EPT
IEM Season XII - World Championship![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Waxangel/iem/iembracket.png)
Ro12 Match 1: Trap 3 - 2 Dark
- Game 1: Dark's 24 worker baneling bust went awry, giving Trap the space he needed to macro into a chargelot/archon attack that broke Dark's back.
- Game 2: Dark hardly made a dent in Trap's defenses until hydralisk drops killed an excess of 40 workers. This prompted Trap to counter, setting Dark back to three bases. Dark went up to brood lords to which Trap responded with tempests. When the dust settled, Trap's immortal hit squad was killing bases as he took the supply lead. Hydralisks and blink stalkers traded blows. Llurkers were added on while Trap's army becoming increasingly sophisticated. Dark's resistance force of zerglings and hydralisks fought valiantly, but his inability to assemble a higher tech army and a fading economy forced a concession.
- Game 3: Trap's first foray onto the map took more than twelve minutes. When he finall moved out, he was met by a substantial hydra/bane force while zerglings and banelings ravaged his mineral lines. A mothership did Trap little good. His storms ran out and Dark overwhelmed him, making the score 2-1.
- Game 4: Dark took a fourth base, but didn’t drone up, instead going for a lurker timing that decimated Trap at his third base.
- Game 5: Dark allowed Trap the space to get to three bases on Abiogenesis, but used that time to muster a swarm of zerglings, banelings and ravagers. Trap defended with a high immortal count, though ling counterattacks killed 26 probes as he postured on the map. Trap remained undeterred as he pressed in with archons and immortals. Dark lost the majority of his army when he was forced to fight and simply did not have the time or economy to recoup his losses. He pulled his drones to no avail, giving Trap the 3-2 victory.
Ro12 Match 2: Dear 3 - 2 Impact
- Game 1: Dear's resonating glaives timing put a dent in Impact's worker count, which weakened the subsequent 69 drone lurker attack. Dear defended before moving across the map with archons which brought the game to a close..
- Game 2: Dear's charge timing with immortals and archons was completely wiped out by Impact's roaches and hydralisks. From there Impact bolstered his forces. A final push into Dear's third and a four overlord drop in the main tied the series.
- Game 3: Impact's oddly timed proxy hatch put him on the verge of victory. Dear's void rays and oracles fell, but Dear managed to hold with stalkers, while an oracle took care of the last of Impact's workers to put Dear up a game.
- Game 4: Impact's mutalisks failed to do much against a three base Dear, though they did set up a roach/hydra attack that knocked down Dear's natural wall before crashing into the base itself. Down more than 50 supply, Dear tapped out, sending the match to game five.
- Game 5: Game five took place on Eastwatch. Impact took a quick gold base, but Dear responded with a nine gate charge timing off two bases. Impact appeared to have a shot at holding, but was ultimately broken by constant warp ins, sending Dear to the quarterfinals.
Ro12 Match 3: Rogue 3 - 0 Hurricane
- Game 1: Zerglings and banelings were a constant thorn in Hurricane's side in game one, a situation which worsened when Rogue deflected Hurricane’s first attack without a scratch. The rest of the game was equally one sided with Rogue's hydralisks and banelings putting him up 1-0.
- Game 2: Game two came to an abrupt end as Rogue's nydus worm erupted in the middle of Hurricane's nature. An insurmountable amount of queens and roaches spilled out, giving Rogue the 2-0 lead.
- Game 3: Rogue went for a nydus again in game three. This one was as devastating as the first as Rogue powered through to the Round of 8.
Ro12 Match 4: Maru 3 - 2 sOs
- Game 1: sOs' early zealot and stalker forced a cancel on Maru's natural expansion, which allowed him to carry a supply lead into the mid-game. sOs got charge, double upgrades and a massive army from there, leaving Maru no choice but to tap out.
- Game 2: After ineffective dark templar harassment and warp prism play, sOs' army got caught out at Maru’s would be third base and was forced to recall while taking heavy losses. Maru lost workers to dark templars as he pushed across the map, but he got the better end of a fight at sOs' third, forcing a concession.
- Game 3: sOs jumped out to another supply lead with the early pressure followed by dark templars, blink and charge. Maru's drops and constant pressure got him back into the game however. A SCV pull demolished sOs' army, opening up his natural to a final blow which put Maru ahead 2-1.
- Game 4: sOs evened the series at 2-2 in brusque fashion with a proxy void ray/shield battery build.
- Game 5: Game five turned into a scrum, with forces skirmishing on both sides of the map. When the dust settled, sOs was taking a third base, ahead on workers. Maru took his own third and pushed out with marines, cyclones and a tank. The motey force proved to be far too much for sOs who promptly left the game, giving Maru the 3-2 win.
Ro8 Match 1: Serral 3 - 2 Trap
- Game 1:Serral eschewed hydralisks for ling/bane/ravager in game one, but Trap defended admirably, building up a formidable immortal count along with storms and archons. Serral managed to transition to brood lords, but he didn’t have the support on the ground. Trap crushed Serral’s army, giving him the lead.
- Game 2: Trap's adept heavy attack caught Serral before his hydralisks were ready, leaving Serral with only zerglings and banelings in defense. Banelings dropped from overlords, but Trap's production was too much as Serral was eventually overwhelmed.
- Game 3: Serral's mutalisks did him little good, but he was able to maintain a solid economy while transitioning into lurkers. Trap was left aimlessly walking the map as Serral harassed base after base. When the armies finally fought, it was an even trade, but Serral had the bank to replenish his hydralisks, allowing him to take his first game of the match.
- Game 4: Game four was a long, drawn out affair, but it was Serral who came out on top when his brood lord/infestor army met Trap's skytoss. Serral remaxed on ultralisks, anticipated Trap's move into blink stalkers and archons, putting him in the perfect position to take the game.
- Game 5: Trap made no attempt to to pressure the Finnish Zerg in game five, allowing Serral to power up to an 80 drone economy. Drops and constant waves of roach/hydra/lurker stretched Trap to the limit, ultimately breaking him in a final fight at Serral's third that completed the reverse sweep.
Ro8 Match 2: Classic 3 - 1 Dear
- Game 1: Classic’s early two base timing earned him a worker lead, while his defense of Dear's counterattack, put him up a base. Dear tried to make magic happen with disruptors and blink stalkers, but Classic held firm, eventually cleaning up Dear's army to take the game.
- Game 2: Classic went for an upgrade-less style on Eastwatch which, when combined with his much faster gold base, meant he had a far larger army than Dear when they fought. Classic drove Dear all the way back to his natural where Dear typed out.
- Game 3: Classic's one base dark templar opening went unscouted and, while his first two dark templars got into Dear's main, oracles managed to reveal both of them which allowed Dear to clean the initial attack up. Classic kept warping in dark templars and stalkers, but Dear held fast, eventually reducing Classic to seven workers with oracles. Classic went for one final lunge, but Dear had enough, bringing the score to 2-1.
- Game 4: With both players on three bases, Dear found himself with a higher worker count, but only because Classic was preparing an attack with +2 and charge. He hit just as they finished, overrunning Dear who tried to defend at his natural, only to be washed away by Classic's assault. The win gave Classic the match, sending him to the semifinals where Serral awaits.
Ro8 Match 3: Rogue 3 - 1 TY
- Game 1:TY pressured Rogue from the get go, with an early tank drop into Rogue's main leading to constant tank pushes and drops which chipped away at Rogue until he eventually tapped out.
- Game 2: TY's proxy two rax was scouted in game two, but he went into mech anyway. He got up to five bases, but Rogue caught him unsieged, crippling TY’s army. TY tried to add on ghosts, but hydralisks and brood lords crashed into his gold base, evening the series.
- Game 3: Rogue's proxy hatch nearly killed TY's natural, but ultimately contained TY on one base. Thinking himself safe. TY tried to move out with four tanks and marine, only to be met by roaches and zerglings which easily crushed his fledgling army.
- Game 4: TY had four bases up and mining while Rogue's fourth was still in production, but his attempt to move into ghosts and vikings before bolstering his tank count got punished by Rogue who, having maxed out on roach/hydra/viper, demolished him, booking his ticket to the semifinal.
Ro8 Match 4: Maru 3 - 1 Solar
- Game 1: Maru opted for banshee heavy mech that turned into raven heavy mech, then ghost heavy mech, before morphing back into raven and liberator heavy mech. Solar tried to combat it with brood lords and corruptors, but was bled dry, eventually conceding with his army gone and his bank depleted.
- Game 2: Maru opted for bio in game two, which Solar countered with roaches while harassing with mutalisks. Losing SCVs back at home, Maru's army was wiped out, allowing Solar to even the series with roaches and ravagers.
- Game 3: Maru went for a proxy two rax opener, but it did little to decide the game, which ramped up into a standard macro contest. Solar defended Maru's aggression with roach/hydra, but Maru never took his foot off the gas and, by the time Solar had gotten brood lords, Maru answered with ghosts, earning him a 2-1 advantage.
- Game 4: Solar and Maru went to the late game on Backwater, but Maru's energy based ghosts and ravens proved too much for Solar's brood lord/corruptor army to handle. Both hands off the keyboards, Solar tapped out, making Maru the fourth semifinalist.
Serral, Classic, Rogue and Maru advance to the semifinals.
IEM Katowice returns to crown a champion on Sunday, Mar 04 10:00am GMT (GMT+00:00)
