EPT
Time is running short on this OSL season, and we are down to four competitors. Both July and Pusan play for the POS proteam, so July excused himself from the headquarters in order to prepare in peace prior to these games. Regardless of the outcome, POS will have a player in both the finals and third place match, and their team is showing dominant style these days.
In the great words of Big John Mccarthy, "LETS GET IT ON!"
Game 1: RoV
Fun Fact: Matchup record for this map is: 16-10 zvp.
The game opened with Pusan on the right and July on the left. Pusan’s first building was a pylon followed by a forge by July’s ramp. July had pooled first, and found the forge just as the first cannon was warping in. Pusan bought three more probes from his base to harass the zerg main, while July snuck a couple lings out and forced Pusan to build defense in his main. A gateway warped in next to the proxy cannons as July dropped a second hatchery in his main. Again July came out with lings, and this time tried to flank the setup from two sides. It took a further attack, but finally July eased the pressure at his ramp. Having lost all his proxy buildings, including forge, Pusan was relying on a single cannon in his main for defense. As July got his lair, Pusan again proxied, this time with a robotics facility. However his ramp was defended by two lone zealots. As his reaver tech warped into view, a spire was dropped at the zerg natural, and a pair of lurkers guarded the exterior. At the very instant that the reaver floated to July’s main, an expanding drone came into view and the gig was up. A combination of early detection and scarab AI helped July escape with only moderate damage.
Pusan's early set up took advantage of the mini mineral wall, protecting the forge and pylon.
However, July snuck around some lings, and pincered the two cannons nicely, that third one barely survived.
However, the last attack finished the job and now it was back to business.
July quickly countered and pushed at the ramp of Pusan, while taking out the proxy robo with his first mutalisks. However, one obs escaped the robotics before it fell, and while July's slow ov's tried to track it, it quickly outpaced the slow overmind. July commenced harassment with his mutalisks, while Pusan fought it with his three gate goons. July continued his low eco muta harass, while he slowly added more drones as gas allowed. He charged the ramp of Pusan, finding it lightly defended, and did great damage with muta/ling, losing the lings but saving the muta. In a sweet move, July brought up an overlord and killed Pusan's only ob. His harassment had simply been a way to buy time for his overlord to arrive and give his lurkers an invisible edge. With no robo rebuilt, Pusan realized that his time was up with lurker/ling/muta at his ramp. He tapped gg and decided to try again in game two.
July 1:0 Pusan
Pusan said RoV was the most difficult map for this matchup, and it showed in this game. He started with some devilish cheese early, but July has no fear of cannons and once he shut that down it was gg. Pusan made a couple key mistakes. He lost his reaver to only lings in order to get out one more scarab. I think if he had been more patient he could have had more success. Also, July managed to cancel two cannons with lings, costing a one-base Pusan minerals he could not afford to waste.
Game 2: Rush Hour II
Fun Fact: The matchup record on this map is: 10:8 zvp.
As the game stared, the commentators debated the quality of double nexus on a three player map. Pusan opened at 7 while July was at three, busy sending his ov in the wrong direction. Pusan indeed put his pylon outside his ramp to start, and then scouted correctly to the east. The pylon was followed by a forge, and July pooled before the hatchery.
As Pusan dropped two cannons, July took his expo and sent his initial lings out to scout. By this time the Nexus was warping in paired with a gateway, and July had a den up in his base very quickly. The hydralisks came quickly out of the gate, July focusing on troops more than economy in the face of a fast nexus. Being the smart guy he is, July researched range before speed for his hydras and fired away at the exposed belly of Pusan's nexus. A constant rally of hydralisks meant July outnumbered anything Pusan could produce from one gateway, and when the nexus fell it was open season on the cannons. Perfect strategy by July, and quickly it was 2:0.
July 2:0 Pusan
July has the best SC mind in the world.
Game 3: Cultivation Period
Fun Fact July is 15:6 vs P since 2003 … 68%.
The game opened with the players opposite each other, Pusan at 9 and July at 3. Pusan started with pylon/gas/forge to start up his +1 attack upgrade in a hurry. Followed by a cannon, he was playing tight to the vest as July opened with a pool and geyser.
Two gateways followed for Pusan as he slowed the zerg expo with a pylon and probe harass. Zealots started to emerge from the base as July dropped a third hatchery, this one in his main, and the zergling count was increasing.
As the first half dozen zealots headed towards the zerg expo, July retreated his lings in wait. The protoss warriors attacked the sole sunken only to be surrounded by two dozen lings and massacred like babies in a combine. Building four gates in his main, Pusan started up goon range research while still massing. July had switched from lings to hydra, and as Pusan headed to the zerg expo again the zerg army was looking scary.
Pusan spent some much needed cash on cannons in his main, but July still had yet to start a lair. Pure hydra ling was the recipe, and as Pusan finally laid his expansion July's army grew on the power of three hatcheries. July moved forward with his hydra/ling, and while Pusan tried to defend with his goons and zealots, July's superior control smashed the defenses apart without blinking an eye. Pusan sent out a gg, shook the zergs hand, and in one hour (including commercials) it was 3:0 July.
July 3:0 Pusan
Fun Fact: Unless Jesus himself plays protoss, nobody will beat July on these maps... or any maps, in a best of 5.
A thirty minute massacre was this. You can argue whether July is the best in the world or not, but you can’t argue that there is not a protoss player alive who will take him in a best of 5. He makes the pvz imbalance look like the grand canyon. So, Pusan will battle for the third seed for the second straight season, while July awaits the winner of Iloveoov and Casy in his quest for OSL #3.
Here is an interview with the winner July, as well as the POS coach. These translations provided by HonestTea, thanks a lot sir.
"30 minute" July
- How does it feel to advance.
▲ First of all, I feel bad for beating Pusan, worse because the score was 3:0, not 3:1 or 3:2. But I am happy to make it to the finals. I will do my best on that stage as well.
- How were the games.
▲ I was very startled in game 1. I think I was able to win by not taking my natural and upgrading ling speed. Games 2 and 3 went as I had planned. Reacting well in game 1 was the key to winning the series handily.
- What score did you predict?
▲ I only prepared strategies for the first two games. I was expecting to play all five games, but I got lucky.
- How was the strategy in game 1.
▲ I had never seen that strategy before, so I was very surprised. But I was able to beat it by staying steady and reacting calmly.
- How did you practice
▲ I've been away from POS dorms for a while. I knew I couldn't practice enough alone so I called Bisu[Shield] (POS) over, and JuniToss (POS) helped over Battle.net. I would also like to thank SauL[gm], Kingdom, IntotheRainbow, Nal_Rock, and many others who helped me practice.
- You'll meet a Terran in the finals.
▲ During the round of 16 I took a blow from Boxer. Losing that game was tough. I won't make that kind of mistake regardless of who I meet in the finals. I would like to form a rivalry with a new Terran like oov or Casy, just as Boxer and Yellow did. I'll train perfectly so that I can answer my fan's support with a win.
- How much did you practice?
▲ On average, 13 hours a day. At most, 15 in one day.
- You were in a slump earlier this year.
▲ I myself don't think I was in a slump, but it's true that my record wasn't good. This OSL, I've approached every game as a must-win. There's the Golden Mouse, but also I felt that if I didn't work hard this time, it would only get more difficult in the future. So I'm working hard.
- You've alternated between 1st and 2nd place so far. In that order, you'll be up for 2nd this time.
▲ Honestly I'm a little worried. But I can break that jinx with practice.
- You have a good chance for the Golden Mouse
▲ My goal is to become champion, not the Golden Mouse. Of course, winning the Golden Mouse would be nice too.
- The other possible Golden Mouse winner, Boxer, failed to advance.
▲ It's a little dissapointing, but it doesn't matter. I have no preference between iloveoov and Casy.
- Your mentality for the finals.
▲ There will be no more slump. I'll go back to the Terran-killing July of before. 1st place is mine.
Bonus
Tae-gi Ha, head coach of POS
- How did you feel watching.
▶ It was the first time that POS had two players in the semifinals, so I was very nervous. Once again I realized the cold reality of competitive sport. One must be the victor, and one must be the loser. This is the unchangeable truth. But it still hurts those who have to watch. I want to congradulate July, and console Pusan. July played a great game, and so did Pusan.
- It was decided in game 1.
▶ July's defensive skill was the decisive factor. He improvised a solution for a strategy that Pusan had spent sleepless nights coming up with. As I was watching him do that, I thought that Pusan and July are both great players. Because the two are teammates, July knew Pusan's tendencies well. Along with the natural PvZ advantage, knowing their opponent also influenced the result.
- We saw you consoling Pusan as soon as the game was over (before going to congradulate July)
▶ Pusan proved through this season that he is one of the best Protosses. If he beat July his impact would have been larger, but he did his best. Since he placed 4th in the So1 OSL, I want him to get 3rd in the ShinHan Bank OSL and get a seed. If he keeps going step by step like that he'll end up at the top.
- Pusan looked very tired.
▶ It's probably because he's had little time to rest, even giving up his lunar new year holiday. He'll get whatever he wants the next few days. We'll see to it that he can rest as much as he wants before the 3rd-4th game.
- What did you say to them before the game?
▶ After they made it to the semis I said, "Do your best for the fans of protoss and zerg. After the semifinals, forget about who wins and lets become one as POS teammates." That's all I said. The two players give it everything they had, and played great games. I am 100% satisfied as a coach.
- July is in the finals again.
▶ It's his 4th finals appearance in 6 OSLs. July is the most dilligent player I've ever seen. Coming into the semis he practiced a couple hundred games and devised the best build order for himself. He always plays aggressive from the beginning, so he must have been tired, but he never said a word while practicing. That kind of intense drive surprised even me. "Only champions know the taste of being on top" is also a reason why July is so strong. On top of all this the Golden Mouse also provokes his competitiveness.
- Who do you want to see in the finals.
▶ Boxer vs July would have been the best draw, too bad it didn't happen. Sill, I would like SK Telecom's iloveoov to advance. oov and Casy are both great players but I appoint oov as Boxer's stand-in. When July first placed 1st, in the Gillette OSL, him and oov played a series of incredible games.
You can also get a copy of the games by clicking here.
Manifesto7
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Manifesto7/So1_finals_BoxerAnytime/goldmouse.JPG)
