GSL Ro16 Group B Recap

Life asserted his recent dominance by getting out of the group in first place. He looked shaky at times, especially in the early game against YoDa, but he always recovered with characteristic flair. Soulkey proved to be Life's most worthy opponent and a punishing roadblock for TY, who had to face SK twice only to be denied.


Unwilling to test Life in a long game, YoDa broke out the cheese in Game 1 with a proxy 11/11 rax. At first it seemed like a stroke of luck, as Life chose hatch -> gas -> pool with 2 extra drones before gas. Despite killing the hatchery at no cost YoDa didn't adequately plan for Life's counterattack, and died shortly afterwards to a baneling bust. The 2nd game also gave YoDa some hope when his 8/8/8 proxy rax did fair damage. However, he neglected to build a wall and Life returned the favor with more SCV kills at a smaller investment. The harass distracted YoDa during his transition into hellions, costing him all map presence and a chance to scout the huge roach/baneling bust coming his way. Down over 40 supply by the time it arrived, YoDa rolled over and gave up his ghost.

TY vs Soulkey was more entertaining for non-masochists. TY elected to go for a blue flame hellbat timing that should've killed Soulkey in one shot, but the zerg barely held. TY planned to transition into bio as his backup plan, but Soulkey hit a game-ending timing just before TY's production could kick in. The second game was more macro-oriented with both players engaging in standard bio vs ling/bling/muta fights. Throughout the game TY's positioning and engagements were marginally better, letting him start a base trade where he did critical damage. The 3rd game was also a long affair that seemed to be going TY's way. He secured the gold base on Foxtrot as his 3rd without incident, but squandered the advantage by not putting on enough pressure. By the time he sent drops out, Soulkey was maxed and ready for them; TY proceeded to commit the fatal mistake of assaulting Soulkey's 4th while down 30 army supply. Soulkey crushed TY's army and snowballed into a win.

This lead into a highly anticipated showdown between Life and Soulkey. Life got off to a good start on Overgrowth with a better economic opening and an attack to delay Soulkey's 3rd. Not to be outdone, Soulkey defended well and turned the tables with excellent engagements and clever use of burrow harass in order to take the first game. In Game 2 Life chose to consolidate his small upgrade advantage with better units, getting hydras and infestors before Soulkey could finish baneling speed. Despite being stuck on pure roaches for the longest time Soulkey traded cost-efficiently with superior flanking, but his attempt to attack Life's 4th ended in disaster. Eventually the tech advantage of Life became too much to overcome, and an unexpected backstab at Soulkey's fourth ended the game. The third game was easily the best game of the series, a close back and forth slugfest that tested the multitasking of both contenders.


Like the first series of the day, TY vs YoDa proved to be a quick and dirty affair. In the first game both opened gas first into banshee's. TY got the upper hand with better control, deflecting YoDa's attack and gaining a large lead. Undaunted YoDa kept trying to do damage but he only dug himself deeper into the ground with such stubbornness. His last failed attack was the final nail in the coffin. It was déjà vu on Overgrowth as they tried to bash heads with similar builds. This time YoDa did absolutely no damage with his marine drop, and the two-pronged attack he launched afterwards was poorly controlled. All these failures delayed YoDa's third, giving TY a significant lead in SCV count and upgrades. YoDa felt pressured enough to try a base trade, but he got stalled outside of TY's third while TY cleaned up his natural and third. From there TY slowly constricted the noose around his opponent's neck, starving him out on 3 bases while the KT Terran sat on 5.

TY and Soulkey met again in the final series of the day, and it was a closer and more entertaining series overall than the first go-around.



Game 2 on Deadwing started out similarly; a greedy opening by TY, followed by Soulkey’s failure to do damage. However, cross spawns on Deadwing is an imposing challenge for any macro terran, and Soulkey was able to buy enough time to draw even on economy and upgrades. He crushed through TY with ultralisks against TY’s marine-focused composition, bringing the series to a deciding game on Foxtrot Labs.

Unfortunately, after two great macro games, the series was all but decided based on one moment of miscontrol. TY proxied a single barracks, and Soulkey fortunately scouted it with an overlord. It seemed that the Iron Wall would slap it away with ease. However, his drone pull went right past TY’s bunker outside the natural, losing 5 in total. TY’s subsequent push with medivacs proved too much to handle.

Life displayed the level of strength we've come to expect of him and looks poised to advance even deeper. TY surprised by showing much improvement in his oft-criticized late game. While his early builds are still his primary strength, his mid to late game are no longer liabilities. He has shown that, at least in TvZ, he is capable of going toe to toe with a strong zerg, although he still needs work in that department. YoDa looked completely outmatched throughout the day, losing in embarrassing fashion to both Life and TY. He needs to overhaul his approach if he hopes to make a repeat run next season. Last but not least, Soulkey looked exceptionally strong. His play was reminiscent of his 2013 form with solid scouting, great reactions and dizzying muta control. Unfortunately a small lapse in judgment in the final game cost him a Ro8 spot. Still it was a great performance that gives us hope for the Iron Zerg in future GSL seasons.