EPT
[Oops]Reach
v 
[Red]NadaAnd so two titans of the game resumed their struggle in the first round of the KT fimm League playoffs, as Reach (Park Jeong Seok) attempted to eliminate the reigning champion, the mighty terran machine that is Nada (Lee Yoon Yeol).
Recent history suggested a close-fought battle for supremacy. Reach had narrowly defeated Nada in the Gillette OSL quarterfinals earlier in the year with a tour de force terran-killing display on Nostalgia. Nada showed the true extent of his mammoth macro when the two clashed a few weeks ago in the Premiere League, throwing masses of goliaths around the map to neutralise Reachs carrier fleet and secure a relatively untroubled win.
Game One, on Arizona:
Nada (terran at five) opened with one factory, one starport as inside the protoss base at two oclock, Reach was warping in one gateway followed by core, citadel, archives and robotics facility, his tech-heavy build intending a quick dark drop into the terran main.
With Reach still waiting for his dark templar to emerge from his gates, Nada swooped into the bottom of the protoss main with a two vulture, one tank drop. Reach escaped what looked for a moment like a dicey situation by dragging a mine onto the terran tank to eliminate the threat.
Reachs first dark templar dropped into the terran base and scythed down a group of SCVs as Nada frantically thew up turrets for detection.
Having escaped a dark death, Nada immediately went back on the offensive, a vulture drop into the protoss base setting off a dance of vulture-dragoon micro as the two players duelled. At the very last a rogue mine found its targeted, homed in on a lumbering dragoon and took a whole array of probes with it as it detonated, delivering a devastating blow to the protoss economy.
Reach tried to attack, a zeal bomb and dragoon offensive launched at the new terran expansion, killing some tanks but unable to break through. Meanwhile, Nada had yet again dropped the protoss main, killing more probes.
With the protoss economy gasping for breath, Nada launched his ground offensive, with vultures, tanks and a science vessel. Reach could not hold and conceded the first game.
Game Two, on Requiem:
Reach (at six) opened with two gate zealots and a quick gas rush after finding the terran base immediately at three oclock. As three, then two more, zealots arrived at the terran ramp Reach warped in his core. Nada, who had two barracks, held his choke with a bunker as the protoss army tried to break in.
In the terran base, Nada put up an academy and a factory plus a third barracks, signalling an imminent marine/medic/tank breakout.
Reach had taken his natural expansion but instead of going for templar tech he, catastrophically, warped in a robotics facility.
With siege now available the terran army burst out of their base, the undermanned protoss army falling back before the power of the stimmed marines. Nada surged towards the protoss expansion and there was nothing Reach could do as the terran army razed his structures and ended the game.
Game Three, on Nostalgia:
Facing elimination, Reach (at five) opted for proxy robotics facility at the 11 position as Nada (at one) went for a one factory expansion build.
Reachs first reaver-laden shuttle glided silently into the top of the terran main, its death-dealing cargo destroying a few SCVs as they fled for the safety of the nearby expansion. Reach immediately started his own expansion and started to add gateways. Nadas efficient positioning allowed few opportunities for a repeat reaver drop, although Reach did net a few more with a drop to the high right corner of the terran base.
Nada was now building up to five factories and his preparing to shift his peerless macro into high gear. He moved his first major tank force out to right centre, Reach sacrificing two reavers to break it up before the terrans could entrench. Reach started a new expo at six, while preventing Nada from expanding to 12.
A lightning vulture raid eliminated the small number of probes at the new six expo but worse was to come for Reach. The vultures banked round to the protoss natural, engaging nearby dragoons, and for the second time in the match a mine locked onto a protoss unit and detonated next to a nexus, vaporising the probes and thrusting a dagger into the heart of the protoss economy.
Nada was now producing masses of tanks and vultures and started his move down the map, forcing the undermanned protoss army to retreat. Reach tried to stop the advance but Nada did not even need sieged tanks to eliminate the opposition before heading for six and taking down the expansion.
Reach was trying for desperation carriers but the end was near. Nada closed in on the protoss natural, swatting the limited opposition aside, destroying the nexus and entering the main, signalling the end of the game and, for Reach, the end of the tournament.
[Oops]Reach 0 3 [Red]Nada
A surprisingly easy win for Nada as Reach put in a series of curiously lightweight performances, well below the stellar anti-terran play he has been consistently displaying over the last few months.
Nada now moves into the second round and will play Chojja on December 12 (Korea).
damn, Reach...
