EPT
2017 WCS Global FinalsThe first series kicked off on Abyssal Reef.
Elazer opened hatchery first, while 
SpeCial opted for a reaper expand. By the time the reaper crossed the map, Elazer had already started his third. He began overlord speed while SpeCial went for reactored hellions and a viking. Having seen SpeCial's production, Elazer built a roach warren, with SpeCial working on a third command center and raven. From there SpeCial researched stimpack, while scouting a clutch of roaches starting across the map. SpeCial was able to construct three bunkers and Elazer dove on them, losing his roaches, but killing 45 SCVs, leaving SpeCial with four workers. SpeCial moved to counterattack, but a zergling runby drew his hellions back, slowing the push down. When it finally hit, stimmed marines only managed to chip away at Elazer's ravagers. With his fourth base down, double upgrades and a hydralisk den on the the way, Elazer caught SpeCial's army in the open. SpeCial wasted no time in conceding, putting Elazer ahead 1-0.Game two took place on Mech Depot. Elazer opened pool first, taking a hatchery and then gas. SpeCial mixed things up, getting a marine and reactor as well as a factory before expanding. The orbital was slowed, however, as four lings forced the working SCV away. Undeterred, SpeCial proxied a starport at the 12 o'clock position. Elazer's third base was halfway built as the first liberator and an armory began for SpeCial. Hellions streamed across the map, forcing Elazer to defend at his third. Zerglings and queens died in droves while a liberator denied mining in the main. With the queens pulled back, SpeCial's hellbats dove into Elazer's natural, killing twelve drones. Having taken his third, SpeCial was producing cyclones and hellions out of two reactored factories while Elazer took his fourth base and got a hydralisk den at a nearly thirty supply disadvantage. SpeCial pushed into Elazer's third, splitting his hellbats against banelings. The second wave of banelings got solid connections, but it was to no avail as SpeCial tied the series.
The series turned to Interloper for game three. SpeCial's opening reaper was followed by a marine, reactor, factory and expansion, while Elazer droned up to 31 supply before getting a third and overlord speed. Producing hellions two by two, while moving out with a pair of mines in a medivac, SpeCial started stimpack just long enough to get scouted by an overlord. He canceled the upgrade before building a third base and two barracks. A hellion drop from SpeCial appeared to be fenced in by roaches, but SpeCial managed to kill eleven drones with them and a raven. With SpeCial getting double upgrades and stim, Elazer started his fourth and melee/carapace upgrades. When his lair finished, he added on a hydralisk den and baneling nest. Elazer pushed back two medivacs worth of marines, but canceled his armor upgrade assuming the evolution chamber would die. It did not though, meaning he started 2/2 at the same time. On 77 workers, Elazer got a hive and infestors while expanding to the seven o'clock base. SpeCial pushed into Elazer's fourth, successfully killing it, but he lost his army in return. A baneling land mine destroyed an astonishing number of marines, but Elazer was still even on bases. Elazer began to mix ultralisks into his composition, along with a viper, while SpeCial, stuck on bio/tank, set Elazer back another base. He tried to retreat, but was ambushed by infestors and a viper, losing a large number of immobilized marines to banelings. A push into SpeCials' fourth was rebutted, while a counter drop further set Elazer's economy back by sniping a base. With the Zerg preoccupied by liberators, SpeCial eliminated another, setting Elazer back to three mining bases as SpeCial floated his main orbital command to a more forward position. Elazer tried to defend when SpeCial crossed the map with the bulk of his forces, but he had too few ultralisks and hydralisks to put up a real fight. He tapped out, giving SpeCial the lead.
WIth SpeCial one game away from a spot in the semifinals, the players did battle on Acolyte. While SpeCial went for a reaper expand, Elazer powered up to three bases without taking gas. SpeCial's reaper spotted Elazer's in base expansion as he moved into his customary reactored hellions and then a raven. Elazer took his lair before getting zergling speed while continuing queen production. The reaper saw the lair as Elazer's queens were distracted preventing hellions up the ramp into his main. The hellions were persistent though and they managed to sneak in, killing twelve drones with the help of an auto turret. Across the map, SpeCial was adding factories and armories. Elazer responded by planting a nydus worm in SpeCial's main, taking advantage of the lull in SpeCial's production. SpeCial surrounded Elazer's queens with SCVs and hellbats and, despite losing 26 SCVs, his cyclones popped out just in time, significantly bolstering his defense. A few roaches trickled out of the nydus, but they too were cleaned up. Even on workers, but lacking the ability to transition into a normal game, Elazer conceded, sending SpeCial to the Round of 4.
The first game of the second series took place on Mech Depot.
soO opened hatchery first while GuMiho went for a low ground barracks and a reaper before command center and factory. GuMiho went for an additional reaper and reactored hellions while soO got overlord speed before a third base at 44 supply. Across the map GuMIho was still producing hellions, reapers and an armory. soO, who had started a roach warren, was forced to cancel his third base. Hellbats sacrificed themselves to kill four workers, but soO had only just started his third while GuMiho moved into mech with a third command center underway. soO streamed units across the map, but a siege tank popped out, forcing soO to take a lair and settle for a contain. A cyclone drop drew soO back, with GuMiho simultaneously doing a tank push on soO's third that soO was unable to hold with roaches and queens. His army gone, he conceded, giving GuMiho the 1-0 lead.GuMiho proxied a barracks to start game two on Abyssal Reef, but soO scouted it with his overlord. soO went pool first while SCVs and drones did war. The barracks eventually finished, with GuMiho opting for a reaper with a command center behind. soO went for a pair of zerglings, zergling speed and a roach warren, the latter of which soO prevented an early scout on. A pair of zerglings forced GuMiho's second reaper home which left GuMIho with no way of scouting soO's roaches flooding across the map. When soO hit, GuMiho had nothing in the way of defense and he tapped out, evening the series.
The players turned to Ascension to Aiur for game three. GuMiho's reaper expand faced off against soO's hatchery first. With his first hellions on the way, GuMiho lost his reaper, allowing soO to take his third uninhibited. A zergling flood from soO did not end the game, but it bought soO a worker lead and ensured his third base got up safely. soO scouted GuMiho's mech transition while getting ranged attack and carapace upgrades along with a hydralisk den. GuMiho finally found some purchase with a hellion runby that killed nine drones, but soO still held a 71/55 worker advantage as he took his fourth base at the low-ground location. soO built up a sizeable army lead out of ling/bane/hydra, but his initial move out saw him lose units essentially for nothing. soO teched into swarm hosts, while weathering hellion harassment from GuMiho who had established his fourth base. GuMiho drew out soO's swarm hosts with hellions enabling an attack that took out one of soO's bases. soO cleared out the position, allowing both players to reach maxed supply while beginning to accrue a bank. The players began to fight, with GuMiho holding the high ground in the middle of the map. They continued to trade, with soO starting to add corruptors while GuMiho was making five liberators at a time. GuMiho added on more starports and battlecruisers while soO defended. A swarm of locusts managed to kill one of GuMiho's bases, but GuMIho returned the favor. Both players continued to expand as they drew ever closer to splitting the map. Trades continued as GuMiho's battlecruiser count rose. GuMiho pushed onto soO's side of the map. He killed two bases, but his battlecruisers were forced to teleport away while his tanks, thors and liberators were taken out by banelings and corruptors. GuMiho decided to try and strengthen his position, but soO had a huge mutalisk switch in the works. The murder of mutalisks came out and, along with the rest of soO's army, chased GuMIho across the map, killing every last battlecruiser, bringing the score to 2-1 in his favor.
soO went pool first on Interloper while GuMiho favored a reaper expand. soO's initial zerglings found no damage, allowing GuMiho to get up to reactored hellions without interruption. soO got his third base along with a roach warren, while the first unit out of GuMiho's starport was a raven. soO bagen to pump out roaches, going to an attack along with zerglings. GuMiho repelled the first wave of aggression from soO, but the second and third attempts reduced him to 25 workers. soO was up to 57 drones and was continuing to make units, droning and getting a lair. GuMiho countered and killed soO's third while landing one of his own. soO went for hydralisks and finally cleaned up the drops. GuMiho gathered his forces into a mass of bio/tank and pushed towards soO's fourth. He was able to set up a siege, one soO proved ill prepared for. His ragtag army appeared to make progress, but reinforcing marines tipped the scales, sending the match to a fifth game.
Game five took place on Acolyte. soO went for overlord speed to go with his hatchery first opening while GuMiho opted for hellions and a mine drop. soO scouted the move and shut it down without losing any workers. GuMiho went for a third base while sharking around with a pair of ravens. soO, meanwhile, had scouted GuMiho's mech and was responding with ranged attack/carapace upgrades as well as banelings and hydralisks. GuMiho's raven/cyclone pressure was joined by hellbats, but soOs's sterling defense continued. GuMiho held a supply lead as soO took his fourth base. soO narrowed the divide with a burst of swarm hosts. Having maxed, GuMiho moved out with a robust mech army. He lost his liberators to hydralisks, but his attack continued. He sieged soO's fourth, but lost his own to hydralisks and banelings. soO's units doubled back, killing GuMiho's army. soO tried to find more damage, but was forced back. GuMiho segmented soO's hydralisks, going for a push that killed another of soO's bases. soO cleaned it up through the combined efforts of banelings and locusts, giving him room to continue expanding. GuMiho canceled soO's sixth base though soO also killed GuMiho's fifth with hydralisks. Another strike force of hydralisks pulled GuMiho back to his natural, allowing soO to kill eight workers with locusts. Down to 23 workers, GuMiho marched across the map, sieging his tanks in a narrow corridor. Locusts, banelings, hydralisks, aided by blinding clouds swarmed GuMiho's army. Tanks and liberators survived, but soO didn't even need to wait for his swarm hosts to get off cooldown. He shoved in again and this time the effort was enough to elicit a concession as soO booked his ticket to the semifinals.
Rogue opened pool first on Interloper in the first game of the third series, taking his natural at the third base location after being blocked by a probe. 
herO opened with a void ray after expand. On the other side of the map, Rogue had gone for a roach warren and was producing roaches en masse. Having also researched burrow, Rogue assaulted herO’s natural while dropping four roaches in the main. herO made an oracle while defending with zealots and void rays. When the roaches were finally cleaned up, herO had lost 17 workers and Rogue's third base was halfway done. herO poked with oracles, but the majority of his efforts were focused back at home where he was churning out zealots and immortals. When charge finished, he crushed Rogue's flimsy queen defense at his third, giving herO a 1-0 lead.herO looked to build on his lead on Odyssey. Rogue went hatchery first while herO's gate/nexus/core was followed by an adept and a dark shrine. Rogue scouted the robotics facility and dark shrine with an overlord before loading it up with zerglings, a move which kept herO at home. herO ushered the drop overlord away while adding on a second warp prism and researching charge. With his lair well underway, Rogue was forced to defend archons with zerglings while Zealots struck his third. Rogue handled the situation without losing workers, but he was forced to make a large number of zerglings, meaning he was at an economic disadvantage at the end of the exchange, with both players on three bases. Rogue’s pair of baneling drops and zergling runby killed 28 workers as herO attacked with archons and immortals, only to be forced back by hydra/ling/bane. herO tried to rebuild his worker count while getting storm, though banelings put a kink in that plan. On four bases to herO's three and moving to take a fifth, Rogue sniped herO's warp prism filled with two immortals. This proved to be the straw that broke herO's back as the ROOT Protoss immediately tapped out.
Rogue kicked things off with a 12 pool on Abyssal Reef while herO went gate/nexus/core on the low ground. Rogue’s zerglings found herO without a single unit, forcing him to cancel his expansion. herO's probes bought time for the mothership core to overcharge the lone standing pylon, only losing two workers in the process. The exchange still left Rogue up a base with a worker lead as herO had only just restarted his nexus. Rogue took his third base, then a lair and baneling nest. herO went for a stargate before a robotics facility, twilight council, third and templar archives. He was doing all of this at a severe worker disadvantage, though. The situation worsened as zerglings canceled his third base. herO tried to make inroads with a prism full of archons and an adept warpin, but made no progress. Rogue gathered his forces and pushed into herO's third. Even without baneling speed, the numbers were drastically in Rogue's favor. Sixteen workers and the nexus fell, with herO leaving the game soon after.
Game four took place on Acolyte. herO again opened gate/nexus/core while Rogue went three hatch before pool. herO pressured with a pair of adepts while getting a void ray, then an oracle and a third base. herO lost both his adepts, but smoothly transitioned into triple stargate while Rogue began his lair. herO made oracles and then a fleet beacon while Rogue prepared for the late game on three bases by making infestors. herO littered the map with stasis wards while taking a fifth base and carriers. Rogue caught four oracles with infestors, triggering an attack into herO's isolated fourth base at the ten o'clock position. herO recalled and, though he lost two carriers in the process, he managed to chase Rogue away. herO returned to his side of the map as he bolstered his forces. He began to move out soon after, getting revelations off on Rogue’s army of hydralisks and ultralisks as well as a lot of infestors. herO continued to tempt fate on five bases, constantly flying just at the edge of creep, chipping away at Rogue’s army. Rogue's mineral bank was exhausted by the trades and, while his dead infestor count rose to seventeen, he simply added on more. A zealot runby didn't accomplish much as Rogue filled out his army with corruptors and vipers. herO crossed the map once more. He finally lost his mothership and, while he killed a base with zealots, he lost the majority of his carriers to parasitic bomb, fungal growth and abducts. herO remaxed on archons, but was wiped out for a second time. With herO's bank gone, Rogue morphed eight brood lords. herO pushed into his with a final army of archons and immortals, but constant fungals saw his army get completely wiped out. Stalkers were warped in to get underneath Rogue's brood lords, but the too were eliminated. With the writing on the wall, herO conceded the map, giving Rogue the 3-1 victory and spot in the semifinals.
The final match began on Ascension to Aiur. Both players had their commands centers delayed by reapers, with
INnoVation adding on two barracks and a third base while TY began cyclone production before moving across the map. He was pushed back by marines, prompting both players to move into the mid game with INnoVation hovering about fifteen supply ahead. With both players on three bases, INnoVation moved out with stimpack and combat shields, trading favorably with TY's bio/tank. INnovation postured out of the map, pouncing on TY as TY tried to take the high ground in the middle of the map. INnoVation kept the pressure on, taking a 1-0 lead as TY gave way.Down 0-1, TY tried to mount a comeback on Odyssey. INnoVation scouted with his SCV, but was unable to locate TY's barracks. Wary of a proxy and imminent attack, INnoVation prepared a bunker at the top of his ramp while TY proxied a starport and moved across the map with a liberator and cyclones while expanding. INnoVation was expanding as well and managed to save his natural with cyclones and marines. He lost ten SCVs in the meantime as TY opened up a 15 supply lead. INnoVation's cyclone drop managed seven SCV kills while he defended against a tank drop at home. TY was pushed back, but his third was further along. TY sieged on the low ground between INnoVation's third and natural once more. INnoVation was forced to try and break the position and had to leave the game when he was unable to.
Both players took early expansions on Mech Depot, but INnoVation opted for a faster third. TY sniped INnoVation's reaper before it could get a scout off, then did a mine drop that only killed one worker. INnoVation had faster stimpack, combat shields and attack upgrade, but TY was going for a tank push that INnoVation seemed to have no answer to. He managed to clean it up, but lost fourteen workers in the process while TY had already landed his third. INnoVation tried to find damage, only to be thwarted by TY who had tanks sieged at his third. INnoVation postured with his army, opening up an attack on TY's third. He dropped in TY's main but was ferried away with the players even on supply. Down a base, INnoVation went for an attack on TY's third that killed ten SCVs. Having drawn INnoVation out of position with a drop in the main, TY charged into INnoVation's fourth, killing it before the planetary was completed. TY further distracted INnoVation, allowing him to get a doom drop in INnoVation's main that limited his production before dealing the critical blow at INnoVation's newest expansion to take the game.
Both players went for reaper expands on Interloper. INnoVation lost his as TY went for marine/mine while INnoVation chose to get a cyclone that allowed him to thwart TY's mine drop. TY faked with an empty medivac while pushing into INnoVation's natural, even landing his viking to fight INnoVation's bio. INnoVation cleared it up, but he lost ten SCVs. TY already had a third base across time map. Though he scouted INnoVation's sixteen marine drop, TY had nothing to defend and left the game as INnoVation plunged into his natural.
Game five took place on Abyssal Reef. The players mirrored each other early on, with reaper expands into reactored marines and hellions. TY's mine drop accomplished nothing although his third base was faster. While TY got quicker tanks, INnoVation’s stimpack was further along. INnoVation commanded an army lead as he moved out and, while TY scouted INnoVation's army, he didn't react and ultimately allowed INnoVation to drop in TY's main and kill 40 workers. Desperate to close the gap, TY moved across the map and jumped INnoVation's army which momentarily appeared to have the positional advantage. Having cleaned up the tanks and marines, TY was able to secure a siege position on INnoVation's natural and eventually killed it. INnoVation finally broke out of the contain, but lost 15 workers in the process. Both players maneuvered on INnoVation’s side of the map though it was TY who found the better fight in the end, catching INnoVation unsieged. INnoVation's marines and tanks evaporated in a flash as TY won the game and the match, setting up a semifinal battle against Rogue.
