EPTIn the red corner we had YellOw, the Storm Zerg. The last time YellOw participated in a final was during the 2003 Olympus OSL where he lost 2-3 to XellOs in one of the best final ever. In the blue corner, we had an impressive Terran Player named Casy. He became "famous" when he lost to JulyZerg's 4 pool during the Gilette OSL. In ShinHan 2005, we really saw what he was capable of. The intensity was at its highest with everyone hoping that the StormZerg would finally get another shot at a major title.
"Shut up Octo, get to the damn games!"
Alright, here are the reports for this amazing Bo5!
Casy[Alive](T) vs [NC]..YellOw(Z) (Bo5)
Game 1 : Casy[Alive](T) vs [NC]..YellOw(Z) @ Cultivation Period
Here we go !
YellOw spawned at 9 while Casy landed his Command Center at the 6 o'clock position. Casy opted for a 8 Barracks build while his Zerg opponent went for a safe 12 pool. Casy really didn't want YellOw to pull a 12 Hatchery on this map so he scouted with two SCVs. Casy then saw YellOw's plan. He wanted to get an expansion up as soon as possible without worrying about Bunker rushes. Seeing that, Casy decided to stay passive and tech. Meanwhile, YellOw's natural was already done and he had about 8 speed-Lings to defend and intercept scouting SCVs. With a brillant timing, YellOw was able to see Casy's plan with a Zergling he successfuly snuck into Casy's main while his marines were out of position. He saw a factory and a second Barracks building in the Terran base.
Having the "I know whatcha' doing" advantage YellOw decided to go for a Lurker-Ling build. He knew Casy would attempt a fast push so he hid two Hydralisks at the top of the map to morph lurkers behind Casy's containment. Unfortunately for him, Casy scouted them both with an SCV giving him enough time to get back to his choke and even killing one of them! Seeing that Casy had abandonned his push, YellOw quickly put two Lurkers into hold-position and waited for Casy to pass by. He was able to make about 5 widows with his spikes. The game seemed to be pretty tight because none of the players really wanted to make the first move. Casy had teched to Science Vessel and took his natural while YellOw went for 4 Hatcheries out of only 2 bases. YellOw kept on morphing Zerglings and Lurkers as Casy started to get Science Vessels and more Tanks.
YellOw isn't called the Stormzerg for nothing. He decided that the action was going to start and sent 7 Lurkers and 12 Zerglings towards Casy's base to catch him off-guard. With absolutely delightful micro, Casy was able to kill every single Lurkers with Marine and Medics but not without body bags! The war had just begun. YellOw then proceeded to take out the 7'oclock neutral buildings to access Casy's western entrance blocked by two other Neutral buildings. As he had a Supply depot there, Casy was able to spot the Zerg threat and instantly sent a Tank to defend against YellOw's Zergling and Lurkers. Not a really convincing move from YellOw.
Oh wait, YellOw is tricking Casy! As he was keeping Casy busy on the left side, YellOw killed the right side's neutral buildings and got into Casy's base with many Zerglings and Lurkers! They managed to kill most of Casy's Supply Depots and his Academy. YellOw also got quite a few SCV kills with this attack. From there, YellOw simply attacked everywhere like the true StormZerg. With various attacks on Casy's natural and main, YellOw was able to tech to Spire and Hive. He killed all of Casy's Science Vessels in a pretty wicked move. Once the Swarms got to Casy's base, even his godly micro couldn't do much at all. Casy GG'd.
Casy[Alive](T) 0-1 [NC]..YellOw(Z)
When YellOw managed to sneak a Zergling into Casy's base, he exactly knew what he had to do and did it perfectly. He used the map really nicely and there wasn't much Casy could do.
Game 2 : Casy[Alive](T) vs [NC]..YellOw(Z) @ 815 lll
Casy definately didn't want to go into game three with a 0-2 deficit so he had to win this game. Fortunately for him, 815 lll is his best map.
The game started with Casy landing at 5 and YellOw spawning at 11. YellOw went for a fast expansion at 12 while Casy went for a Supply Depot before his first Barracks. When Casy saw that YellOw was at the other side of the map, he decided to go for a quick Academy build in order to safely take his natural. YellOw managed to sneak yet another Zergling into Casy's main, only to see only one Barracks. As he saw that Casy was going to be passive for some time, he secretly took the 1 o'clock expansion and teched to Lair and eventually to Spire. With great scouting, Casy found YellOw's expansion and sent a small M&M&F army towards that morphing building in order to halt its construction. He managed to arrive to destination just before the sunkens could morph. YellOw tried to defend his Hive Cluster with Zerglings but it was hopeless. Casy took it out.
YellOw was now in a bad position since he teched to Spire with a seond gas in mind but since Casy killed it, he couldn't get as much mutas as he wanted. With his low number of mutalisks being useless against Casy's Marines and Medics, he decided to switch to Hydras & Lurkers. Casy knew that YellOw couldn't support Mutalisks with only one gas and got himself some Tanks. Meanwhile, YellOw took the 7 o'clock expansion and attempted another expansion at 1. Casy proceeded to kill 1 o'clock as it morphed, delaying YellOw once again. The Zerg player then tried a drop on Casy's main but it was completely annihilated by Marines and Medics.
After the failed drop, Casy moved out with his army of Tanks, Marines and Medics and simply ran over YellOw. He killed his main without any opposition. He killed 7 o'clock shortly after without much problem, forcing YellOw to leave the game.
Casy[Alive](T) 1-1 [NC]..YellOw(Z)
I feel that Zerg players found an answer to 815 lll, but only in horizontal and vertical positions. I don't think a Zerg player ever won a game at those positions. It's probably because the distance between the Terran's base and the Zerg's 2nd gas is so short that they can't expand safely at all.
Game 3 : Casy[Alive](T) vs [NC]..YellOw(Z) @ Rush Hour 3
With his poor performance in the last game, YellOw surely didn't want to be outplayed again. He spawned at 11 while Casy landed at the 3 o'clock position. Casy started off with a 8 Barracks build while YellOw went for 12 Hatchery at his natural. As soon as Casy scouted his opponent, he decided to attempt a Bunker rush. YellOw instantly took 5 Drones out of his mineral line to stop the threat. Casy didn't really put any effort on his Bunker rush and simply canceled. Casy then proceeded to make a fast Academy build with only 1 Barracks. YellOw countered with about 8 Zerglings against only 5 Marines. YellOw then strangely decided to fall back. He really could've killed Casy.
After Casy defended the various Zergling threat, he took his natural while adding 2 more Barracks. Meanwhile, YellOw went for a 3 Hatcheries Lurker/Zergling build. Being the aggressive Zerg he is, YellOw tried to take out Casy's expansion with Lurkers and Zerglings but Casy resisted with his awesome control. Casy already had a Factory building Tanks and a Starport building a lonely Wraith. That Wraith, my friend, was the Wraith of Victory! Casy decided to scout around with it and saw YellOw's plan perfectly. The Stormzerg wanted to drop with many Overlords. The problem is that Casy saw it all and was able to get Marines at his main which prevented any drop attempt.
From there, Casy unsieged his Tanks and attacked YellOw with all his army. YellOw had expanded to 9 o'clock's gas expansion and didn't even have a Defiler Mound. Casy simply walked over him without any opposition. YellOw was forced into leaving.
Casy[Alive](T) 2-1 [NC]..YellOw(Z)
YellOw could've killed Casy really fast with his initial Zerglings but didn't know he could. As a result, Casy was able to safely expand while defending until YellOw couldn't fight.
Game 4 : Casy[Alive](T) vs [NC]..YellOw(Z) @ Peaks of Baekdu
This map tends to be horrible if Zergs don't get a fast advantage over their Terran opponents. Let's see if YellOw could get that early advantage and force this serie into a fifth and deciding game!
Casy landed at 7 whilre YellOw spawned at the 1 o'clock position. Casy opted for a standard 2 Barracks build while YellOw went for a fast gas and pool build. YellOw then morphed a lair as soon as his pool finished. Casy knew that YellOw would go 1 Hatchery Lurker and he prepared well. With about 7 Marines, 3 Firebats and a Medic, he attacked YellOw very early. YellOw had blocked the tiny choke below his cliff with two lurker eggs. Seeing this, Casy went straight into YellOw's main by the big ramp on the left side. YellOw's main was totally undefended. The Stromzerg desperately tried to defend his main with his Lurkers and Lings. Casy really made an enourmous mistake. He stimed way too much, and only had 1 Medic to heal his infantry. YellOw then somehow managed to defend this attack while losing about 5 Drones.
Meanwhile, YellOw had expanded to 11 o'clock's gas expansion. Casy took some time to expand as he didn't have many units to defend. He tried to defend with Mine as he waited for his Science Vessels to get out. YellOw had already teched to Spire and had a lot of mutalisks but they didn't do much damage as Casy defended his mineral line with Marines, Medics and Vessels. Seeing that Mutalisks wouldn't work, YellOw switched back to Lurkers. He knew that Casy would go for the SK Terran style he played really well against it. Casy tried a second offensive move with his army but he simply got badly overran by the Swarm! Casy now had an undefended expansion at 5. YellOw took no time to kill it really easily. He then proceeded to go on the Neo-Emperor's cliff and picked off SCVs and Marines. Casy tried to counter with his infranty but with only 2 Medics, YellOw's overwhelming amount of Hydralisks easily took care of them.
As the brutal rampage was raging on at YellOw's natural, YellOw countered with an hidden Hydra/Lurker force on Casy's undefended natural. Casy's units were out of position and weren't able to fall back. He GG'd.
Casy[Alive](T) 2-2 [NC]..YellOw(Z)
As I said, Zergs have to get an early advantage in order to win on this map. When YellOw defended the fast attack, he was ahead and never lost the momentum.
Game 5 : Casy[Alive](T) vs [NC]..YellOw(Z) @ Cultivation Period
What a great Semifinal! The Neo-Emperor versus the Oldschool StormZerg in a fifth and deciding game!
Let's get to it! Casy landed at the 12 o'clock position while YellOw spawned at 9. Very close positions again but YellOw showed how it's done in the first game. YellOw went for the exact same build (12 pool + gas) while Casy went for a more standard Supply Depot and 2 Barracks build. YellOw tried to do some harassment with his initial Zerglings but Casy was nicely blocking his ramp. YellOw had started his expansion and threw in 3 creep colonies. At the same time, Casy's Academy was just finished. Casy tried to kill YellOw's Sunken defence with only 10 Marine, 2 Firebats and 2 Medic. YellOw tried to defend with his Zerglings but they easily got BBQ'd by the Firebats. YellOw then added a fourth Sunken to his defence. Casy's rush was surprisingly great. He managed to kill 3 sunkens out of 4 with not many units.
As soon as the threat was taken care of, YellOw countered with about 10 Zerglings but lost them all to 4 perfectly microed units consisting of a Firebat, a Medic and 2 Marines. When YellOw lost those units, Casy quickly teched to Factory and started to produce Siege Tanks while constantly massing Marines and Medics. Once he got enough Tanks, Casy went for a powerful push on the Zerg natural. YellOw built 2 hatcheries behind his natural and tried to break Casy's containement but Tanks were simply too strong for the poor Lurkers. As soon as he got a Science Vessel, Casy pushed further and totally annihilated the Zerg base. YellOw had nothing left and he GG'd.
Casy[Alive](T) 3-2 [NC]..YellOw(Z)
Casy did what he couldn't do during Game 1. He successfuly contained YellOw to his natural which prevented the Zerg player to do any kind of counter attacks.
Long story short:
Casy[Alive](T) 3-2 [NC]..YellOw(Z)
Casy[Alive](T) < [NC]..YellOw(Z) @ Cultivation Period
Casy[Alive](T) > [NC]..YellOw(Z) @ 815 lll
Casy[Alive](T) > [NC]..YellOw(Z) @ Rush Hour 3
Casy[Alive](T) < [NC]..YellOw(Z) @ Peaks Of Baekdu
Casy[Alive](T) > [NC]..YellOw(Z) @ Cultivation Period
I hope you all enjoyed
OctoPuSs
