Semi-Finals Recap
PartinG vs. Sniper
Leenock vs. Life


GSL Blizzard Cup 2012 brackets and results at Liquipedia

by: Waxangel

Results from Live Report Thread by opterown.
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The Train has Left the Station
- PartinG shuts out Sniper with three "Soul" all-ins.

After defeating viOLet in the round of six, ST_PartinG indirectly compared himself to the anime character Son Goku, a master martial artist who saved the Earth on multiple occasions. On Thursday night, PartinG looked every bit the superhero as he protected a different kind of world - the StarCraft II scene - from its own unique threat. With yet another Zerg vs. Zerg final looming like a spectre over the Blizzard Cup, PartinG made sure fans and the GSL would be spared such a disaster by powering his way through the semi-finals.

MVP.Sniper was the perfect antagonist, the champion of the Zerg dominated Code S Season Five. With Life and Leenock in the other semi-final, even fans with no qualms about balance did not relish the prospect of Sniper bringing about the third ZvZ final in as many weeks. And for those who did happen to believe there was a lack of parity in StarCraft II, Sniper might as well have been the all-devouring Majin-buu. However, seemingly tired of having gone through all the usual tropes of hidden depths, secret tactics, and comeback victories against viOLet in the Ro6, PartinG decided he'd cut the drama and bulldoze Sniper straight up with his best tactics. The famous soul-powered immortal-sentry all-in came three times in a row, and Sniper was utterly powerless to defend in its wake. It wasn't so much Dragonball as it was Superman, only if Superman decided to just melt Lex Luthor with his eye-lasers instead of put up with his bulls***.

Game one on Entombed Valley saw Sniper try for some tricks of his own, opening with a nydus-build that aimed to catch PartinG off guard. Unfortunately for Sniper, PartinG had perfect vision over his main and natural in case of such an attempt. Sniper vainly tried to Nydus in plain vision, hoping for a monumental blunder from PartinG, but he would have no such fortune. PartinG destroyed the Nydus, assembled his push, and crushed Sniper to take the first game. Games two and three ended up being the typical PartinG games many viewers have come to expect, with Zerg attempting to stop the immortal-sentry all-in with full knowledge, and yet getting annihilated due to PartinG's mastery of force-fields and warp-prism micro. PartinG traded resources at ratios of one-to-five or better at some points, using force-fields to tie off and amputate large chunks of the Zerg army.

Reaching the finals was surely sweet for PartinG, but he had the added bonus of getting some revenge as well. Sniper had previous defeated PartinG's immortal-sentry all-in in the previous season of Code S, leaving many to believe it had been figured out. In fact, even PartinG himself allowed that belief to propagate, mentioning in his interview after defeating viOLet that he felt the build had run its course. It may have been one of the more devious mind-games in recent memory, as PartinG showed that the build was not only very much alive, but championship quality as well.


- Life Goes On

PartinG wasn't the only Startale player to win a great victory on the night, as ST_Life overcame his rival FXO.Leenock to book an all-Startale final. Like his victory over DRG, Life's triumph over Leenock was dulled somewhat due to ZvZ overexposure, but it was a meaningful victory nonetheless. Life's stature in ZvZ had fallen significantly since being its guru in the first half of 2012, and two strong victories over top Zergs in Leenock and DongRaeGu helped reestablish Life as the flawless prodigy.

Life seemed to have figured something out inside a day, as his victory over Leenock looked far easier than the one over DongRaeGu. His overall sense of management seemed better, inching ahead on economy and tech while applying pressure, and most critically, he took far better roach-infestor engagements. If Life needed poor engagements from DRG to win on Tuesday, the victory against Leenock came on his own terms. Leenock did take one good victory on Bel'Shir vestige, a game where Life tried to pile on the pressure with roaches and lings, with Leenock just barely holding out against multiple waves of attacks until his mutalisks could win him the game.

After looking as even as could be, the rivalry between new generation Zergs has tilted towards Life once more. With a slightly less impressive resume, Leenock's better head to head record against Life was all that was keeping him abreast. Should Life triumph in the grand finals of the Blizzard Cup, Leenock will be in danger of falling irrevocably behind.

Writers: Waxangel.
Graphics: GSL, hawaiianpig
Editor: Waxangel.