DongRaeGu ensured us that the curse of one-sided and pale GSL finals is broken. The 2011 Blizzard Cup grand finals was anything except that, as we had to witness a 40-minute game seven to see the winner's trophy get raised by MMA.
The grand final of all grand finals began with a standard reactor hellion into cloaked banshees from MMA, a build that brought him more trouble than he expected in the early game. This was mainly due to DongRaeGu's aggressive roach/baneling timing attack that hit the terran before he could execute his plan. The zerg killed off plenty of SCVs so MMA was ultimately screwed at least on paper. That was until he flew his three banshees towards DRG's main and saw not a single spore ready at that time. After losing four queens and the majority of his drones, DRG had to type out in full realization of his mistake.
Reactor hellion was again the opening of choice for MMA but he transitioned to stim/siege push after he was done harassing but that was denied as well - once baneling speed kicked in, DongRaeGu had little trouble erasing the terran presence and put the match balance back to an equal position. Said equilibrium was shaken minutes later by DongRaeGu himself who launched a particularly unsuccessful baneling attack towards MMA main. As a result, one counter attack later his fourth was down as was his supply. Nevertheless, the zerg did manage to get his hive and brood lord tech out to reinforce his speedling/infestor and pushed through the centre of the map, his sight set on MMA's natural. Yet it only gave MMA the opportunity to show how immaculate he is when it come to engaging enemy zergs. Using tank drops to clear the infestors and thors to soak baneling damage, MMA walked out with such an efficient trade that all DRG could to is GG out.
This was a much shorter game, yet one that shocked the casters to a great extent. Again MMA opened with reactor hellion but this time the damage dealt was enourmous, and that's a tuned down adjective to not make DRG look bad. Nearly 60 units died to the hellions while DRG tried to get rid of them (sadly, in vain) so when MMA followed this up with a marauder/SCV all in there was nothing left for the zerg to do.
By that time, DongRaeGu's comeback was close to science fiction: he was down 0-3, losing the third game in an embarrassing fashion that does not become one of the best zerg players in the world. Yet the MVP ace had more life in him. Much, much more.
MMA opened with reactor hellion into marauders - a build very popular in the beta but which came back into fashion recently - but DRG was finally able to say "No!". Right after the attack was denied, a ling run-by thrashed MMA's natural and put the zerg back in the game. An infestor follow-up set the dead SCV count even higher and MMA was in serious trouble for the first time since that roach/baneling attack in game one. By taking bigger and bigger advantage after each attack, DongRaeGu could easily transition to a 3-base ultralisk/crackling composition and absolutely demolish whatever MMA sent do oppose him. It seemed the famouse zerg was not yet done.
Having reinstalled confidence in himself, DRG looked back at the previous game and saw a build that got him really close to winning - a 2-base roach/baneling attack. Despite Daybreak having some inconvenient timing attack distances, DRG bravely went for that build and reaped some quite juicy spoils. MMA suffered immence SCV damage while DRG was happily droning behind the attack and teching to spire. The said spire tech was also what allowed him to crush every drop attempt of MMA and put the zerg even further. The finishing blow came when MMA walked out to take a third at the centre of the map but felt the full wrath of the swarm. The score was now incredibly close at 3-2!
The terranoscopy continued on Antiga Shipyard as DRG went for the a bit unorthodox build of 2-base +1 roaches. Completely oblivious of zerg's plan, MMA opened with a very strong and fast +1/+1 stim siege timing attack that would've caught a mutalisking zerg unprepared but as it was, DRG had all it took to melt the enemy forces. A quick roach plus baneling drop counter attack and the score was suddenly tied! DRG had pushed MMA to game seven after beind down 0-3.
The last set of the ultimate grand final began as a textbook ZvT and evolved into a creature that made Artosis scream at the top of his lungs, praising the "best game he has ever seen in his 14-year StarCraft career".
Indeed, game seven was nothing short of spectacular and something for the community to speak long before the trophy has been raised and the grand champion crowned. The first few minutes were just a prelude to the late-game storm with DRG being the first one to get a clear advantage thanks to his ultralisks that carved through the terran positions all the way to the natural, ingoring even the strategically placed high-ground siege tanks. Having dealt some significant pain, DRG transitioned into brood lords only to find that tech a bit prematured - he had no ground force or corruptors to support them and as MMA cleaned them the ball was back in his hands. With the air threat cleared, MMA took the opportunity to hunt down the crucial expansions of zerg (particularly his fifth and sixth which were the backbone of zerg's economy).
It seemed that this was finally the end of DRG - his supply was down and his economy in ruins until in a last miraculous attempt some more brood lords popped out (this time with the proper backbone army), which pushed MMA back. And farther back. And farther and farther, even reaching his main and production facilities. Somehow DRG was making the terran sweat although he was in the supply deficit and he only had one mining base. Everybody was screaming: DRG was about to achieve the impossible comeback. But the perseverance of MMA was godlike. A small tank attack eliminated DRG's final expansion and as all ling support bit the dust to tank fire, MMA swooped in to snipe the brood lords and take the last set of this clinically insane series.
The Terran wins 40,000,000 KRW for his run in Blizzard Cup, which is close to €26,500 EUR.
| GSL 2011 Blizzard Cup | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grand Final | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
  MMA | > |  DongRaeGu | @ Crossfire SE 1.1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| MMA | > | DongRaeGu | @ Tal'Darim Altar LE | |||||||||||||||||||||
| MMA | > | DongRaeGu | @ Bel'Shir Beach Winter | |||||||||||||||||||||
| MMA | < | DongRaeGu | @ Dual Sight 1.1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| MMA | < | DongRaeGu | @ Daybreak | |||||||||||||||||||||
| MMA | < | DongRaeGu | @ Antiga Shipyard 1.2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| MMA | > | DongRaeGu | @ Shakuras Plateau 2.0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Final standings
1. MMA €26,500 EUR
2. DongRaeGu €6,600 EUR
3-4. MVP €3,307 EUR
3-4. MC €3,307 EUR