The first Grand Finals of the IGN ProLeague has ended and a victor has been crowned. A best of five series that went down to the final game of the match.

Game 1 @ Xel'Naga Caverns - VOD
The first match in the first ever IPL Grand Finals took place on Xel'Naga Caverns. Kiwikaki faked a 3gate expand and opened with a 4gate instead. Idra attempted to scout this strategy out but was thwarted several times by Sentries and forcefields, this caused him to become suspicious and he would prepare his defences for a 4gate anyways. As he had expected a large Protoss army would reach his natural, but his Spine Crawlers would finish just in time to push them back. Kiwikaki retreats with a handful of Sentries and decides to expand. Idra would counter with Roaches that had burrowed movement, but Kiwikaki already had an observer out. Idra ends up sacfricing all of his Roaches as Kiwikaki places down forcefields on top of the Roaches as they crawled closer and closer beneath the ground. Idra would leave instantly.

Game 2 @ Tal'Darim Altar - VOD
The second game was played on Tal'Darim Altar. Rather than playing long a macro game that he is known for, Idra decides to fake an early expansion and Roach bust into Kiwikaki's fast expand instead. This is successful in fooling Kiwikaki as Idra's bust does work, but doesn't do enough damage to win him the game. After the rush, Idra was behind by quite a bit, so to catch up he decides to expand not once, but twice. This is extremely effective for Idra as he is able to pass Kiwikaki in supply near the half-way point in the game. That would have assured him a victory if he was able to maneuver into Kiwikaki's base, but it was too difficult. Kiwikaki would be able to sit on his main and two naturals and just wait to get a good position on Idra's army. This chance would come when he attempts to expand to a fourth base. Idra's forces moved in on the Nexus that was warping in and at that moment Kiwikaki's army would flank the Roach and Corruptor army. Idra is forced to retreat and from there on, the game would slowly go downhill for Idra. The final blow that forces Idra out of the game is a Mothership flying across the map.

Game 3 @ Shattered Temple - VOD
With the match on the line, Idra would revisit a popular strategy that has taken the ladder by storm. The Roach/speedling push that has been victorious for him in the past and victorious for many other Zergs on the ladder and in tournaments. An unsuspecting Kiwikaki would open with a 3gate expand which played perfectly into Idra's strategy. Despite throwing down well placed forcefields, Kiwikaki was not able to fend of the the monstrous push. And so the come back would begin.

Game 4 @ Shakuras Plateau - VOD
The fourth game of the day was on Shakuras Plateau. This game went straight to a more macro game, with a little bit of harass from Kiwikaki. In this fourth game, Idra would show off his map control ability with speedling distractions, Roach/Hydralisk drops, and his main army darting in and out to take out expansions. Little by little, Idra would pick away at Kiwikaki's army and mineral lines. Idra would be free to expand comfortably while Kiwikaki struggled to take his third. Eventually Idra storms up Kiwikaki's ramp and takes the game with almost double the supply that Kiwikaki had. The match was now tied.

Game 5 @ Terminus RE - VOD
With the match on the line, both players were content to play into a macro game on Terminus RE. Idra elects to go for drop play as the game progressed but Kiwikaki was prepared. The first two drops that Idra attempted were a complete failure as Kiwikaki has his armies perfectly placed to intercept. However, right after the drops had failed, Kiwikaki decides to expand to a fourth base in the middle of the map. Seeing this, Idra would move in to deny it, but is pushed back by Kiwikaki who pushed Idra's army all the way back to Idra's fourth base. This was a huge mistake as Idra is able to gain the upper hand as Kiwikaki's army is obliterated while at the same time Idra would drop all over Kiwikaki's base. Drops were in the main, the natural and the third. The constant drops caused Kiwikaki to lose not just mining time, but a ton of probes as well. Despite valiant efforts to make a come back, eventually Kiwikaki would run out of units and GG.

Links
IGN.com - IPL Main Page

IGN ProLeague Grand Finals Report - VODs Included