A Day To Remember

NonY 0 - 0 IdrA

The two players met up on iCCup a few minutes early, eager to do battle. Both had high hopes for the day and came prepared to bring their A game. After a quick 5-4-3-2-1, we began a game that was...

Outside Of The Ordinary

IdrA landed his Command Center at the 9 o'clock, planning to swiftly demonstrate to his Protoss foe just what plans he had been developing in Korea. NonY brazenly responded by warping in his own Nexus, and the war was started! The game began quietly enough, with a one Factory expansion going up for IdrA versus NonY's 1 Gateway Robotics Facility → expand opening. IdrA's knowledge of this map showed with his SCV hopping tactics: first, he sent two SCVs north of his base. He then hopped one over, and began a Depot with it on NonY's part of the minerals, allowing him to sneak a scout into his base.

All was not well for the Protoss, however, as IdrA confidently responded to what he saw of the Protoss base by going for a quick second Factory and pushing out with 2 Vultures, 3 SCVs, 3 Tanks, 3 Marines–clearly a believer in the rule of threes. NonY's quick shuttle and 3rd expansion meant he did not have enough to stave off the attack, and he ended up losing his natural. After his attempted counterattack on IdrA with his Reaver failed to do much damage, he was significantly behind.

NonY kept pumping Shuttles at this point, along with Dragoons and Zealots, while taking both of his side expansions: his natural inaccessible due to IdrA's continued contain. IdrA easily took a third of his own, and NonY found himself having to try to do damage with a several-shuttle fleet or else be overrun.

IdrA defended admirably, and continued to pour on his own harassment. Eventually, NonY went for Carriers, and although he did break the contain, he was unable to fight IdrA's actual army and got overrun by the Terran mechanical juggernaut before building up a sufficiently large Carrier fleet of doom.

NonY 0 - 1 IdrA

After the game, the two exchanged a few comments about it. NonY lamented the fact that he had lacked the vespene to pull off what he had wanted to do. IdrA's response was that "G5 units" don't need gas anyway, referring to the mass army of Dragoons and Zealots ferried around by Shuttles.

After receiving a walloping blow in the first game, NonY definitely wanted some revenge–and what better a map on which to get it than Andromeda, foe of Terran commandants everywhere?

The Andromeda Storm

NonY started this game off with a 13 Nexus at the 7, and looked to overwhelm IdrA with the ferocity of a well-macroed force from Aiur. IdrA also quickly expanded twice off one Factory up at the 1, and the set was stage for a long macro based game between two diagonally situated players.

NonY made the first strike, first briefly attempting to break IdrA with a Shuttle with Zealots accompanying some Dragoons, but then settling to killing a few SCVs with Shuttle + Zealot harass, all while taking his fourth. IdrA prevented the attack and harass from doing much damage, and then set out to kill NonY's fourth with 15 Tanks and some Vultures.

The two combatants met in the middle, NonY up about 60 supply (170-120). NonY had come ready for a fist fight, and he wasn't backing down. His units joyfully clashed with the Terran combine, and chaos ensued as Dragoons collapsed, Zealots evaporated, and Tanks exploded. NonY managed to land some powerful storms with a few High Templar in a Shuttle, but eventually IdrA came out on top, and NonY was forced to fall back licking his wounds.

Running on 11 Gateways to IdrA's 8 Factories, NonY rebuilt his forces while attempting to stall the push and keep his fourth alive. They both continually rallied their forces towards the center and collided again and again. IdrA barely managed to kill the Protoss fourth Nexus, but the enraged Protoss army then killed the Terran attack definitively.

Although his attack had been stopped, IdrA had now taken a fourth and was looking strong at over 170 supply. At even supplies, the two met outside IdrA's fourth, but this time the Protoss flung themselves forward with even greater abandon. Storms crackled, and the entire screen was awash with lightning, explosions, and blue goo as NonY channeled the spirit of Reach himself and came gloriously pouring over the Terran army. When the air was silent once more, the Protoss found themselves victorious over the Terrans.

With the Terran fourth frantically evacuated, IdrA managed to hold on a few more minutes before eventually trying to come out again but getting overwhelmed by the Protoss numbers. IdrA characteristically silently left, and the players stood even once more.

NonY 1 - 1 IdrA

Before the next game began, IdrA asked NonY: did he feel guilty about playing like that on Andromeda? NonY merely expressed his love of the map, and next game was on!

Destination: Victory

IdrA began this game at the 6 by getting offensive gased. Executor NonY was not content to win merely by creating huge forces on Andromeda, but also intended to demonstrate his skill at guile and tricks. A Command Center went down before the Refinery in response, and the Terran looked to a lone Bunker at his choke to defend himself.

NonY followed up by expanding and hitting the Bunker from out of range with Dragoons. IdrA eventually forced him back, but the Protoss were not macroing and not expanding. Instead, two Stargates had already completed, and a Fleet Beacon was being warped in for Carriers!

With a four factory build before his third, the Commander was well set to respond, and he quickly set out to prevent the Protoss from getting a dangerous number of Carriers. The two forces met outside the Protoss' natural bridge. NonY's two Carriers, 9 Dragoons, and a few Zealots were unable to fight the 6 Tanks supported by a similar number of Goliaths and a few Marines.

After winning the battle, IdrA went forward and killed the Nexus with the long arm of a few Siege tanks, but then pulled back. Now on 3 bases to 1, he was content to build up for a bit rather than try to push it and risk letting NonY back into the game.

For a few minutes, NonY managed to struggle on, but his build had been pretty directly countered by what IdrA did, and he was unable to ever establish a good position this game.

NonY 1 - 2 IdrA

The players were silent after this game; IdrA had weathered the risk of a Carrier fleet by virtue of his build, and NonY knew he needed to bring his absolute best play to the next game in order to even up the series against the Terran dominion.

Terran and Toss Tornadoes

NonY started this game off like a tornado indeed, beginning at the 4 and not only manner pyloning his opponent but also harassing with a Zealot. IdrA defended flawlessly for a while, until suddenly the Protoss came barrelling up the Terran ramp with 2 Dragoons and a Zealot. The 3 Marines and SCV defenders were all killed in exchange for the Zealot, and for a mere second it looked as if IdrA might be in trouble.

He was unconcerned, however, and with a freshly minted Siege Tank repaired by several SCVs, NonY was sent packing; one of the Dragoons barely made it out with 10 life. A Nexus was the immediate response, and NonY continued to display spirit that would make a berserker proud. Within no time at all, the Protoss were again breaking into the Terran base: 5 Dragoons came in the front as a Reaver and 2 Zealots were dropped on top of the defending Siege Tanks.

Nearly all of the SCVs at the natural were killed, and one Reaver managed to slowly crawl away to safety as IdrA got things back in line within the Terran base. Reaver harassment attempts continued, but he was unable to seriously damage IdrA at this point, and the game turned into a macro fest–or so it would seem!

As IdrA took his third, NonY showed the reason for his own slightly delayed third: an army of Dragoons mixed with speed Zealots clashed with the Terran forces heading to the third. IdrA had barely seen it coming in time, and just managed to fight with his SCVs combined with his forces. In the end, the Protoss were killed to a man and the Terran barely emerged victorious. Had those SCVs been but a few seconds later, IdrA's forces would have been swept away.

The newly summoned Protoss army danced around outside Siege Tank range, but there were simply too many mechs for them to engage. IdrA relentlessly pushed forward, but when a group of Dragoons tried to backstab his third, he swiftly isolated and executed them for thinking such thoughts.

Over time IdrA solidified his position near NonY on the map, and NonY was forced to concede the game, and the match, to IdrA. He congratulated "You had to push so far, it was very impressive", and then left the game.

NonY 1 - 3 IdrA

Congratulations to IdrA!