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July ZergFinally, the seemingly era-spanning competition that is the KT-KTF Premiere League 2004-5 reached its climax on Sunday with the final between former OSL champion July Zerg and wave-riding swarm star GoRush.
Just to put this eon-bridging odyssey into perspective, since the start of this league Iloveoov has won an OSL and an MSL and subsequently gone out of both those tournaments attempting to defend his titles.
When the league started in September, July had not long come off his Gillette OSL victory over Reach and went into this new big money competition as one of the favourites, promptly losing on opening day to an in-form Sync. He nevertheless recovered to reach the final where he would play a pro whose star has been rising during the entire tournament, GO’s GoRush.
Game One on Nostalgia
With GoRush at five and July at one, both players opted for identical opening builds: second hatchery, pool, lair, spire, lings with their spire morphing, then finally the inevitable mutalisks.
The first action of the final came as GoRush made a futile attempt to break through July’s ramp. With the OGN cameras catching Gorush’s mother appearing to be praying in the front row, her son was opting for a risky expansion at his natural. Having spent his own precious resources on mutalisks, July took control of the skies and rained down fire on his opponent’s mineral line, severely setting back GoRush’s economy. GoRush managed to stay in the game with scourge, forcing the mutas to flee but in July’s main a third hatch was morphing as July signaled his intention to overpower his opponent before any possible economic advantage could kick in.
GoRush was massing scourge with no chance of challenging July in a muta showdown. He managed to prevent July expoing to 12, lings taking down the hatchery even as they were obliterated by mutalisks overhead. GoRush made a desperate attempt to level things by launching a mass scourge attack. However, July retained his air superiority, emerging from the battle with enough mutas to decimate the remains of his opponent’s economy and take the opening game.
GoRush 0 – 1 JulyZerg
Game Two on Requiem
Both players opened with pool, second hatchery then lair. GoRush (at 12) briefly found himself short of zerglings as July (at three) harassed his main but rebuffed the attack as both players morphed in their spires. As in the first game GoRush attempted to break through his opponent’s ling-defended ramp but this time he managed it. However, as his depleted force of zerglings entered July’s main the first mutalisks hatched out of their eggs to end the danger.
GoRush went for muta and scourge as July stayed briefly with mutas only. Astoundingly tried the same dangerous quick expansion as in the first game. And once again the merciless July made him pay dearly. Massing quickly, July launched his superior air and ground forces at the enemy natural, ovewhelming the undermanned defenders. Taking down the natural and harassing the undefended main mineral line for the air, July sent reinforcements from his own untroubled main while morphing in his own expansion, ending the game and taking a stranglehold on this big money final.
GoRush 0 – 2 JulyZerg
Game Three on Luna
Every game was now possibly GoRush’s last as he attempted to come back from a two game deficit on Luna. Both players opted for expansion, lair and spire builds, with July (at seven) morphing in sunkens at his natural for defence. GoRush (at five) tried to take down the extractor at the enemy natural with his superior force of lings, with July’s sunkens just out of range, but July managed to repel the attackers.
The deciding moment of the game came as July sent his mutalisk flight out to the six position. GoRush was waiting with mutas and a whole flight of scourge, decimating the opposing air force and taking control of the skies.
July managed to save his mineral lines but was now way behind and desperately morphing in an evolution chamber to try to throw down spore colonies in an attempt to defend against imminent death from above. July built up a flight of scourge but they were brushed aside by GoRush’s ascendant air force. His mutas swooped into the enemy natural, obliterated the single spore colony in the center of the mineral line and brought GoRush back into the match.
GoRush 1 – 2 July Zerg
Game Four on Arizona
With GoRush (at 11) looking to level the match and force a deciding game, he found himself under fast attack as July’s slightly earlier lings raced up the map from the five position. A lengthy micro skirmish ensued in GoRush’s main, costing the GO team zerg two drones, as both players morphed in their lairs then spires.
GoRush appeared to be out-linging his opponent briefly but any minimal advantaged was irrelevant as the first mutalisks took to the air. Muta and scourge skirmishes decided nothing, as both players took expansions, July at three and GoRush at 12.
However, as the game progressed with predictable air maneuvers, GoRush started to slowly gain a unit advantage while at the same time picking off drones at the three position. More muta and scourge maneuvering culminated in a swooping airborne attack on July’s main, with the former OSL champion finding his air forces outnumbered and annihilated, leaving his base at the mercy of his opponent’s deadly mutalisks. July typed out and sent the match to a deciding fifth game.
GoRush 2 – 2 July Zerg
With the match all square the OGN commentary team brought the two players out onto the stage for interviews prior to the deciding game. GoRush told the audience that, having come from two games down, if he believed in himself he would complete his stunning revival and take the title. A calm July alluded to his OSL semi-final against Iloveoov last year, in which he has lost two in a row after leading 2 – 0 and then went on to win in style, predicting the KT-KTF final would go the same way.
Drawing for the map for the deciding game, both players declines Luna and saw Nostalgia drawn as the site where the final battle would commence.
Game Five on Nostalgia
The two players both opened with extractor, pool, second hatchery, lair and spire into the predictable mutas. GoRush (at five) tried to gain an early advantage as he pounced on July’s first flight leaving his main at the seven position. However, his air force came off worse and July immediately pursued the fleeing enemy remnants back to GoRush’s mineral line. With the game looking as though it may be over before it began, GoRush fought off the attacking forces with desperate defence and emerging scourge.
By the time July started expanding to the nine position Gorush had somehow erected his natural and soon set about expanding again to three.
However, as in the first two games GoRush had overreached himself. Having massed combat forces while his opponent gambled on securing an economic advantage, July set upon GoRush’s mutas, taking control of the skies irrevocably. GoRush desperately sent his zerglings towards the nine expo as July’s unchallenged air force set about obliterating every drone in sight. GoRush destroyed July’s expansion but as the OGN cameras swept across the Nostalgia landscape it became clear that every single one of GoRush’s drones had been destroyed, signaling the end of a hard-fought final.
GoRush 2 – 3 July Zerg
July exited his play booth and raised his arms in celebration of a well-earned victory against a worthy opponent.
As the dust finally settled, July thanked his delighted parents, and his teammates at POS for helping him train for the final. Reflecting on the final he said he had refused to allow the back to back defeats to affect him and played his true game in the decider. A devastated GoRush said he was intensely disappointed. He mused on how close he had come to achieving an amazing comeback but said he had just been unable to grasp victory at the finish.
And so July Zerg proves once again that he is one of Brood War’s dominant forces as he adds the KT-KTF Premiere League title to his Gillette OSL win in 2004, taking two of the big three Starcraft titles within the space of 12 months.
For GoRush, it was a case of so near and yet so far, as the aura of invincibility he has been projecting for the last couple of months seemed to have faded at just the wrong moment.
With that, this is Arbiter[frolix] signing off from the KT-KTF Premiere League 2004-5. Mani, this one’s for you.
wrong Picture ;p
