In the few days pause while waiting for the third GSL we have yet another awesome tournament - the four-day long GomTV All-star tournament, featuring the best players of the first two GSLs.
With champions NesTea and FruitDealer, runner-ups HopeTorture and Boxer and all-time legends like NaDa and SlayerS_Boxer, we knew that this was something that should not be missed.
FruitDealer vs HongUnPrime
Game 1 @ Xel'Naga Caverns. The tournament started in a very erratic manner with this quick game on Caverns. Opening safely with Gas before Pool, FruitDealer showed us that his favourite 14-Hatches are maybe long gone. Meanwhile, HongUn opened 3-Gate Blink and pushed towards Fruit's expo but his poor micro caused a huge loss of Stalkers to Zerg's Roaches. When Roach Speed kicked in the game was basically over as FruitDealer did not miss a single shot and dwindled the Protoss army into nothing.
Game 2 @ Lost Temple was just as short. HongUn opened with quick Forge and a Pylon block at Fruit's ramp while throwing down a quick Nexus. However, Fruit responded with Roach Warren into quick Lair, followed by a successful Nydus Worm in HongUn's main that won him the game.
BoxerPrime vs oGsZenio
Game 1 @ Metalopolis. Boxer opened with his signature Marine aggression. Going for quick second Rax, he amassed quite the Marine army and, with the help of some SCVs, bunkered up Zenio's ramp, killed his expo and then climbed the ramp for the kill.
A single Bunker laid waste onto Zenio's base
Game 2 @ Shakuras Plateau was a bit longer due to the topography of the map. Boxer tried to do the same Marine/SCV push but Zenio already had a Spine Crawler at his natural and did not suffer any damage. Knowing that Boxer relies heavily on Marines, he went for quick Baneling Nest before Lair and started spitting up Zerglings and Banelings like a madman. Ambushing the second Boxer push and stopping every other one from that point on, Zenio kept getting more and more ahead, winning both the map control and the macro game. Eventually, Boxer's forces were overwhelmed by the Swarm.
Boxer's micro counts for nothing when there is no place to run
Game 3 @ Lost Temple. Boxer opened with quick second gas which on Lost Temple usually means only one thing - Thor drops. Zenio furiously tried to defend his natural by placing tons of Spine Crawlers, Queens and Roaches around it and indeed managed to stall Boxer for quite a while even though he kept on adding Thors on the highground. When Zenio's Mutas started to pop out, Boxer took the smart decision to regroup his Thors with the rest of his army and the combined Terran forces was just too much for the Zerg to handle. Joyful in his win, Boxer even found the time to throw some cute BM in the middle of the map.
NesTea vs NEXGenius
Game 1 @ Steppes of War turned out like most people would've predicted. Both players decided to stay on one base for quite a while with NesTea going for Roaches and Genius - for a +1 timing push all-in. Genius's enormous pressure came soon and NesTea put every effort in stopping it. With the help of some persistent Spine Crawlers it seemed for a moment that he would defend this all-in but the Protoss army kept growing, eventually outnumbering the Zerg and winning the game.
Multiple battles like this one were held all over the place
Game 2 @ Xel'Naga Caverns. Genius opened with a 4-Gate build but NesTea's Overlord scouted in on time and the Protoss decided to abandon his plan and throw down an expo. Entering the mid game, both players had amassed a nice number of Roaches and Stalkers and were having battles all over the place. The winner was unclear for a long time until Genius pushed Zerg's third and got surrounded from both sides by NesTea's Roaches that cleaned every single Stalker.
Game 3 @ Metalopolis. Despite the close rush positions, Genius opened with a Forge-Nexus and started warping in Cannons to protect it. Deciding not to answer with an adequate macro strat, NesTea went for all-in 1-base Roach, constantly trying to break Genius's cannons. Unfortunately for him, the Protoss defenses proofed to be more than sufficient and when Stalkers started popping out, NesTea had to surrender. The reigning GSL champion was eliminated.
Cannons - pew-pewing Zerg forces since 1998
oGsNaDa vs sSKS
Game 1 @ Lost Temple. NaDa opened fast CC into mass Rax while SKS decided to go for a quick Robo and throw his Nexus soon thereafter. Around the five minute mark, NaDa tried to break SKS with a huge Marauder push but a perfect Colossus control and the help of some brilliant force fields saved Tester's skin. The second advancement from NaDa, however, laid containment in front of the Protoss choke and SKS had to come up with a plan to break the siege of Marauders, Medivacs and Vikings. He warped in Stargates and started adding Phoenixes to his army. After almost equalizing his and NaDa's forces, SKS pushed forward and barely broke the contain. His counter push and perfect reinforcing won him the game soon thereafter.
No simple siege can hold mighty SKS in his base
Game 2 @ Scrap Station was almost analogical in its end. NaDa opened 1-Starport Banshee but Tester's perfect Probe micro spotted it and gave him the time to add a couple of Phoenixes to stop the harass. Knowing his plan has failed, NaDa attempted a tech switch into Siege Tanks and pushed in for a contain at SKS's ramp but the TSL player was more than prepared and with the help of his Phoenixes and Immortals he easily broke the contain and won the game.
Oh, yeah, and remember, kids:
No matter what, Boxer still loves you...
- Day 2 - Battle Report
- Results & VODs
With champions NesTea and FruitDealer, runner-ups HopeTorture and Boxer and all-time legends like NaDa and SlayerS_Boxer, we knew that this was something that should not be missed.
FruitDealer vs HongUnPrime
Game 1 @ Xel'Naga Caverns. The tournament started in a very erratic manner with this quick game on Caverns. Opening safely with Gas before Pool, FruitDealer showed us that his favourite 14-Hatches are maybe long gone. Meanwhile, HongUn opened 3-Gate Blink and pushed towards Fruit's expo but his poor micro caused a huge loss of Stalkers to Zerg's Roaches. When Roach Speed kicked in the game was basically over as FruitDealer did not miss a single shot and dwindled the Protoss army into nothing.
Game 2 @ Lost Temple was just as short. HongUn opened with quick Forge and a Pylon block at Fruit's ramp while throwing down a quick Nexus. However, Fruit responded with Roach Warren into quick Lair, followed by a successful Nydus Worm in HongUn's main that won him the game.
BoxerPrime vs oGsZenio
Game 1 @ Metalopolis. Boxer opened with his signature Marine aggression. Going for quick second Rax, he amassed quite the Marine army and, with the help of some SCVs, bunkered up Zenio's ramp, killed his expo and then climbed the ramp for the kill.
A single Bunker laid waste onto Zenio's base
Game 2 @ Shakuras Plateau was a bit longer due to the topography of the map. Boxer tried to do the same Marine/SCV push but Zenio already had a Spine Crawler at his natural and did not suffer any damage. Knowing that Boxer relies heavily on Marines, he went for quick Baneling Nest before Lair and started spitting up Zerglings and Banelings like a madman. Ambushing the second Boxer push and stopping every other one from that point on, Zenio kept getting more and more ahead, winning both the map control and the macro game. Eventually, Boxer's forces were overwhelmed by the Swarm.
Boxer's micro counts for nothing when there is no place to run
Game 3 @ Lost Temple. Boxer opened with quick second gas which on Lost Temple usually means only one thing - Thor drops. Zenio furiously tried to defend his natural by placing tons of Spine Crawlers, Queens and Roaches around it and indeed managed to stall Boxer for quite a while even though he kept on adding Thors on the highground. When Zenio's Mutas started to pop out, Boxer took the smart decision to regroup his Thors with the rest of his army and the combined Terran forces was just too much for the Zerg to handle. Joyful in his win, Boxer even found the time to throw some cute BM in the middle of the map.
NesTea vs NEXGenius
Game 1 @ Steppes of War turned out like most people would've predicted. Both players decided to stay on one base for quite a while with NesTea going for Roaches and Genius - for a +1 timing push all-in. Genius's enormous pressure came soon and NesTea put every effort in stopping it. With the help of some persistent Spine Crawlers it seemed for a moment that he would defend this all-in but the Protoss army kept growing, eventually outnumbering the Zerg and winning the game.
Multiple battles like this one were held all over the place
Game 2 @ Xel'Naga Caverns. Genius opened with a 4-Gate build but NesTea's Overlord scouted in on time and the Protoss decided to abandon his plan and throw down an expo. Entering the mid game, both players had amassed a nice number of Roaches and Stalkers and were having battles all over the place. The winner was unclear for a long time until Genius pushed Zerg's third and got surrounded from both sides by NesTea's Roaches that cleaned every single Stalker.
Game 3 @ Metalopolis. Despite the close rush positions, Genius opened with a Forge-Nexus and started warping in Cannons to protect it. Deciding not to answer with an adequate macro strat, NesTea went for all-in 1-base Roach, constantly trying to break Genius's cannons. Unfortunately for him, the Protoss defenses proofed to be more than sufficient and when Stalkers started popping out, NesTea had to surrender. The reigning GSL champion was eliminated.
Cannons - pew-pewing Zerg forces since 1998
oGsNaDa vs sSKS
Game 1 @ Lost Temple. NaDa opened fast CC into mass Rax while SKS decided to go for a quick Robo and throw his Nexus soon thereafter. Around the five minute mark, NaDa tried to break SKS with a huge Marauder push but a perfect Colossus control and the help of some brilliant force fields saved Tester's skin. The second advancement from NaDa, however, laid containment in front of the Protoss choke and SKS had to come up with a plan to break the siege of Marauders, Medivacs and Vikings. He warped in Stargates and started adding Phoenixes to his army. After almost equalizing his and NaDa's forces, SKS pushed forward and barely broke the contain. His counter push and perfect reinforcing won him the game soon thereafter.
No simple siege can hold mighty SKS in his base
Game 2 @ Scrap Station was almost analogical in its end. NaDa opened 1-Starport Banshee but Tester's perfect Probe micro spotted it and gave him the time to add a couple of Phoenixes to stop the harass. Knowing his plan has failed, NaDa attempted a tech switch into Siege Tanks and pushed in for a contain at SKS's ramp but the TSL player was more than prepared and with the help of his Phoenixes and Immortals he easily broke the contain and won the game.
Oh, yeah, and remember, kids:
No matter what, Boxer still loves you...
- Day 2 - Battle Report
- Results & VODs
