Six terrans. Two zergs. Such was the race distribution at the Code A May’s quarter finals. Furthermore, it is still strange to see names like MVP, Bomber and MMA in the “lesser” of the two GSLs so I approached the Ro8 with high expectations and finished it up almost fully satisfied.
SlayerS_MMA vs ST_Bomber
Game 1 @ Crevasse
MMA opened with a standard fast CC into mass bio build and soon he was dictating the tempo of the game, sniping Bomber’s cloaked Banshees and preventing any economy damage. This allowed the Slayers’ terran to get his third Orbital very quickly and soon he was even more ahead, dropping mules like a crazy person. Knowing he is behind, Bomber tried to do a small push across the map but MMA was paying attention and the blue Terran lost everything, including all his tanks and a valuable medivac. Soon MMA had Bomber contained and was getting his fourth (and soon thereafter his fifth) command centre and for most people the game was finished.
But TvT is an unforgiving mirror. After losing a couple of siege tanks due to misplacement of his bio forces, MMAs contain grew way thinner than it should have and suddenly Bomber was unleashed, having beaten the red forces with significant army lead. MMA had to type out after a few minutes.
Game 2 @ Dual Sight
Bomber opened with a tricky play, sneaking a gold CC instead of his natural and for some time he managed to take an economy lead despite MMA’s heavy banshee harass. When the Slayers Terran eventually spotted Bomber’s play, he could not react on time to deny it and it was basically all Bomber needed to launch a two-way pressure onto MMA, distracting his Marines from his natural with a drop and using a second squadron to snipe the orbital command.
From that point on, Bomber just kept pressing and denying MMA any attempt to come even in terms of expansions and was soon able to outmacro the Slayers terran to a point at which the latter could not win a straight fight. Knowing this, MMA surrendered the series.
GSL May Code A Ro8
Slayers_MMA 0-2 ST_Bomber
Slayers_MMA 0-1 ST_Bomber
Crevasse » VOD
Slayers_MMA 0-2 ST_Bomber
Dual Sight »
SlayerS_Ryung vs TSL_Alive
Game 1 @ Xel'Naga Fortress
The mirror between those two players was probably a bit less expected than the one before and, to be honest, did not manage to break people's lowered anticipation and was a bit more one-sided. Alive tried to go for a pure mech play on Fortress, a strat less used by Terrans nowadays when facing a mirror match. And Ryung showed us why it is so, using Marauders' mobility to cut out reinforcements and punish Alive's mech with tanks of his own. After many waves of Marauder pressure, Alive faltered and was now down one game.
Game 2 @ Terminus RE
Alive started the second set on a wrong foot, failing his two-way Hellion/Marine pressure, which Ryung fended off without much casualties. The follow-up Banshee harass also could not pay too huge of dividents and both players soon realised that they need to do other tricks in order to win.
Thus came the phase of the medivac drops when each Terran continuously denied his opponent's third and both players were for quite a while on equal grounds but it seemed that Ryung's drops were doing more damage overall and he soon managed to pull a big economy victory by crippling Alive's natural. Forced against the ropes, Alive took the more risky path of just all-inning with a great portion of his SCVs in hopes of crushing Ryung's tank line flawlessly and winning the game there and then. Unfortunately, things did not go according to plan and even though the SCVs soaked a lot of damage, Alive's poor micromanagement and bad battle decisions cost him all his bio army and then the game itself.
GSL May Code A Ro8
Slayers_Ryung 2-0 TSL_Alive
Slayers_RyungA 1-0 TSL_Alive
Xel'Naga Fortress » VOD
Slayers_Ryung2-0 TSL_Alive
Terminus Re »
IM_MVP vs MVP_Violet
Game 1 @ Terminus RE
This was one of the most anticipated matches of the Ro8. The GSL January and Seoul Invitational champion MVP had to face the SC2 newcomer and former WarCraft 3 pro Violet. The Zerg had already defeated two of the better Code A players in the tournament - Ace and YuGiOh - and was now looking forward to slaying another giant.
Thus, after scouting MVP's forward barrack wall which was meant to be a prelude to a fast third CC, Violet threw a quick Roach Warren even before starting his Queen in an attempt to end the game swiftly and elude a macro game against the beast that is MVP. The Terran, however, managed to scout that in time and bunker up before the roaches could do any damage.
Violet was now forced to transition to a macro play and from that point on the game became a display stage for MVP's impeccable mechanics and macro play. Dropping at several places at once and simultaneously applying frontal pressure, the Terran put Violet's skills at defence at their limits and the latter soon broke down. Violet started making bad decisions and engaging armies he should avoid and when he sloppily lost all his precious Brood Lords the game was over.
Game 2 @ Xel'Naga Caverns
On Caverns, MVP opened up with a standard Marine/Tank push and leapfrogged towards Violet's natural, catching the Zerg a little bit off-guard. However, with big losses and tons of slow Banelings, Violet somehow held the attack and started droning up. Soon, MVP geared up for a second push but this time he made the mistake of moving out somewhat unprepared and his entire army got slaughtered in the middle of the map by Violets Muta/Ling/Baneling mix. In a matter of minutes, Violets counter aggression cost MVP his natural and the game should have ended if Violet hadn't made the mistake of overcommitting.
Continuing to throw away Zerglings and precious Mutalisks and being unreasonably stubborn in taking a fourth base which would mean almost an instant win, Violet was slowly pushed back and MVP eventually fortressed up at the gold base, setting a mighty defence that the Zerg could not break. Realizing his mistakes only after being so far behind economically, Violet had to give away the victory to the Terran.
GSL May Code A Ro8
IM_MVP 2-0 MVP_Violet
IM_MVP 1-0 MVP_Violet
Terminus RE » VOD
IM_MVP2-0 MVP_Violet
Xel'Naga Caverns »
ZenexCoca vs MVP_Keen
Game 1 @ Crevasse
Keen and Coca stepped last on the stage to cool off the passions after the star players of the day. And a nice cooling it was, having in mind that the last sets played did not really display the highest level of StarCraft in the world.
Going for the small expansion was Coca's first major mistake in the series as it not only didn't provide him the necessary resources needed for a stable mid-game but he would soon lose it to a marine drop, which he could not adequately defend at all.
A second blunder came around the 15th minute when Keen moved out with a scary Terran army across the map to conquer Coca. The Zerg, who in theory had enough to stall the push, engaged horribly, sending his banes against the mech units while trying to kill stimmed marines with his puny mutalisk force. Needless it is to say that he was soon forced to GG out.
Game 2 @ Terminus
It would appear that Coca was not really himself today as we rarely see a Zerg lose so many units to just four innocent Hellions. And as if his economy was not in shambles, Coca had to endure a Banshee harass that further damaged whatever resemblances of drone count did the Zerg have. Knowing that he has to do something quick, Coca geared for an all-in baneling bust. But this was also a mismanaged situation as the Zerg forgot to rally more Zerglings into the busted Terran natural and that gave Keen enough time to re-wall and safely restore his SCV count, putting Coca in a state of checkmate.
GSL May Code A Ro8
MVP_Keen 2-0 ZenexCoca
MVP_Keen 1-0 ZenexCoca
Crevasse » VOD
MVP_Keen2-0 ZenexCoca
Terminus RE »
This has brought us to a deja-vu semi-finals that bring us back to the first Code A finals in January. Bomber will be facing Ryung and MVP will go against Keen on Thursday, May 4th.
Links
GOMtv - Source
SlayerS_MMA vs ST_Bomber
Game 1 @ Crevasse
MMA opened with a standard fast CC into mass bio build and soon he was dictating the tempo of the game, sniping Bomber’s cloaked Banshees and preventing any economy damage. This allowed the Slayers’ terran to get his third Orbital very quickly and soon he was even more ahead, dropping mules like a crazy person. Knowing he is behind, Bomber tried to do a small push across the map but MMA was paying attention and the blue Terran lost everything, including all his tanks and a valuable medivac. Soon MMA had Bomber contained and was getting his fourth (and soon thereafter his fifth) command centre and for most people the game was finished.
But TvT is an unforgiving mirror. After losing a couple of siege tanks due to misplacement of his bio forces, MMAs contain grew way thinner than it should have and suddenly Bomber was unleashed, having beaten the red forces with significant army lead. MMA had to type out after a few minutes.
Game 2 @ Dual Sight
Bomber opened with a tricky play, sneaking a gold CC instead of his natural and for some time he managed to take an economy lead despite MMA’s heavy banshee harass. When the Slayers Terran eventually spotted Bomber’s play, he could not react on time to deny it and it was basically all Bomber needed to launch a two-way pressure onto MMA, distracting his Marines from his natural with a drop and using a second squadron to snipe the orbital command.
From that point on, Bomber just kept pressing and denying MMA any attempt to come even in terms of expansions and was soon able to outmacro the Slayers terran to a point at which the latter could not win a straight fight. Knowing this, MMA surrendered the series.
GSL May Code A Ro8
Slayers_MMA 0-2 ST_Bomber
Slayers_MMA 0-1 ST_Bomber
Crevasse » VOD
Slayers_MMA 0-2 ST_Bomber
Dual Sight »
SlayerS_Ryung vs TSL_Alive
Game 1 @ Xel'Naga Fortress
The mirror between those two players was probably a bit less expected than the one before and, to be honest, did not manage to break people's lowered anticipation and was a bit more one-sided. Alive tried to go for a pure mech play on Fortress, a strat less used by Terrans nowadays when facing a mirror match. And Ryung showed us why it is so, using Marauders' mobility to cut out reinforcements and punish Alive's mech with tanks of his own. After many waves of Marauder pressure, Alive faltered and was now down one game.
Game 2 @ Terminus RE
Alive started the second set on a wrong foot, failing his two-way Hellion/Marine pressure, which Ryung fended off without much casualties. The follow-up Banshee harass also could not pay too huge of dividents and both players soon realised that they need to do other tricks in order to win.
Thus came the phase of the medivac drops when each Terran continuously denied his opponent's third and both players were for quite a while on equal grounds but it seemed that Ryung's drops were doing more damage overall and he soon managed to pull a big economy victory by crippling Alive's natural. Forced against the ropes, Alive took the more risky path of just all-inning with a great portion of his SCVs in hopes of crushing Ryung's tank line flawlessly and winning the game there and then. Unfortunately, things did not go according to plan and even though the SCVs soaked a lot of damage, Alive's poor micromanagement and bad battle decisions cost him all his bio army and then the game itself.
GSL May Code A Ro8
Slayers_Ryung 2-0 TSL_Alive
Slayers_RyungA 1-0 TSL_Alive
Xel'Naga Fortress » VOD
Slayers_Ryung2-0 TSL_Alive
Terminus Re »
IM_MVP vs MVP_Violet
Game 1 @ Terminus RE
This was one of the most anticipated matches of the Ro8. The GSL January and Seoul Invitational champion MVP had to face the SC2 newcomer and former WarCraft 3 pro Violet. The Zerg had already defeated two of the better Code A players in the tournament - Ace and YuGiOh - and was now looking forward to slaying another giant.
Thus, after scouting MVP's forward barrack wall which was meant to be a prelude to a fast third CC, Violet threw a quick Roach Warren even before starting his Queen in an attempt to end the game swiftly and elude a macro game against the beast that is MVP. The Terran, however, managed to scout that in time and bunker up before the roaches could do any damage.
Violet was now forced to transition to a macro play and from that point on the game became a display stage for MVP's impeccable mechanics and macro play. Dropping at several places at once and simultaneously applying frontal pressure, the Terran put Violet's skills at defence at their limits and the latter soon broke down. Violet started making bad decisions and engaging armies he should avoid and when he sloppily lost all his precious Brood Lords the game was over.
Game 2 @ Xel'Naga Caverns
On Caverns, MVP opened up with a standard Marine/Tank push and leapfrogged towards Violet's natural, catching the Zerg a little bit off-guard. However, with big losses and tons of slow Banelings, Violet somehow held the attack and started droning up. Soon, MVP geared up for a second push but this time he made the mistake of moving out somewhat unprepared and his entire army got slaughtered in the middle of the map by Violets Muta/Ling/Baneling mix. In a matter of minutes, Violets counter aggression cost MVP his natural and the game should have ended if Violet hadn't made the mistake of overcommitting.
Continuing to throw away Zerglings and precious Mutalisks and being unreasonably stubborn in taking a fourth base which would mean almost an instant win, Violet was slowly pushed back and MVP eventually fortressed up at the gold base, setting a mighty defence that the Zerg could not break. Realizing his mistakes only after being so far behind economically, Violet had to give away the victory to the Terran.
GSL May Code A Ro8
IM_MVP 2-0 MVP_Violet
IM_MVP 1-0 MVP_Violet
Terminus RE » VOD
IM_MVP2-0 MVP_Violet
Xel'Naga Caverns »
ZenexCoca vs MVP_Keen
Game 1 @ Crevasse
Keen and Coca stepped last on the stage to cool off the passions after the star players of the day. And a nice cooling it was, having in mind that the last sets played did not really display the highest level of StarCraft in the world.
Going for the small expansion was Coca's first major mistake in the series as it not only didn't provide him the necessary resources needed for a stable mid-game but he would soon lose it to a marine drop, which he could not adequately defend at all.
A second blunder came around the 15th minute when Keen moved out with a scary Terran army across the map to conquer Coca. The Zerg, who in theory had enough to stall the push, engaged horribly, sending his banes against the mech units while trying to kill stimmed marines with his puny mutalisk force. Needless it is to say that he was soon forced to GG out.
Game 2 @ Terminus
It would appear that Coca was not really himself today as we rarely see a Zerg lose so many units to just four innocent Hellions. And as if his economy was not in shambles, Coca had to endure a Banshee harass that further damaged whatever resemblances of drone count did the Zerg have. Knowing that he has to do something quick, Coca geared for an all-in baneling bust. But this was also a mismanaged situation as the Zerg forgot to rally more Zerglings into the busted Terran natural and that gave Keen enough time to re-wall and safely restore his SCV count, putting Coca in a state of checkmate.
GSL May Code A Ro8
MVP_Keen 2-0 ZenexCoca
MVP_Keen 1-0 ZenexCoca
Crevasse » VOD
MVP_Keen2-0 ZenexCoca
Terminus RE »
This has brought us to a deja-vu semi-finals that bring us back to the first Code A finals in January. Bomber will be facing Ryung and MVP will go against Keen on Thursday, May 4th.
Links
GOMtv - Source
