IdrA defeats Yayba to win SC2GG Starleague

Greg "IdrA" stood for a remarkable conclusion of a very well played best of five series against Jarek "Yayba" Pociecha. Bunker rushing his way to the first prize of $250, IdrA can add another championship title to his belt in 2009.

On his way to the finals, IdrA defeated Get.Oystein and ToT)XiaOzI( with solid results. Yayba on the other hand were the underdog in both his playoff matches, as he was up against RoX.Advokate and ESC.Strelok. But the Protoss player from Poland just wouldn't go down, and sealed a spot in the finals after 2-1 and 3-2 wins.

First game played on God's Garden saw IdrA spawn in the upper right and Yayba at the bottom left. Yayba's 2-gate-goon opening did not do much pressure on IdrA's start, as his fast expand with 1-tank-marine defense could hold off Yayba from of the game. As the game progressed, IdrA got the upper hand economically, not only by expanding himself but also holding a contain on Yayba's natural expansion. And when the Terran Factory army clashed in the middle with Yayba's zealot, dragoon and high templar army, it mattered little when the Polish player came out as the victor in the specific battle, as IdrA could easily fill up with more units and win the game.

The second game on Return of the King saw Yayba going for the dark templar drop. Not being super effective, Yayba could still knock down some turrets and a handful of SCVs to slow IdrA down a notch. After licking his wounds for some minutes, Yayba walzed in to IdrA's natural with two more dark templars, continuing to do severe damage to IdrA's mineral line. As he saw his chance, Yayba then moved forward to go for a full frontal attack with dragoons, but IdrA's well placed Siege Tanks could fend off the attack. IdrA then tried taking the lead in the game by going for the counter attack, but Yayba's speeded zealots could push him back and take out the remains of IdrA's base effectively. Filling up the army lines with dragoons, Yayba could see his troops overcome the Terran base and smell the victory.

Third game will probably go down as the most remembered game in this series, as Yayba placed down two manner pylons on IdrA as well as taking the assimilator. Having the last game's dark templar success in the back of his mind, Yayba went for more dt harass. Being economically ahead, Yayba went for a quick arbiter tech to aid his ground forces. While some initial recall moves didn't seal the deal for the Protoss, the final battle saw some exceptional statis field placements on IdrA's units and the zealots and dragoons could take out the remains.

Fourth game was played on Andromeda, in which IdrA suffered early on by a successful reaver drop by Yayba. But IdrA came back and did a double drop, one in Yayba's natural expansion mineral line and the other in the main. Yayba decided not to go back, and instead go for an all-in attack on IdrA's front. The dragoons and zealots fought with bravery, but was just not enough against IdrA's solid defense which eventually forced Yayba to type out gg and go in to the fifth and last game.

Going back on God's Garden, IdrA spawned bottom left and Yayba bottom right. The CJ Entus American saw Yayba expanding early, and saw his chance to end this early. IdrA went for a bunker rush, sending the majority of his SCVs and his first marines to the natural of Yayba who had slim to nothing to put up with. Once Yayba's first dragoon was out IdrA had already filled up with vultures and the bunker was placed at a very convenient spot just below the ramp. With no chance to come back, Yayba typed out which granted the victory for IdrA.

The consolation match for third prize ($50) was won by XiaOzI over Strelok after a sturdy 2-0 lead won on Andromeda and God's Garden. Strelok evened out the score on the two folling games, played out on Return of the King and Chupung Ryeong. But in the fifth and deciding game, once again on Andromeda, XiaOzI could see himself go through and claim the third place.