EPT
Iloveoov had been among the favourites from the moment this tournament started and had cruised through the group stages, demolishing Nal_Ra and beating Reach on the way. He dropped one game in the quarters after being comprehensively outplayed by Zeus but came back to demolish his protoss opponent not once but twice in game three.
July Zerg had come of age in reaching the semifinals, like Oov going unbeaten in his group, then eliminating Perfect Terran Xellos in the quarters with perfectly executed anti-terran manoeuvres. Could he bring that form with him into this match?
Game One on Nostalgia
Iloveoov (terran at seven o'clock) opened with double barracks and as his scouting SCV immediately located his opponent's base he chose to gas rush. July Zerg (zerg at five) continued with his usual 12-hatch build and set some of his drones to work attacking the refinery. As Oov built his academy, July was morphing in his lair and hydralisk den. Oov made the first moove with a small force of marines, medics and firebats leaving his main and heading towards the zerg base. July morphed in some precautionary sunken colonies as he awaited the arrival of his first lurkers. Oov took a quick stab at the zerg natural but retreated when he saw the sunkens.
At this point Oov decided to take an early natural expansion. July's first lurkers were now scuttling around the Nostalgia landscape and he felt able to morph in a new expansion at the six o'clock position, giving himself more production capacity in close proximity to the enemy. As he encountered the first lurkers, Oov realised that his position was already perilous and threw up a bunker at his natural to try and buy himself some time. July started to turn the screw, his lurker and zergling army devastating Oov's marine/medic army as Oov frantically built a second bunker at the double roadway leading to his natural, desperately trying to buy himself some more time. July, still playing aggressively, positioned lurkers and zerglings on the small plateau to the left of Oov's natural, with the rest of his army ready to launch a frontal assault.
With Oov boxed in and still without tanks, the end came swiftly. July swarmed into Oov's natural from two directions in a perfectly executed double attack. With four lurkers wreaking havoc, Oov resorted to desperation SCV defence but to no avail.
First blood to July Zerg. Oov appeared to ooverreach with his early expansion. July showed aggression coupled with perfect timing to sweep his opponent aside.
Iloveoov 0 - 1 July Zerg
Game Two on Namja Iyagi
Having been battered by his opponent in game one, Oov (at four o'clock) opted for a barracks before depot opening, while July replied with a spawning pool and an extractor prior to taking his natural. Oov had his scouting SCV roaming around in and out of July's main, able to see all the swarm's machinations. Oov was working on a one barracks, one factory build and as July's first lings arrived at his ramp he screened his meagre marine force with two SCVs.
July, now with his expansion up, started morphing in his lair and hydralisk den as Oov began work on a starport. Unfortunately for the terran, July managed to sneak some zerglings into Oov's main to see what was being constructed inside. July immediately started work on a spire. July delivered a body blow to his terran opponent as first Oov's dropship headed towards the zerg main, bringing cheers from the watching audience as he obliterated it with a group of waiting hydralisks.
July started morphing in an expansion at 11 o'clock. With his hopes of crippling the zerg with a drop, Oov broke out of his main with a marine force and headed for his opponent's natural. July had two sunkens at the front of his expansion so Oov tried to circle his forces around to attack from the rear. Once again Oov's hopes were dashed, with July slaughtering the invasion force with the combined power of hydralisks and mutalisks. Immediately counterattacking, July sent his flight of mutas directly to the terran main. Chaos broke out in the terran base as the mutalisks harassed Oov's mineral line, sending the SCV's rolling away to seek sanctuary.
Although Oov was able to deal with this crisis he had little further resistance to offer. July had been morphing in his favoured lurkers. With a healthy, functioning economy, he had been able to reinforce his army quickly and zeroed in once again on the terran main, this time with a combined force of lurkers, mutalisks and zerglings. Having only narrowly saved his mineral production and with little in the way of new combat forces, Oov was able to offer no resistance to the overpowering zerg swarm.
Rarely has Oov been seen to play so defensively. July, looking like a man possessed, utterly dominated his vaunted opponent.
Iloveoov 0 - 2 July Zerg
Game Three on Requiem
With two games played, Iloveoov was already facing elimination and up against July Zerg on the map where July wreaked his four-pool devastation on Casey in the group stage. By a strange twist of fate, the zerg and terran spawned in exactly the same positions as that earlier game. July Zerg (at six o'clock) declined to try and repeat his four-pool victory but did spring a surprise, opting for a one hatchery lurker/ling strategy. Having seen his early drop fail miserably in game two, Oov (at 12) reverted to a two barracks and academy opening with a wall.
It was fast becoming clear that July, with the entire match in his grasp, was going for broke. Still playing off just a singly hatchery, he started morphing in his first lurkers as Oov constructed his initial factory. Oov finally decided to move out of his main and cautiously sent his first marine, medic, firebat force south towards the zerg base, with little chance of doing any damage as July now had four lurkers. As July's lurker force approached the terran base he saw that Oov had a bunker outside the terran main. July cleverly positioned one lurker for a long range attack on Oov's frontmost supply depot. By now Oov had a starport and was waiting for his siege mode upgrade to finish.
Still playing off only a single hatchery and with his opponent teching dangerously, July realised he had to make his move. He took out the protective bunker and swarmed into the terran main, losing valuable combat units all the time. He circled his lurkers around to the left side of the terran mineral line then re-positioned at the rear of the minerals, desperately trying to do enough damage to cripple his rapidly strengthening terran opponent. With only one lurker left to deal with and siege tanks available at last, Oov sacrificed a unit to destroy the final invisible lurker with splash damage.
The tide of battle was now turning quickly against July Zerg. He still had no expansion and Oov was fast consolidating his position and getting science vessels into the air. Ready to move out, Oov headed down towards the sparsely-defended zerg main. July launched a counterattack, with concealed forces once again getting into the terran main. However, there was little he could do other than pointlessly damage Oov's row of supply depots before being taken out by siege tank power. At the opposite end of the map, Oov was in the pathetically small zerg main. With absolutely nothing left, July went down to his first loss of the match.
July went for it all but came up emptyhanded. Oov was now back in the match.
Iloveoov 1 - 2 July Zerg
Game Four on Mercury
Having fallen just short in the third game, July (at three o'clock) reverted to a 12-hatch opening, with Oov (at six) once again going for two barracks. July started a fast secret hatchery at seven, within striking distance of his terran opponent's main. As Oov constructed his academy, July started morphing in some sunken colonies at his expansion as he waited for his extra production capacity to come online. With July's lurkers having been a thorn in his side all through the match, Oov opted for an early engineering bay, as July morphed in his hydralisk den.
July's strategy became clear as hydralisks started to emerge from his hidden hatchery and turned into lurkers. Surprising Oov with his secret army, July's forces surged into the terran main and headed for the mineral line. Despite his early bay, Oov was still relying on scan for detection. July was fighting tooth and nail to to reposition his lurkers away from detection in order to severely damage the terran mineral production but somehow, Oov managed to put out the fire, ruthlessly hunting down the enemy lurkers in his main.
July tried a second time, attacking Oov's marine forces as he approached the terran main again. He held momentarily to destroy Oov's front supply depot then threw his forces at the terran base. A tense stand-off ensued. July had a host of burrowed lurkers in the terran main but on the other side of an impromptu no man's land Oov had a powerful tank force waiting for the first sign of a lurker emerging from its burrow. July knew it was only a matter of time before Oov had scan energy available and decided to bite the bullet. First he launched lings at the terran tanks. Then, as Oov repositioned his tanks, July's lurkers emerged from the ground. They quickly came under withering fire and as the survivors scuttled forward to try to close in on the terran tanks they were utterly obliterated in a spray of blood.
Despite being under constant pressure, Oov had been working on a starport and had a dropship available. Taking advantage of his first moment of peace, he loaded a marine force onto his ship and sent it winging towards the zerg main.
July tried a final assault to break down the terran barriers but to no avail. Oov had shored up his defence and his strike force of marines was dropping down onto the defenceless zerg main.
For a second time, July had tried to blow down the terran defences by throwing his armies into the fray but, despite some close calls, had only succeeded in blowing himself out. Oov showed his defensive prowess once again and waited for exactly the right moment to strike back at a fading opponent.
Iloveoov 2 - 2 July Zerg
Game Five on Nostalgia
So, it all came down to a deciding game. Could Oov pull off one of the greatest comebacks in Starcraft history and make it to the final?
With a place in the final on the line, both players decided on tried and tested strategies. Iloveoov (at five o'clock) opted for double barracks and academy, while July Zerg (at 11 o'clock) decided on his more usual 12-hatch opening.
Oov moved out of his main with marines, medics and firebats but with little aggressive intent as he opted for an early natural expansion. July decided to expand to the 12 o'clock position, as both players settled for consolidation before taking the game to their opponent. It was July Zerg who, after waiting for his first lurkers, made the first move as for a second time in this match, and on this map, he showed the vulnerability of Oov's early expo. Just as Oov was making a bunker, July's forces broke into the natural, forcing the terran to evacuate his SCVs. July quickly repositioned his lurkers to attack the command centre. However, Oov scanned twice to eliminate the attacking force.
Although the initial threat had been neutralised, Oov was once again on the back foot. July rapidly expanded to the one o'clock position and already had his queen's nest, heading straight for hive tech. He kept the pressure on Oov, harassing the terran natural again with one lurker as Oov at last started work on a factory. As Oov was still waiting for his first siege tanks, July was on his way up the zerg tech tree, with a defiler mound now morphed in at his main. Oov still only had three barracks and one factory as July expanded yet again, this time to the nine o'clock position. July was taking over the map while Oov prevaricated.
Oov was now working on two starports but was so far behind his zerg opponent there seemed little point. July was putting his gigantic economy to good use and now had an ultralisk cavern morphing in to accompany his defiler mound.
With the crowd going crazy and the Ongamenet announcers approaching peak decibel level, July stormed into the terran natural for a second time under the cover of masses of dark swarm. Oov's SCVs were forced to flee to safety and he had to lift his command centre to save it from the swarm. The OGN studios were a wall of noise as the camera flitted across the battlefield to the shocking sight of a giant army of zerglings and ultralisks heading towards the frontline. The overpowering forces rampaged into the terran main. Oov had science vessels in the air for the first time but they were useless against the giant swarm. Oov rallied his SCVs to try to hold his main plateau. Blood drenched the battleground as the desperate terran defenders made their last stand and... somehow survived!
A new zerg army of ultralisks and zerglings were on their way, as at the same time, July took the one o'clock natural. Oov desperately tried to impact on the overpowering zerg economy with a double science vessel irradiation manoeuvre but the two vessels were quickly downed by scourge as July was in full command of the game. His masses of zerglings and ultralisks surged into the terran natural and up the ramp into the main, sending a distraught Iloveoov out of the Starleague.
Iloveoov 2 - 3 July Zerg
An incredible sequence of games from July Zerg. Even in the two he lost he was setting the pace, always attacking and taking the game to his vaunted opponent. At times Oov looked utterly bewildered and was as defensive as he has ever been, clearly thrown off his game by July's aggressive and imaginative play. Whatver may happen in the final July has undoubtedly joined the very highest ranks of elite Brood War pros.
July Zerg's opponent will be decided on Friday night as Silent_Control goes up against [Oops]Reach.
Hopefully JulyZerg will become one of the greats that actually develop the zerg aspects and make people not look down on zerg as an inferior race
for boring turtleing Terrans. Gogo sexy zerg art. 
