![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/pachi/banner/rtp.png)
The collective laughter of a thousand fans could be heard from miles away as they guffawed, their chuckling echoing through Seoul and over the Internet to the rest of the world via IRC and livestream chats. From the opening team game madness to the grudge match played by two of the game's titans, the Broodwar Circus was by all accounts a massive success.
As the confetti settled and the lights dimmed, the audience, whether around the arena or in their homes far away were all smiles, for they had come to be entertained, and entertained they had been. Team Challenge had won, but in reality it was the fans who were the real victors. Among other things, they had got to see Broodwar's greatest rivalry play out yet again, and in the process had enjoyed the many side acts of the evening as well.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/riptide/proleague200809/pl_allstar_coachpark.jpg)
"We have two bonjwas, the best Protoss in the world,
and a ton of Terrans. We lose this, nobody's going home, ok? Ever."
+ Show Spoiler [Results] +
Team Challenge vs Team Passion
Set 1 - 3vs3
Iris -
BoxeR -
BaBy < Hunters>
Calm -
UpMaGiC -
YellOw
Set 2 - Relay War
Reach/
Luxury/
Sea < Andromeda >
free[gm]/
Leta/
great
Set 3 - 1vs1
sAviOr < Outsider >
Flash
Special Set - 1vs1
BoxeR < Heartbreak Ridge >
YellOw
Set 4 - 1vs1
fantasy < Neo Medusa >
Stork
Set 5 - 1vs1
Bisu < Destination >
Jaedong
Team Challenge vs Team Passion
Set 1 - 3vs3






Set 2 - Relay War






Set 3 - 1vs1


Special Set - 1vs1


Set 4 - 1vs1


Set 5 - 1vs1


Fast and Furious
It began with the motorcycles in the metal sphere: the fast, intense, non-stop action of 3v3 starting off the night. Up against a team of offracing Protosses, Boxer's team of 3 Terrans opened with 2 rax builds, putting the heat on with a quick 3 player marine rush that headed straight for Yellow. Greatly outnumbered, and with his allies teching, it seemed Yellow would be eliminated early, but he insisted on a fight. Dragoons and probes took on the marines, and with some fantastic micro, put a major dent in their numbers, although the probe losses too, were significant. Eventually, with some help from Upmagic, Yellow cleared his main of errant marines and an offensive bunker.
Following the failure of the 2 rax shenanigans of the Terrans, the Protoss team took over the reigns of the game with their superior tech. Unsurprisingly, the Terran bases quickly fell one by one to an onslaught of dragoons, zealots, and to rub salt into the wound, DTs.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/riptide/proleague200809/pl_allstar_3v3boxer.jpg)
Yellow and friends paying back Boxer for years of bunker rushes with
the tried and tested 12a3a4a™ method.
With their mains ravaged, Boxer and Baby sought refuge in Iris' walled up main. However, they would not find safety there, as reavers were flown in to lay waste to mining SCVs, while the combined Protoss armies broke through the defenses up front. With 4 stargate corsairs from Upmagic coming to wipe up the remnants of the floating Terran buildings, the Terrans typed out of the first game, and fans rushed to Broodwar to make TvP Imbalanced threads.
Wheel of War
Next up was the trapeze act, the relay match, with players taking turns at the computer every time an in-game message appeared. An RvR on Andromeda, the Challenge team randomed Protoss against Passion's Terran. The game quickly headed towards a macro battle, Sea opting for a 12 nexus opening, and Free responding with a CC after a vulture. The game picked up slightly, when after a 4th base and arbiter tech, Challenge, once again under the control of Sea, executed a recall into Passion's main. Fortunately it was cleared out shortly after, and Passion re-established their defensive lines.
At the hands of Luxury, Challenge's huge army was then sent charging straight into Passion's wall of 20 or so tanks, only to be forced into retreat with major losses. Capitalising on this mistake, Passion, now manoeuvred by Leta, unsieged and headed towards the Protoss expoes. A swift and decisive counter was perhaps Luxury's only hope of redeeming himself, and he ordered an attack into Passion's nat, only to have his army decimated by the returning Terran army. Just as it looked like Challenge would be undone by Luxury's folly, the observer panned through Challenge's main, and 6 flashing stargates, accompanied by a fleet beacon were found.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/riptide/proleague200809/pl_allstar_relay.jpg)
"So then you build the fleet beacon..."
What ensued was simply a rehash of any PvT in which Protoss had built up a critical number of carriers. Mass goliaths and tanks were eventually worn down by carriers and storm, and with harass taking out their economy, Passion was unable to maintain the production of their units. After the final battle that featured an interceptor lockdown, a missed nuke, and lots of dead goliaths, Challenge recalled carriers into the last Passion mining base, drawing the GG.
One thing to note was that much like a trapeze act, the game progressed seamlessly between players. There were no obvious conflicts in style or technical hiccups. The game flowed as a 1v1 normally would, and made for a very pleasant, captivating watch. Kudos KeSPA!
Clown Country
Anyway, on to the next match, Savior vs Flash on Outsider. Savior opened very standard with a 3 hatch muta build while Flash opted for something different, going for fast vessels and 4 rax, after opening with a factory and vulture. Savior's muta harass showed signs of old brilliance, as he sniped off marines and turrets, separating his mutas almost immediately when they got irradiated. When the muta numbers were sufficiently dwindled, Savior had 5 hatches, 3 fully saturated bases with 4 gas, and lurkers out.
Flash then revealed his master plan, a nuke silo briefly visible before a floating ebay hid it from view. Probably expecting a more sunken heavy, defensive style zerg play, Flash, unfortunately, met heavy resistance from Savior's lurkers, and with just marine medic, he was in a poor position. His only hope, a ghost carrying dropship, was spotted by an expansion hatchery, and he was forced to unleash his nuke on the droneless expansion. A second nuke, targeted at Savior's lurkers then hit a majority of his army in the middle of the map.
Shortly after, in a moment of lunacy, Flash challenged Savior to attack him. Savior obliged, and armed with queens and a huge army of hydras and lurkers, he crushed the puny Terran defenses at Flash's newly taken nat. Flash responded by quipping that Savior was taking it far too seriously.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/riptide/proleague200809/pl_allstar_flashsavior.jpg)
"Why so srs with hydralurk, bro?"
In the final moments of the game, the fatal siren was heard and a nuke unexpectedly landed on Flash's CC. A GG from Flash brought this fun filled, non-serious game to a fitting comic end.
High Noon
Halfway through the event the mystery match was called, and as predicted, the shootout was to be between the long-time rivals, Lim Yo Hwan and Hong Jin Ho. Long time rivals, and one would say friends (though one might also say with friends like these, who needs enemies), Boxer and YellOw's history goes back to Coca-Cola. Their most talked about meeting of course is the EVER 04 Semi-Finals where Boxer famously triple bunker rushed the Storm Zerg. Apparently, progamers don't forget easily, something that Waxangel's pregame translations clearly highlight.
Boxer: "When we were playing the team game, Leta interefered so I couldn't get rid of Yellow, but I'll take care of that now." Editor's note - Welcome to Trashtalk 101, kids.
Yellow: "Well, I was 3v1'd, so I did need some help from magic, but if it was just Boxer, it would have been pretty easy."
[...]
Yellow: "Well boxer's kind of a tool like that, wanting to bunker rush me all the time but hiding it behind all that deception."
[...]
Boxer: "Well, I'm glad Yellow managed to survive this far, for our Xth Boxer vs Yellow match."
Yellow: "Well, I was 3v1'd, so I did need some help from magic, but if it was just Boxer, it would have been pretty easy."
[...]
Yellow: "Well boxer's kind of a tool like that, wanting to bunker rush me all the time but hiding it behind all that deception."
[...]
Boxer: "Well, I'm glad Yellow managed to survive this far, for our Xth Boxer vs Yellow match."
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/riptide/proleague200809/pl_allstar_boxeryellow.jpg)
"So sports fans, no love loss here, amirite?"
The continuation of the saga between our two valiant heroes took place on the dusty alleys of Heartbreak Ridge, an appropriate arena for yet another match in the duo's eight year long history. "Emperor of cheese?", Yellow questioned, as his scouting drone found Boxer's barracks hidden behind his nat. Yes, he would know about that, for years ago, he had been the victim of bunker rushes, SCV all ins, proxy raxes, you name it. Boxer could only smile to himself, for today, he had prepared something different, as seen when he started a factory and an expansion soon after.
In response, Yellow began a hydra den off of 2 hatcheries, looking to fool boxer into overcommitting to defense while droning up and surprising him with 3 hatch mutas. As the mutas spawned and made their way to Boxer's main, they were, unfortunately, spotted by a couple of vultures, but arrived in Boxer's main before the completion of turrets anyway. There, they unleashed their fury on Boxer's units, raining glaive wurms upon anything that moved. It looked as if the game might end here, but Boxer eventually built up enough goliaths, and Yellow's classic overaggressive play proceeded to lose him a lot of mutas before he flew to safety.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/riptide/proleague200809/pl_allstar_br1.jpg)
The game then proceeded with both players macroing up, Yellow taking a 4th base and heading towards hive, and Boxer harassing with lots of vultures. The vultures did some pretty good damage, hitting Yellow's third base for a good number of drones, and catching a bunch of them maynarding to the 4th, and in the meantime, Boxer established a third base and planted mines everywhere.
With hive tech out, and a 5th base coming up, Yellow seemed to be in a pretty commanding position, having shrugged off Boxer's last attempts at vulture harass. Sadly, he had elected to go for a combination of hydras, lurkers and defilers, a poor choice against mech compared to the usual hydra muta mix. An attack at Boxer's third was stopped cold by siege tanks and goliaths, and the following drop on Boxer's main, despite some minor success was similarly negated.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/riptide/proleague200809/pl_allstar_br2.jpg)
Insisting on his old, obsolete ways, Yellow continued with his swarm, hydralurk usage with increasingly poor results, even suiciding a whole group of lurkers into a handful of mines and tanks for no absolutely no damage, prompting Boxer to thank him for his efforts. With Boxer slowly but surely spreading his influence across the map, expanding across the top side, things were starting to look bleak for Yellow, especially with his 5th gas base constantly being taken out.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/riptide/proleague200809/pl_allstar_br3.jpg)
After losing a tonne of hydras, lings, lurkers and defilers in more suicidal attacks into Boxer's defensive set ups, Yellow finally wised up and spawned some mutas. However, whatever minor damage they did, before irradiate and 3/3 goliaths cleaned them up, was unable to pull Yellow back from the massive lead that Boxer possessed. A couple of minutes later, Yellow GGed as his minerals dried out, and his final army drenched the battlefield in pools of alien blood.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/riptide/proleague200809/pl_allstar_br4.jpg)
With that, the duel was over, and yet as they walked away, both players, and indeed us as fans could only think of one thing - when and how, and on what turf they would meet again, for as we all know, Starcraft's greatest rivalry never gets old, and even a showmatch like this between Lim and Hong made the entire event worth watching.
In response, Yellow began a hydra den off of 2 hatcheries, looking to fool boxer into overcommitting to defense while droning up and surprising him with 3 hatch mutas. As the mutas spawned and made their way to Boxer's main, they were, unfortunately, spotted by a couple of vultures, but arrived in Boxer's main before the completion of turrets anyway. There, they unleashed their fury on Boxer's units, raining glaive wurms upon anything that moved. It looked as if the game might end here, but Boxer eventually built up enough goliaths, and Yellow's classic overaggressive play proceeded to lose him a lot of mutas before he flew to safety.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/riptide/proleague200809/pl_allstar_br1.jpg)
The game then proceeded with both players macroing up, Yellow taking a 4th base and heading towards hive, and Boxer harassing with lots of vultures. The vultures did some pretty good damage, hitting Yellow's third base for a good number of drones, and catching a bunch of them maynarding to the 4th, and in the meantime, Boxer established a third base and planted mines everywhere.
With hive tech out, and a 5th base coming up, Yellow seemed to be in a pretty commanding position, having shrugged off Boxer's last attempts at vulture harass. Sadly, he had elected to go for a combination of hydras, lurkers and defilers, a poor choice against mech compared to the usual hydra muta mix. An attack at Boxer's third was stopped cold by siege tanks and goliaths, and the following drop on Boxer's main, despite some minor success was similarly negated.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/riptide/proleague200809/pl_allstar_br2.jpg)
Insisting on his old, obsolete ways, Yellow continued with his swarm, hydralurk usage with increasingly poor results, even suiciding a whole group of lurkers into a handful of mines and tanks for no absolutely no damage, prompting Boxer to thank him for his efforts. With Boxer slowly but surely spreading his influence across the map, expanding across the top side, things were starting to look bleak for Yellow, especially with his 5th gas base constantly being taken out.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/riptide/proleague200809/pl_allstar_br3.jpg)
After losing a tonne of hydras, lings, lurkers and defilers in more suicidal attacks into Boxer's defensive set ups, Yellow finally wised up and spawned some mutas. However, whatever minor damage they did, before irradiate and 3/3 goliaths cleaned them up, was unable to pull Yellow back from the massive lead that Boxer possessed. A couple of minutes later, Yellow GGed as his minerals dried out, and his final army drenched the battlefield in pools of alien blood.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/riptide/proleague200809/pl_allstar_br4.jpg)
With that, the duel was over, and yet as they walked away, both players, and indeed us as fans could only think of one thing - when and how, and on what turf they would meet again, for as we all know, Starcraft's greatest rivalry never gets old, and even a showmatch like this between Lim and Hong made the entire event worth watching.
Fire Eater
Next up was Stork vs Fantasy, which opened with a 12 nexus against a CC after factory. Fantasy's first vultures netted a number of probe kills, and he chose to double expo with 1 factory, assuming that Stork would be similarly, taking his third base. Unfortunately, Stork had something else planned. On 4 gateways, he conjured up 2 shuttles, and loaded them with zealots. With Fantasy still in the dark, his attack came swift and deadly, as the shuttles ferried zealots behind Fantasy's wall to take out defending tanks, while goons pounded on, and eventually took out the wall.
Amazingly, Fantasy was able to defend for the time being, but Stork, with his 2 shuttles now full of dragoons, simply camped above Fantasy's factories and took out any new tanks. Then after building up a suitable number of dragoons, Stork waltzed into Fantasy's nat, stealing the game. Great, well thought-out strategy by Stork, not allowing Fantasy to get into the harass play that he is strong in and ending the game early with a specific timing attack designed to punish a greedy Terran.
Stork has been playing well lately, but we must say he even outdid himself here. Sure, the guy has a 67% PvT win ratio, we know that. Still, his double shuttle goon micro was completely off the hook, and this game is worth watching for that alone. Although Fantasy did attempt some copycat tank in dropship shenanigans, from build through execution and unit control, it was Stork's game from the get go.
Anti-Climax
If all the games up to this point were at least above average in terms of entertainment value, the
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/riptide/proleague200809/pl_allstar_jaedongsavior.jpg)
"Become the world's best Zerg, they said..."
It was a bad game, without a doubt the worst of the night, and I'm sure we're not alone when we say that we felt slightly robbed. Up till this point, Allstars was good, nay great, and we really couldn't think of better players to give us a stellar finish to the evening.
Having said that, disappointments are a part of Broodwar, and to be honest, we don't have a lot to complain about. We got to see Boxer vs Yellow, a crazy 3v3 and a Relay War which can only be described as awesome. We hope they feature it again next year because from Leta looking at the big screen to Sea walking over and checking out his opponents' monitor in person, it gave us by far the most outrageous game of the year.
On that note we leave you, dear reader, to sit back and count the days until Proleague starts on October 10th. 2008-09 was a great year for the team league, and we're sure 2009-10 is going to be even better. So, catch up on that sleep, stock up on those energy drinks, and get ready for a year of the best this game has to offer. See you soon!
Brought to you by the Team Liquid Proleague Coverage Team - riptide, heyoka and pangshai. Thanks to Waxangel for translating the entirety of Saturday's event, pachi for the coverage banner and Fomos and Daily Esports for the pics.