In retrospect, August 31st was probably the worst day in SouL’s history. In a singular motion, the reigning champions of the KeSPA Proleague 12-13 lost their best Terran, Mini and Classic, their captain, their sponsor and their head coach. The next day they shook hands with the eSF and were tossed in a team league unfamiliar to them.
Competing in this new neighborhood now proves to be a tall order. Their debut almost ended with being all-killed by AXA’s MMA and it was only because of Hyvaa that they lived for six whole sets. Today, SouL were given a chance at redeeming themselves and their image, get equal in score and win a valuable series against one of GSTL’s strongest teams.
Only that, too, would prove a tall order.
Curious opened for StarTale going against SouL’s youngster YongJoo. Thrown against a more worthy opponent once again, the ex-KeSPA Zerg crumbled though not as abruptly as last week. Sticking to a roach-centric army, YoungJoo eventually became victim to Curious’ fungal missiles and even the few instances of having the better concave could not help him. SouL would again start the series with a loss.
It was Trap that came to his team’s salvation in the next two games. The Protoss opened game two with what proved to be ineffectual oracle harassment but his early aerial failures were remedied shortly thereafter. The transition to phoenixes caught Curious mutas by surprise and negated the heavy gas investment by the Zerg, allowing Trap’s gateway pressure follow-up to trample the insufficient StarTale ground army.
With the score tied at only 1-1, it was surprising to see StarTale pull out a heavy gun like Bomber so early on. To SouL’s luck, Trap was more unaffected by the move than the GSTL viewers. Knowing what will likely come from the Season 2 champion, Trap played defensively, denying Bomber’s drop attempts while sprinting to storm, awaiting the inevitable SCV train. When said train did finally arrive, Bomber was greeted with storms for his bio and feedback for his ghosts. The Terran army stood no chance and the score jumped to 2-1 for SouL.
Bomber's bio faces more firepower than it can handle
The fall of the mighty StarTale Terran was succeeded by the calling for their most accomplished individual player to date. Life’s task was simple – get StarTale back in the lead and keep winning until SouL are forced to summon Hyvaa. Then beat him too.
Half of those things Life accomplished. A 3-base roach attack cancelled Trap’s third and triggered an all-in 2-base push from the Protoss. Expecting the retort, however, Life had prepared adequately and lived through the battle, fueled by the energy of his vipers and the DPS of his hydras.
The disposing of SouL’s next player was equally brutal to behold. As soon as he got his three bases up, Life barraged Dear with speedlings until the Protoss wall was broken and the mining line was put to the slaughter. Although unable to win the game on the spot, Life put himself in a comfortable position economy-wise which he then turned into a victorious roach/hydra push.
Life sieges Dear's front wall
At 3-2, SouL had officially run out of options and Hyvaa had to be summoned in attempt to save his team from a second loss in a row. Eventually, this would also become the highlight game of the entire series as the SouL ace would show exceptional endurance and decisiveness in the face of death.
Deciding to invest in ground upgrades and infestors, Hyvaa created a huge timing window and Life did not miss the opportunity to exploit it. His spire tech had arrived earlier and through superior mobility, the StarTale champion denied times and times again Hyvaa’s third while simultaneously saturating his own. With massive economy advantage, it looked like Life would easily win it for his team.
With the arrival of the infestor tech and as he finally claimed his third, however, Hyvaa stabilized and Life was put in a situation he did not believe he’d ever be in. With the battle now brought to the ground, the SouL player was using his superior upgrades and composition to slowly melt the supply gap. Although the economy lead still with him, Life was spawning weaker reinforcements and he started losing battle after battle. A sneaky nydus worm behind his base further startled him and the tables were temporary turned.
To the satisfaction of StarTale’s fans, Life still had another ace to play. A small roach party rushed in to snipe the third of Hyvaa and once again leave him in economic deficit, one that would become fatal in just a few minutes. Only Hyvaa would not allow those minutes to pass. Boldly pulling his drones, Hyvaa launched a final attack before the surprised eyes of Life. Soaking all the damage with his workers, SouL’s finest drilled through, extorting an unexpected GG. The series was again tied.
Although 40 supply ahead, Life sees his army dwindle, plagued by the fungals of Hyvaa
An inappropriately anticlimactic game seven came to close the series as StarTale called for Avenge as their final player. Spawning of Fruit Land, the Protoss was quick and efficient in disposing of the SouL Zerg. A small stalker/zealot/MSC squad took down the third of Hyvaa and as it was later joined by a handful of robo units, the game was over. A final dance by Avenge as the Protoss accepted the 4-3 victory which put his team on 1-1 in series and 7-7 in maps.
Rotator image: Red Bull
