EPT
Firstly, thanks a million to Carnac who gathered all this result information for me when I didn’t have it. This report is 1/2 his and ½ mine.
How the ODT now works
There may still be some confusion about how this system works after the Challenge League was scrapped. Essentially it is the same thing with a different name. I copy/pasted this guide from a post in the forums, but I forgot who wrote it. If it was you, pipe up for credit:
(*edit - surprise surprise, it was Carnac.)
ODT R1 consists of 24 players divided into 6 groups with 4 players each. In each group a mini double elim tournament is hold, this is what happens:
- 1st placed of each group goes to ODT R1 Play-Offs
- 2nd placed of each group goes to ODT R2
- 3rd and 4th placed of group are out
The 6 1st placed players of ODT R1 battle out a winner, who gets a direct seed for the next OSL, the other 5 go to ODT R2.
ODT R2 again consists of 24 players (the 5 1st placed of ODT R1 who failed in the Play-Offs + the 6 2nd placed of ODT R1 + the 13 players who didn't get 1st, 2nd or 3rd in the OSL), they play the same kind of mini tournament as above, the following happens:
- 1st placed of each group goes to next OSL
- 2nd placed of each group goes to next OSL
- 3rd placed of each group goes to next ODT R1
- 4th placed of each group goes to the offline qualification tournament for ODT R1. Pros HATE to go there, it's where players like Nal_rA get stuck and then fail to get into OSL for an eternity.
So this is how the current ODT went:
ODT R1 - Groups
A)
Gorush > Much[gm] @ Ride of Valkyries
Stay > TheMarine @ Ride of Valkyries
Stay > Gorush @ Rush Hour II -> Stay to Playoffs
Much[gm] > TheMarine @ Rush Hour II
Gorush > Much[gm] @ Ride of Valkyries -> Gorush to Round 2
B)
Sync > Doggi @ Rush Hour II
Child > Free @ Rush Hour II
Child > Sync @ ??? -> Child to Playoffs
Free > Doggi @ ???
Sync > Free @ Rush Hour II -> Sync to Round 2
C)
Nal_rA > Mumyung @ Sin 815
Hwasin > Darkelf @ Sin 815
Nal_rA > Hwasin @ Cultivation Period -> Nal_rA to Playoffs
Darkelf > Mumyung @ Cultivation Period
Darkelf > Hwasin @ Sin 815 -> Darkelf to Round 2
D)
Yellow > Siva @ Cultivation Period
Dongrae > Zeus @ Cultivation Period
Yellow > Dongrae @ ??? -> Yellow to Playoffs
Siva > Zeus @ ???
Siva > Dongrae @ Cultivation Period -> Siva to Round 2
E)
Chojja > Silver @ Rush Hour II
Tester > Hery @ Rush Hour II
Chojja > Tester @ Sin 815 -> Chojja to Playoffs
Silver > Hery @ Sin 815
Silver > Tester @ Rush Hour II -> Silver to Round 2
F)
GGplay > Shine @ Ride of Valkyries
Sea > Reach @ Ride of Valkyries
Sea > GGplay @ Rush Hour II -> Sea to Playoffs
Reach > Shine @ Rush Hour II
GGplay > Reach @ Ride of Valkyries -> GGplay to Round 2
Playoffs Part 1 (1st from Group A, B and C)
Nal_rA > Stay @ Sin 815
Child > Stay @ Rush Hour II
Nal_rA > Child @ Ride of Valkyries
-> Nal_rA advances to Finals for 4th OSL Seed, Child and Stay go to Round 2
Nal_rA interview:
http://teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=36017
Playoffs part 2 (1st from Group D, E and F)
Chojja > Yellow @ Cultivation Period
Yellow > Sea @ Rush Hour II
Sea > Chojja @ Sin 815
rematches due to 1-1 tie for everyone:
Yellow > Chojja @ Sin 815
Sea > Yellow @ Cultivation Period
Chojja > Sea @ Rush Hour II
rematches AGAIN due to 1-1 tie for everyone
Chojja > Yellow @ Rush Hour II
Sea > Yellow @ Sin 815
Sea > Chojja @ Cultivation Period
-> Sea advances to Finals for 4th OSL Seed, Yellow and Chojja go to Round 2
Sea interview:
http://teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=36169
Round 2 schedules:
http://teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=36301
So, now that the ODT2 playoffs are looming soon, it is time to decide who gets the free trip to the big show, Nal_rA or Sea[Shield].
ODT Winners Finals.
Kang Min ~~~ Well it has been a while since we have seen the protoss visionary on the cusp of something great. Today is a best of five series to determine the 4th seed in the next Ongamenet StarLeague. Nal_rA has made his way through his Dual group, and through the brief ODT1 playoffs. What stands in his way?
Well, a fifteen year old upstart named Sea[Shield]. Thats right, fifteen. Speedy hands, quick eyes, and nerves of steel on TV games, the young POS team star has been on an impressive roll lately. He is going to need them today if he wants to upset the captain of the KTF team, and real veteran in rA. With his unorthodox protoss, Nal_rA comes into the match with an overall record of 45-31. That is almost 10 times the number of games that Sea, who is 6-2. However, rA has a losing record vs terran at 9-10. Let’s see if he can come over .500 in this series.
The map order for the best of 5 is as follows:
Game 1: Rush Hour II
Game 2: 815
Game 3: Ride of the Valkyries
Game 4: Cultivation Period
Game 5: Rush Hour II
Game 1: Rush Hour II (stats: P 12:11 T)
The first game opened on the three player map of Rush Hour. Nal_rA's nexus warped in at 3 while Sea was tucked into the corner at 11. Neither player looked particularly emotional at the beginning of the match, with rA having a rather bemused look on his face and Sea sitting on a phonebook to see the screen. It will be interesting to see if Sea has the stones to try something unusual against rA, or if he will go for a straight up approach.
The moment I typed that, Sea's scouting scv left rA's base, went below his main to 5, and started a second barracks after the one at his block. Apparently his balls dropped just prior to this game. After he dropped the second proxy barracks, for a total of three, he needed a wheelbarrow for those nuts.
rA was nicely oblivious to all of this, with his two gate build leading into a nexus after his second goon. Sea had built an academy in his main, and was rallying a huge MM force to the protoss main. At least two groups of MM, mostly marines, got ready to mount an assault from two sides. rA had six goons for defense, but they were split in half by the MM that came from the south, with some goons heading north and other guarding the ramp. Unable to fight with his full force, rA lost first one half of his army and then the other. The marines blasted into the base, ripping apart the probes on their drug fueled frenzy. rA lost his natural Nexus, and then lost his first reaver he had been working on. With reinforcements on the way, rA new his first battle had been cut abruptly short, and typed GG.
Sea 1:0 Nal_rA
Well, Sea definitely carved out a niche for imself in this first game. It was an all or nothing strategy that only worked because rA failed to scout inside the base. Very ballsy play early on from the little fella.
Game 2: 815
Lets hope that game two has a little more to it than game one. Both players started at the top of the map, with rA on the left and Sea on the right. Sea again started abnormally, by raxing below his ramp before a depot, and then sending out two scouts. His first two marines headed right to rA's base, and with help from the scv managed to cause a ruckus making rA fighting with probes. However, the protoss defended with minimal losses, and a goon cleaned out the rest of his main.
rA tried to proxy something by starting a pylon at 3, but it was soon found by a wandering marine. As a robotics and citadel warped in for rA, Sea put down two starports in a move that is becoming quite common on 815. rA just managed to get a probe to the 9 island before the first wraith took to the sky in search of the shuttle. With an academy and turrets, rA's dt's were facing stiff opposition in the terran main. Meanwhile, Sea's growing wraith numbers stalled the nexus at 9 while he himself expanded to 5. His nice wraith harrass continued as he picked off obs here and there, allowing him free shots at rA's probes who were now mining his natural.
The protoss finally got some offense moving as he lifted some goons into the undefended 5 o'clock base. However, he was quickly under pressure at home from a double ship tank drop and the wraiths that prevented any shuttle reinforcements. While rA sent speedlots to save his main, his dragoons finished off 5 and then reinforcements started hitting Sea's natural before some tanks ended that nonsense.
The harassment continued from Sea's many wraiths while he built up a huge tank force, while rA continued to work off his depleted main and mineral only. Sea had taken the 12 island and once again started work at 5. His wraith force took a beating by some well timed reads by rA, and then a protoss army moved towards the terran natural. Zeal/goon took on nothing but scv's, as tanks pounded the army from above. With no way to move his army up and down cliffs because of the wraiths, rA typed GG and all of a sudden it was ...
Sea 2:0 Nal_rA
Some sweet strategy by Sea who invested heavily in wraiths all game long, ensuring he had control of the mains and islands while forcing rA to spend his money in passive tech. For his part, Nal_rA just could not mount any pressure, and played on his heels all game.
Game 3: Ride of the Valkyries
With his back against the wall, and a trip to the devastatingly hard ODT2 playoffs looming, rA had to have a better game plan than he had shown in the first two games. Now on a two player map, the nexus warped in at 5 while Sea dropped his CC at 7. The psychological edge that Sea possessed after two straight victories must have been weighing on rA's mind. However, he came with a no nonsense approach and quickly stole Sea's gas. With the probe still in his base, Sea was forced to wait on killing it until a marine chased it away lest it be stolen again.
Sea continued to produce marines from his one factory, while Nal_rA continued with his one gate robo. Two goons took a poke at the terran ramp, and the 6 marines defending were all shot down. Sea defended with his scv, and was very skilled in surrounding two of the goons and killing them, surviving before the tank came and saved the day. As Sea expanded, rA harrassed with a reaver, getting a good chunk of scv's and killing a couple tanks. Fortunately for Sea, his tanks can shoot three screens over as the reaver exploded just before launching another potentially devastating scarab.
Nal_rA kept up the pressure with small unit attacks and dt harass while both players macroed up. rA had taken his mineral only and had many gates, but Sea was on the move with his tanks and laid siege to rA's natural pretty much uncontested. rA worked his main army into the center, and with the next round of troops being zealots he crushed the push between the two. Both players took a slight break, with Sea taking his mineral only to match the protoss resource count. He was busy raiding with his vultures, but for the time being at least he seemed to have far less troops than rA. Perhaps sensing this, rA tried to attack the mineral only, and could have succeeded had he not simply left his units on autofire. Instead of the precise goon kills on tanks we are used to, the goons were turned to mush and Sea strengthened his hold on his new expansion.
Both players took their top corner expos, while rA started a stargate in a neutral area. Unfortunately, there was a mine directly beside it. On a better note for the protoss, an absolutely sick storm drop took Sea down a peg even as a zealot attack on 11 failed due to mines and running an ob into a turret. rA's control was really lacking this game, losing key units at key times. While he continued to work on obvious carriers, he launched another frontal attack on Sea, supported by storms. However, Sea had positioned his mass of tanks behind the geography of his choke and came away almost untouched.
With 4 carriers now in the air, both players headed to the middle to decide the victor this game. Backed by his ground army and storm, Nal_rA stopped Sea cold, and made him pay for a lack of goliaths. The terran child reemerged from his base almost immediately, and also started work at 12 o'clock. With his carriers low on interceptors, rA had worse luck this second time and lost two of his blimps to poor micro. However, he still managed to halt the second push and stop the 12 o'clock effort. With Sea winning the resource war though, rA needed to make some inroads soon against an upgraded terran ground force.
He began by using the high ground to poke at Sea's gas pit, and then by making moves to take the island. Sea continued to try and push the middle, and made fast progress this third time. Nal_rA seemed unwilling to engage until his back was against the wall and by that time the tanks of Sea gave him no room to move. The goons fell to the artillery while carriers found little purchase on the flat ground against powerful goliaths. Sea finally pushed to the eastern edge of the center, blasting apart rA's expansion while he took damage from the cars. The players traded expo raids, but Sea had better success by killing the island nexus while rA couldn't finish 12 o'clock. The carriers continued the attack at 12and finally managed to end it, but another Sea drop again shut down rA's last minerals at the island.
Both players were now out of cash, with only 12 o'clock and the island having any minerals. rA guarded 12 jealously with his carriers, while Sea launched one final furious offense. With both players out of cash, rA continued to mine long distance with his few remaining probes as Sea imported a CC. He also set a CC down at the island, but did not have the money to build an scv. Looking to transport in foreign labour with his dropsips, he sent his goliaths to kill rA's buildings, while the protoss headed straight for the island. rA wiped it off the map right away, and now it was truely a micro war, with neither player having finds. 20 goliaths vs 8 carriers and two ht. Sea tried to fight on the high ground, but two nice storms (finally) by rA laid his walkers to rest and gave rA the win.
Sea 2:1 rA
Nal_rA’s micro this game was really poor, as a couple of his attacks were just turned to mush by lack of attention. Sea was visibly shaken after this game, showing emotion rare for a Korean and calling for his mother. rA looked cool, but he was only in this by the slimmest of margins.
Game 4: Cultivation Period (stats P 2:1 T)
The last game was a marathon and we will have to see if Sea has the stamina to go deep after almost two hours of being under the lights. It was almost his bedtime. This is Cultivation Period, a map that has generated some controversy, and whose true character has yet to be seen.
Sea started at 3 with Nal_rA at 6, who sent his probe in the right direction. He hid in Sea's base in an apparent attempt to sneak his gas again, however Sea gassed very early, immediately after placing his rax, beating the probe by only a second. As he began his factory, Sea had to contend with an early zealot vs his two marines. It came out to a draw, with each person losing 100 minerals. rA got to work on two gate ranged goons while Sea continued to build rines and popped a tank/bunker at his choke.
rA hesitated once, twice, and then went all in with his 4 goons, killing two tanks and forcing Sea off his mineral line with his scv. The marines scrambled from the safety of their bunker, but the dragoons were merciless, killing them all and the tanks that followed. It wasn't the end, but rA had succeeded in eliminating the terran army while teching to a reaver. He lifted two more goons into the base, which were followed by two zealots. Sea again had to fight with scv until more troops arrived, but his losses were becoming costly. Once the reaver arrived, rA killed the sole remaining tank with a scarab zealot combo, and Sea had nothing left except to type two letters. G and G.
Sea 2:2 rA
Straight up rape, with rA showing he has perfect timing and a nose for blood. The creative Sea we saw in the first game had now crumbled in the face of two defeats.
Game 5: Rush Hour II
Time to separate the men from the boys. O wait, they did that when Sea walked between rA's legs and didn’t touch anything. Regardless, the fifth game was on the map Sea opened so strongly on. For rA, there was no cubensis strat of proxy gating and leaving in under two minutes, so he was in the fight of his life.
Sea started at 7 this time, sending his scout to the empty main at 11 before finding rA at 3. His build was standard from the beginning as was rA's, who two gated with range before a goon. Sea looked to be doing an fd terran build, but couldn’t get out of his base with rA's early goon pressure. As in game 4, rA was able to storm in early with his first goons, kill the tank, and force Sea to defend with scvs. Sea eventually secured his base, but by the time he did rA was up an expansion while a CC had barely begun.
While Sea regained his balance, rA and his speedy obs headed to the terran expo. A vulture gained access to his base to see a reaver, but he didn't mind it. Instead, he suicided his shuttle into a turret to perform a zealot bomb, and fed his goons into a meat grinder when the drop failed. This was a poor way indeed to capitalize on an early advantage. He was further frustrated by not being able to drop two reavers in the terran main, and was one missle away from losing the works.
Sea? Well Sea was now certifiably scary. His main was pumping with 6 factories, and he began to push at rA's natural from the bottom. With the bridge in front of him, rA had to find a way to shatter the terran, and he did, dropping 4 zeals and two reavers on a mass of tanks. At least eight exploded in a spectacular display, but again rA's micro betrayed him. As he charged forward with his zeal/goon, his goons took the lead and trapped the zealots, resulting in a massacre and a successful Sea retreat.
The players took a pause as rA expanded to 1 and Sea took 6. A sweet storm drop by rA was made more successful at Sea's natural by hitting it twice, but the crowd was in a frenzy when another two templars hit his mineral only two times as well. In a matter of a moment, 9/10ths of Sea's scv had been fried, and it seemed to get to the little fella. He picked up sticks and moved to rA's main with a scary tank/vult army. He pushed forward with moderate success, but again rA's storms stopped his advance. Only temporarily though, as his tanks proved too powerful for rA to stop with the next wave. He tornadoed over the natural and headed for 11 where rA made another unsuccessful stand with his dwindling army. Although he now had an arbiter, he did not have the ground troops to put under it. In a turn of events that was surprising to say the least, the vengeance Sea unleashed after the storm drops was nothing short of epic. rA monkeyed around a bit with his flyer, and then tapped GG.
Sea 3:2 rA
Those storms were unbelievable, but also 3 minutes too late. Sea had already macroed far beyond rA’s capacity to kill, and again poor army management cost rA the game, and really the series. Nal_rA still has a chance to make it through in the ODT2 series, but it is a much tougher road, and he won’t be able to chose his group for next season.
As for Sea? Well he is on the same path as another new gamer... Anytime[gm]. After winning the fourth seed, he tore a path through his OSL to win on his very first try. We will have to see if Sea can produce the same results.
Here is an interview with Sea after his win, posted
by HonestTea. Thanks a lot.
Cheers to Carnac, and all of you for reading.
Manifesto7
<3
Well done.
