EPT
Week 2 featured the second eight players pairing up to try and make the winners round. The losers would play again the next week, while the winners got a rest. Here are the results:
Game 1: Midas vs Jju on Peaks
Midas opened the game with some light MM pressure, but his need to expand early came through and he dropped the CC while also teching to vessels. Jju simply massed four hatch muta/ling, ran over the containing force, and then took advantage of the lack of marines and destroyed the terran base. A one-sided rape.
Game 2: Daezang vs ChoJJa on Blitz
Daezang opened with a brave +1 zeal build, and its early damage allowed him to secure his expo. A switch to reaver/sair was very profitable, as ChoJJa could not keep his overlords alive. With the strength of two extra vespene at the 12 island, Daezang was able to mass produce gas units and hog tie the cowboy.
Game 3: Kingdom vs NaDa on Arcadia
In a race against time, both NaDa and Kingdom tried a drop. However, NaDas vults were far more successful than the reaver from Kingdom, and in a fast game the protoss player was out.
Game 4: Xellos vs Shark on Longinus
Xellos took an early advantage with vultures from a proxy factory. With a low drone count, Shark tried to harass with mutalisks, but Xellos had the time to research irrad as well as defend his base. Shark made the switch to lurkers, but by the time he was ready to attack, a tech heavy mass from Xellos was waiting. Terran forces battled with lurkers and defilers, but Shark was unable to keep his units or expansions alive against Xellos’drops. GG, and the perfect terran moves on.
Well, that was last week, lets find out who can keep their title dreams alive.
Game 1, Terato “The Architect” vs Casy[name] “Unlimited” on Blitz
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Manifesto7/pringles2mslwk3/teratobifrost.JPG)
The MSL day of protoss opened with the under-achiever Terato against the name thief Casy[name] aka BiFrost. The stakes are simple: winner stays alive while the loser goes home.
Terato opened with a somewhat conservative one gate/robo build, but his intentions quickly shifted into an offensive gear as three proxy gates were built at 8 o'clock. As BiFrost landed his expo CC defended by a handful of tanks, Terato massed up goons from his secret outpost. And then, at the crucial moment, he gave the orders, plunging his troops into battle.
As the goons marched forward into the Terran complex, BiFrost reacted with lightning speed. Using his scv, and separated by a CC, BiFrost halted the incursion and allowed his artillery to blast craters all around the protoss force. One entrenched position, and then another fell to the deadly energy balls, however the costs of uprooting the defenses were massive. Unable to gain mobility, Terato backed off and BiFrost continues his economic gains.
Terato was certain he would have to make another move quickly, and with a shuttle he loaded four zealots to accompany his new legion of goons. However, the Terran comander had been busy, and new obstacles blocked the protoss way. Strategically placed depots, a bunker, turrets, and tanks on the ground as well as the cliff made any attack near impossible. Terato tried, and failed again, losing another army in the jaws of terran munitions.
With his production facilities out of position, Terato was unable to defend against the streams of vultures that streaked across the map, and typed gg, his strategy ruined.
Casy[name] > Terato
Terato is a dope. That Blitz choke is too small for mass goons. Had he made zealots, the game would have been his easily. He will have plenty of time to think about it now as he heads down to the survivor league.
Game 2, rA “Dreamer Toss” vs Pusan “Spirit Toss” on Longinus
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Manifesto7/pringles2mslwk3/raPusan.JPG)
rA opened at 3, while Pusan began mining at 11, and the MBC player got a quick advantage by warping in a manner pylon. rA shrugged off both the cheese and an early zealot, while both players build ranged goons from two gates. The first encounter of any consequence occurred as Pusan attempted to attack rA’s choke, using a reaver as a battering ram. Backed by goons, his reaver got off a single scarab, but a micro mistake allowed rA to kill it before any more damage occurred. In retaliation, rA ran a shuttle to Pusan’s new natural, but the scarab ai led to no damage.
Getting lucky with the failed drop, Pusan expanded again to the mineral only, while rA built up a second robo and five gates. Again Pusan pushed at rA’s choke, and the KTF magician was hard pressed to defend against the onslaught. Another speed shuttle from rA dropped two reavers in Pusan’s base, but scarab ai again prevented him from doing maximum damage. However, it did create enough concern for Pusan that he pulled back from his offensive to secure his base.
Despite his extra expansion, Pusan’s economy had been damaged, and repairing that cost him in his unit production. rA took advantage of this, and his new army entered the middle of the map, forcing Pusan to defend. As ground troops attacked the front, reavers dropped at both Pusan’s main and natural, causing further havoc. Pusan fended this off, but a dt drop followed, and Pusan scrambled to find his observers. Finally, rA was able to deal the deathblow with a tech heavy attack at Pusan’s choke.
rA > Pusan
Pusan made a blunder early on. Had he dropped rA’s main with his first reaver, rA would have had no choice but to divide his forces to defend. At that point, Pusan could have overrun the front. By trying unsuccessfully to use the reaver as a tank, it allowed rA back into the game. Beautiful harassment by rA sealed the deal
Game 3: Midas “The Engine” vs ChoJJa “The Cowboy” on Arcadia
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Manifesto7/pringles2mslwk3/midaschojja.JPG)
Arcadia has proved to be a graveyard for terran players, as zerg held the advantage 4-0. However, Midas has impressed many with his play of late. The game started at cross-positions, with ChoJJa at 11, and Midas at 5. The game started with Midas unsurprisingly expanding after his first barracks and ChoJJa going lurkers after taking both of his own expansions. With Midas bottled up tight in his base, massing +1 rines at a fantastic rate, ChoJJa made the first move by dropping lurker/ling into the terran main. However, good scan use by Midas had showed him overlord speed, and he predicted the move well. ChoJJa managed to kill next to nothing, but the repeated attacks gave him time to take both the 9 island and 12, for a total of four geysers.
Having defended the first attack with minimal losses, Midas rolled out with a scary looking army. He attacked in two prongs, with his main force rolling into the middle and a dropship heading to the zerg main. ChoJJa stunted the main offensive with defilers and lurkers, but had trouble dealing with the drop, losing far more than he should have. Midas continued to pour units into the middle, reinforcing his his tanks and vessels with upgraded marines. His focus of attack was the twelve o’clock expansion, however he could never gain a foothold. ChoJJa played the attack very well, using a nydus canal to form a constant flank of lurkers, lings, and hydras.
Once ChoJJa gained some mobility, he tried to attack down the map, but Midas had laid minefields along every pathway, and it was slow moving for the zerg. The time gave Midas the chance to mass up another army, and his abuse of irradiate allowed him to march up the map once again. Things looked dire for ChoJJa, as he Midas set up shop outside his choke, But on the strength of the unbothered 9 island and 12, ChoJJa broke out of the containment, and the tide turned.
From this point onwards, ChoJJa held the advantage. By using dropped lurks, he had successfully been able halt Midas’ expansion attempts. No the terran was broke, and had to attend to his own money needs. This gave ChoJJa the chance to expand to both 7 and 1. Midas killed expansions repeatedly, but it always cost him an army, and it was replaced as soon as he left. Terran dropships dotted the sky, but he never again got close to the zerg main. Finally, out of money, he conceded the game.
ChoJJa > Midas
This was a really good game, and ChoJJa improved to 76-55 overall. ChoJJa’s use of defilers was outstanding as he threw up swarms and plagues everywhere. He made a nice comeback when it looked as if Midas was going to break inside his main base. Midas may have been a little too confident about his victory, as his expansion attempts were never forceful until it was too late. DL this one.
Game 4: Kingdom “Devil Toss” vs Shark[gm] “Muta Master” on Peaks of Baekdu.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Manifesto7/pringles2mslwk3/kingdomshark.JPG)
Kingdom warped in at the bottom, and his build revolved around very high tech. As Shark started with two hatch hydras, Kingdom reached templar tech with a corsair very quickly. The early dt headed straight for the zerg base, and drones fell swiftly, Kingdom racking up 10 kills. A second dt hit the zerg nat, and Shark was set way back. With the time bought by the harassment, Kingdom took his natural and had gone up the third tech branch, getting reavers.
Shark made a switch to mutalisks, but they were unable to stall Kingdom long enough. With both temps and reavers, anything that Shark could attack with simply melted. Trying to boost his economy, Shark relaxed from his offense, and Kingdom secured a third gas. Speed shuttles took to the air, and Kingdom storm and reaver dropped Shark’s expansions. Having lost his mutalisks in harassment, Shark could not keep up with the shuttles, and quickly typed gg.
Kingdom > Shark
Kingdom totally outclassed Shark in this game. Only at the beginning when Shark attacked all-in with some hydras was Kingdom in trouble. However, after that passed, his tech dominated Shark, who never had the ability to stop the assault. Kingdom won with only shuttles, never needing a ground army.
That is it for week 3. Kingdom, ChoJJa, Casy[name], and rA all move on to face the losers from next week, while this week’s losers will head down to the survivor league. For all the information and updated brackets on progaming tournaments, check out zonbi's great page, here:
http://www.replays.hu/nOia/korea.htm
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Manifesto7/pringles2mslwk3/chojjara.jpg)
KTF fiiiiiighting!
Cheers,
Mani
