EPTDay One Recap: GSL Party in the USA
Though the dominance of GSL players is a global trend, MLG has always found itself particularly susceptible to the influence of veterans from Korea's most prestigious competition. At the end of day one, the top spots in pool play were taken by some of the GSL's most noticeable faces, such as three time runner-up MarineKingPrime and current champion coL.MvPDongRaeGu.
The story was largely the same in the open brackets, with GSL Super Tournament champion TSL_Polt's 2 – 1 victory over Stephano headlining a string of victories for Code A and S players. In most cases GSL domination meant Korean domination, but there was a notable exception: Canada's HuK and his multiple Code S appearances saw him easily top a pool play group containing the dangerous Korean, Empire|viOLet.
Group A: The King Still Rules
After countless runner-up finishes, MLG Winter Arena marked the biggest single event MarineKingPrime had won. However, consensus was never reached in the community about the value of Winter Arena as a "major" event, making his appearance at MLG Winter Championship all the more important in dispelling the so-called 'Kong' legacy.
To that end, MKP got off to a strong start, crushing his initial three groupmates 3 – 0 while only dropping a single map to GanZi in TvT, his weakest match-up. He looked barely troubled against PvT expert Quantic.SaSe or all-in master SK_MC, sweeping through them with his mastery of stimmed infantry. GanZi's skillful TvT presented a challenge on paper, but the King showed improved TvT ability to defeat the ex-SlayerS player.
The remaining three players traded blows equally, going 1 – 2 in match scores, and nearly tying each other in map scores as well. For the most part, the players won and lost according to their strong and weak match-ups, but GanZi managed to score a minor upset by defeating MC in his notably shaky TvP.
Group B: Return of the Banjo
To absolutely no one's surprise, coL.MvPDongRaeGu went 3 – 0 and took the top place in his group. There was an unexpected twist, however, as surprise seventh place finisher at MLG Providence, Liquid`HayprO defeated foreigner favorites Quantic.NaNiwa and EG.DeMusliM to take second place in the group.
HayprO showed a variety of skillful play to take down his more well-known opponents (although HayprO himself retains a devoted cult following), using hive management in split-map games, strong macro play against mech, as well as an unorthodox but highly effective proxy-hatchery against NaNiwa. However, he was as powerless as his peers against DongRaeGu, and was decisively outplayed in two ZvZ games.
DeMusliM was the only player to put a dent in DongRaeGu's armor, as he took advantage of DongRaeGu's slightly mismanaged roach-baneling bust to take an early 1 – 0 lead in the series. However, DongRaeGu showed no sign of being shaken, and took two easy games to close it out.
Group C: The Incredible HuK
Already a player to be feared, EG.HuK put in a dominating performance in group C to further caution any challengers. Alongside MKP and DRG, HuK also went 3 – 0 in his group while going 6 – 1 on map scores. Top three control was definitely in play, as HuK finessed through a number of his games with blink stalkers and good force-fields. HuK also showed his more devious side, using DT's in a couple of games to distract his opponents and gain advantages on the side.
viOLet looked strong as expected, defeating Ret in a third consecutive tournament while making short work of Socke as well. A cloud of brood lords allowed him to take a 1 – 0 lead against HuK as he fought for control of the group, but gateway timing attacks proved to be his weakness as they were at IEM Hanover.
After looking like he had attained another level of ZvP ability in 2012, Liquid`Ret crumbled at Columbus. He was the victim of one of the most stylish games of the night, as aTn.Socke used a Brood War-esque phoenix + dark templar strategy to cause all sorts of cloaked havoc by focusing firing down spore crawlers and overseers left and right. A hapless loss to HuK's cannon rush capped off a dismal day for Ret, who finished 0 – 3 in his group.
Group D: Grubby's Code S Experience
Though Grubby had risen rapidly through the European ranks in past months, a cruel twist of fate placed him in a group against three present Code S players. Grubby was able to show some of his talent in some well played PvPs, including an intelligently played game against Oz where a damaging warp-prism drop during a major battle won him a game. However, the weight of Korea was too much in the end, and he was crushed with an 0 – 3 record.
Though probably not for Grubby's benefit, the remaining three players put on a mini-GSL demo. Left to compete for the spoils, they tied each other in match scores, with map scores being the difference. PartinG came ahead at 5 – 2, in a performance that closely mirrored his last GSL outing where his PvT looked downright imbalanced while his PvP looked like a potential weakness. TheStC lived up to his TvP specialist reputation in an all Protoss group, minus a loss to even more fearsome PvT monster PartinG. Oz also lived up to his GSL reputation, winning both of his PvP games while looking shaky in PvT.
Open Bracket: Mixed Fortune
The Open Bracket was imbalanced, to put it lightly. With several competing players having zero points in the MLG seeding system, lady luck played an even bigger factor than usual in determining the fates of the gathered participants.
One stroke of luck that was disastrous for the players proved to be amazing for the spectators, as respectful rivals Millenium.Stephano and TSL_Polt faced off in the fourth round of the tournament. Though not completely bogus for a fourth round draw, it contrasted sharply against the match-up of TubbyTheFat and Wannabecool in the directly adjacent bracket.
Stephano and Polt put on an exciting show that lived up to the reputation of their epic meetings in the past, and their first game on Antiga Shipyard was surely the highlight of the night. Polt's slow and steady advance saw him take control of the center of the map, while small armies went around keeping Stephano's expansions in check. However, Polt gave Stephano just a little too much time to tech and gather himself, and the "American" hero forced his way back into the game with great use of brood lords and infestors.
With Zerg expansions springing up everywhere and control of the center lost, Polt looked to be in bit of a pickle. However, he had retained his army despite losing his economy, and used it intelligently to manufacture a win. In a pivotal battle, cheap marines flanked expensive brood lords and infestors in a decisive victory for Polt, and dogged expansion hunting meant that Stephano could not afford to replace them. With announcers djWheat and Day[9] lost for coherent words in the game's final, chaotic moments, Stephano conceded defeat.
Stephano's flawless macro pummeling of Polt in game two, and Polt's one-sided marauder-hellion bulldozing in game three were not nearly as interesting, but the first game made this series another notable chapter in 2012's hottest rivalry.
Comeback Kids
After falling on tough times, or simply falling into obscurity, a few players made notable returns by making it into day two's R5 matches. The artist former known as Liquid`Tyler made a return, as did his teammate Liquid`Jinro. FnatricRC's Rain also made it through, after largely disappointing performances since MLG Anaheim last year. And finally, the ever-loving, cannon-rushing, Wannabecool came through once more, drawing KawaiiRiceLight in R5.
Korean Pride Day
Not a single Korean lost to a foreigner in the open bracket, with only x6's Sleep falling to the Losers Bracket after an unfortunate encounter with TSL_Symbol in the second round. Alongside Polt, FnaticaLive, FnaticRain, TSL_Symbol, EG.JYP, coL.Heart, GoldenLight, EG.PuMa, and iS.CrazymovING all made it through their brackets and into round 5.
Live Updates Log
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04:46 GMT (+00:00): And we're done for the day!
04:43 GMT (+00:00): More Open Bracket R4 results:
Wannabecool 2 - 0 Tubbythefat
aLive 2 - 1 Heavens
Ruff 2 - 0 Catz
Jinro 2 - 0 TLO
Heart 2 - 1 MorroW
Golden 2 - 1 stoicfuzzy
SeleCT 2 - 1 giX
BlinG 2 - 0 Hawk
NonY 2 - 1 LzGaMeR
04:34 GMT (+00:00): Polt 2 - 1 Stephano. Polt does the marauder hellion build and kills Stephano when he doesn't scout or prepare for it.
04:21 GMT (+00:00): Polt 1 - 1 Stephano. Passive game, Polt lets Stephano mass up and take a lot of bases, and then his drops aren't able to do any damage. A largely unhindered Zerg masses up and overruns him, bringing it to game 3.
04:07 GMT (+00:00): Oh, some open bracket R4 results.
Rain 2 - 0 theognis
Symbol 2 - 0 iNcontrol
JYP 2 - 0 HasuObs
Glon 2 - 0 Spades
PuMa 2 - 0 Pokebunny
04:04 GMT (+00:00): Polt 1 - 0 Stephano. Good, long back and forth split-map game on Antiga. The turning point comes when Stephano's broodlord and infestor army gets flanked and surrounded in the center and he can't replenish it fast enough before Polt kills expansions while pushing through the center.
03:38 GMT (+00:00): DRG 2 - 0 HayprO. Banelings weren't even needed in the second game, as DongRaeGue's speedlings were enough to finish off HayprO.
03:31 GMT (+00:00): DRG 1 - 0 HayprO. This game never left the double-ling phase, with both players going at each other aggressively. DongRaeGu's micro proved to be superior, however, and HayprO was forced to concede defeat.
03:27 GMT (+00:00): PartinG 2 - 0 Grubby. Grubby has some nice harass in the early game but PartinG draws it into a normal mid/late game and wins with better upgrades on his colossus.
03:22 GMT (+00:00): HayprO vs DRG begins!
03:21 GMT (+00:00): NaNiwa 2 - 0 DeMuslim. NaNiwa opens with 5 gate pressure after expanding, which kills 20+ SCVs. NaNiwa keeps the intiative with DT play and finishes out a win with archons.
03:12 GMT (+00:00): And some open bracket stuff!
Round 4 Match-ups: Polt vs Stephano, HasuObs vs JYP, Jinro vs TLO, Rain vs TheOgnis, Heart vs Morrow, SeleCT vs giX, Shew vs CrazymovING.
03:08 GMT (+00:00): TheStC 2 - 0 Oz. TheStC went for a sneaky hidden barracks to apply some light marine pressure to hurt OZ's FE. He came out on the winning end of that trade, and attacked again later with stimmed MM to take the series.
03:06 GMT (+00:00): PartinG 1 - 0 Grubby. They both get huge maxed out armies, but PartinG has more bases and wins even after Grubby has some funny mothership and DT shenanigans.
03:03 GMT (+00:00): Ganzi 2 - 1 MC. Ganzi tricked MC into going blind phoenixes, but was unable to capitalize on that advantage and the game transitioned into a fairly standard scenario. A drop from GanZi that took out MC's natural nexus ended up making a big difference, as GanZi was able to play a slow macro game where he traded units and mined more resources to secure a victory.
02:55 GMT (+00:00): NaNiwa 1 - 0 DeMuslim. DeMuslim opens with 2 rax and pulls a lot of SCVs to try to bunker NaNi's main. NaNiwa holds with probes and wins win the counter attack.
02:54 GMT (+00:00): TheStC 1 - 0 Oz. TheStC used a marine-marauder-hellion attack to hurt Oz's fast expansion, and then continued to pile on the misery with drops while taking his own expansion. Oz decided that the only way back was to go all-in and built mass gateways for a final attack, but TheStC held and forced a GG.
02:43 GMT (+00:00): Oz vs TheStC begins on Antiga.
02:44 GMT (+00:00): Ganzi 1 - 1 MC. GanZi hit with two base MMM before MC had enough tech units to put up a good challenge, and won a major battle easily to force the GG.
02:35 GMT (+00:00): viOLet 2 - 0 Socke. Socke looked like he had successfully defended his third base this time around with good forcefields and phoenix use, but was rocked when viOLet came with delayed second wave from his three bases, attacking with hydras and roaches. Once the line broke, Zerg troops never stopped pouring in, and Socke was forced to GG.
02:30 GMT (+00:00): MarineKing 2 - 0 SaSe. MKP opens cc first, has a lot of trouble against SaSe's 3 gate pressure after nex. MKP continues to be incredibly aggressive and trades favorably with good micro repeatedly, until SaSe's army is whittled down and dies.
02:30 GMT (+00:00): MC 1 - 0 GanZi. MC showed that he was not just a boss in the early game, but in the late game as well. With both players taking as many bases as they wanted, MC brought the full firepower of the Protoss army to bear and wiped out GanZi with colossi, templars, and archons.
02:23 GMT (+00:00): HuK 2 - 0 Ret. HuK opens with a forge to expand, then cannoned Ret's natural. Ret taps out when HuK gets a nice wall off with his cannons.
02:20 GMT (+00:00): Socke vs viOLet game two begins on Tal'Darim Altar. Socke @ Top Left, viOLet @ Bottom Right.
02:19 GMT (+00:00): HuK 1 - 0 Ret. HuK opens with 7 gate pressure which Ret defends. As it goes to 4 base Z vs 3 base P macro war, HuK warps in DTs in Ret's main while attacking his fourth with zealots and front with a main army, and Ret crumbles to the multitask.
02:17 GMT (+00:00): viOLet 1 - 0 Socke. viOLet's multi-pronged attacks were enough to break Socke's defenses as he tried to take three bases, and viOLet poured in continued waves of roaches and lings to finish the game.
02:13 GMT (+00:00): Ganzi vs MC starts on Entombed Valley.
02:11 GMT (+00:00): DongRaeGu 2 - 1 DeMusliM. DeMuslim's two base marine-hellion pressure did not pay off at all, and DongRaeGu took a dominating lead. DeMuslim didn't even bother to play the game out for very long, knowing he was in a very tough situation.
02:07 GMT (+00:00): viOlet vs Socke begins. Antiga Shipyard, viOLet @ 6, Socke @ 12.
02:05 GMT (+00:00): Cute, they moved DRG vs DeMusliM from a free stream to a premium stream. Game Three starts on Shakuras Plateau, DRG @ Top Left, Demuslim @ Bottom Right.
02:02 GMT (+00:00): MarineKing 1 - 0 SaSe. MKP plays aggressively with marines and marauders and slowly grinds down SaSe, expanding while denying expansions.
01:49 GMT (+00:00): @MLGSC2Scores reports that TheStC won 2 - 0 over Grubby. So a decision victory for TheStC in that disconnect?
01:47 GMT (+00:00): DeMusliM vs DRG game two begins. Dual Sight, DongRaeGu @ Left, DeMusliM @ Right.
01:44 GMT (+00:00): HayprO 2 - 1 NaNiwa. HayprO went for a bizarre proxy hatchery build to stop NaNiwa's forge FE, but it worked out perfectly as he followed it into a proxy roach-rush that NaNiwa was completely unprepared for. NaNiwa gave HayprO props for his strange but effective strategy and GG'd out.
01:40 GMT (+00:00): DeMusliM 1 - 0 DongRaeGu. An early roach-ling bust went wrong for DongRaeGu, putting DeMusliM in the driver's seat. DeMusliM did not squander his lead, being aggressive with drops to hurt DRG's economy and denying him expansions. Continued army trades favored DeMusliM, who had secured three bases safely, and combined with his drops, forced a GG from the GSL Champion.
01:38 GMT (+00:00): HayprO 1 - 1 NaNiwa. Haypro hit hard with roaches and infestors as NaNiwa tried to go up to three bases. Haypro took out a sizeable chunk of NaNiwa's army and economy, setting up for an easy win a few minutes later.
01:36 GMT (+00:00): PartinG 1 - 2 Oz. Oz expands quicker and defends against blink stalkers well. Game goes into a normal midgame with 2 bases, and as each army runs by each other in the center they go to a base trade. PartinG tries making a hidden expansion but Oz finds it, has the bigger army, and wins.
01:25 GMT (+00:00): DRG vs Demuslim begins! Tal'Darim Altar, Demuslim @ Bottom Left, DRG @ Top Right. Also, Haypro vs NaNiwa game two starts on Daybreak, with Haypro @ Right, NaNiwa @ Left.
01:20 GMT (+00:00): NaNiwa 1 - 0 HayprO. After a drawn out, half-map slugfest on Metalopolis, NaNiwa's use of stalkers and a mothership proved to be more effective than HayprO's best attempts to defend his brood lords.
01:18 GMT (+00:00): PartinG 1 - 1 Oz. Oz opens with DT tech, and the game progresses into normal colossus stalker mid/late game. PartinG wins the big battle when 2 of Oz's colossus move to far forward and die needlessly, and his army melts.
01:05 GMT (+00:00): TheStC 1 - 0 Grubby. Grubby attacks with some early gateway pressure into templar tech, and TheStC defends and then kills him before storm is online.
01:02 GMT (+00:00): PartinG 0 - 1 Oz. Oz expands after 2 gates, PartinG goes for 1 base colossus. Immortals and stalkers overpower the single colossus and PartinG dies.
00:59 GMT (+00:00): Symbol defeats Sleep 2 - 0 in Open Bracket, Winners Round 2.
00:55 GMT (+00:00): NaNiwa vs Haypro begins! Game One, Metalpolis. NaNiwa @ 6, HayprO @ 12.
00:54 GMT (+00:00): PartinG vs Oz game one starting, Oz @ 2 and PartinG @ 10 on Emtombed Valley.
00:43 GMT (+00:00): viOlet 1 - 2 HuK. HuK starts with 6 gate zealot and is unable to kill the third. He continues to make huge gateway army on 2 bases as viOlet takes a fourth and Huk rolsl him over with pure force.
00:39 GMT (+00:00): MKP 2 - 1 GanZi. MKP expands first and holds it, wins with bigger tank and marine army.
00:34 GMT (+00:00): Socke 2 - 1 Ret. Socke secured three bases while holding off Ret's pressure without too much trouble, and put together a powerful colossi + gateway unit army before Ret could successfully transition to hive. His max army powered through Ret's max lair stage army, collecting the GG and winning the series.
00:26 GMT (+00:00): viOlet 1 - 1 HuK. HuK does a 6 gate blink stalker build and wins against viOlet's roaches due to strong forcefield control.
00:24 GMT (+00:00): MKP 1 - 1 GanZi. GanZi opens with a banshee and does a strong marine tank banshee 1-base push. MKP makes a cc after starport and dies to the pressure.
00:22 GMT (+00:00): MC 2 - 1 SaSe. A crazy back and forth game started with SaSe hiding a gateway inside MC's base. Though he did some minor damage, MC managed to hold it off well and reared for a counter attack. However, SaSe held off MC's counter well, and gathered himself for another attack of his own. In turn, MC was able to stop this attack, and was able to make his counter-attack (the fourth of the game) the last.
00:21 GMT (+00:00): Ret vs Socke game three starts. Tal'Darim Altar, Ret @ Top Left, Socke @ Top Right.
00:18 GMT (+00:00): Ret 1 - 1 Socke. Socke went for a funky 1-gate zealot pressure into blink stalkers, but Ret stopped the zealot pressure with ease and managed to scout out the blink stalker follow-up easily. Socke tried to play a mind game by switching belated to DTs, but Ret was ready for that as well, and ended up with a powerful two base economy while Socke was struggling to establish his own second base. Ret was able to simply attack with a mass of roaches and lings to end the game.
00:14 GMT (+00:00): MKP 1 - 0 GanZi. MKP puts on pressure with tanks and marines, and when seige finishes he sets up outside GanZi's main and slowly kills him.
00:13 GMT (+00:00): viOlet 1 - 0 HuK. HuK 7 gates and takes down viOlet's third, but when it goes to long macro game viOlet buys enough time to get huge broodlord force and kills the Protoss army.
00:10 GMT (+00:00): Ret vs Socke, game two. Dual Sight, Ret @ Right, Socke @ Left.
00:09 GMT (+00:00): SaSe 1 - 1 MC. Unlike the previous game, SaSe was able to punish MC's faster expansion with a one base blink build, winning a quick game.
00:06 GMT (+00:00): Socke 1 - 0 Ret. Socke went Bisu mode on his old school compatriot, usingcorsair Phoenix DT to cripple Ret by killing his main hatchery and killing a ton of units. It was a simple matter to follow up with a massive blink stalker attack to finish Ret off.
00:05 GMT (+00:00): GanZi vs MarineKing starting, Dual Sight with Ganzi on left and MKP on right.
00:04 GMT (+00:00): MC vs SaSe, Game Two. Shakuras Plateau, MC @ Bottom Left, SaSe @ Top Right.
23:59 GMT (+00:00): MC 1 - 0 SaSe. SaSe went for a one base, blink + robotics build against MC's expansion build, but failed to make a dent. SaSe GG'd out after a final, futile attack.
23:56 GMT (+00:00): HuK vs viOlet starting, Daybreak with HuK on left and viOlet on right.
23:55 GMT (+00:00): Ret vs Socke begins. Antiga Shipyard, Ret @ 6, Socke @ 12.
23:51 GMT (+00:00): MC vs SaSe begins. Dual Sight, MC @ Left, SaSe @ Right.
23:46 GMT (+00:00): DeMuslim 1 - 2 HayprO. DeMuslim mechs and HayprO takes the map and establishes huge roach broodlord infestor army. They trade once and HayprO wins in the remax.
23:37 GMT (+00:00): Oz 2 - 1 Grubby. Oz went for a blink stalker expansion, while Grubby went for a one base, colossus build to try and punish Oz for his greed. However, Oz microed well and sniped the single colossus that was the key to Grubby's attack and secured his economic advantage. Grubby tried to belatedly play catch-up, but couldn't swing the momentum back in his favor, GGing out to a Oz's larger army.
23:31 GMT (+00:00): DeMuslim and HayprO game 3 starting, Entbomed Valley with HayprO @ 7 and DeMuslim @ 2.
23:28 GMT (+00:00): DongRaeGu 2 - 0 NaNiwa. NaNiwa uses 2 base blink stalker play, DRG beats it with overlords full of banelings and then switches to mutas to win. NaNiwa's last ditch attempt army dies when it runs straight into banelings.
23:26 GMT (+00:00):DeMuslim 1 - 1 HayprO. They split the map and HayprO builds up a large force of broodlords and infestors, despite good dropping early from DeMuslim. Zerg overwhelms him in the end.
23:24 GMT (+00:00): Grubby vs Oz game there begins. Entombed Valley, Grubby @ Bottom Left, Oz @ Top Right.
23:21 GMT (+00:00): Grubby 1 - 1 Oz. Both players got fairly quick second bases, where their tech paths diverged slightly with Oz getting faster blink while Grubby got colossi. In the major engagement of the game, Grubby managed to use great forcefields to protect his colossus and fight an even battle in the middle of the map, while simultaneously sending in warp prism to deal a lot a good amount of damage in Oz's main. Grubby was able to build on this good situation, secure a faster third base, and finish Oz with a powerful colossi based army.
23:15 GMT (+00:00): Game two of DRG and NaNiwa started, Dual Sight with NaNiwa on right side and DRG on left.
23:13 GMT (+00:00): Parting 2 - 0 TheStC. TheStC went for a greedy command center first FE in the second game, but couldn't hold against Parting's two base gateway timing attack. Although TheStC did not die straight up, PartinG took a large enough advantage to be able to win very easily in a slightly drawn out game.
23:10 GMT (+00:00):DongRaeGu 1- 0 NaNiwa. DRG brings the fight to NaNiwa and pressures his front constantly with roaches and lings, NaNiwa moves out once with a small stalker sentry army but after DRG stops it the game is over.
23:08 GMT (+00:00): Grubby vs Oz, game two starting. Shakuras Plateau, Grubby @ Bottom Right. Oz @ Bottom Left.
23:05 GMT (+00:00): DeMuslim and HayprO game 2 starting, Metalopolis with HayprO @ 12 and DeMuslim @ 6.
23:04 GMT (+00:00): Oz 1 - 0 Grubby. Oz's DT's were a bit more damaging than Grubby's phoenixes as the two players harassed each other while going for two bases. It was a big enough advantage for Oz to continue to build on, and eventually take the game.
23:03 GMT (+00:00):DeMuslim 1- 0 HayprO. HayprO backstabs several times with lings and banelings when DeMuslim's army moves out, but doesn't do enough damage and eventually dies when DeMuslim marine force grows big enough to travel the map uncontested.
23:00 GMT (+00:00): Game one of DRG and NaNiwa started! Map is Antiga, DRG @ 2 NaNiwa @ 7.
22:57 GMT (+00:00): Parting 1 - 0 TheStC. Parting used his patented "Double expand into 7-gate pressure" build, a fantastic counter build to TheStC's orthodox FE build. The seven gate pressure did a fair amount of damage to TheStC, and Parting was able to cruise to a victory with a superior army and economy.
22:50 GMT (+00:00): Oz vs Grubby begins. Game One, Daybreak: Grubby @ Right, Oz @ Left.
22:47 GMT (+00:00): DeMuslim vs HayprO started! Game One, Tal'Darim Altar: DeMusliM @ Top Right. HayprO @ Bottom Right.
22:45 GMT (+00:00): Parting vs TheStC begins! Game One, Daybreak: TheStC @ Left, Parting @ Right.
22:43 GMT (+00:00): According to the gurus at Liquipedia, Sleep and Symbol are meeting in Winner's Round 2. Tough break -_-;;
22:36 GMT (+00:00): MKP 2 - 0 MC. Goes to 3 base vs 3 base macro war on Antiga, MKP pulls ahead by catching colossus out of position and crushing Protoss army with faster upgrades.
22:34 GMT (+00:00): SaSe 2 - 1 GanZi. SaSe kills GanZi's natural with 3 gate pressure after he expands, and GanZi goes all-in on 1 base with his first medivacs and SaSe holds it off with probes and immortals, later colossus.
22:24 GMT (+00:00): viOLet 2 - 1 Ret. viOLet sent waves of roaches Ret's way as Ret tried to take a third base, and managed to do a significant amount of damage while securing his own third base safely. This quickly snowballed into a major advantage for viOLet, who won the game with a much larger army.
22:17 GMT (+00:00): SaSe 1 - 1 GanZi. SaSe opens with 2 bases and a sentry drop in GanZi's main. It doesn't do much damage, and after they both macro up an army he runs a big hallucinated force into GanZi's natural and the Protoss army melts to GanZi's bio force at his choke.
22:14 GMT (+00:00): MKP 1- 0 MC MKP does strong 2 base marine-tank-banshee attack, kills MC's third while taking his own. Game goes into long macro war, MKP pulls ahead with clever nukes and big upgraded marauder ball with ghosts.
22:14 GMT (+00:00): Parting vs TheStC up next on gameplay stream 3.
22:12 GMT (+00:00): viOLet 1 - 1 Ret. Though the game eventually went to a three base vs three base phase, viOLet kept up the aggression from the very beginning to stay ahead throughout. By delaying Ret's bases and causing minor damage here and there, he eventually built up a large advantage that allowed him to take the game.
22:07 GMT (+00:00): HuK 2 - 0 Socke. Socke tried to go for a relatively fast expansion with delayed blink, while HuK went for a straight up blink stalker pressure build. After a few rounds of inspired offense and defense, HuK's forces proved to be too much, and Socke conceded the game.
22:02 GMT (+00:00): MKP vs MC starting. MKP going CC first and MC taking a quick third.
22:01 GMT (+00:00): SaSe 1 - 0 GanZi. Back and forth macro game where they trade killing expansions, SaSe's army eventually gets too big and GanZi taps out.
22:00 GMT (+00:00): viOLet vs Ret Game Two. Daybreak: Ret @ Right. viOLet @ Left.
22:00 GMT (+00:00): HuK vs Socke Game Two. Shakuras Plateau, HuK @ Top Right, Socke @ Top Left.
21:59 GMT (+00:00): HuK 1 - 0 Socke. A hidden pylon Socke's base allowed HuK's an ideal Dark Templar expand opening. Socke tried to attack and make up for his early disadvantage, but HuK had already bought enough time for his economic advantage to kick in and won the game.
21:55 GMT (+00:00): Ret 1 - 0 viOlet. Ret's two base roach attack hit before viOlet was ready, and ended up putting him very far behind on drones and army. viOlet knew he was very behind, and went for one desperation counter-attack before GG'ing out.
21:47 GMT (+00:00): HuK vs Socke begins on Antiga.
21:46 GMT (+00:00): vioLet vs Ret started on up stream three. Dual Sight!
21:44 GMT (+00:00): GanZi vs SaSe starting on Gameplay 2.
21:16 GMT (+00:00): Opening matches coming up around 21:30 GMT (+00:00) - MC vs MKP, DRG vs NaNiwa, Ganzi vs Sase, and Socke vs Huk.
21:10 GMT (+00:00): Looks like GanZi vs SaSe is happening on Gameplay 2 and Socke vs HuK on Gameplay 3 soon.
21:08 GMT (+00:00): Omg, SC5!!!!
04:43 GMT (+00:00): More Open Bracket R4 results:
Wannabecool 2 - 0 Tubbythefat
aLive 2 - 1 Heavens
Ruff 2 - 0 Catz
Jinro 2 - 0 TLO
Heart 2 - 1 MorroW
Golden 2 - 1 stoicfuzzy
SeleCT 2 - 1 giX
BlinG 2 - 0 Hawk
NonY 2 - 1 LzGaMeR
04:34 GMT (+00:00): Polt 2 - 1 Stephano. Polt does the marauder hellion build and kills Stephano when he doesn't scout or prepare for it.
04:21 GMT (+00:00): Polt 1 - 1 Stephano. Passive game, Polt lets Stephano mass up and take a lot of bases, and then his drops aren't able to do any damage. A largely unhindered Zerg masses up and overruns him, bringing it to game 3.
04:07 GMT (+00:00): Oh, some open bracket R4 results.
Rain 2 - 0 theognis
Symbol 2 - 0 iNcontrol
JYP 2 - 0 HasuObs
Glon 2 - 0 Spades
PuMa 2 - 0 Pokebunny
04:04 GMT (+00:00): Polt 1 - 0 Stephano. Good, long back and forth split-map game on Antiga. The turning point comes when Stephano's broodlord and infestor army gets flanked and surrounded in the center and he can't replenish it fast enough before Polt kills expansions while pushing through the center.
03:38 GMT (+00:00): DRG 2 - 0 HayprO. Banelings weren't even needed in the second game, as DongRaeGue's speedlings were enough to finish off HayprO.
03:31 GMT (+00:00): DRG 1 - 0 HayprO. This game never left the double-ling phase, with both players going at each other aggressively. DongRaeGu's micro proved to be superior, however, and HayprO was forced to concede defeat.
03:27 GMT (+00:00): PartinG 2 - 0 Grubby. Grubby has some nice harass in the early game but PartinG draws it into a normal mid/late game and wins with better upgrades on his colossus.
03:22 GMT (+00:00): HayprO vs DRG begins!
03:21 GMT (+00:00): NaNiwa 2 - 0 DeMuslim. NaNiwa opens with 5 gate pressure after expanding, which kills 20+ SCVs. NaNiwa keeps the intiative with DT play and finishes out a win with archons.
03:12 GMT (+00:00): And some open bracket stuff!
Round 4 Match-ups: Polt vs Stephano, HasuObs vs JYP, Jinro vs TLO, Rain vs TheOgnis, Heart vs Morrow, SeleCT vs giX, Shew vs CrazymovING.
03:08 GMT (+00:00): TheStC 2 - 0 Oz. TheStC went for a sneaky hidden barracks to apply some light marine pressure to hurt OZ's FE. He came out on the winning end of that trade, and attacked again later with stimmed MM to take the series.
03:06 GMT (+00:00): PartinG 1 - 0 Grubby. They both get huge maxed out armies, but PartinG has more bases and wins even after Grubby has some funny mothership and DT shenanigans.
03:03 GMT (+00:00): Ganzi 2 - 1 MC. Ganzi tricked MC into going blind phoenixes, but was unable to capitalize on that advantage and the game transitioned into a fairly standard scenario. A drop from GanZi that took out MC's natural nexus ended up making a big difference, as GanZi was able to play a slow macro game where he traded units and mined more resources to secure a victory.
02:55 GMT (+00:00): NaNiwa 1 - 0 DeMuslim. DeMuslim opens with 2 rax and pulls a lot of SCVs to try to bunker NaNi's main. NaNiwa holds with probes and wins win the counter attack.
02:54 GMT (+00:00): TheStC 1 - 0 Oz. TheStC used a marine-marauder-hellion attack to hurt Oz's fast expansion, and then continued to pile on the misery with drops while taking his own expansion. Oz decided that the only way back was to go all-in and built mass gateways for a final attack, but TheStC held and forced a GG.
02:43 GMT (+00:00): Oz vs TheStC begins on Antiga.
02:44 GMT (+00:00): Ganzi 1 - 1 MC. GanZi hit with two base MMM before MC had enough tech units to put up a good challenge, and won a major battle easily to force the GG.
02:35 GMT (+00:00): viOLet 2 - 0 Socke. Socke looked like he had successfully defended his third base this time around with good forcefields and phoenix use, but was rocked when viOLet came with delayed second wave from his three bases, attacking with hydras and roaches. Once the line broke, Zerg troops never stopped pouring in, and Socke was forced to GG.
02:30 GMT (+00:00): MarineKing 2 - 0 SaSe. MKP opens cc first, has a lot of trouble against SaSe's 3 gate pressure after nex. MKP continues to be incredibly aggressive and trades favorably with good micro repeatedly, until SaSe's army is whittled down and dies.
02:30 GMT (+00:00): MC 1 - 0 GanZi. MC showed that he was not just a boss in the early game, but in the late game as well. With both players taking as many bases as they wanted, MC brought the full firepower of the Protoss army to bear and wiped out GanZi with colossi, templars, and archons.
02:23 GMT (+00:00): HuK 2 - 0 Ret. HuK opens with a forge to expand, then cannoned Ret's natural. Ret taps out when HuK gets a nice wall off with his cannons.
02:20 GMT (+00:00): Socke vs viOLet game two begins on Tal'Darim Altar. Socke @ Top Left, viOLet @ Bottom Right.
02:19 GMT (+00:00): HuK 1 - 0 Ret. HuK opens with 7 gate pressure which Ret defends. As it goes to 4 base Z vs 3 base P macro war, HuK warps in DTs in Ret's main while attacking his fourth with zealots and front with a main army, and Ret crumbles to the multitask.
02:17 GMT (+00:00): viOLet 1 - 0 Socke. viOLet's multi-pronged attacks were enough to break Socke's defenses as he tried to take three bases, and viOLet poured in continued waves of roaches and lings to finish the game.
02:13 GMT (+00:00): Ganzi vs MC starts on Entombed Valley.
02:11 GMT (+00:00): DongRaeGu 2 - 1 DeMusliM. DeMuslim's two base marine-hellion pressure did not pay off at all, and DongRaeGu took a dominating lead. DeMuslim didn't even bother to play the game out for very long, knowing he was in a very tough situation.
02:07 GMT (+00:00): viOlet vs Socke begins. Antiga Shipyard, viOLet @ 6, Socke @ 12.
02:05 GMT (+00:00): Cute, they moved DRG vs DeMusliM from a free stream to a premium stream. Game Three starts on Shakuras Plateau, DRG @ Top Left, Demuslim @ Bottom Right.
02:02 GMT (+00:00): MarineKing 1 - 0 SaSe. MKP plays aggressively with marines and marauders and slowly grinds down SaSe, expanding while denying expansions.
01:49 GMT (+00:00): @MLGSC2Scores reports that TheStC won 2 - 0 over Grubby. So a decision victory for TheStC in that disconnect?
01:47 GMT (+00:00): DeMusliM vs DRG game two begins. Dual Sight, DongRaeGu @ Left, DeMusliM @ Right.
01:44 GMT (+00:00): HayprO 2 - 1 NaNiwa. HayprO went for a bizarre proxy hatchery build to stop NaNiwa's forge FE, but it worked out perfectly as he followed it into a proxy roach-rush that NaNiwa was completely unprepared for. NaNiwa gave HayprO props for his strange but effective strategy and GG'd out.
01:40 GMT (+00:00): DeMusliM 1 - 0 DongRaeGu. An early roach-ling bust went wrong for DongRaeGu, putting DeMusliM in the driver's seat. DeMusliM did not squander his lead, being aggressive with drops to hurt DRG's economy and denying him expansions. Continued army trades favored DeMusliM, who had secured three bases safely, and combined with his drops, forced a GG from the GSL Champion.
01:38 GMT (+00:00): HayprO 1 - 1 NaNiwa. Haypro hit hard with roaches and infestors as NaNiwa tried to go up to three bases. Haypro took out a sizeable chunk of NaNiwa's army and economy, setting up for an easy win a few minutes later.
01:36 GMT (+00:00): PartinG 1 - 2 Oz. Oz expands quicker and defends against blink stalkers well. Game goes into a normal midgame with 2 bases, and as each army runs by each other in the center they go to a base trade. PartinG tries making a hidden expansion but Oz finds it, has the bigger army, and wins.
01:25 GMT (+00:00): DRG vs Demuslim begins! Tal'Darim Altar, Demuslim @ Bottom Left, DRG @ Top Right. Also, Haypro vs NaNiwa game two starts on Daybreak, with Haypro @ Right, NaNiwa @ Left.
01:20 GMT (+00:00): NaNiwa 1 - 0 HayprO. After a drawn out, half-map slugfest on Metalopolis, NaNiwa's use of stalkers and a mothership proved to be more effective than HayprO's best attempts to defend his brood lords.
01:18 GMT (+00:00): PartinG 1 - 1 Oz. Oz opens with DT tech, and the game progresses into normal colossus stalker mid/late game. PartinG wins the big battle when 2 of Oz's colossus move to far forward and die needlessly, and his army melts.
01:05 GMT (+00:00): TheStC 1 - 0 Grubby. Grubby attacks with some early gateway pressure into templar tech, and TheStC defends and then kills him before storm is online.
01:02 GMT (+00:00): PartinG 0 - 1 Oz. Oz expands after 2 gates, PartinG goes for 1 base colossus. Immortals and stalkers overpower the single colossus and PartinG dies.
00:59 GMT (+00:00): Symbol defeats Sleep 2 - 0 in Open Bracket, Winners Round 2.
00:55 GMT (+00:00): NaNiwa vs Haypro begins! Game One, Metalpolis. NaNiwa @ 6, HayprO @ 12.
00:54 GMT (+00:00): PartinG vs Oz game one starting, Oz @ 2 and PartinG @ 10 on Emtombed Valley.
00:43 GMT (+00:00): viOlet 1 - 2 HuK. HuK starts with 6 gate zealot and is unable to kill the third. He continues to make huge gateway army on 2 bases as viOlet takes a fourth and Huk rolsl him over with pure force.
00:39 GMT (+00:00): MKP 2 - 1 GanZi. MKP expands first and holds it, wins with bigger tank and marine army.
00:34 GMT (+00:00): Socke 2 - 1 Ret. Socke secured three bases while holding off Ret's pressure without too much trouble, and put together a powerful colossi + gateway unit army before Ret could successfully transition to hive. His max army powered through Ret's max lair stage army, collecting the GG and winning the series.
00:26 GMT (+00:00): viOlet 1 - 1 HuK. HuK does a 6 gate blink stalker build and wins against viOlet's roaches due to strong forcefield control.
00:24 GMT (+00:00): MKP 1 - 1 GanZi. GanZi opens with a banshee and does a strong marine tank banshee 1-base push. MKP makes a cc after starport and dies to the pressure.
00:22 GMT (+00:00): MC 2 - 1 SaSe. A crazy back and forth game started with SaSe hiding a gateway inside MC's base. Though he did some minor damage, MC managed to hold it off well and reared for a counter attack. However, SaSe held off MC's counter well, and gathered himself for another attack of his own. In turn, MC was able to stop this attack, and was able to make his counter-attack (the fourth of the game) the last.
00:21 GMT (+00:00): Ret vs Socke game three starts. Tal'Darim Altar, Ret @ Top Left, Socke @ Top Right.
00:18 GMT (+00:00): Ret 1 - 1 Socke. Socke went for a funky 1-gate zealot pressure into blink stalkers, but Ret stopped the zealot pressure with ease and managed to scout out the blink stalker follow-up easily. Socke tried to play a mind game by switching belated to DTs, but Ret was ready for that as well, and ended up with a powerful two base economy while Socke was struggling to establish his own second base. Ret was able to simply attack with a mass of roaches and lings to end the game.
00:14 GMT (+00:00): MKP 1 - 0 GanZi. MKP puts on pressure with tanks and marines, and when seige finishes he sets up outside GanZi's main and slowly kills him.
00:13 GMT (+00:00): viOlet 1 - 0 HuK. HuK 7 gates and takes down viOlet's third, but when it goes to long macro game viOlet buys enough time to get huge broodlord force and kills the Protoss army.
00:10 GMT (+00:00): Ret vs Socke, game two. Dual Sight, Ret @ Right, Socke @ Left.
00:09 GMT (+00:00): SaSe 1 - 1 MC. Unlike the previous game, SaSe was able to punish MC's faster expansion with a one base blink build, winning a quick game.
00:06 GMT (+00:00): Socke 1 - 0 Ret. Socke went Bisu mode on his old school compatriot, using
00:05 GMT (+00:00): GanZi vs MarineKing starting, Dual Sight with Ganzi on left and MKP on right.
00:04 GMT (+00:00): MC vs SaSe, Game Two. Shakuras Plateau, MC @ Bottom Left, SaSe @ Top Right.
23:59 GMT (+00:00): MC 1 - 0 SaSe. SaSe went for a one base, blink + robotics build against MC's expansion build, but failed to make a dent. SaSe GG'd out after a final, futile attack.
23:56 GMT (+00:00): HuK vs viOlet starting, Daybreak with HuK on left and viOlet on right.
23:55 GMT (+00:00): Ret vs Socke begins. Antiga Shipyard, Ret @ 6, Socke @ 12.
23:51 GMT (+00:00): MC vs SaSe begins. Dual Sight, MC @ Left, SaSe @ Right.
23:46 GMT (+00:00): DeMuslim 1 - 2 HayprO. DeMuslim mechs and HayprO takes the map and establishes huge roach broodlord infestor army. They trade once and HayprO wins in the remax.
23:37 GMT (+00:00): Oz 2 - 1 Grubby. Oz went for a blink stalker expansion, while Grubby went for a one base, colossus build to try and punish Oz for his greed. However, Oz microed well and sniped the single colossus that was the key to Grubby's attack and secured his economic advantage. Grubby tried to belatedly play catch-up, but couldn't swing the momentum back in his favor, GGing out to a Oz's larger army.
23:31 GMT (+00:00): DeMuslim and HayprO game 3 starting, Entbomed Valley with HayprO @ 7 and DeMuslim @ 2.
23:28 GMT (+00:00): DongRaeGu 2 - 0 NaNiwa. NaNiwa uses 2 base blink stalker play, DRG beats it with overlords full of banelings and then switches to mutas to win. NaNiwa's last ditch attempt army dies when it runs straight into banelings.
23:26 GMT (+00:00):DeMuslim 1 - 1 HayprO. They split the map and HayprO builds up a large force of broodlords and infestors, despite good dropping early from DeMuslim. Zerg overwhelms him in the end.
23:24 GMT (+00:00): Grubby vs Oz game there begins. Entombed Valley, Grubby @ Bottom Left, Oz @ Top Right.
23:21 GMT (+00:00): Grubby 1 - 1 Oz. Both players got fairly quick second bases, where their tech paths diverged slightly with Oz getting faster blink while Grubby got colossi. In the major engagement of the game, Grubby managed to use great forcefields to protect his colossus and fight an even battle in the middle of the map, while simultaneously sending in warp prism to deal a lot a good amount of damage in Oz's main. Grubby was able to build on this good situation, secure a faster third base, and finish Oz with a powerful colossi based army.
23:15 GMT (+00:00): Game two of DRG and NaNiwa started, Dual Sight with NaNiwa on right side and DRG on left.
23:13 GMT (+00:00): Parting 2 - 0 TheStC. TheStC went for a greedy command center first FE in the second game, but couldn't hold against Parting's two base gateway timing attack. Although TheStC did not die straight up, PartinG took a large enough advantage to be able to win very easily in a slightly drawn out game.
23:10 GMT (+00:00):DongRaeGu 1- 0 NaNiwa. DRG brings the fight to NaNiwa and pressures his front constantly with roaches and lings, NaNiwa moves out once with a small stalker sentry army but after DRG stops it the game is over.
23:08 GMT (+00:00): Grubby vs Oz, game two starting. Shakuras Plateau, Grubby @ Bottom Right. Oz @ Bottom Left.
23:05 GMT (+00:00): DeMuslim and HayprO game 2 starting, Metalopolis with HayprO @ 12 and DeMuslim @ 6.
23:04 GMT (+00:00): Oz 1 - 0 Grubby. Oz's DT's were a bit more damaging than Grubby's phoenixes as the two players harassed each other while going for two bases. It was a big enough advantage for Oz to continue to build on, and eventually take the game.
23:03 GMT (+00:00):DeMuslim 1- 0 HayprO. HayprO backstabs several times with lings and banelings when DeMuslim's army moves out, but doesn't do enough damage and eventually dies when DeMuslim marine force grows big enough to travel the map uncontested.
23:00 GMT (+00:00): Game one of DRG and NaNiwa started! Map is Antiga, DRG @ 2 NaNiwa @ 7.
22:57 GMT (+00:00): Parting 1 - 0 TheStC. Parting used his patented "Double expand into 7-gate pressure" build, a fantastic counter build to TheStC's orthodox FE build. The seven gate pressure did a fair amount of damage to TheStC, and Parting was able to cruise to a victory with a superior army and economy.
22:50 GMT (+00:00): Oz vs Grubby begins. Game One, Daybreak: Grubby @ Right, Oz @ Left.
22:47 GMT (+00:00): DeMuslim vs HayprO started! Game One, Tal'Darim Altar: DeMusliM @ Top Right. HayprO @ Bottom Right.
22:45 GMT (+00:00): Parting vs TheStC begins! Game One, Daybreak: TheStC @ Left, Parting @ Right.
22:43 GMT (+00:00): According to the gurus at Liquipedia, Sleep and Symbol are meeting in Winner's Round 2. Tough break -_-;;
22:36 GMT (+00:00): MKP 2 - 0 MC. Goes to 3 base vs 3 base macro war on Antiga, MKP pulls ahead by catching colossus out of position and crushing Protoss army with faster upgrades.
22:34 GMT (+00:00): SaSe 2 - 1 GanZi. SaSe kills GanZi's natural with 3 gate pressure after he expands, and GanZi goes all-in on 1 base with his first medivacs and SaSe holds it off with probes and immortals, later colossus.
22:24 GMT (+00:00): viOLet 2 - 1 Ret. viOLet sent waves of roaches Ret's way as Ret tried to take a third base, and managed to do a significant amount of damage while securing his own third base safely. This quickly snowballed into a major advantage for viOLet, who won the game with a much larger army.
22:17 GMT (+00:00): SaSe 1 - 1 GanZi. SaSe opens with 2 bases and a sentry drop in GanZi's main. It doesn't do much damage, and after they both macro up an army he runs a big hallucinated force into GanZi's natural and the Protoss army melts to GanZi's bio force at his choke.
22:14 GMT (+00:00): MKP 1- 0 MC MKP does strong 2 base marine-tank-banshee attack, kills MC's third while taking his own. Game goes into long macro war, MKP pulls ahead with clever nukes and big upgraded marauder ball with ghosts.
22:14 GMT (+00:00): Parting vs TheStC up next on gameplay stream 3.
22:12 GMT (+00:00): viOLet 1 - 1 Ret. Though the game eventually went to a three base vs three base phase, viOLet kept up the aggression from the very beginning to stay ahead throughout. By delaying Ret's bases and causing minor damage here and there, he eventually built up a large advantage that allowed him to take the game.
22:07 GMT (+00:00): HuK 2 - 0 Socke. Socke tried to go for a relatively fast expansion with delayed blink, while HuK went for a straight up blink stalker pressure build. After a few rounds of inspired offense and defense, HuK's forces proved to be too much, and Socke conceded the game.
22:02 GMT (+00:00): MKP vs MC starting. MKP going CC first and MC taking a quick third.
22:01 GMT (+00:00): SaSe 1 - 0 GanZi. Back and forth macro game where they trade killing expansions, SaSe's army eventually gets too big and GanZi taps out.
22:00 GMT (+00:00): viOLet vs Ret Game Two. Daybreak: Ret @ Right. viOLet @ Left.
22:00 GMT (+00:00): HuK vs Socke Game Two. Shakuras Plateau, HuK @ Top Right, Socke @ Top Left.
21:59 GMT (+00:00): HuK 1 - 0 Socke. A hidden pylon Socke's base allowed HuK's an ideal Dark Templar expand opening. Socke tried to attack and make up for his early disadvantage, but HuK had already bought enough time for his economic advantage to kick in and won the game.
21:55 GMT (+00:00): Ret 1 - 0 viOlet. Ret's two base roach attack hit before viOlet was ready, and ended up putting him very far behind on drones and army. viOlet knew he was very behind, and went for one desperation counter-attack before GG'ing out.
21:47 GMT (+00:00): HuK vs Socke begins on Antiga.
21:46 GMT (+00:00): vioLet vs Ret started on up stream three. Dual Sight!
21:44 GMT (+00:00): GanZi vs SaSe starting on Gameplay 2.
21:16 GMT (+00:00): Opening matches coming up around 21:30 GMT (+00:00) - MC vs MKP, DRG vs NaNiwa, Ganzi vs Sase, and Socke vs Huk.
21:10 GMT (+00:00): Looks like GanZi vs SaSe is happening on Gameplay 2 and Socke vs HuK on Gameplay 3 soon.
21:08 GMT (+00:00): Omg, SC5!!!!
Pool Play: Group A
| MarineKing | 3 - 0 | 6 - 1 |
| Ganzi | 1 - 2 | 4 - 5 |
| SaSe | 1 - 2 | 3 - 5 |
| MC | 1 - 2 | 3 - 5 |
| TBD1 | 0 - 0 | 0 - 0 |
| TBD2 | 0 - 0 | 0 - 0 |
MarineKingPrime, GanZi, 
SK_MC, Quantic.SaSeOpen Bracket 1, Open Bracket 2
+ Show Spoiler [Short Match Recaps] +
21:30 GMT (+00:00): MarineKing vs MC - Central
21:45 GMT (+00:00): SaSe vs Ganzi - Gameplay 2
23:45 GMT (+00:00): MC vs SaSe - Gameplay 1
00:00 GMT (+00:00): MarineKing vs GanZi - Central
01:00 GMT (+00:00): MarineKing vs SaSe - Central
01:00 GMT (+00:00): MC vs Ganzi - Gameplay 2
- Game One: MKP does strong 2 base marine-tank-banshee attack, kills MC's third while taking his own. Game goes into long macro war, MKP pulls ahead with clever nukes and big upgraded marauder ball with ghosts.
- Game Two: Goes to 3 base vs 3 base macro war on Antiga, MKP pulls ahead by catching colossus out of position and crushing Protoss army with faster upgrades.
- MarineKing 2 - 0 MC
21:45 GMT (+00:00): SaSe vs Ganzi - Gameplay 2
- Game One: Back and forth macro game where they trade killing expansions, SaSe's army eventually gets too big and GanZi taps out.
- Game Two: SaSe opens with 2 bases and a sentry drop in GanZi's main. It doesn't do much damage, and after they both macro up an army he runs a big hallucinated force into GanZi's natural and the Protoss army melts to GanZi's bio force at his choke.
- Game Three: SaSe kills GanZi's natural with 3 gate pressure after he expands, and GanZi goes all-in on 1 base with his first medivacs and SaSe holds it off with probes and immortals, later colossus.
- SaSe 2 - 1 GanZi
23:45 GMT (+00:00): MC vs SaSe - Gameplay 1
- Game One: Dual Sight, MC @ Left, SaSe @ Right. SaSe went for a one base, blink + robotics build against MC's expansion build, but failed to make a dent. SaSe GG'd out after a final, futile attack.
- Game Two: Shakuras Platea, MC @ Bottom Left, SaSe @ Top Right. Unlike the previous game, SaSe was able to punish MC's faster expansion with a one base blink build, winning a quick game.
- Game Three: Antiga Shipyard, MC @ 12, SaSe @ 6. A crazy back and forth game started with SaSe hiding a gateway inside MC's base. Though he did some minor damage, MC managed to hold it off well and reared for a counter attack. However, SaSe held off MC's counter well, and gathered himself for another attack of his own. In turn, MC was able to stop this attack, and was able to make his counter-attack (the fourth of the game) the last.
- MC 2 - 1 SaSe
00:00 GMT (+00:00): MarineKing vs GanZi - Central
- Game One: MKP puts on pressure with tanks and marines, and when seige finishes he sets up outside GanZi's main and slowly kills him.
- Game Two: GanZi opens with a banshee and does a strong marine tank banshee 1-base push. MKP makes a cc after starport and dies to the pressure.
- Game Three: MKP expands first and holds it, wins with bigger tank and marine army.
- MKP 2 - 1 GanZi
01:00 GMT (+00:00): MarineKing vs SaSe - Central
- Game One: MKP plays aggressively with marines and marauders and slowly grinds down SaSe, expanding while denying expansions.
- Game Two: MKP opens cc first, has a lot of trouble against SaSe's 3 gate pressure after nex. MKP continues to be incredibly aggressive and trades favorably with good micro repeatedly, until SaSe's army is whittled down and dies.
- MKP 2 - 0 SaSe
01:00 GMT (+00:00): MC vs Ganzi - Gameplay 2
- Game One: Entombed Valley, MC @ Top Left, Ganzi @ Top Right. MC showed that he was not just a boss in the early game, but in the late game as well. With both players taking as many bases as they wanted, MC brought the full firepower of the Protoss army to bear and wiped out GanZi with colossi, templars, and archons.
- Game Two: Antiga Shipyard, Ganzi @ 9, MC @ 3. GanZi hit with two base MMM before MC had enough tech units to put up a good challenge, and won a major battle easily to force the GG.
- Game Three: Dual Sight, Ganzi @ Right, MC @ Left. Ganzi tricked MC into going blind phoenixes, but was unable to capitalize on that advantage and the game transitioned into a fairly standard scenario. A drop from GanZi that took out MC's natural nexus ended up making a big difference, as GanZi was able to play a slow macro game where he traded units and mined more resources to secure a victory.
- MC 1 - 2 GanZi
Pool Play: Group B
| DongRaeGu | 3 - 0 | 6 - 1 |
| HayprO | 2 - 1 | 4 - 4 |
| NaNiwa | 1 - 2 | 3 - 4 |
| DeMusliM | 0 - 3 | 2 - 6 |
| TBD1 | 0 - 0 | 0 - 0 |
| TBD2 | 0 - 0 | 0 - 0 |
coL.MvPDongRaeGu, Quantic.NaNiwa, EG.DeMusliMLiquid`HayprO, Open Bracket 1, Open Bracket 2+ Show Spoiler [Short Match Recaps] +
22:00 GMT (+00:00): DongRaeGu vs NaNiwa - Central
20:45 GMT (+00:00): HayprO vs DeMusliM - Gameplay 3
00:45 GMT (+00:00): NaNiwa vs HayprO - Gameplay 3
00:45 GMT (+00:00): DongRaeGu vs DeMusliM - Gameplay 1
02:00 GMT (+00:00): NaNiwa vs DeMusliM - Central
DongRaeGu vs HayprO - Gameplay 2
- Game One: DRG brings the fight to NaNiwa and pressures his front constantly with roaches and lings, NaNiwa moves out once with a small stalker sentry army but after DRG stops it the game is over.
- Game Two: NaNiwa uses 2 base blink stalker play, DRG beats it with overlords full of banelings and then switches to mutas to win. NaNiwa's last ditch attempt army dies when it runs straight into banelings.
- DongRaeGu 2 - 0 NaNiwa
20:45 GMT (+00:00): HayprO vs DeMusliM - Gameplay 3
- Game One: HayprO backstabs several times with lings and banelings when DeMuslim's army moves out, but doesn't do enough damage and eventually dies when DeMuslim marine force grows big enough to travel the map uncontested.
- Game Two: They split the map and HayprO builds up a large force of broodlords and infestors, despite good dropping early from DeMuslim. Zerg overwhelms him in the end.
- Game Three: DeMuslim mechs and HayprO takes the map and establishes huge roach broodlord infestor army. They trade once and HayprO wins in the remax.
- DeMuslim 1 - 2 HayprO
00:45 GMT (+00:00): NaNiwa vs HayprO - Gameplay 3
- Game One: Metalopolis, NaNiwa @ 6, HayprO @ 12. After a drawn out, half-map slugfest on Metalopolis, NaNiwa's use of stalkers and a mothership proved to be more effective than HayprO's best attempts to defend his brood lords.
- Game Two: Dual Sight, Haypro @ Right, NaNiwa @ Left. Haypro hit hard with roaches and infestors as NaNiwa tried to go up to three bases. Haypro took out a sizeable chunk of NaNiwa's army and economy, setting up for an easy win a few minutes later.
- Game Three: Shakuras Plateau, Haypro @ Top Right, NaNiwa @ Top Left. HayprO went for a bizarre proxy hatchery build to stop NaNiwa's forge FE, but it worked out perfectly as he followed it into a proxy roach-rush that NaNiwa was completely unprepared for. NaNiwa gave HayprO props for his strange but effective strategy and GG'd out.
- NaNiwa 1 - 2 HayprO
00:45 GMT (+00:00): DongRaeGu vs DeMusliM - Gameplay 1
- Game One: Tal'Darim Altar, Demuslim @ Bottom Left, DRG @ Top Right. An early roach-ling bust went wrong for DongRaeGu, putting DeMusliM in the driver's seat. DeMusliM did not squander his lead, being aggressive with drops to hurt DRG's economy and denying him expansions. Continued army trades favored DeMusliM, who had secured three bases safely, and combined with his drops, forced a GG from the GSL Champion.
- Game Two: Dual Sight, DongRaeGu @ Left, DeMusliM @ Right. DongRaeGu tore up DeMusliM with ease, using upgraded zerglings and infestors.
- Game Three: Shakuras Plateau, DRG @ Top Left, Demuslim @ Bottom Right. DeMuslim's two base marine-hellion pressure did not pay off at all, and DongRaeGu took a dominating lead. DeMuslim didn't even bother to play the game out for very long, knowing he was in a very tough situation.
- DongRaeGu 2 - 1 DeMusliM
02:00 GMT (+00:00): NaNiwa vs DeMusliM - Central
- Game One: DeMuslim opens with 2 rax and pulls a lot of SCVs to try to bunker NaNi's main. NaNiwa holds with probes and wins win the counter attack.
- Game Two: NaNiwa opens with 5 gate pressure after expanding, which kills 20+ SCVs. NaNiwa keeps the intiative with DT play and finishes out a win with archons.
- NaNiwa 2 - 0 DeMuslim
DongRaeGu vs HayprO - Gameplay 2
- Game One: Daybreak, DRG @ Left, HayprO @ Right. This game never left the double-ling phase, with both players going at each other aggressively. DongRaeGu's micro proved to be superior, however, and HayprO was forced to concede defeat.
- Game Two: Antiga, DRG @ 9, HayprO @ 3. Banelings weren't even needed in the second game, as DongRaeGue's speedlings were enough to finish off HayprO.
- DongRaeGu 2 - 0 HayprO.
Pool Play: Group C
| HuK | 3 - 0 | 6 - 1 |
| viOLet | 2 - 1 | 5 - 3 |
| Socke | 1 - 2 | 2 - 5 |
| Ret | 0 - 3 | 2 - 6 |
| TBD1 | 0 - 0 | 0 - 0 |
| TBD2 | 0 - 0 | 0 - 0 |
EG.HuK, Empire|viOLet, LIquid`RetaTn.Socke, Open Bracket 1, Open Bracket 2+ Show Spoiler [Short Match Recaps] +
21:30 GMT (+00:00): Socke vs HuK - Gameplay 3
21:30 GMT (+00:00): Ret vs viOLet - Gameplay 1
23:55 GMT (+00:00): Socke vs Ret - Gameplay 3
23:00 GMT (+00:00): HuK vs viOLet - Central
02:45 GMT (+00:00): Socke vs viOLet - Gameplay 3
01:45 GMT (+00:00): HuK vs Ret - Gameplay 1
- Game One: Antiga Shipyard: HuK @ 3, Socke @ 9. A hidden pylon Socke's base allowed HuK's an ideal Dark Templar expand opening. Socke tried to attack and make up for his early disadvantage, but HuK had already bought enough time for his economic advantage to kick in and won the game.
- Game Two: Socke tried to go for a relatively fast expansion with delayed blink, while HuK went for a straight up blink stalker pressure build. After a few rounds of inspired offense and defense, HuK's forces proved to be too much, and Socke conceded the game.
- Socke 0 - 2 HuK
21:30 GMT (+00:00): Ret vs viOLet - Gameplay 1
- Game One: Dual Sight: viOlet @ Left, Ret @ Right. Ret's two base roach attack hit before viOlet was ready, and ended up putting him very far behind on drones and army. viOlet knew he was very behind, and went for one desperation counter-attack before GG'ing out.
- Game Two: Daybreak: viOlet @ left, Ret @ Right. Though the game eventually went to a three base vs three base phase, viOLet kept up the aggression from the very beginning to stay ahead throughout. By delaying Ret's bases and causing minor damage here and there, he eventually built up a large advantage that allowed him to take the game.
- Game Two: Metalopolis: viOLet @ 3, Ret @ 12. viOLet sent waves of roaches Ret's way as Ret tried to take a third base, and managed to do a significant amount of damage while securing his own third base safely. This quickly snowballed into a major advantage for viOLet, who won the game with a much larger army.
- Ret 1 - 2 viOLet
23:55 GMT (+00:00): Socke vs Ret - Gameplay 3
- Game One: Antiga Shipyard, Ret @ 6, Socke @ 12. Socke went Bisu mode on his old school compatriot, using
corsairPhoenix DT to cripple Ret by killing his main hatchery and killing a ton of units. It was a simple matter to follow up with a massive blink stalker attack to finish Ret off. - Game Two: Dual Sight, Ret @ Right, Socke @ Left. Socke went for a funky 1-gate zealot pressure into blink stalkers, but Ret stopped the zealot pressure with ease and managed to scout out the blink stalker follow-up easily. Socke tried to play a mind game by switching belated to DTs, but Ret was ready for that as well, and ended up with a powerful two base economy while Socke was struggling to establish his own second base. Ret was able to simply attack with a mass of roaches and lings to end the game.
- Game Three: Socke secured three bases while holding off Ret's pressure without too much trouble, and put together a powerful colossi + gateway unit army before Ret could successfully transition to hive. His max army powered through Ret's max lair stage army, collecting the GG and winning the series.
- Socke 2 - 1 Ret
23:00 GMT (+00:00): HuK vs viOLet - Central
- Game One: HuK 7 gates and takes down viOlet's third, but when it goes to long macro game viOlet buys enough time to get huge broodlord force and kills the Protoss army.
- Game Two: HuK does a 6 gate blink stalker build and wins against viOlet's roaches due to strong forcefield control.
- Game Three: HuK starts with 6 gate zealot and is unable to kill the third. He continues to make huge gateway army on 2 bases as viOlet takes a fourth and Huk rolsl him over with pure force.
- viOlet 1 - 2 HuK
02:45 GMT (+00:00): Socke vs viOLet - Gameplay 3
- Game One: Antiga Shipyard, viOLet @ 6, Socke @ 12. viOLet's multi-pronged attacks were enough to break Socke's defenses as he tried to take three bases, and viOLet poured in continued waves of roaches and lings to finish the game.
- Game Two: Tal'Darim Altar. Socke @ Top Left, viOLet @ Bottom Right. Socke looked like he had successfully defended his third base this time around with good forcefields and phoenix use, but was rocked when viOLet came with delayed second wave from his three bases, attacking with hydras and roaches. Once the line broke, Zerg troops never stopped pouring in, and Socke was forced to GG.
- Socke 0 - 2 viOLet
01:45 GMT (+00:00): HuK vs Ret - Gameplay 1
- Game One: HuK opens with 7 gate pressure which Ret defends. As it goes to 4 base Z vs 3 base P macro war, HuK warps in DTs in Ret's main while attacking his fourth with zealots and front with a main army, and Ret crumbles to the multitask.
- Game Two: HuK opens with a forge to expand, then cannoned Ret's natural. Ret taps out when HuK gets a nice wall off with his cannons.
- HuK 2 - 0 Ret
Pool Play: Group D
| PartinG | 2 - 1 | 5 - 2 |
| TheStC | 2 - 1 | 4 - 2 |
| Oz | 2 - 1 | 4 - 4 |
| Grubby | 0 - 3 | 1 - 6 |
| TBD1 | 0 - 0 | 0 - 0 |
| TBD2 | 0 - 0 | 0 - 0 |
FXO_z, ST_Parting, GrubbyoGs.TheStC, Open Bracket 1, Open Bracket 2+ Show Spoiler [Short Match Recaps] +
22:45 GMT (+00:00): Parting vs TheStC - Gameplay 3
22:45 GMT (+00:00): Oz vs Grubby - Gameplay 1
00:00 GMT (+00:00): Oz vs Parting - Central
02:45 GMT (+00:00): Oz vs TheStC - Gameplay 3
02:45 GMT (+00:00): Parting vs Grubby - Gameplay 1
01:00 GMT (+00:00): TheStC vs Grubby - Gameplay 2
- Game One: Daybreak: TheStC @ Left, Parting @ Right. Parting used his patented "Double expand into 7-gate pressure" build, a fantastic counter build to TheStC's orthodox FE build. The seven gate pressure did a fair amount of damage to TheStC, and Parting was able to cruise to a victory with a superior army and economy.
- Game Two: TheStC went for a greedy command center first FE in the second game, but couldn't hold against Parting's two base gateway timing attack. Although TheStC did not die straight up, PartinG took a large enough advantage to be able to win very easily in a slightly drawn out game.
- Parting 2 - 0 TheStC
22:45 GMT (+00:00): Oz vs Grubby - Gameplay 1
- Game One: Daybreak, Grubby @ Right, Oz @ Left. Oz's DT's were a bit more damaging than Grubby's phoenixes as the two players harassed each other while going for two bases. It was a big enough advantage for Oz to continue to build on, and eventually take the game.
- Game Two: Shakuras Plateau, Grubby @ Bottom Right. Oz @ Bottom Left. Both players got fairly quick second bases, where their tech paths diverged slightly with Oz getting faster blink while Grubby got colossi. In the major engagement of the game, Grubby managed to use great forcefields to protect his colossus and fight an even battle in the middle of the map, while simultaneously sending in warp prism to deal a lot a good amount of damage in Oz's main. Grubby was able to build on this good situation, secure a faster third base, and finish Oz with a powerful colossi based army.
- Game Three: Entombed Valley, Grubby @ Bottom Left, Oz @ Top Right. Oz went for a blink stalker expansion, while Grubby went for a one base, colossus build to try and punish Oz for his greed. However, Oz microed well and sniped the single colossus that was the key to Grubby's attack and secured his economic advantage. Grubby tried to belatedly play catch-up, but couldn't swing the momentum back in his favor, GGing out to a Oz's larger army.
- Oz 2 - 1 Grubby
00:00 GMT (+00:00): Oz vs Parting - Central
- Game One: Oz expands after 2 gates, PartinG goes for 1 base colossus. Immortals and stalkers overpower the single colossus and PartinG dies.
- Game Two: Oz opens with DT tech, and the game progresses into normal colossus stalker mid/late game. PartinG wins the big battle when 2 of Oz's colossus move to far forward and die needlessly, and his army melts.
- Game Three: Oz expands quicker and defends against blink stalkers well. Game goes into a normal midgame with 2 bases, and as each army runs by each other in the center they go to a base trade. PartinG tries making a hidden expansion but Oz finds it, has the bigger army, and wins.
- Oz 2 - 1 PartinG
02:45 GMT (+00:00): Oz vs TheStC - Gameplay 3
- Game One: Antiga, TheStC @ 6, Oz @ 12. TheStC used a marine-marauder-hellion attack to hurt Oz's fast expansion, and then continued to pile on the misery with drops while taking his own expansion. Oz decided that the only way back was to go all-in and built mass gateways for a final attack, but TheStC held and forced a GG.
- Game Two: Entombed Valley, TheStC @ Bottom Left, Oz @ Top Left. TheStC went for a sneaky hidden barracks to apply some light marine pressure to hurt OZ's FE. He came out on the winning end of that trade, and attacked again later with stimmed MM to take the series.
- Oz 0 - 2 TheStC
02:45 GMT (+00:00): Parting vs Grubby - Gameplay 1
- Game One: They both get huge maxed out armies, but PartinG has more bases and wins even after Grubby has some funny mothership and DT shenanigans.
- Game Two: Grubby has some nice harass in the early game but PartinG draws it into a normal mid/late game and wins with better upgrades on his colossus.
- PartinG 2 - 0 Grubby
01:00 GMT (+00:00): TheStC vs Grubby - Gameplay 2
- Game One Grubby attacks with some early gateway pressure into templar tech, and TheStC defends and then kills him before storm is online.
- Game Two: TheStC was awarded a victory after his game computer crashed in an advantageous situation.
- TheStC 2 - 0 Grubby
Open Bracket: Winners Bracket
+ Show Spoiler [Short Match Recaps] +
*Only Polt vs Stephano was streamed from the open bracket.
Polt vs Stephano
- Game One: Good, long back and forth split-map game on Antiga. The turning point comes when Stephano's broodlord and infestor army gets flanked and surrounded in the center and he can't replenish it fast enough before Polt kills expansions while pushing through the center.
- Game Two: Passive game, Polt lets Stephano mass up and take a lot of bases, and then his drops aren't able to do any damage. A largely unhindered Zerg masses up and overruns him, bringing it to game 3.
- Game Three: Polt does the marauder hellion build and kills Stephano when he doesn't scout or prepare for it.
- Polt 2 - 1 Stephano
