Match Rating: 4/10
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Game 1 - Lost Temple
Close air positions, NesTea at 9 and Rain at 6
Hatch first on 15 for NesTea, standard opening from Rain
Gas on 22 for NesTea, second gas and factory for Rain
Techlab on the factory and starport, siege tank begins
NesTea starts his lair in his main, dropship coming for Rain
Nestea starts a spine crawler at his natural, siege mode research starts for Rain
Rain's dropship moves out with one tank but drops it at the natural choke
Spire coming for NesTea, Rain's tank sieges up at the choke and builds a bunker for the marines
NesTea moves in with zerglings and kills the bunker, but the dropship picks up most of the marines and moves everything to the cliff
Two tanks are sieged on the cliff now but mutalisks are almost out
The mutalisks kill everything, zerglings take out the rocks at NesTea's gold
Somewhat belatedly Rain starts turrets, NesTea upgrading air attack
Rain making vikings to drive off the mutalisks, NesTea taking the gold and getting a baneling nest
Rain floats a command center to his expansion, adding barracks as well
NesTea getting baneling speed and continuing to make mutalisks
Now an armory coming for Rain, but the mutalisk count is getting quite high
Mutalisks continue to harass, killing a geyser, while NesTea takes a fourth and upgrades air weapons again
NesTea morphing a large number of banelings and still making mutalisks
Rain moves out with four tanks and about twenty marines plus a Thor
NesTea's mutalisks take some accidental marine fire, then move in to engage
Rain pulls his marines back from the banelings, which die from tank fire, and the mutalisks follow the marines instead of hitting the tanks
Despite taking heavy losses Rain manages to win the battle
Now Rain drops his surviving two tanks and clump of marines on the high ground above NesTea's natural
NesTea loses many overlords since they were all hovering there, NesTea's natural hatchery is killed
Now Rain sieges in range of the gold base, but mutalisks swoop in and pick off the two tanks
Rain moves out with another army but it's mostly marines, so he goes and clears the rocks at his gold
Despite all that damage NesTea is 40 supply ahead, massing up banelings and mutalisks
Mutalisks fly into the base and destroy a factory before marines can get back to protect it
On their way out mutalisks kill enough supply depots to supply block Rain, NesTea retakes his natural
Rain sieges up at the watchtower so NesTea goes in and kills another factory
Rain responds by heading for NesTea's bases, mutalisks pull up and kill two of Rain's four siege tanks
Rain tries to pull back but NesTea moves in and obliterates his army
Rain concedes
Rain did well to win the battle outside NesTea's natural, but Artosis overstated the danger to NesTea. Rain would have been better off taking out the gold base and then the fourth. As it was, by the time the natural died NesTea was able to rebuild his army and was still at an advantage.
Game 2 - Steppes of War
Hatch first on 15 for NesTea, just beating the SCV trying to block, two barracks for Rain with the second at his natural
NesTea patrols a drone at the bottom of his ramp, Rain sends a huge number of SCVs
NesTea sends most of his drones even before Rain arrives
There's a back and forth battle, but Rain does a good job keeping his marines behind his SCVs
Just about all the SCVs die, but the marines are still alive and kill the few remaining drones and zerglings
NesTea concedes
Good micro by Rain. It's easy to write this off as map imbalance but a lot of Zergs have managed to win on Steppes of War this tournament.
Game 3 - Shakuras Plateau
Cross positions, NesTea at 5 and Rain at 10
Hatch first for NesTea, quick tech lab after marine for Rain starts stim
Rain goes to pressure with two marines and an SCV while expanding to his natural
Rain pulls back to the watchtower, NesTea gets zergling speed
Rain adds three more barracks and a factory, then shields
NesTea takes his third, Rain pressures with six marines but they get surrounded by speedlings and destroyed
Rain tries to wall off but there's only a marauder protecting it and the zerglings smash through it and enter the main
Finally some marines clean it up after a fair number of SCV losses
Baneling nest coming for NesTea, Rain masses up marines just to retake his natural
Rain moves out just as the banelings finish morphing and then retreats
The banelings chase the marines all the way to the back of Rain's main before they die to kiting, but the marine stim repeatedly to do it
Rain takes up a position outside his natural with a large infantry force, mostly marines, then moves out to the watchtower
NesTea getting a lair and a spine crawler, pumping zerglings
Rain catches three overlords in the open and supply blocks NesTea
A large group of zerglings get cornered at a watchtower by Rain's force, but the banelings close in and trap the marines in turn
Rain manages to save perhaps a third of his marines with micro, but since NesTea has almost twice as many workers and an extra base he can replace his losses
Spire finishes for NesTea and starts the air attack upgrade, Rain finally walls off his natural, then goes to clear the rocks from behind his base
NesTea taking his fourth at the top right main, possibly vulnerable to Rain's force coming through the rocks
Mutalisks arrive at Rain's natural and force his army to come back, saving NesTea's fourth base
Rain moves back to attack it again but now NesTea is in position to defend with his army
Rain builds a turret on the low ground outside NesTea's fourth, spine crawler building for NesTea
A small group of marines moves forward and kills the spine crawler, but NesTea rushes in
The banelings force the marines to retreat, the marauders and tanks die
Rain starts a command center in the top center, NesTea's mutalisks attack the natural
While Rain's army fights skirmishes at NesTea's natural, the mutalisks destroy the wall-in and banelings move in and kill every SCV
Rain takes out the hatchery at NesTea's fourth, but NesTea's full army pushes him back and forces him to lift his third
NesTea's mutalisks return to Rain's natural, then move up into the main, meanwhile NesTea takes practically every expansion left
Rain's army pulls back to defend his main but zerglings and banelings move into his now undefended third
Rain surrenders
NesTea's quick third base paid off, allowing him to come out ahead after trading supply in the early battles. Once ahead, he easily outmaneuvered Rain's less mobile army.
Game 4 - Blistering Sands
Hatch first on 15 for NesTea, quick drone scout gets into the main and sees Rain is going no gas two barracks
Rain moves out with three marines and an SCV, two more barracks coming
Rain pulls back after pressuring, NesTea puts up a spine crawler at his expansion
Queen out as well for NesTea, all but two SCVs coming for Rain for the attack
Zergling speed is only just starting for Nestea
The SCVs get in position to tank the damage from the zerglings and drones, the marines shoot from behind
All the SCVs die but there are about a dozen marines left
NesTea still has some drones in his main, but there's nothing he can against so many marines
NesTea concedes
Different map but pretty much the same game they played on Steppes of War. Normally I take Artosis' back seat driving with a grain of salt but it seems like he's right to think NesTea's opening isn't safe enough.
Game 5 - Xel'Naga Caverns
Hatch first for NesTea, two barracks for Rain
The first marine moves in with an SCV to pressure, builds a bunker at the natural choke
NesTea spots it with his drones but pulls back to avoid the marines, starts a spine crawler
Second bunker starts, NesTea fights but the bunker finishes
The spine crawler is in range of the bunker but the SCV isn't dead, so it repairs the bunker
The marines kill the undefended expansion hatchery
NesTea positions zerglings to cut off reinforcements, Rain snipes overlords and maintains a contain, getting a second command center
NesTea moves his forces up to the center of the map, Rain moves into NesTea's main
The marines move into the main but eventually get surrounded by zerglings and die
NesTea expands again, then pokes Rain's natural with zerglings to slow it down
Rain builds a bunker wall off between his ramp and the command center, NesTea gets a baneling nest
Rain moves out with two dozen marines and a few marauders, stim not finished yet however
Rain goes down to the natural, pauses, then moves back to the watchtower
NesTea makes banelings, Rain doesn't attack but waits for stim
Now with even more marines, Rain moves in with a small group of marines to kill a creep tumor
There's a long series of battles as zerglings and banelings fight the huge marine force
Rain's micro is good but he finally weakens his marines too much through overstimming and loses all of them
Zerglings move in and pick off a couple marines and a marauder on move command
Rain's next army moves in with a dozen marines and a tank, plus a sieged tank on the low ground to cover
The siege fire melts NesTea's last defenders, leaving his natural undefended
NesTea surrenders
Well, for a moment there it looked like NesTea might be able to turn things around, but in the end the damage he took from Rain's early attacks was simply too much to recover from.
Commentary: I think everyone would agree this was a huge upset by Rain. He probably didn't win himself a lot of fans by eliminating the reigning champion with three marine rushes (and losing the two "normal" games he played), but the fact is we've seen these two barracks rushes over and over again since the beginning of the tournament. Every Zerg needs to know how to deal with it, and obviously there were flaws in NesTea's strategy. Perhaps he took Rain too lightly?
Close air positions, NesTea at 9 and Rain at 6
Hatch first on 15 for NesTea, standard opening from Rain
Gas on 22 for NesTea, second gas and factory for Rain
Techlab on the factory and starport, siege tank begins
NesTea starts his lair in his main, dropship coming for Rain
Nestea starts a spine crawler at his natural, siege mode research starts for Rain
Rain's dropship moves out with one tank but drops it at the natural choke
Spire coming for NesTea, Rain's tank sieges up at the choke and builds a bunker for the marines
NesTea moves in with zerglings and kills the bunker, but the dropship picks up most of the marines and moves everything to the cliff
Two tanks are sieged on the cliff now but mutalisks are almost out
The mutalisks kill everything, zerglings take out the rocks at NesTea's gold
Somewhat belatedly Rain starts turrets, NesTea upgrading air attack
Rain making vikings to drive off the mutalisks, NesTea taking the gold and getting a baneling nest
Rain floats a command center to his expansion, adding barracks as well
NesTea getting baneling speed and continuing to make mutalisks
Now an armory coming for Rain, but the mutalisk count is getting quite high
Mutalisks continue to harass, killing a geyser, while NesTea takes a fourth and upgrades air weapons again
NesTea morphing a large number of banelings and still making mutalisks
Rain moves out with four tanks and about twenty marines plus a Thor
NesTea's mutalisks take some accidental marine fire, then move in to engage
Rain pulls his marines back from the banelings, which die from tank fire, and the mutalisks follow the marines instead of hitting the tanks
Despite taking heavy losses Rain manages to win the battle
Now Rain drops his surviving two tanks and clump of marines on the high ground above NesTea's natural
NesTea loses many overlords since they were all hovering there, NesTea's natural hatchery is killed
Now Rain sieges in range of the gold base, but mutalisks swoop in and pick off the two tanks
Rain moves out with another army but it's mostly marines, so he goes and clears the rocks at his gold
Despite all that damage NesTea is 40 supply ahead, massing up banelings and mutalisks
Mutalisks fly into the base and destroy a factory before marines can get back to protect it
On their way out mutalisks kill enough supply depots to supply block Rain, NesTea retakes his natural
Rain sieges up at the watchtower so NesTea goes in and kills another factory
Rain responds by heading for NesTea's bases, mutalisks pull up and kill two of Rain's four siege tanks
Rain tries to pull back but NesTea moves in and obliterates his army
Rain concedes
Rain did well to win the battle outside NesTea's natural, but Artosis overstated the danger to NesTea. Rain would have been better off taking out the gold base and then the fourth. As it was, by the time the natural died NesTea was able to rebuild his army and was still at an advantage.
Game 2 - Steppes of War
Hatch first on 15 for NesTea, just beating the SCV trying to block, two barracks for Rain with the second at his natural
NesTea patrols a drone at the bottom of his ramp, Rain sends a huge number of SCVs
NesTea sends most of his drones even before Rain arrives
There's a back and forth battle, but Rain does a good job keeping his marines behind his SCVs
Just about all the SCVs die, but the marines are still alive and kill the few remaining drones and zerglings
NesTea concedes
Good micro by Rain. It's easy to write this off as map imbalance but a lot of Zergs have managed to win on Steppes of War this tournament.
Game 3 - Shakuras Plateau
Cross positions, NesTea at 5 and Rain at 10
Hatch first for NesTea, quick tech lab after marine for Rain starts stim
Rain goes to pressure with two marines and an SCV while expanding to his natural
Rain pulls back to the watchtower, NesTea gets zergling speed
Rain adds three more barracks and a factory, then shields
NesTea takes his third, Rain pressures with six marines but they get surrounded by speedlings and destroyed
Rain tries to wall off but there's only a marauder protecting it and the zerglings smash through it and enter the main
Finally some marines clean it up after a fair number of SCV losses
Baneling nest coming for NesTea, Rain masses up marines just to retake his natural
Rain moves out just as the banelings finish morphing and then retreats
The banelings chase the marines all the way to the back of Rain's main before they die to kiting, but the marine stim repeatedly to do it
Rain takes up a position outside his natural with a large infantry force, mostly marines, then moves out to the watchtower
NesTea getting a lair and a spine crawler, pumping zerglings
Rain catches three overlords in the open and supply blocks NesTea
A large group of zerglings get cornered at a watchtower by Rain's force, but the banelings close in and trap the marines in turn
Rain manages to save perhaps a third of his marines with micro, but since NesTea has almost twice as many workers and an extra base he can replace his losses
Spire finishes for NesTea and starts the air attack upgrade, Rain finally walls off his natural, then goes to clear the rocks from behind his base
NesTea taking his fourth at the top right main, possibly vulnerable to Rain's force coming through the rocks
Mutalisks arrive at Rain's natural and force his army to come back, saving NesTea's fourth base
Rain moves back to attack it again but now NesTea is in position to defend with his army
Rain builds a turret on the low ground outside NesTea's fourth, spine crawler building for NesTea
A small group of marines moves forward and kills the spine crawler, but NesTea rushes in
The banelings force the marines to retreat, the marauders and tanks die
Rain starts a command center in the top center, NesTea's mutalisks attack the natural
While Rain's army fights skirmishes at NesTea's natural, the mutalisks destroy the wall-in and banelings move in and kill every SCV
Rain takes out the hatchery at NesTea's fourth, but NesTea's full army pushes him back and forces him to lift his third
NesTea's mutalisks return to Rain's natural, then move up into the main, meanwhile NesTea takes practically every expansion left
Rain's army pulls back to defend his main but zerglings and banelings move into his now undefended third
Rain surrenders
NesTea's quick third base paid off, allowing him to come out ahead after trading supply in the early battles. Once ahead, he easily outmaneuvered Rain's less mobile army.
Game 4 - Blistering Sands
Hatch first on 15 for NesTea, quick drone scout gets into the main and sees Rain is going no gas two barracks
Rain moves out with three marines and an SCV, two more barracks coming
Rain pulls back after pressuring, NesTea puts up a spine crawler at his expansion
Queen out as well for NesTea, all but two SCVs coming for Rain for the attack
Zergling speed is only just starting for Nestea
The SCVs get in position to tank the damage from the zerglings and drones, the marines shoot from behind
All the SCVs die but there are about a dozen marines left
NesTea still has some drones in his main, but there's nothing he can against so many marines
NesTea concedes
Different map but pretty much the same game they played on Steppes of War. Normally I take Artosis' back seat driving with a grain of salt but it seems like he's right to think NesTea's opening isn't safe enough.
Game 5 - Xel'Naga Caverns
Hatch first for NesTea, two barracks for Rain
The first marine moves in with an SCV to pressure, builds a bunker at the natural choke
NesTea spots it with his drones but pulls back to avoid the marines, starts a spine crawler
Second bunker starts, NesTea fights but the bunker finishes
The spine crawler is in range of the bunker but the SCV isn't dead, so it repairs the bunker
The marines kill the undefended expansion hatchery
NesTea positions zerglings to cut off reinforcements, Rain snipes overlords and maintains a contain, getting a second command center
NesTea moves his forces up to the center of the map, Rain moves into NesTea's main
The marines move into the main but eventually get surrounded by zerglings and die
NesTea expands again, then pokes Rain's natural with zerglings to slow it down
Rain builds a bunker wall off between his ramp and the command center, NesTea gets a baneling nest
Rain moves out with two dozen marines and a few marauders, stim not finished yet however
Rain goes down to the natural, pauses, then moves back to the watchtower
NesTea makes banelings, Rain doesn't attack but waits for stim
Now with even more marines, Rain moves in with a small group of marines to kill a creep tumor
There's a long series of battles as zerglings and banelings fight the huge marine force
Rain's micro is good but he finally weakens his marines too much through overstimming and loses all of them
Zerglings move in and pick off a couple marines and a marauder on move command
Rain's next army moves in with a dozen marines and a tank, plus a sieged tank on the low ground to cover
The siege fire melts NesTea's last defenders, leaving his natural undefended
NesTea surrenders
Well, for a moment there it looked like NesTea might be able to turn things around, but in the end the damage he took from Rain's early attacks was simply too much to recover from.
Commentary: I think everyone would agree this was a huge upset by Rain. He probably didn't win himself a lot of fans by eliminating the reigning champion with three marine rushes (and losing the two "normal" games he played), but the fact is we've seen these two barracks rushes over and over again since the beginning of the tournament. Every Zerg needs to know how to deal with it, and obviously there were flaws in NesTea's strategy. Perhaps he took Rain too lightly?
HongUnPrimeWE (P) vs TSLFruitDealer (Z)
Match Rating: 5/10
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Game 1 - Steppes of War
Forge first for HongUn, pool first for FruitDealer on 13 plus gas
HongUn puts two pylons at the bottom of the ramp, though it doesn't look like a tight wall-off, then a cannon behind them
HongUn's gateway starts on 19 supply, FruitDealer puts a hatchery near the top of his ramp
Now a spine crawler as well for FruitDealer, hidden pylon on the edge of the map for HongUn
Double stargate at the hidden pylon, lair coming for FruitDealer
Roach warren starts for FruitDealer, he has two spine crawlers moving into range of the pylons
An overlord spots one of the stargates, FruitDealer cancels the roach warren and gets a hydralisk den instead
Three void rays and a phoenix out for HongUn, FruitDealer's spine crawler finishing off the pylons at his ramp
Seven hydralisks and three queens out for FruitDealer to defend, the void rays pull back
The spine crawlers are down at the expansion and the hydralisks easily repel the void rays
HongUn builds a ton of gateways, FruitDealer takes his expansion
Hydralisks kill the pylon powering the stargates, but the void rays force FruitDealer's expansion to cancel
FruitDealer moves his hydralisks into position and rebuilds the hatchery at his natural
The hydralisks go back to the stargates to destroy them, but the four void rays simply move in again and force another cancel
HongUn moving in with a medium sized ground army and four void rays
Speedlings rush in but force fields hold them off, however FruitDealer has enough hydralisks to repel anyway
FruitDealer counters to HongUn's natural and there's not enough defending units to stop him
HongUn concedes
Not a bad idea by HongUn. Had FruitDealer not scouted the stargates with his overlords it could have been an easy victory. But he did scout it, which is only partly luck, and afterward HongUn would have been better served expanding instead of going four gate considering how slow FruitDealer's expansion was.
Game 2 - Scrap Station
Pool and gas for FruitDealer, Nexus first for HongUn at 15
Forge at the natural choke for HongUn, zergling speed for FruitDealer
Cannon at the natural for HongUn, hatchery on 18 for FruitDealer
Gateway now at the main's ramp, HongUn puts a second cannon at the natural rocks in response to zergling pressure
Baneling nest for FruitDealer, two more gateways for HongUn
FruitDealer massing zerglings, presumably for a baneling bust
12 banelings morph and move in with zerglings to the wall
Banelings take out the forge despite force fields from a sentry, zerglings swarm into the main
Zealots warp in and clean up the zerglings in HongUn's main
HongUn builds a second cybernetics core to remake his wall and positions stalkers behind it
The zerglings turn back to the natural rocks but HongUn has sentries there
Lair finishes for FruitDealer, Twilight Council for HongUn, remaking his forge as well
Stalkers, zealots, and sentries punch through the rocks
Zerglings come around from behind but HongUn lays down a ton of force fields to drive them off
Blink researching for HongUn, burrow researching for FruitDEaler
FruitDealer burrows about ten banelings at his choke, HongUn's army moves over it
The banelings explode, killing the core of HongUn's army, but stalker armies aren't very dense and there are plenty left
Nothing to defend for FruitDealer
FruitDealer concedes
After seeing the nexus first opening, FruitDealer didn't do nearly enough damage to defuse HongUn's economic lead.
Game 3 - Shakuras Plateau
Top positions, FruitDealer at 10 and HongUn at 2
Gas and pool first for FruitDealer, forge expansion for HongUn
Roach warren for FruitDealer, gateway and cannon for HongUn
FruitDealer's zerglings start working on the rocks between bases, HongUn has a spotter pylon at his rocks
Second cannon at HongUn's choke, roaches out for FruitDealer
The rocks go down and FruitDealer's army moves to HongUn's back rocks
HongUn builds three cannons, FruitDealer has eight roaches and plenty of zerglings
The roaches easily destroy the cannons and pylons, forcing HongUn to withdraw to his natural
FruitDealer's army follows him down the ramp, the force field to block it is a little late and plenty of zerglings get down to attack the cannons
HongUn concedes
Basically a build order win for FruitDealer, but it wasn't blind. He scouted HongUn's strategy and then destroyed it.
Game 4 - Lost Temple
Close air positions, FruitDealer at 12 and HongUn at 3
Gas and pool again for FruitDealer, forge first for HongUn
He walls in FruitDealer's ramp with two pylons, then puts a cannon behind it
Roach warren for FruitDealer, nexus on 20 for HongUn
Lair for FruitDealer, HongUn slips a probe through the pylons and scouts FruitDealer's base
FruitDealer cancels the lair, then sends three roaches to clear the cannon while holding his other roaches back
Zergling speed starts for FruitDealer while he sends his forces to HongUn's wall off
HongUn has two cannons and is building a third, but the roaches can hit the forge without coming into range
A fourth cannon finishes the cannon wall-off as the forge dies, two stargates building for HongUn
Void ray starts, FruitDealer moves in with roaches and lings
They easily plow through the cannons but HongUn continues building the wall, adding more and more pylons, gates, and so forth
Void ray is out and kills all the roaches, then starts plowing through the zerglings
A second void ray is now out, finally the zerglings break through but only four are left
FruitDealer has four queens at his main as the three void rays arrive
Despite transfusions the void rays kill the queens
FruitDealer concedes
Really impressive, er, wall building from HongUn. That's was about as exciting as a battle can be when only one player has units.
Game 5 - Blistering Sands
Gas and pool for FruitDealer, standard opening for HongUn
Hatchery on 19 for FruitDealer, twilight council for HongUn
Dark shrine and two more gateways now for HongUn, zerglings attacking his back rocks
Dark shrine finishing, no lair yet, but evolution chamber starting for FruitDEaler
Three DTs run into FruitDealer's base, zerglings on hold position on the ramp try to stop them
There's a spore crawler in FruitDealer's main but the DTs get to it before it finishes and destroy it
Everyone waits for FruitDealer to leave while DTs slaughter his undefended forces
FruitDealer surrenders
Not a very exciting game, but a smart move by HongUn to take advantage of FruitDealer's late lair.
Commentary: Both players knew each other quite well and spent the match trying to hit weak spots in each other's strategies. Since these attacks required a lot of commitment they essentially either won or lost the game each time. Not the best match for pure spectators, but probably educational for people who play. HongUn is the first Protoss player to ever reach a GSL semifinal.
Forge first for HongUn, pool first for FruitDealer on 13 plus gas
HongUn puts two pylons at the bottom of the ramp, though it doesn't look like a tight wall-off, then a cannon behind them
HongUn's gateway starts on 19 supply, FruitDealer puts a hatchery near the top of his ramp
Now a spine crawler as well for FruitDealer, hidden pylon on the edge of the map for HongUn
Double stargate at the hidden pylon, lair coming for FruitDealer
Roach warren starts for FruitDealer, he has two spine crawlers moving into range of the pylons
An overlord spots one of the stargates, FruitDealer cancels the roach warren and gets a hydralisk den instead
Three void rays and a phoenix out for HongUn, FruitDealer's spine crawler finishing off the pylons at his ramp
Seven hydralisks and three queens out for FruitDealer to defend, the void rays pull back
The spine crawlers are down at the expansion and the hydralisks easily repel the void rays
HongUn builds a ton of gateways, FruitDealer takes his expansion
Hydralisks kill the pylon powering the stargates, but the void rays force FruitDealer's expansion to cancel
FruitDealer moves his hydralisks into position and rebuilds the hatchery at his natural
The hydralisks go back to the stargates to destroy them, but the four void rays simply move in again and force another cancel
HongUn moving in with a medium sized ground army and four void rays
Speedlings rush in but force fields hold them off, however FruitDealer has enough hydralisks to repel anyway
FruitDealer counters to HongUn's natural and there's not enough defending units to stop him
HongUn concedes
Not a bad idea by HongUn. Had FruitDealer not scouted the stargates with his overlords it could have been an easy victory. But he did scout it, which is only partly luck, and afterward HongUn would have been better served expanding instead of going four gate considering how slow FruitDealer's expansion was.
Game 2 - Scrap Station
Pool and gas for FruitDealer, Nexus first for HongUn at 15
Forge at the natural choke for HongUn, zergling speed for FruitDealer
Cannon at the natural for HongUn, hatchery on 18 for FruitDealer
Gateway now at the main's ramp, HongUn puts a second cannon at the natural rocks in response to zergling pressure
Baneling nest for FruitDealer, two more gateways for HongUn
FruitDealer massing zerglings, presumably for a baneling bust
12 banelings morph and move in with zerglings to the wall
Banelings take out the forge despite force fields from a sentry, zerglings swarm into the main
Zealots warp in and clean up the zerglings in HongUn's main
HongUn builds a second cybernetics core to remake his wall and positions stalkers behind it
The zerglings turn back to the natural rocks but HongUn has sentries there
Lair finishes for FruitDealer, Twilight Council for HongUn, remaking his forge as well
Stalkers, zealots, and sentries punch through the rocks
Zerglings come around from behind but HongUn lays down a ton of force fields to drive them off
Blink researching for HongUn, burrow researching for FruitDEaler
FruitDealer burrows about ten banelings at his choke, HongUn's army moves over it
The banelings explode, killing the core of HongUn's army, but stalker armies aren't very dense and there are plenty left
Nothing to defend for FruitDealer
FruitDealer concedes
After seeing the nexus first opening, FruitDealer didn't do nearly enough damage to defuse HongUn's economic lead.
Game 3 - Shakuras Plateau
Top positions, FruitDealer at 10 and HongUn at 2
Gas and pool first for FruitDealer, forge expansion for HongUn
Roach warren for FruitDealer, gateway and cannon for HongUn
FruitDealer's zerglings start working on the rocks between bases, HongUn has a spotter pylon at his rocks
Second cannon at HongUn's choke, roaches out for FruitDealer
The rocks go down and FruitDealer's army moves to HongUn's back rocks
HongUn builds three cannons, FruitDealer has eight roaches and plenty of zerglings
The roaches easily destroy the cannons and pylons, forcing HongUn to withdraw to his natural
FruitDealer's army follows him down the ramp, the force field to block it is a little late and plenty of zerglings get down to attack the cannons
HongUn concedes
Basically a build order win for FruitDealer, but it wasn't blind. He scouted HongUn's strategy and then destroyed it.
Game 4 - Lost Temple
Close air positions, FruitDealer at 12 and HongUn at 3
Gas and pool again for FruitDealer, forge first for HongUn
He walls in FruitDealer's ramp with two pylons, then puts a cannon behind it
Roach warren for FruitDealer, nexus on 20 for HongUn
Lair for FruitDealer, HongUn slips a probe through the pylons and scouts FruitDealer's base
FruitDealer cancels the lair, then sends three roaches to clear the cannon while holding his other roaches back
Zergling speed starts for FruitDealer while he sends his forces to HongUn's wall off
HongUn has two cannons and is building a third, but the roaches can hit the forge without coming into range
A fourth cannon finishes the cannon wall-off as the forge dies, two stargates building for HongUn
Void ray starts, FruitDealer moves in with roaches and lings
They easily plow through the cannons but HongUn continues building the wall, adding more and more pylons, gates, and so forth
Void ray is out and kills all the roaches, then starts plowing through the zerglings
A second void ray is now out, finally the zerglings break through but only four are left
FruitDealer has four queens at his main as the three void rays arrive
Despite transfusions the void rays kill the queens
FruitDealer concedes
Really impressive, er, wall building from HongUn. That's was about as exciting as a battle can be when only one player has units.
Game 5 - Blistering Sands
Gas and pool for FruitDealer, standard opening for HongUn
Hatchery on 19 for FruitDealer, twilight council for HongUn
Dark shrine and two more gateways now for HongUn, zerglings attacking his back rocks
Dark shrine finishing, no lair yet, but evolution chamber starting for FruitDEaler
Three DTs run into FruitDealer's base, zerglings on hold position on the ramp try to stop them
There's a spore crawler in FruitDealer's main but the DTs get to it before it finishes and destroy it
Everyone waits for FruitDealer to leave while DTs slaughter his undefended forces
FruitDealer surrenders
Not a very exciting game, but a smart move by HongUn to take advantage of FruitDealer's late lair.
Commentary: Both players knew each other quite well and spent the match trying to hit weak spots in each other's strategies. Since these attacks required a lot of commitment they essentially either won or lost the game each time. Not the best match for pure spectators, but probably educational for people who play. HongUn is the first Protoss player to ever reach a GSL semifinal.
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