EPTThe Road to Blizzcon - Ch I - Life
Chapter I
The Threat
by Zealously
Be quick as water.
Life had always found those words offensive. Like water, him? He scoffed, leaning against the cold metal armrest. If water I am, then I am the crushing tide, passing through and around you and really messing you up.
The throne room, on that count, was a real mess. Thche scepter, though perched above the floor on a dais at room's very center, looked dusty. It hadn't been moved for the better part of a month, and only a handful of times before that. More than a little offensive, that, but where was the use in dusting it off? Far as he could remember, it had been months since he had last had a real need for the damned thing. Like a scarecrow, that scepter, looming ominously before his throne. A relic.
No, he corrected himself, There was the one time.
He stifled a yawn, leaned against the other armrest, and stretched his neck. The silence bothered him. The calm was pleasant, of course, like balm against a hyperactive mind, but the silence... It wasn't for him, not in these quantities. He enjoyed upheaval, chaos, turmoil... The unexpected. If nothing else, the throne room was a fair representation of his preferred state of mind. Not chaotic enough, though.
I miss the challenge. I wonder where that fool is right now...
"That fool."
Months since the last person to sit on the throne had made an unceremonious and disappointing exit, and he had only been challenged once. Once! It was a travesty, and it almost made him regret snapping victory from PartinG's fingers. A rival would have made things much more lively—and where was the fool now? sOs nowhere to be seen, either, but he had hardly expected any different. Licking his wounds, to be sure, and doing his worst to find new unsavory ways to victory.
He rose, slowly, with the air of someone with nowhere to be, with no demands on his shoulders. A handful of zerglings, previously dawdling behind, burst from the shadows under the throne. They trotted eagerly ahead to the open doors, spilling out into the sunlight. Life followed, casting a sidelong glance at the scepter as he passed it, and let the doors close behind him.
PartinG, PartinG, PartinG. Where was he now? A resourceful kid, that one, and one who would naturally find his way back one day. There was nothing that would keep him away. The Protoss may bicker amongst themselves, but in the end they would all rally behind ParrtinG when push came to shove and Life's head was up for grabs. They had in the past—Life rolled his eyes, remembering their power grab of yesteryear—and would most likely do it again in the future. Was it his charisma? Life chuckled to himself, people parting before him on the street as he walked, and shook his head. Couldn't have been his power.
What, then?
”You're looking awfully gloomy.”
Life's head snapped up, turned. ”PenguiN. What are you doing here?”
”Flash wants to see you,” the rookie replied with a slight inclination of his head. ”Says it's important.”
”He thinks everything is important, but he's too slow on the uptake to look behind his own damn bed. If Flash wants something, he can come to me. Tell him that.” He turned to continue his stroll, but the rookie grabbed his arm.
It was hard to say who was more surprised—Life or PenguiN. The latter's two measly zerglings suddenly looked very small and very outnumbered next to Life's growing flock.
”Let go of my arm.”
”You need to see him. Really...”
It would have been so easy to knock the fool down where he stood. In perfect unison, Life's pets formed a circle around PenguiN. Six of them in all, with more waiting by the corners. The street had cleared almost entirely, with only a few pitiful-looking people still shuffling out of the way. It would have been so easy.
Instead, Life shrugged. ”Alright. Where is he?”
”Back home. Right next to...”
”Ah,” Life cut in, ”again? Flash needs to let him go. This is a new age, with a new ruler. But I suppose Flash has always been slow to change his opinion on rulers. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.” He spun, zerglings leaping ahead and running off down the street, headed for the KT clan's fortress.
”Just one thing,” he hissed back at PenguiN, and there was no mistaking his tone, ”don't ever try to hold me back.”
The man weaker-minded people had once called God stood alone in the courtyard, hands twirling behind his back, eyes fixed intently on the statue of a man before him. Chiseled features, slightly spattered with blue, contently closed eyes like those of someone sleeping. All behind a shell of thin, transparent glass.
”PenguiN told me it was urgent.” Life walked up to stand beside his friend. ”Very urgent.”
”It's good to see you,” Flash gave a quick smile, weak around the edges, then quickly turned back to the statue. He looked tired, insecure—more and more frequently, of late. As if the family's rise to absolute power had rocked his foundations, taken away what he knew best and replaced it with...
”It is,” Flash replied grimly. ”They have a new weapon.”
”They?”
”SKT?”
Life did his best not to laugh and failed spectacularly. ”Do they, now? Is it a modern dishwasher? A bag of chips? Or perhaps... a man with hands of silver? They have a way of producing those.”
”This isn't a joke!” Flash snapped, and Life suddenly realized from where he recognized the expression. It wasn't just worry—it was envy.
”A Terran, is it?”
There was a heavy pause. Life waited patiently, watched their still-as-stone teammate with a satisfied curl on his lip.
”Yes. Dream.”
”And? What is he to do that TaeJa couldn't? That Maru couldn't? They are the most talented, remember? You said so yourself, so wipe away that sour look.”
”It's not just the one. There's still INnoVation backing him up, in case you've forgotten."
Life looked up, surprised. ”Oh?” he indeed had all but forgotten about that weak-willed crook.
”Yes, INnoVation, too. They may have demoted him, but we all know what he's capable of. Only SKT can afford relegating him to mop up duty." Flash scraped his foot nervously against the marble underfoot, "don't look so sullen. You've had your fair share of losses against him, too. They say he's back. Back again, you know, in full force."
This was good. This was very good. Life's mouth almost watered, in fact, at the prospect of a real challenge. Something meaty. Something significant. A thrill, a near-death experience. Those two? Machine and meat, together? An exciting prospect. It had been... how long had it been, by now? Too long, at any rate, and too dull by far.
”I can handle INnoVation.” Life shrugged and began to turn. ”And I will deal with this upstart when I have to.”
”Wait.” Flash said, sounding genuinely worried. ”Wait, please.”
Please? Now we're getting somewhere, aren't we? ”Yes?”
”I've talked to the others—the Terrans. It's strange, damn strange.”
”You speak as slowly as you fight,” Life sighed, ”what's so strange?”
”They don't know where he came from. This Dream. He's been quiet for years, since he was a kid, more or less. They say he was weak, and he was. I've read about his battles. But now? Something has changed. The others are worried. They say Maru will challenge him directly—to put him in place?”
Life grunted, rolling his shoulders. Cracked a few knuckles in impatience. That would not stand, of course. Maru could not be allowed to get to him first. This was a battleground, if nothing else, and he was the king—not Maru. That one could have the scraps, if he so desired.
”Maru, is it? What do you think of the outcome?”
”I'm worried,” Flash admitted. He gestured at the statue behind them, pointing an open palm almost reverently at those stern features. ”It was never like this with him in charge.”
”No,” Life agreed, ”Never half as exciting. Dream, is it? Funny, I remember beating him in grade school—years ago. He was a weakling then, and he's a weakling now. Threaten me, would he? I'll show him threat.”
"Be careful," Flash warned, "sOs said the same thing, and he is suspiciously missing from the city right now."
"I won't charge headlong into anything. I have business in Spostalea, a routine thing. Once that is out of the way, I'll turn to showing them their place. Don't you worry. I can do it every bit as well as he could."
"Can you, really? It's all dirty with you, Life, dirty and ugly. Dangerous. On the edge, a bit often for my taste."
"I'll do it even better than he did. Two Terrans, is it? There'll be nothing left of them but regret when I'm done. "
With those words, Life left the courtyard. Flash muttered something about stopping, about thinking, about planning, but Life ignored him. The one they'd called God was slow, and too patient, never ready enough to strike. But Life would strike. First this newcomer would be put in his place—it should be a simple matter—and then any Terran bold enough to face him.
”Join the enemy, would they?” he muttered to himself, walking through the gloom of KT's fort. ”Oppose me, would they?” His zerglings were like shadows around him, swirling, dashing, swishing past—supernaturally fast, eerily nimble, moving almost with minds of their own.
”Threaten me, would they?”
He paused for a moment, remembering fire, missiles from the sky. Attacks everywhere, a constant barrage of artillery fire in foreign lands. That damn pretender. Shaking the memories slowly, with effort, he smiled again. This was a harder smile, not as casual—much more malicious. The smile of a fighter. The smile of a king.
”I'll show them threatening.”
Life had always found those words offensive. Like water, him? He scoffed, leaning against the cold metal armrest. If water I am, then I am the crushing tide, passing through and around you and really messing you up.
The throne room, on that count, was a real mess. Thche scepter, though perched above the floor on a dais at room's very center, looked dusty. It hadn't been moved for the better part of a month, and only a handful of times before that. More than a little offensive, that, but where was the use in dusting it off? Far as he could remember, it had been months since he had last had a real need for the damned thing. Like a scarecrow, that scepter, looming ominously before his throne. A relic.
No, he corrected himself, There was the one time.
He stifled a yawn, leaned against the other armrest, and stretched his neck. The silence bothered him. The calm was pleasant, of course, like balm against a hyperactive mind, but the silence... It wasn't for him, not in these quantities. He enjoyed upheaval, chaos, turmoil... The unexpected. If nothing else, the throne room was a fair representation of his preferred state of mind. Not chaotic enough, though.
I miss the challenge. I wonder where that fool is right now...
"That fool."
Months since the last person to sit on the throne had made an unceremonious and disappointing exit, and he had only been challenged once. Once! It was a travesty, and it almost made him regret snapping victory from PartinG's fingers. A rival would have made things much more lively—and where was the fool now? sOs nowhere to be seen, either, but he had hardly expected any different. Licking his wounds, to be sure, and doing his worst to find new unsavory ways to victory.
He rose, slowly, with the air of someone with nowhere to be, with no demands on his shoulders. A handful of zerglings, previously dawdling behind, burst from the shadows under the throne. They trotted eagerly ahead to the open doors, spilling out into the sunlight. Life followed, casting a sidelong glance at the scepter as he passed it, and let the doors close behind him.
PartinG, PartinG, PartinG. Where was he now? A resourceful kid, that one, and one who would naturally find his way back one day. There was nothing that would keep him away. The Protoss may bicker amongst themselves, but in the end they would all rally behind ParrtinG when push came to shove and Life's head was up for grabs. They had in the past—Life rolled his eyes, remembering their power grab of yesteryear—and would most likely do it again in the future. Was it his charisma? Life chuckled to himself, people parting before him on the street as he walked, and shook his head. Couldn't have been his power.
What, then?
”You're looking awfully gloomy.”
Life's head snapped up, turned. ”PenguiN. What are you doing here?”
”Flash wants to see you,” the rookie replied with a slight inclination of his head. ”Says it's important.”
”He thinks everything is important, but he's too slow on the uptake to look behind his own damn bed. If Flash wants something, he can come to me. Tell him that.” He turned to continue his stroll, but the rookie grabbed his arm.
It was hard to say who was more surprised—Life or PenguiN. The latter's two measly zerglings suddenly looked very small and very outnumbered next to Life's growing flock.
”Let go of my arm.”
”You need to see him. Really...”
It would have been so easy to knock the fool down where he stood. In perfect unison, Life's pets formed a circle around PenguiN. Six of them in all, with more waiting by the corners. The street had cleared almost entirely, with only a few pitiful-looking people still shuffling out of the way. It would have been so easy.
Instead, Life shrugged. ”Alright. Where is he?”
”Back home. Right next to...”
”Ah,” Life cut in, ”again? Flash needs to let him go. This is a new age, with a new ruler. But I suppose Flash has always been slow to change his opinion on rulers. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.” He spun, zerglings leaping ahead and running off down the street, headed for the KT clan's fortress.
”Just one thing,” he hissed back at PenguiN, and there was no mistaking his tone, ”don't ever try to hold me back.”
The man weaker-minded people had once called God stood alone in the courtyard, hands twirling behind his back, eyes fixed intently on the statue of a man before him. Chiseled features, slightly spattered with blue, contently closed eyes like those of someone sleeping. All behind a shell of thin, transparent glass.
”PenguiN told me it was urgent.” Life walked up to stand beside his friend. ”Very urgent.”
”It's good to see you,” Flash gave a quick smile, weak around the edges, then quickly turned back to the statue. He looked tired, insecure—more and more frequently, of late. As if the family's rise to absolute power had rocked his foundations, taken away what he knew best and replaced it with...
”It is,” Flash replied grimly. ”They have a new weapon.”
”They?”
”SKT?”
Life did his best not to laugh and failed spectacularly. ”Do they, now? Is it a modern dishwasher? A bag of chips? Or perhaps... a man with hands of silver? They have a way of producing those.”
”This isn't a joke!” Flash snapped, and Life suddenly realized from where he recognized the expression. It wasn't just worry—it was envy.
”A Terran, is it?”
There was a heavy pause. Life waited patiently, watched their still-as-stone teammate with a satisfied curl on his lip.
”Yes. Dream.”
”And? What is he to do that TaeJa couldn't? That Maru couldn't? They are the most talented, remember? You said so yourself, so wipe away that sour look.”
”It's not just the one. There's still INnoVation backing him up, in case you've forgotten."
Life looked up, surprised. ”Oh?” he indeed had all but forgotten about that weak-willed crook.
”Yes, INnoVation, too. They may have demoted him, but we all know what he's capable of. Only SKT can afford relegating him to mop up duty." Flash scraped his foot nervously against the marble underfoot, "don't look so sullen. You've had your fair share of losses against him, too. They say he's back. Back again, you know, in full force."
This was good. This was very good. Life's mouth almost watered, in fact, at the prospect of a real challenge. Something meaty. Something significant. A thrill, a near-death experience. Those two? Machine and meat, together? An exciting prospect. It had been... how long had it been, by now? Too long, at any rate, and too dull by far.
”I can handle INnoVation.” Life shrugged and began to turn. ”And I will deal with this upstart when I have to.”
”Wait.” Flash said, sounding genuinely worried. ”Wait, please.”
Please? Now we're getting somewhere, aren't we? ”Yes?”
”I've talked to the others—the Terrans. It's strange, damn strange.”
”You speak as slowly as you fight,” Life sighed, ”what's so strange?”
”They don't know where he came from. This Dream. He's been quiet for years, since he was a kid, more or less. They say he was weak, and he was. I've read about his battles. But now? Something has changed. The others are worried. They say Maru will challenge him directly—to put him in place?”
Life grunted, rolling his shoulders. Cracked a few knuckles in impatience. That would not stand, of course. Maru could not be allowed to get to him first. This was a battleground, if nothing else, and he was the king—not Maru. That one could have the scraps, if he so desired.
”Maru, is it? What do you think of the outcome?”
”I'm worried,” Flash admitted. He gestured at the statue behind them, pointing an open palm almost reverently at those stern features. ”It was never like this with him in charge.”
”No,” Life agreed, ”Never half as exciting. Dream, is it? Funny, I remember beating him in grade school—years ago. He was a weakling then, and he's a weakling now. Threaten me, would he? I'll show him threat.”
"Be careful," Flash warned, "sOs said the same thing, and he is suspiciously missing from the city right now."
"I won't charge headlong into anything. I have business in Spostalea, a routine thing. Once that is out of the way, I'll turn to showing them their place. Don't you worry. I can do it every bit as well as he could."
"Can you, really? It's all dirty with you, Life, dirty and ugly. Dangerous. On the edge, a bit often for my taste."
"I'll do it even better than he did. Two Terrans, is it? There'll be nothing left of them but regret when I'm done. "
With those words, Life left the courtyard. Flash muttered something about stopping, about thinking, about planning, but Life ignored him. The one they'd called God was slow, and too patient, never ready enough to strike. But Life would strike. First this newcomer would be put in his place—it should be a simple matter—and then any Terran bold enough to face him.
”Join the enemy, would they?” he muttered to himself, walking through the gloom of KT's fort. ”Oppose me, would they?” His zerglings were like shadows around him, swirling, dashing, swishing past—supernaturally fast, eerily nimble, moving almost with minds of their own.
”Threaten me, would they?”
He paused for a moment, remembering fire, missiles from the sky. Attacks everywhere, a constant barrage of artillery fire in foreign lands. That damn pretender. Shaking the memories slowly, with effort, he smiled again. This was a harder smile, not as casual—much more malicious. The smile of a fighter. The smile of a king.
”I'll show them threatening.”
After taking the title at the WCS Global Finals in 2014, Life showed no signs of slowing down for the first few months of the year. Successful qualification for both the GSL and the debut season of the SSL left him in a great position going forward, while a trip to Taipei in late January granted him his first silverware of the year. He stormed his way through the competition, dropping a mere two games on his path to the finals and a climactic meeting with Jin Air Green Wings’ ace terran Maru. The first premier finals of the Starcraft calendar year proved to be one of the very best, with Life emerging victorious after battling back from a 1-3 deficit.
Back in Korea, things were going even better. Alongside Rogue, he became the first player to qualify for the playoff stages of both Starleagues simultaneously; he followed that up by reaching the semifinals in both events—an achievement which would take the rest of the scene almost an entire year to better. He’d ultimately have to settle for only winning one of the two tournaments, beating PartinG 4-3 in the GSL Finals, while losing by the same scoreline to SKT’s young terran Dream in the SSL semifinals. His tally of WCS points gathered at this point was 3,650—already well over the eventual cut-off—but he failed to scale such heights again for the rest of the year, and a quarterfinal exit in the SSL to Dream again in Season 2 was as good as it got for Life amongst a set of below par results. The reigning champion returns to BlizzCon in uncertain form, after being dropped by his team KT Rolster for the most important match of their unsuccessful Proleague title defense attempt.
Yes, we’re cheating a little with this one, but since it happened in this WCS calendar year, we’re going ahead with it. It was seemingly ForGG’s last hurrah in Starcraft, given his modest results this year, and it’s spellbinding in the context of the mech vs Z games that we’ve been inundated with in the second half of 2015. Dynamic mech split pushes with handfuls of units, aggressive swarm host counters, and metronomic swings in momentum made this one of the best games of 2014, and indeed of all time.
Life may have looked in superb form from Blizzcon 2014 to early March, but the hallmark of a champion is that he wins titles. Having already dropped the ball at Dreamhack Winter, another finals defeat in Taiwan would have brought about serious questions. Instead, both Life and Maru gave us a finals for the ages, with Life solidifying his early season form with another trophy. The whole series is definitely worth a watch, but their game on Expedition Lost is a cracker. Down 2-3, Life pulled all the tricks out of the bag in a scrappy game. Much like his game against TaeJa at Blizzcon, it all came down to Life’s overwhelming harass, as the game and the series slowly slipped out of Maru’s hands.
You’re a zerg in the GSL Finals. You’re up by one game already, easily deflecting some cheese, and you opt for a greedy hatch first opening. Who would you like to be playing against?
Chances are, your answer won’t be ‘PartinG gearing up for a cannon rush’. Then again, chances are you aren’t Life either. The freshly minted KT zerg turned straight to the Rogue textbook of unorthodoxy here, expanding to his fifth after PartinG denied his natural, third and fourth, while setting up a proxy hatch in the protoss main. Roach nydus was the follow up, transitioning into a swarm host contain, while PartinG grimly tried to hold on with gateway tech for long enough to get detection online. In a year when PvZ often devolved into mass stalker vs mass roach / hydra, this oddity was utterly captivating.
If the façade of invincibility that Life had worn since Blizzcon 2014 hadn’t been completely eroded by Dream’s shock victory in the SSL semifinals, there were definitely weaknesses showing where none had been before. Suddenly, everyone wanted a swing at the champ. Life may have won the game, but he was pushed to his very limits, and soon others would take up the slack to once again bring uncertainty to the top echelon of the scene. Neither BrAvO nor Life did anything too fancy in this game—it’s just the beautiful basics of bio+thor against ling bling muta in a 35 minute game that could truly have gone either way—but it’s particularly notable for perhaps spelling the end of one of the most dominant runs in Starcraft 2 history. Never again in 2015 would a player look as imperious.
Life has lost games in many ways before, but rarely has he seemed as outclassed as he did against Curious in their two Proleague clashes in 2015. Curious’ ling runbys were more effective; his mutalisk harass better; his defense impenetrable. For a player who often looked unbeatable in all three matchups in the first few months of the year, these twin defeats seemed like the final nails in the coffin. Then again, that’s what we would have said this time last year...
Back in Korea, things were going even better. Alongside Rogue, he became the first player to qualify for the playoff stages of both Starleagues simultaneously; he followed that up by reaching the semifinals in both events—an achievement which would take the rest of the scene almost an entire year to better. He’d ultimately have to settle for only winning one of the two tournaments, beating PartinG 4-3 in the GSL Finals, while losing by the same scoreline to SKT’s young terran Dream in the SSL semifinals. His tally of WCS points gathered at this point was 3,650—already well over the eventual cut-off—but he failed to scale such heights again for the rest of the year, and a quarterfinal exit in the SSL to Dream again in Season 2 was as good as it got for Life amongst a set of below par results. The reigning champion returns to BlizzCon in uncertain form, after being dropped by his team KT Rolster for the most important match of their unsuccessful Proleague title defense attempt.
WCS Points Breakdown:
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/cA2JRT6.png)
Top 5 Games
1. Life vs ForGG, DHW 2014 - Catallena
Yes, we’re cheating a little with this one, but since it happened in this WCS calendar year, we’re going ahead with it. It was seemingly ForGG’s last hurrah in Starcraft, given his modest results this year, and it’s spellbinding in the context of the mech vs Z games that we’ve been inundated with in the second half of 2015. Dynamic mech split pushes with handfuls of units, aggressive swarm host counters, and metronomic swings in momentum made this one of the best games of 2014, and indeed of all time.
2. Life vs Maru, IEM Taipei 2015 Grand Finals - Expedition Lost
Life may have looked in superb form from Blizzcon 2014 to early March, but the hallmark of a champion is that he wins titles. Having already dropped the ball at Dreamhack Winter, another finals defeat in Taiwan would have brought about serious questions. Instead, both Life and Maru gave us a finals for the ages, with Life solidifying his early season form with another trophy. The whole series is definitely worth a watch, but their game on Expedition Lost is a cracker. Down 2-3, Life pulled all the tricks out of the bag in a scrappy game. Much like his game against TaeJa at Blizzcon, it all came down to Life’s overwhelming harass, as the game and the series slowly slipped out of Maru’s hands.
3. Life vs PartinG, GSL S1 2015 Grand Finals - Deadwing
You’re a zerg in the GSL Finals. You’re up by one game already, easily deflecting some cheese, and you opt for a greedy hatch first opening. Who would you like to be playing against?
Chances are, your answer won’t be ‘PartinG gearing up for a cannon rush’. Then again, chances are you aren’t Life either. The freshly minted KT zerg turned straight to the Rogue textbook of unorthodoxy here, expanding to his fifth after PartinG denied his natural, third and fourth, while setting up a proxy hatch in the protoss main. Roach nydus was the follow up, transitioning into a swarm host contain, while PartinG grimly tried to hold on with gateway tech for long enough to get detection online. In a year when PvZ often devolved into mass stalker vs mass roach / hydra, this oddity was utterly captivating.
4. Life vs BrAvO, SPL 2015 R2 – Merry Go Round
If the façade of invincibility that Life had worn since Blizzcon 2014 hadn’t been completely eroded by Dream’s shock victory in the SSL semifinals, there were definitely weaknesses showing where none had been before. Suddenly, everyone wanted a swing at the champ. Life may have won the game, but he was pushed to his very limits, and soon others would take up the slack to once again bring uncertainty to the top echelon of the scene. Neither BrAvO nor Life did anything too fancy in this game—it’s just the beautiful basics of bio+thor against ling bling muta in a 35 minute game that could truly have gone either way—but it’s particularly notable for perhaps spelling the end of one of the most dominant runs in Starcraft 2 history. Never again in 2015 would a player look as imperious.
5. Life vs Curious, SPL 2015 R4 - Iron Fortress
Life has lost games in many ways before, but rarely has he seemed as outclassed as he did against Curious in their two Proleague clashes in 2015. Curious’ ling runbys were more effective; his mutalisk harass better; his defense impenetrable. For a player who often looked unbeatable in all three matchups in the first few months of the year, these twin defeats seemed like the final nails in the coffin. Then again, that’s what we would have said this time last year...
Life vs Maru
IEM Taipei Grand Finals - Expedition Lost
by: Moosegills
After successfully defending a proxy reaper on Vaani Research Station, Life must have felt confident despite his 2-3 deficit against Maru. Still, Life did not want to take any chances in the early game and opted for an 11 supply drone scout to check his third base location for proxy rax, before heading out in search of Maru's base. While normally a drone scout all the way to the terran base is considered unnecessary, Life understood that because Expedition Lost was a bad reaper map, there was a good chance that Maru would try to go command center first. With the drone scout, Life was able to both delay the placing of the command center and later his build to 3 hatch before pool.
From there, Life decided to delay his gasses for a heavy queen style while Maru chose an unorthodox hellion drop build. Unfortunately for Maru, Life was able to spot the medivac as it was coming out of his base. Since Life opened glassless, zergling speed was not read in time for the first drop and Maru still managed to get 7 drones kills for 4 hellions. At this point, most players would have transition into normal Bio play. Maru, of course, isn't just any normal terran. He wanted to remain aggressive, an interesting stylistic choice, by making more hellions after his initial six. He performed a second drop in the main accompanied by a runby. This unexpected move netted 20 more drone kills, but it was not without a cost: Maru's production was so heavily delayed that his upgrades were 40 seconds behind life. Maru had no way to control the creep spread and Life's economy bloomed despite his losses due to his very greedy early game. All in all, Life came out with a decent lead.
With Maru's marine count smaller than average for the first medivac push, Life was able to skimp on banelings almost entirely in favor of building more mutalisks. Realizing that Maru had wanted to set the pace of the game, Life was able to successfully defend Maru's harassment in multiple locations. Life was able to conserve his early creep spread, grow his flock and extend his 4th base creep by splitting his units perfectly. It would not be until the 14th minute that Maru had the bravery to start clearing creep. Life could have easily taken a fair fight, but he knew that he was ahead in the progress of his upgrades . He waited patiently for Maru to come closer and closer to his 4th base as his 2/2 came within inches of finishing. Just as Maru realized that he had bitten off more creep than he could chew, Life's upgrades completed, providing the impetus to take a very effective engagement against Maru's 1/1 bio.
Life's lead had increased even more with the fight, and he had the luxury of a safe and secure 8 gas economy. With all the gas that he had saved by minimizing his dependence on banelings, Life was able to pump his mutalisk count up to 20. Even though Maru had kept pace with his bio pushes, Life held on without much trouble. With sufficient creep spread to protect his 4th and knowledge that Maru's army was out on the map, Life moved his mutas along the right side of the map and into Maru's main.Once there, Life had the time of his life. He camped the terran production and denied reinforcements. This forced Maru to commit to an attack with his main army, but due to the uncontrollable creep spread and overwhelming economy, Maru's army was easily cleaned up by the zerg's ground forces alone.
By the time Maru was able to muster enough marines in his main to fend off the mutas, he found himself 20 workers down and at a 25 supply deficit. Maru now had to take a 4th base and protect it, but this left his main unprotected for a second time. Life pounced on this opportunity immediately, and Maru had to split his army in half in order to deal with the harassment. Unfortunately, half his army was not enough to fend off Life's ling blind assault on his 4th base; he lost his planetary fortress and before he could grieve, there were mutas in his third base as well.
With his fourth base dead and most of his workers in the grave, Maru's only chance was to make something happen with his 3/3 bio. Maru figured that Life had sacrificed a large chunk of his army to sack the planetary fortress at his fourth, so he may have had an army advantage for a short while yet. As he began to move towards the zerg 4th, he lifted his main and floated it to his fourth to squeak out every last bit of income that he could for a final push. Whether it be by luck or accurately predicting the future, Life had left a few lings and banelings near that base and rounded up 38 more SCV kills. At that point, Life was easily able to amass a big enough army with his 85 worker economy to swallow Maru's army in whole. This game is a great example of how Life is able to adapt his play to almost any situation at hand. His natural skill is augmented by clear game sense in order to take advantage of map tendencies and playstyles. From start to finish Life was able to play as greedy as he wanted and gain full saturation as soon as possible by merely knowing Maru's preferences. It also shows the pitfalls of hyper-aggressive hellion builds in TvZ. Though Maru managed to net 20 drone kills, it left him with delayed production, upgrades and zero map control to stop the creep.
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