EPT
2017 WCS Global Finals
TY and SpeCial both opened with reactored hellions and ravens on Odyssey, but SpeCial deviated with a pair of cyclones while TY went for tanks. SpeCial pushed out, killing seven SCVs after diving on TY’s tank with his raven. Both players established themselves on three bases, but SpeCial had a far larger army having dealt early damage and sniped a full medivac. A drop in TY's main drew his army into his main, rendering him unable to prevent SpeCial from rolling through his third and taking the first game.TY's reaper delayed SpeCial's natural on Ascension to Aiur, but SpeCial deflected TY's early hellions before seamlessly macroing into mech. TY was forced to lift his third base and retreat to as SpeCial's tanks set up a siege on his natural. A pair of liberators forced threatening TY’s tanks forced TY into action and, though he managed to kill the liberators, he didn't have enough to clean up the rest of SpeCial's forces. Down more than 60 supply, TY tapped out, setting up a win or go home match against
Stats, while also making SpeCial the first quarterfinalist.Neeb opened with a stargate and two gateways after an expand while 
soO took his standard 32 supply third base on Odyssey. Still on two bases, Neeb attacked with adepts oracles. He was took a worker lead, but soO quickly changed gears, going into a nydus worm. Zerglings took down Neeb’s third unopposed as the nydus ferried the queens and roaches into Neeb's main. They were met by adepts, oracles and pylon overcharges, but it wasn’t enough. Neeb never had time to catch his breath as endless units overran the TING Protoss, giving soO the 1-0 lead.Neeb led off with a robo/dark shrine on Ascension to Aiur, but soO's overlord scouted gave him forewarning to build spores and a roach warren. Neeb still able caught soO off guard with four dark templars at his third, but soO retreated before charging back as if he had overseer despite his lair not being completed, forcing Neeb to retreat. Neeb tried to keep soO honest with his warp prism, but soO repeatedly canceled Neeb's third with zerglings before moving out with hydralisks. Neeb was caught out of position and, while immortals did their best, it was simply a numbers game. soO smashed through Neeb’s defenses, sending him to BlizzCon while setting up a rematch between
Rogue and Neeb. Having seen a void ray,
Dark canceled overlord speed on Ascension to Aiur, allowing herO's twilight council and charge to go to undetected. herO tried to take a third base, but zerglings, banelings and queens killed the expansion. herO looked to be in dire straits after losing his main mineral line to banelings drops, but a desperate attack with archons and immortals put Dark in a similar spot. herO backed off and took a third base while eliminating Dark’s fourth. Stuck on roach tech, Dark's army was overwhelmed by herO's more formidable army, putting him down a game.Having reached three bases Dark went for a roach warren while herO opted for charge, a robotics facility and templar archives before taking a third while setting up a timing attack. Dark held the first wave with roaches and even counterattacked with banelings, but the effort fizzled. A zergling run by into herO's third drew the ROOT Protoss back, but he paid a pair of banelings no mind as he plowed into Dark's third, killing the base and then Dark's army. The win earned herO a quarterfinal berth while pitting Dark against
Elazer in a do or die final match.GuMiho's 2/1/1 was a break from the TvT norm, while INnoVation went for a more standard 1/1/1 opening on Ascension to Aiur. GuMiho took a quicker third and appeared to be controlling the pace after sieging INnoVation's third while killing workers at the Ballistix Terran's fourth, but INnoVation managed to sneak past and snipe GuMiho's fourth. Things snowballed from there with INnoVation driving GuMiho back and eventually picking up the game mid-map as his superior bio/tank force forced GuMiho into an unwinnable fight.The early game played out similarly on Odyssey, but GuMiho favored tanks while INnoVation made a trio of cyclones. The first real action was botched three medivac drop from GuMiho gave INnoVation a 20 supply lead. He built on it by sniping GuMiho's third while taking one of his own. GuMiho was always on the back foot from there, unable to get his footing economically, while losing air control. He tried to find good fights, but that too was futile as INNoVation closed out the series 2-0 to move on to BlizzCon. The loss set up a rematch between
Serral and GuMiho.Game one took place on Ascension to Aiur. Stalkers and stargate set up a contina, but TY eventually broke out and claimed his third. Stats shaded into TY's third and natural and killed 16 workers at the cost of all the adepts. Instead of countering en masse, TY split his army. Stats survived mostly intact, the primary casualty being the robotics bay researching colossus range. Stats moved out and in an ambitious move sniped TY's fourth. He lost nearly all of his army in the process, though. TY increase his liberator and ghost count before dealing the killing blow.
TY significantly delayed Stats' expansions with a proxy barracks and engineering bay, but Stats was eventually able to take the gold base on Odyssey. TY killed probes left and right with cloaked banshees, but was stuck on two bases and struggled to transition to bio. Stats went into glaives and a host of adepts, shading into TY's third before TY could muster the forces to defend it. Marines and tanks fell in droves, sending the series to game three.
Stats looked poised to take the series on Interloper after TY's failed double medivac drop set up a blink push that killed fourteen SCVs while pinning TY on 2 base. Stats took a third, reloaded and moved out. TY had the same idea however, and a basetrade ensued. Both players took heavy losses, with TY landing a command center a stones throwing from Stats' building nexus. With every thing on the line, bio/tank mashed against stalkers and immortals. But it was TY who emerged from the scrum, leaving Stats no choice but to concede. The loss brings his BlizzCon to an end, while securing TY a spot in the Round of 8.
The rematch between Rogue and Neeb began on Abyssal Reef. Neeb opened with an oracle and fast third before adding on another two stargates. Rogue gave the American’s build no time to develop as he went for a ling flood and queen drop that killed 41 probes, bringing a swift end to the game.
Game two took place on Acolyte, but Rogue showed no interest in protracted macro game, going for swarm hosts and a nydus worm off two bases. Neeb expanded up to three bases, but was unable to tech beyond gateway units and oracles as locusts killed buildings, workers and army units. Neeb tried to strike back with adepts and oracles, but Rogue was prepared with roaches and queens. Down more than 70 supply and facing off against 24 swarm hosts and a murder of corruptors, Neeb left the game, sending Rogue to BlizzCon while bringing an end to a Neeb's historic WCS campaign.
Dark and Elazer opened hatchery first on Mech Depot, but Dark went for a quicker baneling nest while Elazer took a third at an unusual spot just north of his seven o'clock base before getting his lair. Dark declined to commit to aggression, instead teching up to roaches. Elazer committed to zerglings, however. With his spire in production, he killed off queens, roaches and drones. Elazer's mutalisks arrive not long after, prompting a quick concession from a defenseless Dark.
Dark and Elazer found their way up to three bases on Abyssal Reef and moved into roaches after fighting to a draw with zerglings and banelings. Dark made a spire, but it wasn’t detected until his mutalisks cleaned up a roach drop. This triggered Elazer to go into hydralisks which Dark responded to by researching banelings speed. He massed banelings and roaches before crashing into Elazer's fourth. Corrosive biles waylaid the banelings, but they found the necessary connections to swing the roach count in Dark's favor and even the series.
Ascension to Aiur was the site of game three. Dark took a worker lead following the standard three base ling/bane exchange, but Elazer held an army advantage. When his counterattack reached Dark, the Korean Zerg commanded a sizeable roach force. Elazer's first push got him nowhere, but he kept adding on roaches and zerglings while chipping away at Dark's army. Roaches and ravagers broke through and Elazer chased Dark into his natural. Dark pulled his drones in defense, but Elazer's numbers proved insurmountable. Dark tapped out, ending the chances of back to back finals, while making Elazer the second foreigner to reach the final eight.
Serral opened the series with a proxy hatchery on Ascension to Aiur. Accosted by ravagers and queens, GuMiho was forced to lift his natural and factory. He eventually broke out with bio/tank after doing minor damage with cloaked banshees, but Serral was already building an army off three bases. GuMiho tried to swing things in his favor, but Serral simply had too much muscle. His army met its doom at the claws of roaches and ravagers, giving Serral a 1-0 advantage.
Serral macroed up to three bases on Acolyte, but made it no further as GuMiho managed to fly three medivacs full of tanks and marines into Serral's pocket expansion. Serral lost five drones before the fight even began. Serral bought a flood of zerglings and a number of queens to bear, but the tanks and a few marines survived. Facing a mech transition down 20 supply, Serral conceded bringing the series to a third game.
Game three on Abyssal Reef started with a marine/mine drop and hellion aggression from GuMiho. Serral weathered it with minimal losses, but suffered significant damage from auto turrets while teching into hydra/ling/bane. The players traded blows while teching to ranged liberators and ultralisk/viper respectively. The game seesawed back and forth, but GuMiho was denying bases and mining while Serral kept attacking into liberators, each time emerging with less than he began. Down nearly 100 supply, Serral left the game, bringing his year to a close while making GuMiho the sixth Korean to advance to BlizzCon.
With the group stage complete, all that was left was for the BlizzCon bracket to be drawn, and just like last year, we open up with a foreigner vs foreigner knife fight to start proceedings. Join us on Friday 3 November as SpeCial and Elazer kick off the WCS Global Finals Playoffs.
