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OSL Ro16 Week 3
19 October 2007
Results
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Shudder > GGPlay @ Katrina
Light > July @ Blue Storm
DarkElf < Stork @ Fantasy II
Flash < Frozean @ Persona
Light > July @ Blue Storm
DarkElf < Stork @ Fantasy II
Flash < Frozean @ Persona
If you were hoping for an insightful, thought-provoking analysis of this week’s OSL games, I suggest you read something else; I’m so hungover that just being conscious feels like an achievement. Writing something of substance is pretty much out of the question.
I was alone when I watched GGPlay vs. Shudder, but that didn’t stop me from incredulously shouting “ARE YOU SERIOUS?” at least three times during the game. GGPlay looked terrible. Even with mutalisks in the air, he could never get a handle on Shudder’s vultures. His transition from mutalisks to ultralisks was unorthodox and ineffective, and he steadfastly refused to make even a single defiler.
Speaking of people who refused to make defilers, July looked mediocre against Light. July seemed to go into the game with a single strategy, not an adaptive game plan. When Light countered that strategy by calmly and safely denying July a third vespene geyser, July crumbled like a… like a…. I can’t think of an appropriate metaphor. Feel free to provide one of your own in the comments thread.
I feel bad for DarkElf. The only way his group could possibly be worse for him is if Iris was in it instead of Nada. Stork manhandled DarkElf, and like last week, DarkElf wasn’t playing poorly! Even after he lost just shy of infinity SCVs to Stork’s reaver, DarkElf was able to push out with a very respectable force. The fact that he never built an academy was a necessity, not a mistake; his only chance was to “cheat” on detection in the hopes that he could catch Stork with his pants down.
Flash vs. Frozean was a short, entertaining game. Frozean’s counter to Flash’s bunker containment was clearly something he had practiced; he executed well and managed to overpower Flash’s fast expansion with some clever factory usage and a large number of vultures.
The game of the week, without question, was DarkElf vs. Stork. As much as I tire of recommending lopsided games, Stork’s reaver control and level of aggression were simply unreal. Flash vs. Frozean is also worth watching, if only to see a TvT that doesn’t involve more than two tanks.
Credit for these videos goes, as always, to someone other than me.
+ Show Spoiler +
Shudder vs. GGPlay @ Katrina
Light vs. July @ Blue Storm
DarkElf vs. Stork @ Fantasy II
Flash vs. Frozean @ Persona
Light vs. July @ Blue Storm
DarkElf vs. Stork @ Fantasy II
Flash vs. Frozean @ Persona
This coming week holds some truly exciting OSL games. Will Up prepare an early-game strategy designed to counter the double nexus PvT trend on Katrina, or will he try to fight a macro war against Bisu? Will Hwasin rebound from his recent loss to Bisu with a win over the TvT master, Iris? Can Nada snap Jaedong’s 12-game ZvT winning streak? Does Rock have any hope of taking down Savior on Persona?
Predictions
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I don’t think Up wants to play a standard game against Bisu on Katrina, but he might not have a choice; with the long distance between bases and elevated main platforms, the viability of an early push is suspect. I’d like to say that Up will wall, deny Bisu’s scouting probe, and make marines and medics out of three barracks, but it’s more likely that he’ll just double command center himself.
Iris vs. Hwasin on Blue Storm should be excellent. Iris is renowned for his TvT, and Hwasin, in the past few months, has elevated his game to levels I never thought he was capable of reaching.
Jaedong is going to maul Nada. Fantasy II is known as a difficult map for Terrans, and Jaedong’s current ZvT form is nothing short of spectacular. As Nada has proven time and time again, however, it’s always unwise to count him out.
Although I probably won’t watch the games live, I will sleep deeply with a smile on my face, secure in the knowledge that Savior is going to dominate Rock on Persona. In terms of game expectations—check out this in-depth analysis—I have to believe Savior will make a large number of units and control them well, whereas Rock will make a smaller number of units and control them poorly.
Iris vs. Hwasin on Blue Storm should be excellent. Iris is renowned for his TvT, and Hwasin, in the past few months, has elevated his game to levels I never thought he was capable of reaching.
Jaedong is going to maul Nada. Fantasy II is known as a difficult map for Terrans, and Jaedong’s current ZvT form is nothing short of spectacular. As Nada has proven time and time again, however, it’s always unwise to count him out.
Although I probably won’t watch the games live, I will sleep deeply with a smile on my face, secure in the knowledge that Savior is going to dominate Rock on Persona. In terms of game expectations—check out this in-depth analysis—I have to believe Savior will make a large number of units and control them well, whereas Rock will make a smaller number of units and control them poorly.
