EPT
TeamLiquid.net KT Megapass Game of the Week:
GoodFriend (Lee Byeong Min) v Nal_Ra (Kang Min) on Luna
Two of the most unpredictable pros around (although for very different reasons) clashed on Luna, with Ra (protoss at one) going for double gate ranged dragoons against GoodFriend�s double factory opening. Friend (terran at 11) launched an early attack with four tanks and a host of marines but saw his force obliterated by effective dragoon targeting, Ra picking off the tanks whenever possible and the marines at all other times.Both players sat back and took their naturals before Ra took a look at Friend's expansion with a shuttle but decided it was too well defended. Both players re-expanded, Ra at six and Friend at 12. His economy blossoming, Ra warped in two stargates and a fleet beacon, as his opponent went up to six factories and beyond and prepared to push towards the protoss base.
Friend moved his mass metal army out to high centre and Ra dashed his forces up the map to engage. His zealots and dragoons crashed into the terran defensive position, massed zeals circling rapidly to attack the sieged tanks from all directions (see right) as his dragoons took the tank blasts and returned fire.Having knocked the terran army out Ra made a move towards the 12 position but Friend held onto his expo by blocking the access bridge with SCVs while reinforcing combat units fired from behind.
Ra now had an expansion at seven, was warping a new nexus at eight and it was plain that the protoss command of the map was reaching unmanageable proportions for the terran army.
Four carriers started to glide across the Luna landscape and Ra tried to launch a game winning attack. Friend, macroing off three bases had been pumping goliaths out of his factories, was waiting and managed to force the protoss armies back. However, Ra exercised the mobility of his airforce to head up the map and take out the 12 o�clock command centre, putting the squeeze on the terran economy. Friend tried to reply with an assault on the seven expo but Ra used his triple threat of zealot, dragoon and carrier fleet to destroy the attackers (left). Ra had been upgrading at three forges and his forces were proving to be much too strong for the dwindling terran armies.A lack of concentration allowed by the usually vigilant Ra allowed Friend�s goliaths to catch the protoss carriers in the open and destroy three of them but it only prolonged the game a little. Friend was struggling for resources, with his SCVs trundling back and forth to the command centre-less 12 position to collect minerals.
Friend tried to put up a new command centre at the top of the map but it was quickly dealt with Ra and the game came to an end.
Other games:
Sync (Byeon Kil Seop) v Cloud (Cha Jae Ook) on Requiem
Sync (terran at nine) opened opted for mass vultures as Cloud (terran at three) went for tanks and an early starport. With his large flock of vultures Sync tried a quick breakthrough into Cloud�s main but Cloud survived by rallying his SCVs to help his fast dwindling defensive line of tanks. Both players took their natural expansions, with both players moving up to multiple starports. Cloud advanced across the map and was able to knock out Sync�s forward defenders, seizing control of Sync�s ramp and cutting off reinforcements to defend the natural. In a desperate attempt to take down the attack force Sync sent his SCVs at the tanks but saw them obliterated before they got to attack, signalling the end of the game for Sync.
Iloveoov (Choi Yeon Seong) v TheMarine (Kim Jeong Min) on Requiem
It seems that bunker rushes are rather catching, no matter what the opposition race, with Oov (terran at 12) opting for a double centre barracks build followed by an attempted bunker in TheMarine�s main. TheMarine (terran at six) rallied his SCVs to put a stop to the bunker and forced Oov�s marines to retreat. Having failed with his rush, Oov never really got back into the game. TheMarine teched, expanded and finished the game with a fleet of wraiths.
GoRush (Park Tae Min) v Yellow (Hong Jin Ho) on Luna
And the unorthodox rushes seem to be never ending! Yellow (zerg at two) five-pooled against GoRush, who needed to win to take over the lead in the KT-Megapass league. GoRush (zerg at five) defended calmly against the super-early lings, with a sunken colony, killed off an ineffective sunken rush attempt by Yellow and teched to lair, convincing Yellow that his cause was hopeless. At the end of the game Yellow was still mining with only four drones.
IntotheRainbow (Kim Seong Jae) v Mumyung (Seong Hak Seung) on Requiem
Mumyung (zerg at 12) went pool, extractor, expo and lair to lurker, while Rainbow (protoss at six) tried double gate zeal pressure. Unable to set back the zerg economy, Rainbow was caught trying to expo by his opponent�s first lurkers and had to cancel and re-expand at the seven corner. With protoss pressure now non-existent, Mumyung started expanding and launched major attack at the main with lurkers and mutalisks. Rainbow was under a sustained siege but managed to whittle down the attacking force slowly with psionic storm and dark templar. Securing his main temporarily he tried to break out and go on the offensive but found his forces obliterated by the zerg swarm, whose economy was completely out of control. With his control at 107, compared to Rainbow�s meagre psi of 40, Mumyung was completely in command yet, as with his earlier game against TheMarine, laboured to finish off an utterly beaten opponent.
KT-Megapass League:
GoRush7 � 3
Yellow7 � 3
Cloud6 � 4
TheMarine6 - 4
Sync5 � 5
Goodfriend4 - 6
Iloveoov4 � 6
Mumyung4 - 6
Nal_Ra 4 - 6
IntotheRainbow3 - 7
TeamLiquid.net KTF-fimm Game of the Week:
Artof Han (Han Oong Nyeol) v July Zerg (Park Seong Joon) on Luna
With the Brood War community still buzzing over Boxer�s triple bunker rush humiliation of Yellow on Friday, it looked as if this encounter was going a similar way as Han (terran at two) took down July�s early expansion. However, July (zerg at 11) remained calm, kept most of his drones alive and produced enough lings to keep the game going before starting to tech.
Han seemed to have been under the impression that his successful bunker rush was going to give him a decisive advantage and he had invested a lot of his SCVs in the rush yet was unable to deliver the killing blow. With his economy stalled he sat back and started to build. July massed enough lings to destroy the irritating yet abandoned bunker outside his main, teched to lurker and came back into the game.
Han still had no gas, so tanks were still a long way off as July�s first lurkers broke into the undermanned terran main, with Han�s infantry having moved out to high centre. The two deadly burrowers broke up the terran mining operation. Han�s infrantry scurried back to defend, managed to clear out his main with scan and started on a factory, followed by starport, bay and science facility.
However, July had now taken the initiative in the game, had retaken his natural and was in the situation he so likes to be: on the attack. With a spire now available, he sacrificed some mutalisks to kill off the first science vessel, while morphing a queen�s nest and starting on a hive.
Moments later, with Han at sixes and sevens, July�s forces swarmed up the terran ramp with mass lurker/ling and decimated the defenders to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
An ice-cool comeback by July Zerg, who was unphased by the early bunker rush, and stormed back to secure yet another victory. Han went for double rax into bunker rush in contrast to Boxer�s lightning strikes in the OSL semifinals and did not appear to keep up SCV production, leaving his economy struggling after July failed to capitulate.
Other games:
[Red]Nada (Lee Yoon Yeol) v Chojja (Jo Yong Ho) on Luna
Nada (terran at two) opened with standard two barracks to academy against Chojja�s (zerg at five) early expo. Chojja teched like lightning to lair and den and held off early infantry with three sunkens. Nada showed superb marine control to pick off some lurkers with minimal losses but knocked sideways by a Chojja drop. Four overlords loaded with lurkers and lings forced the SCVs at Nada�s main to flee to his new natural but Chojja had the MBC announcers in paroxysms of excitement by swooping in a single queen and infesting Nada�s main command centre. At the same time he sneaked two lurkers into the natural and cleared that out of miners. Nada managed to kill all the invaders but already looked dead and buried. Chojja threw in a parasite on Nada�s science vessel, teched to defiler and overwhelmed the undermanned terran armies to close out the win.
Kingdom (Park Yong Ook) v Terato (Park Jeong Kil) on Arizona
Both players went gate and core with early zealot harass but Kingdom managed to pick off four probes, setting back his opponent�s economy and putting Terato on a slippery slope to defeat. That slope proved to be very steep indeed as within minutes Kingdom�s small preliminary attack force picked off defending zealots and forced Terato�s dragoons to retreat into his main. Kingdom did not let, hunting down the dragoons and leaving Terato�s main at his mercy.
Rage (Kim Hwan Joong) v [Oops]Reach (Park Jeong Seok) on Arizona
Rage (protoss at seven) went for a manner pylon and gas rush against Reach (protoss at 11), netting some early gains. Reach tried to break into Rage�s base with his early zealot forced but was outmicroed by his opponent and forced to retreat. Rage came off worst in the second engagement as Reach picked off his opponent�s zealots efficiently. However, still suffering from his early setbacks, Reach opted to attack shorthanded and came of worse. Rage pursued the retreating enemy forces into Reach�s main, picking off the first reaver and forcing Reach to rally his probes to survive. Now, however, Rage appeared to have gained a decisive advantage, establishing his natural while Reach was still working off his main. Reach picked off a number of probes in the enemy main with a reaver drop but Rage�s economy was still far superior. Reach tried to redress the balance with a last ditch attack at Rage�s natural, failing and seeing his army pursued to his main and destroyed, ending the game.
KTF-Fimm League standings:
The two zerg players have now pulled clear at the top thanks to their strong victories.
Chojja7 - 3
July Zerg7 - 3
[Oops]Reach6 - 4
[Red]Nada6 - 4
ArtofHan5 � 5
Xellos5 - 5
Boxer4 - 6
Kingdom4 - 6
Terato3 - 7
Rage2 - 8
And the TeamLiquid.net Player of the Week award goes to the seemingly unstoppable Chojja. Chojja battered Nada from every direction and even infested Nada�s main command centre as he made full use of the zerg armoury to claim yet another win.
