The IPL6 International Satellite finished off its last matches with four amazing players and great matches throughout. The four combatants in the semi-finals, EG.Revival and EG.Puma, aLive, and Quantic.HyuN duked it out for prizes for three placers. The top-three finishers actually qualified for IPL6 and should allow for more stacked SC2 play in Las Vegas. All four were former TSL players and showed their experience.
First Semi-final: aLive v. Revival
Revival's better macro and strategy won him the early late game encounter against aLive.
Cloud Kingdom -- Game one
Revival began slowly, pushed creep and spawned four queens before gas. aLive also turtled up with bunker walls and expanded. aLive started the aggression with a small hellion/marine group to force zergling spawns from Revival. Revival countered by caging aLive and sustained map control with speedlings/banelings and mutalisks. He also macro'd better with nearly two more bases. Revival's strategy of a stronger economy allowed him to constantly harass with speed and banelings with plenty of minerals to replenish his defenses. It allowed Revival to transition easier to the late game, while aLive was caged in. GGLords and a push from Revival ended the first game.
aLive missed his opportunity and was forced to playdefense until his tournament exit.
Ohana -- Game two
Revival pushed his momentum immediately with an early roach warren to harass aLive. With the advantage, Revival transitioned to mutalisks while also pushing out roaches. aLive's scout and harass with banshees was thwarted, but his superior tech of bio ball/tanks crushed through Revival's initial defense. Revival did hold the attacks and still held a better macro lead because aLive never went for a third base. The counter attack with a heavier supplied army from Revival ended aLive's timed opportunity and his tournament.
Second Semi-final: Puma v. HyuN
The key engagement from HyuN won the overall momentum.
Cloud Kingdom -- Game one
The second ZvT among the last four players pitted former teammates of TSL in HyuN (Zerg) and Puma (Terran). HyuN started some zergling aggression but Puma's micro quickly snuffed out any attempts and both players macro'd up instead. HyuN retreated into a three-base, roach warren push and took the big economic advantage (nearly double the opponent). Puma's upgrade advantage, however, kept him in the game to create the stalemate in map control. An amazing engagement from HyuN and his fungal growth eliminated Puma's main army and gave him the ultimate advantage. Map control, higher macro, higher supply, etc. for a game one win for HyuN.
HyuN's three-base roach pronged attack was the finishing blow.
Entombed Valley -- Game two
Puma started this game with hellion harass to buy time for a greedy third expansion. HyuN expanded quickly to three bases into roach warren defense. An insanely risky strategy from Puma ended up biting him back when HyuN pushed out with a three-base all-in roach attack for the win.
Third-Place game: Puma v. aLive
aLive's better control caged his opponent in and denied the third expansion.
Daybreak -- Game one
Here's the TvT that no one wanted to see. aLive went for an early banshee harass and for scouting, while Puma played the bio ball early game. aLive's control dominated the map and caged in Puma to only two-bases. With such a huge advantage, his army and supply was light-years ahead. aLive then cornered Puma's army into the third expansion and forced the deny. The advantage snowballed too large and aLive took game one.
aLive's missed scout on Puma's proxy barracks cost him game two.
Cloud Kingdom -- Game two
Puma began the game with two proxy barracks that snuck by aLive's scouting. Puma's 11/11 barracks won him the game with a cheeky play that could have cost him the entire tournament.
The 51-minute marathon ended in a base race that aLive won.
Entombed Valley -- Game three
aLive opened up with an early command center, while Puma did not start proxy barracks, but rather a 1/1/1 for hellions and banshees. Puma's hellion pressure paid off in economic damage and map control, while it bought time for a complete mech transition. aLive's bio ball commitment grabbed the map control back with great defense and pressure. Puma's quality of army was better, but the speed and control was in aLive's favor. After a favorable advantage in the middle for aLive, he transitioned immediately to mass vikings and won another fight to take the supply lead. Because of Puma's early macro advantage, it was difficult for aLive to close in on a significant base to attack. Eventually, Puma ran out of mining bases vs. aLive's higher supplied army and better micro. aLive finally moved into the production facilities of Puma, but the damage was minimum and no players took the initiative to push all-in. Again, aLive used a two-pronged bio ball attack to initiate a base race, but backed off. Finally the much-anticipated base race and aLive won with great placements of his army.
So, here are your three qualifiers:
aLive, HyuN, and Revival!
Timothy Lee is known more for his writing than his playing. He specializes in analysis, profiles, and news reporting. You can find his work on IGN.com, RotoAnalysis.com, 1UP.com, and the Daily Breeze. He is currently a free-lance video game and sports writer.
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