MSL 2008 ClubDay Group F game report

Group F, although not featuring any superstars, promises to be an exciting group, as Canata is undoubtedly eager to get past this group, given the many TvT opportunities. Type-B is a relatively unknown Zerg but with whispers going around the starcraft community about his impeccable ZvT. Memory and Lomo should need no introduction as they are both up and coming Terrans in this post-Flash broodwar era.

Group F: Canata, Memory, Lomo and Type-B[s.g]

Lomo vs Type-B[s.g] @ Byzantium 2

With both players having a respectable skill in the ZvT match-up, this fight would be considered fairly split between the two progamers. The Zerg cerebrate spawns his hatchery at the northwest position while the Terran commander lands his forces at the southeast. Both players open as standard as possible with a 12 hatch 11 pool 13 hatch from the Zerg and a 2 barracks into expansion from the Terran. Both players have almost perfect information about each other as the scouting SCV and a very sneaky zergling provide plenty of build order information for both. Type-B however begins to raise a few eyebrows as he slaps down a fairly early evolution chamber while at the same time starting spire tech.

With mutalisks eventually hatching things start to at last heat up as the bog-standard harass commences. Curiously enough, Lomo is caught quite unprepared as only 2 turrets guard his main! The mutalisks manage to do a fair bit of damage until they are forced to retreat as marines shower them with gauss fire. But Type-B is not finished as he brings a respectable force of zerglings patrolling a few screens outside Lomo’s expansion. Excitement hits the commentators, as this is now clearly a timing battle. Type-B is trying to stall the Terran advance as much as possible with his small mutaling force as he has now teched to hive and is going for fast ultralisks! And he manages quite nicely as he catches a small reinforcement group of m&m and rips them to shreds before retreating.

At the same time he has tiptoed some drones and takes an additional 2 bases. Lomo seems to look in pretty bad shape now, as ultras are now good and ready, with plenty of armour upgrades to protect their mammoth bodies. Lomo must clearly finish his opponent right now as he pressures forward with science vessel support. He hits the sunken defence like a tide but his army is not completely surrounded by sunkens and ultralisks hitting from the front and mutalisks and zerglings coming from the back. Visibly spit-roasted his army gets slaughtered while the swarm grows. Lomo then tries to shutdown the expansions with a drop and sending a small group of marines to the other. But he flat down fails to do substantial damage as one is reinforced by a nydus canal with incoming ultralisks,and the marines die to rampaging zerglings.

Eventually a final clash issues outside of Lomo natural. But the ultralisk/scourge army goes into lawnmower mode as the massive armou upgrades pay off and the marine fire just tickles the beasts. Lomo even facilitates his enemy by irradiating the ultras who use the toxic cloud to damage the frail marines even further! With no army to speak off and a push of ultra ling, Lomo concedes.

A pretty nasty game from the Terran perspective. One wonders what would have happened if the marine/medic/science vessel force had instead went for expansion hunting rather than hitting the heavily defended Zerg main...

Canata vs Memory @ Medusa

With Memory boasting a very sub-standard TvT, Canata, a very respectable TvTer, should be fairly confident. The 3-player map Medusa is the battlefield with Canata at 6 o’clock and Memory at 3. Both players offer no surprises with their openings, going for factory and starport. Canata pressures Memory with a 3 vulture and marine push and manages to take out a clumsily placed tank in the process. With a single remaining vulture and a tank chasing it, Canata now has a full view of what his enemy is up to.

He immediately continues the pressure with a couple of wraiths but Memory had plans of his own as he ferried tanks an scv and marines on the cliff behind Canata’s main and shutdowns his economy completely! As Canata desperately retreats his cloaked wraiths to defend, he takes out the invaders but with massive delay and losses. His economy is now in shambles and Memory has been almost untouched. But Canata has cleverly set up a little contain and his goliath force cannot push on. Memory then almost lost the game for his grip as he barely saved a handful of dropshipped goliaths from pursuing wraiths, dispatching them with a single scan. Canata then attempts to go up the ramp behind Memory by destroying the stacked neutral buildings blocking the entrance.

But a single scv provided great scouting as a shrewdly placed siege tank stops the attempt. Eventually a small but critical battle issues at the middle of the map, goliaths./tanks vs tanks/wraiths. Memory emerges victorious and creeps down the map, trying to meet Canata’s expansion. But he doesn’t press on and instead transports a massive goliath/tank force at the crucial cliff and with Canata having no options he forfeits!

Very interesting to see Memory take down an opponent such as Canata, he just unrelentingly made use of the cliff and Canata used (abused?) the map to its’ fullest.

Memory vs Type-B[s.g] @ Destination

Winners’ match on the 2 player map Destination. Memory has an unimpressive TvZ but he did manage to take down Canata with his equally dusty TvT. So how will he fare against this up-and-coming rampaging Zerg?

Terran at north and Zerg at south. Fairly classic ZvT openings with a little fake-bunker rush for seasoning. Memory goes for a bit greedier one barracks into expansion while Type-B goes for 2 hatch and early gas. As Memory happily macros away, speedlings kick in a nice little harass starts off. But medics are on the spot along with a firebat and the lings retreat.

A little control mistake however costs Memory a few dead marines as his force attempts to chase the zerglings but is split between the 2 ramps. At this point, it is clear that Type-B is going for a lurker drop but the lurkers, trying to get to the critical overlord, are intercepted by the marine/medic/firebat force and one is blown up. He nevertheless manages to slow drop some lurkers and this is where poor Memory is just dismantled. As he deals with the lurkers another double speedlord drop takes place at his expansion and he is now under attack from two fronts.

As continuous lurkers and zerglings breach the Terran defences Memory is now focusing on his main and turtles up with tanks and goes desperately for vessel support. But Type-B’s aggressiveness ravages Memory as he presses on and with Terran having no detection apart from a single comsat station the Zerg swarm emerges victorious and Type-B goes on to the next MSL round.

Canata vs Lomo @ Destination

Last chance for the hopes of these two Terrans. Lomo at north position with Canata at south. Canata starts off with a nicely placed barracks literally right under Lomo’s nose, making a single marine to block off the scouting floating the barracks for immediate scouting. As he know knows exactly what Lomo is up to he goes for two port wraith while his opponent continues with the 1 factory/1 starport to wraith and tank. Canata eventually loses the surprise element altogether as Lomo scouts the not-so-hidden starports and slaps down an academy and an armory.

At this point, both players have an expansion and Canata is slowly but surely withering Lomo’s forces down and slowing down the tank/goliath advance. But eventually the constant scans wreck the wraiths and Canata just barely defends the push. However, continuous reinforcements arrive and Canata is losing way too many wraiths that he should. Eventually, Lomo pours in a Canata is now desperate as his expansion is shut down.

He again breaks free with unsieged tanks but Lomo continues his assault with quick goliath drops, taking a few SCVs. As Canata realises that Lomo has massed a respectable force outside his main and with his macro in tatters he types out. Seems like his TvT wasn’t good enough to advance through the group after all…

Lomo vs Memory @ Athena 2

Final match of the group, winner advances with Type-B. Lomo at 6 o’clock and Memory at 9 on the cliff-happy map Athena 2. Although Lomo has a respectable TvT, Memory hasn’t but on the other hand he did manage to take down Canata on Medusa. As a standard TvT unfolds, the gum-chewing Terran Lomo starts off with a little trick up his sleeve in the form of a 4 vulture drop.

As Memory jumbles his forces to deal with the drop, the vulture place mines and proceed to wreck havoc on the hapless scvs. Memory’s choice of a fast expansion opening meant that he had very little forces to deal with the invaders and he is now left with a crippled economy. Lomo, clearly with a strategy on his mind takes his expansion and continues the scv genocide with a brief wraith raid. Memory however is not intent to let Lomo have the economy advance and his 2-port-made cloaked wraiths pick off a lot of scvs and wraiths before retreating.

He also deployed a respectable tank force in the lower middle of the map with eyes set on Lomo’s expansion. But Lomo goes virtually around the tanks and now is laying siege on the expansion. Meanwhile he is taking massive casualties from the ever-present wraiths who have reduced the scvs to a handful. With no economy whatsoever and a tank/wraith push that annihilates Lomo’s army, Memory now advances to the next round.

Very nice play by Memory, even though he lost his ZvT match he convincingly thrashed Canata and played a safe, solid game vs Lomo.