"Trust me, I could have hidden nude in the grass with my member poking up, and it would have been more tower presence than what was in his base."
- CattleBruiser (as Bob_The_Nude)'s The Warcraft Report
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| AnderKryst vs. Maelstrom7 (Games 0 & 1) | | | Author: | | | IP: | XXXX | | Date: | 10/07/99 08:10 | | Game Type: | Starcraft | | Labels: | none | | Report Rating: , # of Ratings: 2, Max: 6, Min: 5
Lifetime Rating for AnderKryst: 6.2000 |   | These battles happened a few months ago, and I managed to dig this up...was actually going to post it to my website...but then again only 5 people view that...so I let it sit on the hard drive. :)
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Game 0
Map: Fading Realm (Twilight tileset, 2 player ladder map)
Races
AnderKryst: Protoss (random)
Maelstrom7: Zerg (random)
Starts
AnderKryst: Top left
Maelstrom7: Bottom right (duh!)
Game summary:
There is a reason why this is denoted Game 0. I chose this map because it was my favorite map from the BW Beta Test (no, I did not get a CD, do the math!). However, I had absolutely no hope of winning...
It came down to him scouting me when I was trying to reaver drop (don't ask why I chose to do this), and basically caught me with no defense. There is nothing like a 5 minute beat down for being stupid. Since this was one of the my quicker defeats, I feel it doesn't deserve the honor of being designated as Game 1. :)
So, that brings us to...
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Game 1
Map: Hidden Shrine (Jungle tileset, 6 player map)
Races
AnderKryst: zerg (random)
Maelstrom7: zerg (random)
Starts
AnderKryst: Bottom right
Maelstrom7: Middle left
Editor's note: Hidden shrine is a lot like Lost Temple, except it is hidden, meaning somebody knows where it is, and it is only a shrine. Why a 6 player map has a smaller religous building as opposed to a 4 player map is beyond me, but maybe that may give insight to the thinking at Blizzard Entertainment. :)
Pre-game antics
Ok, I got the chance to try and create some sort of homefield advantage for myself, and what better map to play on than my 'upset' map (I've beaten quite a number of good players, at least in my opinion, on this map. I think the only one of note that anyone would recognize is one ~Doom~Dragon~. Of course, that was a year ago, and I got lucky. I think I've lost 20 more games to him, but I digress...) I chose Hidden Shrine, a 6 player map, and created the game. Mael joined, and like always, we ribbed each other. Of course, I said that despite this being an upset map for myself, he was still going to win. I hoped I wasn't going to get zerg. I said a prayer, clicked on 'OK', and began to chant 'please no zerg, please no zerg.'
Early Game
Luck has never favored me. I got zerg. I didn't know what Mael had. I debated what to do, and decided to go with MY standard zerg opening. For me, it is 9 pool, and hatchery at the base. The logic, or at least mine, is that usually I'm going to get rushed, so the extra troop production will help.
My overlord hit jackpot when he found Mael at the middle left, after taking a clockwise route. I moved him out of the way (he took forever to get there), and geared up to be attacked. Sure enough it came, but I survived. The difference: sunken colonies. We had roughly the same amount of troops, and Mael even remember to form up into a group after doing the feared Line Danceä to a point outside my base. I am not known for my micro skills (I have very little), so the colonies made the difference.
Middle game
I decided to expand...but not to my natural. There is a spot directly west of the middle right start, up on a plateau. I expanded there, and walled up the choke. There, I made my hydra den and evo chamber.
I also discovered an expansion at the bottom left start. I couldn't have that, so I decided to wave attack Mael. Simply put, I pumped out 24 zerglings, and attacked. Repeat until expansion is destroyed. Unfornutately, that was not to be. Mael charged into my base again with his forces. However, he was surprised to see my hydras. I used my colonies and hydras to their advantage, and won the fight. I continued to build up, occassionally holding off Mael's attacks. I had him wondering where my expansion was this time. :)
I decided to change the flow of the game, and actually attacked. Mael was not waiting for me outside my base, and I formed up outside the expansion. Wave 1, consisting of about 18 lings and 6 hydras, did lots of damage, removed most of the drones and defenders, but left 2 sunkens and the hatchery alive. Wave 2 died as well, having roughly the same content. But the third wave, finally broke through, and destroyed the expansion. It was time to get Mael for good. :)
I formed up outside his main. I had about 24-36 lings, and almost 12 hydras. I felt my window of opportunity would be closed soon, to the point where he would have enough troops and static defenses to hold me off. I waited for the land carpace upgrade to finish, and attacked. I had finished my hive upgrade, and began to research ventral sacs, and get a queen's nest up.
My attack was less than stellar. I couldn't defeat his forces at his main, dying to assortment of sunkens and hydras. I thought it would be in my best interest to divide and conquer his forces, attacking all offending creatures, but it was not to be. Undaunted, I expanded to the west, onto the mineral only plateau, and began to dump lots-o-lings and a few hydras at his base. I felt I could at least keep him busy while I expanded TWICE. I went to island in the northeast, and the start spot above it.
Late game
I continued to attack Mael's base. My double expansions were on-line, and I took the time to fortify my island with sunkens. I threw down a spire, and prepared myself for muta support.
However, I was still not breaking through Mael's main. To make matters worse, he sent hydras at my top right expansion. Even worse than that, I was at that point where I had enough drones, but did not throw down defenses in order to cover production costs. I lost my expansion. In retaliation, I threw 24 lings and 6 hydras at his main again. That'll teach him.
Muta production was online, and I began muta harrassment. Scourge assisted mutas in taking down overlords. This continued on, until spore colonies went up in Mael's base to discourage muta flybys. Now I had more targets at his base.
This continued for about 10 minutes, until he finally found the base that was the cause of all his troubles. Guardians flew (albeit slowly) and began to pound my plateau expansion with my hydra den. I had scourge and mutas nearby, and a couple token hydras that were a small defense, but eventually Mael brought in hydras of his own, and destroyed my expansion. I shrugged it off, and destroyed his forces. That'll show him.
Next fight was over the mineral-only expansion to the left of my main. In the process, Mael expanded back to the bottom left start. This time, Mael met little resistance. My main soon followed. Now I was worried. It wasn't that much longer until Mael used guardian/hydra support against my island base. I conceeded, and left the game.
Final Thoughts:
--Blind vs. normal vs. gutsy expansions: On the big maps, you can get away with naked and 'odd' expanding. By odd, I mean choosing some place to expand that's not in the direct path of you and/or your opponent. It's different than blind I think, because I tend to use the 'gutsy' as an area for another tech tree. 'Blind' expansion I associate with naked expanding.
--Patience: If I had 3 more hydras when I attacked Mael's main the first time, I would have won. In the post-game discussion, Mael said that 3 more hydras would have been too much. I did mention that I attacked because I wanted him to catch him low on defense, while I still outnumbered him substantially. I guessed wrong, as the game obviously pointed out. :)
--Switching gears: I should not have kept up the pressure for so long, because I was not doing much damage at Mael's main. I probably should have looked for other routes, and for other bases. Heck, expanding more may have helped me. I threw way too many troops at his main and didn't make any progress.
Comments, tips, etc. welcome. I appologize for no pictures, and, the 'oldness' of this report.
AnderKryst |
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