EPTOne Life Left
by munch and CosmicSpiral
If any series could swing from an knife edge contest to a flaccid blowout, it was this one. The stage had been set for an epic clash: Life and PartinG were at the apex of their powers and harried by past failures to deliver here. Yet a fog of vague trepidation still overshadowed the proceedings. The last time these two players faced each other, PartinG could not handle Life in a straight-up macro game. Instead he resorted to bizarre hooks, trying to confuse his enemy with shenanigans a cannon rush walled off by gateways. On paper it would be one of the closest GSL finals in history. Behind screens around the world, viewers silently prayed that PartinG would play up to that standard.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/shiroiusagi/2015/gsl/season01GF_vs.png)
4
Life
Happily, the result trended towards the statistics. It was not an exemplary series by any means. The games were not always clean, both parties committed a lot of errors and boneheaded decisions, and straightforward macro play was not at a premium. No one could deny that it wasn't exciting though. Going down to the last game, Life and PartinG engaged in a depraved battle of wits that was an utter treat for the viewers. Despite not getting a 50 minute split-map scenario, we saw almost everything else on the sun. Proxy builds of all sorts, 2 base nydus, void ray hit squads, the series was defined by an embrace of madness.
Game 1 - Merry Go Round
Game 1 on Merry Go Round was one of the quickest and dirtiest starts to a GSL Finals. PartinG made a calculated gamble intended to shake Life's confidence, setting up a proxy 2 gate inside the Zerg's base. However, it was immediately scouted by a drone. A valiant attempt at zealot micro was completely shut down by a spine crawler and once the second queen finished, PartinG conceded.
Game 2 - Deadwing
Never one to back down, PartinG ramped up the insanity on Deadwing. Channeling the shenanigans of his former teammate Classic, PartinG set up an endless cannon train covering three attempted expansions. Life countered with a proxy hatchery inside the Protoss main, but PartinG dealt with it effectively. However, the KT Zerg knew that all that money spent on cannons and pylons meant his opponent had no tech at home. Taking his 5th base, Life opted for a nydus worm and set up a barricade outside Parting’s natural. Life demolished the outer wall with his roach force, crucially killing the cybernetics core mere seconds before warpgate finished. PartinG was left with no answer to a swarm host followup. PartinG's panicked rush to colossus was too slow to prevent Life from grinding his natural expansion to dust.
Game 3 - Catallena
A quick roach push with speedlings looked like an easy knockout blow, catching out PartinG’s attempt to rush out immortals. Under pressure PartinG’s sentry micro proved immaculate, saving his natural expansion at the cost of 20 probes. Life’s commitment left him severely lacking in drones and with both players on two bases, he realized that he was greatly behind. He tried to outfox the Protoss with a proxy spire, helping to force a base trade in his favor. PartinG’s multitasking was more than sufficient to avoid this plan, crushing through Life’s defense while cushioning the counterattack with stalkers.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/UTiUKRBl.png)
Game 4 - King Sejong Station
After such frantic games it was certain that things would calm down, and both sides settled for standard openings on King Sejong Station. Even with two oracles, PartinG late stargate was shut down by blind spore crawlers. They did, however, scout Life’s rush to hive tech. PartinG cancelled his colossus transition in expectation of a viper rush, diverting his focus into the templar archives instead. Sadly he sabotaged his own efforts by overcommitting to a stalker/sentry push before high templars were ready. Blinding clouds left PartinG's army without punch and the subsequent counterattack ended the game, as the sheer weight roach/hydra could not be stopped.
Game 5 - Foxtrot Labs
With 2 games to burn, Life tried to end things early on Foxtrot Labs. Fast burrow was initially a good decision as Life forced several cancels on PartinG's third with roaches. However the stargate transition offered PartinG plenty of opportunities to scout, and he wisely responded with an immortal-based composition. As Life threw wave after wave of attacks at him, PartinG gradually secured a dominating lead. Eventually, the Protoss ambushed Life's final push in the middle of the map.
Game 6 - Overgrowth
Life remained fully confident in his strategy and opened with heavy roach pressure again on Overgrowth. Once more it yielded dividends: cleaning up all of PartinG’s sentries at the third as well as a last second nexus kill. PartinG fought fire with fire, counterattacking with his air units. Void rays sniped the Zerg's third base in seconds, and a quick recall meant he took no damage in return. Now up a base, his follow-up push with blink stalkers proved far too powerful for Life.
Game 7 - Iron Fortress
With everything on the line, Life went back to his roots for the most important game of the year. He went blind 9 pool on a huge 4 player map...and it paid off. PartinG confidently assumed the rubber game would be a macro game, and he chose nexus first. While PartinG’s probe micro in the natural was absolutely stellar, he was forced to sit in his main while speedlings lured outside. Time after time PartinG attempted to retake his natural, only to be stopped by Life's fast reactions. By the time he had secured his natural and third, Life had amassed a huge swarm of roach/hydra. Life rolled in with wave after wave of units, and while PartinG valiantly held back the tide, he was forced to throw away almost all his probes as meat shields in the bargain. Eventually the laws of economics kicked in and PartinG was whittled to nothing.
Over the past fortnight, Life has fought disappointment after disappointment. Previously slated to win 3 tournaments in the span of a week, he endured close defeats at the hands of INnoVation and Dream. With one life left, it looked like he would drop 3-4 in a heartbreaking loss. All was forgiven that night, as he received his third GSL trophy and tenth premier title in Starcraft 2.
