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Okay, so, a little bit of background. When I was a Bronze noob, I started taking notes on everything casters, players, whatever said. I've compiled these notes, and refined them time and time again, building as many strategies, ideas, and thought processes as I could.
Originally, I was going to sell this book, for ten dollars a copy. But I'm not really updating it like I planned to, due to my new web show, work, school, et cetera, and I still want it to do some good within the community, so I've decided to release it for free.
That being said, I know the argumentation behind why "books suck" and aren't useful. Apparently, books are bad to learn from, according to most people. It's hard to update, they say. eBooks bypass this limitation, but people still don't seem to understand. I've also done other things within the book, covering every little detail with the assumption I'm writing for an extremely intelligent, but extremely inexperienced toddler (he's intelligent because he can read, duh!), and assume nothing.
If you are not one of these people, please, enjoy the book. I hope it helps you as much as it helped me in writing it. I'll update it periodically so please keep an eye out. Heads up, though, it's already over 60 some pages.
I'd like to share a review of the book by IEMidget on vVvGaming's site, however, as it's short, sweet, and rather true.
I have recently been told by a member of vVv that he put a book out on a teamliquid thread that is very informational as to strategies of zerg and how it needs to be played in each matchup. It has helped me tremendously and I would like to share it with the rest of you. I thank vVvShaft for compiling these notes as he has played and trained and I thank all the pros that he has gotten some of this information from. It has everything from builds to styles to matchup strategies. There is so much useful information in here that I cannot explain it all in this thread. You Zerg gamers are just going to have to see for yourself but I highly recommend even the best of players to look at this book 
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/42192160/v1.1.pdf <- eBook Download
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Will be taking a look at this, although unless signing up and installing this app lets me download it, the link is pretty confusing.
edit - Yeah so I tried installing dropbox but that link is giving a 403 error, just so you know.
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Weird :/ I'm still learning about Dropbox, to be honest with you. Not having my own FTP server to upload to is the main reason this hasn't been posted before now. Let me see what I can within dropbox; check back soon!
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i can download the file by right clicking the link and "save target as". but somehow my adobe reader does not work.
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Put it in the public folder instead and copy that link. Right click file -> copy public link
Not a pro at Dropbox, but that's how I share stuff with it. Never failed so far.
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I'm still getting 403, can't save target as either, apparently firefox doesn't have that anymore :|
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On September 27 2011 00:36 Captain Mayhem wrote:Put it in the public folder instead and copy that link. Right click file -> copy public link Not a pro at Dropbox, but that's how I share stuff with it. Never failed so far.
I was just about to write exactly the same guide. This is how it works, yo
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Chaote, in Firefox it's Save Link As. My question to you is, did you make an account? I know dropbox requires you to be logged in, but you shouldn't have to download the program. Gonna throw this up on rapidshare in the meantime.
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Cool I'll give this book a look when the link is fixed
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Your links should look something like http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1651648/eBook.pdf. As Mayhem said you should put it in Dropbox/Public and then right click and copy link. If Public doesnt exist (happens sometimes) just create it.
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Downloading now. Will post a review when I read it.
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its well written but could you maybe do a printer friendly edition (without the slightly colored border at each page which would draw much ink).
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That is a really nice piece of work mate! Though I think you need to revise page 59, guess its not what you wanted it to be
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Great read, you have some great tips lined up for the beginner zerg players out there
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downloaded, play protoss 1v1 but play random in team games but had to stop as when I random zerg its nearly always a loss. As mechanics etc just dont seem to be there, will read and see if it helps at all!!!
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Just downloaded and had a quick skim-read (the ZvZ section first... naturally). Looks like a promising publication - look forward to reading it all
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Add DT's to your double gas protoss builds.
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Pretty good for the beginners, just looking over the Protoss section there are a few things that I could point out but at the beginner level it doesn't really matter, e.g. deliberately going Zealot -> Stalker to feign 4gate on one gas and getting a quick expo after denying the scout etc. I just wish there was more info for Protoss, there's so much out there for Zergs :-/
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Downloaded that shit and will give it a read, I owe it that much to you for compiling the thing and then deciding to give it away for free. Could even help me improve my zerg game. TY bro
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This is really impressive, you've compiled a lot of important information, including some deep concepts regarding balancing economy and unit choices, and some quite subtle information regarding scouting. Great job!
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Very useful man, thank for you time !
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Downloaded and going to read later, thanks, man!
I always play Zerg but I think I'm going to play random from now on.
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do you know the relevance of the builds in some of these articles? i was just wondering if any of them would be too outdated
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On September 27 2011 01:14 Reithan wrote:
Downloading now. Will post a review when I read it.
I think for newer players and even some older players the quick reference charts are a real good tool. Also some of the articles on how to learn and some of the basic play differences between the races are real good for newer players who maybe haven't really gotten into competitive play yet.
There are some layout problems on page 24 making it somewhat hard to read.
For the newer players, which this guide is supposedly for, some more in-depth discussion of basic mechanics and how to improve those is probably warranted. When do you box units vs ctrl+click or other selection methods? What and how do you hotkey different things? How do you prioritize different tasks or reactions? What are effective ways to micro different units in different situations?
Also, perhaps you could include links to some helpful replay files for each MU for newer users to see. Even just some pictures of in-game things might be useful.
Overall, very good guide, though.
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Smoking is bad for you.
Awesome guide nonetheless.
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That is shit load of stuff
good contribution for the swarm indeed
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benne geserit training <3, love the book
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I should probably note, the title Zerg for Noobies is more a play-on-words of Zerg for Dummies (notice the "cover") than it is my actual intent to target only noobs. I want to cover a variety of things with this book. The suggestions you guys list, I can promise, won't be going into the book immediately, but when I finally find time to revise -- I haven't worked on the book in maybe a month or so -- I will definitely start trying to incorporate ideas.
There are, as people have pointed out, some flaws, a few mis-labeled items, and even some wrong page numbers in the table of contents. The reason this happened is, I was half-way through version 1.1 when I had to stop for real life priorities, and I didn't want to upload the older version. So yes, definitely a work-in-progress.
As for the build orders, some of them might be out-dated, but I try to prune those out. I'm going to incorporate a "legacy strategy" section for them at some point, so that people can re-visit old ideas under new meta-games.
I also do a web show for Zerg... I've been thinking of linking to parts of it, regarding specifics within the guide. I worry that might constitute a self-plug though and I'm really not trying to be too "oh, look at all my stuff!" (though all of my stuff is really cool and awesome and worth a look ;D). I also want to link to the day9 daily on Droning and other resources out there. Just a matter of finding the time to compile all of the resources.
--
Note: Just because I might not get to implementing changes you suggest immediately, doesn't mean I'm not noting them, so please post your comments and feedback.
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Thanks for this. I found the times to scout particularly useful, and the "tells" for the different races. It's nice to have this information.
Edit:
Typo on page 15. Larvae do not morph into banelings, broodlords, or overseers.
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Did you post this a while ago? I remember seeing this before a few months ago.
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On September 28 2011 10:46 michaelhasanalias wrote:
Did you post this a while ago? I remember seeing this before a few months ago.
Not on TL. I did a Tips and Tricks packet, that includes some of the same information, back in like January, but it was nothing as compiled as this.
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A great read for newb zerg players. I found a lot of interesting information in it too.
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Thanks Bonsly
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Definitely an outstanding guide for beginners, thanks for the hard work. When can we expect an update if any?
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Downloaded and gonna start reading when I get home.
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Quite a sensational title, haha.
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Augury, there will be updates. I've actually got a lot of information that needs to go into the book. But I'm trying not to implement anything too... meta game-y into the book, if that makes any sense. For example, a build in the present meta-game to rush out roaches is an excellent tool in ZvT, because so many players are opening up with hellion expands. I want to include basic build orders, but I question even doing that, now, in retrospect. I've been considering removing them, but some are timeless. I'm really undecided on this subject, build orders and "styles" in specific, as to whether they fit with the book format. So please, feedback would be awesome.
However, yes, there will be alot of updates. There's a lot of stuff I want to get written in, however, it's mostly been taking a backseat to actually playing. It isn't so much that I'm putting it off, as I am waiting for enough information. You see, I feel like if I just add a sentence or two every time I write, the thoughts are going to kind of seem sporadic. So I wait for sizable chunks of information worth including and try to mesh them together. I'm a much better writer than editor I guess :/ When, however, heh... I love deadlines, especially the whooshing sound they make as they pass by. I promise there's going to be one soon, though, I've been meaning to write up a section on the newer maps, build orders for them, stephano's mass ling style of play, and a more comprehensive ZvZ, as well as including an incredible amount of links to VoDs on relevant subjects.
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Hey shaft! Wow 63 pages? That must took a lot of time. Reading it right now. Good work and thanks for your effort
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Not a big fan of sharing dropbox to see this. Couldn't you have uploaded it to mediafire, or used some other free online storage that doesn't create a shared directory to which you can technically upload any file, which my computer will automatically sync with and download upon startup?
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cool stuff, surely gonna read it
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pitchatan, help yourself bro btw, *thumbs up* on the mirror and review ^_^;;
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holy shit, this is a lot of good, helpful, clear, concise, juicy information
Thank you for making and release free even! <3 put up a donate link? 
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Your description of the Catz 7 pool is wrong. This is the Catz 7 pool:
7 pool
9 double extractor trick: 6 zerglings
12 overlord
12 queen
From here you usually drone up and take your expansion before the next overlord.
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The 7 pool build Catz introduces on 12 weeks with the pros is different than that. Could you provide some kind of link? Perhaps yours is an updated (or outdated) one. If I can figure out which, I'll make sure the book has the most recent version.
Yoshi, if you're serious, donations are always welcome. shaft@claneat.com is my paypal.
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Beginning to look at doing another revision of the book. Any one else have some ideas for me to work on? Now is definitely the time to speak your mind!
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While I am a protoss player, this looks like an interesting read and I will definitely consider it. I would point out to you (out of general respect for an author) that you will want to re-read it and check for spelling and grammar mistakes (i.e. pg.'s 14, 17 -- see "reneration" in the 1st paragraph on pg. 14 and 5th paragraph on pg. 17). Just a little nitpick for you if you ever do decide to sell this. For the time being though - looks really nice. Great job!
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Thanks for taking the time to write and to post this. It's obvious it represents quite a bit of work on your part. Here are some suggestions for future versions:
1) I'd move the "quick reference manual" (p5-p10) to the end of the guide rather than the beginning. This material is not appropriatly explained for either a Noob or Bronze player, and will be more useful after they've read the rest of your guide.
2) It would be helpful to disclose the ladder rank of the author, so the reader understands what kind of experience these lessons are based on.
3) As a plat/diamond zerg, I found much of the discussion to be more advanced than bronze players need to think about... maybe it should be renamed "getting from silver to platinum". IMO, it's much easier to understand the game in bronze (especially as zerg) by focusing on shorter build orders and timing attacks. A skilled player could win almost every bronze ZvT, ZvP game with a 5m roach rush, or roach speedling rush. Bronze players are in bronze because their "5 minute roach rush" takes 8 minutes, because they don't understand how to micro their units, or because they can't handle cheese. IMO, trying to teach them macro so quickly simply opens them up to a 30-40 minute game where they may die with no idea what they did wrong, because they did dozens of things wrong in a game that should have been over long before.
3) IMO, the guide could benefit from some more "structure". It dives in talking about all kinds of details that a bronze player may not follow. I recommend coming up with a short-list of concepts (three of them is typically a good number), and then elaborating on these concepts in different ways over and over with the details.
4) Another structure idea, is trying to break down concepts in steps such as "bronze to silver", "silver to gold", "gold to platinum", with some special sections such as "defending cheese", "macro concepts", and one for each matchup. Whether you put the topics into the right steps is less important than having some way to break up into smaller pieces so the player can focus on just a few small things at a time.
I hope those comments are helpful... Thanks for putting the time in to make a guide to help other folks out!
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Kuro, appreciate the feedback. I'm really considering the title, as it seems to be confusing a lot of people. The title is just a take on "Zerg for Dummies", but I didn't want to use a copyrighted title, so I tweaked it. It's really for all levels.
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Hey guys, I know this is a bump to an old thread, but there's good reason. Updating the OP, seeing as v1.2 is now released.
I've added new builds, listed new styles, and re-worked the ZvT and ZvP section. Also added a new ZvP featured article. The scouting times have been revised, as well as updating most of the material to the present meta-game. Older maps are still mentioned in some of the articles, but I think that's something I'll choose to leave, to reflect major changes within the maps themselves -- and serve as a reminder in case any new maps prove to have similar features!
Edit: Apparently the OP can't be edited? Playing around with it, if nothing else, I'll post the link in this one.
Edit 2: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/42192160/v1.2.pdf
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United States8476 Posts
I think it's cause you haven't updated the OP in over 6 months. You'll have to pm an admin to fix it, but i don't know if it's worth the trouble.
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On May 10 2012 15:58 NrGmonk wrote:
I think it's cause you haven't updated the OP in over 6 months. You'll have to pm an admin to fix it, but i don't know if it's worth the trouble.
Spent a month compiling the changes to this version and updating it to the present meta-game. Hopefully you'll at least look at the PDF before deciding that.
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United States8476 Posts
On May 10 2012 16:03 theonlyshaft wrote:Show nested quote +On May 10 2012 15:58 NrGmonk wrote:
I think it's cause you haven't updated the OP in over 6 months. You'll have to pm an admin to fix it, but i don't know if it's worth the trouble. Spent a month compiling the changes to this version and updating it to the present meta-game. Hopefully you'll at least look at the PDF before deciding that.
I'm not an admin and it's not my call anyways =P.
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On May 10 2012 16:13 Rimak wrote:
del.
Necropost.
Not really... it'd been awhile since I had time to work on the book, and I'd feel bad posting a brand new topic, when this one is still open now that I have had time.
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Awesome!! Now I've got some reading to catch up on during coffers break, thank god for smartphones
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No reply from an admin about opening the OP for edit, and the thread is dying again so... any objections to me making a new thread for v1.2?
happy birthday ott
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I PLAYED THIS PERSON ON LADDER(:
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Just read a lot of it and I'm not even Z.... Well done.
My only piece of constructive criticism is that the green boxes (such as "dancing") are very hard to read because both the text and the box are dark.
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Belial, thanks for PMing that to me.
OMGStomp hey You're also on my friends list lol!
Ghan, thanks for the feedback man. Hopefully you learned something relevant to your *vZ matchup.
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I feel like more people need to see this thread. you put a lot of effort into this and it should get more attention
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it would be cool if someone did a similar guide for terrans :'(
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Wow, this looks really good :O A lot of work was put into this
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Thanks guys I try to put as much effort as I can to everything I do. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right.
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On June 01 2012 09:47 theonlyshaft wrote:Thanks guys I try to put as much effort as I can to everything I do. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right.
Well said sir. As a low masters players desperately trying to figure out the things that will get me to that next level, I feel like this is a must read for me. Thank you.
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You're very welcome bro
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I read your guide and I think that it's very well-written and informative. Keep up the awesome work! ^.^
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Working on updating everything again, so expect a new version in about a week
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Glad to hear it! I'll give it a read when it's finished!
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Been writing a lot of guides for Starcraft2Strategy.com, and been less focused on this project than I should have :S Gonna change that! Keep an eye out!
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United States8476 Posts
On September 30 2012 10:16 theonlyshaft wrote:
Been writing a lot of guides for Starcraft2Strategy.com, and been less focused on this project than I should have :S Gonna change that! Keep an eye out!
That site plagiarizes my guides. =/
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Loved the last version. Looking forward to additional content.
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United States8476 Posts
On October 01 2012 04:38 Sated wrote:Show nested quote +On September 30 2012 10:26 monk. wrote:On September 30 2012 10:16 theonlyshaft wrote:
Been writing a lot of guides for Starcraft2Strategy.com, and been less focused on this project than I should have :S Gonna change that! Keep an eye out! That site plagiarizes my guides. =/ So do I does Liquipedia =P Seriously though, that sucks if they do.
I think you crossed out something wrong. I posted about my issue on their website and hope to get it resolved.
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Ty. This is going to help me a lot.
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Just out of curiosity monk did you ever get that issue resolved? If not, I'll contact someone for you.
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awesome! alot of time went in this paper, thx!
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You're very welcome govie I've found it's really hard to keep something like this updated, so what I'm working on now is removing things that will be time-specific. IE, infestor builds, or whatever, in favor of "How to use the Infestor properly" type articles that will always be relevant.
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Great stuff! I have this on my phone for super quick reference.. found two typos on one page, cant remember which one.. early into it I think.. and page 59 describes some proxy hatch build, but was under the Stephano style section--maybe was supposed to be in the cheese one.
Great work. Thanks for sharing it!
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I'd like to give a testimony to how this helped me become a better player overnight. I have been playing SC II for about 2 months and made it to gold league by literally the grace of god. Just by reading this article (especially page 11) and applying the concepts I literally started winning overnight and went from rank 77-12 in a matter of 2 hours. I would show this to any low league player and ask them to read it because it's very well written and it will improve your gameplay. Definite +1!
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Sorry to resurrect the old thread, but I hear some of the core content of this pdf is pretty good. Unfortunately all the links are broken. Does anyone happen to have a copy?
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I second this notion. I can't read the guide because Dropbox kinda killed public folders in one of their more recent updates. Anyone got a mirror to the guide?
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EPT
