At the end of the first half of Ro32 matches came a group of great interest. Apart from the balanced race distribution, it had the only foreigner in Code S - HuK. It seemed that the Canadian had stumbled upon an easier group but in the highest tiers of GSL you can expect everything.
Virus vs HuK @ Tal'Darim Altar
Virus opened with a 3-rax factory, apparently gearing for a heavy one base push. But Virus' plan would not remain hidden for longs, as back home HuK's has rushed a 2-gate/robo and his observer scouted everything in time. The foreigner immediately put down a robo support bay but decided to cancel it midway and instead rely on immortals and map topography itself to hold the rush.
The first wave of terran units was successfully repelled by HuK's ingenious defense play. The protoss used the ramp at his natural to delay the attack as much as possible until he had enough units to actually flank Virus' advance and destroy it. During Virus' second push, however, the lack of colossi was dramatically felt. There were just too many marines, adequately tanking and focusing down the immortals while the siege tanks were doing work on the gateway army. HuK tapped out.
HuK's colossusless defense is amazing but he could only do it once
Zenio vs Asd @ Antiga Shipyard
Asd took the straightforward approach in this set, constantly pushing through the center of the map, his gaze fixed on Zenio's expansions. The zerg himself tried to stall Asd by doing constant ling run-byes and mutalisk harassment but every move proved to be futile - there were always a bunch of marines there to deal damage and Zenio started losing big chunks of mutas.
The troubles of Zenio shone even brighter as despite cleaning a big terran force at the center with a very desirable army trade, the zerg still could not match the marine count of Asd. The terran was doing constant skirmishes at his hatcheries, hunting the one by one and forcing out a gg.
Yet another base of Zenio is soon to fall down
Virus vs Asd @ Terminus
In the winner vs winner match, Asd chose the path of the bio tech and as soon as he had large enough force, he immediately moved down to set up a soft contain at Virus' choke point. Having no way to break out, Virus tried to use vikings and hellion drops to bypass Asd's lines but was greeted by marauders every step of the way.
Losing patience, Virus decided to go straight for the full-frontal engagement but approached the attack in the most wrong of ways. His hellions were stuck behind his tanks, the latter falling like autumn leaves under marauder fire. When the smoke cleared, Virus barely had any units left and a snowball's chance in hell of coming out to win this.
A containment breakage gone horribly wrong
Zenio vs HuK @ Daybreak
Zenio was the first to go on the aggressive, launching a direct attack at HuK's third while simultaneously going for a roach drop at his main. But Huk's reputation as one of the best defenders with the protoss race did not betray him and Zenio kept losing battle after battle, despite the permanent supply advantage he had in his favor. HuK once again showed incredible understanding of the terrain, using natural chokes or creating artificial ones to endure wave after wave of enemy units. Xerxes Zenio was probably in a state of grand frustration.
Seeing the battlefield after every battle was a joy for every HuK fan. Zenio used neural parasites, baneling bombs, fungal growths and roach surrounds but all this unit-only-macroing made him forget to actually upgrade his units. HuK, though, did not fall in that pit, his attack was at +3 and he had a double robo, making him reach that critical mass of colossi incredibly fast. Zenio's armies were melting by the blink of an eye and by the end of the day, the oGs zerg would fall to the up-and-down matches.
Critical colossus mass in action
HuK vs Virus @ Belshir Beach
The last series brought us to a HuK vs Virus rematch on Belshir Beach. Once again, the scouting from Virus was spot-on and his sneaky SCV caught sight of HuK's council tech, which was enough for the terran to prepare his defenses for the possibility of DTs. When the templars indeed came to Virus' wall-off, they found a turret popping out just in the right second, pushing them back home.
The DTs however proved to be useful after all, as they were the only thing that stopped Virus' bio push, despite the large supply lead that the terran had. HuK tried time and time again to tire down the marauder force with DT harass but Virus' scans and EMPs were enough hindrance to made HuK quit his attempts.
The supply difference kept growing and by the 17th minute, Virus was sitting on 150 to 100 food. This, and the ridiculous amount of EMPs, were the main reasons that forced a tap out of HuK, even though the Canadian succeeded in pulling off a perfect surround just before the end.
That may be the perfect surround but army size also counts in this game
Code S October Group D Standings
Asd20
Virus21
HuK12
Zenio02
Honestly, I really thought HuK had that, but some questionable decisions was what probably cost him his Ro16 spot. Of course, balance discussions will and did sprout, but one cannot deny that HuK could have played better. The decision to avoid colossus tech on Tal'Darim (in spite of the miracles he did with immortals only!) and the determination to stick to his DT tech after being scouted can be the subject of many discussions.
Whatever the outcome, however, what HuK showed once again is that he is where he is for a reason. Whether you are a Chris' fan or not, there is no denying that HuK showed class as he had done before. A well deserved Code S spot for the next season!
Virus vs HuK @ Tal'Darim Altar
Virus opened with a 3-rax factory, apparently gearing for a heavy one base push. But Virus' plan would not remain hidden for longs, as back home HuK's has rushed a 2-gate/robo and his observer scouted everything in time. The foreigner immediately put down a robo support bay but decided to cancel it midway and instead rely on immortals and map topography itself to hold the rush.
The first wave of terran units was successfully repelled by HuK's ingenious defense play. The protoss used the ramp at his natural to delay the attack as much as possible until he had enough units to actually flank Virus' advance and destroy it. During Virus' second push, however, the lack of colossi was dramatically felt. There were just too many marines, adequately tanking and focusing down the immortals while the siege tanks were doing work on the gateway army. HuK tapped out.
HuK's colossusless defense is amazing but he could only do it once
Zenio vs Asd @ Antiga Shipyard
Asd took the straightforward approach in this set, constantly pushing through the center of the map, his gaze fixed on Zenio's expansions. The zerg himself tried to stall Asd by doing constant ling run-byes and mutalisk harassment but every move proved to be futile - there were always a bunch of marines there to deal damage and Zenio started losing big chunks of mutas.
The troubles of Zenio shone even brighter as despite cleaning a big terran force at the center with a very desirable army trade, the zerg still could not match the marine count of Asd. The terran was doing constant skirmishes at his hatcheries, hunting the one by one and forcing out a gg.
Yet another base of Zenio is soon to fall down
Virus vs Asd @ Terminus
In the winner vs winner match, Asd chose the path of the bio tech and as soon as he had large enough force, he immediately moved down to set up a soft contain at Virus' choke point. Having no way to break out, Virus tried to use vikings and hellion drops to bypass Asd's lines but was greeted by marauders every step of the way.
Losing patience, Virus decided to go straight for the full-frontal engagement but approached the attack in the most wrong of ways. His hellions were stuck behind his tanks, the latter falling like autumn leaves under marauder fire. When the smoke cleared, Virus barely had any units left and a snowball's chance in hell of coming out to win this.
A containment breakage gone horribly wrong
Zenio vs HuK @ Daybreak
Zenio was the first to go on the aggressive, launching a direct attack at HuK's third while simultaneously going for a roach drop at his main. But Huk's reputation as one of the best defenders with the protoss race did not betray him and Zenio kept losing battle after battle, despite the permanent supply advantage he had in his favor. HuK once again showed incredible understanding of the terrain, using natural chokes or creating artificial ones to endure wave after wave of enemy units. Xerxes Zenio was probably in a state of grand frustration.
Seeing the battlefield after every battle was a joy for every HuK fan. Zenio used neural parasites, baneling bombs, fungal growths and roach surrounds but all this unit-only-macroing made him forget to actually upgrade his units. HuK, though, did not fall in that pit, his attack was at +3 and he had a double robo, making him reach that critical mass of colossi incredibly fast. Zenio's armies were melting by the blink of an eye and by the end of the day, the oGs zerg would fall to the up-and-down matches.
Critical colossus mass in action
HuK vs Virus @ Belshir Beach
The last series brought us to a HuK vs Virus rematch on Belshir Beach. Once again, the scouting from Virus was spot-on and his sneaky SCV caught sight of HuK's council tech, which was enough for the terran to prepare his defenses for the possibility of DTs. When the templars indeed came to Virus' wall-off, they found a turret popping out just in the right second, pushing them back home.
The DTs however proved to be useful after all, as they were the only thing that stopped Virus' bio push, despite the large supply lead that the terran had. HuK tried time and time again to tire down the marauder force with DT harass but Virus' scans and EMPs were enough hindrance to made HuK quit his attempts.
The supply difference kept growing and by the 17th minute, Virus was sitting on 150 to 100 food. This, and the ridiculous amount of EMPs, were the main reasons that forced a tap out of HuK, even though the Canadian succeeded in pulling off a perfect surround just before the end.
That may be the perfect surround but army size also counts in this game
Code S October Group D Standings
Asd20
Virus21
HuK12
Zenio02
Honestly, I really thought HuK had that, but some questionable decisions was what probably cost him his Ro16 spot. Of course, balance discussions will and did sprout, but one cannot deny that HuK could have played better. The decision to avoid colossus tech on Tal'Darim (in spite of the miracles he did with immortals only!) and the determination to stick to his DT tech after being scouted can be the subject of many discussions.
Whatever the outcome, however, what HuK showed once again is that he is where he is for a reason. Whether you are a Chris' fan or not, there is no denying that HuK showed class as he had done before. A well deserved Code S spot for the next season!
