EPT
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Group B of the RO8 proved that off-season form really does matter, as
Classic rode his wave of April momentum into the RO4. The surging Protoss clinched first place in the group, taking down Reynor and GuMiho along the way. Second place went to GuMiho, who scored big upset victories against Maru and Reynor to earn his RO4 berth.But were they really upsets? Despite being the biggest stars in the group,
Maru and Reynor had been inactive for several months before the new GSL season was announced. Though they had managed to survive the RO12 group stage, it turned out they weren't in quite good enough form to get over the RO8 hurdle.Maru's play was especially questionable, as he gave up a disastrous 0-2 loss to GuMiho while playing Protoss. This shocking off-race play was partially explained by his recent three-match losing streak against GuMiho, but was still baffling considering his long-standing reputation as the best player in TvT. In the end, it turned out to be ultimate self psych-out, as he looked hapless in his loss to GuMiho.
Match Recaps
Initial Match #1: Classic [2-1] Reynor - (VOD)
Game 1 - Tokamak (Reynor win): The series began with both players going for macro openers, but Reynor took a small lead early by backdooring with Zerglings while Classic tried to get some Adept harassment in. Reynor continued to compound his lead with follow-up Zergling aggression, cancelling a Classic's poorly defended fourth base and also chaos havoc in the main with a Zergling drop.
All of this set up Reynor's surprise Mutalisk tech to be extra devastating, and he inflicted crippling economic damage in conjunction with his ground troops. Classic still tried to play the game out for a few minutes, but it wasn't long before he had to GG out against an overwhelming Ultralisk swarm.
Game 2 - Ley Lines (Classic win): Game two started with more macro play on both sides, except with Classic adjusting to play more passively after the last game's early struggles. Classic proceeded to build up a powerful Gateway army with Storm support, while Reynor went for the standard Hydra-Ling-Bane into Hive strategy.
The game swung when Classic went to poke at Reynor's fourth base, and ended up goading a huge group of Zerglings into a Stasis Ward. Classic was able to exploit this window to not just raze Reynor's fourth, but also destroy Reynor's undefended fifth base with a Zealot warp-in.
Having put his opponent down to three bases, Classic was content to simply pull back, secure his own bases, and tech up to Carriers. Playing his lead passively proved to be the correct move, as Reynor was on the clock against Protoss' oppressive late game. Eventually, he decided to go for a big Hydra-Ultralisk attack before it was too late, but the Hydralisk portion of his force was annihilated by Storms while charging up a narrow choke. Reynor had enough resources to remax once, but Classic simply re-melted the Hydras and Ultras with his high-tech army.
Game 3 - Ultralove (Classic win): Classic mixed things up in game three, starting with a typical Oracle build but quickly going into Glaive Adepts behind it. Diligent scouting from Reynor seemed to ensure he would take minimal losses, but Classic's focus fire on a walling Evolution Chamber allowed him to break in and recoup some of his investment into Adepts.
The game proceeded into another ground force build-up from there, but Reynor changed things up by going for Roach-Hydra-Ravager (having made a Roach Warren against the Adepts) while Classic massed another Gateway units + Storm army.
Reynor looked to add Lurkers as his first Hive tech unit, but unfortunately for him, Classic hit at a deadly timing with Stalkers and a ton of Templars in tow. Classic forced a defensive stand from Reynor in narrow corridors where Storms were especially potent, and he ended up dealing massive economic damage before Lurkers barely stopped the attack. However, Reynor had already taken too much damage by then, and he had no choice but to GG out to the follow-up push with Tempest support.
Initial Match #2: GuMiho [2-0] Maru - (VOD)
Game 1 - Ley Lines (GuMiho win): Maru made the shocking decision to off-race as Protoss in the series, seemingly shaken by his recent 3-match loss streak against GuMiho in TvT.
At first, this surprise race-swap seemed to fluster GuMiho, as he lost two Cyclones and a Banshee early due to overaggressive harassment. However, Maru made an error of his own soon after, losing several Stalkers during reckless Blink harassment.
GuMiho then went to test Maru's defenses once more, this time with a typical two-prong attack in the mid-game. The best defensive Terran proved to be far less capable as a Protoss, as the combined push-drop ripped through Maru's meager fortifications and forced the GG.
Game 2 - Incorporeal (GuMiho win): Maru went for a Phoenix opener this time around, while GuMiho teched up to pressure Maru with a motley 1/1/1 army of 2 Tanks, a Cyclone, a Liberator, and some Marines. Maru's attempt to dislodge the siege line went horribly wrong, as his ground troops got caught up in his own buildings. GuMiho easily crushed the Protoss defenders, getting a second GG out of Maru in under seven minutes.
Winners' Match: Classic [2-0] GuMiho - (VOD)
Game 1 - Pylon (Classic win): GuMiho got off on the wrong foot in the winners' match, with his early Medivac-Tank harassment getting shut down after he allowed his Medivac to get picked off. Things got only worse for him from there, as Classic shrewdly cancelled his Blink to get Charge instead, hitting an unexpected Chargelot timing. GuMiho had to sacrifice a large number of SCV's in order to hold, giving Classic a massive lead.
Seeing no point in trying to play out a longer game, GuMiho pulled his remaining SCV's for an all-in attack. However, Classic had his Storm upgrade done with plenty of time to spare, and easily snuffed out the push to take the first map.
Game 2 - Ultralove (Classic win): GuMiho went for some more 1/1/1 style harassment, opening with a Cyclone and following up with Cloaked Banshees. He managed to get in some decent damage this time around, and despite losing a few more units than he would have hoped, put himself in a decent-ish mid-game position.
However, everything fell apart when he moved out with Marine-Marauder-Tank. Classic positioned his troops to get a fantastic flank on the Terran force, dealing terrible, terrible damage with Storms. GuMiho tried to salvage the attack by dropping his remaining troops into the Protoss main, but they were only met with more Storms. Classic then gathered his troops for a counterattack that finished the game.
Elimination Match: Reynor [2-1] Maru - (VOD)
Game 1 - Incorporeal (Reynor win): Maru flaunted a greedy build to open the series, taking a fast third Command Center in plain sight of Reynor's scouting overlord. Reynor was happy to take on Maru in a macro duel, and the two players proceeded to build up on their respective halves of the map.
Reynor delayed his Hive and upgrades for a round of Mutalisks in the mid-game, but despite catching Maru somewhat unprepared, failed to inflict much damage. Maru shrugged the Mutalisks off, and proceeded to take an aggressively positioned fourth base as a staging position for his upcoming offensive.
The situation looked dicey for Reynor as Terran forces began to encroach onto Creep, but he played his way out of the mess with great army movements. The Mutalisks finally came in handy as Reynor combined them with Ling-Bane for a series of backdoor attacks which completely discombobulated his opponent. Maru lost both precious time and SCV's as he failed to deal with the constant backdoors, giving Reynor the breathing room to secure his economic future and transition into a Ultralisk-centered army.
Maru was forced to go into his familiar "defend forever" mode, but Reynor had no intent of allowing him to get set. Furthermore, Maru's decision to skip Ghosts and focus on Marauders and Liberators may have hurt him, preventing him from getting the high-value trades that had won him so many wars of attrition in the past. Maru never fully stabilized on defense, and unending waves of Zerg units forced him to GG out.
Game 2 - Ley Lines (Maru win): Reynor opted for early offense in game two, opening Pool-first to get out a quick round of harassing Zerglings. This turned out to be a great blind read/counter against Maru's decision to start with a Barracks-Factory wall at his natural, and the game almost got out of hand when Maru lifted his Barracks to spot for Reynor's scouting Overlord.
However, Maru averted a crisis thanks to some slick micro, and Reynor's follow-up Roach-Ravager poke failed to achieve much against a freshly produced Cyclone. Reynor ended up having dealt far too little damage given his heavy early investment, and Maru shot ahead with a big economic lead. From there, Maru easily snowballed to a win with a Marine-Tank push.
Game 3 - Incorporeal (Reynor win): Reynor doubled down on aggression in game three, opening Gas-Pool and teching up into a Queen-Zergling drop all-in. Meanwhile, Maru played a slightly more 'cautious' build, going for fast third CC—but at least this time he built it in his main.
Maru sensed something was awry, and some roaming Hellions spotted Reynor's Overlords as they crossed the map. He scrambled to build Bunkers and wall his natural, but alas, he was just a few seconds too late. Reynor's Overlords dropped their deadly cargo before Maru's defenses were fully set, and the Zerg swarm overwhelmed the Terran troops to eliminate Maru from the GSL.
Decider Match: GuMiho [2-0] Reynor - (VOD)
Game 1 - Ley Lines (ByuN win): GuMiho opened with a fast Reactor-Barracks build, getting out six Marines before switching to Hellion production. Meanwhile, Reynor went for a greedy no-Zergling opener, leaning entirely on Queens for early defense. GuMiho reacted with an improvised, late Bunker rush at Reynor's third, which turned out to be extremely effective. Reynor just couldn't get Roaches out in time to defend, and the Hellions and Marines eventually whittled down the third Hatchery.
Whether it was planned or an improvisation of his own, Reynor responded to his early losses by going for a Roach-Ravager + Queen drop all-in. However, a single cautionary Viking from GuMiho delayed the push severely, even forcing Reynor to commit to the attack without getting down vital Creep spread. GuMiho stopped the attack easily and snowballed to a win off of his powerful economy.
Game 2 - Persephone (GuMiho win): GuMiho busted out the battlemech in game two, which Reynor responded to by playing Roach-Swarm Host in the mid-game. However, Reynor's Swarm Host-Nydus tactics failed to achieve much at all, as Hellion-Cyclone proved to be very effective at mowing down Locusts before they could inflict any serious damage.
Reynor soon found himself in the worst-case scenario of needing to deploy Locusts on defense, allowing GuMiho to comfortably expand and tech up while his opponent remained pinned back. GuMiho's constant Cyclone kiting even saw him even pick off Reynor's vital fifth base, forcing Reynor to go Hive on a less-than-ideal economy.
GuMiho's army movements got a bit sloppy in the late-game, which let Reynor get in some decent engagements and backdoor attacks. However, GuMiho never lost sight of his win condition of denying Reynor from ever taking a fifth base again, and his army of +3 Armor Cyclones and Battlecruisers wrapped the game up in the end.
