After a very equal final set against Thorzain, DongRaeGu is crowned Valencia Invitational Champion, taking the gold with a 3:2 and winning $15,000. The Korean zerg went undefeated throughout the rounds of 8 and 4, knocking out homeground player Lucifron and Fnatic's Rain.
This is the first international victory for DongRaeGu, who has been dreaded as a favorite for the MLG golds at Anaheim and Raleigh but failed to do so in both tournaments. The col.MVP zerg finally conquered a major event and will bring home $15,000 and an invite to DreamHack Winter 2011.
Thorzain showed incredible resilience in game 1 on Shakuras Plateau, staying alive even after a surprising roach rush crippled his economy and cancelled his stim. The terran recovered from the attack nimbly and went on get his expo running, mustering a marine/tank army. But as the mid-game came, Thorzain once again suffered an unending zerg pressure, coming from terrifying mutalisk harassment. It took Thorzain nearly 20 minutes to secure a third but that time DongRaeGu had a 2:1 army advantage so the Swede had to tap out.
In game 2 on Tal'Darim Altar Thorzain displayed the results of his Korean training, going for the marine/hellion elevator push that won Slayers so many games at MLG Anaheim. Killing nearly 20 workers, Thorzain used the advantage to move out and take the center, but made the mistake of spreading to thin and letting DongRaeGu catch up in supply. But as 3/3 finished for Thorzain's marines, DongRaeGu found it harder and harder to pick up stranded marines and typed a GG when his mutas melted during the final confrontation.
The beginning of game 3 on Terminus was a deja vu amalgamation of the previous sets: DRG went for a roach bust, sniping some workers and a tank and Thorzain answering with a deadly marine/hellion elevation that cost the zerg the majority of his queens as well as about half the drones at the main. Once again, Thorzain moved out to exert his superiority, but DRG's mutalisks kept him alive until his ultralisk tech kicked in, making Thorzain's tanks and thors melt and forcing out a GG.
Game 4 on Antiga Shipyard was a fight for survival for Thorzain. Being down 1-2, he desperately needed a win to stay alive in order to fight for the meaty prize pool. Thus, the young Swede switched on his insanity button and pealed apart DRG with devastating medivac drops. The zerg barely had a chance to mine from a fourth base and his situation was made even worse by the fact that Thorzain successfully held a gold base, fueling his aggression without much trouble. As the final minutes went by, DRG lost his pool and mined his bases out, tapping out and setting the score to a 2-2.
The final set was on Metalopolis and began with Thorzain gaining an early edge by sniping DRG's third but siege mistakes during the follow-up push put the supply lead in zerg's favor. Which was all DRG needed as his baneling play brought nightmares to Thorzain's ambitions to take and hold a gold base as his third. As his planetary fell twice, Thorzain surrendered the series, congratulating the new champion.
This closed the amazing final series of DreamHack Valencia. DongRaeGu came out of his booth with a big smile as he was given champagne, the DH trophy and the paycheck for $15,000. The next stop for both him and Thorzain will be DreamHack Winter 2011 in November where an even more humongous prize pool of $62,800 awaits.
