KyrixZenith vs. oGsEnsnare
Match Rating: 8/10
CheckPrime vs StHopeTorture
Match Rating: 4/10
Leenock vs. oGsNada
Match Rating: 6/10
EGIdra vs. oGsZenio
Match Rating: 5/10
Match Rating: 8/10
Click here to display the full match recap and commentary (spoilers)
Game 1 – Delta Quadrant – Contrary to his reputation as a rusher, Kyrix opened hatch first. Ensnare put a bunker at Kyrix’s expansion, just as the edge of vision range. Kyrix pulled six drones to help stop the bunker and, with support from the eventual zerglings, kill the initial marines. Still fairly even, Kyrix tried a baneling bust. Ensnare actually left his depot down, let the banelings in, then raised it, preventing reinforcements. The banelings did a fair amount of damage, but siege tanks cleaned them up and the zerglings who came in with them. Kyrix was able to take a third base safely, but Ensnare was safe behind his tanks while he recovered and finally took a third. Kyrix tried to take his gold base as a fourth, but Ensnare chose that time to move in with a large tank, marine, and marauder force. The resulting fighting in the center of the map wasn’t decisive, but Kyrix no longer had enough map control to protect his third and lost it to a small force from Ensnare. After that, Ensnare broke Kyrix down without too much difficulty.
Game 2 – Blistering Sands – Kyrix opened hatch first into two base mutalisks. After an initial skirmish with zerglings took out one of Ensnare’s first siege tanks, he used his mutas to take out the destructible rocks. But instead of streamling zerglings through, he sat back in the middle of the map and expanded to Ensnare’s side. The vulnerability of his main made Ensnare feel he had to play passive, and Kyrix had taken a fourth base before he ever seriously probed the middle of the map. Although Kyrix’s macro wasn’t overwhelming, after the ensuing battles in the middle of the map Kyrix was able to replace his units much faster. Ensnare won some minor victories like killing drones at the fourth, but he never was able to safely get a third base until he was almost mined out and resorted to desperate measures. Despite his efforts, Kyrix moved in before the planetary fortress was finished, and Ensnare had to cancel and lift it. The game went on for another few minutes but Kyrix’s victory was inevitable.
Game 3 – Steppes of War – This time rather than hatch first, Kyrix went one hatch muta with a very late expansion. Ensnare seemed to expect banelings and moved out at what he must have thought was a good timing. Kyrix didn’t haven early enough units to stop him and fell back all the way to his main, but then the mutas arrived and there weren’t enough marines to stop them. Rather than try to build up a critical mass of mutas, Kyrix was aggressive with them, forcing the Terran to defend and tech to thors while he eventually got a third base. Ensnare pushed out with a thor plus some marines and seemed like he might roll over Kyrix’s small numbers of mutalisks and zerglings, but Kyrix brought drones to surround the thor, preventing repair and eventually killing it. After that Kyrix’s economy kicked in and he slowly pushed farther and farther in on Ensnare’s natural with mutalisks and banelings. Eventually he had to lift the command center, but it was sniped by mutas anyway, and Ensnare was eliminated.
Commentary: Artosis was very critical of Kyrix’s play in the round of 64, mistaking Kyrix’s unusual play for weakness, but Kyrix has shown there’s a method to his madness. He’s aggressive but not to the point he sacrifices economy. Instead he accepts a narrower and sometimes slower tech route than typical Zerg players in favor of putting constant pressure. The fact he uses the resulting map control to expand rather than go for the kill shows he understands his strategy. His macro seems a few notches below the top tier of Zerg players, but it won’t matter until his opponents do a better job coping with his pressure. Ensnare, one of the best Terran players since the beginning of the beta, never seemed to have a good handle on what Kyrix was doing, even in the game he won.
Game 2 – Blistering Sands – Kyrix opened hatch first into two base mutalisks. After an initial skirmish with zerglings took out one of Ensnare’s first siege tanks, he used his mutas to take out the destructible rocks. But instead of streamling zerglings through, he sat back in the middle of the map and expanded to Ensnare’s side. The vulnerability of his main made Ensnare feel he had to play passive, and Kyrix had taken a fourth base before he ever seriously probed the middle of the map. Although Kyrix’s macro wasn’t overwhelming, after the ensuing battles in the middle of the map Kyrix was able to replace his units much faster. Ensnare won some minor victories like killing drones at the fourth, but he never was able to safely get a third base until he was almost mined out and resorted to desperate measures. Despite his efforts, Kyrix moved in before the planetary fortress was finished, and Ensnare had to cancel and lift it. The game went on for another few minutes but Kyrix’s victory was inevitable.
Game 3 – Steppes of War – This time rather than hatch first, Kyrix went one hatch muta with a very late expansion. Ensnare seemed to expect banelings and moved out at what he must have thought was a good timing. Kyrix didn’t haven early enough units to stop him and fell back all the way to his main, but then the mutas arrived and there weren’t enough marines to stop them. Rather than try to build up a critical mass of mutas, Kyrix was aggressive with them, forcing the Terran to defend and tech to thors while he eventually got a third base. Ensnare pushed out with a thor plus some marines and seemed like he might roll over Kyrix’s small numbers of mutalisks and zerglings, but Kyrix brought drones to surround the thor, preventing repair and eventually killing it. After that Kyrix’s economy kicked in and he slowly pushed farther and farther in on Ensnare’s natural with mutalisks and banelings. Eventually he had to lift the command center, but it was sniped by mutas anyway, and Ensnare was eliminated.
Commentary: Artosis was very critical of Kyrix’s play in the round of 64, mistaking Kyrix’s unusual play for weakness, but Kyrix has shown there’s a method to his madness. He’s aggressive but not to the point he sacrifices economy. Instead he accepts a narrower and sometimes slower tech route than typical Zerg players in favor of putting constant pressure. The fact he uses the resulting map control to expand rather than go for the kill shows he understands his strategy. His macro seems a few notches below the top tier of Zerg players, but it won’t matter until his opponents do a better job coping with his pressure. Ensnare, one of the best Terran players since the beginning of the beta, never seemed to have a good handle on what Kyrix was doing, even in the game he won.
CheckPrime vs StHopeTorture
Match Rating: 4/10
Click here to display the full match recap and commentary (spoilers)
Game 1 - Steppes of War - Perhaps feeling this map favored the Terran too much to play straight up, Check did a 6 pool rush. Although HopeTorture didn’t wall in, his defense was flawless, and he was able to delay with his SCVs while using mules to fund enough marines to drive out Check’s attack. HopeTorture’s marine counter looked like it would win, but Check was able to survive, albeit still at a significant disadvantage. Check expanded and tried to transition into roaches, but HopeTorture scouted it and then easily crushed Check’s expansion. Check fought on but HopeTorture was clearly too good to lose once he was that far ahead.
Game 2 – Scrap Station - Check did the usual quick hatchery, but HopeTorture went mass viking. First he killed two overlords, forcing the rest to move back into Check’s base. Then he brought two dropships with hellions, marauders, and marines to the Zerg expansion. Those, plus the landed vikings, were so intimidating that Check didn’t dare engage, letting the natural die. HopeTorturer sent them into the main just before the mutas came out and while he lost his army, he took the Spire with him. Check tried to counter with the mutas to HopeTorture’s main but there were more marines and vikings to drive them out. HopeTorture then dropped them in Check’s main, killing Check’s base with the infantry while his vikings cleared what few mutas were left, forcing Check to concede.
Commentary: A surprisingly easy victory for HopeTorture. Check was probably the underdog, but he seemed desperate in game 1, while in game 2 HopeTorture essentially had a strategic victory. Check had no answer for the mass viking play. It’s too bad that Check, one of the most prominent Korean Zergs, still hasn’t really shown his true quality in either GSL.
Game 2 – Scrap Station - Check did the usual quick hatchery, but HopeTorture went mass viking. First he killed two overlords, forcing the rest to move back into Check’s base. Then he brought two dropships with hellions, marauders, and marines to the Zerg expansion. Those, plus the landed vikings, were so intimidating that Check didn’t dare engage, letting the natural die. HopeTorturer sent them into the main just before the mutas came out and while he lost his army, he took the Spire with him. Check tried to counter with the mutas to HopeTorture’s main but there were more marines and vikings to drive them out. HopeTorture then dropped them in Check’s main, killing Check’s base with the infantry while his vikings cleared what few mutas were left, forcing Check to concede.
Commentary: A surprisingly easy victory for HopeTorture. Check was probably the underdog, but he seemed desperate in game 1, while in game 2 HopeTorture essentially had a strategic victory. Check had no answer for the mass viking play. It’s too bad that Check, one of the most prominent Korean Zergs, still hasn’t really shown his true quality in either GSL.
Leenock vs. oGsNada
Match Rating: 6/10
Click here to display the full match recap and commentary (spoilers)
Game 1 – Delta Quadrant – Leenock 6 pools but unlike Check he sends all his drones with it. Nada was going two barracks but he canceled the second one when he saw the rush coming. From there Leenock played it perfectly and Nada made a critical error with his barracks rally, allowing his marine to be separated from his SCVs. Although he managed to build a bunker, his marine died just before entering it. Because all the drones had come and most died tanking damage, there was a small chance of a tie, but Leenock realized this and moved his last drone out of Nada’s base while his zerglings finished off Nada’s forces.
Game 2 – Shakuras Plateau – Leenock played standard this time while Nada went hellions into thors. Leenock went mass muta, but while he forced Nada to build a lot of turrets, he didn’t do nearly enough economic damage. Nada actually expanded base for base with Leenock all the way up to four bases. Leenock finally moved in and destroyed an expansion with his mutas, but Nada countered to Leenock’s natural with his army. His marines and thors defeated Leenock’s almost entirely muta-based army with a few thors to spare, ending the game. Definitely showed that against an expanding Terran, it isn’t enough for Zerg to just mass up mutas. Without economic damage thor/marine/hellion is too strong for muta/baneling to handle.
Game 3 – X’el Naga Caverns – Nada opened with a single banshee scout, then settled down into tank/marine. Leenock went fast infestors and tried to rush to hive tech and (presumably) ultralisks while double expanding. Fruit Dealer in the last GSL would double expand and force Terrans to pick an expansion to kill, but Nada ignored the expansions and went straight for Leenock’s natural, much like in the previous game. Leenock tried to mass banelings, but he wasted an infestor in the middle of the map and Nada expertly spread his marines. Without fungal growth holding his marines, Nada rolled over Leenock’s defenses easily to win the series.
Commentary: Leenock wasn’t as good as Nada and he knew it. In light of this, his rush on the first map and his attempts in the following games to reach army compositions–mass muta, ultras–that conventional wisdom says are powerful for zerg make a lot of sense. In the end Nada had both better macro, better army compositions, and better timing. A lot of people assumed Nada wouldn’t have enough practice in SC2 to be as good as the top tier of players, but so far Nada looks extremely dangerous in a tournament where many Terrans have had difficulties.
Game 2 – Shakuras Plateau – Leenock played standard this time while Nada went hellions into thors. Leenock went mass muta, but while he forced Nada to build a lot of turrets, he didn’t do nearly enough economic damage. Nada actually expanded base for base with Leenock all the way up to four bases. Leenock finally moved in and destroyed an expansion with his mutas, but Nada countered to Leenock’s natural with his army. His marines and thors defeated Leenock’s almost entirely muta-based army with a few thors to spare, ending the game. Definitely showed that against an expanding Terran, it isn’t enough for Zerg to just mass up mutas. Without economic damage thor/marine/hellion is too strong for muta/baneling to handle.
Game 3 – X’el Naga Caverns – Nada opened with a single banshee scout, then settled down into tank/marine. Leenock went fast infestors and tried to rush to hive tech and (presumably) ultralisks while double expanding. Fruit Dealer in the last GSL would double expand and force Terrans to pick an expansion to kill, but Nada ignored the expansions and went straight for Leenock’s natural, much like in the previous game. Leenock tried to mass banelings, but he wasted an infestor in the middle of the map and Nada expertly spread his marines. Without fungal growth holding his marines, Nada rolled over Leenock’s defenses easily to win the series.
Commentary: Leenock wasn’t as good as Nada and he knew it. In light of this, his rush on the first map and his attempts in the following games to reach army compositions–mass muta, ultras–that conventional wisdom says are powerful for zerg make a lot of sense. In the end Nada had both better macro, better army compositions, and better timing. A lot of people assumed Nada wouldn’t have enough practice in SC2 to be as good as the top tier of players, but so far Nada looks extremely dangerous in a tournament where many Terrans have had difficulties.
EGIdra vs. oGsZenio
Match Rating: 5/10
Click here to display the full match recap and commentary (spoilers)
Game 1 – Delta Quadrant – Both players did passive openings, going to roach tech for defense instead of the aggressive speedling or baneling play that characterized GSL 2′s earlier ZvZ. Idra used roaches to get the expansion in his base while Zenio went mass overseer to do a rolling contaminate of Idra’s hatchery. From there he tried to break Idra with superior roach numbers. While Idra defended ably, he moved out to take a third base too early and got rolled over by a second attack just before infestors came out. Zenio’s strategy cleverly neutralized Idra’s strength, his fearsome macro, without being unsafe.
Game 2 – Blistering Sands – Zenio got early zerglings to deny scouting, then showed roaches at his ramp. With Idra expecting pure roach, Zenio added a couple banelings and attacked. The mismatch was such that Idra conceded before the battle was even over.
Commentary: Probably the most strategy-heavy games in GSL 2 so far. In the interview afterward, Zenio said he didn’t think he could beat Idra in a straight up game, hence his “cute” strategies. Maybe, but strategy is a big part of the game, especially in ZvZ which seems much more poorly understood than the rest of the game’s matchups. Idra lost in GSL 1 to better strategies as well, but in his round of 32 games with oGsGon is was clear that he learned from his mistakes. If he shores up his ZvZ, he’ll be a really strong contender in GSL 3, because his ZvT already looks nearly invincible.
Game 2 – Blistering Sands – Zenio got early zerglings to deny scouting, then showed roaches at his ramp. With Idra expecting pure roach, Zenio added a couple banelings and attacked. The mismatch was such that Idra conceded before the battle was even over.
Commentary: Probably the most strategy-heavy games in GSL 2 so far. In the interview afterward, Zenio said he didn’t think he could beat Idra in a straight up game, hence his “cute” strategies. Maybe, but strategy is a big part of the game, especially in ZvZ which seems much more poorly understood than the rest of the game’s matchups. Idra lost in GSL 1 to better strategies as well, but in his round of 32 games with oGsGon is was clear that he learned from his mistakes. If he shores up his ZvZ, he’ll be a really strong contender in GSL 3, because his ZvT already looks nearly invincible.
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