Red Bull Battle Grounds
New York City

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Liquipedia

by Waxangel

Acer.Scarlett stole the show on day one of Red Bull Battle Grounds New York, making it to the semi-finals in dramatic fashion. After losing to all-in master PartinG in her first match, the Canadian Zerg earned a second chance at advancement by taking out Golden in the losers match. Even then her chances seemed slim as she faced the accomplished veteran Bomber, a player who had previous thwarted her progress in WCS tournaments.

Their first two matches were reminiscent of their WCS clash in Cologne, Germany, with Bomber taking one game with suffocating reaper-hellion pressure, and Scarlett hitting back with muta-ling-bane swarms in game two. In game three, things went absolutely insane (Watch the VOD!!!).

Playing on the unique Red Bull map of Habitation Station, the early game started strangely with Bomber's proxy barracks getting scouted out and Scarlett going for a zergling counter. When everything settled down, Scarlett seemed to have an advantage as she had secured her third at the gold-mineral base. However, the tables turned once Bomber's 3/3 upgrades kicked in, and Scarlett slowly found herself falling behind as Bomber took more efficient engagements. With Bomber barreling in and taking out Scarlett's hatcheries, the Acer Zerg was forced into a base trade on what seemed like unwinnable terms: no expansions vs. a Terran with mules.

Yet, Scarlett had one desperation ploy to keep her tournament hopes alive. Pressing the burrow research button late into the game, Scarlett decided to gamble on getting devastating baneling landmine hits. She would hit the jackpot. Bomber, perhaps overconfident in his position, or perhaps just unable to account for all possibilities in the chaos, took the bait and chased Scarlett's troops around the map. Juicy clusters of marines walked straight over Scarlett's banelings and burst like overripe fruit. With two hits taking out 90% of his force, Bomber was forced to concede defeat.


Meanwhile, all three Protoss players in SKT_PartinG, Woongjin_sOs, and SK_MC made their way to the semi-finals as well.

WCS 2013 champion sOs was particularly impressive, being the only player on the day to advance to the semis without even dropping a map. PartinG proved he was still dangerous in his return to the international tournament scene, all-inning with his usual precision and surviving Bomber's unorthodox hellbat-bio composition. And finally, the king of prize money hunter in MC made it through, exploiting the strength of void rays to overcome HyuN and become the final semifinalist.

Writers: Waxangel.
Photos: Daniel Drayzen.
Editor: Waxangel.