EPT
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Batoo OSL Week 2
This week in OSL produced a set of mostly lackluster games. The only game I would truly recommend is Flash-HwaSIn, it being a demonstration of artful Terran versus Terran play. I have chosen to present the games in chronological order as follows:
YellOw[ArnC] < Return of the King > 
Stork+ Show Spoiler [Embedded VOD] +
“These days you can't 1-gate or you won't beat a zerg.”
-Taekyong “Revolutionist” Kim
So says the leader of the anti-Zerg crusade, believing that double nexus builds are the only way to go. Stork, in his group stage game against SparkyZ_MS, begs to differ.
Stork dispatched a scout drone with his probe, setting the game’s tone from the get-go: an S-class Protoss with vastly superior micro pushing around an inconsistent poseur. Executing the one gateway into stargate zealot/ dragoon/corsair rush so commonly practiced by progamers against foreigners, Stork very nearly killed Yarnc in five minutes. After a failed hydralisk rush moments later, Yarnc conceded. A straightforward control victory by Stork, as everyone’s easy-to-hate Myungsoo looked utterly helpless before basic Protoss gateway units.
+ Show Spoiler [Result] +
Tester < Sin Chupung-Ryeong > by.hero
+ Show Spoiler [Embedded VOD] +
YellOw[ArnC] < Stork[gm]
Tester < Sin Chupung-Ryeong > by.hero+ Show Spoiler [Embedded VOD] +
After his triumph over Bisu, many expected great things of the God of War’s protégé. However, he dropped out of the MSL and lost every WL game immediately afterwards. Following a crushing defeat at the hands of Leta, reducing him to a below-50% winrate, one can imagine July chastising his wayward apprentice.
Nevertheless, against the mediocre-at-best-how-did-he-get-into-OSL Tester, by.hero rose to the occasion. Both opened along standard routes, Protoss fast-expanding while Zerg grabbed three quick multis. From there, Tester prepared a two-base 130-supply hanbang while harassing with dark templar and corsairs to destroy by.hero and his royal-roading aspirations. Hero was completely prepared, and deflected all assaults with ease. With a massive hydraling/lurker flank, he smashed the Protoss forces in a Koprolu-sector Cannae. Eat your heart out, attack move.
+ Show Spoiler [Result] +
BeSt[HyO] < Medusa > 
UpMagiC
+ Show Spoiler [Embedded VOD] +
Tester < by.hero
BeSt[HyO] < Medusa > UpMagiC+ Show Spoiler [Embedded VOD] +
Q: You are playing against one of the top-3 PvTs in the world, BeSt, on a 70% Protoss winrate map in the most prestigious StarCraft tournament in the world. What do you do?
UpMagic: Use a one-barrack bunker rush that has absolutely zero chance of success. My opponent doesn’t even need to pull all his probes to eliminate my redneck conscripts and send me back to my third-tier prohouse.
+ Show Spoiler [Result] +
Kal < Tears of the Moon > Jaedong
+ Show Spoiler [Embedded VOD] +
Best > UpMagic
Kal < Tears of the Moon > Jaedong+ Show Spoiler [Embedded VOD] +
“Honestly, I couldn't practice at all and I am very worried.”
-Jaedong “Tyrant” Lee
What a difference of character between Bisu and Jaedong! This, too, after he crushed four opponents in succession to singlehandedly cement a victory for his team in Winners’ League. He then illustrated the massive gap between a top-tier zerg and a zerg of decidedly lesser caliber. Kal selected a slightly slower version of Stork’s one-base rush, with an extra zealot and dragoon ostensibly to deal more damage. Unlike Yarnc, who allowed his troops to be cut to shreds by sending them in piecemeal, Jaedong executed an expert flank, annihilating Kal’s special operatives and countering for the easy win.
+ Show Spoiler [Result] +
Bisu < Return of the King > July
+ Show Spoiler [Embedded VOD] +
Kal < Jaedong
Bisu < Return of the King > July+ Show Spoiler [Embedded VOD] +
In the much hyped showdown between the MBC-grown mercenaries, the Protoss-slaying July opted for a five-hatchery hydra pump against Zerg-slaying Bisu’s harass-into-mass-gates build. Though he defended the corsair and reaver harass seamlessly for the better part of the early/mid-game, a single misplaced overlord cost him his 2-o’clock hatchery. After this, July thought himself more disadvantaged than he truly was, committing to several attacks where his slightly superior army melted to storm. Though his troops might have been able to reverse the game, atypical control put the situation out of reach for the God of War.
+ Show Spoiler [Result] +
fantasy < Sin Chupung-Ryeong > Leta
+ Show Spoiler [Embedded VOD] +
Bisu > July
fantasy < Sin Chupung-Ryeong > Leta+ Show Spoiler [Embedded VOD] +
The Proleague stalwart Leta played the reigning heir of SKT’s Terran line in this forty-minute wraith/tank into battlecruiser slugfest. After fantasy gained the advantage in early wraith play, he set a tank contain that Leta was only able to break with battlecruisers. However, fantasy had access to more gas and simply controlled his airships better to seal the game. More of a drawn out loss than a back-and-forth TvT. Not particularly recommended; I dozed off at several points in the match.
The subsequent mirror, however, was amazing. Flash and Hwasin met in the other two leagues previously this week, splitting the games evenly. As the early game progressed into the midgame, Flash looked to be in dire straits. His failed dropship attack allowed Hwasin to build a stranglehold in the center – a commanding position in Medusa. Flash’s ill-conceived initial break attempt put him even farther behind: at one point in the game he was down 100 supply to 150. At this point, every KTFlash fan observing the match began cursing the KTF coaching staff for making the poor boy run the StarCraft gauntlet and wearing down his endurance.
Fortunately for the boy wonder, Hwasin’s decision to mass expand instead of attack cost him the game. Flash’s dropship play went from abysmal to Boxeresque, as he was able to shut down every expansion attempt while simultaneously destroying Hwasin’s main. From then on, the Ultimate Weapon crafted ultimate weapons in the form of wraiths to eradicate Hwasin’s tank-only army and extract the GG.
+ Show Spoiler [Result] +
GGPlay < Tears of the Moon > Luxury
+ Show Spoiler [Embedded VOD] +
Hwasin < Flash
GGPlay < Tears of the Moon > Luxury+ Show Spoiler [Embedded VOD] +
The final game of the week was a letdown. Luxury, already the heavy favorite against past champion GGPlay, wasn’t even allowed to showcase his 2nd-in-the-world ZvZ chops. A straight build order win ensued as Luxury’s fast pool slaughtered GGPlay’s 12-expo. Nothing to see whatsoever as the Man of Virtue became the first player eliminated from group stages.
+ Show Spoiler [Result] +
Batoo OSL Week 3
July < Sin Chupung-Ryeong > Stork
Tester < Medusa > Leta
Flash < Tears of the Moon > BeSt[HyO]
Kal < Return of the King > Luxury
Bisu < Sin Chupung-Ryeong > YellOw[ArnC]
by.hero < Medusa > fantasy
Hwasin < Tears of the Moon > UpMagiC
Jaedong < Return of the King > GGPlay
GGplay < Luxury
Batoo OSL Week 3
July < Sin Chupung-Ryeong > StorkTester < Medusa > LetaFlash < Tears of the Moon > BeSt[HyO]Kal < Return of the King > LuxuryBisu < Sin Chupung-Ryeong > YellOw[ArnC]by.hero < Medusa > fantasyHwasin < Tears of the Moon > UpMagiCJaedong < Return of the King > GGPlayA promising week. We have the mouse-holder July fighting for survival against Stork, Flash dueling Best for a spot in the quarterfinals, and Kal facing Luxury for the same right. Looking forward to some fun games.
Love and luck,
LR
