As the day closes the first part of the Quarter Finals was to be played with two epic matches and so the Semi-Final is set. Tomorrow is the last day where all remaining matches will be played including the grand final.
TLO vs First
Starting off the series First sends a Zealot force to destroy TLO's third and simply succeeds putting TLO in a very bad position. As First was going in for the kill with a huge army the stream went offline and so game one's end and how First finished it off is clouded in darkness.
In game two First stays true to his name and goes Nexus First. TLO takes advantage of that and goes in with six lings. He manages to destroy the first cannon before it completes and wreck some havoc - taking a lot of mining time from First's probes. In order to bounce back First uses Phoenixes to cause some much needed damage. TLO pushes forward with a lot of Roaches but losses all of them to a strong Stalker, Immortal defense backed-up by Sentries. First decides to seize the advantage and goes in to push while TLO sends his Roaches to his opponents base with Tunneling claws. A base race ensues but First's army is too big and he takes the game.
Cloud Kingdom would either be the scene of First's triumph or TLO's comeback. The game was tense as First tried a bit of pressure with Zealots and Sentries but Blings from TLO fended them off. TLO goes for a very smart lure and tries to get Lings and Blings in the Protoss base but First does not forget the Zealot block and TLO falls back. First goes in with Charge-lots and Archons as TLO starts up with 11 Mutas but it's simply not enough. First goes into TLO's base and continues his undefeated record from the group stage as he moves onwards to the Semi-Finals.
Socke vs Kas
Kas opens up with a bunker rush to Socke's natural doing a bit of damage but nothing substantial and no commitment. Socke comes in with a huge force backed by a 7-gate to face Kas's small two bunker defense. Kas pulls out the SCVs to try and defend as Socke warps in reinforcements from a forward pylon. Kas can't defend his base as all his workers go down and Socke claims game one.
Game two saw both players starting off in very standard builds. Kas goes in with a big Marine force and a few Marauders and Medivacs, he goes up the ramp and Socke's Colossi are revealed. Kas rotates and goes off to destroy Socke's third Nexus yet Socke manages to destroy Kas's entire force while sending some zealots to deal damage to Kas's third. Socke tries to push his advantage but positions his Colossi badly and they get picked off directly by Kas's ground forces and some Vikings. Socke loses all of his army and Kas takes a major lead nearly doubling the supply of the Protoss running on three bases to Socke's two. Kas splits his forces by dropping in the main and walking to the third. Socke's small forces are obliterated as the series gets tied.
Cloud Kingdom saw our players start off normally as the early game had simply no engagements. Kas builds up his ground forces and adding Vikings as Socke builds up his Colossi ball and goes into Templars. Kas flies in with a Factory and wants to go in but thinks better of it when he sees Socke's Colossi. Socke comes out of his base and Kas manages to catch some of his forces in bad position. Kas pushes forward and manages to destroy the Templars with minimal storm damage. Kas pushes on into the base but Socke manages to defend properly with additional well places storms. The game goes into late-game as Kas pulls out the Ghosts and reaches max supply. Socke manages to get the perfect army of Templars, Archons and Colossi to battle Kas's heavy marine forces and pushes forward to take the third game.
Kas starts out with another bunker rush this time on Ohana but again it is fended off by Socke easily. Game four once again looks very standard for the two players as Kas goes for Bio and Socke tries to defend with his Colossi. Socke comes in to Kas's third with a few Templars and Collosi in his army and Kas is forced to lift which delays him a bit. Kas decides not to attack just as Socke's storm research finishes up. As both players build up their armies and upgrades the match seems pretty even with three bases each. Storm vs EMP engagements occur multiple times though no decisive winner emerges. Finally Socke harasses with a warp prism forcing Kas to deal with it and opening up his Fourth base. Socke focuses the Planetary and takes it down. Kas retaliates by going for Socke's fourth and the battle has Kas on top with a 50 supply lead. Kas pushes his lead to 100 with an additional engagement and finally wins the game.
Metropolis was the scene for this epic series' finale. Kas starts off with four barracks before a refinery and manages to destroy Socke's first Stalker. Kas decides to be extremely aggressive and goes in with with a large marines force vs Socke's Probes and Stalkers and manages to do a considerable amount of damage and gain a massive lead in economy. Socke pushes back with his two Colossi before Kas manages to get enough Vikings. Socke pressures Kas's bunker and sends some Zealots to destroy the reactor on the Starport. Socke keeps pressuring Kas with his three Colossi killing off a huge amount of workers and manages to push forward despite being economically behind. Making wonderful use of his limited forces Socke goes on to win the game and become our second Semi-Finalist of the day.
