Another month, another final for MarineKingPrime, this time against a terran from the school of Team Slayers - Ganzi. Would MKP finally win a gold medal and return to Code S or will Ganzi finally make it up to the big stage - that was the big question that marked this Monday.
Game 1 @ Antiga Shipyard. Ganzi opened with a banshee pressure that put a hold on MarineKing's fast expansion for a healthy amount of time. MKP tried to chase the banshees away but Ganzi was quick to follow up the harass with a scary 1-base siege tank pressure. Still trying to muster a big enough bio army, MarineKing fell quickly under the tank splash.
Game 2 @ Dual Sight. A relative passivity marked the first few minutes of the game, the tranquillity only occasionally cracked by Ganzi's attempt to do some blue flame hellion harass, not too effectively though. So thus he transitioned into mech and sieged up while saturating his natural and it was then that MarineKing made a huge mistake. In a folly attempt to infiltrate Ganzi from within, MKP unloaded three full medivacs... right under tank fire. The bio army evaporated instantly and MKP was put in a supply disadvantage and a lack of map control - two things a bio player never wants to witness. MarineKing tried to trade armies and outexpand his opponent but all in vain - Ganzi already had a strong mech force and his hellions were denying any expansion attempt. A tap out came for a 2-0.
Game 3 @ Daybreak. Once again, MarineKing went for a quick CC into mass rax build and spent the better part of the mid game trying to find any gaps in Ganzi's mech defences. Seeing that there aren't really any, MarineKing just continued to apply gentle pressure, expanding behind it to reach five bases really quickly.
When both players hit the supply cap everyone sat in anticipation for the big clash to come. Only there was none - the two armies passed each other around the centre and a base trade was under way. Buildings were lifted and every unit became precious but each player eventually found a spot to land a CC and start mining. The hovering of the two armies brought great tension as to which one will emerge victorious.
It all seemed very equal until the observer turned attention to MarineKing's hidden starports. Knowing that every MULE is most precious, MarineKing used cloaked banshees to start slowly rocking down Ganzi's tank line. Having no scan and each turret denied, Ganzi had no option but to surrender the set.
Game 4 @ Crossfire. Ganzi opened with proxy 11/11 rax and started applying pressure to MarineKing, who barely managed to get a bunker up to stay alive, although not without losing many SCVs during the defence. Ganzi transitioned into a soft contain but had to eventually give it up when MKP's first tank hit the field.
Both players then transitioned to marine/tank compositions but Ganzi was way ahead of his opponent in terms of strategic planning. While sneaking a ninja gold expansion, Ganzi moved on to deny MarineKing's own natural and used a banshee to push the tank lines of the Prime terran back. MarineKing was losing more and more ground and had to tap out when Ganzi's tanks sieged up in his main.
Game 5 @ Belshir Beach. Ganzi tried to be aggressive again, going for the early bio pressure but as he got repelled by MKP's hellions, he transitioned into pure bio and started gearing up for an expansion.
But MKP would not let the game slip away just like that and after several army trades around the map, MarineKing pushed in with a strong marine/siege army which forced a cancel on Ganzi's CC. The Slayers terran was forced to pull half his SCVs to defend this and although he managed to stay alive for a couple of minutes, a banshee from MarineKing flew in to finish what the ground army could not.
Game 6 @ Terminus. The game started with a banshee mirror but after the harassments ended, neither player was really ahead so they had to make something happen with ground forces. Ganzi was the first attack, sieging at the low-ground north of MKP's base but after losing his spotter Raven he had to retreat.
After the smoke cleared, MarineKing had a clear advantage - he had a faster third and thus a better gas inflow and with 13 tanks to 2, he was able to do an intimidating push across the map. Ganzi, however, stalled that to the best of his ability and even found a way to go on a counter-attack but as MarineKing surrounded him in the middle of the map, the score was tied.
Game 7 @ Metalopolis. It all came to this - the match point for the Code S spot. With a 3-3 score, it was do or die for either player and they did make sure to give us a game to talk about!
After some minor pushes from MarineKing, Ganzi took the decision to fly over to his opponent's base and try to do economy damage. Although several SCVs were killed in the process, Ganzi lost two vikings and a medivac drop, putting him in a nasty air disadvantage. That triggered a push by MarineKing, who broke through Ganzi's army and came victorious with 4 tanks to none. MarineKing started his advance into Ganzi's main and it seemed that the game was over there and then, but in the last moment a banshee popped up for Ganzi and chased away MKP's army. The supply was dead even at around 40 food, no one had a clear advantage over the other.
But MarineKing decided that it was time for a second push, knowing that his economy is quickly recovering due to his new expo and that he has the tank advantage from earlier. It turned out better than he probably expected - a big micro mistake cost Ganzi his second orbital, leaving him dead broke. Knowing that all he has to do is wait, MKP took the north path home...
Which turned out to be his biggest mistake in the entire game. Knowing that there is nothing left to lose, Ganzi summoned every single unit he had and marched down for a desperate attack. And suddenly, his army separated MKP's tanks from their base without real chance of reuniting his defences. With a slow, methodical push, Ganzi surged in for the win. The Code S spot was his and MKP would go back to the up-and-down matches to try to win his there.
Thus ended the Code A August tournament - with Ganzi's hands holding the precious trophy and MarineKing remaining in his booth a face of disappointment after his fourth second place. His adventure is not over yet, however, as he is yet to be tested in the August up-and-downs and those are fully stacked with amazing players.
