Expectations were very high for this match. Let's see how it went !
Midas[gm](T) vs Savior[gm](Z) (Bo5)
Game 1 : Midas[gm](T) vs Savior[gm](Z) @ Arcadia
Midas landed at 11 while his Zerg opponent spawned at the 5 o'clock position. With Midas' TvZ philosophy, we could guess that he was going for a very fast expansion. SKT1 Terrans are using the CC 14 build frequently nowadays, and that's exactly what Midas did.
Meanwhile, Savior knew that the fast expand was a popular strategy on Arcadia. He decided to go for a quick 9 pool rush on his unsuspecting opponent. Having no marines to defend the early zergling threat, Midas had to cancel his Command Center and lift up his Barracks near the bunker he previously built at his main base. As soon as he defended the Zergling rush, Midas decided to go back to his initial plan and built another Command Center at his natural.
From there, it wasn't much of a game anymore. Savior already expanded to his mineral only and natural (in that order) and was in the process of taking the 1 o'clock gas expansions. After some cute Mutalisk harassment, forcing Midas to leave his natural alone without any hope to survive, Midas saw how badly Savior was toying with him, he simply GG'd.
Midas(T) 0-1 Savior[gm](Z)
Savior predicted the fast expand build and went for the always surprising pool 9 rush. Midas was never able to get an healthy income from his expansion. Well played by Savior.
Game 2 : Midas[gm](T) vs Savior[gm](Z) @ The Eye
Everyone was expecting Midas to re-attempt a CC 14 build on this map. So did Savior.
Savior spawns at 5 while Midas lands at 1 o'clock. Savior went for another 9 pool rush, but this time it was supported with an Extractor. Expecting this, Midas walled in and prevented Savior from taking a sneak peak at his base.
Seeing that his rush didn't work as planned, Savior decided to go for some Zergling jogging and scout the map for any proxy build. Surprisingly enough, Midas was in fact building a Factory at the 9 o'clock gas expansion. I really have no idea how Savior could've suspected that, but I guess that's why he's Pro-gamer and I'm not .
With some wicked micro, both players were able to do some damage to eachother. At first, Savior managed to kill 2 vultures without losing much lings but afterwards, Midas killed 8 lings with a lonely vulture, just to even out the scores.
Meanwhile, Savior opted for a 1 Hatchery lurker build and put some pressure on Midas' ramp. With about 4 vultures, Midas managed to delay the lurkers long enough to get himself an Academy and a Comsat Station. With his fast Lurker build not doing any damage, Savior trie to morph a Spire and take his natural but Midas was already at the Hive Cluster with 5 vultures, picking off Hydralisks and Drones. Savior GG'd.
Midas(T) 1-1 Savior[gm](Z)
Savior was doing great when he spotted Midas' factory but he wasn't able to take advantage of it. His fast Lurker build was perfectly delayed by the Vulture threat. Savior did a weaker build and Midas took the victory without much difficulty.
Game 3 : Midas[gm](T) vs Savior[gm](Z) @ Rush Hour 3
With two non-standard games thus far, both players opted for a safer style and build order.
Savior Spawned at 3 while the his Terran opponent landed at 7. Midas went for the now standard 8 Barracks below his ramp. Savior went for a 12 Hatchery build, morphing it to his natural. Seeing a bunker rush opportunity, Midas tried to get a quick advantage. His bunker was delayed by Savior's Drones but he somehow managed to complete it with the support of an happy couple of Marines.
Savior needed a PERFECT timing to kill this Bunker. It was doing a lot of damage and Midas was even building another bunker to apply more pressure. Savior finally decided it was to right moment to take out Midas' bunker. With Zerglings and Drones surrounding the Terran building, he should've killed it rather easily. However, some hero SCVs managed to repair it long enough to do a lot of damage to Savior's economy. It was pretty close!
With the Bunker threat out, Savior double techs while Midas expanded to his natural with only 1 Barracks. What looked like a Macro game turned out to be very intense as Savior started to harrass Midas with Lurker and Zerling drops. He managed to pick off some SCVs and Marines but nothing major. Meanwhile, Savior had expanded to 1 o'clock's gas expansion and to 11's main. With the Hive tech done for Savior, he tried to get defilers as soon as possible as Midas decided to counter Savior's natural!
With some poor Swarm placement, Midas was able to take out Savior's natural, while still macroing like a mad man. Once Midas' army finally got killed, he came back with even more units. It simply was too much for Savior who probably over-expanded. With Marines, Medics, Tanks and Science Vessels restlessly shooting at his organic structures, Savior had no more tech and simply GG'd.
Midas(T) 2-1 Savior[gm](Z)
Very good game with a lot of micro on both sides. Savior lost the micro wars more than Midas won them though. Great timing again from the Teddy Bear Terran.
Game 4 : Midas[gm](T) vs Savior[gm](Z) @ 815 lll
Savior showed some incredible skills on this map against Yooi last week. To help him out a little bit more, Miss Luck gave him identical positions.
Midas landed at 11 while The Maestro spawned at 1. Midas went for the same 8 Barracks below ramp build while Savior went for a pool 9 build. Midas obviously couldn't do any damage so he just defended, waiting to gather more forces.
With his natural up, Savior went for Lurker tech to put pressure on Midas' ramp. Meanwhile, Midas already started a starport to do some dropship harassment. Savior then proceeded to tech to Spire at his natural and expand to the 5 o'clock main.
Midas droped an SCV at 9 o'clock and instantly proceeded to fly towards Savior's 5 o'clock expansion. What we didn't know is that Midas made another dropship, and tried to double drop Savior. One at his main and one at his Natural(the one that was heading towards 5.) Even if the Main drop was easily taken care of, the second one managed to kill the spire.
Wow, with all the action we've had in this serie, we get to see both players macro! With Savior slowly taking expansions, his army began to look scary. The first center fight was easily won by Savior.
Midas still had a very good economy and started to macro like a mad-man. While Savior doom-droped his island expansion with Hydralisks, he countered with a MASSIVE amount of Tanks and M&M. As he was taking out Savior's main, he got countered by an enourmous amount of Lurkers and Hydras. They managed to do a lot of damage to both bases. With some drops here and there and a rather weak push, Midas was not going to be able to contain the Swarms, Hydralisks, Lurkers and Zerglings for much longer. He finally GG'd after a devastating plague on his Marines.
Midas[gm](T) 2-2 Savior[gm](Z)
Looks like Savior found an answer to ZvT on 815 lll. His incredible multitasking really won him the game.
Game 5 : Midas[gm](T) vs Savior[gm](Z) @ Arcadia
So we're down to the last and deciding game of this Bo5.
Savior spawned at 5 while Midas landed at 1. So yea Midas went for a 8 rax near his ramp... I mean below his ramp... oh gosh, it's right in the middle of the map! Double gosh! Savior went 12 Hatchery at his mineral only!
Don't worry, it's not over yet. Savior managed to scout Midas' proxy once again forcing him to cancel his Barracks (he only built one but this is how you spell "Barracks".) At this point, Savior was just so ahead. He already had a third hatch with a lair morphing. He went for Mutalisks while Midas expanded with only 1 Barracks. With drops researched, Savior expanded to both island expansions and already had an expansion at 12 near Midas' base and took 6 o'clock shortly after.
Savior isn't called "The Maestro" for nothing. He decided to go for countless drops on Midas, killing a LOT of units everytime. Savior was macroing out of 6 gases while Midas could barely get a fully running base. After a while, Savior decided that he wanted to watch Desperate Houswives on T.V and moved in with Lurkers, Zerglings and Defilers. With an amazing control, Midas managed to barely type "GG" while looking more pissed than JJu.
Midas[gm](T) 2-3 Savior[gm](Z)
When Midas' proxy was found, there was no way he could win this game. Simple as that. The Maestro is just too good to let such a big advantage slip into his hands.
Long story short :
Midas[gm](T) 2 < 3 Savior[gm](Z)
Midas[gm](T) < Savior[gm](Z) @ Arcadia
Midas[gm](T) > Savior[gm](Z) @ The Eye
Midas[gm](T) > Savior[gm](Z) @ Rush Hour 3
Midas[gm](T) < Savior[gm](Z) @ 815 lll
Midas[gm](T) < Savior[gm](Z) @ Arcadia
I hope you all enjoyed
OctoPuSs