Day[9] Daily #687 - TLO's ZvP - Early game answers

Day[9] Daily #688 - Grubby vs Kas

Day[9] Daily #694 - Dayshi's Mech vs Protoss

In line with the aggressive, fast gas meta that the Starcraft community has become familiar with since the release of Heart of the Swarm, WCS EU Challenger League kicked off with an exciting set of games last night.

                                                 <Bracket>

The action began with a quick series between legendary Korean Protoss SK.MC and European Zerg WW.SortOf. Game one on Bel’Shir Vestige saw MC employ tactics showcased by Naniwa at the recent Dreamhack 2013, holding the Swedish Zerg’s midgame Zergling aggression while continuously denying SortOf’s third base. Clean mid-map engagements with a strong Zealot/Archon/Immortal composition allowed MC to take the first game. In game 2 on Whirlwind, MC overcame the map’s enormous rush distance to execute an Immortal/Sentry timing, gutting SortOf’s third. With excellent Sentry retention, a swift Colossus follow-up ended the series decisively 2:0.

                                    SK.MC 2:0 WW.SortOf

MC’s hallmark calculated aggression will next be tested in a mirror matchup against community favourite Grubby, as he advanced over German Terran Acer.DarkHydra. In game one on Whirlwind, an aggressive gas opener from Hydra manifested as an early stim and Medivac timing at the Dutch Protoss player’s natural. After holding with good force fields, Grubby was able to overrun the Terran’s low-Hellbat composition with mass Zealots, to take Hydra’s third base and the game. In game two on Newkirk Precinct, similar fast gas openers by both players transitioned into a harass-heavy midgame, with Hellbat drops and Oracle play respectively. Hydra was able to muster up a strong one-punch mech army and force a base-trade, eventually mopping up Grubby’s scattered expansions with a ragtag mix of Marines, Hellbats, Thors and Tanks to take game two. In what was the final broadcasted game of the night, Hydra’s choice to once again open with Hellbat drops, this time on Akilon Wastes, was neatly countered by a well-executed Immortal/gateway attack from Grubby, and without enough meat on the ground to hold his natural, Hydra was forced to gg.

                                 Grubby 2:1 Acer.DarkHydra Looking ahead to the round of 24, MC is the favourite to win what promises to be an excellent PvP. The Korean powerhouse advanced 4:0 across two PvPs on his way to the round of 40, taking out European notable ViPro. Grubby on the other hand fell from the Premier League following a 1:2 loss in PvP to FXO’s Babyknight. MC’s strong grasp of the matchup since the release of HotS is evidenced by his 60% win rate, and he looks likely to advance on to face Acer.Nerchio in the round of 16.

In another PvP, the second of four Koreans in the bracket, MVP.Tails, took a well contested 2:1 victory over Russian Protoss Empire.Siw. The recent acquisition by team Empire was able to take the first map of the series on Neo Planet S, with Tails barely unable to defend his natural against an unrelenting one base Voidray/Stalker all-in. With the stargate on the other foot in game two, Oracle harass from Tails put Siw thirteen probes down, and despite an effective Zealot drop that gutted the Korean Protoss’s main base, Siw was unable to hold his own bases in the face of a strong counter attack, tying the series at 1:1. Standard three-gate aggression was the opener of choice for both players in game three on Akilon Wastes. A blink Stalker contain by Siw forced his opponent into sitting back and teching up to Colossi, and the resulting follow-up push was able to barely overrun Siw’s smaller Colossus count to take the series and advance to the round of 24.

                                MVP.Tails 2:1 Empire.Siw

His opponent there, Acer.Bly, was quick to make amends for his fall from Premier League in his own mirror matchup. A quick, no-nonsense series saw him sweep aside French Zerg hopeful FireCake with two 10 pool spine crawler rushes. The dubious choice by Firecake to open hatch first both times will see him drop back to group play next season.

                                     Acer.Bly 2:0 FireCake

Bly is currently on a winning streak in ZvP, taking games this month against Quantic’s Hwangsin, Grubby, and Axiom Crank. However, Tails’ own 7:1 record in the matchup in WCS EU alone solidifies him as the favourite to take the series, the winner of which will move on to face German Protoss Mill.Feast in the round of 16.

The other two ZvPs set to take place in the round of 24 tonight are an all-European affair. Zerg fan favourite Liquid’Ret advanced 2:1 over Swedish Protoss Bischu. True to his past, the King of Drones was able to take clean macro victories when left unimpeded on Star Station and Bel’Shir Vestige, losing on Neo Planet S when Bischu was able to disrupt the Dutch Zerg’s economy with persistent harassment and Dark Templar play. Ret moves on to face the Polish Protoss Mouz.Mana, who dismantled his Russian opponent, 3D.Noname in the round of 40. After handling an early proxied Reaper on Akilon Wastes in game one, Mana was able to apply pressure of his own with an Oracle follow-up. Without enough turrets or Marines to defend his mineral lines, Noname’s economy was utterly destroyed and he had no choice but to gg. More macro-oriented openers by both players on Daybreak in game two led to a two base blink Stalker/Colossus all-in that, without sufficient Vikings, Noname was unable to hold. Both Ret and Mana are pillars of the European scene, Ret in particular having had a much-hyped return to form following the release of HotS. Though both players have showcased strong ZvP recently, Mana’s consistency and victory over SortOf earlier this month in WCS EU Premier League should point to a close 2:1 victory over the occasionally brilliant, but inconsistent Ret. The winner will go on to face K3.Vortix, one of the strongest remaining Zerg hopes for advancement.

              Liquid’Ret 2:1 Bischu, Mouz.Mana 2:0 3D.Noname

On the other side of the bracket, the upset of the evening took place as the much-loved XMG.ToD scraped a surprise 2:1 victory over one of Germany’s most dominant players, ATN.Socke. In game one on Akilon, ToD failed to capitalise on a potential build order advantage, allowing Dark Templar from his opponent to deal heavy economic damage despite having Oracles available to provide detection. A delayed expansion put ToD too far behind in macro, and Socke was able to take the victory with a mid-game Immortal/Zealot/Archon push. Whirlwind and game two bore witness to ToD’s polished Warcraft 3 micro, as he held a risky expansion against Socke’s one base gateway all-in with flawless force fields. With a game-ending economy lead secured by the French caster, Socke had no choice but to leave and move on to game three. In arguably the game of the night, mirror builds put the pair even heading into the midgame – ToD then opting for twilight and blink, while Socke transitioned into Oracle play. With a luckily timed Oracle wreaking havoc in ToD’s main mineral line, XMG’s recent recruit had no choice but to all-in with what blink Stalkers he had, and despite being behind in every measurable way, near-perfect micro allowed him to whittle down Socke’s initially superior army to somehow come back and take the victory.

                                   XMG.ToD 2:1 ATN.Socke

His opponent in the round of 24 will be VP.Slivko. The Russian Zerg breezed through Finnish Protoss NRS.Welmu 2:0, taking the first game on Whirlwind with a crippling speedling runby, and game two with an old-school Wings of Liberty Broodlord/Infestor deathball. Though ToD is definitely the underdog going into their match tonight, the builds chosen by Slivko thus far show little adaptation to the matchup in HotS, and well executed, micro-oriented timings by the French Protoss could well result in another upset.

                                 VP.Slivko 2:0 NRS.Welmu

Empire.Kas defeated Dignitas.Bling in a close 2:1 series, and CPHW.Bunny eliminated relatively unknown German Protoss Jogginghose 2:0 to set up the first of two TvTs in the round of 24. After falling to an Oracle/Stalker all-in on Daybreak in game one, Kas was able to rally in games two and three, showing off his trademark macro play. While it was a nail-biting defence that allowed him to clinch the series in game three on Newkirk Precinct, mention must go to game two of the series, played out on Whirlwind. In what appears to be a persistent trend of borderline cheesy plays from the UK Protoss, Bling managed to secure a hidden third base early in the game. Unaware of his economic deficit all game long, strong positional play by Kas and poor army movements from Bling allowed the Russian to cripple his opponent’s infrastructure, catching him risking a transition to skytoss, and taking the victory.

                               Empire.Kas 2:1 Dignitas.Bling

Kas is looking in good shape with a 66% win rate in HotS Terran vs. Terran, compared to his Danish ro24 opponent’s poor 1:7 record. Although the matchup is volatile at best in the European scene, owing to the strength and prevalence of Hellbat drops, team Empire’s representative should be the clear favourite to move on and face Acer.MMA in yet another TvT in the round of 16.

The second TvT set to happen in the round of 24 follows Clarity Gaming’s Korean ace cShuttle 2:0ing the relatively unknown Polish Zerg, Uzer, and an immaculate 2:0 victory for a resurgent Empire.Beastyqt over his Protoss opponent, XMG.Monchi. Despite the one-sided score, both games between Shuttle and Uzer were drawn out, action-packed macro games. A promising burrowed Roach opener from Uzer dealt heavy economic damage to Shuttle, limiting him to two bases on Whirlwind, usually a comfortable three-base macro map for Terran. Poor mid-game engagements and a failure to transition out of Roaches by Uzer allowed Shuttle back into the game, and once the Korean Terran finally established and held his third base, Uzer was forced out of the game. Game two saw a Stephano-style Zergling/Infestor into Ultralisk composition from Uzer, with which he was able to stabilise on four bases. However, relentless late-game drop harass, the bane of HotS Zergs to date, allowed Shuttle to slowly establish both an army and economy lead, eventually sweeping through Uzer’s fourth and third bases on Daybreak to take the victory. Meanwhile, Serbian Terran Beastyqt showcased a creative and successful Marine/Tank composition in both games vs. his Protoss opponent, Monchi. Monchi was unable to produce a suitable composition to handle engagements against such an uncommon strategy for the matchup, and crushing engagements forced him out of Star Station and Bel’Shir Vestige in quick succession.

             cShuttle 2:0 Uzer, Empire.Beastyqt 2:0 XMG.Monchi

Both Beastyqt and Shuttle have performed excellently in HotS TvT, and their round of 24 match is hard to call. If anything, Shuttle’s emphasis on multi-pronged, harassment and drop focussed play gives him a slight edge over the often Tank-heavy Beastyqt, but it will all come down to the builds on the night. Both Beastyqt’s unique compositions and Shuttle’s excellent multi-tasking would match up favourably with the brilliant and creative Swedish Protoss, Fnatic.Sase, in the round of 16.

Mill.Dayshi and Mouz.HasuObs advanced 2:0 over their Protoss opponents in the round of 40, ENCE.Elfi and MVP.Finale (Duckdeok) respectively. French Terran Dayshi showed strong army control and map awareness, taking advantage of Elfi’s risky attempts to secure a third base in both games of their series. His opponent in the round of 24, German Protoss HasuObs, was able to take the only foreigner vs. Korean victory in last night’s games. HasuObs was able to handle the aggressive style of Finale, defending first a proxy stargate on Bel’Shir Vestige, and a good old-fashioned four gate rush on Daybreak. In both cases, swift counterattacks allowed HasuObs to secure victory.

          Mill.Dayshi 2:0 ENCE.Elfi, Mouz.HasuObs 2:0 MVP.Finale

Judging by their play in the round of 40, expect the round of 24 matches between Hasu and Dayshi to be decided by mid-game engagements. Although relatively evenly matched, Dayshi’s slightly superior statistics in the matchup since HotS, combined with a Terran favoured, drop heavy metagame give the French Terran the advantage. The winner will move on to face Ukrainian heavyweight Na’Vi.Strelok in the round of 16. 

The final pair to advance on to the round of 24 were the often underrated Polish Zerg, Dignitas.Tefel and German Terran player NRS.Krass. Tefel was able to eliminate Russia’s Rox.Kis.Titan 2:1, surprisingly choosing a Roach/Hydra composition in all three games, rather than the ever-popular Swarmhost play that has dominated the matchup since the release of HotS. Similarly consistent were the unit compositions displayed by the German Terran Krass, as he advanced 2:1 over Fnatic.Harstem. Opening with Hellion and Hellbat harassment in all three games, Krass showed strong positioning and army movement, able to mitigate the storm-centric play of his Protoss opponent despite forgoing Ghosts throughout the series. Unless Tefel is able to employ more creative and varied builds than he showed in the round of 40, he will likely fall to Krass’s impressive 72% TvZ win-rate. Although Tefel’s propensity for Roach/Hydra compositions should in theory match up well against the Hellion/Hellbat openers shown by Krass thus far, experience has shown us that even one poorly defended Hellbat drop can be game-ending in the matchup. With that in mind, Krass seems favoured to advance and face arguably the strongest player in the bracket, Swedish Protoss Alliance.Naniwa.

    Dignitas.Tefel 2:1 Rox.Kis.Titan, NRS.Krass 2:1 Fnatic.Harstem