Liquibition Results!

Game One - Tau Cross


iNControl opened at 1 o'clock, while IdrA opened at 9. While IdrA built two barracks and then started a CC in his main, iNC got ballsier and took a hidden expo at 5 as well as his nat. The CC being built inside IdrA's main was a good choice though, as it kept zerg guessing as to how aggressive the terran might open.

IdrA finished the CC, pumped a few extra scv's, and then floated the main building to secure the expo. In the meantime, he upgraded a quick +1 atk for his marines and set about securing his base. On the other side of the map, zerg plans were also going well as a spire went up, and +1 hydra atk was well underway. When the mutalisks popped, they did little in the way of damage. However, they kept IdrA worried and prevented him from attacking the now discovered base at the bottom of the map. You had to know though, that is was only a matter of time.

At 9:30 into the game, things were looking good from iNC as he had three gas secured, a hive in his main, and a greater spire on the way. However, IdrA's macro had boomed from the lack of zerg pressure, and at the ten minute mark he rolled out with a population of 120. He marched his army clear across the map and parked his tanks in front of the defensive sunken line. In response, iNControl morphed both lurkers and guards, and an epic stand was made. The +2 lurkers ripped apart the fearless marines while the guards and a steady stream of zerglings kept up the support. The casualties were massive on both sides, but the zerg bases were still standing.

Unperturbed, IdrA flashed another large terran ball and marched again into zerg territory. Although his troop count was diminished, iNControl was able to stop yet another attack by the terran legions, this time with the help of defilers and their dark swarm. The repeated battles were taking their toll however, and zerg had no ability to take the offensive.

With the endgame closing in rapidly and main minerals dwindling, IdrA turned his focus towards the bottom zerg expansions. With another large army he moved down the left of the map and opened fire on the lightly defended economic zones. Assessing the situation, iNC decided to counter attack with his forces. The results were poor, as in exchange for both of his bottom expansions, he merely forced a lift of the Terran CC and then retreated in the face of reinforcements. The tide had turned. IdrA cleaned up the bottom of the map and then marched into zerg territory again. iNC had tried to beef up his attack force with ultras, but their lack of upgrades saw them get chewed up by +1 +2 marines. After one more failed counter at the terran economy, he typed GG.

IdrA 1:0 iNControl - This was a great game which featured two very strong builds. Had iNC been able to build a nydus canal down to his expansions, and perhaps stuck with the defiler/lurks rather than the ultra switch, the result may have been very different.

Game Two - Loki

This two player map has been described as Peaks of Baekdu, on its side. IdrA definitely had a sideways build on the map as he opened with a proxy factory right under iNC's nose. As he harassed with his early vults vs iNC's lings, he teched to wraiths back in his main. However, iNC responded well to the threat, and went pure lings while waiting for his two hatch spire to finish. The stream of lings breeched the terran wall and forced IdrA to defend with everything, including the wraiths that should have been harassing. With time bought, iNC was able to rid the skies of the wraith threat and drop his third hatch. Things were looking good for the hungry zerg.

For his part, IdrA did not panic. While his build had backfired, he still had a flush one base economy and exploited his two starports for MM and vessels. Using his map knowledge well, he snuck a group of marines around the bottom of the zerg natural and took down the spire, extractor, and defending lurkers. With iNC back to one gas, his lurker numbers were small and overextended. He tried to stall IdrA at key choke points, but excellent marine micro kept the pressure on iNControl. iNControl lost the remainder of his army trying to defend his second expansion, and typed GG in the face of superior control.

IdrA 2:0 iNControl - iNControl admitted that he did not know the map, which definitely worked to his disadvantage as IdrA exploited many of the nuances of the map. Nevertheless, IdrA showed slick micro and good decision making in a nice come from behind victory.

Game Three - Python

Leading 2-0, IdrA (@2) took his expansion early for an economic advantage. That advantage disappeared quickly however, as iNControl (@12) went all-in with 3 hatch speedlings. The CC was forced to lift, marines had their guts splattered, and the overmind howled with glee. It looked as if iNC was on his way to get back into the series. He quickly took both 11 and 9 while teching to lurkers and drops.

IdrA reclaimed his expansion and set about fortifying his base. This turned out to be a wise decision as lurker/ling drops were incoming quickly. With tanks and vessels for defense, the zerg drops were vaporized with little to no damage to the terran war effort. With that, the IdrA macro machine kicked in again.

With his base safe, IdrA moved out and rampaged around the map, taking down both 9 and 11 in a whirlwind of terran violence. Facing a two factory terran with pure lair tech, iNControl was simply unable to dent the terran armies that confronted him. Unable to stop the attacks, or effectively counter the terran stronghold, iNControl typed GG and stared 0-3 in the face.

IdrA 3:0 iNControl - Another comeback win for IdrA who showed some good crisis management in coming back so quickly. In reflection, iNControl probably wishes he had elected for a different tactic than dropping, as it proved to be ineffective.

Game Four - Monty Hall

IdrA opened on Monty Hall with a three game lead and a fast, in-base CC. As he mined out the top wall of his base, he dropped barracks and was quickly commanding a platoon of grunts and the odd tank. Starting at the top, iNControl cheated a drone through the left side and set up a three hatch build modeled after Silver's offensive hatch strat. However, he misread the bottom of the map and expanded one spot back from where he should have! This mistake would cost him dearly as IdrA was able to mine out the left-hand wall unmolested and march through with his army at the nine minute mark. iNControl tried the best he could to hold back the forces with hydra lurk, but there was too much marching room and IdrA swept up the side of the map. GG, and IdrA is your new Liquibition champion.

The misplaced hatch really cost iNC in this game, as he was unable to put pressure on IdrA and have him commit resources to breaking the hatch. Stupid observers also dont help (sorry iNC sorry). In total, this series really highlighted the strong macro of IdrA. In every game, he was marching at 110 to 120 pop vs 80 to 90 of iNControl. That kind of advantage allowed him to recover from mistakes and put severe strain on the zerg properties. Good games played by all.