Photo: ESL
The competition in the 5th place consolation bracket of WCS Europe is going in full strength. After a five-map series, StarDust eliminates Nerchio and moves on to play the winner of Targa and Duckdeok.
StarDust 3:2 Nerchio
It was a hard-fought battle in the first consolation match for the day as mYinsanity's StarDust met Acer's Zerg Nerchio. Both players were coming from crushing losses in day one - to Vortix and MMA respectively - and that was their last chance for redemption and a shot at getting a spot at the Season 3 finals.
Nerchio took Derelict Watcher in a macro game colored by early roach/ling pressure which continuously terrorized StarDust's third, not giving it a chance to be saturated and properly utilized. The Pole used the same tactic on Whirlwind and denied times and times again the third nexus of the Korean while preparing a big mutalisk switch. This time around, however, the Korean was more tentative and as he smelled a timing opportunity he hit the Zerg with a gateway/void ray army to tie the score.
Great sentry/zealot/warp prism harassment on Frost would put StarDust in the lead but this would also be a short-lived advantage. A massive hydra force swarmed Yeonsu and choked StarDust until the score was once again tied, 2:2.
The early minutes of game five on Bel'Shir Vestige were marked by Nerchio going for a three-base baneling nest build in attempt to evaporate StarDust's own third base. Having only minimal army on the map, the Korean was unable to adequately defend his nexus and saw its inevitable fall but, like the game on Whirlwind, this would only preceed his unexpected triumph. A timing attack caught Nerchio underprepared and the Protoss paraded through the creep-covered lands, badgering out a GG out of the Pole for a final scoreboard of 3:2.
Duckdeok 3:1 Targa
The second PvZ of the consolation bracket put Duckdeok against Targa in what would be a tense four-game face-off. The Norwegian took map one by storm, showcasing his strong macro to overwhelm Duckdeok.
Targa was on his way towards a repeat performance on Yeonsu as well. Seizing what looked like an opportunity to clean up the match by flanking Duckdeok's deathball, however, turned out to be Targa's biggest mistake for the series. The void ray tech of the Protoss had kicked in just in time to clean up the corruptors of Targa, leaving the colossis and gateway units to wipe out the rest. Severely behind after the engagement, Targa tried to recover in the late game but all in vain.
What the win additionally did for Duckdeok is figure out Targa's playstyle and the next game on Derelicy Watcher went a bit more easily into his favor. Switching his strategy around in game four and going into swarm hosts instead of his previous commitment to roaches did help Targa but only to a small extent. With the final match balancing on the edge and with Targa's burrowed swarm hosts being his last hope, it came down to who could snipe his enemy's detectors faster. As that war was won by Duckdeok as well, killing Targa's overseer before it could in turn spot the valuable observer, the Zerg had to tap out and allow the Korean to move on and face StarDust in the 5th place decider.
Apollo highlighting the turning point for Duckdeok in game two
