EPT
![[image loading]](/staff/shiroiusagi/2014/starleague2015.jpg)
Full results on Liquipedia: http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/2015_StarCraft_II_StarLeague_Season_1/Challenge#Day_1
We were treated to a thrilling opening day at SSL as both PvT series featured very high level play and reverse sweeps. The day did unfortunately start off with an entirely forgettable series between two of Korea's best zergs, but the two following series showcased inspirational play by both sides.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/DarkLordOlli/SSL_Day_1_recap.jpg)
JinAir.Rogue swept TCM's new recuit Soulkey clean aside with a "How-to-win-ZvZ-with-no-effort-at-all" speedrun. The first two games followed the exact same pattern and ended within minutes. Rogue opened with an aggressive early pool with baneling followup, Soulkey chose the greediest option possible by opening hatchery first -> additional drones -> gas -> pool. Needless to say, Rogue was up 2-0 after barely ten minutes of gameplay. Game three was only slightly more challenging for him, as he defended Soulkey's ling/baneling aggression with a wall consisting of evolution chambers, queens and spine crawlers. A simple roach counterattack ended a series that most definitely won't feature in any highlight reel ever.The following series between
Cure and 
Classic got off to a similarly one-sided start. The games were hard fought however - Cure hit a razor-thin maxed out bio/viking timing in game 1, resetting Classic's colossus count. The SKT protoss seemed to claw his way back into it though, killing numerous SCVs and establishing what would have turned into a substantial lead, had he been able to hold on. His army however was still very zealot/stalker heavy and Cure's decisive killing blow struck just before Classic was able to trade them away in favor of more templar and colossi. Game two was a fairly straight forward win for Cure, as he defended Classic's blink rush and countered with widow mine drops against no detection. Classic looked visibly shaken in the booth, but stepped up his game tremendously and played a commanding game on Overgrowth, bouncing back from an early disadvantage with expert use of DTs and flawless decisionmaking. He looked doomed again on Merry Go Round, as Cure busted out a very rarely seen Maka-rax strategy - a barracks opening with no gas, supposed to look like a 1-rax expansion, but with a hidden second barracks to cancel the protoss' nexus. Classic got caught completely by surprise and was forced to cancel his natural. He was able to break out with blink, but Cure was already set up to defend against the aggression Classic was forced to put on. Instead of transitioning, Classic kept producing probes and added a warp prism and more gates. With a very well executed, PvZ-esque sentry drop he caught Cure completely out of position and, just like that, equaled the series. Game five on King Sejong Station turned into a 40+ minute macro fest, in which Classic showcased his brilliant use of zealot/DT harrass, coupled with his army movement, to slowly choke Cure to death. While his army control looked shaky at times,
Classic's reverse sweep showcased excellent understanding of PvT all around. He'll be a dangerous opponent for any terran to face.LiquidTaeJa seemed to enjoy his return to Korean individual SC2 initially, as he had little trouble with Terminator in their first two games. Defending a 4gate blink/robo build and countering with a strong bio/tank push, TaeJa rolled over Terminator in G1. Even the careless loss of his three supporting medivacs didn't change the one-sided outcome of their battle. The JinAir captain set up for a very defensive lategame oriented phoenix/colossus style on Deadwing, but one moment of carelessness was enough to shatter his plans. When Terminator's phoenixes ate a gigantic EMP, all TaeJa needed to do was move in with his huge viking/bio army and clean up Terminator's entire force, forcing him out of a bizarre game. Terminator changed his plans for the following game on Merry Go Round. He opened with phoenix/colossus once again, but this time turned it into an aggressive 2-base push that TaeJa wasn't prepared for. Having nicked one game back, Terminator continued to rely on a mindgame-focused approach, as he faked an immortal attack, only to follow it up with dark templar. TaeJa got caught completely by surprise and was forced to surrender, tying up the series. On Nimbus, Terminator fell back on phoenix/colossus once again, this time dealing with TaeJa's presence on the map very well. A stray medivac got picked off by stalkers and phoenixes in the middle of the map, allowing Terminator to defend his third base with little trouble. A powerful 3-base attack with over 20 phoenixes, 7 colossi and a flood of supporting zealots and even a few archons spelled the end for TaeJa, whose army control in the final engagement was uncharacteristically questionable. Even though TaeJa didn't play his best series last night, Terminator's build execution was definitely on point - a deserved victory for him in the end.
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