EPT
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+ Show Spoiler [Overall Results] +
Colagirl < Metalopolis > DaSakura
Colagirl < Tal'Darim Altar LE > Laejten
Colagirl < Antiga Shipyard > Flo
Colagirl < Tal'Darim Altar LE > Laejten
Colagirl < Antiga Shipyard > Flo
On this first day of the ZOWIE DIVINA International Invite, Colagirl all-killed her way to a 3-0 victory for the East over the West. Winning the games in fairly convincing fashion, she certainly made a statement that she is one to watch for when the real tournament starts tomorrow. Although many players saved strategies for later, with this being an exhibition match with no outcome on the prizes, the results can't be ignored.
Game One
Colagirl spawned at 6 o'clock on Metalopolis, with 
DaSakura across the map from her at 12 o'clock. The Canadian droned hard behind a small clutch of roaches, while her opponent went with a mix of units and drones on speed/bane/roach tech. DaSakura set up a large attack of about 20 roaches and the same number of speedlings, but Colagirl was able to take advantage of the battle occurring at her natural and hold with little economy loss despite initially unfavorable army numbers. The game still looked in DaSakura's favor as she got up a 3rd behind that attack. Colagirl added a hydralisk den and macro hatch, but still only had 2 mining bases. Multiple attempts to shut down the 11 o'clock base with roaches and hydras were unsuccessful, and she only just got her 3rd as DaSakura was teching to infestors. Right as she maxed, DaSakura was able to run a small group of lings into her opponent's main to stop mining there.
DaSakura then spent a lot of her army trying to attack into a very bad concave at Colagirl's third. She was able to limp away, outrunning off-creep hydras. The next engagement was below her own third, where, despite fresh-off-the-line infestors, she couldn't convincingly beat her antagonist's upgraded roach/hydra mix. The addition of infestors to Colagirl's army let her continually deny DaSakura's 4th and 5th, and the Canadian eventually GGed out as her army dwindled while her opponent's only grew.
Game Two
The command center of
Laejten landed at 4 o'clock on Tal'Darim Altar LE, clockwise of Colagirl at 1 o'clock. Colagirl went hatch-first again, while Laejten chose to forgo any early marine pressure in favor of reactored hellions. Unfortunately for her, two of her hellions got caught below the right watchtower and eliminated by surrounding zerglings. This opened the door for Colagirl to get aggressive with a bane/speedling mix, wiping out Laejten's army and all the SCVs at the natural.A failed baneling bust of the fact/rax wall outside Laejten's main allowed the Swede to stabilize for a while, but at this point she was on 1 mining base against an unharassed zerg. Although she mustered a force able to retake her nat, that was only because Colagirl was teching and macroing. When the muta flock flew in, Laejten was ill equipped to deal with them and GG'd out.
Game Three
Once again
Colagirl chose to hatch first, this time at the 7 o'clock position on Antiga Shipyard. The last player for the Eastern team, 
Flo, was found across the map at 1 o'clock. Flo opened with reactor hellions and 2 rax behind that (one with a tech lab and 1 blank). Colagirl went for ling speed and a roach warren, with 1 spine crawler for defense.Colagirl spotted the first hellions moving out with a ling at Flo's nat, and moved down an extra queen to her own natural, also building an evolution chamber to block off the attack route behind the minerals. When those hellions were held off relatively easy, Flo retreated to the center watchtower and waited for her all-in timing. Pulling 6 or 7 SCVs along with a force of marauders and hellions, she moved out right as stim was about to finish.
Colagirl had more than enough to deal with it, though. By the time that army got to her front door, she had banelings (no speed, but on creep), a decent amount of roaches, and some zerglings. The banelings all detonated on marauders, but the hellions were largely ineffective while the roaches quickly finished off the marauders. Colagirl chased the retreating terran army all across the map, pausing at the bottom of the main ramp only to morph about 10 banes. With both depots in the wall down, she was able to waltz in and detonate on the marauder force saved for defense, putting Flo so far down that she decided to GG.
Post-Match Press Conference
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/R3k9H.jpg)
Colagirl, you looked in trouble multiple times during the first game. How did you win?
Colagirl: I got lucky. Most people probably thought I would lose when DaSakura was in such a strong position, but somehow I was able to win.
Flo, why did you choose an all-in strategy?
Flo: I didn't want to reveal my planned strategies for TvZ, so I just did a strat I sometimes use on ladder.
Colagirl, what do you think of the event?
Colagirl: It's very hard to find so many skilled female players, and the hosting organizations (ZOWIE and BenQ) did a really good job of finding players and picking all skilled players. They are all very strong, Master's League-quality or better.
Aphrodite, what do you think?
Aphrodite: I'm very happy about it and it's a great honor for me. The players here are very strong, but I will try my best to win.
Today Colagirl won 3-0 and the other players of the Eastern team didn't have a chance to show their skills.What are your goals for tomorrow?
Aphrodite: Today the Eastern team won so I am very happy, but it's a pity I didn't get to show my skill. For tomorrow I will try my best to win and show good games.
What are your strongest advantages as a player?
Aphrodite: Well, I think I am strongest in the TvP matchup, but there are no Protoss here, so that's not an advantage for me but I'll try my best.
RainBOw gives me lots of help with all his experience. He needs to practice a lot, but he still spends a lot of time teaching me about skills and strategies.SsQ, what is your goal for tomorrow?
SsQ: I hope I won't be nervous for tomorrow, and I hope that after tomorrow's games I will place in the top 3, and I think that Colagirl and Flo will be my strongest enemies.
DaSakura, you showed a great first game and it's a pity that you lost. What is your analysis?
DaSakura: I lost because I'm very bad in ZvZ. I did my roach/ling all-in and it failed, and I didn't have gas for the upgrades so I fell behind there. Colagirl had hydras to kill overlords and played really well.
Two times there were maxed fights, why did you lose the fight?
DaSakura: It was because of the upgrades. Also, I had very bad nerves, so I couldn't control my units properly.
Eastern media are not familiar with your play. Please tell us what you think you can do in this tournament.
DaSakura: I can do well - my worst match-up is ZvZ and there's only 1 other zerg here. I'm good against terran, so I think I can do well.
What place do you think you will get in the round robin?
DaSakura: I don't think I will be first, I think I will be top 3. I am scared of Flo and Colagirl, so I will try to be top 3 but I am not really sure about that.
Do you think playing today to work out the nerves gives you an advantage over those in the Eastern team who didn't play today?
DaSakura: Yes.
Flo, what is the development in the NA scene for females? How big is it, who are notable players, etc.
Flo: It's growing. I attend all the female online tournaments as much as possible to help the female SC2 scene grow, and I definitely think there's potential in seeing more growth in the community.
You lost the last match, will that affect you tomorrow?
Flo: If I had my nerves under control I might be more confident. It's something I have to face. I get nervous and psyched out, and it's something I have to deal with when playing.
Do you think skill or mental control is most important?
Flo: I think skill is most important. Many males think females are in the scene only to be fangirls or to talk to all the progamers, so skill is doubly important, to be successful and to be taken seriously.
Laejten, Sweden is a really strong gaming country with a huge presence. Why do you have so many good players?
Laejten: We have really good internet and it gets dark early (like 4pm in the winter), so we are traditionally strong, like in Quake, Counter-Strike, and WarCraft 3.
In your loss today was it just a throwaway strat, or was it some sort of mistakes?
Laejten: I didn't reveal any of my strats today, and I was nervous so I made a lot of mistakes - I messed up my wallin, I lost 2 hellions for free, and so forth.
Who is your favorite swedish player and your favorite international player?
Laejten: I like
ThorZaIN because he is terran, I also like SjoW, and I like 
MorroW as well. And International? I think I gotta go with SeleCT.Did you teach GeT_RiGhT how to play SC2?
Laejten: Yes, I did teach him and he's OK, he's Diamond. I normally beat him but one time he cheesed me, and I didn't talk to him for 2 days. He really enjoys SC2. When he's on break from CS he plays a lot, like 50 games in 3 days.
laejten fighting!
Lets hope its solved today.
