Another incredible series has been played out, and the reigning king is still on his throne after emerging victorious in yet another brutal war.
This week we saw yet another installment of the newly resurrected GosuGamers King of the Hill. Our current king
Mondragon tried his hand at Protoss against his teammate 
Gosia, showing that he can win even with his off-race.The Zerg versus Zerg match up is a dreaded one for many Zerg players. Mondragon, being no exception, showed us what he can do with Protoss. The playing field was set, and the two behemoths prepared for a best of seven showdown on some of the most popular maps.
Below is a quick recap of the games. If you wish to watch the replays yourself, you may click the link at the end of the article to download them. They are surely a worthy addition to any replay collection.
Game One: ![]()
Python
PythonMondragon (playing Protoss) spawned at the twelve o'clock position and opened with the usual fast expand build, while Gosia spawned at three and went with a rather uncommon over-pool build, trying to get zerglings out as soon as possible to deny scouting as he set up a rather secret expansion at the five spot. Both players built their economy. The king did not stray from the standard procedure, harassing with corsairs and teching up to templars for obvious reasons. Gosia went for a purely macro based build, pumping hydras, zerglings, and mutas out of five plus hatcheries with three bases. Mondragon attempted to keep Gosia under control, but the huge mass of units proved to be too much and the Polish Zerg player slowly chipped away at Mondragon's army and base, destroying his main with lurkers and cracklings. Mondragon attempted to build a new base while hardcore harassing Gosia's economy, but it was not enough as the Zerg swarm moved in and forced Mondragon to surrender.
 ToT)Gosia( (1-0) | > |  ToT)Mondragon( (0-1) |
Useless trivia: Gosia produced nearly seven hundred units this game!
Game Two: ![]()
Longinus
This game played out very much like the first one, with the same builds being used. The fast expand has surely became the fail-safe build for any Protoss with skill. This game, Mondragon skipped the corsair harass and teched to templars slightly quicker, making full use of them. Gosia was unable to get a full grip on his economy and get his macro going at full capacity, only managing to weaken and possibly anger the king with some drops. Mondragon prevailed in the end, tying things up.Nothing more needs to be said about this game, you can view this specific replay in the GosuGamers.net replay section and vote/comment on it.
| ToT)Mondragon( (1-1) | > | ToT)Gosia( (1-1) |
Game Three: ![]()
Blue Storm
Blue StormOnce again, Mondragon went with the fast expand; this time saving his gas for corsairs while pumping zealots with a single upgrade to attack, a typical procedure. Gosia tried to capture the essence of game one, expanding liberally. He laid down four hatcheries before taking his gas, and then quickly added a fifth hatchery. Mondragon spotted his opponent stretched thin, and harassed him with speed zealots with the devastating upgrade, as well as the all-too familiar corsair. Gosia perhaps overspent trying to replace his precious overlords, and was short on units as well as upgrades from the start. With so few units covering so much map, it was pretty easy for Mondragon to build up a strong ground force and dismantle his tech before he could even respond. With his fate sealed, Gosia surrendered. The king was now up two to one and could now play slightly more relaxed with this lead.
| ToT)Mondragon( (2-1) | > | ToT)Gosia( (1-2) |
Game Four: ![]()
Lost Temple
This game was quite a change up. Firstly the players switched races, with Gosia playing Protoss, and Mondragon playing his main race: Zerg. There was no fast expand from the challenger, he got a quick gateway and gas signaling some sort of funny tech build. Mondragon went with a gusty-yet-effective nine hatchery build, massing up lings and holding off the expected zealot harassment. With no cannons in his base, Gosia was subjected to some very skillful zergling micro and harassment. He managed to get control, but only for a brief time. By the time his dark templars appeared, Mondragon was surely prepared with his overlords, and continued to send units running into the challengers base. More than one or two dark templars would be needed to fend off this attack, which there was none. Despite pretty good play from Gosia, Mondragon showed us that it does not matter which race he plays, as long as it isn't terran. All joking aside, only one person can sit atop the proverbial hill, and Christoph Semke is that person.
| ToT)Mondragon( (3-1) | > | ToT)Gosia( (1-3) |
Game Five: ![]()
Paranoid Android
Both players went back to their original races, still avoiding ZvZ at all costs. For the first time this series, Mondragon opted to not use a fast expand build, possibly because of his two game lead. His comfort and confidence were almost tangible as he decided to use some rather unorthodox and arguably unsafe tactics to secure his final win. Both players expanded liberally and quickly. Psi storm and Scarabs actually seem rather imbalanced against Zerg when placed in the hands of a gosu like Mondragon, as Zerg blood stained the map left and right. No player, Zerg or not, can compete when a great portion of their army is killed in this fashion. This was the closest and longest game of the entire series, and is a lot of fun to watch. Mondragon gains his final victory, and will live to defend his title yet again!
| ToT)Mondragon( (4-1) | > | ToT)Gosia( (1-4) |
Overall thoughts...
This was quite an exciting series, and is not as one sided as it may appear. It is obvious that both players have a great deal of respect for one another's skill, and it is even more obvious that they make a good team in two versus twos. Mondragon is the 'bonjwa' of the foreign scene, nobody can deny that, and we will have to wait to see who can dethrone this titan when the time comes. Thank you for reading, and please stay tuned as the next KOTH series is right around the corner!
Thanks to Artanis for uploading the replays!
Links
[url=http://files.filefront.com/KOTH+GO sia+vs+Mondragonzip/;9806699;/fileinfo.html/1/1]FileFront.com[/url] - Replays - Download
SC.GosuGamers.net - GGKOTH - Preview and History
SC.GosuGamers.net - Game 2 Replay - Rate/Comment
