[ note - sorry for the horrendous load times. and sorry for not having alt-text. i think they're lame. ]

in the beginning

Well, I was waiting in #clan ~nohunters, quietly minding my own business when Mogalin dropped in. After a while, his 1v1 challenge was accepted by Enthused. When I joind, I noticed that the map was Mayhem, a 128 x 128 map for 4 players. Think Rivalry with more expansion nodes, and one bridge leading to the mains. Also, natural expansions in this map is somewhat tricky, as the vespene geyser is placed relatively far from the mineral patches, forcing you to pick either one. After the gl's and hf's were given, the game started, with me, StinkyMunkey & [Con]-Tassadar observing.

let the games begin!

The Arena : Mayhem.
Enthused picked Yellow Zerg at the upleft position.
Mogalin randomed to Brown Terran at the downleft position.

Both players cloned their mineral gathering peons to their respective mineral patches. Enthused then waypoints his first overlord to scout in a clockwise fashion, losing valuable scouting time. His BO seems to be a standard build against random opponents, 8 Ovie 12 Hatchery at natural 12 Spawning Pool. Mogalin, not wanting to take the risk, also uses an ordinary BO, with 8 Supply Depot 10 Barracks. He then scouts with his 8th SCV counter-clockwise, again guessing the wrong way and builds a refinery. Note that he builds all his buildings close to his Command Center, not wanting to defend at his choke. This is because Zerglings > Marines early in the game, and with his techy build order, he needs to make all his troops count. Once his gas was done he constructed a Factory, then an Academy at the space between his minerals to prevent any lurkers that are dropped from getting easy access to his SCVs.

Enthused, meanwhile, had already finished morphing his expansion and started gas in his main. Immediately, he avoids building drones at his expansion but instead builds zerglings from all his hatcheries, trying to pressure Mogalin early while getting lurkers.

Ironically, the first attack was by Mogalin. Grouping his massive army, 3 marines, 1 medic and 1 firebat, he moved his forces towards Enthused's natural. By this time, Enthused already had 16 zerglings stationed there, but no drones yet. Then, Enthused sends zergling to scout, which was promptly fried by Mogalin's infantry which were placed on the bridge. Here is where Enthused makes a critical tactical mistake. Instead of waiting for the units to go out in the open, where he can surround them and kill them off easier, he sends all his lings to attack the infantry on the bridge itself. Using the territory to his advantage, Mogalin places his medic infront of his troops, limiting the lings' movement. The end result : Mogalin lost a marine and his firebat, while around 12 of Enthused's zerglings got toasted. Once Mogalin lost his firebat, he retreated his remaining forces back home; without the firebat, his units would be zergling dinner.

Back at his base, Mogalin wasn't afk. He already added a Comsat Station on his Command Center, and scanned immediately following the attack. When he saw a completed Lair and a Hydralisk Den, he ordered an Engineering Bay to be built, to get turrets in preparation of lurkers that were soon to come. Once seige was researched, he placed a tank near his CC to protect from drops, and another two tanks along with 2 firebats and a medic at his bridge. Then, he built a Starport to start the tech towards science vessels.

Enthused on the other hand, morphed 5 hydralisks into lurkers and finally hatched some drones at his expansion. Then he used a zergling which failed to relay any useful reconaissance, as it was kibbered by Mogalin's units. Mogalin, deciding the time was ripe to attack again, grouped 3 tanks, 2 firebats, 2 medics, a marine and a firebat to contain Enthused. But alas, Enthused also thought of exactly the same thing and their forces met just outside of Enthused's base. 1 lurker died before he could burrow, but the rest repelled the attack. He then unburrowed those lurkers, reinforced them with 12 zerglings and counter-attacked Mogalin.

Mogalin, drawing every ounce of micro skills he has, pulls off an extremely gosu move. He seiges up his tanks near his choke, blocking the path into his main from the lurkers. When they arrive, he used his firebats to bait them. His positioning was perfect; if Enthused wanted to place his lurkers near a tank to prevent arclite splash from hitting them, another of Mogalin's tanks would still be able to attack it. If Enthused burrowed his lurkers out of the turret's range, he'll just scan and kill the lurkers. Pretty impressive considering this is the first time he was playing on this map. Remember that Mogalin is still pumping units from 1 barracks.

Enthused didn't just sit there and be outdone, however. 10 seconds after that attack, another 8 zerglings and a lurker were again on their way to attack Mogalin. Somehow, Mogalin forgot to seige up his tanks and as a result, his choke defense was broken. However, due to bad micro, Enthused loses his lurker to the tank that was seiged next to the CC. Maybe that was because he took the time during this attack to expand to the topright main. After frantically building some troops, Mogalin killed off the last remaining zergling, with a marine and a medic left. Mogalin still doesn't have any upgrades for his infantry, which is a must against lurkers. Later after the game he said that he underestimated Enthused.

Both players then took some time off fighting to get a better economy and tech. Perhaps if Enthused continued pressuring Mogalin, he could have won right there and then. But instead, he was pulled into a longer and harder battle. Enthused then built a sunken colony at his natural, and defended it with 3 lurkers. Mogalin, whom was not doing well so far, decided to expand to the downright main. Hastily ordering an SCV by the name of Deon to build a CC there, he then concentrated on strengthening his defense. Little did Deon know that Enthused's first overlord was silently watching him from behind the mineral patches there, waiting for the correct moment to strike.

Back at Enthused main, he began morphing a Queen's Nest and a Spire, probably to get guardians. He then used 12 zerglings to attack Mogalin's lower right expansion. Again, he does another mistake. He was a bit too impatient; his zerglings arrived a little too early and Mogalin managed to cancel the Command Center. Not only that, his overlord there was shot down by a wraith. However, this attack still delayed Mogalin's plans.

Yes, you guessed it. A drop. A small force of 4 marines, 2 firebats & 2 medics were dropped right behind Enthused's mineral line. Luckily, he managed to escape most of his drones to his expansions. He does something correct; when his drones were selected, he clicked on the mineral patches at his expansions; thus not making any units that came back to save his base be stuck between the drones. Using the three lurkers from his natural, he burrows them and eleminates the threat. However, the drop accomplished what it was meant to do: make Enthused lose valuable mining time.

Now, it was Mogalin's turn again to attack. He had 2 barracks pumping marines and medics non-stop and the used these and a tank to seige Enthused's netural. Again, he positions his units perfectly: nothing Enthused throws can even scratch the tank's paintwork. Enthused knows better than wasting his lurkers to kill the tank; the concentrated fire of M & M would kill them before they even get a chance to burrow. Thus, he concedes the expansion, once again maynarding all his drones to the upright expansion. However, the moment the marines moved towards his base, he burrowed them quickly. Mogalin acts quickly and retreats his troops, losing 3 marines. Enthused morphs yet more lurkers to counter the infantry threat.

Unfortunately, Mogalin already predicted this move. The moment there are no more hydralisks in Enthused base, he begins overlord hunting with 5 wraiths that he secretly built. Using Science Vessels and scans, he gradually tank pushes into Enthused main. Enthused, realizing that all his tech is gone and left with only one expansion, concedes the game.

some extra notes about the game

i) There are really only 2 options early on Terran vs Zerg. Rush him early on, or quickly tech up to tanks for the incoming lurkers. Mogalin did both.

ii) Enthused took a gamble with his early lurkers. He didn't have enough drones the second half of the game due to that.

iii) Terran and Protoss players usually protect their mineral lines with bunker/tank or cannon/temp. Some zerg players ifnore the damage a simple drop can do... at the very least have some scourge patrolling near you mineral line, and at your cliff if you play Lost Temple.

iv) These guys are good. :O Both of them can own me 7 days a week.

v) Playing other maps other than LT is great fun. :)

vi) Mogalin's main was mined out while he was attacking Enthused. The troops he had attacking were all he had...

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