January 2011 Code S Round of 32: Group H

It's the last group of the round of 32, but it's definitely not the least. Both foreigners are playing along with two other prominent Starcraft 2 players:

Player		Code S Rank	2010 Results
oGsEnsnare	T	#8	ro4, ro16, DNQ
LiquidJinro	T	T-#11	DNQ, DNQ, ro4
CheckPrimeWE	Z	#18	ro16, ro16, ro32
EGIdrA	Z	#21	ro32, ro16, ro32

oGsEnsnare is probably better known in Korea than outside of it, but he's been a prominent Terran player since the beta. He did quite well in GSL 1, but since then he's slid a little bit in comparison to the other players and even failed to qualify for GSL 3. Jinro arrived in Korea with the original group from TeamLiquid and was written off in some quarters due to his qualification troubles and his lack of results in foreign tournaments, but he proved the doubters wrong by winning MLG Dallas and then going on a very deep run in GSL 3, losing only to the eventual champion oGsMC. CheckPrimeWE was, along with TSLFruitDealer, one of the top Zergs from the beginning of the beta. Unlike FruitDealer, however, he hasn't translated this pedigree into GSL success. A former Warcraft 3 player, he's shown very clever tactics and micro, but his macro play sometimes lets him down. EGIdrA was the most famous foreign Starcraft 1 player of the last few years and he's been a force to be reckoned with in Starcraft 2, winning MLG DC. However, he still hasn't put together the sort of GSL tournament result that his fans (not to mention he himself) think he's capable of.

Once again, the group H VOD has the subtitled video interviews with each player before their first game (at the end of the game 1 video in the case of the game 2 interviews...well, interview actually, since only Jinro was interviewed).

CheckPrimeWE (Z) vs. oGsEnsnare (T) on Shakuras Plateau
Match Rating: 5/10

Click for match play by play

Cross positions, Check at 2 and Ensnare at 7.

Ensnare walls in on the bottom of his ramp, Check goes hatch first on 15

Command center on 18 for Ensnare, who then builds a bunker on the low ground below the natural

Drones move to stop it, but extra marines arrive and force them to go back

Check gets a spine crawler as the hatch finishes, then runs his zerglings by the bunker

Ensnare walls in with his original barracks, a factory, and an engineering bay

Check relocates the spine crawler in range of the bunker, so Ensnare salvages it

Zergling speed for Check, starport and infantry attack for Ensnare

Ensnare puts the starport on a reactor and starts making medivacs while also researching stim

Check sacrifices an overlord and spots a medivac coming out of the starport

Check gets a baneling nest and a macro hatchery

Two dropships move out of Ensnare's base but are seen by overlords as they leave

Check morphs banelings in his natural and starts getting lair

Ensnare gets three more barracks, Check gets baneling speed

Ensnare keeps ferrying marines back and forth between Check's natural and the nearby high ground

Spire starts for Check, who finally cleans up the last marines

Armory coming for Ensnare, Check takes his third

Command center and siege mode start for Ensnare, mutalisks coming for Check

Infestation pit coming as well for Check

Ensnare drops some marines at the top of the map, then moves his main army across the bottom

Mutalisks take out the small marine force at the top, but the main army has quite a few marines and siege tanks

The tanks siege up over the third base, but Check attacks with a large number of speedlings up the ramp

The zerglings get destroyed by the tanks and marines with enough marines left over to prevent the mutalisks from attacking

Ensnare's army destroys the third hatchery, forcing Check to re-expand to a center expansion

Ensnare double expands to the bottom center and the bottom right

Check attacks Ensnare's army again and this time he has enough to overwhelm it

Ensnare's reinforcements arrive and drive Check's units back

Ensnare sets up an elaborate siege tank position at Check's old third with spread marines protecting them

Check attacks it again but his army melts to the siege tank and marine fire

Ensnare then moves up and destroys Check's new third hatchery while taking a fifth base

Check concedes

Other players who have let Zerg players take three bases without interference ended up getting stomped. It was Ensnare who was doing the stomping here, though. When the battles started, Ensnare always seemed to have more units and the better positions. Check repeatedly attacked into siege tank positions with zerglings, showing none of the tactical flexibility he displayed in earlier GSL tournaments.

EGIdrA (Z) vs. LiquidJinro (T) on Jungle Basin
Match Rating: 7/10

Click for match play by play

Gas and then pool for IdrA, two barracks for Jinro

Zergling speed for IdrA, who scouts the two barracks and takes his natural

Jinro gets a command center not long after IdrA's, at 24 supply

IdrA's zerglings start working on the rocks behind Jinro's natural, but he has a supply depot spotting for it

Factory and two more barracks for Jinro while he drives away the zerglings

IdrA getting lair and a baneling nest, Jinro getting stim

Starport and reactors now for Jinro, baneling speed starts for IdrA

IdrA scouts Jinro's base with an overseer

Jinro getting an armory and an engineering bay

IdrA moves down his ramp with a fairly small group of marines...just 13 plus a medivac

IdrA makes seven banelings and sends his zerglings out to keep an eye on Jinro's force

Thor and shields coming for Jinro, IdrA getting a spire and a macro hatchery

Jinro even building turrets, but IdrA's spire is only half done

IdrA starts a hatchery at the near outside expansion but a marine scouts it

9 mutalisks and air attack coming for IdrA, both players even in supply

Siege mode and another factory finishing for Jinro

The mutalisks arrive at the natural but turn around when they see Jinro's thor

Command center being built in Jinro's main, no drones transferred to IdrA's third yet

Jinro moves to the center of the map and sieges at the center expansion, then floats his command center over

Jinro adding barracks and making a reaper, IdrA continuing to make mutalisks and banelings

Jinro lands the command center and turns it into a planetary fortress, IdrA sends a drone to the next outside expansion to make a hatchery

IdrA's very large group of mutalisks finds a hole in Jinro's turret defenses and does some damage

Meanwhile Jinro attacks IdrA's fourth and forces a cancel

The mutalisks escort the drone back to the original fourth expansion but a marine picks off the drone

IdrA plants a hatchery at a center expansion and then attacks up into Jinro's position with banelings and mutalisks

Jinro repels but loses a number of siege tanks, then moves down and forces IdrA to cancel his center expansion

Hive coming for IdrA while he and Jinro have an enormous fight outside Jinro's expansion

IdrA's mutalisks clean up the siege tanks, the tanks kill the banelings, and the marines are diminished to the point that the mutalisks kill them

Jinro's thor arrives to help and shoots down some mutalisks before getting surrounded by zerglings

Despite IdrA's victories, both players are even on bases

Jinro creates a large siege tank position supported by two thors, but IdrA moves in with his zergling/mutalisk group

Zerglings kill the thors, mutalisks kill the tanks

Jinro's base defenses are still intact and IdrA is having trouble replacing his losses...the mutalisks make one last effort near Jinro's main but turrets and thors are too much for them

IdrA concedes

Great play from both players. IdrA just couldn't find a way to take a fourth base, and while he was able to defeat Jinro's units in the field, that was because Jinro made sure to leave enough units at his bases to defend them. Expansion issues are a common problem for Zerg players on this map, and you wonder how the game would have gone on a different map.

Match 1 winner vs Match 2 loser
Match Rating: 7/10

Click for match play by play

EGIdrA (Z) vs. oGsEnsnare (T) on Xel'Naga Caverns

Right after the game starts, Ensnare requests a pause

Apparently he's having a mouse problem.

The game resumes without too much of a delay.

Ensnare going gas before barracks, IdrA goes hatch first

Reactor and factory now for Ensnare, IdrA scouts it and immediately gets a roach warren

Ensnare switches his factory to the reactor and starts making hellions

Ensnare then builds a command center, IdrA getting roaches

Right as the hellions arrive the roaches finish, so the hellions immediately withdraw

A few roaches move down to Ensnare's ramp and start hitting the buildings there

A tank forces the roaches to withdraw while Ensnare starts blue flame

IdrA gets zergling speed and lair

Ensnare moves out with about ten marines, two hellions, and a tank

The hellions move in first, snipe a few drones, then the whole force falls back

While IdrA's units chase the retreating army, a few hellions try to sneak around to the back of the natural but a roach is guarding the grass

IdrA sends some roaches into the side of the expansion and harasses a little bit

IdrA getting his third base, plus a baneling nest and spire

Ensnare getting turrets, siege mode, and more tanks

Ensnare getting stim, IdrA getting 8 mutalisks plus air attack

Two more barracks for Ensnare who sends hellions to IdrA's third where mutalisks repel them

Baneling speed and air attack coming for IdrA, starport and second factory for Ensnare

The mutalisks move to Ensnare's expansion and do some minor harassment there

Ensnare moves his army up to his watchtower

IdrA takes a fourth while Ensnare starts moving toward IdrA's third

IdrA up to 18 mutalisks, Ensnare getting an armory

IdrA attacks his zerglings and roaches up into Ensnare's position, then while they are dying he flanks with his mutalisks and kills all the tanks

Ensnare's army was destroyed and IdrA is up to four bases

IdrA takes down the rocks at the gold, gets spine crawlers at his fourth, and gets a hive

Ensnare tries to take out the rocks at his gold but mutalisks harass

IdrA takes the gold base and continues to harass with the mutalisks

IdrA is maxed, stockpiling minerals, and getting a greater spire

The mutalisks move into the natural and pick off turrets and SCVs before moving to the main

The mutalisks are driven out after taking some heavy losses

IdrA takes a sixth base and starts making corruptors

The first brood lord arrives and moves to the hole in the center of the map

Ensnare tries to drop IdrA's sixth but mutalisks intercept, he's also taken the last base

IdrA up to 5000/2000 stockpile, Ensnare is also maxed

Ensnare sends small infantry groups to both outside expansions while vikings take down some brood lords in the center

IdrA's sixth base is taken down, but Ensnare can't control the area so IdrA just remakes it

Finally Ensnare overcommits with his vikings and they get fungaled, then destroyed by corruptors

Now the brood lords start hitting the gold expansion, but a few more vikings are out

IdrA switching into ultralisks, four out already

With the viking count low, IdrA moves into Ensnare's gold base with his whole army

IdrA's army melts. He then builds 17 ultralisks. Yeah. 17.

Ensnare moves to attack IdrA's sixth, but the ultralisks destroy his army

Now the ultralisks plow into Ensnare's natural, crushing everything in their path

Ensnare concedes

Very long game. Ensnare didn't play badly but he was behind practically from the point when IdrA made a roach warren at the beginning of the game.

Match 2 winner vs Match 1 loser
Match Rating: 6/10

Click for match play by play

CheckPrimeWE (Z) vs. LiquidJinro (T) on Jungle Basin

Check goes hatch first, Jinro gets a factory

Two marines catch one of Check's overlords in the open and kill it, supply blocking Check

Zergling speed starts for Check, hellion coming for Jinro

Marines kill a few zerglings in the middle of the map, are joined by a hellion, then head straight up the ramp into Check's undefended base

The marines kill one of Check's queens before some zerglings can clean them up

Jinro gets two barracks and a banshees, but somehow Check sneaks some zerglings into Jinro's base

The zerglings kill a ridiculous number of SCVs before the banshee comes out and finally cleans it up

Lair and spore crawlers coming for Check, stim and reactors for Jinro

Queens and spore colonies repel the banshee, which moves back to the center of the map

Spire and baneling nest coming for Check, armory and engineering bay for Jinro

Check takes his third and starts making mutalisks, Jinro making a thor

Baneling speed and a roach warren as well for Check, but his third is found by the banshee

Marines arrive and force a cancel before the mutalisks can return to help

Check expands to both outside naturals, Jinro getting siege mode and another barracks and factory

Jinro sends two forces out, one to each expansion

The mutalisks save one but the other is destroyed

Check has overlord drops and loads four overlords full of banelings

Check's huge roach army moves toward Jinro's forces

Jinro retreats all the way back to his main, where Check thinks better of attacking up the ramp

Jinro moves out again and tries to set up a position in the center, but Check moves in and destroys almost his entire army

A small group of marines attack Check's third but there are two spine crawlers there to defend

Jinro drops another small group in Check's main and kills the drones mining gas there

Both players surprisingly close in supply (about 30 apart) but Jinro close to starving

Jinro floats a command center to the center, Check also trying to expand to the center

Check attacks Jinro's center expansion from multiple angles

The siege tanks exact a heavy toll but Check has enough roaches and banelings he wins anyway

Jinro moves his remaining forces out to make one more attempt at setting up a command center in the center

Check cleans it up easily

Jinro concedes

Much better game from Check. Very disappointing that Jinro didn't have a secure wall-in, but these things happen. Check did a great job maintaining his advantage.

Deciding Game(s)
Match Rating: 10/10

Click for match play by play

LiquidJinro (T) vs. oGsEnsnare (T) on Lost Temple, winner advances and loser is eliminated

Close air positions, Jinro at 8 and Ensnare at 6

Factory for Jinro, reaper for Ensnare before factory

Jinro has two marines positioned perfectly to intercept the reaper

It escapes but with only 2 hit points, then tries to come in the other side and dies almost instantly

Jinro getting hellions, blue flame, and a starport while Ensnare gets a barracks, starport, and stim

Ensnare loads a dropship with some marines and a medivac but Jinro's about-to-be-dropped units are there and repel it

Jinro's drop does a surprising amount of damage thanks to some very impressive dropship micro, but a viking forces the dropship to retreat

The viking pursues but Jinro gets SCVs to repair it in time

Both players building command centers, getting tanks and siege mode

Jinro gets his natural up first, then gets a banshee and cloak

Ensnare moves out with three dropships full of marines, marauders, and tanks

Jinro sends SCVs first, then his other units and eventually destroys Ensnare's entire force

All those SCV losses mean that Ensnare has an economic advantage despite his unit losses

Jinro sends a cloaked banshee to Ensnare's natural but gets driven out pretty quickly

Ensnare destroys the rocks at his gold and starts a command center there

Jinro sends a dropship all the way around the map and drops two blue flame hellions in Ensnare's natural

The hellions kill 15 of Ensnare's SCVs, resulting in an SCV and supply lead for Jinro who is clearing the rocks at his own gold

Slowly they are partitioning the map along the diagonal...Jinro now has his gold base up and running

Ensnare sends two dropships full of marines to Jinro's natural while attacking from the other side with two more dropships

Vikings shoot down both dropships in the latter attack while Jinro cleans up the units in his natural

Both players elevator units into each other's mains

After lots of fighting, both players stabilize

Ensnare expanding to the 3 o'clock position

Jinro builds two command centers, one at the 12 o'clock natural

Ensnare drops marines at Jinro's expansion there but only 3 for some reason, allowing Jinro to clean it up

The dropship moves on with the rest of the marines only to get shot down by vikings

Both players skirmish in the upper right part of the map...Ensnare loses a bunch of dropships, Jinro loses some vikings

Jinro drops units on the north side of Ensnare's territory and cleans up a lot of the turrets there

Jinro floats a command center to his island, the last expansion available to him

Jinro drops Ensnare's most remote expansion and does some minor damage

Jinro creates a strong siege position in the center of the map, both players start jockeying for position

Ensnare catches a few stray units, but when he tries to press his advantage he finds himself in siege range

Jinro moves down and sieges up underneath Ensnare's main

Ensnare counters and starts pushing through Jinro's defenses in another area

Ensnare tries a drop near Jinro's newer bases but it gets easily beaten back

Jinro forces Ensnare to move his factories and meanwhile he re-establishes the position that Ensnare broke through earlier

Ensnare finally manages to push most of Jinro's units away from the back of his main

Jinro making a few banshees and using them to pick off siege tanks

Ensnare tries another drop, this time at Jinro's main, but Jinro deals with it easily

Ensnare finds a hole in the sensor tower coverage and drops marines outside one of Jinro's bases

In the center of the map Jinro establishes air superiority but Jinro counters with scans

Now Ensnare is pushing toward the 12 o'clock with siege tanks and vikings

Jinro getting a raven and fusion core, Ensnare getting a ghost academy

Ensnare makes a major push toward Jinro's main, even landing his vikings there, but Jinro cleans up and forces a retreat

Now Jinro lands his vikings and lets them die to free up supply...he's now even on vikings with Ensnare

Battlecruisers out for Jinro now...a large viking battle takes place and Jinro wins

Jinro drops marines in Ensnare's main and destroys the ghost academy

Jinro has a sort of victory fleet now...22 vikings and a few battlecruisers

Instead of engaging Jinro's massive force, Ensnare counters and forces Jinro to pursue

Jinro lands his vikings, loses his battlecruisers, but otherwise wins the battle

Jinro now at a large supply advantage, Jinro drops some of Ensnare's mined out expansions and continues to hold the center of the map

Ensnare surrenders

Epic. Game. Brilliant play from both players. Ensnare came out second best, but only barely. Jinro moves on to the next round.

CheckPrimeWE (Z) vs. EGIdrA (Z) on Jungle Basin, winner advances and loser is eliminated

Gas then pool first for Check, hatch first for IdrA

Zergling speed for Check, roach warren for IdrA

Check takes his natural at about 21 supply, then pokes IdrA's ramp but turns around

Baneling nest for Check, IdrA pumping roaches

Check pokes the ramp again, sees roaches, and cancels his baneling nest in favor of a roach warren

Lair for IdrA, then Check as well

Check snipes an overlord with his queen and starts working on IdrA's rocks with his zerglings

Two roaches drive off the zerglings after most of the health is removed

Check starts a spire but IdrA scouts it with an overseer

Hydralisk den for IdrA plus some spore crawlers

Check takes a third at the far outside expansion, IdrA getting a macro hatchery

The mutalisks arrive at IdrA's expansion but the queen and spore crawlers drive them off

IdrA sends a very large group of roaches to Check's third and destroy it

Check's reinforcing roaches catch IdrA's hydras off creep, but IdrA's roaches get back to help

Bizarrely Check's roach army starts being chased around by IdrA's hydra/roach army

Suddenly IdrA counters into Check's main

Check's roaches follow them in and surround IdrA's army

But IdrA has so many roaches his army gives as good as it gets, and when a wave of reinforcing roaches arrive Check's last units fall

Check surrenders

Fantastic game. Not a ridiculously long as the previous game, but great nonetheless. So many ZvZ games are decided really quickly in some burst of micro, but this one was much more involved. Best of all, IdrA won by out-thinking Check.

Group H Results and Commentary

Click for results, standings, and commentary

Results
oGsEnsnare (1-0) defeats CheckPrimeWE (0-1)
LiquidJinro (1-0) defeats EGIdrA (0-1)
EGIdrA (1-1) defeats oGsEnsnare (1-1)
CheckPrimeWE (1-1) defeats LiquidJinro (1-1)
LiquidJinro (2-1) defeats oGsEnsnare (1-2) [Jinro advances, Ensnare is eliminated]
EGIdrA (2-1) defeats CheckPrimeWE (1-2) [IdrA advances, Check is eliminated, places decided]

Standings
1. LiquidJinro
2. EGIdrA
3. oGsEnsnare
4. CheckPrimeWE

Commentary
Clearly this was the most evenly matched group of the round of 32 and it provided by far the best games. Both Ensnare and Check probably would have advanced in many of the other groups. What's most amazing is that the best games were the last, deciding games. Jinro might seem lucky he's going to be able to laugh about his catastrophic mistake against Check, but after grinding through one of the longest GSL games ever against oGsEnsnare no one can call it luck. Someone in Code A is going to be really disappointed to find themselves fighting Check and Ensnare for promotion instead of some of the lesser Code S players.