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[GSL] Super Tournament RO64

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[GSL] Super Tournament RO64

Text byWaxangel
Graphics byHawaiianPig
June 3rd, 2011 15:21 GMT

[image loading]

GSL Super Tournament on Liquipedia


GSL Super Tournament - RO64
By b_unnies, confusedcrib, Divinek, TreeHugger, and WaxAngel


Table of contents
brought to you by Snorlax

[image loading]

Results and Reviews

Game of the Week

Strategy of the Week

Concluding the RO64:
It's the Seeding, Stupid!



Hello, welcome to the GSL Super Tournament, and TL's reorganized GSL coverage. To manage the high volume of games caused by the Super Tournament's broadcast schedule, we're changing to a more article based coverage system instead of writing in depth reports on every single game. We'll still have spoiler-free short recaps and ratings of the games for your VOD viewing needs, and the stand out games of the week will receive lengthier reports.

This week we take a look at an early candidate for worst game of the tournament, introduce the new segment "Strategy of the Week," and think about why the RO64 matches ended up being so lackluster.

And for the love of god GomTV, please give us at least a day's rest between the RO64 and RO32.






Results and Ratings


Brackets
+ Show Spoiler [Brackets] +
  • A
  • B
  • C
  • D

Group A
+ Show Spoiler [Group A Results] +

(T)IMMvp vs (P)Creator.Prime

Game One: Xel'Naga Fortress -
[image loading]
1.5/5
+ Show Spoiler +
MVP > CreatorA pretty standard FE and macro up game, abruptly cut short when MVP killed off Creator with an attack before psionic storm research completed.

MVP:
[image loading]
3.5/5
Good timing to hit before storm, but he didn't really have to work that hard.
Creator:
[image loading]
1/5
Dying to attack move 15 mins into the game?

Game Two: Crevasse -
[image loading]
4/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Creator > MVP
Huge slugfest on Crevasse, with MVP giving up a rare loss in a long macro game.

MVP:
[image loading]
3.5/5
Solid.
Creator:
[image loading]
4/5
More solid.

Game Three: Tal'Darim Altar -
[image loading]
1.5/5
+ Show Spoiler +
MVP > Creator
Almost broke the "so bad it's good" threshhold.

Though he took a early-mid game lead with a strong marine-tank push, MVP did his best to try and lose the game through sloppy play. Fortunately for MVP, Creator also made his fair share of mistakes.

MVP:
[image loading]
3/5
Sloppy.
Creator:
[image loading]
2/5
Sloppier.



(T)Slayers_GanZi vs (T)ButterflyEffect

Game One: Crossfire SE -
[image loading]
2.5/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Ganzi > ButterflyEffect
Marine hellion rush into proxy starport into 1/1/1 all-in for Ganzi, fast expand for ButterflyEffect. ButterflyEffect had no idea how to defend. The game gets an extra half-star because I enjoy watching SCVs die.

GanZi:
[image loading]
3.5/5
Pretty good micro, though ButterflyEffect's defense was pretty poor.

ButterflyEffect:
[image loading]
1.5/5
Totally caught off guard. Forgot that fast expanding is a privilege, not a right.

Game Two: Xel'Naga Caverns -
[image loading]
1/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Ganzi > ButterflyEffect
After mutual FEs, ButterflyEffect tried some ineffective cloak banshee harass. Then he died to a marine-tank push, because he didn't have any units.

GanZi:
[image loading]
3.5/5
Defended against banshees, attack moved, won.

ButterflyEffect:
[image loading]
1/5
Didn't do anything with banshees, made no units, lost.

Game Three: Tal'Darim Altar -
[image loading]
3.5/5
+ Show Spoiler +
GanZi won 2-0.


(Z)CheckPrime vs (T)oGsSuperNova

Game One: Crevasse -
[image loading]
1/5
+ Show Spoiler +
SuperNova > Check
Check 6 pooled, SuperNova defended against it with SCVs and marines.

Check:
[image loading]
2/5
6 pool.

SuperNova:
[image loading]
3/5
Defended a 6 pool.

Game Two: Terminus SE -
[image loading]
2/5
+ Show Spoiler +
SuperNova > Check
Check went for standard 3 base doubleling, while SuperNova followed his FE with a powerful 4rax 2fact push timing (sans medivacs). Check attempted to defend against the push by rolling his banelings into a concave of maximum siege tank damage and died promptly.

Check:
[image loading]
1.5/5
It's questionable if he could have found a WORSE position to engage in.

SuperNova:
[image loading]
3/5
It's kind of convenient for Terrans that they can place their tanks well, and just wait for their opponents to make a mistake.

Game Three: Metalopolis -
[image loading]
3/5
+ Show Spoiler +
SuperNova won 2-0.


(T)SlayerS_MMA vs (T)FOXLyn

Game One: Xel'Naga Caverns -
[image loading]
3/5
+ Show Spoiler +
MMA > Lyn
After a close two base vs two base build up, the game rapidly turned in MMA's favor after Lyn tried to win a battle without using siege mode. MMA would always be ahead in expansions and army after that point, rolling slowly but safely to a victory.

MMA:
[image loading]
3.5/5
Chose the correct battles, expanded at the right times, and just managed the game really well on the whole.

Lyn:
[image loading]
2.5/5
Seemed like he was an even match for MMA, but he lost the first crucial battle. He thought his un-sieged tanks could clear out MMA's sieged tanks quickly enough, but he miscalculated their relative damage outputs.

Game Two: Terminus SE -
[image loading]
2.5/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Lyn > MMA
Lyn went for a fast expansion while MMA got a slower expansions after some hellion and banshee harass. MMA was very active in harassing and pressuring Lyn, but couldn't cause any significant harm. Lyn just weathered the storm, and won with the vaunted "more stuff" strategy when his better economy paid off.

MMA:
[image loading]
2.5/5
He may have been overaggressive, but it's understandable that he chose to try and do damage instead of playing the economic catch-up game.

Lyn:
[image loading]
3.5/5
Good composure and patience on defense, combined with smart utilization of superior numbers on offense.

Game Three: Xel'Naga Fortress -
[image loading]
3/5
+ Show Spoiler +
MMA > Lyn
The final game of the series played out like a mixture of the previous two. MMA went for a fast expansion, while Lyn pressured with 1/1/1. Lyn's pressure did enough to bring the two Terrans to a roughly even situation from which they macroed up. Once more, Lyn overestimated unsieged tank firepower in a critical battle, and ended up losing the engagement. Again, this cost Lyn the game.

MMA:
[image loading]
3/5
Siege tanks, wait for opponent to make a mistake. Even works against other Terrans!

Lyn:
[image loading]
2/5
Excellent 1/1/1 pressure, but another incorrect decision to engage in tank mode.


(P)oGsInCa vs (T)SlayerS_Ryung

Game One: Crevasse -
[image loading]
1.5/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Ryung > Inca
After the usual Crevasse FE open, Inca hid two stargates away on the map and started massing voidrays. The investment in void rays meant InCa lacked the ground troops to fend off Ryung's drop tactics, but at the same time he was afraid of revealing his void rays too early in defense. This led to Ryung's rather minor drops doing tons of damage while Inca kept massing more voids. This led to a situation where Inca was practically all-in when he finally attacked with his voids, as his economy had taken extreme damage from the drops. Inca had 10 or so voidrays when he attacked, but even so, Ryung had enough marines to defend himself and collect the GG.

Inca:
[image loading]
2/5
In retrospect, he should have showed his hand instead of letting himself lose to what was pretty much just two dropships and 16 marines.

Ryung:
[image loading]
3.5/5
Didn't have to do much, but can't really blame him for that.

Game Two: Tal'Darim Altar -
[image loading]
0.5/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Ryung > Inca
Inca went 16 nexus, Ryung went 4 barracks all-in.

Inca:
[image loading]
1.5/5
Even for having lost the build order fight, his defense was pretty mediocre.

Ryung:
[image loading]
3.5/5
Took his win.

Game Three: Dual Sight -
[image loading]
2.5/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Ryung won 2-0.


(Z)JookTo vs. (P)anypro

Game One: Xel'Naga Caverns -
[image loading]
4/5
+ Show Spoiler +
jookTo > Anypro
Anypro plays a really 2 base all in oriented PvZ. JookTo played out this game extremely well. He began upgrading melee attack extremely early so his zerglings could go to work in combination with his roaches. As Anypro moves out with his typical 6 gate one robo attack, jookTo counter attacks and picks off Anypro's natural, forcing Anypro to attack, JookTo uses mass spine crawlers to defend before using his superior economy to transition to muta/ing with his leftover roaches to crush Anypro's army and win the game.

AnyPro:
[image loading]
2/5
JookTo:
[image loading]
4/5

Game Two: Terminus RE -
[image loading]
3/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Anypro > JookTo
Anypro forge fast expands and JookTo goes for a baneling/roach bust. The bust doesn't work and Anypro follows up with two stargates, so that JookTo has no chance of getting back into the game due to phoenix harass. Anypro gets a mothership and about 12 gateways for fun before finishing JookTo off.

Anypro:
[image loading]
3/5
JookTo:
[image loading]
3/5

Game Three: Bel'Shir Beach
[image loading]
4/5

+ Show Spoiler +

JookTo > Anypro
Anypro hates third bases almost as much as jookTo does. Anypro goes for his typical huge warpgate two base attack and jookTo barely manages to hold it, despite losing his third base in the process. The game then goes back and forth with colossus stalker against baneling roach. jookTo uses some great positioning play to keep on forcing Anypro to lose bases and pull back with his army. The game ends in a pretty epic base trade, with Anypro protecting his last assimilator while trying to be aggressive at the same time.

Anypro:
[image loading]
3/5
jookTo:
[image loading]
4/5



(T)Rain vs. (T)Keen

Game One: Terminus RE
[image loading]
5/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Keen > Rain

Maybe it was the fact that I had just watched 3 back to back TvT's of standard, drawn out, marine tank. Maybe it was the fact that one of my favorite songs popped up on Pandora. Or maybe, it was the fact that Keen's opening was one of the most innovative I've seen in recent memory.

Keen gets his second gas before factory, and opens cloak banshee. The extra gas has allowed him to get a fast reactor on his barracks as well as get a tech lab on his factory to get very fast siege tanks. Then, using cloak banshees combined with a fast siege mode, he can pretty well guarantee his immediate safety, and do something even more unique.

Usually in TvT, after you expand you use a mineral build up to throw down more barracks for the standard marine tank action. Keen uses that mineral build up to get a very fast third. The fast reactor on the barracks allows for a marine build up so the barracks spam isn't as immediately essential.

The opening was really cool, and then to make it even better, Rain decided to do the "new" meching style TvT, which was very fun to watch micro against marine tank. Rain also forgot siege mode, but other than that, it was really fun to watch.

Keen
[image loading]
4.5/5 (due to some pretty average banshee micro)
Rain
[image loading]
3/5 (due to forgetting siege mode)

Game Two: Xel'Naga Caverns
[image loading]
5/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Keen > Rain
This game was incredibly fun to watch, and Keen plays a beastly TvT. Rain made a great read early on, seeing Keen's high barracks count and deciding to go pure marine instead of marine marauder; however, I think he really didn't expect the tank transition to come out as fast as it did. The rest of the game was just your "standard" marine tank positioning wars, but this one was done beautifully, with Keen just making some unbelievably great decisions, leaving Rain playing catchup

Rain
[image loading]
4/5
Keen
[image loading]
5/5

Game Three: Bel'Shir Beach
[image loading]
2/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Keen 2:0 Rain


(Z)viOlet vs (Z)TheWinD

Game One : Metalopolis
+ Show Spoiler +
Violet > TheWind

Game Two : Xel'Naga Caverns
+ Show Spoiler +
Violet > TheWind

Game Three : Dual Sight
+ Show Spoiler +
Violet Won 2-0



Group B
+ Show Spoiler [Group B Results] +

(P)Trickster vs. (Z)YuGiOh

Game One: Xel Naga Caverns -
[image loading]
5/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Trickster > YuGIOh
MOTHERSHIP RUSH! :O Tester even holds a big zergling hydralisk attack with it. The mutalisks sent in afterwards are forced to pull out of the mineral line...by the mothership. Not something you see everyday. The mothership + 5 warpgate push is able to win the game, fantastic.

Game Two: Crossfire -
[image loading]
5/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Trickster > YuGIOh
Trickster does a dark templar expand, but is really smart about how he plays it, keeping the DTs alive despite YuGiOh's detection. YuGiOh, after seeing the dark templar, tries to do a similar attack to what Nestea did against Inca last season, but YuGiOh's is much less refined and practiced. Trickster is able to hold and then is way ahead.

Player Ratings
Trickster
[image loading]
5/5
Trickster did some amazing, edge of your seat micro that is a must see for protoss players.

YuGiOh
[image loading]
2/5
Just not at the same level.

Game Three: Dual Sight -
[image loading]
1.5/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Trickster won 2-0.


(T)TheBest vs. (T)Jjun

Game One: Terminus SE -
[image loading]
2/5
+ Show Spoiler +
TheBest > JJUN
JJUN gets TheBest contained, and is somehow surprised when a big drop hits the back of his base. Why is it not obvious at this point that when you are containing someone they will try and drop you? The drop combined with a counter attack initiate a base trade that The Best manages to come out on top of.

Game Two: Bel'Shir Beach -
[image loading]
2/5
+ Show Spoiler +
TheBest > JJUN
JJUN pushes out with a big marine tank force and almost wins the game, but is barely held off. Then he attacks into a million siege tanks and loses everything, including the game. JJUN is the master of throwing away leads.

Player Ratings
JJUN
[image loading]
2/5
Pretty bad.

TheBest
[image loading]
2/5
Slightly less bad.

Game Three: Metalopolis -
[image loading]
4/5
+ Show Spoiler +
TheBest won 2-0.


(P)Genius vs. (T)Boxer

Game One: Dual Site -
[image loading]
4/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Genius > Boxer

Despite Boxer doing a very cool opening, he didn't really achieve much. Boxer opened with a 1 rax fast expand but turtled inside his main temporarily in order to get a very fast +1 attack and medivacs for small marine medivac attack. The attack is thwarted and both players set up for a standard macro game.

Genius went for a gateway style opening into robo and Boxer was able to transition between ghosts and vikings at the relatively correct time. The big issue was that Genius was able to continuously pick off Boxer's third due to Boxer's apprehension in engaging. Genius was at some points up 2 bases over Boxer and was able to just out macro him.

Boxer:
[image loading]
3/5
Genius:
[image loading]
4/5

Game Two: Crevasse
[image loading]
4/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Boxer > Genius

Both players follow the same tech paths as before, fast starport into ghosts for Boxer and fast Hightemplar into colossus for Genius. Boxer is able to flex his drop muscles much more this game, picking apart Genius's tech and army. Great multi pronged attacks allow for Boxer to always be ahead in economy and force Genius to be out of position for engagements.

Boxer:
[image loading]
4/5
Genius:
[image loading]
3/5

Game Three: Terminus RE
[image loading]
3/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Genius > Boxer

Genius goes for a very unique +2 armor chargelot timing just as Boxer has floated away two medivacs worth of marines. A critical miss click on repairing his bunkers combined with the unlucky timing of the drop means that Boxer loses the series.

Genius:
[image loading]
3/5
Boxer:
[image loading]
3/5


(Z)July vs. (Z)Min

Game One: Crevasse -
[image loading]
3/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Min > July
Despite scouting at the correct time, July actually misses spotting Min's Spire and loses a lot to mutalisks as a result. Min knows that July will be trying to re-drone after his losses and tries to hit a big timing attack, but July manages to dissuade him with a high roach/hydra count. July is forced to push out due to how far behind he is in his third base timing. Min's spine crawlers force July to engage in a weird position giving Min a good concave and the victory.

Game Two: Terminus SE -
[image loading]
3/5
+ Show Spoiler +
July > Min
July goes for a big speedling baneling attack and Min tries to hold it with pure ling. July is able to come out on top of the micro war and wins after getting some huge baneling hits off.

Game Three: Xel'Naga Caverns -
[image loading]
3/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Min > July
This game was actually really weird but definitely showed that Min deserved the win. By the end of the match, Min was up double the drones of July and had the same number of units. Min subtly produced drones at some great timings, while keeping July on the back foot all the while - not something easy to do.

July
[image loading]
2/5

Min
[image loading]
4/5


(P)HongUnPrime vs. (Z)FOXMoon

Game One: Metalopolis -
[image loading]
3/5
+ Show Spoiler +
HongUn > Moon
HongUn executes the standard 6 gate, +1 attack, blink timing attack. Moon's roach burrow is delayed and even when it completes he doesn't micro anywhere near well enough to hold it. Blink stalkers are still fun to watch regardless though.

Game Two: Xel'Naga Caverns -
[image loading]
1/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Moon > HongUn
An important PvZ question is finally answered! What happens when a zerg player goes a for a big roach zergling timing against a delayed 4 gate blink stalker all in? The Zerg wins! What a revolution!

Game Three: Dual Site -
[image loading]
1/5
+ Show Spoiler +
HongUn > Moon
Game one was so fun they decided to do it again, but this time without blink to make it watchable.

Player Ratings
HongUn
[image loading]
2/5

Moon
[image loading]
2/5


(T)Ensnare vs (Z)RevivaL

Game One: Metalopolis -
[image loading]
1.5/5
+ Show Spoiler +
(T)Ensnare < (Z)RevivaL

How the hell did Ensnare blow this?
Hint: 2k minerals at 11 minutes in might have something to do with it.
Double Hint: Never saving your medivacs might also be related.

Ensnare:
[image loading]
4/5
Zombie Ensnare:
[image loading]
0/5
Revival:
[image loading]
3/5

Game Two: Be'Shir Beach -
[image loading]
1/5 OR
[image loading]
4/5
+ Show Spoiler +
(T)Ensnare < (Z)RevivaL

How the hell did Ensnare blow this?
Hint: Ensnare sucks at starcraft.

Zombie Ensnare:
[image loading]
0/5
Revival:
[image loading]
3/5

Game Three: Crevasse -
[image loading]
4.5/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Revival won 2-0.


(Z)FruitDealer vs (P)Ace

Game One: Bel'Shir Beach -
[image loading]
3.5/5
+ Show Spoiler +
FruitDealer > Ace
FD and Ace played a long macro game that saw most of the map being fought over. While FruitDealer varied his army composition greatly with lings, roaches, infestors, baneling-bombs, and corruptors, Ace disappointed the viewers with his almost all-stalker force. Not surprisingly, FruitDealer picked Ace apart.

FruitDealer:
[image loading]
4/5
It was just so nice to see someone regularly use banelings bombs effectively throughout a game.

Ace:
[image loading]
2/5
To be honest, FD did scare him off colossi by overproducing corrupters, but was ONLY stalkers really the solution?

Game Two: Xel'Naga Caverns -
[image loading]
2/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Ace > FruitDealer
Ace went for a fast expand into a seven gate blink-stalker attack, while FD did the usual three base into defend strategy for Zergs. Ace uses forcefields excellently in his attack, completely annihilating FD's ling-roach composition and taking the game.

FruitDealer: 1.5/5
Wasn't really in a position to show us anything, as tends to happen when everything you own is locked up in force fields.

Ace:
[image loading]
3.5/5
Good force fields, which is all you really need to win some games.

Game Three: Metalopolis -
[image loading]
4.5/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Ace > FruitDealer
Wow... just wow. It's kind of hard to comprehend what happened.

80% of this game was a repeat of game one on Bel'Shir beach. FD went up to four base easily, while Ace took three of his own. Once more, FD's varied army composition was making Ace's only-stalker force look very silly. The key here was that FD, for being maxed and having 3k minerals in the bank, didn't aggressively expand. He could have easily taken four bases at once, with the intent to only really hold on to one. Instead, he kept trying to take a fourth base, which Ace kept killing with a proxy pylon and warp-ins.

When FD moved in for the kill with a brood lord + roach force, Ace made the decision to go for a full-on counter-attack. While FD began with the destruction of Ace's natural and main, Ace started by killing off FD's two mining bases. This turned out to be an incredibly shrewd sequence from Ace (whether he meant it or not), as while he was removing FD's income, he was taking a new expansion for himself at another base. In addition, he chronoboosted out two void rays, to which FruitDealer foolishly lost all of his brood lords.

Without the brood lords, FruitDealer lacked a credible force to defend any new expansion attempts with, and he was pretty much stuck at 0 income while Ace was mining from one base. From there on, the outcome was never in doubt.

FruitDealer:
[image loading]
3/5
Bizarre way to throw away a lead.

Ace:
[image loading]
4/5
Great comeback.


(T)MarineKingPrime vs (P)ST_Squirtle

Game One: Metalopolis -
[image loading]
1.5/5
+ Show Spoiler +
MKP > Squirtle
Squirtle managed to pull off a 16 nexus start against MKP's 1 rax expo, but died to the follow-up 3 rax + EMP ghosts attack.

MKP:
[image loading]
3.5/5
Pretty clean cut, one-attack victory.

Squirtle:
[image loading]
1.5/5
Didn't make enough stuff, what can I say?

Game Two: Terminus SE -
[image loading]
2/5
+ Show Spoiler +
MKP > Squirtle
MKP used a similar 3 rax + ghosts attack after expanding. Squirtle survived this time, but lost a significant number of probes in defense. MKP easily rode this advantage to victory.

MKP:
[image loading]
3.5/5
Nothing fancy, just standard MKP.

Squirtle:
[image loading]
1.5/5
Again, not enough stuff.

Game Three: Crevasse -
[image loading]
3.5/5
+ Show Spoiler +
MKP won 2-0.





Group C
+ Show Spoiler [Group C Results] +
(Z)Leenock vs (T)aLive

Game One: Crossfire -
[image loading]
3/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Leenock > Alive

A well-executed bunker assault early on Alive manages to last forever, though not doing too much damage. Leenock is basically able to stay ahead on macro the whole game, with his +1 armour mutas ruling the map. This eventually gets him the win, combined with a SICK baneling bomb in Alive’s main base during a counter attack.

Leenock:
[image loading]
5/5
Did you SEE that baneling bomb? Style points alone good sir

Alive:
[image loading]
2/5
Sat back and got rolled

Game Two: Xel'Naga Caverns -
[image loading]
2/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Leenock > Alive
Realizing he was rather outclassed last game, Alive goes for a hellion marauder all-in. Leenock defends the early hellion pokes well and reacts correctly with spines and banes (instead of roaches!). When the big push finally comes leenock stops it easily

Leenock:
[image loading]
3/5
He defended the rush basically perfectly

Alive:
[image loading]
0/5
What a sad excuse for an attack

Game Three: Crevasse -
[image loading]
3/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Leenock won 2-0



(T)Byun vs (P)LegalMind

Game One: TalDarim Altar -
[image loading]
1/5
+ Show Spoiler +
LegalMind > Byun

The teamless legalmind starts this series off with a bang, going for a 5 warpgate rush, proxying 2 of them. He plows into Byun's natural with his massive force of zealots and sentries, and eventually through sheer numbers takes the game.

Byun:
[image loading]
2/5
I don't entirely blame him for losing to such an aggressive rush

Legalmind:
[image loading]
2/5
Some of the sloppiest micro I have ever seen for an attack like that, he's lucky he had numbers on his side

Game Two: Xel'Naga Caverns -
[image loading]
1.5/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Legalmind < Byun
Legalmind tries for a quick expansion but Byun shuts it down with a nicely executed bunker push killing the nexus. With some terrible forcefields in combination with poor unit control, Byun is able to breach the protoss ramp inflicting extensive economic on legalmind with his bio. Byun finishes this game off with style, ferrying units over the protoss forcefields.

Legalmind:
[image loading]
0/5
He didn't do a single thing right this game

Byun:
[image loading]
3/5
He may have won easily, but he did it with pizazz

Game Three: Crossfire -
[image loading]
1/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Legalmind < Byun
Byun opts for a fairly standard siege tank+banshee push towards the toss natural. Legalmind allows Byun to become completely set up in a fantastic position, basically hanging himself. Some nice sentry sniping allows Byun to show us that not only is Legalmind no MC, but his unit control overall is just plain terrible.

Legalmind:
[image loading]
0/5
"He didn't do a single thing right this game"

Byun:
[image loading]
2/5
Why so easy?


(P)Alicia vs (P)MC

Game One: Metalopolis -
[image loading]
4/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Alicia > MC

MC fakes a tech build and instead chooses the evil 4 gate, while Alicia tries to defend innocently with 3 gate robo. But this is no problem for Alicia, he demonstrates some of the best protoss micro I've ever seen. He held MC's attack beautifully with some amazing forcefield usage, ripping through stalkers with his immortals like nothing.

Alicia:
[image loading]
5/5
I just don't understand how he could have played this game better

MC:
[image loading]
3/5
I'm pretty sure that build would have worked on ANYONE else (except maybe Inca!)

Game Two: Crevasse -
[image loading]
4/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Alicia > MC
I don't know what to say about this game besides if you know anything about MC it's that he usually wins his games large in part due to his amazing micro. Alicia out microed him this game in a 4 gate duel. Please watch this if you like PvP micro.

Alicia:
[image loading]
5/5
You out micro MC in pvp you get 5 stars

MC:
[image loading]
3.5/5
MC made a few brief errors and that's all it took

Game Three:Metalopolis -
[image loading]
3/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Alicia won 2-0


(T)Bomber vs (P)Killer

Game One: Belshir Beach -
[image loading]
1.5/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Bomber > Killer

Bomber loses his first attack to a last second voidray, and is then countered and loses his tech lab seconds away from finishing stim outside his base. Killer follows this victory up with an expansion, however Bomber has a sudden epiphany. If his opponent is tech AND expanding he won't have any units! So bomber builds some units and a-moves killer. Game.

Bomber
[image loading]
2/5
Well he won didn't he

Killer:
[image loading]
0/5
Progamers should not get a-moved in a fashion like that and lose so easily ever

Game Two: TalDarim Altar -
[image loading]
0/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Bomber > Killer
This game had nukes and motherships, it had everything you'd want in a game, except for good play of any sort. Sir confused crib did a more extensive recap of this game, tune into that if you want detailed, painful hilarity!

Killer:
[image loading]
0/5
Games like this make me wonder about you...

Bomber:
[image loading]
2/5
I used to think bomber was really good, now he seems mediocre

Game Three:Dual sight -
[image loading]
2/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Bomber won 2-0


(T)Cezanne vs (Z)NesTea

Game One: Metalopolis -
[image loading]
3/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Nestea > Cezanne

Nestea manages some slight early damage with his zerglings, and apparently this is all he needs. From here the drone lead snowballs out of control. With some help from banes to defend later pressure, Nestea is eventually able to win the roach on roach fight

Nestea:
[image loading]
3.5/5
He won this game because he's Nestea, really good job at pushing his marginal victories

Cezanne:
[image loading]
3/5
Cezanne is no slouch, though he lost this game IT'S NESTEA, and he went down with a fight

Game Two: TalDarim Altar -
[image loading]
3.5/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Nestea < Cezanne
Nestea opts for a really interesting ZvZ strat with mutalisks, hoping to force his opponent into hydralisks which he can then easily counter. However, Cezanne catches wind of this plan in plenty of time and counters it wonderfully with some infestors and NYDUS WORMS to mitigate the muta mobility. Really entertaining game as far as ZvZ's go a must watch!

Nestea:
[image loading]
3.5/5
Try to get cocky on this boy Nestea, I don't think so!

Cezanne:
[image loading]
4/5
He made countering the ZvZ master look easy

Game Three:Terminus RE -
[image loading]
3.5/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Nestea > Cezanne
Nestea uses his superstar ZvZ sense to realize Cezanne has a timing in his build for a mass ling attack and prepares for that without entirely scouting it. Managing to just BARELY defend against this younger zerg's first break attempt on his natural. Cezanne tries twice more incorporating more roaches into each attack, Nestea simply matches him in banelings (that's right banelings) to defend each attack and take the game.
Nestea:
[image loading]
4/5
Damn Nestea is good at the precision of ZvZ

Cezanne:
[image loading]
3.5/5
Cezanne came verrry close to actually taking a ZvZ series from NESTEA, look out for this man in the future


(Z)LosirA vs (T)Polt

Game One: Xel'Naga Fortress -
[image loading]
1/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Losira < Polt

Losira looked solid when he stopped the bunker rush, however he looked terrible when he sacked some lings and got completely rolled by the marine counter attack that he was entirely unprepared for.

Losira:
[image loading]
0.5/5
Losira man what happened to you

Polt:
[image loading]
2/5
Easy wins tend to be quite easy

Game Two: Metalopolis -
[image loading]
2.5/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Losira > Polt
Losira looked better this game but not by a whole lot. He was able to make use of an advantage garnered from Polt's cloaked banshee harass that didn't accomplish enough damage to compensate for the investment. From here Losira was able to deflect all of the terran harassment and catch Polt out of position far too many times.

Losira:
[image loading]
3/5
The first game was clearly a wake up for him to get his act together

Polt:
[image loading]
1.5/5
Polt played surprisingly bad this game, no one should ever be caught unsieged so many times

Game Three: Xel'Naga Caverns -
[image loading]
1/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Losira < Polt
Losira completely flubs his drone control when trying to deal with Polt's early hellion harass and loses 14 of his little zerg miners, essentially losing the game right there. Polt finds himself engaged by Losira in an advantageous position for himself before even reaching the zerg natural... Then he.goes.all.the.way.

Polt:
[image loading]
2.5/5
Nothing spectacular but a win is a win

Losira:
[image loading]
0/5
An extremely disappointing series from Losira, I'm a huge fan and his play was really poor in this series.


(P)HuK vs (P)San

Game One: Belshir Beach -
[image loading]
3.5/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Huk > San
San tries to proxy gate Huk right outside his natural, but our foreign hero manages to hold this off with some fantastic micro and a little help from sc2 cannons.

Huk:
[image loading]
4/5
Great decisions, great micro

San:
[image loading]
2/5
Tsk tsk San trying to cheese a foreigner, for shame

Game Two: Xel'Naga Fortress -
[image loading]
1/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Huk < San
San easily stops Huk's dt rush, and from there sneaks a few zealots into Huk's mineral line while his army tries to break San's ramp. Unfortunately forcefields put a stop to this and Huk gg's out

Huk:
[image loading]
1/5
Still wasting the DTs after he knew his opponent had observers was an odd choice

San:
[image loading]
2.5/5
Countering a DT rush makes for a handy win

Game Three: Xel'Naga Caverns -
[image loading]
0/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Huk > San
San was trying to DT rush when he disocvered Huk was 4 gating him. Even though he was teching and had basically no units, San left the few he had BELOW his ramp. Naturally Huk caught this in his eventual attack, San gave another bonus in missing his ramp's forcefield. Huk moves on.

Huk:
[image loading]
2/5
It's hard to award any stars for winning a game like that

San:
[image loading]
0/5
San absolutely lost himself this game, what a disaster


(T)Maka vs (T)Noblesse
Maka received a walkover win, because Noblesse was late to his game.



Group D
+ Show Spoiler [Group D Results] +

(T)LiquidJinro vs (Z)Line

Game One: Bel'Shir Beach -
[image loading]
1/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Line > Jinro
Jinro messed up his early hellion strat by building his reactor outside his wall, getting it sniped by zerglings. He managed to jury-rig his build into some kind of marine + tank push, which successfully forced a cancel on Line's greedy fast third base at his gold.

Jinro could have backed off and played 2 base vs 2 base, but made a horrible mistake by trying to ferry up his tiny marine-tank army into Line's main. Muta-ling crushed the attack easily, and Jinro spent the rest of the game getting slowly picked apart by mutas.

Jinro:
[image loading]
0/5
High possibility he will edit his rating to a zero himself, so I might as well give him what he wants.

Line:
[image loading]
3.5/5
Sat back and took the win.

Game Two: Metalopolis -
[image loading]
2/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Line > Jinro
Jinro got to use the build he had planned for game one, which turned out to be a reactor hellion - expand variant. Jinro then played hyper-passive, allowing Line to go up to four base almost entirely unharassed. It was no surprise when Line crushed him with his overwhelming economy.

Jinro:
[image loading]
1/5
Not sure what he was doing at all.

Line:
[image loading]
3.5/5
Similarly to game one, he took the gift without complaint.

Game Three: Terminus SE -
[image loading]
3/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Line won 2-0.


(P)Banbanssu vs (Z)KyrixZenith

Game One: Metalopolis -
[image loading]
2/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Kyrix>Banbanssu
BanBans goes for the standard stalker/sentry timing attack to kill Zerg's 3rd base but loses his entire army in a vain effort that fails to even kill the hatchery. Kyrix is easily able to take advantage of his opponent's lack of troops and take the win.

BanBanssu:
[image loading]
2/5
Although BanBanssu killed Kyrix's original army, he continued to trade blows with Kyrix's reinforcements. Instead of fighting the reinforcements, he should've target fired down the hatchery and ran.

Kyrix:
[image loading]
3/5
Kyrix had a harder time defending than he should have, as he missed a couple of larva injections, but he counter-attacked at a good time and won the game.

Game Two: Terminus SE -
[image loading]
2/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Kyrix>Banbanssu
BanBanssu went for double nexus build and transitioned into a 2 base all-in with 1 gas. Kyrix simply defended it and rolled to victory.

BanBanssu
[image loading]
2/5
Although BanBansu's all-in had a bigger stalker count, a 2 gas all-in still would've been better as he would have been able to produce sentries to help with the all-in. Much better to do the normal 7gate 2gas all-in build.

Kyrix:
[image loading]
4/5
Kyrix saw BanBans not mining any gas from his main and predicted that BanBans would be doing an all-in, and defended it well.

Game Three: Xel'Naga Caverns -
[image loading]
3/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Kyrix wins 2-0


(T)TOP vs. (T)August

Game One: Tal'Darim Altar -
[image loading]
2/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Top > August

Top goes for a one base banshee, marine, tank timing and August just isn't ready for it. August manages to scan the starport with the tech lab so is exteremly prepared for the cloak banshees, but just isn't expecting the siege tanks along with them.

August:
[image loading]
2/5
Top:
[image loading]
2/5

Game Two: Terminus RE
[image loading]
3/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Top > August

Both players engage in the standard Marine tank positioning wars of TvT. At a critical moment, Top is able to demolish August's army at the same time as hitting a huge drop at the natural. August doesn't have enough left over to hold Top's inevitable push and is forced to gg

Top:
[image loading]
3/5
August:
[image loading]
2/5

Game Three: Xel'Naga Fortress
[image loading]
2/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Top 2:0 August


(Z)CoCa vs. (T)NaDa

Game One: Terminus RE -
[image loading]
3/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Nada > Junwi

Nada does some good damage early on with an interestingly timed push with pure marines. Nada's marine micro for this push is insanely good and definitely worth watching. Both players transition into your standard TvZ. Coca is in an okay position when he busts Nada's contain but feels very far behind and begins throwing desperate attacks to try and break Nada. Nada is able to hold out until Coca is forced to gg.

Nada:
[image loading]
4/5
Coca:
[image loading]
3/5


Game Two: Crossfire
[image loading]
3/5

+ Show Spoiler +
Nada > Junwi

The game plays out very standard marine tank against muta baneling but the mutalisks are well shut down by Nada. This whole series, Junwi doesn't demonstrate anything close to the potential of mutalisks; it really seems like Junwi justs gets them because they're standard. Junwi chooses to push into Nada, and while killing all of the tanks, he also doesn't kill a single marine. Junwi desperately tries for a base trade, but Nada easily holds and takes the series.

Nada:
[image loading]
4/5
Junwi:
[image loading]
2/5


Game Three: Dual Site
[image loading]
4/5

+ Show Spoiler +
Nada 2:0


(Z)Junwi vs. (P)Virus

Game One: Crossfire -
[image loading]
1/5

+ Show Spoiler +
Virus > Junwi

2 rax bunker rush transition into winning!

Virus:
[image loading]
2/5
Junwi:
[image loading]
1/5

Game Two: Xel'Naga Caverns -
[image loading]
3/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Junwi > Virus

Both players engage in some pretty standard marine tank vs. muta/ling/baneling play, but Virus just doesn't quite keep up into the late game once broodlords and infestors are out. Some pretty good standard play by both players.

Virus:
[image loading]
3/5
Junwi:
[image loading]
3/5

Game Three: Tal'Darim Altar
[image loading]
1/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Virus > Junwi

How to win in the super tournament:
Step One: build SCVs
Step Two: build Marines
Step Three: attack with all of it.

Virus:
[image loading]
1/5
Junwi:
[image loading]
1/5


(Z)Zenio vs (P)Choya

Game One: Dual Sight -
[image loading]
2.5/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Zenio>Choya
Choya did the 1gate expand build and pushed Zenio with stalk/sentries when Zenio was busy droning. When Zenio saw Choya pushing out, he did a ling run-by at Choya's natural and killed many of his probes. Also, Choya push failed without managing to kill Zenio's 2nd hatchery. Choya tried to push again with Stalk/Sentry push, but again he lost his entire army. He couldn't stop Zenio's counter attack.

Choya:
[image loading]
2.5/5
Choya wasnt prepared for the ling run-by and lost most of his probes at his natural.

Zenio:
[image loading]
4/5
Zenio saw the push coming out, and his ling run-by not only killed probes, but also helped defend against the push by forcing Choya to warp in zealots at his expo instead of reinforcing the attack.

Game Two Tal'Darim Altar -
[image loading]
3/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Choya>Zenio
Choya went for a double nexus build, while probe scouting on 9 and checking Zenio's 6 pool. Choya quickly built a forge and dropped a cannon at mineral line, changing his build to 3gate expand. Zenio transitioned as soon as he saw the cannon and resumed drone production. Choya techs up heavily, while Zenio also techs to roach+hydra while getting a fast 3rd. After +2 attack and blink are finished, Choya finishes Zenio off with Stalker/sentry attack.

Choya
[image loading]
3.5/5
Good forcefield and blink micro wins him the game.

Zenio
[image loading]
3/5
Transitions well out of the 6pool but he may have been too greedy with a 4th hatchery.

Game Three: Crevasse -
[image loading]
3.5/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Choya>Zenio
Choya went early expand and pushed out with early zeals and a stalker while adding on gates. Zenio defended this push while getting evo chamber, a 3rd base, lair, and roach. After the 5 gates finished, Choya warped in zealots to kill of Zenio's third hatch. Zenio sacrificed an ovie to see that Choya was going 7gate all-in. However, Choya switched it up and gets DT and blink tech instead. Choya used DT's to harass Zenio pretty effectively, setting him up nicely for his follow-up blink-stalker attack. Zenio has no answer for this attack, and GG'd.

Choya
[image loading]
4.5/5
Choya goes 7 gate and after the ovie saw Choya's strategy, Choya went DT's instead when Zenio was investing all his resources on making an army to defend the 7gate all-in and neglected detection. Choya's DT slowed down Zenio's economy and he had a hard time defending Choya's delayed attack.

Zenio
[image loading]
3/5
Zenio sacrifices an ovie and expected 7gate, however Zenio didn't scout again and that cost him the game.


(P)Killer vs. (T)Bomber

Game One: Bel'Shir Beach -
[image loading]
1/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Bomber > Killer
Both players go for pressure builds and they both fail miserably. Then they both transition into awkward expansion timings. Bomber just goes for a big marine marauder timing and wins the game; Killer's Void Rays end up not being the most useful skill to have.

Game Two: Tal'Darim Altar LE -
[image loading]
0/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Bomber > Killer
So bad it deserved a separate article. But if I had to sum it up in one word, I would invent a new one: terriboring!

Player Ratings
Killer
[image loading]
0/5

Bomber
[image loading]
1/5

Game Three: Dual Sight -
[image loading]
2/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Bomber won 2-0.


(Z)Cezanne vs. (Z)NesTea

Game One: Metalopolis -
[image loading]
4/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Nestea > Cezanne
Nestea uses a 10 pool and manages to get one drone ahead of his opponent who has to cancel his expansion hatch. Nestea demonstrates his mastery of balancing droning vs. unit production, inching ahead all game long until he is able to crush Cezanne just as he is preparing to go infestor; fantastic and subtle timing by Nestea.

Game Two: Tal'Darim Altar LE -
[image loading]
4/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Cezanne > Nestea
This was an example of an amazing and creative game plan just barely not panning out. Nestea goes muta/ling on Tal Darim, but critically did not clear all of the overlords on his side of the map, losing to a nydus worm into his main. Nestea was gearing up to go muta ling, expanding far away from his opponent, using mobility to hold off attacks, and getting tons of gas for an early hive for probable brood lords. Would have been great to see the game play out longer, but one mistake from Nestea is all it took to lose the game.

Game Three: Terminus SE
[image loading]
4/5
+ Show Spoiler +
Nestea > Cezanne
Nestea did an amazing job holding off a big ling/roach two base timing, using the minimum amount of units to survive and ensure a victory at the same time. It ended up being a very fun game to watch, even if there wasn't much strategy to be learned.

Player Ratings
Nestea
[image loading]
5/5

Cezzane
[image loading]
4/5







(Worst) Game of the Week


by confusedcrib

This game really demonstrated how far Starcraft 2 is from reaching truly high level play. The game is StarTale's Bomber against The SCV Life's Killer. Both of these players are well hyped, code S players. I've never been much of a fan of Killer, but he does get some good results in code S; Bomber is considered by many to be among the top 10 players in the world. I do have to make a small disclaimer, it is possible that Bomber was just not taking the game seriously (evidenced by the multiple nukes on the same location) but regardless, I don't think he would risk dragging the game out if he didn't have to; but it is something up for debate.

Both players open up with fast expand builds, a standard for TvP, and Bomber pokes out to the Xel'Naga tower in the middle of Tal'Darim Altar with early marines. Had Bomber pushed up Killer's ramp with his big marine count, there would only have been two sentries and a zealot left to defend, with warp gate far from completion. Even if he didn't attack, Bomber could at least have scouted what his opponent was doing. I could let this slide though, I mean just poking to the watch tower and back is a cute little move that most players don't do anyways when one rax fast expanding. 

After this point, the middle of the map remains empty for a very long time. Both players just turtle in their mains until Bomber's marine sees the third base get thrown down by Killer, which he responds to by just making one of his own. I guess you could assume that this one was merely both players wanting to play safe, but when is the last time you've seen both players take their third bases so passively, without any harassment or timing pushes or surprise techs from either player?

Bomber and Killer were extremely vulnerable to harassment, but neither player bothered to even try. Bomber never got missile turrets or sensor towers, but Killer, even in the super late game, didn't even go Dark Templar, nor set up proxy pylons around the map at possible expansion locations. And as for Bomber, he found the time to drop 4+ slightly irritating nukes on a single location, but if he had put the same amount of effort in medivac harass, he would have crippled Killer. Not to mention the fact that considering Killer's serious 1A syndrome, a single multiple pronged attack could have won the game much quicker.

Instead, the highlight of Bomber's medivac use was a two marine scout drop that got five total probe kills (four of those kills were due to Killer's horrible reaction speed). Imagine what an entire medivac full would have done. It's just so uncommon to see a Terran who just chooses not to drop at all when going Marine Marauder Medivac. Alas, that was how the game went. 

I guess this next part is really what decides the game. With both players maxed, and with neck-and-neck upgrades and composition (the zealot charge being conspicuously absent for Killer), Bomber decides to max expand while Killer stays content on only a fourth base.

After a passively macroing for twenty minutes, the two players are finally have their first major engagement. Bomber manages to kill off all of Killer's colossus pretty easily, but he also makes two huge mistakes. First, he doesn't have any medivacs by the twenty minute mark, so his units end up at low HP real fast. Second, he lands his Vikings separate from the rest of his army, allowing them to be picked off easily. Killer comes out ahead, after which he decides to counter push, but his attack consists of mostly zealots going up a large ramp into a perfect Terran concave....without charge. After both players botch their chances to end the game, it leaves us 25 more minutes to look forward to. 

With so many bases on each side, the game enters the super-late phase, where protoss gets 20+ warp gates and Terran gets 20+ orbital commands for mules. Bomber makes the right decision to sack some SCVs, but then randomly, Killer decides that he liked that idea and would try it too with his probes. 

Killer played so poorly in this phase of the game that it would have been a travesty for Bomber not to win. Killer has not harassed at all, not made a single dark Templar, is not remaking colossus despite killing all of Bomber's Vikings, allows his fourth base to be nuked over 4 times, never even killing the ghost dropping the nukes, never upgrades shields, and has sacked probes in anticipation of a final engagement that never comes, crippling his income.

But at the same time, Bomber's not playing so hot either. He realizes that there is nothing defending Killer's main base or at the fourth base but doesn't get a single medivac. He is on purely maurader ghost, not having teched beyond infantry and medivacs, and should be completely dead had Killer done anything besides just going mass high Templar.

Someone really should have won after that engagement 20 minutes ago, but it was like both players forgot how to play. Bomber was content just getting 30 orbital commands and deemed his nuking on the fourth base as enough harassment to be bothered with. Killer just had no idea what he was doing, no tech switching, no harassment, just nothing; he didn't even stop the ghost that was nuking his fourth constantly.

Before the 45 minute mark, neither player is really leading the other, they're both just sitting back on their chosen compositions, ghost marauder and templar zealot. Had Killer not sacked his probes and actually kept an income going, I honestly have no idea who would have won.

Finally, at the 45 minute mark, Bomber hits an attack into Killer's main base, the fourth base, and the fifth base and crushes through Killer's dismal army and even more dismal multitasking. But this wasn't before he almost lost the game thanks to still not having any medivacs at the forty minute mark, getting his overstimmed troops annihilated by storms.  

This game was so terrible, it was like watching two drunken pandas try to sneeze on each other. There was no harassment, no tech switches, critical upgrades missing, and honestly, it looked like a game my friends and I might play, not a Code S match with two hyped players.  





Strategy of the Week


by WaxAngel

“Put your tanks in siege mode and wait for your opponent to f*** up”

No it's not a joke, there's actually something serious to be said here. It might seem stupid, but sieging up and getting lucky is pretty relevant even at the pro level (as Idra will easily attest to, a lot of things in this game are stupid). It's one of the most common strategies in all of Starcraft II, one you'll see nearly every day alongside "Spam force field and pretend you know what you're doing."

Taking advantage of mistakes is a big part of the game. As players go up in skill level, they make less mistakes as whole, and the ones they do make tend to be less drastic. Every screw-up one can capitalize upon becomes more and more valuable, and by the pro-gamer level even the smallest error comes at a high premium.

With their ridiculous range, incredible single shot damage, absurd splash radius, and total lack of micro or attention required, tanks are stupidly overpowered mistake-punishing machines. The ability to instantly annihilate units from a screen away, without the user even being aware (at least force field and fungal growth require you to be paying attention) is even more valuable at the pro-level. Pros only slip up for seconds at a time, and tanks automatically capitalize for the opposing player inside that window.

Rainbow provided us with a great example in his game against Clide on Terminus SE. The two players began in a standoff-situation, with huge groups of tanks standing off in the center of the map. Noticing a particularly thin part of Clide's tank line, Rainbow went on the offensive and broke through the center with his tanks and vikings.
[image loading]



Encouraged by his success, Rainbow attempted to advance his forces even further. After scanning Clide's tank position, he decided to attack it with a combination of tanks and ground mode vikings. Meanwhile, Clide brought up a few more tanks and pressed “E”.
[image loading]



Unfortunately for Rainbow, he maneuvered his vikings poorly so that they took a different path from his tanks. This put them in a terrible position where they couldn't reach Clide's tanks at all and were in range of every single one of Clide's tanks, even the ones at the very back. Rainbow didn't react for about 2 seconds, long enough for all of his vikings to evaporate.
[image loading]



With Rainbow's vikings gone, Clide was able to land his own vikings next to Rainbow's tanks and eliminate them cost effectively.
[image loading]


With the tank balance suddenly shifted, Clide went on to win the game.

Not only do tanks punish mistakes well, but they're also magnificent at inducing them. Here, MMA has taken up position in the middle with his tanks. He presses “E.”
[image loading]


Since they are so annoying, all SC II players possess an incredible urge to kill siege tanks. Tanks that look vulnerable in any way are an itch that many players can't help but scratch, even tanks that pose no immediate threat.

Lyn's an SC II player just like the rest of us, and has the same urges. Though MMA's position was a fair distance away from any of his bases, Lyn charged in the second he judged that he had a shot at killing off those goddamn tanks.
[image loading]


Poor Lyn, his calculations were only a little bit off. Too bad he's fighting siege tanks though. Against most other units, you can just back the hell off when things turn south. When you start losing against tanks, you're screwed no matter what you do. Eat a ton of damage running away, or eat a ton of damage while you go out fighting in vain. Fortunately for Lyn, he had medivacs to cut his losses, but he still gave away a 30 supply advantage, which MMA would ride to victory.
[image loading]


So, what can we learn from all of this?

If you're building tanks (and come on, if you're playing Terran, why aren't you building tanks?), press "E."

If you're playing against tanks? Don't walk around the map like an idiot, and be really f***ing sure you're gonna win when you attack. If you can't do this on a regular basis, don't feel so let down. As it turns out, the pros can't either.

Honorable Mentions

Trickster's Mothership Rush

Trickster's 3 warpgate - 1 stargate expand into fast Mothership was by far the most entertaining build we saw in round one. Alas, the mothership was completely unnecessary.

YuGiOh responded to the 3gate-1star expand by going for a hydra-ling bust at Trickster's natural, and for a moment it looked like Trickster was in serious danger. However, Trickster was absolutely fantastic at using his sentries to defend, thwarting Yugioh's attack with amazing efficiency. The failed attack put YuGiOh so far behind that Trickster could have followed up with anything and won. In all honesty, 3 void rays would have ensured him a quicker victory than the mothership.

[image loading]


Still, it was pretty damn cool.


Was it really worth devoting an entire section to people walking units into tanks? Yes, because it's funnier when progamers do it.



It's the Seeding, Stupid!


by TreeHugger

The GSL super tournament's first round was somewhat underwhelming. Most of the old faces who returned left without making much of an impression on the better, faster, stronger elite of Sc2. (Bye Junwi!) A lot of bad players once again proved that we were right to think them so. (Bye anypro!) Indeed despite the touch of nostalgia, the super tournament's bias towards players with past GSL experience probably hurt the quality in the opening round. Instead using GSTL wins to put DRG, GuineaPig, Yonghwa or other better players in the main tournament might've been a more dynamic choice. Whatever.

With the wheat mostly separated from the chaff in the round of 64, the super tournament is getting much tougher extremely quickly. But if the round of 64 was an exhibition match for the current Sc2 elite, then the round of 32 must feel something like a GSL finals. And for two players, it essentially was.

It's one thing to have a round of 32 featuring Keen and jookTo, or HongUn and Revival. But this week, two of the most exciting terrans in the world went home, as MMA played SuperNova, and MVP played GanZi. Only one of four of the best terrans in the world will make the super tournament round of 16. And most bizarre of all, the super tournament's second round presented a choice between either the best zerg in the world in NesTea, or the world's best terran in Bomber. That's a match-up that blows every single GSL final out of the water any day of the week, and yet we saw it in the round of 32.

[image loading]

Go figure.


It's a simple fact that six seasons into GSL play, we still don't have anything close to a legitimate official ranking of Sc2 talent. This is a inexcusable failure, and completely attributable to the rigid tiered system that GOM has implemented. For two seasons now, we have seen the final four players in Code A play at a higher level than the final four in Code S. I can't believe I'm making this argument again. Of the top eight Code A players in May, six of eight advanced into the next round. Of the top eight Code S players in March, five of eight advanced into the next round. These players are the new generation, the players who are defining the Korean scene in 2011. There are plenty of others who haven't simply had as many chances at the qualifiers to advance farther. And yet the GSL point and tournament system is designed to be unbelievably slow at charting the rapid fluctuations in dominance that have defined Sc2 to date.

Which brings us back to the incredible inequality of the Super Tournament. Bomber facing NesTea is the worst of the absurdity, but the MMA/MvP/SuperNoVa/GanZi is nearly as silly. So too was the opening round Rochambeau between Korea's two best protosses; Alicia and MC. There are plenty of lesser examples. aLive and Leenock is legitimate Ro32 or Ro16 match. And is Ro64's Min vs July tougher than the Ro32's Tester vs TheBest?

Take it away, Geico man:
+ Show Spoiler +


Looking at the albatross that is the Super Tournament's bracket, is it any surprise really that the GSL can't buy a competitive finals? When your tournament structure cools off the game's hottest players with less money than a weekly KOTH, while handing out a fortune to a league of octogenarians, can we seriously be surprised when tournament after tournament puts the wrong players together at the wrong times? Code S remains a tournament fought between roughly the same eight people every season. We've seen a few names drop out of elite status, and a few new names breach the upper echelon, but overall progress in breaking the mold in Code S has been painfully slow. Hence the terrible seeding. Hence the premature tournament match-ups.

So sit back and enjoy the replays of NesTea against Bomber, MVP and GanZi, and SuperNoVa and MMA. Chances are, it'll be the toughest match either of these players have on their way to the championship.

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AdministratorHey HP can you redo everything youve ever done because i have a small complaint?
TheCtd400
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
United States136 Posts
June 03 2011 15:24 GMT
#2
lolz. Three cheers for Terran imbalance!!
That awkward moment when you realize you've cancelled stim/combat shield because you lifted the barracks. | Thorzain Fighting!!!
Yts
Profile Joined March 2010
Sweden79 Posts
June 03 2011 15:26 GMT
#3
So true about the brackets its hard to forge the seeding but it would have been dam nice thats for sure.
JustPassingBy
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
10776 Posts
June 03 2011 15:35 GMT
#4
quoting Treehugger: "It's a simple fact that six seasons into GSL play, we still don't have anything close to a legitimate official ranking of Sc2 talent."

I'd rather have it judged based on results than based of talent. Even though the difference of talent between some players might be evident, imagine all the flamewars going on between fans of players where it is not so easy to distinguish.
Besides, results are objective, and a ranking of talent is not. Moreover, some people might be more talented than others, yet less skilled, just because they picked up the game half a year or a year later than the other.
MadPretty
Profile Joined October 2010
United States101 Posts
June 03 2011 15:37 GMT
#5
With GSL putting a bigger focus on Team League coming up next season, this will hopefully be a chance for non-code players to become more recognized and shake up the brackets.
DarkGeneral
Profile Blog Joined September 2003
Canada328 Posts
June 03 2011 15:38 GMT
#6
So much hate towards terran :/
"Everybody gotta die some time, righ'?" - Wraith Pilot
Hikari
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
1914 Posts
June 03 2011 15:38 GMT
#7
Nice worst game of the week feature. Some of these super tournament games makes me want to hang myself.

I hope that as the GSTL become a proleague style of tournaments and players start to play more often in the booth we will see an increase in skill level.
Mattchew
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
United States5684 Posts
June 03 2011 15:38 GMT
#8
LEYYGO HuK!
There is always tomorrow nshs.seal.
MetalSlug
Profile Joined February 2010
Germany443 Posts
June 03 2011 15:39 GMT
#9
If you're building tanks (and come on, if you're playing Terran, why aren't you building tanks?), press "E."


I hope you are being sarcastic, the situation you describe is very specific to TvT and has no value in any other matchup (arguably in TvZ but not as much as TvT). I applaud your effort on the writeup but i strongly disagree on your conclusion.
MKP | Maru | Nada | Boxer | Supernova | Keen
gustavohmp
Profile Joined May 2011
Brazil139 Posts
June 03 2011 15:42 GMT
#10
Those brackets really sucked.
About the Siege Tank, wow, seriously, stop crying.
Holding ground is the purpose of the unit. When you see unsupported siege tanks, load your medivacs with marines and drop unto them. So easy it hurts.
JangBi will go the finals.
aDd3z
Profile Joined March 2011
Germany885 Posts
June 03 2011 15:42 GMT
#11
quite nice matches overall but yeah...bomber vs killer was baaaad
Cj Entus | Effort | Prime | MarineKing | mouz | HasuObs
Gumbos
Profile Joined March 2011
Canada55 Posts
June 03 2011 15:46 GMT
#12
TvT finals anyone?? Tanks and marines oh my!
BaLoO-
Profile Joined January 2011
France318 Posts
June 03 2011 15:52 GMT
#13
Rofl just be patient a bit. Come on, we've just passed 3 seasons of GSL in its actual format, the first had qualified players based on silly results of last year, that's why there were a lot of "bad" players. Now after 2 rounds of qualifications it is wayyyyyy better, and I consider that one or 2 more rounds of GSL are needed before reaching the "true" scene. That's perfectly normal, if the scene was changing every 2 months it wouldn't be better, it would just mean that the competitive scene is at an awful level of play. Just wait 2 more GSLs and you'll get rid off what you call "bad players".

Plus the SuperTournament is done to show the best players over the last months, not over the few 10 last weeks ... next year if MVP or MC would be in a slump for some months you will probably find normal to give them a chance for the results they could have on a full year ...
vnlegend
Profile Blog Joined December 2006
United States1389 Posts
June 03 2011 15:53 GMT
#14
Eh these game analysis seem very poorly done. You probably just skimmed through the games.

MMA vs Lyn. MMA had 3, or 4?, hidden sieged tanks above his main army. If you were Lyn, and scanned that army w/o knowing about the 3-4 extra sieged tanks, you would also think you could win that engagement.

MVP/Bomber vs Protoss on Taldarim altar. Clearly these top 2 terrans felt that they can't match Protosses' late game army. They said over and over again in interviews that if they lose an engagement, their army would be wiped out by Protoss's warp-ins. Creator's endgame army wiped the floor with MVP's just 1 game earlier. This is the reason both of them played so defensively and looked for the Protoss to make mistakes. The P's meanwhile were too scared or too behind to attack so it was a stalemate situation. MVP preyed upon Creator's mistakes by attacking him simultaneously everywhere, while Bomber eventually won by capitalizing on Killer's tactical mistakes.

There should be a better system to replace the old-guard in Code S but if they win during up/down and the better Code A players lose, who's to blame?
Marines > everything
quaffle
Profile Joined December 2010
United States249 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-06-03 16:02:52
June 03 2011 15:55 GMT
#15
Code S remains a tournament fought between roughly the same eight people every season.

Thats what Code S is all about and should remain so, for a Starcraft 2 growth perspective. Code S is the standard players should be held to because its regarded as the highest skilled tournament in Starcraft 2. You need to commit yourself to qualify as well, so it contains dedicated players (this has many arguments against it with many 'foreign' tournaments to attend). Starcarft 2 needs exaggerated elites to watch and follow... it basically gives Starcraft 2 a 'face'. Like Tiger Woods is the mainstream 'face' of Golf, or Nadal is the 'face' of Tennis at the moment, or how premier football players like Adrian Peterson are highlighted so much.

One could say "But what about NASL, TSL3, Dreamhack, or IPL tournaments?" and the response is competition. All those tournaments are fighting for Code S's reputation of the best players. So Im sure once the public sees players from, say NASL, consistently beating players in Code S, the new standard will be NASL has the highest skilled players. Etc, etc...
Your success is only measured by the strength of your competitors.
Squeakyclean
Profile Joined August 2010
United States25 Posts
June 03 2011 16:06 GMT
#16
On June 04 2011 00:24 TheCtd400 wrote:
lolz. Three cheers for Terran imbalance!!


What!!!! People who say Terran is imbalanced I find has never attempted to play Terran themselves. If you switch races as I do you would most likely have a higher appreciation for the ridiculous multitasking and micro that Terran units require.

I used to strongly dislike Terran playing as Protoss because it seemed like I would always get steamed rolled. Now I look at Protoss the same way because it seems like they can just 1 a through my army. Please do us a favor and try playing Terran before you call imbalance.

If anything my experience with different races has given me a greater appreciation for the great and creative strategies of the pros.

Thank for the great write up anyway. Very informative especially when I was unable to watch the matches.
Advocado
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
Denmark994 Posts
June 03 2011 16:07 GMT
#17
Cezanne and nestea appears twice in group c and d?
http://www.twitch.tv/advocadosc2
Kar98
Profile Joined January 2011
Australia924 Posts
June 03 2011 16:09 GMT
#18
I think your worst game of the week wasn't that bad at all, I've seen far worse. It was somewhat amusing watching both players trying to get positional advantages with a maxed army
Vorlik
Profile Joined October 2010
1522 Posts
June 03 2011 16:10 GMT
#19
I don't see how Ensnare vs Revival game 2 wasn't the worst. Bomber vs Killer was far better than that game. I hope for whoever doesn't have time to watch all the games looks at the LR threads' polls instead of these. I realize theres tons of games so in-depth analysis is unrealistic, but I don't see a point to half-assed ones either. Just a rating would suffice for those(which was done for some). "hint:ensnare sucks at starcraft" isn't exactly helpful. Thanks anyways.
skrzmark
Profile Joined November 2010
United States1528 Posts
June 03 2011 16:18 GMT
#20
I don't see a clide vs rainbow rating?
We got them GOM TvT's and them mlGG's
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