EPT
There are spoilers
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Code S Round of 32
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Code S Group A:
MC, 
Ryung, 
YuGiOh, MMA - VODGroup A Summary: MC and MMA advance, Ryung and YugiOh out. YugiOh showed great macro but terrible late game decision making. MC showed off his bold build choices. And MMA got to dominate everyone; generally the MMA games were the good ones
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MMA vs. YuGiOhReaper expand vs. Hatch first. Reaper double expand with fast tank :O into double e bay with 3 barracks, Yugioh macro up muta ling infestor, bane later. Brilliant timing by MMA to clear out creep and position for third.
Learning for T:
![[image loading]](/blogs/images/blackstar.gif)
Learning for Z:
Entertainment Value:
Overall value: If you have time it is a great match, with MMA showing the star player difference,
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MMA
MC vs. RyungMaka rax vs. 3 gate expand, interesting marine maurader tank all in vs. standard 3 gate expand into robo, goes up to 6 gate after scout.
Learning for P:
Learning for T:
Entertainment:
Overall: Great opportunity to learn the nuances of early game protoss, but otherwise you can skip it
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MC
MC vs. MMA1 rax FE into fast double gas vs. 1 gate FE, MMA safely ghost rushes and double ups after MC's delayed 4 gate fails, brilliant follow up. MC realizes he is behind and goes 7 gate zealot archon all in.
Learn for T:
Learn for P:
Entertainment:
Overall: Cool build to steal from MMA, worth watching if you have time
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MMA
Ryung vs. YuGiOhVery technical macro opening from Ryung and strong macro from YugiOh, Excellent gas allocation, not making banelings for no reason, spending intelligently on upgrades. Great macro, bad strategical choices, sloppy late game execution.
Learning for T:
Learning for Z:
Entertainment:
Overall: Long and boring, skip it
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Ryung
MC vs. RyungMC scouts CC first, super pressure, 3 gate expand, kill him with it.
Learning for P:
Learning for T:
Entertainment Value:
Overall: Pretty straightforward, if you're not learning protoss, skip it
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MC
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Code S Group B:
NesTea, LosirA, sC, asd - VODGroup B Summary: Nestea and sC advance, Losira and asd out. Losira vs. Nestea is a must watch game for high level zerg players, as this may easily be the future of ZvZ at the top level. Nestea played amazingly, and this group was really who could cheese him the most, and the winner was sC
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NesTea vs. sCThis game literally made me laugh. Nestea is an incredible genius and made sC look like he was in the bronze league. That being said, occasionally the worse player still wins.
Learning for Z:
Learning for T:
Entertainment:
Overall: Very fun game even though it's cheesy - short and sweet
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sC
LosirA vs. asdCC first vs. Hatch first. Smart cute roach style does a lot of damage. Losira knew he was far enough ahead and went for a nice baneling bust in response.
Learning for Z:
Learning for T:
Entertainment:
Overall: Smart play, but kind of boring to watch if you're not learning Zerg
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Losira
sC vs. LosirADouble expand gas before pool??? vs. CC first. Losira was just a tad too greedy and sC hit an amazing timing to take the game
To learn for Z:
To learn for T:
Entertainment Value:
Overall: sC just hits brutal macro timings, it's the kind of game you want to fastforward to the timing push to see if you're not trying to learn it.
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sC
NesTea vs. asdasd went for the mass hellion all in, and Nestea barely held it and even came out ahead despite not having roaches. Transitioning into a macro game, Nestea showed himself the superior player with his excellent army movement and map control.
To learn for Z:
To learn for T:
Entertainment:
Overall: Probably the best game of group B to watch, Nestea is a very strong player
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Nestea
NesTea vs. LosirAIn what might be the future of ZvZ, Nestea held a roach ling all in while getting a third base and going muta
To learn from:
Entertainment:
Overall: Must watch for ZvZ fans, but otherwise it's less amazing
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Nestea
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Code S Group C:
MVP, Curious, MarineKing, aLive - VODGroup C Summary: aLive and Mvp advance, MarineKing and Curious don't. Mvp vs. aLive was the quintessential TvT, a great game to watch, and aLive vs. curious was an entertaining game. This group was very interesting, a nice mix of cheese and macro games, overall a cool group.
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MVP vs. aLiveBanshee expand vs. expand 1-1-1. Insanely good TvT, the quintessential version of the matchup. Perfect game to learn from.
To learn for T:
Entertainment:
Overall: Excellent game to learn TvT from, shows how solid the meta game is. Watch it if you're at all interested in TvT
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Mvp
Curious vs. MarineKingMKP did a cute little timing that only won because it was so well executed. Zergies beware of this follow up to a hellion push instead of the more typical expand.
To learn for Z:
To learn for T:
Entertainment:
Overall: Fun game if you don't have much time - as it is short, but not much to learn.
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MarineKing
MVP vs. MarineKingVery cool proxy marauder pressure, that looks like a hard counter to 1 rax fast expand. Very interesting
To learn for T:
Entertainment:
Overall: Watch it if you are a tournament player looking to hard counter 1 rax FE.
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Mvp
Curious vs. aLiveInteresting opening by aLive and Curious showed the cost and benefit of a fast teching Zerg
To learn for Z:
To learn for T:
Entertainment:
Overall: Very entertaining game, but only because both players made some very poor decisions - worth watching for entertainment
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aLive
MarineKing vs. aLiveMarineKing attempts a bio opening, and is too far behind aLive to transition out of it. MK did not play the style correctly at all.
To learn for T:
Entertainment:
Overall: What happens 90% of the time when bio goes against marine tank - skip it
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MarineKing
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Code S Group D:
GanZi, Ensnare, Polt, Leenock - VODGroup D Summary: Leenock and Ganzi advance, Polt and Ensnare are out. Leenock got to show off the strength of his midgame zerg, and Ganzi got to show off some great TvT play. These games for the most part were pretty average, but they were still worth watching if you have the time.
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GanZi vs. EnsnareEnsnare attempts to go mech against GanZi's bio
To learn for T:
Entertainment:
Overall: A ton of mistakes on both sides - skip it
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Ganzi
Leenock vs. PoltInteresting game that could only play itself out on the new GSL map. Leenock was too greedy early on, and Polt demonstrated some pretty amazing Terran play
To learn for Z:
To learn for T:
Entertainment:
Overall: Pretty good TvZ - worth watching if you have the time
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Polt
GanZi vs. PoltPolt executes a bio opener much better than MarineKing did earlier, but Ganzi made some better decisions to come out ahead
To learn for T:
Entertainment:
Overall: Good TvT - but not the best, you can afford to skip it
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Ganzi
Leenock vs. EnsnareThe game begun with an all in from Leenock, and afterwards both players were even. In then turned into a weird macro game, where Leenock proved himself the superior player with well thought out counter attacks.
To learn for Z:
To learn for T:
Entertainment:
Overall: Mediocre TvZ - Only watch if you have plenty of time
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Leenock
Leenock vs. PoltLeenock uses counter attacking and harassment to vastly out play Polt
To learn for Z:
To learn for T:
Entertainment:
Overall: Extremely strong play from Leenock, showing his mastery of midgame Zerg
+ Show Spoiler [Show Winner] +
Leenock
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Code A Round of 48
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Keen vs. RevivaLSummary: Come one, Come all! Watch Revival get brutally outplayed after failed cheeses! - worth watching if you have time
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Game One
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Game Two
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This game was pretty meta. Revival went for a two base super fast baneling all in to try and punish Mvp-esque aggressive third bases that so common on a map like Calm Before the Storm. At the end of it, Keen was really too far ahead for Revival to come back, but Revival tried admirably to do it. Keen did a pretty great job holding two strong all ins without sacrificing too many workers to come out behind. Keen just did the smart play, knowing he was ahead, hitting a standard marine tank timing to easily take the win against the low tech zerg.
To learn for Z: 4/10
To learn for T: 8/10
Entertainment: 8/10
Overall: Fun game to watch from the all ins, but it's a cool build to know as Terran to safely get such a fast third base - worth it if you have time
To learn for Z:
To learn for T:
Entertainment:
Overall: Fun game to watch from the all ins, but it's a cool build to know as Terran to safely get such a fast third base - worth it if you have time
Game Two
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Sometimes you can watch a game where one player cheeses, and then you have to wonder if they did it because they thought they saw a vulnerability, just felt like it, or knew that their opponent was superior to them. This one of those games where Keen out plays the everlasting titties out of Revival.
To learn for Z: 0/10
To learn for T: 9/10
Entertainment: 6/10
Overall: Keen's midgame looked very fearsome, perhaps code S quality? We'll see. - watch it if you have time
To learn for Z:
To learn for T:
Entertainment:
Overall: Keen's midgame looked very fearsome, perhaps code S quality? We'll see. - watch it if you have time
YuGiOh vs. MinSeOkSummary: Games one and two were pretty cool and worth checking out for a glimpse at what seems to be the rapidly approaching future of ZvZ
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Game One:
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Game Two:
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Game Three
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Huh. So this game was pretty fun. First there were about 60 drones created before unit production began. Then both players went mutas, at about the same time showing the refinement of this ZvZ style. Everything was going well until Yugioh got off a huge fungal with his slightly faster infesters than MinSeOk's, and got a ton of mutas for free. The game then transititioned into an infested terran ling midgame into an infested terran/ling/ultra late game.
To learn for Z: 4/10 (unless you are a high masters player, then closer to 8/10 I say that because if you try this stuff without extremely skilled timings, you will just be crushed by some timing attack of your opponent)
Entertainment: 8/10
Overall: Fun game to watch, but feel free to fast forward past all the droning in the beginning
To learn for Z:
Entertainment:
Overall: Fun game to watch, but feel free to fast forward past all the droning in the beginning
Game Two:
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This game both players are forced to open a little bit more standard, but still go for generally the same timing on their mutalisks. MinSeOk pulled a sneaky little maneuver, and instead of upgrading melee attack, went for a ranged attack and suddenly shoved roach hydra at YuGiOh. Yugioh was set up for the more "standard" affair set by their first game and got rolled by it pretty hard.
To learn for Z: 8/10
Entertainment: 7/10
Overall: Just like last game, but SeOk used some super sneakiness to come out ahead in the late midgame - maybe the future of ZvZ, worth watching
To learn for Z:
Entertainment:
Overall: Just like last game, but SeOk used some super sneakiness to come out ahead in the late midgame - maybe the future of ZvZ, worth watching
Game Three
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YugiOh all ins. GG!
To learn for Z: 2/10
Entertainment: 4/10
Overall: skip it
To learn for Z:
Entertainment:
Overall: skip it
HerO vs. CrazymovINGSummary: Entertaining, but uneducating series - a ton of mistakes from both sides
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Game One:
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Ever wonder why Blizzard is adding the Tempest in HotS? Just watch this game.
To learn for Z: 0/10
To learn for P: 0/10
Entertainment: 9/10
Overall: MUUUUUUTTTTTTTTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Game Two:
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Game Three:
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Ever wonder why Blizzard is adding the Tempest in HotS? Just watch this game.
To learn for Z:
To learn for P:
Entertainment:
Overall: MUUUUUUTTTTTTTTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Game Two:
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What was this I don't even? So many mistakes on both sides made for an entertaining but ultimately useless game.
To learn for Z: 0/10
To learn for P: 0/10
Entertainment: 9/10
Overall: I have no idea what happened - skip it
To learn for Z:
To learn for P:
Entertainment:
Overall: I have no idea what happened - skip it
Game Three:
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Hero showed the strength of Tyler's two gateway stargate expand build, able to execute it pretty well. The issue is that Crazymoving proved to be a weak opponent in getting rolled so hard by it.
To learn for Z: 0/10
To learn for T: 6/10
Entertainment: 7/10
Overall: Showed the strength in Tyler's opening - watch if you have time
To learn for Z:
To learn for T:
Entertainment:
Overall: Showed the strength in Tyler's opening - watch if you have time
asd vs. GuineaPigSummary: Guinea Pig has a long way to go if he wants to ever wants to reach the level of hype he was at during the first GSTL. Underwhelming series that can be skipped, unless you're looking for an effective terran timing push, then you can copy asd's game one.
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Game One:
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Game Two:
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asd did a neat little opening, delaying his upgrades and medivacs for some faster ghosts and more barracks. Guinea Pig played atrociously though, two basing for far too long, making major positioning mistakes, and floating a ton of money. Not to mention he was going chargelot, immortal, archon - the exact counter to which was asd's marine heavy MMMG composition.
To learn for P: 3/10
To learn for T: 8/10
Entertainment: 7/10
Overall: asd's opening is worth stealing - watch if you have time
To learn for P:
To learn for T:
Entertainment:
Overall: asd's opening is worth stealing - watch if you have time
Game Two:
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1-1-1 vs. poorly executed hold of it
To learn for Z: 4/10
To learn for T: 0/10
Entertainment: 4/10
Overall: Guinea Pig couldn't hold 1-1-1 - skip it
To learn for Z:
To learn for T:
Entertainment:
Overall: Guinea Pig couldn't hold 1-1-1 - skip it
SUPERSTAR vs. BrownSummary: Mediocre little series, only worth watching if you have time
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Game One:
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Game Two:
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Superstar managed to hold Brown's cute little four gate into six gate blink timing. Brown got up his third base and once collossus were out, Superstar was still only on roach ling and got rolled over as a result. An example of the very limited utility of the roach ling composition combined with Brown's cute timing attack made this a good game to learn from.
To learn for Z: 7/10
To learn for P: 8/10
Entertainment: 7/10
Overall: Cute little strategy from Brown and example of what not to do from Superstar - watch it if you have time
To learn for Z:
To learn for P:
Entertainment:
Overall: Cute little strategy from Brown and example of what not to do from Superstar - watch it if you have time
Game Two:
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Pretty standard PvZ, it was sloppy on both sides though - both showing why they are not quite code S material through a bunch of tiny mistakes. Still - their style is solid enough to try and emulate - even if it is a little dated.
To learn for Z: 6/10
To learn for P: 6/10
Entertainment: 6/10
Overall: Fun standard PvZ, nothing here is gonna blow your mind - watch it if you have time
To learn for Z:
To learn for P:
Entertainment:
Overall: Fun standard PvZ, nothing here is gonna blow your mind - watch it if you have time
Curious vs. TheStCSummary: Bread and butter TvZ's, watch 'em if you're having trouble with the matchup
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Game One:
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Game Two:
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Game Three:
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Your bread and butter TvZ - creative aggressive opening into expansion heavy midgame with well timed thors and ghosts. stc played a solid game, it wasn't the miraculous play of Mvp, but it was good enough to appreciate
To learn for Z: 7/10
To learn for T: 9/10
Entertainment: 8/10
Overall: Standard TvZ - watch it if you have time
To learn for Z:
To learn for T:
Entertainment:
Overall: Standard TvZ - watch it if you have time
Game Two:
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This one was a more new school style TvZ. An Mvp style quick double expand out of Stc with a quick rush for heavy upgrades and timing pushes beginning on three bases. I thought that he had the game for sure, but an ultralisk transition from Curious popped just in time to take the game. Very informative of the newish TvZ style
To learn for Z: 9/10
To learn for T: 9/10
Entertainment: 8/10
Overall: Must watch for those wanting to see the macro TvZ style
To learn for Z:
To learn for T:
Entertainment:
Overall: Must watch for those wanting to see the macro TvZ style
Game Three:
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Curious managed to crack the terran shell - but he had to work his ass of to do it
To learn for Z: 8/10
To learn for T: 6/10
Entertainment: 4/10
Overall: Would have been more entertaining but it was just so long - only watch if you have the time
To learn for Z:
To learn for T:
Entertainment:
Overall: Would have been more entertaining but it was just so long - only watch if you have the time
Dream vs. BoxeRSummary: Boxer showed a much more in depth understanding of TvT than Dream did, game one is exemplary of how to play bio vs. mech
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Game One:
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Game Two:
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Boxer demonstrates how to execute bio vs. mech properly, abusing the crap out of the map size of Calm Before the Storm. This game is really cool, with that special flare of Boxer tactics to make it entertaining as hell to watch. Who would have thought that viking + medivac drop would be a great counter to tank armies
To learn for T: 9/10
Entertainment: 8/10
Overall: The demonstration to watch of where mech is right now compared to bio - great match overall
To learn for T:
Entertainment:
Overall: The demonstration to watch of where mech is right now compared to bio - great match overall
Game Two:
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Boxer demonstrated the fragility of the mass blue flame hellion operner of times past by walking across the map with three tanks and winning
To learn for T: 5/10
Entertainment: 5/10
Overall: The mass hellion opener was really only seen at pro levels - it wasn't usually seen on the ladder - so this is a hard game to recommend
To learn for T:
Entertainment:
Overall: The mass hellion opener was really only seen at pro levels - it wasn't usually seen on the ladder - so this is a hard game to recommend
TOP vs. PartingSummary: Standard of all standard TvP's, nothing remarkable from either side.
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Game One:
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Game Two:
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Despite a boring and unresponsive style, Parting was able to get a better army composition up than Top, and since Top made no special micro or drop decisions, Parting came out ahead
To learn for P: 4/10
To learn for T: 4/10
Entertainment: 4/10
Overall: Standard boring game - nothing exciting out of either side
To learn for P:
To learn for T:
Entertainment:
Overall: Standard boring game - nothing exciting out of either side
Game Two:
