Starcraft 2

[Scufo]

SPOILERS

Wha...? You hear Arcturus giving Tychus his orders at the beginning of the game.

And yes, Tychus's entire subplot makes no sense. I was expecting him to sabotage Raynor's entire operation at some point and it just...never happened. There's still some unanswered questions pertaining to the Mobius Foundation and Valerian Mengsk though, so hopefully something will come of that.

[prophetik music]

more spoilers

you're forgetting one thing - kerrigan, even fixed up, still represents billions upon billions of deaths for two different races of sentient beings. not to mention the biggest mistake that he's ever had (she doesn't die like she's supposed to, and winds up harassing him for years). he wants her to die because HE WANTS HER TO DIE. he's willing to sacrifice anything to get that.

tychus dying in the odin wouldn't do jack. they'd just keep loading more guys into it. the big deal was that tychus's prodding was what took the raiders to char, and (he hoped) to oblivion. either way, he gets what he wants - either the raiders get eaten and they're not an issue, or the QoB gets toasted and she's not an issue.

[Scufo]

The problem I have is that, regardless of whether it was due to Tychus's help, the Raiders succeed in inflicting a TON of damage to Mengsk's credibility and to the Dominion as a whole. Yet the entire time this is happening, Mengsk has a man on the inside. Why doesn't he ever take advantage of that? Why didn't he order Tychus to turn the Odin on his own men when he had the chance? If he refuses, he dies. If Tychus obeys the order, the Raiders are utterly boned. If not, his sudden death will at the very least cause confusion and allow the Dominion forces to fight back.

Maybe Mengsk had too much invested in Tychus to ever actually pull the plug on him. Maybe he thought Tychus was actually the only person who could succeed in killing Kerrigan. Maybe he knew Valerian was going to lure Raynor to Char, and subsequently succeed against all odds in punching a hole in the Zerg defenses to ultimately take out Kerrigan. But again, this brings up the problem of Mengsk somehow knowing that Tychus could not only get the opportunity to kill Kerrigan, but could actually succeed in doing so.

Edit: And hell, why didn't Mengsk use the inside information he was getting from Tychus to thwart the Raiders at every turn? With such intelligence on the Dominion's side, how did the Raiders manage to steal the Odin in the first place? I feel like Mengsk has this huge advantage that is never acknowledged.

[Souliarc]

Bumping this to advertise another awesome GSL game, this time with Zerg play: http://www.gomtv.net/videos/1122/0

Note the use of the island expansion -- do that if you're not already, terran players.

Couldn't track down game 2 on Youtube, but here's game 3 of that set (ogsTOP wins game 2): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7TECOphnJM also amazing. The best Zerg games of the tourney.

*Spoiler*

Ha! No more qq from people about ultralisks being underpowered. They DOMINATED those thors! Their splash damage and rate of attack is scary.

[HalcyonSpirit]

Actually, after the 1.1.1 patch, people are qq'ing about Ultralisks again because now their splash damage radius is actually sensible. It now emanates from the Ultra, not the unit being attacked, which reduces the effective radius of Ultra splash. Thors are now stronger than Ultras in an evenly numbered matchup.

[Souliarc]

Actually, after the 1.1.1 patch, people are qq'ing about Ultralisks again because now their splash damage radius is actually sensible. It now emanates from the Ultra, not the unit being attacked, which reduces the effective radius of Ultra splash. Thors are now stronger than Ultras in an evenly numbered matchup.

Damn! I'm gone a week for vacation and I'm so out of touch.

I was actually wondering about the cleave range. There's a certain battle between fruit and gsotop where the ultralisks are attacking a command center on the OTHER side of the mineral field and they blew up two missile turrets placed in front of the minerals. I mean... shit.

Edit:

I like how they fixed the 7% mineral increase pretty swiftly as well. I didn't even practice that cause I knew they were definitely going to patch that.

[friendlyHunter]

There's a certain battle between fruit and gsotop where the ultralisks are attacking a command center on the OTHER side of the mineral field and they blew up two missile turrets placed in front of the minerals. I mean... shit.

I saw that... Was that match played on a pre-patch version, or does it still do that after the patch? Guess I could just load up the ol' map editor and see for myself...

[Edit]Oops nevermind, didn't notice they released a second patch.

[Rambo]

holy crap. http://www.gomtv.net/2010gslopens1/vod/1144

Fruit Dealer madness again.

[HalcyonSpirit]

I wish I could watch more than just the first set.

[BardicKnowledge]

I wish I could watch more than just the first set.

Google "Name1 vs Name2 GSL Round of X" and you will find the other sets on youtube.

[HalcyonSpirit]

Not anymore. GOMTV or whoever owns them has taken all of them down. Hence my lamenting of not being able to see them.

EDIT: Found them elsewhere. SPOILERS ahead.

http://www.justin.tv/imoogle/b/270952341

http://www.justin.tv/imoogle/b/270953201

FruitDealer ate NEXLiveForever. Just completely ate him alive. I hope FruitDealer wins the entire thing; he's SO much better than pretty much any other Zerg right now.

[Reaif]

SPOILERS

http://www.justin.tv/imoogle/b/270952341

http://www.justin.tv/imoogle/b/270953201

FruitDealer ate NEXLiveForever. Just completely ate him alive. I hope FruitDealer wins the entire thing; he's SO much better than pretty much any other Zerg right now.

SPOILERS

I have to agree with this statement. He reminds of Flash when he started going crazy on everyone, but with Zerg.

Oh and as an aside, I would recommend that everyone who is genuinely interested in the GSL to purchase the subscription thing. It is totally worth it in my book. Only 20 bucks for SO MANY hours of entertainment. It's something like 3 hours/day, 5 days/week for a month. It is good to support this kind of thing. GOMTV tried to get support for it before, but they charged a bit too much, no one wanted it, and so they stopped for over a year if I remember correctly. Now it is cheaper, and they have more content.

[Mr. Bottle Rocket]

Man, fruit dealer, what a monster. 3-0 :0

[Souliarc]

As for the Zerg fast expand, remember that while having a 2nd hatchery means increased production from the extra larva (queens also help in this regard), by having all units spawn at the hatchery the zerg player always has to balance making drones and making army units. So if you leave the zerg alone and they are allowed to power drones, they will have a monster economy. So small things like pushing with a small army to force the zerg to build more army units than they would like and maybe some spine crawlers will help stop their drone count from growing too fast. Whenever you have a chance to put pressure on a zerg player, you always should. Of course, don't get carried away with pressure and throw units away, but pressure leads to a weaker zerg economy. This is why early 2 gate pressure is so popular, and also why it is going to be nerfed in the next patch a bit.

I forgot to thank you for this. Makes complete since and was what I was looking for. I had a match with Conan where I tried this and felt like I was getting somewhere but then he just completely out macro'ed me. Still gotta work on paying attention to both micro and macro. I supply block myself alllll the time dammit!

[Reaif]

Man... I hate zerg, but I LOVE mister fruit dealer. I don't know what kind of brain steroids that guy is on, but he is just man-handling everyone.

[Conan The Politician]

Does anyone have any tips on keeping your mind focused? I'm a zerg player, and I can't say that I play consistently at a decent level. Some games I play above my ranking, but I usually play below it.

For example, I tend to lose concentration at the 12-13 minute mark and my decisions become much less defined and precise, my macro slips (in all respects to larva, unit production, expanding, AND creep tumors), and micro becomes an on-and-off concept.

Is there anything that you guys do to boost focus, (beyond caffiene or supplements, which I won't take)? I'm not opposed to memorizing, but there's only so much you can do with preset build orders, not to mention I find playing a strategy that's just a vomitting of a glorified script to be unappealing.

[Chris ~ Amaterasu]

I find that I'm the same, usually my concentration will slip a bit at the 20min mark or so, when the game transitions towards a longer/epic game =)

I think it helps me a bit to sit back for a second (when i'm not in confrontation) and ask myself how things are going in regards to:

Army composition, expos, upgrades etc. And that sorta prompts me/reminds me of something that I have to work on which helps in bringing more focused play for me

But good luck finding out what helps you tick! I'm a terran player so I doubt our minds think alike heheh

[Reaif]

It's good to ask yourself every now and then "What are my goals?" and kind of evaluate your situation. You don't have much time to do so, but it can really help for you to take a step back, evaluate where you are, and develope a quick strategy of some kind, even if it is something simple as "build an army with half hydralisks, half roaches, then apply some pressure so I can take another expansion."

Also with creep tumors... I don't really play zerg so I can't really tell you what would be best, but I would try just looking down at the mini map every now and then and ask myself "Does the creep cover everything that I want to defend? yes/no. If yes, then does it cover everything that I want to attack? yes/no."

[HalcyonSpirit]

Does anyone have any tips on keeping your mind focused?

Watch Day[9]'s daily webcast at 10PM Eastern (past casts here). No, seriously, he's awesome and it'll really help you because he breaks things like this down.

The reason you're losing your concentration is probably because you have a set checklist of things you want to do strategy-wise, maybe specifically a build order of some kind, and once you get that done you're struggling to come up with what to do next on the spot. You're getting too specific with your goals in that they have a set end time (the end of a build order, for instance), rather than concentrating on things that continue through the entire game. He has said in the past, regarding your issue, that you should form a mental checklist of general things you need to do (in other words, your macro). Are all my unit-producing structures producing? Are all my workers working? Am I scouting? Is my army ready to attack/defend? Etc. If you're not doing something when you ask, go do it, then move on. Keep running through this checklist over and over through the entire game, every game, until it becomes second nature to check these things. Don't concentrate on overarching strategy; it's useless if you can't keep up with the checklist. Once you get the macro down, then you'll be able to shift your focus toward doing those things in a more meaningful manner, such as looking for specific things when scouting, or forming a strategy in your head during the game based on what's already happened.

[BardicKnowledge]

FruitDealer is going to go all the way imo -- he's just such a beast right now with a race that no one has adequate practice against.

Can't wait to see the finals!

[Souliarc]

he's just such a beast right now with a race that no one has adequate practice against.

I feel fruits victim's pain too... I really want to play against a Zerg opponent (sick of Terran) but they are so far and few between.

[Conan The Politician]

I feel fruits victim's pain too... I really want to play against a Zerg opponent (sick of Terran) but they are so far and few between.

You know you can always give me a call, dahlin'. I'll be on the corner across the street, right next to Fifi's.

Seriously, though, I didn't know that Zerg was the SCII equivalent of MMO healers. I usually loathe ZvZ -- my opponent ALWAYS goes for ling/bling and transitions to mutas without fail... I guess with it being difficult to wall off, that's understandable.

[HalcyonSpirit]

Kinda doubt that anyone's going to see this in time, but just in case, here's a live stream of the GSL FINALS between HopeTorture (Terran) vs. FruitDealer (Zerg):

http://www.justin.tv/imoogle#/w/433675856

Tasteless has one serious cold going on... he sounds horrible. Hopefully it won't affect his casting.

I'll be putting a summary up for each game as they end. EDIT: Final round is over!

SPOILERS ABOUND!!!

SET 1: Scrap Station; this map is so much better for Terran than Zerg. Fruit's only advantage was that it was cross-position. It was a macro game the entire way. Not much happened other than a few attempts at harassment by Hope, particularly with Medivac-Marine drops, which were shut down pretty hard by Fruit. Fruit pretty much mass expanded to his natural, the vacant two mains, and the gold, in that order, and went Ultras, while Hope went Marine, Tank, Thor. Hope split his army to take out the two expansions at the leftover main and attack/seige Fruit's main at the same time, but neither expansion fell and the army fell pretty bad. Hope then got run over by Ultras. GG. Winner: FruitDealer

SET 2: Lost Temple; another map favoring Terran, but this time due to the natural expansion cliffs. Fruit was at 9, Hope at 6. Fruit went Hatchery at the natural first, Hope went for a Tank drop on the natural's cliff, but only did so with one Tank and two SCVs. Fruit was able to use Spine Crawlers to take out the SCVs making turrets and stall the tank from doing significant damage until the Mutas came out. Hope then began attempting Medivac drops while expanding, but most never reached their destination; every Medivac on the map was quickly dispatched by Mutas en route or in retreat without doing any damage. Fruit expanded to the two empty mains, Hope sieged up at the near watchtower with mainly tanks and Thors in order to secure the gold. Fruit dropped two or three Overlords-worth of units into the main, distracting Hope, and then attacked the watchtower siege with Mutas and Roaches, decimating the army. Then he took his army and loaded Banelings into about 5 Overlords and pushed the main with Baneling bombs. GG. Winner: FruitDealer

SET 3: Kulas Ravine; statistically stronger for Terran due to the lack of open ground proving to be an issue for most Zerg players. Fruit started right bottom, Hope started left bottom. Fruit went Hatchery first at the near gold, Hope went for a Marine-Tank drop at the gold after scouting the expansion. The Marines were for killing the Overlord so that Fruit wouldn't have vision of the cliff for the Spine Crawlers. However, Fruit stalled the drop by having Roaches covering the part of the cliff that the Crawlers couldn't reach. A Viking finally came in to kill the Overlord so the drop could proceed, but then Fruit Nydus Worm'd into Hope's largely undefended main and sent in a bunch of Zerglings. Hope lifted the Command Center into the cliff natural expansion and tried to drop Marines into Fruit's main, but was denied by a swarm of Zerglings. GG. Winner: FruitDealer

SET 4: Desert Oasis. Fruit started bottom, Hope started top. Hope went for a Marine timing attack, Fruit went for a fast expansion and Banelings. Fruit shut down the timing attack and expanded to the gold, then tech'd to Hydras and Infesters. Hope rebuilt his army with tanks, Marines and Thors and pushed to the center, then expanded to the other gold. Fruit attempted several times to break the push, but was unable. Hope dropped Fruit's main a few times, which were denied, but it kept the push from being broken. Fruit expanded to the top blue mineral expansion. Fruit doom dropped Hope's main and did lots of damage, but did not manage to kill off the production buildings. Hope reinforced the push and destroyed the gold, natural and main based of Fruit. Fruit expanded to both islands and made a lot of Spines in the blue mineral expansion. Hope dropped the southern island and Fruit was unable to successfully kill Hope's push remnants with an ambush. GG. Winner: HopeTorture

SET 5: Scrap Station. Fruit started on the left, Hope started on the right. Fruit went with a Hatchery first at the natural, Hope went with a proxy Barracks Reaper rush. Fruit scouted the Barracks just before the Reaper came out. The Reaper went for the main first, but was almost surrounded by Drones and was subsequently pushed back by Zerglings. The Lings followed and killed the SCV building the second Barracks alongside the first. The Zerglings killed the incomplete Barracks and attacked the Reapers, then retreated to the watchtower. Fruit then attacked the Reapers as they entered the smoke, ambushing them and killing all but one of the Reapers. Then Fruit forced the other proxy Barracks to lift off. Hope walled into his main, and Fruit attacked with his Roaches, killing one of the wall Barracks because Hope assumed he would back off when the Marauders started attacking from behind the wall and thus did not repair. Fruit got into Hope's base and did some damage to the army. Then Fruit attacked again, again killing the wall Barracks for the same reason as the last time, as well as a delayed repair due to a Marauder getting in the way. Fruit expanded in this time to the gold as well as adding a second Hatchery in the natural, and Hope expanded to the island. Fruit then mass-upgraded his units, getting Mutas, Banelings and Infestors while Hope went primarily with Tanks and Thors, with Marines and Medivacs. Fruit Baneling bombed the island expansion, forcing Hope to Medivac his Marines there to take it back. However, this trapped them on the island, as the Mutas kept the Medivacs from flying back to Hope's main, thus reducing the main's defenses. Hope expanded to his natural. Fruit attacked the main and natural, destroying most of the defenders. Hope tried to counterattack Fruit's gold expansion, but was denied. Then Fruit attacked again with everything (Mutas, Infestors, Zerglings and Banelings), overrunning Hope. GG. Winner: FruitDealer

FINAL RESULTS: FruitDealer 4, HopeTorture 1

FRUITDEALER WINS!!!

[The Damned]

Did you guys know there's a secret mission in the campaign? I didn't. I found it by accident when I got bored and went about destroying everything I could find. It's in the map where you use the Odin to attack the UNN network on Korhal. In the bottom right corner, there's a civilian building. Destroy it, and an object appears. Grab it with any ground unit, and it unlocks a mission you can play from your bridge.

I'm not going to spoil it, but it's one of those infiltration-based missions where you have a set number of units. The real fun part, though, is how they use the game engine to create traps.

[BardicKnowledge]

Wow, what a great series. Does this mean that all the rest of us hoping for a zerg buff are just going to have to get better? haha.