DIMAGA took the top spot of today's group ahead of Korean favourite MVP. So far, this makes him only the second non-terran player to advance to the Ro16.
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Economic Stranglehold
Siw, a player who has made a name in online cups, had a rough début in his first premier having to face off against a 4 time GSL champion. As one of only a couple of top-tier Koreans who managed to qualify for WCS EU, MVP hoped to advance out of the early stages unopposed.
In both games, MVP stifled his opponents economy by constantly denying his attempts to fully establish a third base. The snowball effect of this was evident in both games as Siw, who traded units as efficiently as he could, was unable to ever find himself on even footing.
For the Swarm
DIMAGA crushed Socke's first attempt at a colossus timing push on Bel'shir Vestige with a perfect surround consisting of pure zerglings. Having gained himself a huge lead early on and effectively restricting the protoss to two bases, DIMAGA patiently established a strong economy and waited for Socke to move out with whatever meagre force he could muster before decimating it.
In game two, Socke attempted a +1 zealot timing on the third of his opponent supported by phoenixes. After cleaning up this attack, DIMAGA went for an extremely fast hive at 10 minutes despite losing a handful of queens and drones to phoenix harassment. This effectively forced Socke to attempt an attack before ultralisk which DIMAGA somehow completely obliterated with pure zerglings.
The Kingslayer
Fresh off of his first victory of the day, DIMAGA seemed to have little regard for MVP's almost god-like status as he dismantled him 2-0 to advance top of Group D. DIMAGA gained himself a tremendous early advantage in game one with a huge bust on MVPs natural including roaches, zergling and 40 banelings. MVP stabilised surprisingly effectively after holding the subsequent aggression but without of his usual trademark aggression, DIMAGA was able to safely reach the desirable hive tech and overrun his opponent with ultralisks.
MVP stepped up his aggression in game two, using continuous drop harass to supplement his biomine pushes. DIMAGA's patience in defending the push put in a commanding mid game lead with 5 bases and 10 gases. As both player reached their population max and attempted to apply pressure, the game quickly escalated into a base-race. MVP was forced to tap out as his bio army was unable to withstand the late game zerg composition of ultralisks, broodlords and infestors.
Protoss battle for survival
With only one other protoss to have made it out of the group stages so far, Siw and Socke battled it out for the last chance at a spot of qualifying and the hopes of denying another terran in the Ro16. Socke took both games convincingly against the young Russian with his 3gate stalker/stargate opening to play in the last match of the day.
Another one bites the dust
Socke took a quick lead in the first game of the last series, catching MVP without scans with an early DT drop which denied stim and combat shields as well as inflicting severe economic damage. This left MVP in absolutely no position to hold off the eventual push from protoss after adding colossus tech.
MVP repaid the favour in game two with multiple drops, continuing to deny protoss attempts to secure a third base similar to his games against Siw and securing himself an insurmountable army advantage. The deciding game was a scrappy affair as both players simultaneously dropped each others mains. MVP was able to come out ahead as both players tried to out multi-task one and other because he was able to un-power all of his opponents gateways, allowing him to win the final engagement and take the second place spot in the group.
