Code S, RO16 Group B in Review
By: Waxangel
Group B: SlayerS_MMA, FXO_z, oGsSuperNoVa, SlayerS_Puzzle
Match One: MMA vs Oz
Game One –
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Bel'Shir Beach
Oz went for a variation on the fast two-gate, two-stalker build by proxying one the gateways near MMA's base. MMA fast expand build played straight into Oz's hands, with MMA even greedy enough to place his second command center directly at his natural.
At first, it looked like Oz's two gate pressure was going to do a good amount of damage, but Oz's stalker micro proved to be even better than expected. Not only did Oz do a lot of damage, but he kited with his stalkers so well that he actually ended up killing everything MMA had.
Winner: Oz
Oz went for a variation on the fast two-gate, two-stalker build by proxying one the gateways near MMA's base. MMA fast expand build played straight into Oz's hands, with MMA even greedy enough to place his second command center directly at his natural.
At first, it looked like Oz's two gate pressure was going to do a good amount of damage, but Oz's stalker micro proved to be even better than expected. Not only did Oz do a lot of damage, but he kited with his stalkers so well that he actually ended up killing everything MMA had.
Winner: Oz
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Crossfire
After FE openers on both sides (with some very nice probe micro from Oz to hold off MMA's fast concussive marauder pressure), the game came down to who could prevent the other player from taking a third base.
Oz tried to threaten MMA's third base with his dangerous gateway army, but a planetary fortress and a supply depot wall prevented Oz from hastily moving in. While MMA kept his main army near his third base to make sure Oz continued to posture with his army without attacking, he sent dropships around the map to make trouble. In a very unexpected turn of events, one of these drops found its way into Oz's third base, and managed to tear down the nexus – even though it was only a single drop's worth of infantry.
MMA set about using his resource advantage and moved out with his main force. He forced a big fight at Oz's natural, which ended up being a fairly even trade on both sides. However, MMA was counting on that result, as his superior income meant he could reinforce much faster. Knowing that he would only lose if he waited, Oz went on the offensive to try and cause any kind of damage. However, MMA's resource advantage had already manifested itself in more units, and Oz GG'd out after losing in the final attack.
Winner: MMA
After FE openers on both sides (with some very nice probe micro from Oz to hold off MMA's fast concussive marauder pressure), the game came down to who could prevent the other player from taking a third base.
Oz tried to threaten MMA's third base with his dangerous gateway army, but a planetary fortress and a supply depot wall prevented Oz from hastily moving in. While MMA kept his main army near his third base to make sure Oz continued to posture with his army without attacking, he sent dropships around the map to make trouble. In a very unexpected turn of events, one of these drops found its way into Oz's third base, and managed to tear down the nexus – even though it was only a single drop's worth of infantry.
MMA set about using his resource advantage and moved out with his main force. He forced a big fight at Oz's natural, which ended up being a fairly even trade on both sides. However, MMA was counting on that result, as his superior income meant he could reinforce much faster. Knowing that he would only lose if he waited, Oz went on the offensive to try and cause any kind of damage. However, MMA's resource advantage had already manifested itself in more units, and Oz GG'd out after losing in the final attack.
Winner: MMA
Game Three – 1.5/5
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Entombed Valley
Oz's one-gate expo into sentry heavy three gate pressure versus MMA's rax FE into four barracks marines should have ended up being a wash for both players. However, Oz seemed to feel too antsy to get something done with his build, and went for two very poor engagements against MMA's marines where it was clear that he was outgunned before the battles even started. This allowed MMA to build an audacious third orbital command before gas, giving him a solid economic lead.
MMA made no mistakes, and his early game lead snowballed into an easy late game victory. Oz just didn't have an army capable of fighting MMA's force when it moved out, especially after painful EMPs removed all of his templars' mana.
Winner: MMA
Oz's one-gate expo into sentry heavy three gate pressure versus MMA's rax FE into four barracks marines should have ended up being a wash for both players. However, Oz seemed to feel too antsy to get something done with his build, and went for two very poor engagements against MMA's marines where it was clear that he was outgunned before the battles even started. This allowed MMA to build an audacious third orbital command before gas, giving him a solid economic lead.
MMA made no mistakes, and his early game lead snowballed into an easy late game victory. Oz just didn't have an army capable of fighting MMA's force when it moved out, especially after painful EMPs removed all of his templars' mana.
Winner: MMA
Match Two: Supernova vs Puzzle
Game One – 2.5/5
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Daybreak
Supernova went for an unusual two-base all in, going for marines tanks, ravens and banshees from two starports. Puzzle addressed his 99 problems individually, getting upgrades, twilight council upgraded gateway units, colossi, cannons and phoenixes.
With Supernova building bunkers and leapfrogging his tanks in, Puzzle handled the situation perfectly. He used one attack to clear out the tanks that had come too far forward, then retreated to build more forces with his newly bought time. Once he had a superior combination of units, he cleared out the push for good, prompting the GG from Supernova.
Winner: Puzzle
Supernova went for an unusual two-base all in, going for marines tanks, ravens and banshees from two starports. Puzzle addressed his 99 problems individually, getting upgrades, twilight council upgraded gateway units, colossi, cannons and phoenixes.
With Supernova building bunkers and leapfrogging his tanks in, Puzzle handled the situation perfectly. He used one attack to clear out the tanks that had come too far forward, then retreated to build more forces with his newly bought time. Once he had a superior combination of units, he cleared out the push for good, prompting the GG from Supernova.
Winner: Puzzle
Game Two – 1.5/5
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Crossfire
In a very straight forward game, won with a immortal + gateway units push after fast expands on both sides. Puzzle's force fields were good, Supernova didn't have enough bunkers, and that was that.
Winner: Puzzle
In a very straight forward game, won with a immortal + gateway units push after fast expands on both sides. Puzzle's force fields were good, Supernova didn't have enough bunkers, and that was that.
Winner: Puzzle
Game Three – 0.5/5
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Puzzle won 2-0.
Winners' Match:
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Puzzle vs MMA
Game One – 1/5
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Metropolis
MMA figured out that Puzzle was going for an off beat four-gate all in and plopped down enough bunkers to defend his own fast expansion. Puzzle GG'd out after his attack failed.
Winner: MMA
MMA figured out that Puzzle was going for an off beat four-gate all in and plopped down enough bunkers to defend his own fast expansion. Puzzle GG'd out after his attack failed.
Winner: MMA
Game Two – 3.5/5
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Daybreak
With neither player committing to any one base play, the game followed the typical Daybreak pattern of split the map, max out, and tip toe around until one side decides it's time to show down.
Puzzle proved to be better at this particular subset of game, and cleverly threw away his units as needed to get a composition that would beat MMA's army. Sensing that MMA had too few vikings in his army, Puzzle drastically upped the colossi ratio in his army before forcing a huge battle. Puzzle's calculations were correct, and he ended up having several colossi remaining to tear through the Terran infantry after all the vikings had been focus fired down. MMA admitted his defeat and GG'd out.
Winner: Puzzle
With neither player committing to any one base play, the game followed the typical Daybreak pattern of split the map, max out, and tip toe around until one side decides it's time to show down.
Puzzle proved to be better at this particular subset of game, and cleverly threw away his units as needed to get a composition that would beat MMA's army. Sensing that MMA had too few vikings in his army, Puzzle drastically upped the colossi ratio in his army before forcing a huge battle. Puzzle's calculations were correct, and he ended up having several colossi remaining to tear through the Terran infantry after all the vikings had been focus fired down. MMA admitted his defeat and GG'd out.
Winner: Puzzle
Game Three – 1.5/5
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Crossfire
Faced with another Terran opponent bunkering down at his natural expansion, Puzzle went for an immortal + gateway unit bust similar to the one he used to defeat Supernova earlier in the night. Though MMA had four bunkers and repairing SCVs at the ready, Puzzle's excellent forcefields nullified any defender's advantage MMA might have had.
Though Puzzle couldn't finish MMA off directly, he did a huge amount of damage before retreating. After building up his army a little more, Puzzle was able to attack and force the GG.
Winner: Puzzle
Faced with another Terran opponent bunkering down at his natural expansion, Puzzle went for an immortal + gateway unit bust similar to the one he used to defeat Supernova earlier in the night. Though MMA had four bunkers and repairing SCVs at the ready, Puzzle's excellent forcefields nullified any defender's advantage MMA might have had.
Though Puzzle couldn't finish MMA off directly, he did a huge amount of damage before retreating. After building up his army a little more, Puzzle was able to attack and force the GG.
Winner: Puzzle
Losers' Match:
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Supernova vs Oz
Game One – 3/5
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Metropolis
Supernova reached into his bag of random Terran numbers, and ended up drawing the hellion drop variation of the 1/1/1. It was precisely the move Oz was not expecting, and he ended up losing quite a few probes to the hellion drop. This put Oz's one gate expansion in a lot of trouble. By the time Supernova's 1/1/1 push finally came, it was questionable if he had enough troops to defend.
However, Oz defied the odds somehow, and pulled off an incredible flank with stalkers and probes to defeat the 1/1/1 push, despite having taken such a big economic hit early on. Supernova had no choice but to go all-in again a few minutes later, but this time Oz had even more troops ready to defend. He pulled off yet another brilliant stalker flank, and Supernova GG'd out after his push was crushed.
Winner: Oz
Supernova reached into his bag of random Terran numbers, and ended up drawing the hellion drop variation of the 1/1/1. It was precisely the move Oz was not expecting, and he ended up losing quite a few probes to the hellion drop. This put Oz's one gate expansion in a lot of trouble. By the time Supernova's 1/1/1 push finally came, it was questionable if he had enough troops to defend.
However, Oz defied the odds somehow, and pulled off an incredible flank with stalkers and probes to defeat the 1/1/1 push, despite having taken such a big economic hit early on. Supernova had no choice but to go all-in again a few minutes later, but this time Oz had even more troops ready to defend. He pulled off yet another brilliant stalker flank, and Supernova GG'd out after his push was crushed.
Winner: Oz
Game Two – 1/5
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Bel'Shir Beach
Supernova went for a fast two barracks (one with a tech lab, one regular barracks) marine marauder attack, looking to exploit the wide open choke on Bel'Shir Beach. Oz expected some kind of attack and went for a three gate build, but missed the first two force fields he needed block off his choke until his remaining two gates could come online. Two marauders and four marines ran amok in Oz's main, forcing many probes to be pulled in defense. Supernova was able to destroy a ton of probes and Protoss units, giving himself a very nice lead.
Instead of just expanding in an advantageous situation, Supernova decided to instead fake an expansion with bunkers while going for a follow-up one base all in. This proved to be a very good move, as Oz double expanded, thinking he had to take such a risk to overcome his disadvantage. Oz was completely unprepared for Supernova's all in, and was easily defeated once Supernova attacked.
Winner: Supernova
Supernova went for a fast two barracks (one with a tech lab, one regular barracks) marine marauder attack, looking to exploit the wide open choke on Bel'Shir Beach. Oz expected some kind of attack and went for a three gate build, but missed the first two force fields he needed block off his choke until his remaining two gates could come online. Two marauders and four marines ran amok in Oz's main, forcing many probes to be pulled in defense. Supernova was able to destroy a ton of probes and Protoss units, giving himself a very nice lead.
Instead of just expanding in an advantageous situation, Supernova decided to instead fake an expansion with bunkers while going for a follow-up one base all in. This proved to be a very good move, as Oz double expanded, thinking he had to take such a risk to overcome his disadvantage. Oz was completely unprepared for Supernova's all in, and was easily defeated once Supernova attacked.
Winner: Supernova
Game Three – 2/5
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Daybreak
Next level mind-games were on display in the early game on Daybreak, as both Oz and Supernova sought to pull a sly one over by going for unexpected double expands. This led into some even more peculiar follow-ups such as the rare 'triple nexus into four-gate timing' timing from Oz. Eventually, it turned into your usual Daybreak split map game – just both players took a shortcut to get there.
Oz fought beautifully in the first big battle of the game, catching Supernova in a tunnel as he came to defend one of his bases. Force fields and storm did a number on Supernova's army, which was the price of stimmed MM arriving before ghosts could set up the battle properly. Oz merely had to stream in more and more reinforcements from there to win the game.
Winner: Oz
Next level mind-games were on display in the early game on Daybreak, as both Oz and Supernova sought to pull a sly one over by going for unexpected double expands. This led into some even more peculiar follow-ups such as the rare 'triple nexus into four-gate timing' timing from Oz. Eventually, it turned into your usual Daybreak split map game – just both players took a shortcut to get there.
Oz fought beautifully in the first big battle of the game, catching Supernova in a tunnel as he came to defend one of his bases. Force fields and storm did a number on Supernova's army, which was the price of stimmed MM arriving before ghosts could set up the battle properly. Oz merely had to stream in more and more reinforcements from there to win the game.
Winner: Oz
Final Match:
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Oz vs MMA
Game One – 2/5
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Antiga Shipyard
It almost looked like MMA was confused about his opponent's race, as he opened with reactor hellions. It turned out to be part of an elaborate mind game designed to make it look as if he were attempting some kind of sneaky aggressive build, when the true deception was actually a hidden command center being built in another main. A smart observer snipe furthered the ruse, leaving Oz in the dark while MMA essentially opened with three orbital commands.
Unfortunately for MMA, the counter to the build he wanted Oz to think he was doing (any kind of one base push) was the same one that countered the build he was actually doing: mass units from 4-gate robo. Investing into a third command center left MMA's defenses incredibly weak, and Oz just decided to kill MMA straight up when he finally saw it with his observer. Though MMA's hidden base continued to mine untouched, Oz did a huge amount of damage with his frontal attack.
The tiny glimmer of hope that MMA might win because of hidden expansion was extinguished when a zealot scout discovered the base, and Oz finished the game with colossi soon after.
Winner: Oz
It almost looked like MMA was confused about his opponent's race, as he opened with reactor hellions. It turned out to be part of an elaborate mind game designed to make it look as if he were attempting some kind of sneaky aggressive build, when the true deception was actually a hidden command center being built in another main. A smart observer snipe furthered the ruse, leaving Oz in the dark while MMA essentially opened with three orbital commands.
Unfortunately for MMA, the counter to the build he wanted Oz to think he was doing (any kind of one base push) was the same one that countered the build he was actually doing: mass units from 4-gate robo. Investing into a third command center left MMA's defenses incredibly weak, and Oz just decided to kill MMA straight up when he finally saw it with his observer. Though MMA's hidden base continued to mine untouched, Oz did a huge amount of damage with his frontal attack.
The tiny glimmer of hope that MMA might win because of hidden expansion was extinguished when a zealot scout discovered the base, and Oz finished the game with colossi soon after.
Winner: Oz
Game Two – 3/5
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Bel'Shir Beach
MMA went for a different sort of gambit in this game, going for two fast engineering bays after fast expanding. This time, things went as MMA hoped, with Oz playing passively and inviting MMA to a late game battle - not knowing that his Terran opponent would enter the late game with a rare upgrade advantage. As late game skirmishes began to occur, it looked like MMA was benefiting from his fast upgrades with the battles resulting in slightly favorable trades. However, it would be Oz's mistake, and not MMA's clever strategy, that conclusively swung the game.
Oz allowed a force of zealots and even more crucial sentries get caught by a patrolling force of Terran infantry, reducing the versatility of his fighting force considerably. Off that gain, MMA forced a fight at Oz's third base – a location where force fields would have come very much in handy had the sentries been alive. MMA was able to use brute force to best Oz in the battle, and Oz GG'd out to send the series to a third and final game.
Winner: MMA
MMA went for a different sort of gambit in this game, going for two fast engineering bays after fast expanding. This time, things went as MMA hoped, with Oz playing passively and inviting MMA to a late game battle - not knowing that his Terran opponent would enter the late game with a rare upgrade advantage. As late game skirmishes began to occur, it looked like MMA was benefiting from his fast upgrades with the battles resulting in slightly favorable trades. However, it would be Oz's mistake, and not MMA's clever strategy, that conclusively swung the game.
Oz allowed a force of zealots and even more crucial sentries get caught by a patrolling force of Terran infantry, reducing the versatility of his fighting force considerably. Off that gain, MMA forced a fight at Oz's third base – a location where force fields would have come very much in handy had the sentries been alive. MMA was able to use brute force to best Oz in the battle, and Oz GG'd out to send the series to a third and final game.
Winner: MMA
Game Three – 2.5/5
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Daybreak
For the final showdown on Daybreak, there were no gimmicks from MMA. Just a straight up two base build with no surprises, while Oz obliged him with the same.
Strangely enough, Oz seemed to get caught off guard by the normalcy of MMA's build. While Oz sent the majority of his army out to patrol the center of map, he found himself with nothing to defend against a two medivac drop in his main, one that came at an entirely ordinary, predictable timing.
In any case, MMA went into the late game phase with a slight advantage, enough to make the first big aggressive move by pushing into Oz's third base with his army. With some nice EMPs and marauder micro, MMA was able to come out even more ahead than he had been before. Not long after, he forced another engagement with Oz, which he won again – this time for the decisive lead. MMA snowballed accordingly from there, and it was only a matter of time before Oz was forced to GG.
Winner: MMA
For the final showdown on Daybreak, there were no gimmicks from MMA. Just a straight up two base build with no surprises, while Oz obliged him with the same.
Strangely enough, Oz seemed to get caught off guard by the normalcy of MMA's build. While Oz sent the majority of his army out to patrol the center of map, he found himself with nothing to defend against a two medivac drop in his main, one that came at an entirely ordinary, predictable timing.
In any case, MMA went into the late game phase with a slight advantage, enough to make the first big aggressive move by pushing into Oz's third base with his army. With some nice EMPs and marauder micro, MMA was able to come out even more ahead than he had been before. Not long after, he forced another engagement with Oz, which he won again – this time for the decisive lead. MMA snowballed accordingly from there, and it was only a matter of time before Oz was forced to GG.
Winner: MMA
Art by Fishuu
Following Losira-Cat's elimination from Code A, we are looking for a suitable replacement.
Writers: Waxangel.
Graphics and Art: Meko and Pony Tales (disciple and Lip the Pencilboy).
Editor: WaxAngel