Match Rating: 6/10
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Game 1 - Delta Quadrant
Cross positions, Rain at 7 and MC at 2
Standard openings for both players
Reactor on barracks for Rain, seen by the scouting probe
Bunker behind the wall-in for Rain, stargate for MC
Factory with tech lab making a siege tank for Rain, second barracks coming as well
Void ray almost out for MC, his forces moving to the bottom of Rain's ramp
Rain's second barracks also has a reactor
The void ray arrives and shoots down the reactor on the wall in barracks, then the supply depot
Robotics out for MC, no further void rays. He pulls his units back to his main while Rain rebuilds his reactor
Viking coming for Rain, phoenix for MC. MC also taking down the rocks at his back natural
Nexus at the back natural, MC moves out to the center of the map again
Rain has two vikings, four tanks, some marines and a medivac
MC making immortals from his robotics, scouting with a phoenix but repelled by vikings without seeing much
Rain moves out with his army, MC falls back to his ramp
Rain builds a bunker at MC's front natural and sieges up
Three phoenixes now for MC, still making immortals as well
Rain sieges a tank on the ramp, pushing MC farther back
MC tries to move in but falls back in the face of heavy damage
Only one viking left and four phoenixes trying to pick it off
Rain sieges in range of the stargate, phoenixes pick off reinforcements
MC moves in with a large zealot force with phoenixes picking up the tanks
MC takes a huge amount of losses from tanks and marines, but with some reinforcing stalkers he manages to take out Rain's army
Now Rain has a large supply and economic disadvantage, seems hopeless
Rain moves out with two tanks and some marines only to get run over in the center of the map
Rain concedes
Finger wag to the camera from MC
Rain's attack looked strong, but it was just too slow. MC's extra base was up too long and let him mass up enough to break it.
Game 2 - Lost Temple
Close ground positions...but Rain requests a pause
Sound error, apparently. The game has to be restarted.
Close air positions now, MC at 12 and Rain at 2
Artosis not in the game, but thankfully he insists on the production tab being on. Artosis isn't the only one who wants the production tab, guys.
Anyway, standard openings. Factory and barracks reactor for Rain similar to the previous game.
Stargate and second gateway again for MC.
Starport for Rain this time, however. Void ray coming for MC.
Medivac coming from the starport. The void ray arrives but is spotted early by a marine
Using some stalkers to cover his void ray, MC snipes the reactor and supply depot like last game
Finally a viking arrives and MC withdraws
Robotics making an observer and then immortal for MC, four gateways as well
Twilight council as well for MC, command center coming for Rain
Dark shrine for MC as well as a warp prism
MC expands to the 9 o'clock main instead of his natural
Raven coming for Rain, he pushes out and kills the proxy pylon and the DT there with a scan
There's a second DT in Rain's base. He has to pull SCVs but the raven arrives and helps him kill the DT
There are still two DTs hidden in Rain's base courtesy the warp prism
MC expands to his natural, Rain moves out with his army.
MC doesn't have enough units to defend and gets pushed back into his base
Charge is not done for the zealots, so MC delays with DTs
Finally MC manages to clean up the attack after losing some gateways and his natural nexus
Rain drops MC's other base, but the marines get cleaned up by warped-in gateway units
Templar archives coming for MC now, he re-expands to his natural
Rain moves up to the natural choke and sieges up, psi storm is not ready
Rain puts up four bunkers in the choke, MC counters to Rain's expansion
Third command center built for Rain, not actually in place yet
Rain keeps his contain and sends a large marine detachment to MC's 9 o'clock base
The marines kill the pylons to prevent reinforcements, then take out the nexus
Rain floats his third command center to the southeast island, so he's now at 3 bases to MC's 2
Rain drops a few marines and marauders in MC's main and picks off some templar
MC warping in a ton of high templars with his phase prism
Stalkers and templar move into Rain's natural, but Rain maintains his position at his contain
Rain's next round of production cleans up the stalkers, MC taking the other island
MC breaks the contain by moving down with immortals and attacking with zealots from the back
Rain drops two sets of marines in the back of MC's base
Warp prism forces Rain to lift off his island base, but he clears the rocks and lands another command center at the gold
The prism warps in high templar above the gold base, killing some SCVs with storms, but marines at the island pick it off
A viking kills another warp prism at Rain's main after an ineffectual zealot drop
Rain moves out with his army, this time with ghosts. He manages to get a good EMP on most of MC's templar
A DT at Rain's gold base kills 20 SCVs...ouch
MC finds a few templar with energy to kill Rain's marines, then uses immortals to push the siege tanks back
After that victory MC has a large supply advantage and continues to harass with warp prisms
MC pumps colossus out of two robotics, then when he gets to five attacks into Rain's position
Rain's units get crushed.
Rain concedes
When Rain had the contain set up it seemed like he could have moved in and won the game, but like in game 1 he was too cautious. Then again, he lost most of the battles fought later in the game, so perhaps he's right to be cautious.
Game 3 - Xel'Naga Caverns
Rain starts a second barracks before getting the probe out, then cancels it after the probe leaves and replaces it with a factory
Two more gateways for MC, starport coming for Rain
MC gets six sentries and expands to his natural, banshee and cloak coming from Rain
The first banshee is out, cloak is done, and there's no detection. Second banshee coming of course.
Robotics starts for MC just as the banshee arrives
Rain kills all six sentries with his cloaked banshee, the second moves into the main and kills probes
An observer is out, allowing stalkers to finally push the banshees out, but neither die
Rain gets his natural expansion up and running, robotics bay coming for MC
Raven and infantry upgrades for MC, five barracks pumping marines and marauders
Rain moves out with three banshees, a raven, and a decent infantry force
One colossus at the natural with zealots, banshees move in and take it out
A second colossus comes out, but Rain collects reinforcing marines and then moves in and kills it
The third colossus arrives and Rain only has one marauder, many of the marines die
Rain drops some marines in the main, then attacks the natural while MC's army moves to stop it
A colossus cleans up the attack at the natural and Rain falls back to his expansion
MC sets up his army at Rain's gold and puts up a proxy pylon
Rain moves up with several vikings and defeats MC's army
MC concedes
For a moment it looked like MC would actually pull that out, but Rain's advantage was too great. Clever build by Rain, and the choice to eliminate the sentries looks like it was a good one.
Game 4 - Steppes of War
MC's first pylon goes on the low ground below Rain's main, but Rain spots it with an SCV
Gateway in Rain's main, the probe actually dies just as the first zealot comes out
Rain gets gas despite the zealot pressure, then gets a tech lab for his barracks
Bunker at the left side of the mineral line, but the zealots move around and do tremendous SCV damage
Only five SCVs left, marauder out for Rain but there's too many zealots for it to kite effectively
Stalker out now, Rain can't defend his remaining SCVs
Rain concedes
Well, Rain scouted it, but he still couldn't stop it. Another example of MC's superior micro. Rain is one match from elimination and the next map is possibly the most Protoss-favorable.
Game 5 - Jungle Basin
Standard openings for both players.
Starport for Rain, hellion coming as well with the blue flame upgrade
Four gateways for MC, proxy pylon placed to allow warp ins to the back natural but a marine sees it
Rain was getting ready for a hellion drop, but he dumps them on the low ground and sends the dropship back to help defend
MC attacks up the ramp with a large group of stalkers and sentries, force fielding the bunker at the ramp to prevent repair
The hellions counter to MC's main, where there is nothing to defend
The stalkers kill the bunker and the other defending units, only SCVs and a tank left defending for Rain
MC is not microing his probes, so they die rapidly to the blue flame hellions
MC pushes farther into Rain's base while he desperately defends
One hellion is surrounded and killed, but only two probes are left alive in MC's base, though there is a third probe in the center of the map
Rain's last defending tanks and SCVs die. MC has a probe still alive so there's no real chance of forcing a draw.
Rain surrenders
Fairly ordinary four gateway rush from MC this time, but that's an extremely strong strategy on Jungle Basin. The hellions made things close, but as MC showed against Jinro, he knows exactly how to take apart bunkers with sentries.
Commentary: As expected, MC was just a class above Rain. With TSL supporting him, it's no surprise that Rain had some good strategies, but any time there was an even battle MC would win. Game 4 on Steppes of War was probably the clearest demonstration of MC's tactical advantage, since Rain spotted it early but still got stomped. Previously I've complained that the best Protoss players are too vulnerable to having their strategies countered, even blind countered, but today MC for the most part went with safe strategies that allowed him to lengthen the game when necessary and allow his superior play to surmount momentary disadvantages.
Cross positions, Rain at 7 and MC at 2
Standard openings for both players
Reactor on barracks for Rain, seen by the scouting probe
Bunker behind the wall-in for Rain, stargate for MC
Factory with tech lab making a siege tank for Rain, second barracks coming as well
Void ray almost out for MC, his forces moving to the bottom of Rain's ramp
Rain's second barracks also has a reactor
The void ray arrives and shoots down the reactor on the wall in barracks, then the supply depot
Robotics out for MC, no further void rays. He pulls his units back to his main while Rain rebuilds his reactor
Viking coming for Rain, phoenix for MC. MC also taking down the rocks at his back natural
Nexus at the back natural, MC moves out to the center of the map again
Rain has two vikings, four tanks, some marines and a medivac
MC making immortals from his robotics, scouting with a phoenix but repelled by vikings without seeing much
Rain moves out with his army, MC falls back to his ramp
Rain builds a bunker at MC's front natural and sieges up
Three phoenixes now for MC, still making immortals as well
Rain sieges a tank on the ramp, pushing MC farther back
MC tries to move in but falls back in the face of heavy damage
Only one viking left and four phoenixes trying to pick it off
Rain sieges in range of the stargate, phoenixes pick off reinforcements
MC moves in with a large zealot force with phoenixes picking up the tanks
MC takes a huge amount of losses from tanks and marines, but with some reinforcing stalkers he manages to take out Rain's army
Now Rain has a large supply and economic disadvantage, seems hopeless
Rain moves out with two tanks and some marines only to get run over in the center of the map
Rain concedes
Finger wag to the camera from MC
Rain's attack looked strong, but it was just too slow. MC's extra base was up too long and let him mass up enough to break it.
Game 2 - Lost Temple
Close ground positions...but Rain requests a pause
Sound error, apparently. The game has to be restarted.
Close air positions now, MC at 12 and Rain at 2
Artosis not in the game, but thankfully he insists on the production tab being on. Artosis isn't the only one who wants the production tab, guys.
Anyway, standard openings. Factory and barracks reactor for Rain similar to the previous game.
Stargate and second gateway again for MC.
Starport for Rain this time, however. Void ray coming for MC.
Medivac coming from the starport. The void ray arrives but is spotted early by a marine
Using some stalkers to cover his void ray, MC snipes the reactor and supply depot like last game
Finally a viking arrives and MC withdraws
Robotics making an observer and then immortal for MC, four gateways as well
Twilight council as well for MC, command center coming for Rain
Dark shrine for MC as well as a warp prism
MC expands to the 9 o'clock main instead of his natural
Raven coming for Rain, he pushes out and kills the proxy pylon and the DT there with a scan
There's a second DT in Rain's base. He has to pull SCVs but the raven arrives and helps him kill the DT
There are still two DTs hidden in Rain's base courtesy the warp prism
MC expands to his natural, Rain moves out with his army.
MC doesn't have enough units to defend and gets pushed back into his base
Charge is not done for the zealots, so MC delays with DTs
Finally MC manages to clean up the attack after losing some gateways and his natural nexus
Rain drops MC's other base, but the marines get cleaned up by warped-in gateway units
Templar archives coming for MC now, he re-expands to his natural
Rain moves up to the natural choke and sieges up, psi storm is not ready
Rain puts up four bunkers in the choke, MC counters to Rain's expansion
Third command center built for Rain, not actually in place yet
Rain keeps his contain and sends a large marine detachment to MC's 9 o'clock base
The marines kill the pylons to prevent reinforcements, then take out the nexus
Rain floats his third command center to the southeast island, so he's now at 3 bases to MC's 2
Rain drops a few marines and marauders in MC's main and picks off some templar
MC warping in a ton of high templars with his phase prism
Stalkers and templar move into Rain's natural, but Rain maintains his position at his contain
Rain's next round of production cleans up the stalkers, MC taking the other island
MC breaks the contain by moving down with immortals and attacking with zealots from the back
Rain drops two sets of marines in the back of MC's base
Warp prism forces Rain to lift off his island base, but he clears the rocks and lands another command center at the gold
The prism warps in high templar above the gold base, killing some SCVs with storms, but marines at the island pick it off
A viking kills another warp prism at Rain's main after an ineffectual zealot drop
Rain moves out with his army, this time with ghosts. He manages to get a good EMP on most of MC's templar
A DT at Rain's gold base kills 20 SCVs...ouch
MC finds a few templar with energy to kill Rain's marines, then uses immortals to push the siege tanks back
After that victory MC has a large supply advantage and continues to harass with warp prisms
MC pumps colossus out of two robotics, then when he gets to five attacks into Rain's position
Rain's units get crushed.
Rain concedes
When Rain had the contain set up it seemed like he could have moved in and won the game, but like in game 1 he was too cautious. Then again, he lost most of the battles fought later in the game, so perhaps he's right to be cautious.
Game 3 - Xel'Naga Caverns
Rain starts a second barracks before getting the probe out, then cancels it after the probe leaves and replaces it with a factory
Two more gateways for MC, starport coming for Rain
MC gets six sentries and expands to his natural, banshee and cloak coming from Rain
The first banshee is out, cloak is done, and there's no detection. Second banshee coming of course.
Robotics starts for MC just as the banshee arrives
Rain kills all six sentries with his cloaked banshee, the second moves into the main and kills probes
An observer is out, allowing stalkers to finally push the banshees out, but neither die
Rain gets his natural expansion up and running, robotics bay coming for MC
Raven and infantry upgrades for MC, five barracks pumping marines and marauders
Rain moves out with three banshees, a raven, and a decent infantry force
One colossus at the natural with zealots, banshees move in and take it out
A second colossus comes out, but Rain collects reinforcing marines and then moves in and kills it
The third colossus arrives and Rain only has one marauder, many of the marines die
Rain drops some marines in the main, then attacks the natural while MC's army moves to stop it
A colossus cleans up the attack at the natural and Rain falls back to his expansion
MC sets up his army at Rain's gold and puts up a proxy pylon
Rain moves up with several vikings and defeats MC's army
MC concedes
For a moment it looked like MC would actually pull that out, but Rain's advantage was too great. Clever build by Rain, and the choice to eliminate the sentries looks like it was a good one.
Game 4 - Steppes of War
MC's first pylon goes on the low ground below Rain's main, but Rain spots it with an SCV
Gateway in Rain's main, the probe actually dies just as the first zealot comes out
Rain gets gas despite the zealot pressure, then gets a tech lab for his barracks
Bunker at the left side of the mineral line, but the zealots move around and do tremendous SCV damage
Only five SCVs left, marauder out for Rain but there's too many zealots for it to kite effectively
Stalker out now, Rain can't defend his remaining SCVs
Rain concedes
Well, Rain scouted it, but he still couldn't stop it. Another example of MC's superior micro. Rain is one match from elimination and the next map is possibly the most Protoss-favorable.
Game 5 - Jungle Basin
Standard openings for both players.
Starport for Rain, hellion coming as well with the blue flame upgrade
Four gateways for MC, proxy pylon placed to allow warp ins to the back natural but a marine sees it
Rain was getting ready for a hellion drop, but he dumps them on the low ground and sends the dropship back to help defend
MC attacks up the ramp with a large group of stalkers and sentries, force fielding the bunker at the ramp to prevent repair
The hellions counter to MC's main, where there is nothing to defend
The stalkers kill the bunker and the other defending units, only SCVs and a tank left defending for Rain
MC is not microing his probes, so they die rapidly to the blue flame hellions
MC pushes farther into Rain's base while he desperately defends
One hellion is surrounded and killed, but only two probes are left alive in MC's base, though there is a third probe in the center of the map
Rain's last defending tanks and SCVs die. MC has a probe still alive so there's no real chance of forcing a draw.
Rain surrenders
Fairly ordinary four gateway rush from MC this time, but that's an extremely strong strategy on Jungle Basin. The hellions made things close, but as MC showed against Jinro, he knows exactly how to take apart bunkers with sentries.
Commentary: As expected, MC was just a class above Rain. With TSL supporting him, it's no surprise that Rain had some good strategies, but any time there was an even battle MC would win. Game 4 on Steppes of War was probably the clearest demonstration of MC's tactical advantage, since Rain spotted it early but still got stomped. Previously I've complained that the best Protoss players are too vulnerable to having their strategies countered, even blind countered, but today MC for the most part went with safe strategies that allowed him to lengthen the game when necessary and allow his superior play to surmount momentary disadvantages.
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