With two SlayerS players, a living legend and a former Code A finalist, Group F is as motley as it can be. Add to it one of the best Code S games played this season and you understand why this quartet is worth watching.
Oz vs Coca @ Belshir Beach
Whenever Oz plays a PvZ I always ask myself "Will he go for these ludicrous two-base sentry pushes that always end in a disaster?". The answer here was "Oh, yes, he most definitely will". And thus it was the trademark Oz PvZ where he defends the early zerg pressure, moves out and gets smashed at the gates of the zerg player. Hope he learns soon.
You see how these are not good odds?
Nada vs Taeja @ Tal'Darim Altar
Nada opened with proxy rax and factory in the middle of the map but Taeja managed to scout it in time to get his bunkers up and be completely safe from any type of threat that Nada was capable of at that point. Taeja responded with a push of his own, striking from the low-ground to delay Nada's expo for a little while but the game was going very equal overall even after kind of blew his counter push.
The relative equilibrium ended with a do-or-die doom drop by Taeja as he unloaded five medivacs worth of units right into Nada's face. Being a bit out of position was Nada's Achilles heel and half of his tanks melted instantly; his other half died seconds later to stimmed marines and Nada had to gg out.
Brings back memories from the old BroodWar TvT times, doesn't it?
Taeja vs Coca @ Daybreak
Putting this game in words is difficult as Taeja and Coca made sure that there is not but a single minute in the mid-game without something spectacular happening. The first ten minutes were just a prelude to the explosive theater to come and both players just sat back and powered up their economies, securing a bright and rich future for themselves.
The mayhem ensued shortly after the tenth minute - armies were traded with devastating fungals and obliterating tank fire, hatcheries kept dying not being able to stay healthy fore more than a couple of minutes, tanks were sniped and ultralisks kited in this high octane game that seemed neverending.
But instead of expanding with time, the margins of the match seemed to shrink to its mid-game proportion - neither player had a healthy economy due to the constant drops or run-byes that cost the life of not one or two bases and the battles were led WarCraft 3 style - with just a few units from either side trying to be as cost efficient as possible.
In these times Taeja found his M.U.L.E.s most useful as previous raid had left him with zero workers. Thanks to them (and to his bestial micro), Taeja managed to stay alive with 30 supply to over 100 of Coca. The battles kept on going and few minutes later neither player was mining at all but Coca's supply advantage could not easily be overlooked. A fungal flank ended most of his marauders and, finally, Taeja conceded the match.
Coca's killing blow
Nada vs Oz @ Dual Sight
Oz opened with 1-gate expand into robo but somehow managed to trick Nada into thinking he was going for an aggressive build. Thus, the oGs terran took a good time before landing his second CC and it was only after he scouted Oz's double forge transition.
With his expo now set, Nada moved out to have a small battle with Oz just outside of his natural and once his bio upgrades finished, the terran marched up towards the protoss base. But the total misread of the situation led Nada into a brilliant forcefield trap and Oz literally walked away with a free major advantage.
The FXO protoss continued chrono boosting his upgrades like a crazy person and before the 20th minute he had 3/3 chargelots, storms and a dark shrine to cover his ass if something unpredicted should happen. With this deathball, Oz engaged the terran north of his natural and Nada fell slain to the ground, dying under psi storms and zealot blades.
It's a TRAP!
Taeja vs Oz @ Calm Before the Storm
The last match in the group was on CbtS so both players just sat back and powered up hard while teching with double upgrades for their army plus whatever other research fit their cause. Taeja went for standard bio with double e-bay and ghosts while Oz chose the chargelot/storm/colossus deathball.
After minutes of passivity, the game ended in a blink of an eye - storms and colossi melted Taeja's marauders and at the end Oz was sitting at a 60 supply advantage. One follow-up nudge later and the game was his.
Code S November Group F standings
Coca20To Code S Ro16
Oz21To Code S Ro16
Taeja12To Code A Ro32
Nada02To Code A Ro48
Editorial Verbiage
What an exciting group that was! There might have been not ground-breaking upsets or strokes of genius but some of the matches were just too enticing be it with peculiar late-game scenarios or sheer overpowering of one player over the other.
Naturally, the SlayerS players drew huge attention to themselves because this is what SlayerS players do. The face-off between Taeja and Coca was most surely the most exciting Code S November game thus far and it goes straight to my "Recommended" list. As a SlayerS fan I would've ideally liked to see Taeja advancing as well, but I cannot defy the feat of Oz.
The FXO protoss is slowly on his ascend towards Code S stardom and, keeping in mind the race distribution on the Korean scene, having an astonishing PvT is a divine gift. The way Oz manhandled both Nada and Taeja was not even funny - no questionable sentry pushes as in his PvZs, no hesitation, no visible flaw; it is like Oz experiences a personal rebirth when facing terrans. And with everyone roaring about TvP imbalance, that starts to sound a bit like a superpower.
