EPT![[image loading]](/staff/Tadzio00/battlereport2.jpg)
Flash starts at three o'clock, and Rock at twelve o'clock. Flash eases into his opening with a Barracks at ten supply and a Refinery at eleven. Rock scouts after placing his Pylon and finds Flash's main immediately, but rather than spending minerals to steal gas, he opts for a speedier two-Gateway Zealot opening.
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Man, Rock is aggressive!
Flash's game-sense shows itself as he takes all three gas SCVs off of his Refinery before he even scouts the Zealot opening. As he puts up his Factory, it's clear he wants early, upgrade-less Vultures. When Flash's scouting SCV leaves his base, it passes Rock's first Zealot and Flash positions his Marines to successfully deter the early harassment.
Momentarily discouraged, Rock awaits reinforcements and Flash uses the opportunity to move six Marines, two SCVs and a Vulture above his ramp. Rock decides three Zealots and a Probe can do useful damage at this point and he attacks. Unfortunately, he only manages to kill three Marines before his last Zealot evaporates.
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Man, Rock is aggressive!
Left with only two Dragoons at his main, Rock decides that the best response to this failure is to move out, but Flash had a similar idea and meets him halfway, pushing the Protoss back to his natural where Flash begins building a Bunker atop Rock's ramp. Rock's Dragoons are caught on the wrong side of the Bunker, and are easily killed before the Bunker completes.
After the two Dragoons are killed, Flash sends his two Vultures down the ramp and into Rock's base. One is killed by two new Dragoons, but the other manages to get to the mineral line, killing four Probes before Rock can end the harass.
With four Dragoons, Rock attempts to break the hold Flash's Bunker has on his ramp, but quickly changes his mind after a Dragoon dies. Deciding, instead, to run past the Bunker and down toward Flash's main.
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Man, Rock is aggressive!
With only one Tank at his base, Flash quickly creates a wall below his ramp with a Supply Depot and his Barracks. Once he sees the wall, Rock takes high-ground and waits for Dragoon Range to finish upgrading. At the moment that Range completes, Flash's second Tank completes and he lifts his Barracks to attack. But this backfires as Rock is able to destroy both Tanks, only losing one Dragoon in the process. The other Dragoons are in bad condition, though, and when Flash sends four SCVs to defend, Rock is forced to back off.
Rock decides that the best use of his ranged Dragoons will be to destroy the Bunker at his ramp. But rather than patiently out ranging the bunker, he rushes four Dragoons up the ramp while flanking with his other two Dragoons. His haste is not rewarded as one Dragoon dies and three others are significantly damaged.
Discovering that his ramp is no longer guarded by Dragoons, Flash takes high ground and sets up a quick defense with four SCVs, a lone Tank and a couple Marines. Rock, knowing he's caused Flash some serious blows, moves out with his five Dragoons to see what he can do. The Dragoons attack just before the Bunker completes, killing a Marine and setting their sights on the lone Tank. As the Bunker completes, another Tank arrives to alleviate the lone Tank's performance anxiety, Flash deftly micros his SCVs to attack the already damaged Dragoons and the last Marine slips into the Bunker. Although the situation has changed drastically since he first engaged the Terran, Rock is determined to continue the attack, but determination is not enough. Incredibly, all five Dragoons die, managing to kill only one Tank.
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Man, Rock is aggressive!
Not one to let an opponent's over-extension go unpunished, Flash moves out to counter Rock again. His Vultures are now upgraded with Spider-Mines and he lays down a number of them on his way to Rock's natural. Rock has six Dragoons by the time Flash reaches the natural, and with only three Vultures and two siege-less Tanks he can do little more than Jockey for position and lay down some mines before he has to back off and wait for reinforcements. Rock's Observer arrives in time to prevent Flash that luxury, though, and most of the mines are quickly disarmed.
As Rock begins warping in his natural Nexus, Flash pushes forward again, this time with three Tanks and several small groups of Vultures arriving (and then dying) two at a time. Although Flash is unable to do any significant damage, he manages to kill Rock's first few Zealots and spot the Shuttle that was meant to carry them. Fighting for a stalemate, Flash eventually retreats to his natural and begins his Command Center, and Rock backs off to his natural to begin preparing for his next move.
For the next few minutes, Rock scouts Flash with his Observers while Flash scouts the map with a Vulture and beefs up his defenses.
With nine Dragoons and a Shuttle full of Zealots, Rock moves out, destroying mines on his way to contain the Terran. Flash begins building a Supply Depot in front of his Tanks just as Rock comes within siege-range for the first time. Rock quickly backs off a matrix and reassesses the situation, reinforcing his contain all the while.
Flash slips his scouting Vulture into Rock's natural and begins attacking undefended Probes with it. As if the mild harassment was his cue, Rock launches his assault in two phases. First, by dropping four Zealots into Flash's Tanks, then by lunging forward with sixteen Dragoons.
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Man, Rock is aggressive!
Flash responds by pulling all his natural's SCV to block the Dragoons, and his eight Tanks take care of the rest. Meanwhile, the scouting Vulture managed to kill all but four of Rock's natural-Probes before Rock finally decides to deal with it. Rock's also warped a Nexus at two o'clock.
Left with six tanks, Flash waits for two more, then moves out to secure the middle of Neo Requiem and begin a slow-push. With eleven Dragoons, and speed-Zealots pumping from four Gateways, Rock prepares to break the push.
Flash lands his Barracks at two o'clock and makes a Firebat. It kills two Probes before Rock sends the remaining Probes to attack the Firebat and kill the irritant.
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When you're using Probes to kill Firebats, you may be too aggressive...
Immediately after the Probes kill the Firebat, Rock sends twelve Zealots and eleven Dragoons into the Terran slow-push. With some excellent mine drags, most of Flash's Tanks go down, but most of Rock's Dragoons go down as well. During the lull in the action as both sides recuperate, Flash makes another Firebat which succeeds in killing the rest of Rock's Probes at two o'clock and begins attacking the Nexus, slowly whittling down the building's shields.
Flash takes six o'clock and Rock builds up another mass of Zealot/Dragoon for another assault, but this time Flash's mine field is too thick and the Zealots die before they can reach the Tank line. Recognizing that Rock is on his last legs, Flash unsieges and rolls toward Rock's natural. Seeing this, Rock yields.
+ Show Spoiler [Key Moments] +
I'm pretty sure Flash was planning an early bunker/vult rush which he had to adjust when Rock's 'lots arrived. Rock's immutable aggression eventually cost him the game, however.
Flash lands at seven o'clock and walls off his main with a Supply Depot and a Barracks, scouting after his Depot finishes. Rock warps in at eleven o'clock and makes a Nexus at his mineral-only on twelve supply, scouting after placing the Nexus.
Flash makes one Factory, a Vulture and then builds his Machine Shop. Using his scouting SCV and his Vulture, Flash glitches through Rock's Temple wall to begin harassment. Rock spots it, but is unable to prevent the Vulture from killing two Probes and forcing a Maynard.
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How slick is this?
Taking his mineral-only, Flash defends his wall with a Tank, Marine and three SCVs on repair duty. Having researched Siege first, Flash is well defended and both players use the time to tech detection and build up their respective armies.
Off of one Factory, Flash begins building a third Command Center for his natural. Rock, in the meantime, creates a light contain and makes a Shuttle. When the Shuttle finishes, Rock picks up four Zealots and then inexplicably flies it into two Turrets, dropping some Zealots into the middle of Flash's Tanks.
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"NOO! What are you doiiiiiiiiing?!!" - Tasteless
Flash expands right after Rock's Shuttle dies, landing his Engineering Bay and Barracks at the natural's choke to create a partial wall. Rock warps in Nexuses at his natural and one o'clock in an attempt to catch up with Flash's macro-build.
While Rock's Dragoons are running around the middle of the map, Flash slips three Vultures, unmolested, into Rock's front door. They drive into Rock's mineral-only, and Rock reacts with a mass-exodus. Every single Probe Rock has heads to the natural expansion, and half of Rock's Dragoons head toward the Vultures while the other half stay in the middle of the map. Flash sends two more Vultures into Rock's natural, and with Rock's Dragoons being out of position they get seven Probe kills between them.
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Out of the frying pan, into the fire.
Fourteen supply ahead of his opponent, Flash unsieges and moves out. Without any speed-Zealots or Shuttles for bombs, Rock is forced to mine drag with Dragoons, and although it's mildly effective his entire army is wiped out.
Flash follows up by massing Vultures and using his remaining tanks to siege Rock's natural. Rock concedes and Flash moves on to the quarterfinals!
+ Show Spoiler [Key Moments] +
Um... "NOO! What are you doiiiiiiiiing?!!" Had Rock kept his Shuttle to bomb, done a better job of preventing Flash's opportunities for vult harass, and dropped his zealots into one of Flash's mineral lines instead of suiciding them, he may've had a better chance. Really... pathetic play by Rock.
HoeJJa spawns at six and Bisu warps in at nine o'clock. Bisu opens with two-Gateway and HoeJJa starts with Overpool speed. Bisu scouts the wrong direction, but his Probe leaves early enough that his first Zealot heads in the correct direction. HoeJJa places his second Hatchery in his main as Bisu's first Zealot approaches HoeJJa's base.
HoeJJa chases the Zealot off with six Zerglings, but two more Zealots are on their way. Forced to back off, HoeJJa moves his Zerglings toward Bisu's main, trying to draw Bisu's first three Zealots back into a defensive position. Bisu ignores the threat and instead moves into HoeJJa's main. HoeJJa uses four Zerglings to threaten the front-most Zealots while he tries to kill Bisu's reinforcements with the six original Zerglings. He successfully kills one Zealot before he's forced, again, to back off.
Bisu walks four Zealots and two Probes back into HoeJJa's main and catches HoeJJa's untended Zerglings off-gaurd, thinning the Zergling clump. Bisu buys some more time with small threatening movements while two more Zealots arrive, then he attacks HoeJJa's Spawning Pool. HoeJJa uses twelve Zerglings to try and discourage the Zealots while he waits for a Sunken colony to finish building, but Bisu micros his units well, using some to defend against the Zerglings while others continue to attack the Spawning Pool. Three Zealots are killed, but the Sunken Colony is a few seconds too slow, and two more Zealots arrive to help finish off the Spawning Pool, and then the rest of the Zerglings.
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HoeJJa has enough zerglings to prevent the loss of the pool, but...
As HoeJJa's last Zerglings (for a while) finish morphing, Bisu places his remaining Zealots on HoeJJa's ramp and techs to Corsair. HoeJJa remakes his Spawning pool, and then morphs a Hydralisk Den to assist breaking Bisu's hold on his ramp. The Hydralisk/Zergling combination fails to break the ramp, however, and Bisu starts killing Overlords with his Corsair.
Bisu makes a Pylon above HoeJJa's ramp, telegraphing that he's going to place Photon Cannons and make this a slow, humiliating defeat, so HoeJJa GGs.
+ Show Spoiler [Key Moments] +
HoeJJa hesitated in attacking Bisu's zealots and that gave Bisu the chance to kill the pool. For a small window in time, HoeJJa had the numbers, just not the guts.
HoeJJa starts at three o'clock and Bisu at eleven o'clock. Bisu fast expands to his natural and HoeJJa opens with nine-Pool Speed. HoeJJa sends his first eight Zerglings directly to Bisu's temple wall and begins attacking the first temple.
Bisu spots the assault and calmly places a Pylon and Cannon behind the temple, diffusing the cheese. HoeJJa builds into four-Hatchery Spire, while Bisu builds towards Corsair/Reaver.
HoeJJa makes four Scourge and sends them after Bisu's Corsair (killing one) but while he's doing that, Bisu sends his escortless Shuttle across the top of the map and drops HoeJJa's mineral-only expansion with two Zealots and a Dragoon. HoeJJa runs his Drones away, but Bisu is content to damage the Hatchery. HoeJJa sends ten Zerglings to deal with the harass and Scourges the Shuttle, leaving his Hatchery with a little less than half life.
Meanwhile, HoeJJa moves out with eight Scourge and five Mutalisk, looking for some more Corsair kills. He expands to five o'clock and then he finds five Corsair at Bisu's main Nexus. Using his Mutalisk to absorb Photon Cannon- and Corsair-fire, he destroys four of Bisu's death-gliders. Three Mutalisk escape the carnage, and HoeJJa switches to Hydralisk tech.
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One of the better Scourge attacks I've seen lately.
Then... then Bisu downs a can of spinach and becomes Pop-eye the Multitask-man. He loads up a speed-Shuttle with two Zealots and a Reaver and, without Corsair escort, drops the Reaver into HoeJJa's main, killing three Drones and forcing a Maynard. Picking up his Reaver, Bisu moves to HoeJJa's mineral- only and drops the two Zealots to fight with Zerglings, then drops his Reaver. Three Mutalisk and a couple Scourge show up, but Bisu picks up his Reaver, out-maneuvers the Zerg airforce, flies around HoeJJa's Hydralisks, drops his Reaver at HoeJJa's natural, and kills a Drone and three Hydralisk before the Shuttle and Reaver die.
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Bisu warming up.
Not satisfied with that, Bisu moves out with 6 Corsair, eleven speed-Zealots and another Shuttle. Defending his Shuttle with the Corsair, Bisu uses the elevator to place Zealots on HoeJJa's high-ground. The Zealots immediately begin attacking HoeJJa's already weakened mineral-only Hatchery.
With his airforce destroyed by Corsair and speed-Zealots threatening his natural expansion, HoeJJa can't spare any units to defend his mineral-only, and watches it fall.
Then Bisu discovers HoeJJa's expansion at five o'clock and sends twelve Zealots and a Reaver there to cause more devastation. As HoeJJa reacts to the assault with most of his Hydralisk army, Bisu sends his Corsair to kill a pack of HoeJJa's Overlords. HoeJJa kills the Shuttle and Reaver at five o'clock, but loses several Overlords and lacks the units to finish off the Zealots at five, so that expansion falls.
Meanwhile, Bisu sends five Zealots to attack HoeJJa's natural in order to distract his opponent from the Dark Templar drop in his main. The Dark Templar kill six Drones before HoeJJa notices, and Bisu shifts the Dark Templar's focus to HoeJJa's Spawning Pool, which also falls. And, to add insult to injury, before HoeJJa can kill the Dark Templar, Bisu picks them up and leaves the base.
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Bisu humiliation-mode.
During his harass Bisu was busy making High Templar and Reavers and Zealots, oh my! And now he's making Dragoons. HoeJJa, crippled, begins the process of retaking his mineral-only and placing another Spawning Pool. Refusing to give his opponent a moment to breath, however, Bisu sends his Corsair out to kill more Overlords, and drops a Dark and High Templar into HoeJJa's main. HoeJJa reacts quickly, but he doesn't have enough Hydra to snipe the Shuttle or the High Templar, and two Psistorms wreck HoeJJa's Drones as they flee.
HoeJJa's economy in tatters, he moves out with thirty-three Hydralisk in a desperate attempt to hurt Bisu in return, but within ten seconds of engaging Bisu's army, perfect Psistorms from four High Templar with full energy reduce HoeJJa's army to a pool of blood an meat. In awe of his opponent, HoeJJa retires, and Bisu earns his spot in the Ro8!
+ Show Spoiler [Key Moments] +
HoeJJa didn't play bad this game, Bisu was just that good. I can't imagine any Zerg winning against that. Every time HoeJJa could reasonably expect Bisu to back off, Bisu found a hole to harass through. When HoeJJa killed Bisu's first shuttle, Bisu made another one with speed. When HoeJJa killed most of Bisu's Corsairs, Bisu dropped anyway. When HoeJJa killed the second shuttle, Bisu made another one and dropped again. When HoeJJa killed that shuttle, Bisu has another one ready to elevator units into his base. And so on and so forth. If you watch any of the GOM games this season, even if you hate Protoss, watch this one. As much as I'd like to, I don't think I can describe with words the virtuosity with which Bisu dismantled HoeJJa.
