EPT
Game 1 – Much vs. GoRush
Longinus
Much (11) luckily scouted his opponent first and was able to throw down a nexus and even a gateway before building a forge to protect his FE. GoRush (6) went with a standard hatch first at his nat followed by a fairly late pool. GoRush quickly took the aggressive as he pumped hydras instead of drones and made literally zero drones at his new third hatch at his mineral only.
Much got a stargate for a scouting sair and began to produce ranged goons as he tried to take advantage of his quick economic boost. Just as he began to mass, GoRush attacked his wall with everything he had.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/ManaBlue/Shinhan3_OSL_playoff_3_1/muchgorush.JPG)
Much brings in his probes to make the save as he waits for Goon range.
After deflecting that attack with few loses, Much simply waited for range and easily blocked the next attack. He could see that his opponent still had very few drones, so Much waited for a couple rounds of speed lots and ran GoRush over easily.
Much > GoRush
Again, Much plays a solid game and GoRush makes his opponent look like god because his ZvP has, incredibly, reached a new low. Who was the one that told me GoRush’s ZvP was his best matchup a couple months ago? I don’t hear you piping up now do I?
Game 2 – Midas vs. Savior
Arkanoid
Midas (5) did the standard fast CC to nat build while Savior (7) did the same. Savior began to break through the neutral buildings while he began to mass upgraded hydras. Then this gem of a battle occurred when their forces met in the middle of the map.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/ManaBlue/Shinhan3_OSL_playoff_3_1/midassavior.JPG)
Oh yeah, that’s a smart battle to engage in. Exactly what I’d expect from the number one player in the world. o_0
Savior tried to pressure Midas as he added lurkers to the mix, but the narrow passages of Arkanoid were his worst nightmare. After a nice drop in Savior’s main and an effective levelling of all of Savior’s tech and main following soon after, Midas took the game.
Midas > Savior
Savior played a goofy strategy that seemed dependent on Midas being greedy and trying to hold both naturals early on in the game. Midas didn’t want to and effectively out massed Savior using his main and one nat. A pretty lame performance from Savior, but we can forgive him since seeing a weak game from this guy is as rare as catching a unicorn.
Game 3 – Oov vs. Yellow[name]
Hitch Hiker
Rather than pressuring as is customary on this map, Oov (5) went with a one rax CC build, while Yellow Jr. (11) happily took his nat and min only without worry. Early on Oov was able to sneak 4 marines and a medic past Jr’s sunken line, but after only 2 drone kills the infantry was wiped out by some timely muta reinforcements. It was then Jr’s turn to harass.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/ManaBlue/Shinhan3_OSL_playoff_3_1/oovjr.JPG)
Yellow has his way with Oov despite the typical wall of turrets built by the gorilla.
Yellow had a field day swiping SCV kills at the Terran nat. Oov didn’t have the marine numbers to keep up with Jr. and built a ton of turrets that ultimately didn’t stop the harass anyway.
Oov soon had his nat CC floating back to his main as Jr’s tech swing to lurk/ling caused tons of units to flood into the Terran natural. Jr. was eventually forced out, but he had hive tech on the way and both corner gas expansions building.
Oov, forever the cheater, somehow hacked himself a sizable tank force supported by some infantry and made his way toward the Zerg nat. The only thing stopping him from running over the Zerg in the narrow center path was the arrival of Jr’s defilers. Under dark swarm Yellow was able to force Oov back and ultimately win a forgone conclusion.
Yellow > Oov
Want to see a Zerg player completely outclass a top 10 Terran on a less than fun ZvT map? Watch this game. This kid’s ZvT is so good he puts his namesake to shame.
Game 4 – Casy vs. July
Longinus
Casy (11) opened with a wall in front of his nat, looking to secure an expansion early, while July (6) opened with his once signature 9 pool. His initial harass of Casy’s wall was very successful as he was able to force the Terran to pull large numbers of SCVs to combat the early lings. July then made an unlikely tech switch and went with one base spire. Casy scouted it quite clearly, but was still punished badly as he lost wild numbers of SCVs to July’s smooth mutas.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/ManaBlue/Shinhan3_OSL_playoff_3_1/julycasy.JPG)
July gets far more SCVs than he needed to make this raid worthwhile.
July’s natural was now up and he had secured it with a wall of sunkens. As he gathered a lurker/ling army Casy attempted to camp in front of the Zerg nat waiting for the force to come to him. July had other ideas and packed the units into overlords for a sizable doom drop. Casy had nothing there to defend and lost his entire main to lurker spikes as the last of his infantry was shredded at July’s sunken wall.
July > Casy
July is so cool. Playing a 9 pool into one base muta into doom drop... on longinus of all maps! Brilliant strategic play and smooth execution from the Sumo Zerg. This game will remind you why you loved July so much during his Oov smashing days.
VOD of the Game Day:
Casy vs. July AGAIN!
This game made me feel nostalgic. Personally I love 9 pool ZvT play and this game shows why July is and will always be the master of it. He uses his early gains to keep the pressure on his opponent and win with style.
Some of the series end in 2-0 victories as we see Yellow Jr. and Much move on to the next round. The final games played on Friday decided the winners of some of the most exciting match ups in the round of 16, notably, Midas/Savior and Casy/July. Hang tight for results and reports on those games, coming soon.
![[image loading]](http://img382.imageshack.us/img382/9319/ahhhhhhvd6.png)
