EPT
Season 3 of Code A got off to an exciting start on Monday night, with Zest, Dream, and SpeCial barely advancing on to Code S with 3-2 victories.
Classic almost shocks Zest in his GSL return
The most intriguing topic of the night was how well Protoss great Classic would fare in his first GSL tournament after finishing his mandatory military service on August 1st.
For three and a half games, Classic looked incredibly sharp for a player who had only been back for two weeks, and more than worthy of returning to Code S. Classic looked great in his game one (Lightshade) victory, ruthlessly going for the throat when Zest tried to take a greedy third base in the midst of a Blink-Stalker war. Zest repaid the favor in game two (2000 Atmospheres), shrugging off Classic's Oracle opener and smashing him with Blink Stalkers. Things took a zany turn in game three (Oxide), with Classic's proxy Void Rays going up against Zest's proxy DT-drop. Classic emerged triumphant in the chaos, with the superior firepower of his Void Rays allowing him to win the elimination race.
The two players finally settled down to play a standard macro game in game four on Romanticide, and for the first half of the game, Classic looked like he was very much back to his old form. He took small advantages in optimization and minor harassment, which snowballed into a significant supply lead as the two players amassed ground armies. However, the rusty elements of Classic's game were starkly exposed once Zest started making aggressive plays to mount a comeback. Without a chance of winning in a straight-up fight, Zest doggedly went for backdoor attacks and harassment with Chargelots and Blink-upgraded Dark Templars. Classic's reaction speed, decisiveness, and multi-tasking were all tragically lacking, and he completely fell apart against Zest's guerilla tactics. Fighting back from what seemed like an almost insurmountable deficit, Zest chipped away at Classic's lead until he emerged with a stunning come-from-behind victory.
Classic had one more shot at earning a Code S berth in game five (Nautilus), but Zest shut that hope down with solid, patient play. Both players went for a macro game once more, but this time, Zest seemed completely content to turtle on three bases until he had a maxed out army. Classic kept angling for attacks with his mid-game Zealot-Archon advantage, but couldn't find an opening against Zest's fortified position. In the meanwhile, Zest filled his army with powerful, supply-efficient units like Archons and Immortals, while Classic was stuck on a high Zealot count. Eventually, Zest moved out and completely crushed Classic with his death push, even getting some help from his opponent's poor positioning.
Dream survives scare against Creator
Alas, poor Creator! For the second season in a row, he was denied a Code S spot after suffering a heartbreaking 2-3 loss against a Terran player (losing to SpeCial last season).
Game one (Blackburn) saw Dream pull out an all-in we've seen from Bunny in previous tournaments, going for a mine-drop into Thor all-in off of one base. This worked perfectly against Creator's defensive Phoenix build, with the Thor and its SCV-Marine retinue easily overpowering the weak Protoss defense. The early game was more hectic in game two (Lightshade), with Dream's fast-expand into 3-Barracks opener going up against Creator's proxy Dark Templars. Both players ravaged each other's economies at the same time, but when the damage bills were added up, Dream had suffered far more. Creator decided to play out his advantage very slowly and safely—at times looking like he gave Dream too much space to recover—but ultimately clinched the game with a powerful ground army. The two players traded early blows in game three (Romanticide) as well, with Dream sending a stream of Hellions into Protoss territory while Creator ransacked Dream's worker line with Oracles and Adepts. Creator was the winner of the exchange once more, but this time by a large enough margin to be able to end the game without a long delay.
Despite getting countered by DT's in game two, Dream went for another fast 3-Barracks build in game four (2000 Atmospheres). This time, he ended up guessing right, as his early Marine-Marauder attack punished Creator for trying to take three bases too quickly. Dream played out his economic advantage in aggressive fashion, battering Creator with ground attacks and drops until he forced him into a futile and suicidal basetrade.
Game five (Oxide) saw Dream change things up by going for a greedy triple Orbital opener, followed by mass stim-upgraded Marines in the early game. Yet again, this ended up being a great opening gambit Dream, as his Marines inflicted a heavy blow against Creator's defensive Phoenix start. As in game four, Dream used his advantage to take an aggressive stance, throwing wave after wave of infantry at Creator until he was forced to surrender his final GG.
SpeCial wins the battle of ex-roommates against Armani
The final match of the night saw SpeCial return to Code S at the cost of former roommate Armani, who will miss out on Code S for the second straight season.
Armani seemed to be off to a fantastic start in game one (Romanticide), shutting down SpeCial's 2-Barracks Reaper opener and taking a big economic lead. However, he let his guard down on defense when SpeCial came knocking with 2 Medivac's worth of stimmed Marines, which ended the game in almost comical fashion against the meager Queen-Zergling defensive force.
SpeCial went for double Proxy-Barracks in game two (2000 Atmospheres), going for a peculiar Bunker rush that involved both Marines and Reapers. While he couldn't do much with the early attack except force a Drone pull, he did set himself up nicely on three Orbitals with BC tech. However, SpeCial wasn't ready for Armani's surprise speedling attack, nor the unexpected Mutalisks that came after. Armani seized control of the game, and finished SpeCial off with clinical Muta-Ling-Bane play.
Tied at 1-1, the series headed to Blackburn for game three, where Armani took the lead with an early Roach-Ravager-Ling attack. Playing a non-all-in version, Armani droned-up behind it, getting an economic lead and teching up to Lurkers and Vipers. SpeCial still found one timing to threaten Armani with a powerful bio army (with the support of two Ravens), but Blinding Clouds on Tanks sealed the deal for Armani.
SpeCial selected a greedy CC first opener in game four (Lightshade), following that up with a fast third CC as well. In a bit of trickery, SpeCial went up to 5 Barracks at an unusually fast timing, betting the game on one, powerful mid-game push. This worked out beautifully as Armani was unprepared for such a powerful force to attack so early, and SpeCial mowed through the defending Ling-Bane to tie the series.
Juanito brought things to an end in game five (Nautilus), running over Armani with a powerful bio army seconds before Zerg's 2/2 upgrades or Viper consumes could complete. SpeCial had gotten away with another greedy CC-first start, setting himself up for one more deadly mid-game push. Armani had looked to take him head on with Roach-Ravager in Lurker and Hydra support, but was forced to GG after SpeCial hit him just ten seconds before he was ready.
Recommended Game: Zest vs Classic on Romanticide
While this was an utter MESS of a game, it was also one of the more unlikely and entertaining comebacks in recent memory. Sure, Classic had to make a ton of compounding mistakes for it to happen, but we'd never get comebacks if pros always played perfectly with the lead.
Next up: GSL Code A will continue on Thursday, Aug 19 9:30am GMT (GMT+00:00) with RagnaroK vs sOs, ByuN vs Percival, and Solar vs GuMiho.
