EPT
A balance among races emerged last night in the OGN tie breakers. In three hours, nine hopefuls were whittled down to four and the playoff picture for the Bacchus OSL was solidified. Read further to find out who made the cut and who went home.
The new Power Rank is up! Check out who was tops in January according to our resident expert FakeSteve.
+ Show Spoiler [YouTube games] +
[OSL] Tiebreakers 06/02/08
2008-02-06 (Wednesday), 14:00
Group 1
Jaedong <Demon's Forest> 
Sea
+ Show Spoiler +
Group 2
BeSt <Katrina> Jaedong
+ Show Spoiler +
Group 3
Sea <Troy> BeSt
+ Show Spoiler +
Group 1
Rock <Demon's Forest> Rumble
+ Show Spoiler +
Group 2
Flash <Troy> Rock
+ Show Spoiler +
Group 3
Rumble <Katrina> Flash
+ Show Spoiler +
Group 1
Bisu <Katrina> XellOs
+ Show Spoiler +
Group 2
July <Blue Storm> Bisu
+ Show Spoiler +
Group 3
XellOs <Troy> July
+ Show Spoiler +
nope
2008-02-06 (Wednesday), 14:00
Group A
Group 1
Jaedong <Demon's Forest> Sea+ Show Spoiler +
Group 2
BeSt <Katrina> Jaedong+ Show Spoiler +
Group 3
Sea <Troy> BeSt+ Show Spoiler +
Group B
Group 1
Rock <Demon's Forest> Rumble+ Show Spoiler +
Group 2
Flash <Troy> Rock+ Show Spoiler +
Group 3
Rumble <Katrina> Flash+ Show Spoiler +
Group C
Group 1
Bisu <Katrina> XellOs+ Show Spoiler +
Group 2
July <Blue Storm> Bisu+ Show Spoiler +
Group 3
XellOs <Troy> July+ Show Spoiler +
nope
For Stork, Much, and Luxury, Wednesday was a day to relax, practice a little StarCraft, and find out who would be joining them in the round of 8. For many others, Wednesday was a day of tension and nerves.
Last week in Group A, Jaedong had failed to advance when he lost to Best on Demon's Forest. He would not make that same mistake again. A first game trouncing of Sea was merely a warm up for the main event. Playing on Katrina, which has shown itself to be a haven for protoss players, Jaedong dominated Best with a relentless build. He showed perfect transitions during the game:
- Opening with hydralisks and overlord speed both prevented sair/dt harass, and allowed him to kill Best's aggressive second expansion attempt.
- A tech change to mutalisks put Best on the defensive, forced him to spend on defense, and allowed Jaedong to wreck heavy damage on the protoss natural expansion.
- An upgrade to lurkers and drop was the coup de grace as Jaedongs mutalisks lured Best's army into the middle of the map and a doom drop decimated the protoss natural yet again.
The simple fact that Katrina takes so long to move about on won Jaedong the game, as Best was never in a position to attack, and rarely in a position to defend. Fortunately for the SK hope, he was able to top Sea in the third game with a cheeky dt drop that destroyed the choke assimilator in the terran base. With Sea busy ferrying troops in dropships all game, it was an easy matter to crush him with arbiters.
Jaedong and BeSt[HyO] advance.Group B saw three players vying for a single spot. Ironically, the last game played on Demon's Forest produced the best one as Rock smashed Rumble in the face in an entertaining PvZ. For the first time, the mass of trees showed their intended design as zealots were unstoppable vs single-file lings. Rock's victory was short-lived however, as Flash sniffed out his double center gates on Troy and defended the cheese attack easily. The final game of the group proved that Flash is a serious contender and Rumble ought to just go home as the terran crushed the SK zerg under his boot.
Flash advances (Stork advanced 3-0)Group C was the final group, and for the nostalgic, also the best. With 5 major championships between them, July, Bisu, and Xellos were all looking at a chance to regain respect. Opening on Katrina was a blessing for Bisu, as he foiled Xellos' hidden bionic build that reeked of desperation.
In the second game against July, Bisu fell behind early. After scouting a nine-pool, Bisu worried about a zerg allin attack which has been a favorite maneuver of July on Blue Storm. Instead, July expanded twice, and Bisu was left with four cannons, gas, and no second nexus. However, of the three players in his group, Bisu has the most recent championship experience and he showed it off. Using a mix of corsairs and dark templars, he relentlessly harassed July's expansions. While July was able to destroy Bisu's third nexus with an impressive hydralisk army, he was unable to crack the defenses at the protoss front yard. Back at home, his economy was faltering and he was unable to replace the troops he lost in his attack. Due to a stubbourn refusal to invest in static defense, July's momentum slowly bled away in the face of Bisu's army. The end was swift and brutal, as Bisu flexed his PvZ muscles for the first time in a while.
Bisu advances (Luxury advanced 3-0)With the Round Robin stage complete, the OSL switches to Friday games only, as the OSC takes the Wednesday slot. The first game day will be February 15th as each series plays it's first game and Fantasy II makes it's reappearance:
Group A, Game 1:
Jaedong < Troy > FlashGroup B, Game 1:
Much < Katrina > BisuGroup C, Game 1:
Luxury < Fantasy II > FrOzeanGroup D, Game 1:
Stork < Blue Storm > BeSt[HyO]Cheers,
Mani
)
