EPT
Terato opened up at eleven as his nemesis Casy landed his CC at two. The scouting probe found the terran just a barracks was initiated, and spent some time pestering the scv on barracks detail. For some reason that the camera missed, Casy was forced to cancel his barracks when it was 1/3 of the way done, leaving the terran in huge whole. Terato pounced all over this as a zealot hurried south. A manner pylon in the terran minerals further set Casy behind, and his attention was spent trying to take out the zealot with his two marines, while a second fanatic joined the fray. Now with five marines, Casy finally rid his base of the protoss warriors and forced a dragoon to run back to base.
In the protoss base, a stargate was warping in but Terato did a poor job of hiding things and cancelled it at 99% completion when an scv found it out. Terato moved forward to the terran base again, where he found Casy taking his expansion with only a tank and a marine for defense. Trying to be too cute, Terato (without obs of course) attracted mines with one dragoon while picking them off with the others. After eliminating the three mines outside the terran bridge, Terato was hasty in crossing and trying to kill the lone tank. Two more mines popped up, and all of a sudden the five dragoons turned into soup and the natural expansion was safe to continue building for the time being, with a tank still alive for defense.
Terato continued to pressure with three new dragoons, and this time had more success, killing two tanks and microing to kill more scv and slowing the completion of the CC. Finally, Casy cancelled his almost complete CC and pulled back to his choke. Terato kept the pressure on with a constant stream of dragoons from his base. Casy had seiged up behind his choke, making a land assault very costly, so he instead sat back and waited for his upcoming reaver. The reaver dropped with great success, killing multiple scv, but much to Terato’s surprise, missles appeared from no where as two cloaked wraiths shot down the shuttle. Casy then turned the tables and dropped two tanks in behind the protoss expansion, forcing the delicate probes to shatter under their withering firepower.
Despite losing mining rights to his expansion, Terato knew that two tanks removed from the terran base was a chance. His six dragoons came back through the front and met with little resistance. Scv were conscripted from the mineral line and one last tank just out of the factory seiged up which saved the day for Casy. The two tanks were brought back from their previous assignment, and again the terran was safe. For some strange reason, Terato tried to hide his dragoons in the corner of the terran natural expansion, but Casy was not fooled by this, and it cost Terato dearly. Seven dragoons camed in the corner while Casy simply rolled up, seiged, laid mines in front of his tanks, and obliterated the force. To add insult to injury, Terato also lost two observers and his shuttle full of zealots in a Dunkirk style mission to save his goons.
At long last Casy took his natural, adding a third and fourth factory to his base. He again tanked the protoss natural, but was forced to pick up quickly. Terato had wasted a lot of units this game, but he also had set Casy a long ways back, and it was beginning to show. The protoss had another expansion at eight, and many dragoons outside his bridge at twelve. With his natural secured, Casy felt that he needed some offence and he began a push north from three to twelve. This push allowed him to take the right-center expansion, but he was quickly forced back as Terato fell on him with slow-moving zealots and dragoons. Both players traded positions, with Cast killing the protoss expansion at eight while Terato took out the center-right as well as the terran natural, a move that killed most of Casy’s scvs.
The end was near because although Casy still had a modest ground army, carriers were en route from Terato as he took his center-top expansion. Casy tried to retake his natural, but the interceptor count slowly rose and Casy’s chances in game one slowly fell with every kill. At last the tank population was sufficiently reduced from Terato to move in and claim the game.
Terato 1:0 Casy
Game 2: Terato (p) vs Casy (t) on Requiem
Terato starts at three this game, and his opponent was not far away at twelve. This map has created some interesting and vicious games pvt (Zeus falling to iloveoov’s firebat nexus kill?), and with his boot on Casy’s throat, he did not want to let up for a sudden death match.
Terato scouted the long way, going clockwise, while Casy got in a look right away. This early look allowed him to see a zealot heading north, the second game in a row that Terato had put on early pressure. After killing the factory building scv, Terato retreated for a moment, and Casy was building up his marine force to some threatening numbers. Seven marines were now guarding his ramp, and while Terato tried to pick them off with his two goons, artillery support quickly arrived and the marine/tank force headed south, managing to pick off a weakened dragoon that did not respond fast enough.
Both players battled between their two bases with both sides taking losses, until Casy researched siege and built a bunker at his natural to go with the new CC in progress there. Terato continued to poke with his dragoons, but heading north would be suicide with three tanks ready for defense. An unaccompanied probe down at six started Terato’s first expansion, as he decided against taking his natural. With his line of dragoons now at ten, Terato came at the terran perimeter, dropping four zealots on top of the tanks before losing his shutte, as well as brining his dragoons into play. Terato managed to kill six tanks, however the last two were between the minerals and CC of Casy’s natural, and that over-extension, as well as the constant fire from the bunker, allowed Casy’s scv to surround and kill the remaining dragoons. Few scv had been destroyed as both payers lost their armies.
Casy countered this attack with a dropship in the protoss main, but an observer saw the move and Casy had to pull back after losing a tank. Vultures scurrying around the map found the expansion at six, but Casy elected to re-drop the protoss main, this time with four vultures which had far greater success in reducing the probe count. Casy seemed to be having greater success in recovering from that early attack as he had many tanks seiged in defense of his choke and was using his vultures to raid the map, laying mines and harassing six o’clock. Terato was now play defensively, massing dragoons and fortifying his base against further drops. These fortifications were not adequate however, because four more vultures added to the probe kill count after once again being dropped in the protoss main. Terato countered with a four zealot drop at Casy’s new expansion at 1, a questionable decision given the proximity to the protoss base.
Terato’s macro was now back on track with three expansions, having taken the six o’clock natural. Casy pushed down the map towards the protoss main, and Terato circumvented the far side of the map with his dragoons, cutting the long terran line in half. Casy reacted well though, and by bringing his army back he chased Terato around the map with tank/vulture, scouring the landscape of protoss forces and ending up at six. With the protoss army in ruins, Casy cut through the six natural, and looked to be ready to kill six as well, where two stargates were glittering with carriers in-progress. A few interceptors were not going to stop Casy though, as his vultures killed every probe and the tanks were saved for further campaigns.
Four capital ships floated north, and they balanced on the edge between the middle and main of the protoss. Casy’s goliath counter was limited in numbers at the moment, and Terato had a new target in mind. Using his ships to his the last producing terran expansion, interceptors rained down upon the hapless scv. Back at the protoss six, a similar decimation was taking place, as terran forces began toppling protoss structures. Terato had little choice but to retreat and take care of this problem, as siege tanks threatened to sink the game for him. Goliaths defended and held off the blimps long enough for the tanks to do their work. With neither player having an active expansion, long lines of scv mined long distance and at the mercy of protoss air power. Terato re-expanded to five, while Casy looked to level the protoss main. Slowly the scv mining cross-country were taken out, and Terato set about killing the remaining CC’s of Casy while his seven probes tirelessly began their work at five, his nexus being his only remaining structure.
Just as his five carriers looked as if they could not be stopped and Terato would win by a narrow margin, Casy had one more trick up his sleeve as two cloaked wraiths scanned for obs and then began sinking their missiles into the soft underbelly of the ships. A single obs saved the day however, and Terato microed his carriers and killed the last terran units in his main. GG.
Terato 2:0 Casy
Terato wins the tiebreaker in a thrilling last game, and heads on to the Dual League, while Casy will once again have to start from the bottom.
Game 1: Canata (t) vs Clon (z) on Bifrost
Canata took control of the left hand base, wishing his opponent “good luck” before preparing to destroy him utterly. Two barracks were the order of the day, while Clon went for a fast one hatch lair and den, going for very fast lurkers. Canata kept his cool after seeing this, and blocked the zerg front choke with a supply depot backed by his early marines. Although Clon got his half-sack of lings out of his base the back way, Canata Brought up more MM and ran into the zerg main, halting all gas production. Clon defended with lurkers, and also had a slow drop heading into the terran main from the bottom. Two lurkers burrowed behind the minerals, and the killed all marines that tried to defend, as well as numerous scv, all of which allowed Clon to escape his base with his other forces and expand to five.
Again Clon slow dropped two lurkers in the terran base, and Canata was forced to wait two full times for scan energy. This lack of scan cost Canata dearly, and he was forced to use his scv like clay pigeons, firing at them to take advantage of splash damage. After continual drops of lurkers and zerglings, the ten minute mark found Canata with only 3 scv and no troops. One more drop finished this rape once and for all as Clon took game one.
Clon 1:0 Canata
Game 2: Clon (z) vs Canata (t) on Pellenor
Canata (@7) started a barracks first, then followed it with a depot to narrow his choke. The barracks was outside of his base, almost half way up the map which he then floated home after three marines. His bunkering intentions were clear, but Clon (north at 11) reacted well and killed three marines with only drones. The terran just finished a factory in his main with only one barracks, while Clon took this early victory as a positive sign and expanded all the way across the map at three in addition to his hatchery already at his choke.
Clon took a poke at the terran choke, but could not gain access despite there being only one marine for defense. Canata’s strategy became clear quickly, as two vultures made their way into the zerg main. Unbelievably, they were killed by six drones, and Clon only lost two of them. Again the speedy bikes came north, and six of them had greater success in killing drones than their first two members. Clon was getting his lair at this point, but had massed a dozen hydralisks that attacked the terran choke. The lone marine in the bunker fell, but Canata had teched to goliaths, and they stood strong, mowing down the zerg units into a line of pulp.
Although zerg had an extra expansion, Canata still had a better economy as the zerg drone count was pitiful. Again hydralisks pounded the terran choke, but goliaths reinforced by two tanks were far too powerful and these tanks set up on the ledge above the zerg choke in preparation of the inevitable bombardment of the zerg choke. Clon did a good job with his zerglings of eliminating the goliaths defending the ramp to nine and the tanks, but then decided to head to the terran main again, where his army was killed for the third time. The tanks over looking the choke killed the sunken defense, and this allowed goliaths to walk in and kill the choke hatchery.
With his opponent bottled up in his main, Canata expanded to six and sent a force to three. A tanks and six goliaths killed this expansion, and Clons bizarre shift to mutalisks in the face of goliaths did not help matters at all. Three fell, and after one more tank/goliath force entered the zerg main, Clon gave in.
Clon 1:1 Canata
Game 3: Clon (z) vs Canata (t) on Mercury
Clon was looking to rebound after a frightfully poor display in the last game, in which Canata went mech vs his hydralsisks and Clon countered with mutalisks vs goliaths. With more lings it would not have been so bad, but the lack of large ling support (facilitated by a lack of larvae) gave Canata an easy win without expanding.
This deciding game opened with Clon taking root at five, making a pool before a second hatchery and stealing the terran gas with his scout. A hatchery was placed at the zerg natural after the spawning pool, and both players began their tech, Clon with a lair and Canata finishing his academy. Canata (@ 8), moved out from his base once he had two of both medics and firebats, and took position outside the zerg bridge. Thanks to his advance zergling scouts, Clon had managed to escape two hydralisks before the marine arrival, which, when formed into lurkers, would form an effective strike or pincer, whichever he preferred.
Deciding on the former, Clon parked his lurkers outside the terran bridge while in his base he laid down a queens nest in addition to his two evo chambers. Canata was very quiet early on, content to tech to his tanks and vessels, while scanning the upcoming hive. Clon’s hold lurkers tried to take a swipe at the larger force of MM plus two tanks that emerged from Canata’s base, but he unwisely waited to spring his trap when most of the MM had walked by and two tanks were on top of them. A quick scan allowed the tanks and a firebat to kill the lurkers with almost no losses.
With the surprise no longer effective, Clon sunkened up to buy time, but to little avail as three tanks pounded his natural mineral line from the ledge behind. As evidenced by the fast hive and double evo, mass lings were coming from Clon, and their speed combined with the power of two lurkers cut up the terran MM outside his base. Canata had cleaned out the zerg natural of drones and the hatchery, and he took position just outside his bridge. Clon continued on his tech path, relying on speedlings and getting defilers for the swarm.
Clon used his tech well, smashing through the terran position at nine, and may have won the game with his ling/lurker/defiler if not for a field of spider mines that had been laid by Canata. Despite the losses to mines, Clon still ran across the bridge and ended the terran expansion. With his natural retaken and an expansion at two, the balance had once again tipped in the favour of the zerg. A nydus canal linked the two bases, and Clon once again headed north with his zerglings. Canata had again laid multiple mines though, and was able to re-take his natural while holding off the zerg pressure. Again lurker/ling came across the bridge, but two good irradiates eliminated the lurkers while mass firebats handled the lings. Canata tried to take the initiative and drop the zerg main, but it failed as Clon scourged the ship. The misfortune continued as both of Canata’s vessels were scourged while still inside his base, leading the way for a greater spire from Clon without fear of mass irradiate.
Canata tried to take a second expansion at ten, but without troops defend, it was quickly found out. Guardians came from the north backed by zerglings, and although Canata tried one more attack no the zerg position, zerg troops swarmed over his army in large numbers, leading to an end to the game as 2/1 cracks flooded across the bridges for the last time.
Clon 2:1 Canata
Clon lives to fight another day, playing very well in the third game after looking very poor in the second.
Next weeks tie-breakers:
Group A: ForU vs Cloud
Group D: Iris[gm] vs Autumn
Cheers.
