EPT
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Waxangel/homestorycup/taejahsc9.jpg)
Liquid`TaeJa took home his third HomeStory Cup title in dominating fashion, defeating 
MC 4-0 in the grand finals. With MC unable to faze TaeJa in the early game with harassment or aggression, the Liquid Terran had few issues rolling over MC with large armies of infantry and medivacs in the mid game. TaeJa's tournament run was by no means a walk in park, as he dropped series to both Snute and Scarlett in the group phases. His quarterfinal match against Jaedong was a difficult test as well, with TaeJa only able to escape with a narrow 3-2 victory over the EG ace. But TaeJa came through when it mattered in the end, defeating Scarlett 3-1 in the semis and going on to sweep MC in the finals.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Waxangel/homestorycup/hsc9bracket.png)
With the victory, TaeJa picks $10,000 in prize money and 750 WCS points alongside his third HSC title. TaeJa climbs to 9th place in the WCS point rankings with 2250 total points, bringing him even closer to confirming a spot in this year's WCS finals at BlizzCon.
Despite the all-Korean final, HSC9 upheld its reputation as a tournament where the foreigners score upsets against the Koreans. Both Scarlett and Dayshi finished in the top four of the tournament – Scarlett defeating players such as MMA, TaeJa, Patience, and Stork, while Dayshi defeated Armani and Bomber.
HSC9 also attracted attention due to the participation of KeSPA players Armani and Stork, who had qualified through the online Korean qualifiers. Unfortunately for the Samsung Galaxy duo, they were both eliminated in the Ro16 of the tournament.
Of course, HSC9 also included plenty of humor and antics, starting with a bubble bath opener from tournament host Take and ending with tongue-in-cheek 'excited' commentating of the one-sided grand finals (highlights).
