EPT
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Meru/2014/IEM/IEM_Shenzhen.jpg)
Taeja vs Zest
The IEM Shenzhen Round of 8 has opened with a clash between two of the tournament favorites -
TaeJa and 
Zest. Many critics of Taeja wondered how he would match up against GSL caliber Koreans. As a two time GSL champion, Zest would serve as an excellent test. But with the condition of Taeja's wrists seemingly in turmoil, a loss to Jim on the previous day and WCS elimination to Pigbaby still fresh in the fans minds, Zest looked to be the smart bet.Taeja silenced the critics with a dominating 3-0 victory over Zest. The first game on Nimbus was decided by Taeja's immaculate army control netting him crucial win in the deciding battle. The second game on Merry Go Round gave Zest the best chances in the series, Zest caught Taeja off guard with a well timed Colossus push. It looked bleak for the Terran but somehow he weathered the attack. Rather than take the game long, Taeja went all in pulling all of his SCVs in an effort to close out the game. Zest guessed that Taeja would counter with a drop and brought his army into the main, leaving his army horribly out of position to defend his natural which ultimately cost him the game. The final game of the series had Zest spawning horizontally to Taeja on Deadwing, this prompted Zest to play a very aggressive stalker all in. However Taeja calmly defended the attack and a follow up counter drop sealed the game and the series in his favor.
Jaedong vs Snute
Snute made bold claims prior to the series that Jaedong was the one player he really wanted to get in the Round of 8, and as the draw unfolded it looked like he would get his wish. Snute came in with a clear plan to exploit Jaedong's greedy tendencies in the matchup. Game 1 opened up exactly as Snute predicted as he opened with a 10 pool against Jaedong's 15 hatch. But Jaedong was able to stabilize after the aggression and counter with a baneling attack. Snute was caught completely off guard by the aggression but did what he could to survive. After over five minutes of Jaedong sending waves of zerglings and banelings at Snute he had picked off enough queens and Snute's natural to finally overwhelm him.Game 2 was more of a traditional roach vs roach game, but Snute's greedier economy netted him an upgrade lead. Snute used this timing to attack and was fortunate to catch Jaedong out of position. With this advantage Snute kept trading with Jaedong which increased his lead. He closed out the game once after getting his +2 attack upgrade. Game 3 had Snute commit to an aggressive 14/14 into baneling pressure strategy which gained him an economic edge. Jaedong crucially omitted a baneling nest while defending so couldn't counter once Snute transitioned into economy. Jaedong tried to use slow roaches to stage a counter attack, but Snute got a perfect read on this move and was well prepared with better upgraded roaches of his own, closing out the game.
With Jaedong's tournament life on the line, both he Snute and Jaedong traded blows until they reached a stable mid game. Snute tried to make something happen with a timing attack to exploit an upgrade advantage, but Jaedong positioning was sublime and the fight resulted in a near maxed Jaedong chasing down Snute's 150 supply army. Despite cute collapsible rock antics to split Jaedongs army, Jaedong's numbers were too much and he quickly overwhelmed Snute.
In the deciding game of the series Snute was able to perfectly fool Jaedong setting up the perfect conditions for a raoch/bane all in. However Snute mistimed his banelings which forced his roaches to tank more damage than desirable. Jaedong used this to stall for 1-1 upgrades for his zerglings and make a miraculous hold. Jaedong then puts on a zergling counter attack clinic to pick apart Snute and steal a semifinal spot from what looked like a dire position. Jaedong remarked after the game that "the heavens must have been on my side".
Jim vs San
It was the battle of Stargates as
Jim opened with the same tech path in 3 straight games to reach the semi finals. His 3-2 victory over San sees him become the only foreigner in the Ro4, much to the delight of the home crowd. The phoenix has always been one of Jim's staple units, but it was the oracle the turned out to be the hero of his games. In Games 1, 3, and 5, it was that unit that earned him an advantage that he would not relinquish. Game 1 was the most straightforward of the bunch as an early oracle gave Jim a decisive advantage in probes and bases. His double stargate and Anion Pulse Crystal upgrade came sooner than San, and it was just a matter of sweeping the skies and lifting San's beleaguered army. San struck back in the second game as he squeezed out his Fleet Beacon sooner, and the phoenix war slowly but surely swung in his favor until he had enough to overwhelm his opponent.
The best game of the series occurred on Deadwing. Jim once again opened with an oracle, but it was unable to net as many probe kills as game 1. San decided to counter with a large stalker army off one base, but Jim was able to hold off the attack until his void rays were out. It would be a switch back to oracles, however, that would seal the deal for Jim. Often considered as a surprise unit that is used only as an opener, the midgame oracle choice caught San completely unaware, forcing San to warp in at home while losing a couple of probes. This forced the Flash Wolves Protoss to all in with blink, and it looked like San might have had enough to break through with his micro. But lo and behold, another oracle appeared in his base and wiped out all his probes to force the gg.
With his back against the wall, San looked all but dead in game three as he once again failed to punish Jim's Stargate and earlier expansion. Unfortunately for the Invictus Gaming Ace, he overextended outside the range of his nexus cannon, and a clutch time warp allowed San to take the phoenix advantage and lift for the win. Jim finally closed things out on Catallena with a proxy oracle that once again put him in a commanding lead. His switch into immortals and eventually Colossus allowed him to expand without fear, and despite San's valiant effort and clever DT drop after clearing out detection, the Chinese Protoss could not be denied a place in the next round.
This continues San's trend of misery in PvP, which was once one of his best matchups. It seems as though his defeat to StarDust in WCS EU Season 2 finals has knocked the wind out of that sail, but a Ro8 finish in a strong tournament is still something to be proud of.
Solar vs Innovation
Solar handed INnoVation one of the worst defeats of his career in the final series of the Round of 8. In all three games Innovation looked completely out classed, which is not something you can normally say about him. The opening game of the series on Catallena had Innovation open up with a standard hellion poke into 3CC build. The hellions succeeded in scouting out no drones at Solar's third and a mass of zerglings, this was indicative of the fact that Solar was going for a roach/bane all in. Thanks to the tip off, Innovation held the first wave of Solar's attack. However he misread the situation and thought Solar's attack was over so crucially cancelled his building bunkers. Solar's second wave of units dealt a killing blow, sealing the first game for Solar. The second game on Overgrowth was more of a traditional macro game. Innovation seemed to be in control of the game when he was able to contain Solar's creep spread and force Solar to make units with his 3 base pressure. However as the game went on, Solar was able to get a sizable zergling army into Innovations third while mutalisks ravaged his main. This forced Innovation to go all in to to survive, but poor splitting against banelings cost him most of his army and eventually the game. The final game of the night on Merry Go Round had Solar employ a roach/hydralisk timing which, once again, caught Innovation off guard. Innovation did surprisingly well in holding out given he was 100 supply down, but after flailing around like a dead fish for a bit, he eventually tapped out.
Solar will now go up against the Chinese, and foreign hope, Jim in the semifinals. Solar's ZvP has looked unbeatable during the tournament and will be an extremely tough match for Jim. Jaedong will go up against TaeJa tomorrow in the semifinals. Jaedong and Taeja have met twice this year with Taeja defeating Jaedong both times (Dreamhack Summer 2-0, Homestory Cup IX 3-2). ![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Plexa/iembracket3.png)
