The quarter finals match between Jaedong and Stork turned out to be a very intense affair. The crowd was on the edge of their seats through the entire series as protoss and zerg clashed.
Game 1 @ Neo Baekdu Daegan
The first game felt very much like a test game in the beginning, both players probing the other to find chinks in their armor. Stork started out in the top right of this somewhat old map and Jaedong in the southwest. Jaedong barely bothered to build any zerglings early, opting for a very economic opening. The first chink in Stork's armor appeared early on, when some zerglings slipped into Stork's natural mineral line, driving off the probes there and staying just out of reach from the photon cannons.
Stork tried sending zealots to deal some damage back, but accomplished nothing with it. Corsair/reaver was the build of choice for Stork, while a hydralisk den as well as plenty of hatcheries could be seen at Jaedong's base. Jaedong swiftly amassed a group of hydralisks and started tearing down Stork's front door just before the additional photon cannons finished warping in. In a desperate attempt to defend, probes rushed in and actually managed to hold off the hydralisks in conjunction with a couple of and a reaver spawning just in time. Jaedong manages to snipe the already damaged forge however, putting Stork's timing off even more than it already was.
Jaedong continued to dominate the map and keep Stork contained in his base while expanding freely. Stork attempts to push out once, only to lose his two reavers (but managing to save his shuttle) and is driven back. A dark templar drop kills a few drones, but Jaedong's mutalisks clean them up without too much difficulty. A last ditch push rolls out from Stork's base, but his hopes are shattered when marauding mutalisks manage to snipe every single high templar in the army. With no storms to support the troops, his army is quickly decimated by the hydra/muta combination and Stork is forced to surrender. Jaedong is looking very good coming into the next match, while Stork really needs to pull himself together.
A hopeless battle for the Protoss
Game 2 @ Tau Cross
Jaedong spawns in the top left position and Stork in the bottom right position on Tau Cross. Again choosing to fast expand, Stork's scouting probe spots the early spawning pool Jaedong built and cannons up before placing the nexus. Unfortunately for him his probe gets killed off very early, forcing Stork to bring some probes to help block the choke, as he's unsure about how many zerglings Jaedong opted to build. Repeated scouting attempts finally yield results, as a probe spots the hydralisks moving towards Stork's base. Not wishing to experience the previous game once again, Stork adds cannons and effortlessly defends the rather weak hydralisk push. Jaedong again manages to snipe the forge before moving away.
Not gonna work this time!
While his corsair is keeping track of Jaedong, who has started teching to lair, Stork adds a couple of gateways in his main and starts pumping dragoons, being very careful not to let Jaedong see them. As soon as he has two reavers and enough dragoons, Stork moves out in a blaze of fury, catching Jaedong off guard. Scourge and hydralisks alike fail to take out the shuttle with the reavers due to some excellent micro by Stork. The hydralisks alone are unable to withstand the reaver/dragoon combination and as the protoss force penetrates into Jaedong's natural expansion Jaedong realizes this is a lost cause and surrenders. After looking shaky in the first game, the second showed a resolute, calculated player that caught Jaedong off guard. On to the final game!
Not a sight Jaedong wished to see.
Game 3 @ Ride of Valkyries
Stork begins in the bottom right and Jaedong begins in the bottom left, the pressure is on. Both players fast expand, but Jaedong has a trick up his sleeve. Just like in his game against Bruce, a drone starts mining away at the mineral patches blocking the second entrance into Stork's natural. Unlike Bruce, Stork spots this and places a pylon in the gap and blocks with probes. A couple of zerglings test this defense briefly but are forced to pull back.
None of your sneaky antics, Jaedong!
Stork turtles in nice and hard while teching to corsair/reaver for the third time, while Jaedong techs to lair earlier than in previous games instead of going for a hydralisk push. In a pretty maneuver, Jaedong throws a couple of zerglings at the cannons to attract their fire while four scourge rush in and snipe the shuttle, unfortunately without reavers in it.
After that pretty move it's a shame Jaedong goes and spoils it with a really bad one. A rather big hydralisk drop just above the ramp leading down to Stork's natural turns into a devastating failure, as zealots and reavers effortlessly mop up the zerg forces.
A truly disastrous drop.
Realizing that this is his chance, Stork moves out with his zealots, corsairs and shuttle with reavers. The army drives the zerg forces back, although Stork not only loses his shuttle (after dropping the reavers though), but he also sends his entire corsair fleet over a clump of hydralisks, losing all his corsairs.
Despite these losses, the large zealot army plunge into Jaedong's natural expansion. While Stork's reavers and part of his zealot force hold up Jaedong's hydralisks, a handful manage to take down the natural hatchery.
Zealots kept streaming in, attacking many places at once, sending Jaedong into a panic. His mutalisks flew around frantically, but could not be everywhere they were needed as more and more hatcheries and drones fell to the zealot onslaught. Stork momentarily pulls back to regroup his forces, leaving a crippled Jaedong to lick his wounds and rebuild his expansions. Before he gets a chance to do this, Stork give him the coup de grace with a force consisting of templar, zealots and archons. Hydralisks melt, mutalisks are taken down by corsairs and Jaedong concedes the victory to Stork.
Nothing Jaedong can do now.
Protoss Prevails
After a shaky first game Stork proves that he is very well capable of winning the WCG two years in a row. Perhaps Jaedong was lulled into a false sense of confidence by the first game, perhaps Stork just pulled his act together and played like a champ. Whichever the case, Stork moves on to the semi-finals while a disappointed Jaedong has to watch from the sidelines.
