushes, both just barely stopped by Soulkey. A horribly late third slowly left Shuttle dwindling in economy.

Jaedong vs. Light
Jaedong, the grizzled veteran went against a Light who had inexplicably risen to the top in recent weeks. While Jaedong employed all of his knowledge and preparation to outdo Light, his play was too unpolished to face Light's impeccable form. Game 1 on Fighting Spirit saw Jaedong make several midgame blunders, but he gained ample footing in the lategame. BCs, drops, ultralisk counterattacks, and a semi-base race ultimately left Jaedong slowly whittled down by Light's more cost efficient army. The third game despite a promising midgame game for Jaedong was abruptly ended by a four dropship attack by Light. Light in game 3 attempted a proxy rax bunker rush into factory, but was easily defeated by Jaedong's 12 pool opening. Game 4 on Gladiator had Jaedong sunk busted after losing all of his mutas and zerglings in a failed attack on Light's main bio force.

Winners' Match: Soulkey vs. Light
The two best players of their respective races of the ZvT matchup made for an enthralling spectacle. Game 1 on Roadkill was ended by Soulkey's greed, making only 3 sunken colonies but no accompanying zerglings to defend Light's 2 rax after expand. Game 2 on Circuit Breaker had Soulkey employ several mutaling backstab tactics before doing a lurker push that ended the game swiftly. Game 3 on Gladiator showcased 2 control group mutalisk backstabs that damaged Light's economy. However, mutalisks dying off and a third that fell to a 2 dropship attack left Soulkey unable to comeback. Game 4 on Polaris Rhapsody illustrated a muta into ultra strategy from Soulkey. Light's bio attacks to stop Soulkey's third for one reason or another was effortlessly defeated before the disadvantage snowballed into a loss. The match deciding game on Fortress was a long and grinding loss for Light as he lost all of his marines to 8 speedlings. Light could do little but watch as soulkey's 2 hatch mutas into guardians wreaked havoc.


Losers' Match - Jaedong vs. Shuttle
The creative Jaedong tapped into his hyper aggression to cut Shuttle down in a one-sided rush frenzy. Game 1 on Roadkill started with a tremendous lead for Jaedong as he killed several probes w/ runby lings. 7 mutas and 2 scourge later, Shuttle's main base soon became a zerg aviary. On Fighting Spirit, Jaedong's 3 hatch mass hydra strategy outsmarted Shuttle's mass cannon strategy. Game 3 on Gladiator saw yet another ling runby from Jaedong with two lings sruviving into a 3 base spire 5 hatch hydra. Shuttle on the move out was crushed by a hydra muta surround after being on the defensive for almost the entire game. An unfortunately fast exit for Shuttle certainly leaves protoss fans longing for more.

Finals' Match - Jaedong vs. Light
A rematch for the ages, Jaedong gave a greater showing than imagined as both went toe to toe in this electric series. Jaedong certainly had his work cut out for him against Light with a dominant 77.4% winrate in TvZ in sponsored matches this month. Jaedong with his signature aggression closed game 1 out quickly on Roadkill doing 2 hatch mutas with a 12+ ling bunker bust. Game 2 on Blue Storm saw Light bite back with a proxy factory into 2 starport. Endlessly microing a vulture in JD's main, Light dealt unrecoverable damage. Game 3 on Fighting Spirit saw Jaedong's lose several mutas from overextending before getting sunk busted. The next game on Circuit Breaker showcased the opposite, with dominating mutaling attacks. After defending Light's drop aggression, Jaedong's ultraling ounterattacks won the game.

Game of the Series on Gladiator:
In the match deciding game, nerves were at an all time high as Jaedong was arguably pressed against Light's superior mechanics. Jaedong only had one victory out of three games where he opted for a standard 3 base hive. Coupled with Gladiator's close quarters, dropship haven, and reverse ramp, matters could only get worse. But when the moment mattered most, for the first time in a while Jaedong showed flashes of his past as The Tyrant.

The game begins with Light spawning in the top left and Jaedong in the bottom right. The cross positions travel distance while giving Jaedong an easier time versus aggression makes it slightly harder to expand to a third. At the same time, muta harass against Light's mineral line will be even more difficult.

The game opened a standard 3 hatch muta versus Light's +1 5-rax. A mid-game that's as textbook as could be was then blown wide open by Jaedong. Immediately Jaedong rushes his hatching mutas to Light's main base. In one fell swoop he gains a decisive advantage, stopping a turret from completing and forcing Light to pull his SCVs from the main. The two main factors leading up to that moment in both Jaedong and Light's calculations were:


1) The cross positions travel distance
2) The game ending backstab potential of +1 5-rax

Light had delayed his turrets, relying on the longer travel distance and the potential backstab of a +1 5-rax to deter Jaedong. While Jaedong carefully accounted for the position of the main bio force with his lings, Jaedong saw an opportunity to attack with little risk of getting backstabbed. Meanwhile, Light was under the assumption Jaedong would be focused on establishing his third and trying to whittle down the marine medic ball like the other two standard games. Jaedong's unexpected move at once abused Light's complacency and took advantage of the small timing window that +1 5-rax offers for muta harass.

A player to do muta harass versus +1 5-rax is a risky move that lesser Zergs wouldn't have the boldness to do, and was virtually unseen during the Kespa days. Typical of Jaedong's A-game, he makes the proactive plays of daring and attacks at the slightest opportunity. Riding off of the momentum of his micro plays, Jaedong was going full steam ahead.

During the chaos Jaedong had instead of going for a hive, had gone for an evolution chamber. Undoubtedly, Jaedong was taking a page out of Soulkey's book. He was replicating the same precise +1 carapace timing attack and backstab tactics Soulkey had successfully employed versus Light in an earlier series. Of course, the complacent Light didn't bother scanning Jaedong's main for a sign of a hive. Meanwhile, Light, still focused on the longer game continually denied Jaedong's third, not knowing Jaedong's true intentions.

Jaedong once again harassed light's still turretless main, luring his bio force at the natural to the back. Shortly after, Jaedong regrouped with his zerglings, his frontal mutaling attack killing off the few rallied marines. Now controlling the top of the ramp, Jaedong's now complete four lurkers scurried their way into position. All in one fell swoop, Jaedong baited Light's bio with the third base and muta harass in the main, to completely expose his natural for the perfect setup. Even though the lurker attack hit before the +1 carapace finished, the move worked well enough anyhow.

Natural left in ruins and no end in sight for Light, the Terran taps out. Sadly, Light at possibly the height of his career at #2 in ELO below Flash could not avoid the tale as old as time of not advancing to the ro8. Meanwhile Jaedong fist pumped in victory to the applause of his fans.


Jaedong while not the behemoth he was before displayed he still has the tenacity and skill to win games against the top competition. His multitasking, unit control, mind games, and seamless tactical maneuvers were all portrayed in his best performance yet to completely outdo Light. The Tyrant has returned.

Jaedong and Soulkey advance to the Ro8!

Horang2 vs. Mind
Mind vs. Horang2 is a welcome appearance from Mind who has faded from the spotlight recently. Horang2, while an ex-pro, has produced less than impressive results in matchups other than PvP, but viewers were in for a surprise. Game 1 on Roadkill was a long, drawn out game where both players pushed each other's bases. Armies were destroyed, remade, and then destroyed once again before reaching a standstill at several points in the game. In Mind's efforts to stamp out Horang2's ever expanding web of bases, Mind was eventually outresourced, starved on his meager 4 bases by Horang2. In a turn of the unorthodox, game 2 saw dropship play and reaver play, exchanging blows and worker kills. Mind's strong 2 base push, followed by a 3 base push kept Horang2 constantly pressured for an eventual win. Game 3 on Fighting Spirit was won quickly by Mind's timing attack, abusing Horang2's reaver transition after expanding. On Circuit Breaker for game 4, Horang2 pulled out the dreaded cross position carrier strategy. After a few back and forth battles, Horang2's carriers systematically whittled down Mind's goliath count to win the game. Game 5 was won by a DT rush after an innocent looking 1 gate expand, much to the turretless Mind's chagrin.


Best vs. Stork
A battle between to decent protosses saw the refinement, but inconsistency of Best in the same series, and Stork's ingenousness. Game 1 on Blue Storm had Best's DTs scouted, but successful battle after battle allowed Best to comeback in the game. In game 2 on Polaris Rhapsody, after some hectic early dragoon battles, Best's surprise DTs prompted Stork to gg before a single DT killed a probe. Game 3 on Fighting Spirit had Stork on the aggressive, outmanuevering Best to deny his fast expand. The game took a turn for the worse when Best lost the game vs. Stork's 4 reaver push. Game 4 on Gladiator was won by a simple 3 gate all-in by Stork, defeating Best's robotics facility variant. In the final game on Circuit Breaker, Best's DTs were amply handled by Stork, followed by shutting down Best's hidden expansion. After taking a decisive army engagement, Stork moved onward to victory.


Winner's Match - Stork vs. Horang2:
Stork had his work cut out for him against PvP specialist, the tigertoss Horang2. Game 1 on Roadkill was as cookie cutter as they get, Horang2 mind gaming Stork using a DT rush against a 3-gate with no detection. Horang2 on Polaris in game 2 did a soft contain at the bottom of Stork's ramp. Upon breaking out, Stork's reaver push toppled Horang2's dragoon only defences. Game 3 on Circuit Breaker featured some breathtaking money shots on worker lines from both players. However, Horang2 got the better end of the stick, doing one final push to close the game out. Stork growing desperate, in game 4 on Gladiator, Stork attempted a 3-gate dragoon attack to outmuscle Horang2's reaver variant. However, the high ground advantage proved insurmountable for Stork. Incredibly behind, Stork waged another uphill battle while 30 supply behind, predictably failing horribly.


Losers' Match - Mind vs. Best
Mind losing to Horang2 was probably an omen for the worst. Now against PvT wizard Best, Mind's chances of getting out of the group looked grim. The series started on Polaris Rhapsody, and in classic D-rank fashion, Best gas stole into zealot harass, abusing Mind's fast CC expand. With the appearance of the first dragoon, the gg followed shortly after.

Game of the Series on Blue Storm:
After losing the first game, the second set is often considered the most important and critical to avoid a clean sweep. Here Mind made an admirable stand against Best, who unlike other protosses carved his own path of pure macro monstrosity.

Best spawns in the bottom left while Mind spawns in the top right. The state of the game looks bad as Mind does a strangely conservative Fake Double build. The 6 marines a heavy investment are put to little use besides safely establishing a natural. Even then, Best with just two dragoons, a zealot, and the power of the high ground destroys a siege tank, 6 marines, and a vulture, all off of 1 gate. Mind attempts to recoup his losses doing more cute tactics such as a one tank siege over the cliff to kill probes, and vulture harass that does decent damage.

Best's reaver transition is more than prepared for by Mind's defensive starport, making two wraiths. The solid defense and minor harass puts Mind in a relatively equal position with Best. However, his efforts are undermined by a dropship that doesn't even go past his half of the map before falling to dragoons.


Best pokes and prods with his reavers where he can as Mind expands to his 3rd. In a show of macro dominance, a nearly maxed Best attacks the entrenched defence of Mind, attempting to whittle down the siege tank numbers efficiently.


Best attacks once more, but this time in the form of a conga line of zealots past the small choke of Mind's.


Both attacks are dealt with before Mind decides to move out to establish his fourth. Best in the meantime takes the 6 and 12 O'Clock bases. Best, known for carriers with a short lifespan stubbornly stays on pure gateway units. Best eventually relents, getting an arbiter 18 minutes into the game. Yet another conga line, and then another line of zealots is recklessly walked into mines as one questions if Best's desire to throw units away knows no bounds. Best's attacks may be an attempt to delay Mind from pushing and stretching him thin, or maybe just a creative move with more flair than sense.

Mind eventually forces a split map, finally taking the 6 o'clock. After maxing out, he begins to push. Finally, Best makes an attack that involves more than just losing units. Waiting until Mind's army had crept all the way to the 6 O'Clock for maximum retreat distance, Best recalls at Mind's main base. Best then shortly follows up with a failed recall at Mind's 6 O'Clock. Almost an unexpected effect of staying on gateway units disastrously long, the recall may have been all the more unexpected by Mind.


Best's bizzare and haphazard tactics while sloppy have worked well enough to destablize Mind. Moving for a final push, a succession of stasises shuts down Mind's 6 O'Clock. Running deep into the tank line, Best's army units however peter out as Mind's reinforcements fend the attack off by a hairsbreadth. Best is down to 80 supply and forced to make archons with his surplus gas while Mind is barely breaking 50.

Then, Best in an unprecedented move puts a reaver and archon in his shuttle to stop mining at the 6 O'Clock completely. Shortly after, a push in makes little work of what's left of Mind's meager army in a game more ridiculous than brilliant.


After an exhausting game 2 came a third. Mind's chances of redemption evaported in game 3 on Roadkill, defeated by Best's reaver drop and dragoon attack at his natural.

Finals' Match - Best vs. Stork
Stork and Best meet once again, both players eager to make the last cut to the ro8. In game 1 on Blue Storm, Stork's midgame advantage led to a better unit composition with several more archons. The major engagement and the moments after left Best with a 60 supply deficit. Best in game 2 on Gladiator brushed off Stork's reaver push, shut down his expansion and, effortlessly defended Stork's last ditch counterattack. On Fortress in game 3, Best picks off Storks shuttle with reavers inside before closing in on Stork's natural. In game 4 on Circuit Breaker, Stork in another attempt to push is styled on by a complete surround by Best complete with a shield battery for the reaver.

Horang2 and Best advance to the Ro8!