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TeamLiquid.net KT-KTF Premiere League Games of the Week for Week Six:
[Oops]Reach (Park Jeong Seok) v [Red]Nada (Lee Yoon Yeol) on Nostalgia
A top of the table clash to determine the outright group leader saw the Hero Toss facing the baby-faced machine, Nada. Reach (protoss at seven) opened with a standard two gate range build while Nada (terran at one) opted for one factory expansion. The early game was very quiet, with both players taking their naturals before launching into major engagements, little sign of the fireworks to come. Reach moved up to four gateways, robo and citadel, fending off a light vulture raid into his main.
Nada made the first major move, setting up with tanks and vultures in the centre, with Reach unable to challenge his opponent's defensive position as he was still waiting for speedlots. Reach started a new nexus at the six position, immediately seen by Nada's roaming vultures. Nada himself expoed to three and 11 and had double armoury in his main. Working off three bases, Reach moved for carriers, warping in two and later three stargates plus a fleet beacon. Nada had set his tanks around one side of one of the centre wall, maximising the distance Reach's ground forces would have to cover to break the terran position. As he massed units off an ever-increasing number of factories, Nada decided to advance with a major part of his army. However, Reach was waiting and he countered immediately, zeal-bombing behind the enemy line and thundering forward with his main force of zealots and dragoons. The force of Reach's counterattack necessitated a terran retreat to the security of the central fortress.
Despite this temprorary setback, Nada was able to expand to 12 undisturbed as he held an iron grip on the centre of the map. Aware that Reach was awaiting the imminent arrival of carriers, Nada was pumping goliaths out of his factories and sending them towards the middle of the map. The first protoss carriers slowly glided across the Nostalgia landscape as Reach looked to expand his economy even further with new bases at five and the five natural.
Nada was now macroing off four bases and nine factories and building goliaths all the time to counter Reach's three stargates. With his carrier force building, Reach finally tried to advance and break the terran stranglehold on the centre. As the dragoon and carrier force approached the terran defensive position an astounded gasp could be heard from the MBC Game audience as the true magnitude of Nada's army of goliaths became apparent. Dragoons and carriers had to flee before the terran metal as Reach microed furiously to kill off as much of the opposing army as possible while safeguarding his carriers from the merciless goliaths and their twin missile assault. Nevertheless, Nada managed to pick off first two then a third carrier before advancing on the protoss expansion at six. Reach tried to hold, microing his carriers from over the nearby cliffs but yet another was blasted from the sky as the expansion fell.
Dragoon reinforcements arrived from the protoss main to kill off Nada's attack force but as the MBC Game cameras switched to the centre of the map they found the screen almost filled with yet another garagntuan army of goliaths. Reach desperately tried to snap at the terran army from range, battling and fleeing with his carriers, but Nada advanced on five, taking down the nexus at the five natural and attacking a new protoss base at nine.
Nada now had the biggest army of goliaths I have ever seen and relentlessly hunted down Reach's airforce. The carriers were eventually trapped in a valley at the south of the map, Nada's goliaths waiting on either side. Reach managed to spirit his airforce out of the valley but as he lost yet another carrier, and never having made any impression on the terran economy during the whole course of the game, he conceded the encounter.
A triumph for Nada's peerless macro as he threw mighty armies of metal across Nostalgia to win his fifth consecutive game against a player in superb form against terran. Nada's economy was undisturbed for the whole course of this thirty minute encounter and he made maximum use of it. One might wonder, however, why Reach never used a single high templar the entire game, even when Nada was using giant clusters of goliaths to pursue the protoss carriers.
Nal_Ra (Kang Min) v GoRush (Park Tae Min) on Requiem
The forge-first expo and stargate build has proved to be consistently disastrous for the protoss pros over the last few weeks, with Ra himself, Terato and Rainbow all falling to the power of the swarm. However, that did not stop Ra (at nine) from essaying it again on Requiem. GoRush (zerg at three) opted for a pool first build, predictably narrowly failing to reach the protoss choke before two cannons were present to repel them.
GoRush started to tech to lair and den, while Ra warped in his second nexus and a stargate. GoRush tried to run through Ra's cannon defences but a single cleverly placed probe blocked the only channel and forced them to retreat after taking casualties. As Ra went for corsair harass, GoRush arrived at the protoss choke with an attack force of lurkers, attacking from just outside cannon range and taking down Ra's forge and gateway. With the entrance opened slightly, GoRush charged his forces through the gap and into the protoss main and threatened to end the game there and then but Ra was able to recover thanks a new reaver adn observer and save his main from destruction.
GoRush now had a spire and mutas winged their way across Requiem. As Ra attempted to chase them down with his corsairs, GoRush performed a superbly executed cloned split, sending them off in myriad different directions. Reinforced with scourge, the zerg player headed back towards the protoss base, hoping to lure the corsairs to disaster. A finesse-filled micro fest ensued, with Ra pursuing the mutas to thr critical point before retreating just in time to his cannons before the scourge could claim any victims.
Ra was now trying to expand to the 11 position but kept encountering harass from the zerg airforce. Meanwhile, GoRush was massing hydralisks and he launched them at the protoss choke, taking down Ra's stargate there. Elsewhere, the zerg scourge and mutas finally caught the protoss corsairs out in the open but could hardly make any impression against the ever-growing protoss fleet as it became apparent, in a chilling development for the swarm, that Ra was now taking control of the skies and he was able to establish the previously attempted expansions at 11.
GoRush, who appeared to have severely neglected to sieze control of the map while he had the protoss genie bottled up at nine, now launched a major overlord drop into the protoss main, again looking to deliver a killing blow before the growing protoss economy signalled his doom. For a moment it looked as if Ra was in serious difficulties but he swooped in with corsairs to superbly lay disruption webs over the milling zerg forces and buy time for his minimal ground forces to kille them off and safeguard the main once more. He now also had two expansions functioning at 11.
Having taken everything the zerg had thrown at him Ra now struck back with a series of mighty hammer blows, reaver dropping GoRush's expansion at low right, moving up to five stargates at his base before sending four reavers into the zerg main to finish the game.
Another superb game from Ra, who refused to buckle against the zerg attacks and punished GoRush for neglecting to expand.
Yellow (Hong Jin Ho) v GoodFriend (Lee Byeong Min) on Luna
The undefeated Yellow looked to continue his dominance against the only player to dent his record over recent weeks. The zerg master (at eight) opened with a standard early expansion build, while Friend (terran at two) focused on his economy with an early second command centre after his putting up two barracks. As Yellow teched to lair and spire, Friend went for an academy and a third barracks.
Yellow's first flight of mutas headed straight towards the terran base but, whether due to ill-fortune, lightning reactions by GoodFriend or a lapse in Yellow's usually flawless control, the flying lisks found themselves under fire from all sides and trapped between two groups of marines, taking heavy casualties as they escaped to open skies.
Even as Yellow's new expansion was completed at the 11 position GoodFriend was already on his way there with an attack force of marines and medics who obliterated the undefended hatchery in moments. Yellow, looking curiously out of sorts against a seemingly inspired GoodFriend, had teched to lurker and sent three to intercept the withdrawing marines as they left the 11 plateau. Friend made his first mistake of the game as he chose to attack the lurkers and saw his marines ripped to shreds.
The swarm was now expanding to the five position as Yellow looked to increase his economy and production capacity to deal with the burgeoning terran setup. Friend caught yet more mutas in a marine barrage, peppering them with fire before striking out towards the five expo, effortlessly eliminating another hatchery.
Realising the terran economy was soon to overwhelm him, Yellow was teching up to hive followed by greater spire. However, as he waited for his new tech to become available, GoodFriend was already setting up outside the zerg natural and blasting sunkens from long range with tanks. At the same time, Friend, who was really playing like a man possessed, dropped marines in behind the zerg main mineral line. As the terran army rolled over the zerg natural and caused chaos in the main, Yellow somehow fended off the attack. Nevertheless, he was left with just a handful of drones and almost nothing in the way of infrastructure. A last attempt to counterattack at the terran natural came to nothing, and Yellow succumbed to his first defeat of the tournament.
A stunning performance from GoodFriend, the second time he has defeated the on-fire Yellow in the last few weeks. The unpredictable terran was in control of this game from start to finish.
Other Games:
Xellos (Seo Ji Hoon) v Kingdom (Park Yong Ook) on Nostalgia
The WCG champion hardly had time to celebrate his triumph before being downed by Reach in Friday's OSL quarters but he was looking to get back to winning ways in the Premiere League after forfeiting his week five match. Xellos (terran at the one o'clock position) went for a one factory early expansion build while crafty Kingdom (protoss at 11) warped opted for one gate ranged dragoons and a proxy robotics facility concealed at the three position. As the Devil Toss warped in his support bay, Xellos was already constructing an engineering bay and by the time Kingdom's shuttle cautiously approached the terran main there were several turrets watching over the main and natural. Kingdom is renowned for his peerless reaver/shuttle control but it failed him here. He rashly dropped his reaver near two tanks stationed at the top of Xellos' ramp, his shuttle whirling to try and avoid turret fire yet stay within retrieval range of his reaver. As he picked up the reaver his shuttle was blasted out of the air by the turret guarding the terran natural. Kingdom was now taking his natural but must have realised he was way behind thanks to the disastrous drop attempt. Xellos poured on the pressure with vulture raids while moving up to five then six factories, then moved out of his main and across the top of the map. Xellos did not even need to siege his tanks as he rolled over the heavily outgunned protoss forces and moved on the alien main.
July Zerg (Park Seong Joon) v Terato (Park Jeong Kil) on Requiem
The protoss armies have been seriously struggling against the swarm this season and Terato faced an uphill battle against reigning OSL champion July Zerg. July (zerg at three) pooled first while Terato opted for a forge first build, warping in two cannons at the top of his ramp just as the first lings arrived. Terato started a second nexus at his natural and brought in a third cannon at his ramp but July built up his zergling force then ran it straight through into the protoss main, only to find that Terato had warped in a cannon near his main nexus too. As July morphed in his lair he continually harassed the probes on the right side of Terato's main mineral line, at the extreme range of the protective cannon. Terato went for his core, July a spire. However, Terato seemed to have been seriously distracted by the lings in his main and had summoned a zealot force to deal with them, at the the expense of cannons to protect his main. By the time he started three new cannons July's mutas were streaking across the Requiem landscape towards the enemy base. They swooped down on the protoss main. Terato made a desperate attempt to bring in more cannons, with support from corsairs emerging from his new stargate, but it was hopeless as July expertly handled the destruction of the undermanned main. July now had a den and, after building up his army, he launched himself at the heavily cannoned enemy natural, obliterating the defences and forcing Terato to quit.
Chojja (Jo Yong Ho) v Rage (Kim Hwan Joong) on Luna
Rage has participated in two of the best games of the tournament so far, losing both of course, but this was a damp squib with Chojja dominating from start to finish. Chojja (zerg at five) expoed early against the one gate tech build of Rage (protoss at seven). Rage managed to pick off a drone or two with his first zealot but after that it was one-way traffic. Chojja researched the little-used burrow ability and used it to good effect, spiriting lings into the protoss base to keep Rage penned in. Rage spent valuable resources on several cannons to try to force the burrowed lings out. While a bewildered Rage tried to secure his own main, Chojja was teching to lurker and he brought his first lurker/ling force to Rage's expo site. Once his first observer came out at last, Rage tried to break out of his main but inexplicably attacked with perhaps less than half his army, leaving a whole troop of speedlots idle in his base, forcing his attacking archon and dragoons to retreat. Once he finally got his army organised again he cleared the containment and started towards the zerg main. However, Chojja had a nasty surprise for the protoss as his overlords glided into the toss main from the north, dropping lurkers and zerglings. All Rage's cannons were destroyed, along with his nexus. He had started a nexus at his natural but the end was near, yet another loss for the hapless Rage.
Boxer (Lim Yo Hwan) v ArtofHan (Han Oong Nyeol) on Nostalgia
A poor game which saw Han (terran at five) take advantage of catastrophic macro mismanagement by Boxer (terran at one). Both players opened with two factory builds, Boxer opting for an early tank to support his vultures and Han constructing vulture only. Boxer had an early success has his tank emerged intact from the early fighting, However, he decided to go up to four factories and armoury very early, a gamble which went completely awry as Han settled for three factories pumping non-stop vultures. It quickly became apparent that Han was just producing too many vultures and overpowering Boxer, who never had the opportunity to utilise his superior infrastructure. Han pushed Boxer back quickly and broke through into the main. Boxer rallied his SCVs to defend but to no avail.
Cloud (Cha Jae Ook) v Mumyung (Seong Hak Seung) on Arizona
Cloud (terran at 11) went for two barracks, with his second a proxy rax in the centre of the map, quickly discovered by Mumyung (zerg at eight) who destroyed the building SCV with a drone, forcing another builder to roll out from the terran main. Muyung early expoed then went for lair and den. Perhaps influenced by TheMarine's rearguard action against Mumyung a few weeks back, Cloud went for two starports, while Mumyung morphed a spire at his natural.Cloud tried some wraith harass at the zerg main but saw both his ship destroyed by scourge. Mumyung expanded to six and then three, completely undisturbed and his growing force of mutas forced Cloud to revert back to marine and medic. Mumyung effectively utilised his muta mobility for harassment, never letting his opponent rest, while expoing again to five. By the time Cloud was able to take his natural, Mumyung controlled the bottom of the map and most of the right side and was using his surging economy to mass lurkers and mutalisks for a huge but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to kill of the terran expo. The setback was only momentary as he rebuilt, teched to hive, greater spire and an unheard of three, count them, three ultralisk caverns. With his economy spinning out of control, Mumyung had little difficulty building an awesome swarm to obliterate the terran natural and end the game.
TheMarine (Kim Jeong Min) v IntotheRainbow (Kim Seong Jae) on Arizona
With Rage still winless, Rainbow's poor record in what is probably the weaker of the two groups has slipped by under the radar a little, alongside the strange fact that his only win of the entire tournament came against Iloveoov... In this latest clash on Arizona, Rainbow (protoss at 11) opened with standard two gate range dragoons against TheMarine's one factory expo build (at the eight position). Rainbow quickly took his natural as both players built up their infrastructures. Rainbow sent his first shuttle down to the terran main but it was seen on the way by TheMarine's floating engineering bay. He cruised over the top of the terran base but, finding no opportunity to drop, refocussed on his main and moved up to seven gateways. TheMarine's factory count was up to four and he moved out to left centre. Rainbow had a surprise up his sleeve as he came at TheMarine with dark, with the terran still having no comsat station. As the terran army erected a turret Rainbow attacked, destroying a host of tanks without breaking through. A second charge melted before withering tank fire as the terran army advanced inexorably on the alien natural. A desperation dark drop at the relatively unguarded terran main failed to avert another defeat for the SKT1 protoss.
Iloveoov (Choi Yeon Seong) v Sync (Byeon Kil Seop) on Nostalgia
Sync's excellent form against Iloveoov continued in the KT-KTF Premiere League despite Oov apparently holding the advantage in this game for long periods. Both Sync (at one) and Oov (at seven) opened with two factory vulture builds but despite the presence of wraiths from Sync's early starport, Oov forced his opponent all the way back to his main and set up a containment. As Oov held onto the ground contain, Sync took to the air, circumventing the containment time and again with dropships in order to pressure his opponent, while expanding to the three position due to the enemy forces sitting at his natural. Sync pressured Oov's natural and was eventually able to bring the lengthy containment to an end and take the fight to the centre of the map, breaking up Oov's force of tanks. Sync again attacked Oov's natural with a vulture raid, netting a host of SCVs. By the time Sync had finally taken his natural and re-expoed to 12 it was apparent that he was taking over the game. He siezed control of the centre, prompting a wilting Oov to try a desperation assault with tanks, goliaths and SCVs, an attempt which failed and persuaded Oov to concede. An cool-headed performance from the impressive Sync as he refused to panic despite Oov's early successes.
And then there were none... with Yellow losing his unbeaten record he and Nada top their respective groups with records of five wins and one loss. Reach and Xellos and Sync also have winning records, while a host of players are clustering in the centre of the tables. Next week features interleague play. Expect schedules, liquibet and a tournament halfway point review over the next few days.
Finally, the TeamLiquid.net Player of the Week Award for week six goes to the heavy metal master [Red]Nada, who just pipped GoodFriend thanks to his macro masterclass against the on-fire terran-killer Reach. Nada has now won five games in succession following his opening week defeat to Nal_Ra as he tries to repeat as champion.
Standings after week six:
Group A:
Yellow 5 - 1
Sync 4 - 2
Cloud 3 - 3
Goodfriend 3 - 3
GoRush 3 - 3
Iloveoov 3 - 3
Mumyung 3 - 3
Nal_Ra 3 - 3
TheMarine 3 - 3
IntotheRainbow 1 - 5
Group B:
[Red]Nada 5 - 1
[Oops]Reach 4 - 2
Xellos 4 - 2
Chojja 3 - 3
Kingdom 3 - 3
July Zerg 3 - 3
Terato 3 - 3
ArtofHan 2 - 4
Boxer 2 - 4
Rage 0 - 6
reach
