Two terrific Terrans triumphed in Group B of the round of 16, employing a variety of tricks to vanquish their Zerg and Protoss rivals. Cure, a perpetually perturbed player in live tournaments, found the composure to advance in first place with a perfect 4-0 map record. Part-time GSL caster TY advanced in second place, eliminating Stats and Solar along the way.
The group started off as a cheese-fest, with both TY and Cure taking the "Maru when he's in a hurry" approach to start. TY opened his series against Solar by floating four Barracks into his opponent's main, taking advantage of the unique terrain characteristics on Ever Dream (he later revealed it was a strategy he lost to while off-racing as part of his caster research). Solar tried to strike back with a map-specific strategy of his own on Golden Wall, funneling Roaches into TY's main through a Nydus worm hidden in a shadowy alcove. Unfortunately for Solar, TY was going for a Marine-heavy 2/1/1—a strategy that had waned in popularity—and had more than enough troops to hold off the attack and take the series.
The other opening match saw Cure heed the memes and play like his former teammate Maru, relentlessly going for Drilling Claw Mine drops at great expense to himself. And, just like Maru, these costly drops still ended up conferring Cure a slight advantage, enough so that he could overpower Stats with a mass bio army before enough Templars with Psi Storm could get on the battlefield. In game two, Cure followed up with a Terran cheese of his own, proxying his Barracks, Factory, and Starport in the middle of the map for a modern day version of WoL's 1/1/1. Stats's proxy-Stargate Oracle was not the right answer—while Cure lost a handful of SCVs, Stats lost the game and the series.
As if paying penance for their cheesy strats, Cure and TY opened up the winners match with a bloody, macro-game brawl on Eternal Empire. We saw one of the classic TvT scenarios unfold: the player with the weaker, more nimble army (Cure) desperately tried outmaneuver the player with the more powerful, sluggish army (TY). In this game, it was the fleet-footed Cure who prevailed. By decisively going for counter-attacks instead of vainly defending against TY's slow-push of Viking-Tank-Liberator, he was able to cripple TY's economy and ultimately take the game. With the requisite macro game out of the way, the train of cheese continued in game two. Cure went for 3-rax Reapers, with two of his Barracks hidden near TY's base. The strategy worked perfectly (Cure said his inspiration was losing to INnoVation, who had used the same strategy in an online tournament), sending Cure to the Code S quarterfinals for the first time since 2016.
The losers match opened up with another Zerg all-in from Solar, but yet again he couldn't find success. His Ling-Bane attack fell flat against Stats, who lived up to his nickname"the shield of Aiur." Solar pivoted to mid-game aggression in game two, as he tried to overwhelm Stats with a flood of Roaches and Ravagers. Once again, Stats firmly held his ground, and took the 2-0 series victory once he had High Templars to support his army.
The last ticket to the RO8 was contested between TY and Stats, and they ended up delivering the only three-game series of the night. TY brought out yet another artisanal cheese to start, with his oddly-timed attack of four Marines and two Hellions nabbing him a sub-four minute win. TY took the exact opposite approach in the following game, opting to play mech on new GSL map Obsidian. Though Stats initially looked like he was in danger of losing to TY's max-supply push, he managed to successfully juggle the anti-mech tasks of counter-attacking, strategically giving up bases, and taking advantageous skirmishes. After Stats barely halted TY's main push, the game broke down into scrappier battles between lower-supply armies. That ended up favoring Stats, as he was able to dissect TY before he could build up critical mech-mass again. Perhaps not having the stomach for another late-game affair, TY closed out the series by being more offense-oriented in game there. A Mine drop-Liberator-Tank push combo was enough to push Stats over the edge, sending TY to the RO8 and giving fill-in caster Curious another day of work.
Recommended games:Game two of TY vs Stats was a double treat: we got to see the new, four-player GSL map Obsidian, and we also got to see more of TY's unorthodox TvP mech style. Game one of TY vs Cure was sloppy at times, but it was also one of the more action-packed, entertaining TvT games we've seen lately.
Coming up: The Code S RO16 will resume on Wednesday, May 13 9:30am GMT (GMT+00:00) with Trap, Bunny, PartinG, and soO competing in Group C.
Was a good mindgame by Cure in the winners match to use two builds that look the same to an SCV scout yet are completely different and need a totally different reaction.
On May 09 2020 21:09 TL.net ESPORTS wrote: TY brought out yet another artisanal cheese to start, with his oddly-timed attack of four Marines and two Hellions nabbing him a sub-four minute win.
That wasn't a cheese, that was a small poke that was never supposed to kill Stats but did anyway.
What a bad day of Code S, one crappy game after another. It hurts to see the ex-Splyce group end up like this. The only non-Splyce player wins it; Solar crashes completely; TY messes up the TvT macro game so Ro8 against Dark will very likely be his last match of the tournament; and TY could only even get there by delivering the final blow to Stats, who might have played his last tournament game today.
At least we got to see the first Obsidian game, which was good and almost could have been great. For a couple of minutes there it felt like we were back in 2017 and watching two Starcraft greats in epic battle. Katowice 2017 Grand finals, never forget...
I thought TY's 4rax was a masterclass on match preparation. On the other hand, game 2 with that nydus was probably the opposite.
And I ask those that know, how much of a gamble were those strategies? The nydus was countered by a common build. Were the raxes scoutable? What would have been a counter? Maybe a ravager all in? But TY also scouted his opponent I believe.
What an awful group to watch. The two players advanced who I thought were going to advance, but it wasn't fun to watch. Didn't at all live up to the group of death moniker that people were giving it.
One little thing I liked about TY's 4-rax was that with the 'rax positioned where they were, when TY needed to micro back towards the barracks, Solar couldn't drone-drill in pursuit. With a more standard proxy-rax that hits from the front, the zerg can drone-drill in those key moments. TY was careful to keep his marines where this couldn't happen. Cool stuff.
It's frustrating, but also somewhat relieving, to see Stats losing in ways that look really similar to how I lose. I guess if moves like repeated WM drops + liberator harass coupled with pushes are effective across a broad skill spectrum, that says something good about the meta balance...like the play/counterplay interaction holds across skill levels? But, as a macro-oriented P, it just feels so awful to play against. That doesn't mean it's bad or needs changing, necessarily... This rambling probably comes from my abysmal 35% winrate vT, but...damn. I see the same things playing out on streams and VODs all the time. I don't see T ever get behind from a WM opener.
On May 10 2020 00:45 sneakyfox wrote: What a bad day of Code S, one crappy game after another. It hurts to see the ex-Splyce group end up like this. The only non-Splyce player wins it; Solar crashes completely; TY messes up the TvT macro game so Ro8 against Dark will very likely be his last match of the tournament; and TY could only even get there by delivering the final blow to Stats, who might have played his last tournament game today.
At least we got to see the first Obsidian game, which was good and almost could have been great. For a couple of minutes there it felt like we were back in 2017 and watching two Starcraft greats in epic battle. Katowice 2017 Grand finals, never forget...
does anyone actually know if this was the last GSL season for Stats?
On May 10 2020 06:05 Waxangel wrote: Feels bad being the only one who thought the cheeses were hilarious and fun :[
sOs builds a Nexus in opponent's main which doesn't really do anything (he won cause of the DT's), and everyone loses their minds.
TY floats four barracks into Solar's main and people are calling it a terrible night of games
I agree. I'd go further: It was delightful to see unique build orders make success instead of the normal generalized macro slog. Weren't people just recently clamoring for more unique build orders?
On May 10 2020 06:05 Waxangel wrote: Feels bad being the only one who thought the cheeses were hilarious and fun :[
sOs builds a Nexus in opponent's main which doesn't really do anything (he won cause of the DT's), and everyone loses their minds.
TY floats four barracks into Solar's main and people are calling it a terrible night of games
I don't think it's about the cheese, seems like everyone liked TY's float, both here and in the LR. But when players just die to some early pressure that is not at all intended to end the game, or PvZs end in the usual mid-game brawl etc, it's not much fun.
EPT
![[image loading]](/staff/Waxangel/GSL/2020_21/codes1/gslstudiobanner734.jpg)
