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GSL July - Week One Review
by b_unnies, confusedcrib, Fionn, Saracen, TreeHugger and Waxangel
by b_unnies, confusedcrib, Fionn, Saracen, TreeHugger and Waxangel
Table of Contents
Brought to you by:
Elly the ESPORTS Elephant
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GSL July on Liquipedia
Results and Reviews
Code-A Quarterfinals Preview
Whither Protoss?
Brought to you by:
Elly the ESPORTS Elephant
GSL July on LiquipediaResults and Reviews
Code-A Quarterfinals Preview
Whither Protoss?
We're a bit bare bones this week, due to being swallowed up in a deluge of Code-A games. It was really a blast to watch all of that young talent, but the eight BO3s in one day did cause some overload. So a few matches are missing reports, I hope you can forgive us!
This week, the ever excellent Fionn has written up a great Code-A RO8 preview that profiles all of that aforementioned young talent. And speaking of promising young pros, TreeHugger elaborates on the lack thereof among Protoss players.
This week, the ever excellent Fionn has written up a great Code-A RO8 preview that profiles all of that aforementioned young talent. And speaking of promising young pros, TreeHugger elaborates on the lack thereof among Protoss players.
Results and Reviews
Code-A RO32
Day One - PlayXP interviews translated by Phosgene
+ Show Spoiler [Results] +
IMReady vs 
MVP_DreamGame One: Tal'Darim Altar LE -
![[image loading]](/blogs/images/blackstar.gif)
+ Show Spoiler +
Dream > Ready
After drawing diagonal positions on the gigantic Tal'Darim altar, both players were happy to let each other fast expand and macro up. There were pretty much zero major hostilities for a good thirteen minutes of the game, at which point Dream made the first offensive move.
Dream sent most of his army out to pressure the Protoss front, drawing all of Ready's army to that location. It was a bit of great baiting from Ready, who used the distraction to send two dropships into Ready's main and destroy his templar archives and twilight citadel. This delayed Dream's upgrades for a very long time and gave Ready total map control during a critical period, which let him double expand completely unthreatened.
The only way for Dream to win from his disadvantageous position was to turtle up and completely crush Ready in a big 200/200 fight, but as it turned out Dream won that fight convincingly as well.
Ready: 1.5/5
Completely lost control of the game after getting dropped and losing his tech buildings. Without any citadel upgrades or psyonic storm, there was a two minute window where there was literally NOTHING he could do.
Dream: 4/5
If he intentionally timed his drop to destroy the tech buildings just before the critical upgrades completed, then it was a stroke of brilliance. The lure was great, the drop position was great, and his follow-up by double expanding was awesome as well.
After drawing diagonal positions on the gigantic Tal'Darim altar, both players were happy to let each other fast expand and macro up. There were pretty much zero major hostilities for a good thirteen minutes of the game, at which point Dream made the first offensive move.
Dream sent most of his army out to pressure the Protoss front, drawing all of Ready's army to that location. It was a bit of great baiting from Ready, who used the distraction to send two dropships into Ready's main and destroy his templar archives and twilight citadel. This delayed Dream's upgrades for a very long time and gave Ready total map control during a critical period, which let him double expand completely unthreatened.
The only way for Dream to win from his disadvantageous position was to turtle up and completely crush Ready in a big 200/200 fight, but as it turned out Dream won that fight convincingly as well.
Ready:
Completely lost control of the game after getting dropped and losing his tech buildings. Without any citadel upgrades or psyonic storm, there was a two minute window where there was literally NOTHING he could do.
Dream:
If he intentionally timed his drop to destroy the tech buildings just before the critical upgrades completed, then it was a stroke of brilliance. The lure was great, the drop position was great, and his follow-up by double expanding was awesome as well.
Game Two: Terminus SE -
+ Show Spoiler +
Dream > Ready
After a bit of insignificant early game ticky-tack, both players moved into the typical 3 base vs 3 base scenario that Terminus is designed for.
During the mid-game, Dream made a huge show of flying around groups of medivacs filled with infantry, looking for any gaps in defense to exploit. While he didn't get off any good drops, it did seem to force Ready to keep his forces near his main and forgo map control. This allowed Dream to easily take a fourth central base and an additional fifth base at another main as they ramped up for a 200/200 fight.
Dream didn't even need the resource advantage to win, as he crushed Ready in their first max-out fight. His ghost micro was far superior to Ready's templar micro, and he covered Ready's entire army with EMPs. Dream won the fight convincingly, and he went on to steamroll Ready's bases and collect the GG.
Ready: 1/5
After basing his game plan around turtling up and going for a 200/200 fight, he wasn't even particularly good at the battle micro when the maxout battle eventually happened..
Dream: 3.5/5
Superior to his opponent in every way. Still, Ready was too passive for Dream to really have to flex his muscles.
After a bit of insignificant early game ticky-tack, both players moved into the typical 3 base vs 3 base scenario that Terminus is designed for.
During the mid-game, Dream made a huge show of flying around groups of medivacs filled with infantry, looking for any gaps in defense to exploit. While he didn't get off any good drops, it did seem to force Ready to keep his forces near his main and forgo map control. This allowed Dream to easily take a fourth central base and an additional fifth base at another main as they ramped up for a 200/200 fight.
Dream didn't even need the resource advantage to win, as he crushed Ready in their first max-out fight. His ghost micro was far superior to Ready's templar micro, and he covered Ready's entire army with EMPs. Dream won the fight convincingly, and he went on to steamroll Ready's bases and collect the GG.
Ready:
After basing his game plan around turtling up and going for a 200/200 fight, he wasn't even particularly good at the battle micro when the maxout battle eventually happened..
Dream:
Superior to his opponent in every way. Still, Ready was too passive for Dream to really have to flex his muscles.
Game Three: Crevasse -
+ Show Spoiler +
Dream won 2-0.
CreatorPrime.WE vs 
oGsLuvsicGame One: Tal'Darim Altar LE -
+ Show Spoiler +
Creator > Luvsic
After the usual macro openings typical on Tal'Darim Altar LE, Luvsic proceeded to die to Creator's first push with blink stalkers and sentries.
Creator showed Luvsic his attempt to take a third base beforehand, which may have made Luvsic lower his guard for a bit. To Creator's credit, he had some really good forcefield usage, but Luvsic just didn't have enough units to survive in any case.
Creator: 3.5/5
Good micro, which made his free-win even easier.
Luvsic: 1/5
Dying to his opponent's first attack more than ten minutes in? Perhaps it was just television nerves, but it was still painful to see.
After the usual macro openings typical on Tal'Darim Altar LE, Luvsic proceeded to die to Creator's first push with blink stalkers and sentries.
Creator showed Luvsic his attempt to take a third base beforehand, which may have made Luvsic lower his guard for a bit. To Creator's credit, he had some really good forcefield usage, but Luvsic just didn't have enough units to survive in any case.
Creator:
Good micro, which made his free-win even easier.
Luvsic:
Dying to his opponent's first attack more than ten minutes in? Perhaps it was just television nerves, but it was still painful to see.
Game Two: Dual Sight -
+ Show Spoiler +
Luvsic > Creator
In a strange reversal of game two, Creator attacked Luvsic's roach army with sentry-stalker once more, only to get absolutely crushed and immediately defeated by the counter-attack.
Creator: 1.5/5
His forcefields went from amazing to "meh" in the space of a game.
Luvsic: 3/5
It's hard for anyone to be impressive when they win with non-tunneling roaches, but a win's a win.
In a strange reversal of game two, Creator attacked Luvsic's roach army with sentry-stalker once more, only to get absolutely crushed and immediately defeated by the counter-attack.
Creator:
His forcefields went from amazing to "meh" in the space of a game.
Luvsic:
It's hard for anyone to be impressive when they win with non-tunneling roaches, but a win's a win.
Game Three: Xel'Naga Caverns -
+ Show Spoiler +
Luvsic > Creator
Creator attempted a risky 1 gate expand on Xel'Naga, which was punished HARD by Luvsic's decision to make a sizable number of early speedlings. Creator was just a second late on his forcefields, which cost him his nexus, sentries, and any chance at winning the game.
Luvsic allowed Creator to build up a little and retake his expansion, before crushing him with an overwhelming hydra-roach army.
Creator: 1/5
Botched his absolutely critical forcefields, dooming his risky expand build.
Luvsic: 3.5/5
Was handed the victory on a silver platter, but it was his idea to be aggressive early that allowed that situation to occur.
Creator attempted a risky 1 gate expand on Xel'Naga, which was punished HARD by Luvsic's decision to make a sizable number of early speedlings. Creator was just a second late on his forcefields, which cost him his nexus, sentries, and any chance at winning the game.
Luvsic allowed Creator to build up a little and retake his expansion, before crushing him with an overwhelming hydra-roach army.
Creator:
Botched his absolutely critical forcefields, dooming his risky expand build.
Luvsic:
Was handed the victory on a silver platter, but it was his idea to be aggressive early that allowed that situation to occur.
ST_HopeTorture vs LeenockfOuGame One: Terminus SE -
+ Show Spoiler +
Leenock > HopeTorture
Hopetorture opened up with 1 rax orbital, and commenced with a bunker rush when he saw that Leenock had gone hatchery first. However, Leenock knew that Hopetorture was attempting this off only one barracks, and just let the bunker shoot away pitifully at his hatchery while he massed up enough lings to thwart the attack.
After that, Hopetorture went for his predictable mech transition while Leenock stayed on two base and went for quick mutas.
It ended up being a very easy win for Leenock, as Hopetorture attempted to go up to three bases off just some light blue-flame hellion harass. He didn't have thors in time for mutas, nor did he have siege mode in time for the follow-up roaches. In general, his strategy of going for five factories and three orbitals before making any defenses was pretty weak to Leenock's "make units" plan.
HopeTorture: 1/5
Far too greedy.
Leenock: 3.5/5
His first poke turned into a fortuitous insta-win when he discovered that Hopetorture had no units.
Hopetorture opened up with 1 rax orbital, and commenced with a bunker rush when he saw that Leenock had gone hatchery first. However, Leenock knew that Hopetorture was attempting this off only one barracks, and just let the bunker shoot away pitifully at his hatchery while he massed up enough lings to thwart the attack.
After that, Hopetorture went for his predictable mech transition while Leenock stayed on two base and went for quick mutas.
It ended up being a very easy win for Leenock, as Hopetorture attempted to go up to three bases off just some light blue-flame hellion harass. He didn't have thors in time for mutas, nor did he have siege mode in time for the follow-up roaches. In general, his strategy of going for five factories and three orbitals before making any defenses was pretty weak to Leenock's "make units" plan.
HopeTorture:
Far too greedy.
Leenock:
His first poke turned into a fortuitous insta-win when he discovered that Hopetorture had no units.
Game Two: Crossfire SE -
+ Show Spoiler +
Leenock > HopeTorture
The game opened with another one rax bunker rush against a hatch first, and this time Rainbow managed to do just a little bit better by following with a few hellions from his fast factory. Overall, Leenock held well and enjoyed a strong economy. Rainbow followed with cloaked banshees, but they didn't really do enough drone damage to justify their cost. As Rainbow transitioned into mech once more, the situation looked pretty dandy for Leenock.
Just like game one, Leenock killed off Rainbow with a series of attacks before the mech reached any critical mass. First, he did an excellent mutaling trap on Hopetorture's harassing hellions, which followed up into a damaging mutaling attack. Then, he attacked with several speed-roaches while Hopetorture overproduced thors in response to the earlier mutas. That attack almost finished off Hopetorture for good, but was fended off by a few cloaked banshees. Leenock ended the game soon after with a large number of roaches and mutas.
HopeTorture: 1.5/5
Once again, didn't have siege mode in time to stop the strong roach attack.
Leenock: 3.5/5
Clever muta-roach switching to make sure Hopetorture never had the correct units to defend himself.
The game opened with another one rax bunker rush against a hatch first, and this time Rainbow managed to do just a little bit better by following with a few hellions from his fast factory. Overall, Leenock held well and enjoyed a strong economy. Rainbow followed with cloaked banshees, but they didn't really do enough drone damage to justify their cost. As Rainbow transitioned into mech once more, the situation looked pretty dandy for Leenock.
Just like game one, Leenock killed off Rainbow with a series of attacks before the mech reached any critical mass. First, he did an excellent mutaling trap on Hopetorture's harassing hellions, which followed up into a damaging mutaling attack. Then, he attacked with several speed-roaches while Hopetorture overproduced thors in response to the earlier mutas. That attack almost finished off Hopetorture for good, but was fended off by a few cloaked banshees. Leenock ended the game soon after with a large number of roaches and mutas.
HopeTorture:
Once again, didn't have siege mode in time to stop the strong roach attack.
Leenock:
Clever muta-roach switching to make sure Hopetorture never had the correct units to defend himself.
Game Three: Xel'Naga Caverns -
+ Show Spoiler +
Leenock won 2-0.
Slayers_Min vs IMYodaGame One: Metalopolis -
+ Show Spoiler +
Yoda > Min
Yoda opened up with a reactor hellion expand into fast blue-flame, while Min went for typical FE with some quick roaches to fend off the expected hellion harass.
Yoda spent a large part of the mid-game trying to harass with blue flame hellions while making a mech transition. However, Min defended himself extremely well with speedlings, roaches, and queens, and Yoda would end up losing 12 or so hellions while doing very little drone damage.
However, persistence paid off for Yoda, as he only needed Min to let his guard down for a second. Four hellions caught a ton of drones at Min's natural, which appeared to be way over saturated due to some shifting of drones in prior hellion defenses. Yoda got off three or four good hellion volleys, which meant twenty less drones for Min. As the game was still at the two base vs two base stage, this was devastating for Min.
Seeing no way to win in a long game, Min opted for a nydus-worm all-in. It was easily thwarted by Yoda, putting him a game up in the series
Min: 2/5
Really good hellion defense early, but missed four late hellions that cost him the game.
Yoda: 3/5
His persistence with hellions really paid off, as he got in the crucial four hellions when Min was probably assuming the harass phase over.
Yoda opened up with a reactor hellion expand into fast blue-flame, while Min went for typical FE with some quick roaches to fend off the expected hellion harass.
Yoda spent a large part of the mid-game trying to harass with blue flame hellions while making a mech transition. However, Min defended himself extremely well with speedlings, roaches, and queens, and Yoda would end up losing 12 or so hellions while doing very little drone damage.
However, persistence paid off for Yoda, as he only needed Min to let his guard down for a second. Four hellions caught a ton of drones at Min's natural, which appeared to be way over saturated due to some shifting of drones in prior hellion defenses. Yoda got off three or four good hellion volleys, which meant twenty less drones for Min. As the game was still at the two base vs two base stage, this was devastating for Min.
Seeing no way to win in a long game, Min opted for a nydus-worm all-in. It was easily thwarted by Yoda, putting him a game up in the series
Min:
Really good hellion defense early, but missed four late hellions that cost him the game.
Yoda:
His persistence with hellions really paid off, as he got in the crucial four hellions when Min was probably assuming the harass phase over.
Game Two: Tal'Darim Altar LE -
+ Show Spoiler +
Min > Yoda
One the very first day of GSL July, we got a vaunted "so bad it's good" game. Yoda opened with reactor hellions once more, and this time Min wasn't so good at early game defense. Yoda scorched a significant amount of drones, forcing Min to try a last-ditch baneling bust that failed.
The game was 90% over at that point, and Yoda proceeded to drop manner mules on Min's banelings, enemy minerals, and all sorts of other ill-advised spots. He also proceeded to throw away a gazillion units in poorly microed, misjudged attacks, deeming that he had already won. Though he still should have won, he managed to be SO wasteful, that Min actually forced his way back into the game.
Min secured his comeback when Yoda tried to push out with thor-tank-hellion without scanning the ground ahead of him. This led to his force being soundly defeated by surprise burrowed roaches (or as soundly as roaches can defeat anything, they always seem to lose half their number no matter what), which flipped the game solidly in Min's favor.
There wasn't any real BM for Min when he won the game, except a few neural parasites which were actually pretty practical.
Min: 4/5
Zerg is kind of underpowered in the BM department.
Yoda: -1/5
Shameful.
One the very first day of GSL July, we got a vaunted "so bad it's good" game. Yoda opened with reactor hellions once more, and this time Min wasn't so good at early game defense. Yoda scorched a significant amount of drones, forcing Min to try a last-ditch baneling bust that failed.
The game was 90% over at that point, and Yoda proceeded to drop manner mules on Min's banelings, enemy minerals, and all sorts of other ill-advised spots. He also proceeded to throw away a gazillion units in poorly microed, misjudged attacks, deeming that he had already won. Though he still should have won, he managed to be SO wasteful, that Min actually forced his way back into the game.
Min secured his comeback when Yoda tried to push out with thor-tank-hellion without scanning the ground ahead of him. This led to his force being soundly defeated by surprise burrowed roaches (or as soundly as roaches can defeat anything, they always seem to lose half their number no matter what), which flipped the game solidly in Min's favor.
There wasn't any real BM for Min when he won the game, except a few neural parasites which were actually pretty practical.
Min:
Zerg is kind of underpowered in the BM department.
Yoda:
Shameful.
Game Three: Bel'Shir Beach -
+ Show Spoiler +
Yoda > Min
What luck! Two bad-good games in the same series. Once more it was hellions that caused all the trouble, but this game was much more succinct than game two. There was a lot of failure in this game, but the ultimate mistake was Min forgetting to watch his backdoor and losing 30 drones while his frontal attack failed.
Min: 1/5
Enjoys losing to hellions.
Yoda: ?/5
I think he played well.... did he?
What luck! Two bad-good games in the same series. Once more it was hellions that caused all the trouble, but this game was much more succinct than game two. There was a lot of failure in this game, but the ultimate mistake was Min forgetting to watch his backdoor and losing 30 drones while his frontal attack failed.
Min:
Enjoys losing to hellions.
Yoda:
I think he played well.... did he?
CheckPrime.WE vs ChoyafOuGame One: Xel'Naga Fortress -
+ Show Spoiler +
Check > Choya
Choya goes a nexus first build while Check opened with 14 gas/14 pool. After Check scouts Choya's expansion, he quickly double expands and gets a fast evo chamber for +1 melee. Choya gets 1 stargate and builds 3 voids for map control. Choya proxies a pylon and warps in many zealots to attack Choya's 3rd. At the same time, Choya uses a warp prism to drop 3 sentries at Check's main to FF his ramp and uses his voids to harass Choya's main. However, Choya defends both attacks without losing his 3rd. Choya gets a Colossus/Void army which he uses to kill Check's third while Check tech switches to mutaling. Choya uses his army to attack Check's multi, but Check counters his 3rd with mutaling. Choya splits his army in half to defend against Check's counter. As Choya split his army, Check was able to overpower both smaller armies seperately
Check: 4/5
Check defended his 3rd well, and did a nice tech switch to help him win the game
Choya: 3/5
Choya's strategy with warp prism and sentries was good, but he should've tried to base trade rather than commit to a half-hearted base trade and send half of his army toget picked off by Check
Choya goes a nexus first build while Check opened with 14 gas/14 pool. After Check scouts Choya's expansion, he quickly double expands and gets a fast evo chamber for +1 melee. Choya gets 1 stargate and builds 3 voids for map control. Choya proxies a pylon and warps in many zealots to attack Choya's 3rd. At the same time, Choya uses a warp prism to drop 3 sentries at Check's main to FF his ramp and uses his voids to harass Choya's main. However, Choya defends both attacks without losing his 3rd. Choya gets a Colossus/Void army which he uses to kill Check's third while Check tech switches to mutaling. Choya uses his army to attack Check's multi, but Check counters his 3rd with mutaling. Choya splits his army in half to defend against Check's counter. As Choya split his army, Check was able to overpower both smaller armies seperately
Check:
Check defended his 3rd well, and did a nice tech switch to help him win the game
Choya:
Choya's strategy with warp prism and sentries was good, but he should've tried to base trade rather than commit to a half-hearted base trade and send half of his army toget picked off by Check
Game Two: Crevasse -
+ Show Spoiler +
Check > Choya
Choya goes FFE while Check goes 14 gas/14 pool. Check gets a fast 3rd and choya proxies 2 stargate near Check's 3rd for void rays. However Check scouts it. Choya gets a 3rd and gets a total of 8 gateway while teching to DT's. However, Check does a ling run-by and scouts his 8 gates and DT. Check gets hydra tech. Check attacks with a massive ling/hydra army with multiple queens as support and kills Choya's 3rd. Choya keeps hims contain in his main and wins the game.
Check: 4/5
He scouted Choya really well and defended against Choya's voids+phoenix well.
Choya: 2.5/5
Choya needed to do a much better job of preventing Check from scouting him. He shouldn't have allowed the ling run-by
Choya goes FFE while Check goes 14 gas/14 pool. Check gets a fast 3rd and choya proxies 2 stargate near Check's 3rd for void rays. However Check scouts it. Choya gets a 3rd and gets a total of 8 gateway while teching to DT's. However, Check does a ling run-by and scouts his 8 gates and DT. Check gets hydra tech. Check attacks with a massive ling/hydra army with multiple queens as support and kills Choya's 3rd. Choya keeps hims contain in his main and wins the game.
Check:
He scouted Choya really well and defended against Choya's voids+phoenix well.
Choya:
Choya needed to do a much better job of preventing Check from scouting him. He shouldn't have allowed the ling run-by
Game Three: Metalopolis -
+ Show Spoiler +
Check won 2-0.
MVP_Noblesse vs oGsheroGame One: Tal'Darim Altar LE -
+ Show Spoiler +
Noblesse > Hero
Hero played a speedzealot-archon-sentry heavy style, which Noblesse exploited emphatically with medivacs mobility. Without a large blink stalker count, Hero was unable to chase anything down. It was too easy for Noblesse to drag Hero around the map, drawing the main Protoss force to one location while medivacs or a small ground force hit an under-defended spot.
Hero wanted so badly to engage Noblesse in a straight up battle, but Noblesse just evaded him continuously while building up an advantage with his harassment tactics. Noblesse finally finished Hero off on his own terms, catching all of Hero's sentries with EMPs while they were out of position and trampling over the remaining zealot archon army.
Noblesse: 4.5/5
Extraordinary multi-tasking. He never rested for a second, always doing something to annoy Hero and gain small unit advantages. This built up into a sizable advantage by the end.
Hero: 2.5/5
Without blink stalkers or templars, he had a really hard time dealing with dropships and small groups of kiting marauders.
Hero played a speedzealot-archon-sentry heavy style, which Noblesse exploited emphatically with medivacs mobility. Without a large blink stalker count, Hero was unable to chase anything down. It was too easy for Noblesse to drag Hero around the map, drawing the main Protoss force to one location while medivacs or a small ground force hit an under-defended spot.
Hero wanted so badly to engage Noblesse in a straight up battle, but Noblesse just evaded him continuously while building up an advantage with his harassment tactics. Noblesse finally finished Hero off on his own terms, catching all of Hero's sentries with EMPs while they were out of position and trampling over the remaining zealot archon army.
Noblesse:
Extraordinary multi-tasking. He never rested for a second, always doing something to annoy Hero and gain small unit advantages. This built up into a sizable advantage by the end.
Hero:
Without blink stalkers or templars, he had a really hard time dealing with dropships and small groups of kiting marauders.
Game Two: Dual Sight -
+ Show Spoiler +
Hero > Noblesse
If game one was a fantastic display of Noblesse's abilities, game two gave Hero an opportunity to prove his worth.
In a rare happening, both players went for one base builds. Hero went for fast phoenix into four gate, while Noblesse went for a four rax build. Hero played this situation much better than Noblesse, who foolishly sent out an early army which had no chance of breaking through Hero's forcefield blockade. That left Hero's phoenixes to have free reign on Noblesse's underprotected main.
Hero then took care of the terran force camping outside his ramp and set up a containment of his own at Noblesse's base. He was so vigilant about maintaining pressure and making sure nothing snuck out via dropship, that Noblesse didn't actually manage to get down his main ramp until his main minerals ran out. By then, Hero had been mining from two bases for a long time, and just crushed Noblesse with a superior army.
Noblesse: 2/5
Didn't exactly react well to the phoenix build.
Hero: 4/5
Like Noblesse in game one, Hero was extremely active at all times. Even while maintaining his contain, he would constantly try to poke up and forcefield off a few units for some free kills, while his phoenix made sure Noblesse couldn't just medivac out easily.
If game one was a fantastic display of Noblesse's abilities, game two gave Hero an opportunity to prove his worth.
In a rare happening, both players went for one base builds. Hero went for fast phoenix into four gate, while Noblesse went for a four rax build. Hero played this situation much better than Noblesse, who foolishly sent out an early army which had no chance of breaking through Hero's forcefield blockade. That left Hero's phoenixes to have free reign on Noblesse's underprotected main.
Hero then took care of the terran force camping outside his ramp and set up a containment of his own at Noblesse's base. He was so vigilant about maintaining pressure and making sure nothing snuck out via dropship, that Noblesse didn't actually manage to get down his main ramp until his main minerals ran out. By then, Hero had been mining from two bases for a long time, and just crushed Noblesse with a superior army.
Noblesse:
Didn't exactly react well to the phoenix build.
Hero:
Like Noblesse in game one, Hero was extremely active at all times. Even while maintaining his contain, he would constantly try to poke up and forcefield off a few units for some free kills, while his phoenix made sure Noblesse couldn't just medivac out easily.
Game Three: Metalopolis -
+ Show Spoiler +
Noblesse > Hero
Hero successfully avoided early pressure while performing a daring nexus first opening, but found himself troubled by Noblesse's mid-game stim + two ghosts attack. Noblesse had gone for a regular rax expand into a quick three rax strike, which forced Hero to pull many probes in defense.
Hero lost many probes and his entire fast expand advantage, and saw Noblesse's army balloon at a much faster rate afterwards. After a few minutes of two base massing on both sides, Noblesse had a forty supply lead. Hero tried valiantly to fend off the infantry attack, but the overwhelming numbers proved to be too much.
Noblesse: 3.5/5
His bio ball control was pretty good.
Hero:1.5/5
I think he may have been feeling the nerves getting to him; after successfully going nexus first, he had poor defenses against a very ordinary three rax ghost timing.
Hero successfully avoided early pressure while performing a daring nexus first opening, but found himself troubled by Noblesse's mid-game stim + two ghosts attack. Noblesse had gone for a regular rax expand into a quick three rax strike, which forced Hero to pull many probes in defense.
Hero lost many probes and his entire fast expand advantage, and saw Noblesse's army balloon at a much faster rate afterwards. After a few minutes of two base massing on both sides, Noblesse had a forty supply lead. Hero tried valiantly to fend off the infantry attack, but the overwhelming numbers proved to be too much.
Noblesse:
His bio ball control was pretty good.
Hero:
I think he may have been feeling the nerves getting to him; after successfully going nexus first, he had poor defenses against a very ordinary three rax ghost timing.
FOXLyn vs NSHoSeo_TassadarGame One: Bel'Shir Beach -
+ Show Spoiler +
Tassadar > Lyn
Lyn opened up with a fast two barrack pressure against Tassadar's 3 gate expand, doing some pretty good damage due to Tassadar's sloppy micro. However, Lyn got too greedy after taking a marginal early lead and tried to expand directly to his natural. This opened him up to a strong 3 warpgate counterattack, which negated all of the gains from his early two rax attack.
Tassadar safely set up a contain to deny Lyn his natural while safely extracting minerals from his own. He went for a colossus-phoenix-ground composition, which by the time Lyn took his natural, was looking very fearsome. When the two armies fought in the middle, they traded fairly evenly, except for the large group of phoenixes left over for Tassadar. He flew them into Lyn's main and cut off multiple rounds of new troops as they emerged from the barracks. This led to the army gap growing wildly out of control, and Tassadar was able to easily take the game.
Lyn: 1.5/5
Was an entirely ordinary punching bag for Tassadar to display his skills against.
Tassadar: 3/5
Lyn needed to be a little better for Tassadar to really show his skill. There wasn't much for Tassadar to do but knock down vikings and anti-gravity units.
Lyn opened up with a fast two barrack pressure against Tassadar's 3 gate expand, doing some pretty good damage due to Tassadar's sloppy micro. However, Lyn got too greedy after taking a marginal early lead and tried to expand directly to his natural. This opened him up to a strong 3 warpgate counterattack, which negated all of the gains from his early two rax attack.
Tassadar safely set up a contain to deny Lyn his natural while safely extracting minerals from his own. He went for a colossus-phoenix-ground composition, which by the time Lyn took his natural, was looking very fearsome. When the two armies fought in the middle, they traded fairly evenly, except for the large group of phoenixes left over for Tassadar. He flew them into Lyn's main and cut off multiple rounds of new troops as they emerged from the barracks. This led to the army gap growing wildly out of control, and Tassadar was able to easily take the game.
Lyn:
Was an entirely ordinary punching bag for Tassadar to display his skills against.
Tassadar:
Lyn needed to be a little better for Tassadar to really show his skill. There wasn't much for Tassadar to do but knock down vikings and anti-gravity units.
Game Two: Terminus SE -
+ Show Spoiler +
Tassadar > Lyn
Lyn went for a one rax expand, only to get totally messed up by Tassadar's DT rush. Though he didn't die outright, he took so much damage that he couldn't handle the speedzealot follow-up.
Lyn: 1/5
No turrets.
Tassadar: 3/5
Dark Templar.
Lyn went for a one rax expand, only to get totally messed up by Tassadar's DT rush. Though he didn't die outright, he took so much damage that he couldn't handle the speedzealot follow-up.
Lyn:
No turrets.
Tassadar:
Dark Templar.
Game Three: Xel'Naga Fortress -
+ Show Spoiler +
Tassadar won 2-0.
SlayerS_Ryung vs GuMihofOuGame One: Bel'Shir Beach -
+ Show Spoiler +
Gumiho > Ryung
Ryung went for a proxy two rax while Gumiho went for a gas-first tech build. And somehow, Ryung still couldn't kill Gumiho. In fact, besides killing a few SCVs, he ended up a little bit behind.
So despite an eventful first five minutes, the game went onto a completely unremarkable two-base marine tank vs marine tank game. The game of build marines, tanks, etc. went on for a while, but it seemed to favor Gumiho who was making tanks out of two factories compared to Ryung's one.
The tank advantage manifested for Gumiho in critical battle, where Ryung was enticed into shredding his army through an unexpectedly deep tank line. Gumiho capitalized by killing Ryung's expansions and taking more for himself, securing the victory.
Ryung: 2/5
Nothing particularly bad. Sort of embarrassing to get nothing done with a double proxy rax against a gas first build though.
Gumiho: 3.5/5
Press "e," wait for opponent to f*** up. Never fails.
Ryung went for a proxy two rax while Gumiho went for a gas-first tech build. And somehow, Ryung still couldn't kill Gumiho. In fact, besides killing a few SCVs, he ended up a little bit behind.
So despite an eventful first five minutes, the game went onto a completely unremarkable two-base marine tank vs marine tank game. The game of build marines, tanks, etc. went on for a while, but it seemed to favor Gumiho who was making tanks out of two factories compared to Ryung's one.
The tank advantage manifested for Gumiho in critical battle, where Ryung was enticed into shredding his army through an unexpectedly deep tank line. Gumiho capitalized by killing Ryung's expansions and taking more for himself, securing the victory.
Ryung:
Nothing particularly bad. Sort of embarrassing to get nothing done with a double proxy rax against a gas first build though.
Gumiho:
Press "e," wait for opponent to f*** up. Never fails.
Game Two: Crossfire SE -
+ Show Spoiler +
Ryung > Gumiho
After mutual fast expansions, Gumiho went for an interesting two-thor timing attack. However, it ended up failing miserably against Ryung's handful of tanks, bunker, and some marines. After that, Ryung simply build tanks and marauders, which to no one's surprise, tore through Gumiho's thor defense.
Ryung: 3/5
The opponent made thors, Ryung made things that kill thors.
Gumiho: 1.5/5
The theme seemed to be to build thors... but to what end?
After mutual fast expansions, Gumiho went for an interesting two-thor timing attack. However, it ended up failing miserably against Ryung's handful of tanks, bunker, and some marines. After that, Ryung simply build tanks and marauders, which to no one's surprise, tore through Gumiho's thor defense.
Ryung:
The opponent made thors, Ryung made things that kill thors.
Gumiho:
The theme seemed to be to build thors... but to what end?
Game Three: Crevasse -
+ Show Spoiler +
Ryung > Gumiho
Ah, Crevasse. Skipping ahead to the inevitable three base vs three base phase with both players at about 150/150 supply, we saw one of those unfortunate, uneven base trades. Ryung managed to halve Gumiho's SCV count, while taking a seventy supply lead after mopping up Gumiho's forces. It took a while, but Gumiho eventually GG'd.
Ryung: 3/5
Safe and solid, without being exceptional.
Gumiho: 2/5
Really botched the base trade.
Ah, Crevasse. Skipping ahead to the inevitable three base vs three base phase with both players at about 150/150 supply, we saw one of those unfortunate, uneven base trades. Ryung managed to halve Gumiho's SCV count, while taking a seventy supply lead after mopping up Gumiho's forces. It took a while, but Gumiho eventually GG'd.
Ryung:
Safe and solid, without being exceptional.
Gumiho:
Really botched the base trade.
Day Two - PlayXP interviews
+ Show Spoiler [Results] +
oGsTheWinD vs. MVPTailsGame One: Xel'Naga Caverns -
+ Show Spoiler +
Tails > TheWind
Tails does a very cute opening, sending one zealot out around the edges up the map, avoiding overlord vision. He is able to kill four early drones which seems to put TheWind behind, but then TheWind pay him back with a large amount of speedlings to force a nexus cancel.
During some mid-game pressure, Tails sends DTs out that do some good damage, but lings and roaches clean up Tail's main army in the mean time. After the exchange, both players are somewhat even, with The Wind ahead in army and Tails ahead in economy.
Tails does another cute tactic, blinking stalkers into The Wind's main, and warping in sentries on the high ground to forcefield the ramp. With sentries blocking, Tails is able to destroy every single unit and building in TheWind's main. The followup push is enough to force "gg" from The Wind.
Tails:4/5
Very cute blink + sentry use.
TheWind:2/5
Slow reactions to a lot of the harassment.
Tails does a very cute opening, sending one zealot out around the edges up the map, avoiding overlord vision. He is able to kill four early drones which seems to put TheWind behind, but then TheWind pay him back with a large amount of speedlings to force a nexus cancel.
During some mid-game pressure, Tails sends DTs out that do some good damage, but lings and roaches clean up Tail's main army in the mean time. After the exchange, both players are somewhat even, with The Wind ahead in army and Tails ahead in economy.
Tails does another cute tactic, blinking stalkers into The Wind's main, and warping in sentries on the high ground to forcefield the ramp. With sentries blocking, Tails is able to destroy every single unit and building in TheWind's main. The followup push is enough to force "gg" from The Wind.
Tails:
Very cute blink + sentry use.
TheWind:
Slow reactions to a lot of the harassment.
Game Two: Terminus RE -
+ Show Spoiler +
The Wind > Tails
Tails meta games it up for the second game. Normally when you open with a stargate, you're inducing hydras and then following up with colossus. Tails is probably assuming that The Wind will instead drone up like crazy after seeing a stargate, assuming no pressure in the immediate future. So Tails follows up with an 8 gateway, zealot charge, plus 1 weapon timing push. The Wind is able to send an overlord in and see all of the gateways just as they complete. The Wind absolutely demolishes the chargelot army with a ton of hydras and roaches.
The Wind is able to counter attack and take the game. Oh, and banelings kill all of the zealots, it was really pretty.
Tails: 1/5
Super risky build.
The Wind: 3/5
Competent at holding it with perfect scouting information.
Tails meta games it up for the second game. Normally when you open with a stargate, you're inducing hydras and then following up with colossus. Tails is probably assuming that The Wind will instead drone up like crazy after seeing a stargate, assuming no pressure in the immediate future. So Tails follows up with an 8 gateway, zealot charge, plus 1 weapon timing push. The Wind is able to send an overlord in and see all of the gateways just as they complete. The Wind absolutely demolishes the chargelot army with a ton of hydras and roaches.
The Wind is able to counter attack and take the game. Oh, and banelings kill all of the zealots, it was really pretty.
Tails:
Super risky build.
The Wind:
Competent at holding it with perfect scouting information.
Game Three: Metalopolis -
+ Show Spoiler +
Tails > TheWind
TheWind went for a six pool rush, which Tails stopped with excellent micro. Guess what happened next?
Tails: 3.5/5
Stopped the six pool rush with minimal losses.
TheWind: 1.5/5
One of the more ineffective sixpools.
TheWind went for a six pool rush, which Tails stopped with excellent micro. Guess what happened next?
Tails:
Stopped the six pool rush with minimal losses.
TheWind:
One of the more ineffective sixpools.
Vanvanth vs SocceRGame One: Crevasse -
+ Show Spoiler +
Vanvanth > Soccer
Game Two: Terminus SE -
+ Show Spoiler +
Soccer > Vanvanth
Game Three: Dual Sight -
+ Show Spoiler +
Vanvanth > Soccer
NS_HoSeoSan vs FXO.ShethGame One: Crossfire SE -
+ Show Spoiler +
San > Sheth
San opened with a fast stargate build that didn't do much material damage, but at least delayed Sheth's third base for a decent bit of time. Still, Sheth eventually went up to three base while San went up to two base.
Sheth couldn't get out as many drones as he would have liked on three base, as San pushed out fairly early and just wouldn't let up the pressure. Sheth kept having to pump out more and more muta-ling, while San paraded his blink stalkers around the map, threatening to strike at any time.
This sort of build-up without major hostilities continued for a long time, until both players were nearly maxed. Unable to build more troops, Sheth chose to turn his speedlings into banelings for overlord bombs.
The game was decided by a crucial engagement where Sheth tried to engage with his muta, speedling, baneling bomb force, but left his overlords very far behind. San's blink stalkers were able to seriously hurt Sheth's mutaling, and then easily evade the baneling bombs when they finally arrived. San had secured his third base in the meanwhile, and was able to overrun Sheth soon after.
San: 3.5/5
Kinda boring, but was pretty good at making sure Sheth was always feeling the heat with his stalker army.
Sheth: 1.5/5
Big blunder in starting a maxout engagement with his baneling laden overlords several screens away.
San opened with a fast stargate build that didn't do much material damage, but at least delayed Sheth's third base for a decent bit of time. Still, Sheth eventually went up to three base while San went up to two base.
Sheth couldn't get out as many drones as he would have liked on three base, as San pushed out fairly early and just wouldn't let up the pressure. Sheth kept having to pump out more and more muta-ling, while San paraded his blink stalkers around the map, threatening to strike at any time.
This sort of build-up without major hostilities continued for a long time, until both players were nearly maxed. Unable to build more troops, Sheth chose to turn his speedlings into banelings for overlord bombs.
The game was decided by a crucial engagement where Sheth tried to engage with his muta, speedling, baneling bomb force, but left his overlords very far behind. San's blink stalkers were able to seriously hurt Sheth's mutaling, and then easily evade the baneling bombs when they finally arrived. San had secured his third base in the meanwhile, and was able to overrun Sheth soon after.
San:
Kinda boring, but was pretty good at making sure Sheth was always feeling the heat with his stalker army.
Sheth:
Big blunder in starting a maxout engagement with his baneling laden overlords several screens away.
Game Two: Crevasse -
+ Show Spoiler +
Sheth > San
San did your usual forge FE on Crevasse while Sheth went up to three bases quickly. With Sheth getting both spire and roach tech, San decided to go for a phoenix + blink stalker all-in move.
Sheth was more than prepared for the attack after getting a slow overlord scout in, and crushed San with roach-muta-ling-queen. San was too far behind after losing that engagement, and was forced to GG out after losing his next army to Sheth's hydra-roach attack.
San: 2/5
His all-in was quite non-threatening.
Sheth: 3/5
Still seemed to be quite nervous from being on the GSL stage.
San did your usual forge FE on Crevasse while Sheth went up to three bases quickly. With Sheth getting both spire and roach tech, San decided to go for a phoenix + blink stalker all-in move.
Sheth was more than prepared for the attack after getting a slow overlord scout in, and crushed San with roach-muta-ling-queen. San was too far behind after losing that engagement, and was forced to GG out after losing his next army to Sheth's hydra-roach attack.
San:
His all-in was quite non-threatening.
Sheth:
Still seemed to be quite nervous from being on the GSL stage.
Game Three: Metalopolis -
+ Show Spoiler +
Sheth > San
San opened with yet another FE variant including stargate, while Sheth did the usual three base thing. This time, San tried to follow-up into a regular six gate all-in, which ended up being the least successful attack of the series. Sheth set-up an excellent roach-ling flank which destroyed San's army.
Sheth actually had something of a scare afterwards, as San managed to mass up enough blink stalkers to be threatening. However, Sheth just had too much stuff, and his roaches walked over San's stalkers, force-field and blink be damned.
San: 1.5/5
Sheth: 3/5
San opened with yet another FE variant including stargate, while Sheth did the usual three base thing. This time, San tried to follow-up into a regular six gate all-in, which ended up being the least successful attack of the series. Sheth set-up an excellent roach-ling flank which destroyed San's army.
Sheth actually had something of a scare afterwards, as San managed to mass up enough blink stalkers to be threatening. However, Sheth just had too much stuff, and his roaches walked over San's stalkers, force-field and blink be damned.
San:
Sheth:
SlayerS_MMA vs ZeNEXPuzzleGame One: Xel'Naga Fortress
+ Show Spoiler +
Puzzle > MMA
As MMA went for a fast expand, Puzzle hit him with Dark Templars just as the last bit of orbital command energy was being used on mules. This allowed Puzzle to secure his own expansion and take a massive 20 worker lead while MMA tried to defend himself.
From there on, Puzzle would always have a better economy, thus a bigger army, and therefore total map control. MMA had some really great battle micro (especially with EMPs) to prevent Puzzle from outright killing him on a few occasions, but eventually he was worn down defeated.
Puzzle: 3/5
After doing damage with DTs, it was all too easy. Sloppily clumped all of his mana units together after securing the lead.
MMA: 3/5
Some really great EMPs to stay in it for a while.
As MMA went for a fast expand, Puzzle hit him with Dark Templars just as the last bit of orbital command energy was being used on mules. This allowed Puzzle to secure his own expansion and take a massive 20 worker lead while MMA tried to defend himself.
From there on, Puzzle would always have a better economy, thus a bigger army, and therefore total map control. MMA had some really great battle micro (especially with EMPs) to prevent Puzzle from outright killing him on a few occasions, but eventually he was worn down defeated.
Puzzle: 3/5
After doing damage with DTs, it was all too easy. Sloppily clumped all of his mana units together after securing the lead.
MMA: 3/5
Some really great EMPs to stay in it for a while.
Game Two: Terminus SE
+ Show Spoiler +
Puzzle > MMA
There was a bit of two rax aggression from MMA early game, but otherwise it went to the typical Terminus macro scenario. Somehow, Puzzle managed to catch MMA off-guard with DTs again. They weren't even particularly fast DTs, so I think he managed to mask his build as something else completely, and snuck in DTs when MMA thought that they couldn't possibly be on the field.
Anyway, it played out exactly the same as game one after that. The DTs gave Puzzle a huge advantage, and he just let it snowball until he could crush his opponent with warpgate units + colossi.
Puzzle: 3.5/5
For such a late DT timing to work, I feel there was more going on than met the eye.
MMA: 1.5/5
Sucks to lose to DTs twice in a row.
There was a bit of two rax aggression from MMA early game, but otherwise it went to the typical Terminus macro scenario. Somehow, Puzzle managed to catch MMA off-guard with DTs again. They weren't even particularly fast DTs, so I think he managed to mask his build as something else completely, and snuck in DTs when MMA thought that they couldn't possibly be on the field.
Anyway, it played out exactly the same as game one after that. The DTs gave Puzzle a huge advantage, and he just let it snowball until he could crush his opponent with warpgate units + colossi.
Puzzle:
For such a late DT timing to work, I feel there was more going on than met the eye.
MMA: 1.5/5
Sucks to lose to DTs twice in a row.
Game Three: Bel'Shir Beach
+ Show Spoiler +
Puzzle won 2-0
Day Three - PlayXP interviews
+ Show Spoiler [Results] +
oGsHyperdub vs IMHappyGame One: Crossfire SE -
+ Show Spoiler +
Happy > Hyperdub
Hyperdub went for Polt's patented two rax with concussive shells rush into fast gold expand (the one that won his the Super Tournament vs MMA) but didn't execute it quite as well. For one, Happy actually built a bunker to defend his cloak banshee opener, unlike MMA who was pretty much naked. Also, Hyperdub made the bizarre decision to make a hidden command center at the ENEMY gold base, which didn't work out so great for him.
Basically, Hyperdub's early infantry dealt a little bit of damage to Happy, and gave him some map control for a small period. But by building his expansion at the enemy gold, he couldn't actually protect it once hellions and cloak banshees came out (because Happy scouts, unlike MMA). By the time Hyperdub floated his orbital back to his actual natural, Happy had his own expansion and was in a mostly even situation.
From there, it was the story of Hyperdub managing his bio poorly against Happy's mech. After a bad frontal attack and a bad drop, Hyperdub was well behind. It was surprisingly simple for Happy to just pump out two base tank and finish off Hyperdub.
Hyperdub: 1.5/5
Happy: 3/5
Solid defense and mech play.
Hyperdub went for Polt's patented two rax with concussive shells rush into fast gold expand (the one that won his the Super Tournament vs MMA) but didn't execute it quite as well. For one, Happy actually built a bunker to defend his cloak banshee opener, unlike MMA who was pretty much naked. Also, Hyperdub made the bizarre decision to make a hidden command center at the ENEMY gold base, which didn't work out so great for him.
Basically, Hyperdub's early infantry dealt a little bit of damage to Happy, and gave him some map control for a small period. But by building his expansion at the enemy gold, he couldn't actually protect it once hellions and cloak banshees came out (because Happy scouts, unlike MMA). By the time Hyperdub floated his orbital back to his actual natural, Happy had his own expansion and was in a mostly even situation.
From there, it was the story of Hyperdub managing his bio poorly against Happy's mech. After a bad frontal attack and a bad drop, Hyperdub was well behind. It was surprisingly simple for Happy to just pump out two base tank and finish off Hyperdub.
Hyperdub:
Happy:
Solid defense and mech play.
Game Two: Terminus SE -
+ Show Spoiler +
Happy > Hyperdub
Happy opened with a gas-first cloaked banshee build, and proceeded to do quite a bit of damage to Hyperdub's gasless expansion. Though he could't kill the opponent outright, Happy put himself quite ahead by the time he got his own expansion down.
Hyperdub tried to counter with cloaked banshees of his own, but Happy had vikings and a raven out to defend himself. Happy was able to very safely take his third expansion; much faster than Hyperdub. From there, the game flowed onto a pretty easy mech steamroll for Happy.
Hyperdub: 1/5
Very outmatched.
Happy: 3/5
Went through the motions, came out with a win.
Happy opened with a gas-first cloaked banshee build, and proceeded to do quite a bit of damage to Hyperdub's gasless expansion. Though he could't kill the opponent outright, Happy put himself quite ahead by the time he got his own expansion down.
Hyperdub tried to counter with cloaked banshees of his own, but Happy had vikings and a raven out to defend himself. Happy was able to very safely take his third expansion; much faster than Hyperdub. From there, the game flowed onto a pretty easy mech steamroll for Happy.
Hyperdub:
Very outmatched.
Happy:
Went through the motions, came out with a win.
Game Three: Dual Sight -
+ Show Spoiler +
Happy won 2-0
Slayers_YuGiOh vs ST_CuriousGame One: Terminus SE -
+ Show Spoiler +
Curious > Yugioh
An early game double-ling battle ensued as Curious assaulted Yugioh's fast expand with a more aggressive build. Yugioh defended well thanks to his spine crawler, and soon the tables were turned with Yugioh going on the counter attack. Even though he had an economic disadvantage, Curious' micro was impeccable as he slowly stabilized his position with an expansion of his own. Curious continued to play defensive afterwards, choosing to go for more drones while building spine crawlers.
As both players took their third bases, Curious did a good muta tech switch and used great split force tactics with his zerglings to take out Yugioh's third base and take a commanding lead. This forced Yugioh into a desperation attack, but it was easily thwarted by the mass speedlings and infestors that Curious had amassed back at home.
Curious: 4.5/5
Near perfect micro throughout the game.
Yugioh: 2.5/5
He played alright, but it wasn't enough against his opponent's almost flawless game.
An early game double-ling battle ensued as Curious assaulted Yugioh's fast expand with a more aggressive build. Yugioh defended well thanks to his spine crawler, and soon the tables were turned with Yugioh going on the counter attack. Even though he had an economic disadvantage, Curious' micro was impeccable as he slowly stabilized his position with an expansion of his own. Curious continued to play defensive afterwards, choosing to go for more drones while building spine crawlers.
As both players took their third bases, Curious did a good muta tech switch and used great split force tactics with his zerglings to take out Yugioh's third base and take a commanding lead. This forced Yugioh into a desperation attack, but it was easily thwarted by the mass speedlings and infestors that Curious had amassed back at home.
Curious:
Near perfect micro throughout the game.
Yugioh:
He played alright, but it wasn't enough against his opponent's almost flawless game.
Game Two: Tal'Darim Altar LE -
+ Show Spoiler +
Yugioh > Curious
The build order situation was reversed in game two, with Yugioh going faster doublelings while Curious defended his expansion. He didn't do quite as well as Yugioh on defense, losing a few drones in the process. Yugioh switched to roaches to continue the pressure, forcing a lot of spine crawlers out of Curious who seemed determined to stick with a pure doubeling composition. After sustaining some extended pressure the situation stabilized for Curious, but Yugioh had also taken his natural and was actually slightly up on drones by then.
The mercurial qualities of doubleling proved to be Curious' downfall. As he attempted an attack of his own on Yugioh's base, he had a momentary lapse in concentration that saw him expending all of his units in the most horrific manner. His banelings, left alone for a second, exploded onto roaches, while his speedlings were blown up by a single enemy baneling.
This opened the window for an immediate counterattack from Yugioh, who busted through the spine crawlers with banelings and mopped up the survivors with his roaches.
Curious: 2.5/5
Continued to show good ZvZ micro, until his unfortunate game ending mistake.
Yugioh: 3/5
Not really gifted a victory, considering he worked hard in the early-game. But in the moment that swung the game, he didn't have to do much.
The build order situation was reversed in game two, with Yugioh going faster doublelings while Curious defended his expansion. He didn't do quite as well as Yugioh on defense, losing a few drones in the process. Yugioh switched to roaches to continue the pressure, forcing a lot of spine crawlers out of Curious who seemed determined to stick with a pure doubeling composition. After sustaining some extended pressure the situation stabilized for Curious, but Yugioh had also taken his natural and was actually slightly up on drones by then.
The mercurial qualities of doubleling proved to be Curious' downfall. As he attempted an attack of his own on Yugioh's base, he had a momentary lapse in concentration that saw him expending all of his units in the most horrific manner. His banelings, left alone for a second, exploded onto roaches, while his speedlings were blown up by a single enemy baneling.
This opened the window for an immediate counterattack from Yugioh, who busted through the spine crawlers with banelings and mopped up the survivors with his roaches.
Curious:
Continued to show good ZvZ micro, until his unfortunate game ending mistake.
Yugioh:
Not really gifted a victory, considering he worked hard in the early-game. But in the moment that swung the game, he didn't have to do much.
Game Three: Bel'Shir Beach -
+ Show Spoiler +
Yugioh > Curious
In the battle of cross-countering baneling attacks, Yugioh came out massively ahead with several drone kills to Curious' none. That was pretty much game over for Curious, as Yugioh was able to easily expand afterwards. Curious worked some magic with a mutalisk rush to make it seem close, but in reality he was dead as soon as Yugioh wanted to attack.
Curious: 2.5/5
Uncharacteristically bad micro to lose drones early, but some really nice mutalisks play to try and win anyway.
Yugioh: 3/5
Great early baneling attack to secure the win.
In the battle of cross-countering baneling attacks, Yugioh came out massively ahead with several drone kills to Curious' none. That was pretty much game over for Curious, as Yugioh was able to easily expand afterwards. Curious worked some magic with a mutalisk rush to make it seem close, but in reality he was dead as soon as Yugioh wanted to attack.
Curious:
Uncharacteristically bad micro to lose drones early, but some really nice mutalisks play to try and win anyway.
Yugioh:
Great early baneling attack to secure the win.
LiquidJinro vs ShinyStarGame One: Terminus SE -
+ Show Spoiler +
Jinro > ShinyStar
You guessed it! Macro game on Terminus. Jinro looked sharper than he'd been in a while, pulling off all sorts of nice ghost EMPs and performing simultaneous drops while pressuring with his main army. All-in-all, a straight forward macro steamroll from Jinro.
Jinro: 3.5/5
Didn't face much resistance, but looked good.
ShinyStar: 1.5/5
He was good enough to beat TheStC in the qualifiers, so perhaps he wasn't responding well to the pressure.
You guessed it! Macro game on Terminus. Jinro looked sharper than he'd been in a while, pulling off all sorts of nice ghost EMPs and performing simultaneous drops while pressuring with his main army. All-in-all, a straight forward macro steamroll from Jinro.
Jinro:
Didn't face much resistance, but looked good.
ShinyStar:
He was good enough to beat TheStC in the qualifiers, so perhaps he wasn't responding well to the pressure.
Game Two: Metalopolis -
+ Show Spoiler +
Jinro > ShinyStar
ShinyStar opened with a one gate expand, which was all too easily taken down by Jinro's two rax marine-marauder rush. It looked like ShinyStar was finished, but he secretly took a gold expansion while Jinro was content to build up at home.
Thus, it was closer than it had to be, but Jinro still had a pretty nice advantage from the early game. He had a hidden expansion of his own that somewhat countered ShinyStar's secret gold, and it wasn't long enough Jinro could just push out with a superior army and win the game.
Jinro: 3.5/5
Again, barely troubled.
ShinyStar: 2/5
Came up on the losing end of the build order battle.
ShinyStar opened with a one gate expand, which was all too easily taken down by Jinro's two rax marine-marauder rush. It looked like ShinyStar was finished, but he secretly took a gold expansion while Jinro was content to build up at home.
Thus, it was closer than it had to be, but Jinro still had a pretty nice advantage from the early game. He had a hidden expansion of his own that somewhat countered ShinyStar's secret gold, and it wasn't long enough Jinro could just push out with a superior army and win the game.
Jinro:
Again, barely troubled.
ShinyStar:
Came up on the losing end of the build order battle.
Game Three: Dual Sight -
+ Show Spoiler +
Jinro won 2-0.
SlayerS_BoxeR vs asdfOuGame One: Tal'Darim Altar LE -
+ Show Spoiler +
asd > Boxer
Boxer has a really uncanny ability to make his games... odd. This was a really hectic version of your usual Tal'Darim Altar game, with lots of mistakes, capitalizing on mistakes, and general chaos going on.
Boxer: 2/5
asd: 2.5/5
Boxer has a really uncanny ability to make his games... odd. This was a really hectic version of your usual Tal'Darim Altar game, with lots of mistakes, capitalizing on mistakes, and general chaos going on.
Boxer:
asd:
Game Two: Metalopolis -
+ Show Spoiler +
asd > Boxer
Make it two games in a row?
Boxer: 2/5
asd: 3/5
Make it two games in a row?
Boxer:
asd:
Game Three: Crevasse -
+ Show Spoiler +
asdf won 2-0.
Code-A RO16
Day One - PlayXP interviews
+ Show Spoiler [Results] +
MVP_Dream vs oGsLuvsicGame One: Metalopolis -
+ Show Spoiler +
Luvsic > Dream
Dream spawns in the top position and opens with a 1rax reaper expand while Luvsic takes the bottom spawn and opts for a fast expand into quick roaches after seeing the Terran's gas with an early scouting drone. Dream then transitions immediately into two factory blue flame hellions while unsuccessfully harassing with his single reaper and eventually settling for control over a watch tower.
The Terran natural expansion is scouted by a lone roach who also informs Luvsic of four blue flame hellions in transit to the Zerg mineral lines before roasting in pre-ignited flames. Luvsic then puts on a clinic in thwarting hellion harass, losing a total of two drones while powering to a overwhelming fifty supply lead by the time Dream decides to call it quits.
With a fourth base on the way for the Zerg and no third command center in sight, the clock is ticking for Terran to do some damage, so Dream takes the initiative and moves out with his main army while sending a sneaky drop over to Luvsic's main. It's too late, though, and Dream's dreams are washed away by a torrent of nearly maxed mutalisk/roach/zergling/baneling, and his drop is deftly dealt with by a handful of roaches and banelings on guard duty. Dream makes a last ditch effort by sending out two medivacs for a double pronged drop but is overrun by a remaxed swarm.
Dream: 2.5/5
He didn't play badly. Not by a long shot. But he was still hopelessly outclassed.
Luvsic: 4.5/5
He showcased the best hellion defensive I've ever seen and played a flawless game. Dream never had a chance.
Dream spawns in the top position and opens with a 1rax reaper expand while Luvsic takes the bottom spawn and opts for a fast expand into quick roaches after seeing the Terran's gas with an early scouting drone. Dream then transitions immediately into two factory blue flame hellions while unsuccessfully harassing with his single reaper and eventually settling for control over a watch tower.
The Terran natural expansion is scouted by a lone roach who also informs Luvsic of four blue flame hellions in transit to the Zerg mineral lines before roasting in pre-ignited flames. Luvsic then puts on a clinic in thwarting hellion harass, losing a total of two drones while powering to a overwhelming fifty supply lead by the time Dream decides to call it quits.
With a fourth base on the way for the Zerg and no third command center in sight, the clock is ticking for Terran to do some damage, so Dream takes the initiative and moves out with his main army while sending a sneaky drop over to Luvsic's main. It's too late, though, and Dream's dreams are washed away by a torrent of nearly maxed mutalisk/roach/zergling/baneling, and his drop is deftly dealt with by a handful of roaches and banelings on guard duty. Dream makes a last ditch effort by sending out two medivacs for a double pronged drop but is overrun by a remaxed swarm.
Dream:
He didn't play badly. Not by a long shot. But he was still hopelessly outclassed.
Luvsic:
He showcased the best hellion defensive I've ever seen and played a flawless game. Dream never had a chance.
Game Two: Crossfire SE -
+ Show Spoiler +
Dream > Luvsic
Dream decides to take the initiative with 11/11 2rax aggression, pulling six SCVs to accompany his earlier marines against a gasless pool first into expansion build. Some beautiful marine micro and questionable decisions by the Zerg player leaves Dream with a massive advantage and absolute map control as Luvsic is unable to afford an extractor and zergling speed off of a nine drone economy.
Dream appropriately decides to put on some pressure with his unupgraded marines, being very liberal with his scans. He sees a third inbase hatchery and a baneling nest, assumes a baneling bust, and pulls back to his natural behind a four bunkers and a nice wall. He then techs to medivacs and attempts to abuse the low tech Zerg's lack of anti-air, but Luvsic again proves to be immune to harass as he mitigates the potential damage with merely queens and zerglings while taking a gold.
Dream attempts to move out with his main army while landing a nice drop in Luvsic's main, but Luvsic cleans up with a beautiful flank (helped in part since Dream forgot to research combat shields). Meanwhile, the constant aggression from Dream is taking its toll on Luvsic, who is being forced to constantly make units. As Dream slowly grinds away at Luvsic's economy with multiple drops, he pulls farther and farther ahead in production and moves out to raze the Zerg's gold base. Luvsic desperately attempts a counter, but a bunker and a handful of units is enough for Dream to hold.
Dream then heads for the jugular, skillfully using drops in the Zerg's main to give him breathing room to jump his tanks forward through the creep. As the Terran noose tightens, Luvsic decides to counter at the Terran natural - but to no avail. With only his main base still standing, Luvsic taps out after a brilliant marine splitting versus baneling show at his natural.
Dream: 4/5
He grabbed his advantage and never let it go with his constant aggression and well-executed drops.
Luvsic: 2/5
He showed some questionable decision making, but put up the best fight he could after losing so much from the start. A lack of a third gas base made the drops incredibly hard to deal with.
Dream decides to take the initiative with 11/11 2rax aggression, pulling six SCVs to accompany his earlier marines against a gasless pool first into expansion build. Some beautiful marine micro and questionable decisions by the Zerg player leaves Dream with a massive advantage and absolute map control as Luvsic is unable to afford an extractor and zergling speed off of a nine drone economy.
Dream appropriately decides to put on some pressure with his unupgraded marines, being very liberal with his scans. He sees a third inbase hatchery and a baneling nest, assumes a baneling bust, and pulls back to his natural behind a four bunkers and a nice wall. He then techs to medivacs and attempts to abuse the low tech Zerg's lack of anti-air, but Luvsic again proves to be immune to harass as he mitigates the potential damage with merely queens and zerglings while taking a gold.
Dream attempts to move out with his main army while landing a nice drop in Luvsic's main, but Luvsic cleans up with a beautiful flank (helped in part since Dream forgot to research combat shields). Meanwhile, the constant aggression from Dream is taking its toll on Luvsic, who is being forced to constantly make units. As Dream slowly grinds away at Luvsic's economy with multiple drops, he pulls farther and farther ahead in production and moves out to raze the Zerg's gold base. Luvsic desperately attempts a counter, but a bunker and a handful of units is enough for Dream to hold.
Dream then heads for the jugular, skillfully using drops in the Zerg's main to give him breathing room to jump his tanks forward through the creep. As the Terran noose tightens, Luvsic decides to counter at the Terran natural - but to no avail. With only his main base still standing, Luvsic taps out after a brilliant marine splitting versus baneling show at his natural.
Dream:
He grabbed his advantage and never let it go with his constant aggression and well-executed drops.
Luvsic:
He showed some questionable decision making, but put up the best fight he could after losing so much from the start. A lack of a third gas base made the drops incredibly hard to deal with.
Game Three: Terminus RE -
+ Show Spoiler +
Dream > Luvsic
Luvsic again does a gasless pool into expand build while Dream does an unorthodox double reactor marine/hellion/SCV allin, leaving just eleven SCVs to hold up the fort back home. Fortunately, Luvsic gets a fast baneling nest before lair. Unfortunately, he has no zerglings out with which he can morph into banelings, so he's forced to stall with queens and wait for his next production round before making a ton of banelings to clean up the attack.
However, eleven SCVs seems to just happen to be the magic number of SCVs required for constant double reactor factory hellion production, and Dream slowly chips away at the zergling numbers. Luvsic eventually crumbles to some excellent hellion micro.
Dream: 3/5
I'll be honest with you - the initial attack was sloppy. He could have ended the game right then if he had been more aggressive at picking off lings as the banelings were morphing with his hellions instead of wailing away at the queens. However, the followup hellion micro was a definite game winner.
Luvsic: 1.5/5
He showed sloppy play and questionable decision making as well. He was sitting on a nice 20 drone to 11 SCV lead and could have easily stabilized by taking drones off of gas, not wasting mining time by attempting to transfer drones over to his natural where all the harass was happening, and making a faster spine crawler at his natural so he wouldn't have to keep on engaging hellions with just zerglings).
Luvsic again does a gasless pool into expand build while Dream does an unorthodox double reactor marine/hellion/SCV allin, leaving just eleven SCVs to hold up the fort back home. Fortunately, Luvsic gets a fast baneling nest before lair. Unfortunately, he has no zerglings out with which he can morph into banelings, so he's forced to stall with queens and wait for his next production round before making a ton of banelings to clean up the attack.
However, eleven SCVs seems to just happen to be the magic number of SCVs required for constant double reactor factory hellion production, and Dream slowly chips away at the zergling numbers. Luvsic eventually crumbles to some excellent hellion micro.
Dream:
I'll be honest with you - the initial attack was sloppy. He could have ended the game right then if he had been more aggressive at picking off lings as the banelings were morphing with his hellions instead of wailing away at the queens. However, the followup hellion micro was a definite game winner.
Luvsic:
He showed sloppy play and questionable decision making as well. He was sitting on a nice 20 drone to 11 SCV lead and could have easily stabilized by taking drones off of gas, not wasting mining time by attempting to transfer drones over to his natural where all the harass was happening, and making a faster spine crawler at his natural so he wouldn't have to keep on engaging hellions with just zerglings).
LeenockfOu vs IMYodaGame One: Crossfire SE -
+ Show Spoiler +
Leenock > YoDa
Leenock opens hatch first while YoDa decides to 2rax with his first barracks proxied. He does a nice bunker push to Leenock's natural hatchery, but Leenock is able to swing his lings around and cut off reinforcements before cleaning up the push. He then puts on pressure with a high economy baneling bust, significantly delaying YoDa's natural. With a massive economy and army lead, Leenock techs to lair, amasses an enormous flock of mutalisks, and crushes YoDa's last ditch attack.
Leenock: 4/5
Showcased excellent bunker defense and incredible patience and rode his advantage to an overwhelming victory.
YoDa: 2.5/5
Didn't play badly, but got shot down at every turn.
Leenock opens hatch first while YoDa decides to 2rax with his first barracks proxied. He does a nice bunker push to Leenock's natural hatchery, but Leenock is able to swing his lings around and cut off reinforcements before cleaning up the push. He then puts on pressure with a high economy baneling bust, significantly delaying YoDa's natural. With a massive economy and army lead, Leenock techs to lair, amasses an enormous flock of mutalisks, and crushes YoDa's last ditch attack.
Leenock:
Showcased excellent bunker defense and incredible patience and rode his advantage to an overwhelming victory.
YoDa:
Didn't play badly, but got shot down at every turn.
Game Two: Tal'Darim Altar -
+ Show Spoiler +
Leenock > YoDa
YoDa goes reactor hellion expand into reactor/lab double factory blue flame hellions while Leenock, spawning cross map, opens hatch first. Leenock creates a nice wall off at his natural, completely shutting down the blue flame hellion harass. YoDa tries to circumvent this by dropping hellions into the Zerg main, but Leenock emerges with minimal damages and shuts down the harass completely with mutalisks. Leenock continues to amass a muta/ling/infestor army while teching to hive, but he's still only on two bases and tries to double expand to play catchup and meet the ridiculous gas requirements of Zerg hive tech. YoDa meanwhile is sitting pretty behind his mech army and turrets and breaks down the rocks to secure his third. Knowing he has to hit before the Zerg hive tech kicks into overdrive, YoDa moves across the map as Leenock stockpiles his gas to morph 8 broodlords at once. The rush distance proves to be too much for YoDa as the broodlords finish morphing right when his clunky thors arrive, and the Terran mech push is completely destroyed. Meanwhile, YoDa tries to take a fourth, but Leenock immediately counters at the Terran third. Unfortunately, he decides to donate his entire flock of mutas to thor splash while trying to prevent four vikings from focusing down the broodlords. YoDa then tries to push his luck with another cross map counter and sieges up below Leenock's natural. Leenock again shows incredible patience, stalling with a small ling counter at YoDa's third and then crushing the surprisingly thor-heavy/tank-light attack with mass roach and neural parasite. He is unable to do any damage as he sends his entire roach force back across the map, so he decides to tech switch back to mutalisks, followed up by broodlords, while taking two more bases to bring his count to six and forcing the Terran to switch back to thors. Leenock forces a nice army trade with a large broodlord/corruptor/mutalisk/infestor army, attempting to slowly running YoDa dry on cash while taking another two bases. YoDa counters at the bottom left taking out two bases, but Leenock completely shuts down YoDa's last mining base (his fourth) with banelings, builds up an even more massive broodlord/corruptor/infestor army, and runs over YoDa's dwindling army.
Leenock: 2/5
Definitely not his best game. He sacrificed so many precious mutalisks, roaches, and morphing banelings with misrallies and bad engagements. His map spread was abysmal, not scouting Terran's fourth until 25 minutes into the game. His creep spread was similarly bad - it barely extended past his natural. Overall, very sloppy play, but constant expanding, good defense, a long rush distance, and good army trades helped him eke out the win.
YoDa: 2/5
His hellion harass was terribly lacking, but besides that, his play was decent. "Decent" as in "I'm not going to make any big mistakes, but I'm not doing to do anything that's going to help me secure a win either (hint: hellion harass faraway expos throughout the game)." Mostly, though, I hope this game helped YoDa realize why you don't go mech on cross spawns on one of the largest maps in the map pool.
YoDa goes reactor hellion expand into reactor/lab double factory blue flame hellions while Leenock, spawning cross map, opens hatch first. Leenock creates a nice wall off at his natural, completely shutting down the blue flame hellion harass. YoDa tries to circumvent this by dropping hellions into the Zerg main, but Leenock emerges with minimal damages and shuts down the harass completely with mutalisks. Leenock continues to amass a muta/ling/infestor army while teching to hive, but he's still only on two bases and tries to double expand to play catchup and meet the ridiculous gas requirements of Zerg hive tech. YoDa meanwhile is sitting pretty behind his mech army and turrets and breaks down the rocks to secure his third. Knowing he has to hit before the Zerg hive tech kicks into overdrive, YoDa moves across the map as Leenock stockpiles his gas to morph 8 broodlords at once. The rush distance proves to be too much for YoDa as the broodlords finish morphing right when his clunky thors arrive, and the Terran mech push is completely destroyed. Meanwhile, YoDa tries to take a fourth, but Leenock immediately counters at the Terran third. Unfortunately, he decides to donate his entire flock of mutas to thor splash while trying to prevent four vikings from focusing down the broodlords. YoDa then tries to push his luck with another cross map counter and sieges up below Leenock's natural. Leenock again shows incredible patience, stalling with a small ling counter at YoDa's third and then crushing the surprisingly thor-heavy/tank-light attack with mass roach and neural parasite. He is unable to do any damage as he sends his entire roach force back across the map, so he decides to tech switch back to mutalisks, followed up by broodlords, while taking two more bases to bring his count to six and forcing the Terran to switch back to thors. Leenock forces a nice army trade with a large broodlord/corruptor/mutalisk/infestor army, attempting to slowly running YoDa dry on cash while taking another two bases. YoDa counters at the bottom left taking out two bases, but Leenock completely shuts down YoDa's last mining base (his fourth) with banelings, builds up an even more massive broodlord/corruptor/infestor army, and runs over YoDa's dwindling army.
Leenock:
Definitely not his best game. He sacrificed so many precious mutalisks, roaches, and morphing banelings with misrallies and bad engagements. His map spread was abysmal, not scouting Terran's fourth until 25 minutes into the game. His creep spread was similarly bad - it barely extended past his natural. Overall, very sloppy play, but constant expanding, good defense, a long rush distance, and good army trades helped him eke out the win.
YoDa:
His hellion harass was terribly lacking, but besides that, his play was decent. "Decent" as in "I'm not going to make any big mistakes, but I'm not doing to do anything that's going to help me secure a win either (hint: hellion harass faraway expos throughout the game)." Mostly, though, I hope this game helped YoDa realize why you don't go mech on cross spawns on one of the largest maps in the map pool.
Game Three: Crevasse -
+ Show Spoiler +
Leenock won 2-0
CheckPrime.WE.WE vs MVP_NoblesseGame One: Dual Sight -
+ Show Spoiler +
Nobelesse > Check
Nobelesse opens with a very unremarkable reactor hellion expand, deciding to only make two hellions and seeing how much damage he could do with the paltry force. Surprisingly, he's able to run around Check's spine crawler and up his ramp into his main, netting himself 12 drone kills and a massive lead. He follows up with a marine/medivac attack, dealing massive damage while Check tries a largely unsuccessful counter. The next marine/tank/medviac attack proves to be too much for the economically crippled Zerg.
Check: 1.5/5
Some of the worst hellion defense I've seen, which ended up costing him the game.
Nobelesse: 3/5
Solid hellion harass, good marine micro, completely outplayed his opponent. But nothing spectacular.
Nobelesse opens with a very unremarkable reactor hellion expand, deciding to only make two hellions and seeing how much damage he could do with the paltry force. Surprisingly, he's able to run around Check's spine crawler and up his ramp into his main, netting himself 12 drone kills and a massive lead. He follows up with a marine/medivac attack, dealing massive damage while Check tries a largely unsuccessful counter. The next marine/tank/medviac attack proves to be too much for the economically crippled Zerg.
Check:
Some of the worst hellion defense I've seen, which ended up costing him the game.
Nobelesse:
Solid hellion harass, good marine micro, completely outplayed his opponent. But nothing spectacular.
Game Two: Metalopolis
+ Show Spoiler +
Nobelesse > Check
Check opens speedling expand and quickly scouts Nobelesse's 2rax with an overlord due to the close air spawns. Nobelesse hits a nice bunker timing before zergling speed finishes, bringing along four SCVs, and with some nice bunker placement and terrible micro on Check's part, kills a massive number of zerglings with next to no losses, forcing Check's expansion to cancel. Check tries to take a hidden second base at another main while Nobelesse sits pretty below Check's main ramp. Check clears the contain with a spinecrawler above the ramp, but Nobelesse keeps on the pressure with marines and blue flame hellions, still denying Nobelesse's natural. A second wave of marines, tanks, and medivacs seals the deal as a way-too-spread-out and hatchery-tech Check is unable to deal with the superior Terran army.
Check: 1.5/5
Again, Check showcases incredibly sloppy play, proving unable to defend against the most basic of Terran pressure.
Nobelesse: 3/5
Again, nothing spectacular. Just solid play all around.
Check opens speedling expand and quickly scouts Nobelesse's 2rax with an overlord due to the close air spawns. Nobelesse hits a nice bunker timing before zergling speed finishes, bringing along four SCVs, and with some nice bunker placement and terrible micro on Check's part, kills a massive number of zerglings with next to no losses, forcing Check's expansion to cancel. Check tries to take a hidden second base at another main while Nobelesse sits pretty below Check's main ramp. Check clears the contain with a spinecrawler above the ramp, but Nobelesse keeps on the pressure with marines and blue flame hellions, still denying Nobelesse's natural. A second wave of marines, tanks, and medivacs seals the deal as a way-too-spread-out and hatchery-tech Check is unable to deal with the superior Terran army.
Check:
Again, Check showcases incredibly sloppy play, proving unable to defend against the most basic of Terran pressure.
Nobelesse:
Again, nothing spectacular. Just solid play all around.
Game Three: Crevasse -
+ Show Spoiler +
Noblesse won 2-0.
Tassadar vs Slayers_Ryung+ Show Spoiler +
Tassadar won 2-0
Day Two - PlayXP interviews
+ Show Spoiler [Results] +
IMTails vs NSHoSeo_Vanvanth+ Show Spoiler +
Vanvanth won 2-1
FXO.Sheth vs ZeNEXPuzzle+ Show Spoiler +
Puzzle won 2-0
IMHappy vs Slayers_YuGiOh+ Show Spoiler +
Happy won 2-0
LiquidJinro vs asdfOu+ Show Spoiler +
asd won 2-0
Code-S RO32
Group A - (
IMNesTea / RainST_July / Trickster)PlayXP interviews
+ Show Spoiler [Results] +
Because
Rain withdrew from the tournament, all of his opponents in the group were given walkover wins.Game One: Nestea received a walkover
Game Two: July vs Trickster on Bel'Shir Beach -
+ Show Spoiler +
July > Trickster
Trickster opened up with forge FE into voidrays, while July double expanded and held on with queens and spore colonies. As he started to transition to hydra-roach, Trickster hit him with a very strong six gateway timing. With some great force-field use, Trickster managed to do quite a good bit of damage.
However, Trickster completely overestimated his advantage and tried to immediately follow-up by taking his gold base with just two colossi and a handful of ground units. July pumped straight-hydra roach and easily overwhelmed Trickster at the wide-open gold base, and then continued to stream roll through the natural and end the game.
July: 3.5/5
Had more trouble against the voids than he should have. Even so, great game finishing instinct.
Trickster: 2/5
Poor move to take a very risky expand after only marginal gains.
Trickster opened up with forge FE into voidrays, while July double expanded and held on with queens and spore colonies. As he started to transition to hydra-roach, Trickster hit him with a very strong six gateway timing. With some great force-field use, Trickster managed to do quite a good bit of damage.
However, Trickster completely overestimated his advantage and tried to immediately follow-up by taking his gold base with just two colossi and a handful of ground units. July pumped straight-hydra roach and easily overwhelmed Trickster at the wide-open gold base, and then continued to stream roll through the natural and end the game.
July:
Had more trouble against the voids than he should have. Even so, great game finishing instinct.
Trickster:
Poor move to take a very risky expand after only marginal gains.
Winners' Match: Crevasse -
+ Show Spoiler +
Nestea > July
There was a little bit of zergling mischief early on, but it didn't really matter in the long run as the players drew diagonal positions on Crevasse. It automatically went into a multi-base maxout army scenario, as no one wants to commit to a serious battle earlier than that, given the long distances and large number of bases to be taken.
As it tends to occur in Nestea games, he always managed to stay one base up on his opponent because strangely he's immune to getting hidden base scouted. In any case, the late game boiled down to mass ultralisk-infestor vs mass ultralisk-infestor.
Initially, the massive ultralisk + infested terran battles were fought to a standstill (they were an interesting sight to behold), but soon July's overaggressive tendencies were revealed.
Nestea had wisely (other player's luck is Nestea's wisdom) invested a lot of mid-game resources in mass spine crawlers, and he had relocated them to protect an important expansion towards the front line. For inexplicable reasons, Julyzerg decided to try and plough through the spinecrawler-ultralisk line with his ultralisk-roach, despite it being clear to anyone that it was suicide.
True to his nature, July didn't even back off as his forces dwindled, he simply GG'd out after he lost his entire army.
Nestea: 3.5/5
Maxed out with 3k minerals banked? Spine crawlers.
July: 1/5
Terrible suicide.
There was a little bit of zergling mischief early on, but it didn't really matter in the long run as the players drew diagonal positions on Crevasse. It automatically went into a multi-base maxout army scenario, as no one wants to commit to a serious battle earlier than that, given the long distances and large number of bases to be taken.
As it tends to occur in Nestea games, he always managed to stay one base up on his opponent because strangely he's immune to getting hidden base scouted. In any case, the late game boiled down to mass ultralisk-infestor vs mass ultralisk-infestor.
Initially, the massive ultralisk + infested terran battles were fought to a standstill (they were an interesting sight to behold), but soon July's overaggressive tendencies were revealed.
Nestea had wisely (other player's luck is Nestea's wisdom) invested a lot of mid-game resources in mass spine crawlers, and he had relocated them to protect an important expansion towards the front line. For inexplicable reasons, Julyzerg decided to try and plough through the spinecrawler-ultralisk line with his ultralisk-roach, despite it being clear to anyone that it was suicide.
True to his nature, July didn't even back off as his forces dwindled, he simply GG'd out after he lost his entire army.
Nestea:
Maxed out with 3k minerals banked? Spine crawlers.
July:
Terrible suicide.
Loser's Match: Game two loser received a walkover
+ Show Spoiler +
Trickster > Rain
Final Match: Metalopolis -
+ Show Spoiler +
Trickster > July
Starting on close air spots Metalopolis, Trickster opted for a forge FE while July powered heavily off two bases before going for drop tactics. He hit with a big hydralisk + doubleling drop which should have done a lot of damage, but due to poor micro only ended up being an even trade. After the drops were fended off, both players comfortably went and took their third bases (Trickster covered his cutely with some proxy pylon harass).
The momentum shifted when Trickster assembled his stalker-templar to attack July's third base. It couldn't have happened at a worse possible time for July, who was already loading up overlords for a second drop on Trickster's main. July ended up getting the worst of both worlds, doing barely any damage to Trickster's main as he was forced to turn his drop around and return to protect his natural, his third base razed too quickly.
It was too easy for Trickster to play a three versus two base situation from that point, and he took a gold base to further increase his lead. In an inevitable conclusion, July was overrun.
Trickster: 3.5/5
The best we've seen him play in months.
July: 2/5
Didn't get enough out of his drop, considering that he gave up taking his third base for it.
Starting on close air spots Metalopolis, Trickster opted for a forge FE while July powered heavily off two bases before going for drop tactics. He hit with a big hydralisk + doubleling drop which should have done a lot of damage, but due to poor micro only ended up being an even trade. After the drops were fended off, both players comfortably went and took their third bases (Trickster covered his cutely with some proxy pylon harass).
The momentum shifted when Trickster assembled his stalker-templar to attack July's third base. It couldn't have happened at a worse possible time for July, who was already loading up overlords for a second drop on Trickster's main. July ended up getting the worst of both worlds, doing barely any damage to Trickster's main as he was forced to turn his drop around and return to protect his natural, his third base razed too quickly.
It was too easy for Trickster to play a three versus two base situation from that point, and he took a gold base to further increase his lead. In an inevitable conclusion, July was overrun.
Trickster:
The best we've seen him play in months.
July:
Didn't get enough out of his drop, considering that he gave up taking his third base for it.
Group B - (
anyproPrime.WE / TSL_Clide / MVP_Violet / oGsEnsnare)PlayXP interviews
+ Show Spoiler [Results] +
Game One: Anypro vs Clide on Crossfire SE -
+ Show Spoiler +
Clide > Anypro
Two rax went off against three gate to begin but hostilities did not escalate, with both players choosing to expand off their early game armies.
The game heated up a little around the time Anypro's first colossus emerged, which was right around when Clide attempted an interesting two prong attack with a dropship in the main while hitting at the front with his main army. Though it didn't do much damage, it did set the tone for Clide. He followed up later with another inconclusive attack, but his pressure was allowing him to take his gold base base unharmed.
Clide laid off the pressure after securing his gold, preparing to go into a macro war where he would have the advantage. Unfortunately for Anypro, he couldn't really do anything but go along with Clide's plan and trade armies when he did not have the resources to do so.
After a few rounds of trading, the resource advantage for Clide became large enough that he could just walk over Anypro's remaining bases and take the game.
Clide: 3.5/5
Winning in uneventful fashion, the true Clide way.
Anypro: 1.5/5
Made units, microed battles, lost.
Two rax went off against three gate to begin but hostilities did not escalate, with both players choosing to expand off their early game armies.
The game heated up a little around the time Anypro's first colossus emerged, which was right around when Clide attempted an interesting two prong attack with a dropship in the main while hitting at the front with his main army. Though it didn't do much damage, it did set the tone for Clide. He followed up later with another inconclusive attack, but his pressure was allowing him to take his gold base base unharmed.
Clide laid off the pressure after securing his gold, preparing to go into a macro war where he would have the advantage. Unfortunately for Anypro, he couldn't really do anything but go along with Clide's plan and trade armies when he did not have the resources to do so.
After a few rounds of trading, the resource advantage for Clide became large enough that he could just walk over Anypro's remaining bases and take the game.
Clide:
Winning in uneventful fashion, the true Clide way.
Anypro:
Made units, microed battles, lost.
Game Two: Violet vs Ensnare on Bel'Shir Beach -
+ Show Spoiler +
Ensnare > Violet
In a mostly uneventful game, Violet went for two base mutalisks and failed to do much damage. That led to him being stuck in a two base vs two base situation for quite a long time, and despite some nice backstab attempts, he was trampled over by a large Terran army.
Violet: 1.5/5
Achieved little with his mutalisks and didn't have a good economy afterwards.
Ensnare: 3/5
Fairly simple for him, he just had to make units off two base and not make any major micro blunders.
In a mostly uneventful game, Violet went for two base mutalisks and failed to do much damage. That led to him being stuck in a two base vs two base situation for quite a long time, and despite some nice backstab attempts, he was trampled over by a large Terran army.
Violet:
Achieved little with his mutalisks and didn't have a good economy afterwards.
Ensnare:
Fairly simple for him, he just had to make units off two base and not make any major micro blunders.
Winners' Match: Terminus SE -
+ Show Spoiler +
Clide > Ensnare
Ensnare's attempt at some early marine-hellion harass was thwarted by Clide's good micro at his wall, and Ensnare would soon come to regret having so many marines outside his main as Clide's cloak banshee showed up.
Though he didn't take any game ending amount of damage from the banshee, it was still questionable when Ensnare tried to go up to a fast three bases when he was ahead on neither economy nor army.
There were no complications of any sort. Clide just massed units off two bases, attacked Ensnare, and got it over with.
Clide: 3.5/5
Ensnare: 1.5/5
Ensnare's attempt at some early marine-hellion harass was thwarted by Clide's good micro at his wall, and Ensnare would soon come to regret having so many marines outside his main as Clide's cloak banshee showed up.
Though he didn't take any game ending amount of damage from the banshee, it was still questionable when Ensnare tried to go up to a fast three bases when he was ahead on neither economy nor army.
There were no complications of any sort. Clide just massed units off two bases, attacked Ensnare, and got it over with.
Clide:
Ensnare:
Losers' Match: Dual Sight -
+ Show Spoiler +
Violet > Anypro
Anypro went for a stargate expand, which was soon crushed by an awesome roach + baneling bomb all-in that hit while there was only one colossus on the field. There was actually a sliver of hope for Anypro, but he totally botched his forcefields and allowed his opponent to pretty much stream unopposed into his natural and dump banelings on top of everything.
Violet: 3.5/5
One of the more stylish wins we've seen.
Anypro: 1/5
Showed nothing.
Anypro went for a stargate expand, which was soon crushed by an awesome roach + baneling bomb all-in that hit while there was only one colossus on the field. There was actually a sliver of hope for Anypro, but he totally botched his forcefields and allowed his opponent to pretty much stream unopposed into his natural and dump banelings on top of everything.
Violet:
One of the more stylish wins we've seen.
Anypro:
Showed nothing.
Final Match: Crevasse -
+ Show Spoiler +
Ensnare > Violet
Despite building three barracks, the wide Crevasse ramp left one spot that Ensnare had to fill with a supply depot. Violet decided to take advantage of this fact, and went for a baneling bust after showing his opponent a two hatch build.
Though Violet succeeded in breaking through the wall and taking out a few marines, he didn't have nearly enough forces remaining to do any serious damage to Ensnare. He had two serious goes at it, but each time Ensnare escaped mostly unscathed. With what was essentially an all-in thwarted, Violet inevitably lost the game.
Ensnare: 3/5
Didn't even have to resort to drastic measures to defend himself.
Violet: 1.5/5
His all-in looked pretty skimpy on units.
Despite building three barracks, the wide Crevasse ramp left one spot that Ensnare had to fill with a supply depot. Violet decided to take advantage of this fact, and went for a baneling bust after showing his opponent a two hatch build.
Though Violet succeeded in breaking through the wall and taking out a few marines, he didn't have nearly enough forces remaining to do any serious damage to Ensnare. He had two serious goes at it, but each time Ensnare escaped mostly unscathed. With what was essentially an all-in thwarted, Violet inevitably lost the game.
Ensnare:
Didn't even have to resort to drastic measures to defend himself.
Violet:
His all-in looked pretty skimpy on units.
GroupC - (
oGsTOP - FruitDealer - ST_Virus - MVP_Genius)PlayXP interviews
+ Show Spoiler [Results] +
Game One: TOP vs FruitDealer on Bel'Shir Beach
+ Show Spoiler +
TOP > FruitDealer
After some largely inconsequential banshee harass, the game settled into a normal two base terran vs three base zerg mold.
TOP went for a strong marine-tank elevator play, using the map's terrain to his advantage. The enemy gold base was the perfect setup area for an elevator drop, as the minerals and destructable rocks provided invaluable cover for tanks, while at the same time being right next to the enemy's main.
FruitDealer defended well enough to keep his main mostly unharmed, but he did expend a lot of time and energy trying to dislodge the low-ground tanks at his gold. TOP just sent the occasional reinforcements to that position in order to maintain a credible threat while taking his own gold base without a bar of pressure.
After taking his gold, it was too easy for a great macro-Terran like TOP to just produce the waves of marine-tank needed to overpower FruitDealer.
TOP: 4/5
Maybe not the most flamboyant Terran as he doesn't require moments of great micro to win, but his great macro and continuous pressure are just as scary as the best marine splits.
FruitDealer: 2.5/5
Too much time and money lost dealing with TOP's elevator attacks.
After some largely inconsequential banshee harass, the game settled into a normal two base terran vs three base zerg mold.
TOP went for a strong marine-tank elevator play, using the map's terrain to his advantage. The enemy gold base was the perfect setup area for an elevator drop, as the minerals and destructable rocks provided invaluable cover for tanks, while at the same time being right next to the enemy's main.
FruitDealer defended well enough to keep his main mostly unharmed, but he did expend a lot of time and energy trying to dislodge the low-ground tanks at his gold. TOP just sent the occasional reinforcements to that position in order to maintain a credible threat while taking his own gold base without a bar of pressure.
After taking his gold, it was too easy for a great macro-Terran like TOP to just produce the waves of marine-tank needed to overpower FruitDealer.
TOP:
Maybe not the most flamboyant Terran as he doesn't require moments of great micro to win, but his great macro and continuous pressure are just as scary as the best marine splits.
FruitDealer:
Too much time and money lost dealing with TOP's elevator attacks.
Game Two: Genius vs Virus on Xel'Naga Caverns -
+ Show Spoiler +
Genius > Virus
Virus opened with a concussive shell two barracks BO, while Genius went for fast DTs off one base. Like a good pro Terran, Virus discerned the DT rush from Genius's zealot count and chose to defend himself while dropping mules from two orbitals. The situations evened out, with Genius expanding behind his DTs while Virus took his natural with some turrets.
There was a building up of forces - zealot-archon-sentry for Genius, marine-marauder-medivac for Virus - until Genius tried to move out toward his gold expansion. Genius won decisively in the battle that ensued, and soon after crushed Virus' ill-advised attempt at his own gold with an orbital instead of a planetary.
Playing gold vs no-gold, Genius was able to produce massive amounts of speedzealots, assisting them with psi storms as well. Virus didn't stand at chance against Genius' forces and GG'd out.
Genius: 3.5/5
Safe, secure, solid. The Genius of old is back?
Virus: 2/5
Not much to say here, was just outplayed in macro and micro.
Virus opened with a concussive shell two barracks BO, while Genius went for fast DTs off one base. Like a good pro Terran, Virus discerned the DT rush from Genius's zealot count and chose to defend himself while dropping mules from two orbitals. The situations evened out, with Genius expanding behind his DTs while Virus took his natural with some turrets.
There was a building up of forces - zealot-archon-sentry for Genius, marine-marauder-medivac for Virus - until Genius tried to move out toward his gold expansion. Genius won decisively in the battle that ensued, and soon after crushed Virus' ill-advised attempt at his own gold with an orbital instead of a planetary.
Playing gold vs no-gold, Genius was able to produce massive amounts of speedzealots, assisting them with psi storms as well. Virus didn't stand at chance against Genius' forces and GG'd out.
Genius:
Safe, secure, solid. The Genius of old is back?
Virus:
Not much to say here, was just outplayed in macro and micro.
Winners' Match: Tal'Darim Altar LE -
+ Show Spoiler +
Genius > TOP
Genius went for a five warpgate zealot/sentry attack off one base, while TOP went for the usual one rax expand. Despite facing three bunkers, Genius powered his way through with lots of forcefields.
Genius: 3.5/5
Nothing like a nice all-in on a macro map.
TOP: 1.5/5
I guess he shoulda built five bunkers?
Genius went for a five warpgate zealot/sentry attack off one base, while TOP went for the usual one rax expand. Despite facing three bunkers, Genius powered his way through with lots of forcefields.
Genius:
Nothing like a nice all-in on a macro map.
TOP:
I guess he shoulda built five bunkers?
Loser's Match: - Metalopolis
+ Show Spoiler +
Virus > FruitDealer
After faking a speedpool expand, FD cancelled his hatchery and went for fast roach pressure. It seemed like Virus might have a hard time defending after his reactor-hellion expansion strat, but with good building placement at his wall, he was able to defend it extremely easily.
After that, FruitDealer was forced to cut a lot of corners going up to three base and droning up, which left him wide open to blue flame hellion harass. It turned into an almost comically vicious cycle, where FD was continuously forced to rebuild drones with his larva, and then lose more even drones because he hadn't built enough roaches. All said and told, Virus killed more than seventy drones with blue flame harass. The game lasted longer than that, but that's about all you need to know to figure out the ending.
Virus: 3.5/5
FruitDealer didn't defend against hellions, and Virus was much obliged to take advantage of it.
FruitDealer: 1/5
Though he had to cut SOME corners to get a respectable econ after his failed roach gambit, it was really a joke how many drones he lost.
After faking a speedpool expand, FD cancelled his hatchery and went for fast roach pressure. It seemed like Virus might have a hard time defending after his reactor-hellion expansion strat, but with good building placement at his wall, he was able to defend it extremely easily.
After that, FruitDealer was forced to cut a lot of corners going up to three base and droning up, which left him wide open to blue flame hellion harass. It turned into an almost comically vicious cycle, where FD was continuously forced to rebuild drones with his larva, and then lose more even drones because he hadn't built enough roaches. All said and told, Virus killed more than seventy drones with blue flame harass. The game lasted longer than that, but that's about all you need to know to figure out the ending.
Virus:
FruitDealer didn't defend against hellions, and Virus was much obliged to take advantage of it.
FruitDealer:
Though he had to cut SOME corners to get a respectable econ after his failed roach gambit, it was really a joke how many drones he lost.
Final Match: Crossfire SE-
+ Show Spoiler +
TOP > Virus
Virus tried a one base no-cloak banshee rush, but had it perfectly countered by TOP's 1 rax expo into fast viking. Even after his banshee was thwarted after doing zero damage, Virus tried a blue flame hellion drop anyway, which was also shot down by a viking. Meanwhile, TOP countered with a blue flame hellion drop of his own, killing a fair sum of SCVs to take the lead.
TOP moved out his mech force to take the plateau around his Xel'Naga tower and secured his gold base. Seeing that the situation was growing very bad, Virus pushed out strongly with his own viking-tank mech force and struck decisively to dislodge TOP from his position and force a lift on the gold base. However, while Virus was focusing all his energy on microing his push, he couldn't spare enough time to defend his main. TOP had snuck in a large amount of blue flame hellions in as insurance, which absolutely tore through Virus's undefended SCV lines.
With only a dozen SCVs left, Virus just couldn't produce units as fast as TOP and succumbed to superior tank numbers.
TOP: 3.5/5
Blue flame hellions, even OP against Terran.
Virus: 2.5/5
Good tank on tank push when he absolutely had to prevent TOP's gold base, but he just didn't have any forces left at home to stop the blue flame hellions before they did fatal damage.
Virus tried a one base no-cloak banshee rush, but had it perfectly countered by TOP's 1 rax expo into fast viking. Even after his banshee was thwarted after doing zero damage, Virus tried a blue flame hellion drop anyway, which was also shot down by a viking. Meanwhile, TOP countered with a blue flame hellion drop of his own, killing a fair sum of SCVs to take the lead.
TOP moved out his mech force to take the plateau around his Xel'Naga tower and secured his gold base. Seeing that the situation was growing very bad, Virus pushed out strongly with his own viking-tank mech force and struck decisively to dislodge TOP from his position and force a lift on the gold base. However, while Virus was focusing all his energy on microing his push, he couldn't spare enough time to defend his main. TOP had snuck in a large amount of blue flame hellions in as insurance, which absolutely tore through Virus's undefended SCV lines.
With only a dozen SCVs left, Virus just couldn't produce units as fast as TOP and succumbed to superior tank numbers.
TOP:
Blue flame hellions, even OP against Terran.
Virus:
Good tank on tank push when he absolutely had to prevent TOP's gold base, but he just didn't have any forces left at home to stop the blue flame hellions before they did fatal damage.
Group D - (
ZeNEXCoCa / SlayerS_Alicia / IMLosirA / MarineKingPrime.WE)PlayXP interviews
+ Show Spoiler [Results] +
Game One: CoCa vs Alicia on Tal'Darim Altar -
+ Show Spoiler +
Coca > Alicia
Alica goes for a fast expand while CoCa goes 14 gas/14 pool. CoCa goes very fast 4 gas, lair into infestors while Alicia goes fast 5 gates +1. Alicia uses hallucinated phoenix to scout Z and gets a fast 3rd in response. CoCa attacks Alicia's 3rd with lings and infestors but Alicia holds it off. After securing his third, Alicia goes for robo and dt tech while Coca adds ultralisk and baneling tech.
Alicia uses his dts to kill Coca's 4th, but Coca drops lings in Alicia's main and kills the main nexus while dropped banes and kill the majority of the probes at the natural, at the same time using his lings to deny Alicia's 4th.
After Alicia remakes his 4th, Coca attacks Alicia's stalker+colossus army with bane/ling/ultra/infestor., killing the majority of Alicia's army. After CoCa remaxes, he attacks Alicia's nat where Alicia barely manages to hold. CoCa again uses his lings to snipe Alicia's 4th. Alicia tries to attack Coca's 5th with his remaining army but loses his entire army while Coca counters Alicia's nat. Alicia had no troops left to defend against Coca's counter and is forced to GG.
Coca: 4.5/5
Coca was behind early game. Alicia had a faster 2nd and a faster 3rd. However, Coca did a great job of being annoying. He denied Alicia's 4th the majority of the game, countered whenever Alicia did something, and kept him busy with drops.
Alicia: 3/5
Although Alicia was ahead earlier on and did great scouting, he didn't do a good job of defending against the initial ling+infestor attack on his 3rd. Later on, he didn't scout Alicia's ultra tech and instead teched to colossus blindly. To be fair, he did a somewhat decent job of staying alive as long as he did while Coca was on 6 bases
Alica goes for a fast expand while CoCa goes 14 gas/14 pool. CoCa goes very fast 4 gas, lair into infestors while Alicia goes fast 5 gates +1. Alicia uses hallucinated phoenix to scout Z and gets a fast 3rd in response. CoCa attacks Alicia's 3rd with lings and infestors but Alicia holds it off. After securing his third, Alicia goes for robo and dt tech while Coca adds ultralisk and baneling tech.
Alicia uses his dts to kill Coca's 4th, but Coca drops lings in Alicia's main and kills the main nexus while dropped banes and kill the majority of the probes at the natural, at the same time using his lings to deny Alicia's 4th.
After Alicia remakes his 4th, Coca attacks Alicia's stalker+colossus army with bane/ling/ultra/infestor., killing the majority of Alicia's army. After CoCa remaxes, he attacks Alicia's nat where Alicia barely manages to hold. CoCa again uses his lings to snipe Alicia's 4th. Alicia tries to attack Coca's 5th with his remaining army but loses his entire army while Coca counters Alicia's nat. Alicia had no troops left to defend against Coca's counter and is forced to GG.
Coca:
Coca was behind early game. Alicia had a faster 2nd and a faster 3rd. However, Coca did a great job of being annoying. He denied Alicia's 4th the majority of the game, countered whenever Alicia did something, and kept him busy with drops.
Alicia:
Although Alicia was ahead earlier on and did great scouting, he didn't do a good job of defending against the initial ling+infestor attack on his 3rd. Later on, he didn't scout Alicia's ultra tech and instead teched to colossus blindly. To be fair, he did a somewhat decent job of staying alive as long as he did while Coca was on 6 bases
Game Two: Losira vs MKP on Crossfire -
+ Show Spoiler +
Losira > MKP
Losira goes hatch first while MKP does a one marine expand. MKP tries to pressure with pure marines and attacks, but Losira's bane/ling surrounds the marines and kills the entire army. MKP gets double facts with tech labs while teching up to starport.
MKP pushes Losira multiple times with marines+tanks, but each time Losira holds them off with banes+lings without taking much damage. Losira takes his gold and techs to mutas. MKP gets his 3rd, and tries one final push before succumbing to Losira's mass muta-ling-bane.
MKP: 2/5
MKP pushed multiple times, and each time he lost his entire army without gaining anything.
Losira: 4/5
To be fair to Losira, give him some credit for defending all of MKP's pushes.
Losira goes hatch first while MKP does a one marine expand. MKP tries to pressure with pure marines and attacks, but Losira's bane/ling surrounds the marines and kills the entire army. MKP gets double facts with tech labs while teching up to starport.
MKP pushes Losira multiple times with marines+tanks, but each time Losira holds them off with banes+lings without taking much damage. Losira takes his gold and techs to mutas. MKP gets his 3rd, and tries one final push before succumbing to Losira's mass muta-ling-bane.
MKP:
MKP pushed multiple times, and each time he lost his entire army without gaining anything.
Losira:
To be fair to Losira, give him some credit for defending all of MKP's pushes.
Winners' Match: Xel'Naga Caverns -
+ Show Spoiler +
Losira > Coca
After similar two base openings into ling-baneling, Losira adapted the greedier defensive posture, while Coca went on the offensive. The micro was excellent on both sides for a somewhat drawn out double-ling battle, but in the end Losira was slightly better and found spots to push out a few more drones and gain an economical advantage. While both sides transitioned to roaches, Losira even had the breathing room to fit in his third base.
Coca tried to bust Losira head on with a combination of roach-bane, but he was behind in both upgrades and numbers. Coca GG'd out after losing his force.
Losira: 4/5
Seems to be a pattern these days for IM zergs, with all those drones and sunken colonies.
Coca:: 2.5/5
His early game aggression was okay, but going for a do or die roach-bane bust in the mid game wasn't a good idea.
After similar two base openings into ling-baneling, Losira adapted the greedier defensive posture, while Coca went on the offensive. The micro was excellent on both sides for a somewhat drawn out double-ling battle, but in the end Losira was slightly better and found spots to push out a few more drones and gain an economical advantage. While both sides transitioned to roaches, Losira even had the breathing room to fit in his third base.
Coca tried to bust Losira head on with a combination of roach-bane, but he was behind in both upgrades and numbers. Coca GG'd out after losing his force.
Losira:
Seems to be a pattern these days for IM zergs, with all those drones and sunken colonies.
Coca:
His early game aggression was okay, but going for a do or die roach-bane bust in the mid game wasn't a good idea.
Losers' Game: Dual Sight -
+ Show Spoiler +
Alicia > MKP
MKP opened with a one rax expand into three rax, while Alicia opened fast voidray with three warpgates. Alicia was able to put a considerable amount of pressure on MKP, delaying him from landing his orbital and even managing to take his own gold base in the meanwhile.
However, taking a third base at his natural proved to be a little overambitious for Alicia, as he was not fully prepared to take care of MKP's force when he finally amassed enough infantry to bust out. The natural was quickly cancelled, but Alicia found himself having to defend both his main and very far away gold expansion at once.
Fortunately for Alicia, his mass gateway production and zealot leg upgrades kicked in just in time, or else he could have been in some real danger. Also, instead of staying purely on the defensive against MKP's army and airborne infantry, Alicia went on the counter-attack as well, destroying MKP's natural.
Alicia had a bit of trouble keeping any of his three bases mining for any extended period of time, but the end story was his army kept growing while MKP's was dwindling. Finally, he put together a final attack to finish off MKP for good.
Alicia: 4/5
Could have played more safely after his excellent early pressure, but nonetheless he won in the end.
MKP: 3/5
Good offense after being forced to defend for so long, but didn't have enough left in the tank to cause critical harm to Alicia.
MKP opened with a one rax expand into three rax, while Alicia opened fast voidray with three warpgates. Alicia was able to put a considerable amount of pressure on MKP, delaying him from landing his orbital and even managing to take his own gold base in the meanwhile.
However, taking a third base at his natural proved to be a little overambitious for Alicia, as he was not fully prepared to take care of MKP's force when he finally amassed enough infantry to bust out. The natural was quickly cancelled, but Alicia found himself having to defend both his main and very far away gold expansion at once.
Fortunately for Alicia, his mass gateway production and zealot leg upgrades kicked in just in time, or else he could have been in some real danger. Also, instead of staying purely on the defensive against MKP's army and airborne infantry, Alicia went on the counter-attack as well, destroying MKP's natural.
Alicia had a bit of trouble keeping any of his three bases mining for any extended period of time, but the end story was his army kept growing while MKP's was dwindling. Finally, he put together a final attack to finish off MKP for good.
Alicia:
Could have played more safely after his excellent early pressure, but nonetheless he won in the end.
MKP:
Good offense after being forced to defend for so long, but didn't have enough left in the tank to cause critical harm to Alicia.
Final Match: Metalopolis
+ Show Spoiler +
Coca > Alicia
Alicia went for a bizarre one void ray into four gateway into nexus build. He cut probes at 24 to go for a four-gateway all-in (oh, Alicia also forgot to cancel his nexus), which might have worked had Coca been fooled and gone for a third hatchery and a lot of drones.
However, Coca just made a lot of speedlings and roaches, and made Alicia very much regret being a nexus, void ray, and stargate's worth of units behind. After defending Alicia's all-in with laughable ease, Coca simply counter attacked and won the game.
Coca: 3/5
His willingness to actually make units was rewarded.
Alicia: 1.5/5
An interesting mind-game, but given how few units he had for his attack, it made you wonder if it would have worked EVEN if Coca had taken the bait.
Alicia went for a bizarre one void ray into four gateway into nexus build. He cut probes at 24 to go for a four-gateway all-in (oh, Alicia also forgot to cancel his nexus), which might have worked had Coca been fooled and gone for a third hatchery and a lot of drones.
However, Coca just made a lot of speedlings and roaches, and made Alicia very much regret being a nexus, void ray, and stargate's worth of units behind. After defending Alicia's all-in with laughable ease, Coca simply counter attacked and won the game.
Coca:
His willingness to actually make units was rewarded.
Alicia:
An interesting mind-game, but given how few units he had for his attack, it made you wonder if it would have worked EVEN if Coca had taken the bait.
![[image loading]](/staff/Hydro/GSL/backtotophydrofinal.png)
Code A - The Next Generation
by Fionn
Code A, the place where new stars have arrived on the scene (Bomber), and the place where we've seen player after player fall out and never return. This time, going into the final eight, we've seen some good, some bad, and are left with eight players all gunning for the promotion to Code S. This time around, we don't have a MVP or Bomber to take the entire spotlight, but we do have some interesting players that you might have not heard about until now.
So if you're just getting into Code A now and didn't watch the first week of action, relax and get a little insight on who is left in this tournament of rising new superstars.
![[image loading]](/staff/Waxangel/GSL/July11/fionn/Dream.jpg)
Dream - The Cheese God
Ro32: 2-0 vs. Ready
Ro16: 2-1 vs. Luvsic
Most people would be offended or mad when being called a cheeser, but for Dream? It's a compliment. Nicknamed the "Cheese God" on the ladder for his wide array of cheeses, Dream has made it through the first two rounds with what he is known best for. His strategies haven't always been the cleanest, but he's been getting it done.
On the squad MVP, and with Keen, a top player on the same team, helping him as his teacher, Dream should have a good chance to get into Code S if he can continue his ways as The Cheese God. I know a lot of you might hate people who cheese all the time, but hey, if you're gonna do it, at least be the best at it, right?
You also can't forget that Dream is the youngest player in the GSL. Clocking in at 14-years-old, Dream is two months younger than fellow 14-year-old Creator, and two years younger than Leenock and Keen. What were you doing at fourteen-years-old? For example, I was trying to build up the courage to try and talk to girls about video games. Weirdly, the girls didn't think I was very cool...Oh well, Dream is living, well, his dream, and he is someone to keep your eye on for the future!
![[image loading]](/staff/Waxangel/GSL/July11/fionn/Leenock.jpg)
Leenock - The Unlucky Hero
Ro32: 2-0 vs. HopeTorture
Ro16: 2-0 vs. Yoda
Leenock never gets an easy bracket. Ever since he got put into an Up-and-Down group with MarineKing and Nestea, arguably two of the best five players on the planet, and losing to both, Leenock has been trying to claw his way back into Code S. He had a decent Super Tournament, winning two rounds against two tough terrans in Alive and Clide, but eventually lost in the Round of 16 against Alicia, which in my opinion, Leenock should have won, but choked the series away in the third and final game in that series.
It's well known through interviews that Leenock has had problems inside the booth, citing that nerves have gotten to him in the past. Now, making it finally to the final eight of Code A, he has said that the nerves of being in the booth are gone and he will not fall until he is crowned champion. So far, he has been good on his word, destroying his first two opponents, and even snacking on a piece of cheese after beating IMYoa in the last round.
Could the cheese have been a foreboding to Dream? Leenock says that cheese won't beat him, but can he beat Dream in the quarterfinals? Leenock should be favored against the upstart Dream, but he will have to keep his nerves in check and munch on some Korean cheese to advance into the semifinals.
![[image loading]](/staff/Waxangel/GSL/July11/fionn/Noblesse.jpg)
Noblesse - The Wildcard
Ro32: 2-1 vs. Hero
Ro16: 2-0 Check
Noblesse is truly a wildcard. He has shown some great games this tournament, specifically his series against Hero, but he also can put on some bad performances from time to time. His series against Check, he played solid, but the win was more Check playing awful while Noblesse just didn't do anything stupid to lose it. I really like Noblesse as a player, and I honestly believe he has a great chance to make the finals if he keeps improving. Every time I see him, he seems to get better and better inside the booth. With MVP showing that they have a very solid terran core, with both Dream and Noblesse getting into the quarterfinals, and Keen in Code S, the sky is the limit for the young Noblesse.
Noblesse's record might not be the prettiest, but he has vastly improved from his last Code A showing, and actually showed up this time, unlike his first round game in the Super Tournament where he got stuck in traffic. Luckily, the traffic wasn't able to take him down this time, and he is ready to take on all challengers.
![[image loading]](/staff/Waxangel/GSL/July11/fionn/Tassadar.jpg)
Tassadar - The Micro Maniac
Ro32: 2-0 vs. Lyn
Ro16: 2-1 vs. Ryung
From watching Tassadar in the first two rounds, I can tell that he's pretty damn good at micro and early timing attacks. We really haven't seen him show the best macro so far, but hey, whatever helps you win, then you should do it. His first round series against Lyn was basically him making DT's and Lyn, for whatever reason, not being able to defend them. His next series against Ryung was better, but also wasn't anything that made me think that this guy could be a Code S regular.
He's on a team with a strong protoss line, though. With San and Sage (along with VanVanth) on the team, Tassadar should get better in time with more experience in the booth. NS HoSeo has shown lately that they are a strong team that will get more hype very soon if they continue to do well in the GSTL. In his match against Noblesse, I would probably favor the terran from MVP, but Tassadar has a good chance of winning. I want to see if his macro has improved; if he can show that he has some good macro underneath his pretty blink stalker micro, he could go far.
![[image loading]](/staff/Waxangel/GSL/July11/fionn/VanVanth.jpg)
VanVanth - The Forgotten
Ro32: 2-1 vs. Soccer
Ro16: 2-1 vs. Tails
Both his series so far have been pretty terrible. His series against Tails, for example, only lasted twenty minutes all together. Yes, both were PvP, and he did win both, but VanVanth has never really impressed me. He was really bad in the Super Tournament; he was always looked upon as a lower class player when he was in Code S; and he hasn't shown any truly impressive games in a long time. Not to say he's a bad player necessarily, since you can't stay above Code B this long if you're truly terrible, but he's never had a big victory. His biggest win in GSL history was probably against Jookto, a guy who is currently in Code B.
In fact, every single player VanVanth has ever beaten in the history of the GSL is currently in Code B. He's never actually beaten anyone who is Code S or even Code A level. This is his chance to make a name for himself, and I hope he can show some good games. If he doesn't, he'll continue to be forgotten and continue his trend of somehow staying in Code A forever until the end of time.
![[image loading]](/staff/Waxangel/GSL/July11/fionn/Puzzle.jpg)
Puzzle - The Monster
Ro32: 2-0 vs. MMA
Ro16: 2-0 vs. Sheth
Most impressive player in Code A so far? Puzzle. He has been hyped up quite a bit before by the Korean community, saying that he is another one of these ladder bonjwas like DongRaeGu or Bomber. Before this tournament, however, we had only seen him in the GSTL, and he lost all four games that he participated in. Coming in, with expectations lowered, he had to face the runner-up in the GSL Super Tournament and reigning MLG champion, MMA. Not many people expected Puzzle to actually beat MMA, but he beat him 2-0.
Following that, he took on our very own Sheth, and also beat him 2-0 in very decisive fashion. Sheth put up a good fight, but Puzzle was just, well, a monster. At the climax of the match, in the final battle, Puzzle's APM was up around 500. Yeah, that isn't a typo, his SC2 APM was clocked in at 500. Sheth, with almost 300 less APM, had no chance and just got bowled over at the end of the game. Losing to Puzzle is nothing to be sad about, though; he has shown how strong he is and that the hype given to him is well justified. Only three more wins, and he'll be in Code S and definitely belong there.
![[image loading]](/staff/Waxangel/GSL/July11/fionn/Happy.jpg)
Happy - MVP's Apprentice
Ro32: 2-0 vs. Hyperdub
Ro16: 2-0 vs. YuGiOh
If it wasn't for Puzzle, Happy would be the most impressive person in this tournament. He's been fantastic. He disposed of Hyperdub easily, and he played a great series against YuGiOh. Like Puzzle, he is another person that has been hyped up through his accomplishments on the ladder and how well he plays in the team house. Just like Losira, who gets to be taught by Nestea, Happy gets to talk and practice with, one of the best terrans in the world, MVP. Incredible Miracle has been a three man team in the singular GSL tournament with Nestea, MVP and Losira doing all the work, but with Happy's appearance in Code A, it's not far fetched to say it won't be too long until we see Happy as a regular with those three in the Code S for a long time to come.
![[image loading]](/staff/Waxangel/GSL/July11/fionn/asd.jpg)
asd - The Guy Who Beat Boxer and Jinro
Ro32: 2-0 vs. Boxer
Ro16: 2-0 vs. Jinro
He beat two of the community's fan favorites back-to-back! Not only did he beat The Emperor himself, knocking him into Code B where he might never get out of, but he also eliminated our very own Swedish Gorilla Terran in the next round! How could you, asd!?! What a vile, evil, terrible and just very cruel person you are! Why did you have to do this? Why couldn't you just let them win!?
Alright, alright, he isn't a terrible person and didn't cheese to beat either of Boxer or Jinro, so you guys shouldn't give him TheBest treatment. He's a really good player that has played very solid games so far in the tournament. Hasn't cheesed any of his opponents and has had drawn out games that have gone past twenty minutes in each one. You might want him to lose for beating your favorite players, but the guy has some skill. Would I favor him over Happy? No, not with how good Happy is playing, but I can't dismiss him just yet.
Predictions:
Ro8:
Leenock 2 - 1 Dream
Noblesse 2 - 0 Tassadar
Puzzle 2 - 0 VanVanth
Happy 2 - 1 asd
Semifinals:
Leenock 3 - 1 Noblesse
Happy 3 - 2 Puzzle
Code A Finals:
Happy 4 - 3 Leenock
Next Week: I know all of you love those new intro photos with the Code S players in heavy makeup, right? Well, even if you don't, I'll be counting down the Top 10 Best (or, in your mind, worst) Code S Glamor Pictures next week in the GSL article. So look forward to that!
![[image loading]](/staff/Waxangel/GSL/July11/fionn/makeupking.jpg)
Whither Protoss?
by TreeHugger
There were many storylines in the recently concluded GSL Super Tournament, but one of them in particular stuck with me. Of the final eight players, six were terran. The final four was all terran players. This hardly went unnoticed, and I might be the very last person on Team Liquid to bring this up, but it's really irritating for me all the same. Because while the last two GSL's have seen a boatload of excellent up and coming terran players, there are basically no rising protoss stars.
And I say this first and foremost as a fan and a protoss player, and not just with my writer/analyst/critic hat on.
I love rooting for players who have momentum. That doesn't mean I don't have respect for NesTea and MC and the guys who have been at the forefront of the scene forever. But my natural sympathies lie with the closet gosus; the underrated hard workers who come out of nowhere and destroy everyone. That's a large part of why I became an EffOrt fan in BW. In Sc2, there are almost too many terrans that fit this description to count. At the top of the heap of course, there was MVP, Bomber, and MKP. Then came MMA and SuperNoVa. Then sC. And now there's Polt, Keen, Ryung, GuMiho, Noblesse, and maybe even YoDa, Happy, DreAm and Puma.
That's just about half of the terrans in the GSL. Talented terrans I left out include aLive, TOP, and Virus. I left them out only because I had originally decided to stop at fifteen.
![[image loading]](/staff/treehugger/marauder.jpg)
Oh hai
From one perspective, zerg might not be doing much better. NesTea remains strong, but his supporting cast is not as deep in Code S. But the zerg does have a pool of talented players who are working their way to the big time. LosirA is the leader of the insurgent swarm, but no player has captured more attention outside of the GSL than DongRaeGu, who's legend only grows as he continues to miss qualification for Code A. But if the zerg back bench aren't overwhelming, at least they certainly exist. July remains a force in Code S. CoCa and viOlet were promoted into Code S last season and are getting the chance to prove themselves now. Code A has a spawning pool of talent as well. Curious will be interesting to watch in the future, as his skill is reported to have increased dramatically since he lost in Code A to HuK, and he showed some real glimpses in a few games. But if Leenock can avoid the Up/Down Group of Death this time, he might also re-make Code S. Luvsic is yet another player to watch in the future.
Though they are dwarfed by the freshman class of terran, there's life yet among zergs.
Take all of this and contrast it to the sorry state of protoss. There's MC, and that's about it. Of the nine protoss in Code S, six are there because of their performance in the first three GSLs. Only four protoss have ever made it through Code A to qualify, and none of them did it in GSL May, despite taking nine of sixteen qualifier spots for that tournament. Furthermore, one of the protoss to make Code S was BanBanSsu, who only lasted a single season because he's terrible. Of the new blood that enters the system, it almost never reaches the Up/Down matches. Just two of twelve protoss players who made it through the preliminaries—HuK and AcE are being counted here—reached the Up/Downs that season.
Quick comparison. Of the fifteen terran slots in Code S—Rain is being counted—eight belonged to players who were part of the original Code S. Four of eight zergs have remained in Code S since the beginning. Of Code S qualifiers, five of nine terrans have made Up/Down that season, and two of eleven zergs also accomplished this feat. That's counting Ret, mOOnGlaDe, and HayprO. Meanwhile, one prelim qualifier, CoCa, took two seasons to make it all the way into Code S. One terran, MMA, also made Up/Down one season after reaching Code A. No protoss has stuck around long enough to do this.
![[image loading]](/staff/treehugger/SadProtoss.png)
Here's the takeaway. Protoss has a huge deficit when it comes to new, fresh, innovative players. When protoss players make Code A, they don't make up and down matches. When protoss players make Code S, they do stay there, but don't go much farther than that. And that last rule doesn't apply to you if—and only if—your ID is oGsMC.
Protoss needs help. Do our hopes really rest in the hands of SlayerS_Alicia, who looked so promising before being absolutely mauled by Polt in the Super Tournament? Perhaps protoss will be redeemed by Liquid'HuK, the guy who always loses really close games to players who turn out the be better than we thought? Or perhaps protoss can be saved by SangHo, for whom maddening passivity is not just a strategy, but a lifestyle? Or most desperately needed of all, maybe protoss will see a new champion emerge this season to reinvigorate the legions of Auir. One exciting and talented player in oGsHero has already fallen, hopefully to return another day. Still remaining are Tassadar, who wrecked Lyn with the help of the dark templar; and Puzzle, who cut MMA up into hundreds of tiny pieces. Can one of these players lead the protoss race to victory once again? Maybe all of them?
Hell if I know. Certainly wasn't SocceR. Happy watching.
