EPTBoth players hadn't been in a final for the longest time. The last time Kingdom attented a final was during the August 2004 SPRIS MSL, where he lost 2-3 to the Monster Terran, iloveoov. As for Nal_rA, the last final he played was during the NHN OSL where he won 3 to 1 against ZeuS. Both players badly wanted to reach the finals. Let's not waste another second. Here are the reports.
Nal_rA(P) vs Kingdom(P) (Bo5)
Game 1 : Nal_rA(P) vs Kingdom(P) @ The Eye
After the usual never-ending pre-games speech, we finally got to see the clash of the Kings! Nal_rA warped at 1 while Kingdom warped at 5. Nal_rA wisely put his initial pylon to block an eventual manner pylon attempt while Kingdom got a bit greedy and put it far from his mineral line. Kingdom was going straight to Dragoons and didn't scout for a very long time while Nal_rA went for a 1 gate Zealot rush. Once Nal_rA scouted his enemy's base, he noticed that he was very vulnerable to manner pylons and made 2 of them. He then decided to make a little pylon prison which didn't affect Kingdom that much as he killed one of them with 7 Probes and a Dragoon.
Nal_rA got several probe kills and greatly delayed Kingdom's economy. Once Kingdom killed the manner pylons and defended the Zealots, he tried a counter on what he thought was a Nal_rA without units. Oh god was he wrong! As he was harassing, Nal_rA had teched to Dragoons and warped them out of 2 Gateways. Kingdom had opted for an hidden expansion at the 7 o'clock mineral only expansion. Things couldn't get any worst for him. Nal_rA decided to be the aggresser and managed to clear Kingdom's ramp with an overwhelming amount of Dragoons. Kingdom tried to defend with Probes but when Nal_rA's reinforcements arrived, he was forced into GG'ing.
Nal_rA(P) 1-0 Kingdom(P)
Kingdom is usually the one being aggressive in his games but Nal_rA made him taste his own medecine and easily secured the victory.
Game 2 : Nal_rA(P) vs Kingdom(P) @ Arcadia
Kingdom really had to win this game because no one could see him winning against the Lord of Dream on 815 lll. Kingdom started at 1 while Nal_rA was mining at the 5 o'clock position. Kingdom went for another fast Dragoon build while Nal_rA did a 1 Gate Zealot build. With Kingdom's build forcing him to scout really late, Nal_rA was able to scout him on first try and got 2 other manner Pylons in position. Nal_rA then proceeded to sneak Zealots into Kingdom's base but this time he killed a lot of Probes. Kingdom then countered with his Dragoons and temporarely contained Nal_rA to his main base. He then abandonned his contain to get a safe expansion with Dragoons and 2 Reavers.
Nal_rA knew such a thing was going to happen. He went for a mass Dragoon and 2 Reaver with a Shuttle and attacked Kingdom. Fortunately for the Devil, his shuttle poped out just in time for him to defend with equal forces. Nal_rA mis-microed his Reavers and as a result, he lost them both to Kingdom's. It isn't until later that we noticed that Nal_rA's attack wasn't bad at all. He managed to kill most of Kingdom's Dragoons with his Scarabs, leaving only two behind.
Kingdom now thought he had a significant advantage on Nal_rA as his expansion was done way faster and had more Reavers. He then tried to attack Nal_rA's choke with Dragoons but for some reason, he tried to kill Nal_rA's probes at his natural by dropping his two Reavers there. Nal_rA's army was right next to it and he easily killed both Reavers and the Shuttle. As soon as Nal_rA got 2 more Reavers, he waited for speed upgrade to achieve completion and flew to Kingdom's main. What an awesome Reaver drop that was! Kingdom's main was completely undefended and Nal_rA managed to kill most of the probes that were mining there.
Meanwhile, Kingdom had switched tech and had speed Zealots, Dragoons and Dark Templars. As for Nal_rA, he expanded at the 7 o'clock expansion but it got spotted right away as Kingdom saw him maynard his probes there. He sent a Dark Templar there and simply killed everysingle Probes. Shortly after, Nal_rA decided that he wanted to play on the next map and attacked Kingdom with a massive amount of Dragoons and 2 Reavers. Without Reavers or Storms to defend, Kingdom's units melted. He lost his natural and GG'd shortly after.
Nal_rA(P) 2-0 Kingdom(P)
Once again, Nal_rA was the one being aggressive by constantly harassing his opponent. Kingdom is usually that guy. He's not looking like his old self in this serie.
Game 3 : Nal_rA(P) vs Kingdom(P) @ 815 lll
We're now down to what could be the last game of this best of five. Kingdom temporarly left the stage during the break to maybe get some tips from Pj and Legendary. Probably not but oh well
.Kingdom warped at 5 o'clock and Nal_rA started at 1 o'clock. Nal_rA went for another 1 gate Zealot rush and Kingdom teched to Cybernetics Core after his first Zealot. Nal_rA scouted Kingdom on first try but Kingdom managed to block his ramp with a Probe and later with a Zealot. Nal_rA decided to attack that Zealot with one of his. He lost it as Kingdom had a Probe for additional damage. Kingdom didn't know that Nal_rA hid a Zealot from his scouting Probe and managed to enter Kingdom's base. With that Zealot, Nal_rA managed to see Kingdom's plan. He was going for a fast Carrier build. Nal_rA then harassed with Zealots, killing many Probes until Kingdom's first Carrier popped out and defended.
Meanwhile, Nal_rA expanded to the 11 o'clock main expansion and got both Robotics Facility and 3 Stargates. He went mass Corsairs with a Reaver in Shuttle to counter Kingdom's fast Carrier build. Nal_rA then distracted Kingdom's Carrier with his Corsair while killing Probes with his Reaver. As Kingdom's main was under attack, he countered Nal_rA's expansion with two Zealots. He managed to bring it down to around 25 HP before Nal_rA's reaver came to save it. With three Stargates restlessly warping Corsairs, Nal_rA went into Kingdom's base to kill his Carriers. Even if Kingdom got himself some Photon Cannons, there was nothing he could do against the Corsairs. He barely had any probes left.
Nal_rA killed Kingdom's Carriers easily and a Reaver killed most of Kingdom's Probes. Kingdom GG'd.
Nal_rA(P) 3-0 Kingdom(P)
Kingdom should really have been more careful with his ramp. His tech was meant to surprise Nal_rA but he did nothing to hide it. As soon a s Nal_rA saw Kingdom's plan, there was no way he could have lost that game.
So Nal_rA won with a convincing 3-0 and will face Savior[gm] in the finals! That is going to be awesome
.Long story short
Nal_rA(P) 3-0 Kingdom(P)
Nal_rA(P) > Kingdom(P) @ The Eye
Nal_rA(P) > Kingdom(P) @ Arcadia
Nal_rA(P) > Kingdom(P) @ 815 lll
On a side note, I would like to give big props to pum and alffla for this awesome gift :
![[image loading]](http://www.yellowchrome.org/1com/showImage.jpg)
"Me Gosu?? Teamliquid??? kekekekeke" - MBC Commentator
The final's report will be very detailed with pictures and a review of the Pringles MSL! Don't miss it!
I hope you all enjoyed
OctoPuSs
