SlayerS_Boxer vs 
NesTeaGame 1 @ Delta Quadrant. It all started in a very cute manner with Boxer walling the bottom of his ramp with Rax and a Depot while adding a second Barracks in his main with the clear intention to apply early pressure to NesTea. The Zerg, however, had other plans and they did not include an early hatch at all. Going for Speed, adding a Roach Warren and, after all that got scanned, a Baneling Nest, NesTea was in for quite the all-inish 1-base play. Trying to secure the space in front of his natural, Boxer tried to throw some Bunkers, making it more difficult for the Zerg to break it all. However, NesTea had just the right army composition in the right amount and, sending the Banelings first to tear down the Bunkers, he followed with his Roaches and Speedlings to kill the Emperor.
Game 2 @ Metalopolis. This game was indeed wild. Scouting that Boxer is away by land, NesTea went for a hatch first and that could’ve cost him the game as The Emperor was opening with something we do not see every day – a Reaper Bunker rush. He placed the Bunker right behind the Hatchery but NesTea was too good to fall for that. Using his Drones to catch the approaching Reaper off-guard while delaying the Bunker with whatever he can, he put an end to this attempt for early pressure. Furthermore, he knew that Boxer will be trying to improve his economy and quickly threw a third Hatch and a Baneling Nest before Lair (thank you, Kyrix, for teaching Zergs that move).
Once his Nest was ready, NesTea was ready to move out. He assembled his Ling forces and marched towards Boxer’s expo but The Emperor was ready – he had a Siege tech, couple of Tanks out and his Tech lab Starport was producing Banshees. Moreover, it seemed that Boxer wanted every single metal tech produced, as he was researching Preigniter and teching to Armory at the same time. Needless to say, NesTea’s banes couldn’t do squat and Boxer went crazy.
While using his Banshee to stop Zerg’s fourth, he sent four of his blue Hellion towards NesTea’s third and successfully fried every single drone mining there, putting NesTea quite behind in his economy. Fortunately for the Zerg, both his Muta and Roach tech were done and he manage to clean the Hellions.
Hungry for revenge, NesTea attempted a Muta counter attack and almost killed Boxer there and then but the Thor tech kicked just in time and saved Boxer’s skin. Having confidence in his quite large metal force, Boxer took a third and pushed towards Zerg base, siegeing his tanks at NesTea’s cliff and started elevating Thors to the high ground. NesTea was more than OK, though, as he was able to pump an enormous Roach army. And here was where the greatest Boxer mistake happened: his Tanks were way out of positions and his plan to lure the Roaches with the Thors and obliterate them from below failed with grandeur as the Tanks barely managed to take shots at Zerg’s army. Every single piece of Terran metal was crushed and this is basically where the game ended. Boxer struggled for a while, taking the gold and holding to his third, but NesTea was way ahead and eventually the Emperor GGed out.
Game 3 @ Scrap Station. Boxer was now in dire straits – he was two games behind and he had to make every single move count. Deciding that early micro pressure would be the best choice, Boxer proxied two Raxes behind the minerals of Zerg’s third and floated them at the high ground. NesTea, however, was not easily deceived and he eventually scanned the Raxes, barely giving him time to reach. Because he went hatch first, NesTea did not have the necessary Zerglings at first and brilliantly used his Drones to chase down the Marines and kill them. Boxer, who was at the same time building two Bunkers at Zerg’s natural, couldn’t make his Marines do the damage he wanted and when Zerglings eventually arrived and cleaned everything, he was forced to wall of his ramp with three Raxes, fearing the counter-attack. But it was too little too late and NesTea’s lings broke in and ate most of Boxer’s SCVs, putting him way behind in every aspect imaginable. The game was over there and then but Boxer tried to fight to the last breath and GGed just after his puny Marine push got stomped by Zerg’s lings.
Game 4 @ Blistering Sands. When the game on Blistering Sands unfolded it became clear that Boxer was not ready to give up his proxy openings. He went for a proxy Barracks south of the Xel’Naga tower plus a second one at the natural choke. Unfortunately, NesTea scouted them both and started preparing for the pressure. Just like the game on Scrap Station, Boxer marched with his Marines while trying to throw in a Bunker but NesTea’s Drone micro was impeccable again letting only one Marine enter the Bunker, which was destroyed soon thereafter, causing no damage at all.
Seizing map control with his Lings, NesTea went for Boxer’s backdoor rocks and it was very fortunate for him as Boxer, who was transitioning to Siege Tanks did quite a lot of damage, but Boxer managed to stabilize and chased away the Zerg forces.
As the game reached the 15 minute mark, the situation was still quite strange. The Terran barely had any threatening force and NesTea was just getting his Lair finished. Scanning the latter, Boxer knew that this was a nice opportunity to push and he moved out with a nice Marine/Tank force and laid siege at Zerg’s choke and hoped to either contain him as much as he can or just push in for the kill. NesTea, however, was not sitting idle all this time and had a nice Roach/Baneling force to push Terran’s forces back. Taking this advantage into account, NesTea’s macro just exploded and his Roach/Baneling army grew beyond comparison. Staying a bit defensive and bating Boxer to come, NesTea engaged Terran’s second push at the right Xel’Naga tower and just trampled it to pieces. And just like that, The Emperor was out of the tournament, losing 4-0 to the ZvZ master.
Thus, we arrive at a Grand Final, where NesTea will try to exert his swarmy wrath at yet another Boxer. However, the young Terran has proved times and times again that he has an insanely incredible TvZ with just as insane Marine micro so who do you think will win it all? The players have until 13th of November to get their mojo straight and you will be able to read our Grand Final predictions real soon.
