Welcome back. I hope you've read the first half of this report. If not, click here to see it. As usual, I ask that you let the images load before reading. Go take that dump you've been putting off.

Let me refresh your memory. Animated_Vixen has just survived several different attacks on his main base, thanks to his partner, Dr.Zchivago, and also thanks to the fact that the attack was not properly coordinated between Fox^1 and E-Minor. Everyone playing in the game was involved in the battle for Animated_Vixen's main, and as a result everyone has reduced forces.

What follows is a period of rebuilding. A period of prosperity. A period to heal. All players have now taken their natural:

Note that on the minimap Fox^1 has started floating a new Command Center towards my main base. In addition, Animated_Vixen’s single dropship, up by the mineral-only island, has been joined by a second one. Two dropships? Maybe he isn't planning on expanding there after all...

Soon enough, Animated_Vixen breaks the silence. Dr.Zchivago complies by sending some Protoss troops without saying a word.

Before these troops get there, E-Minor starts asking for help. DT’s? Where? I hadn’t even seen them coming. E-Minor seems to have a healthy choke defense, however, and an added bonus is the fact that Dr.Zchivago's army seems to be taking the long, scenic route to E-Minor's base (check the minimap--E-Minor's ramp is East of the Protoss troops). He is also morphing a Spire in the corner of his base, right at the edge of the creep. But wait a minute--what’s that purple blob at E-Minor's natural? Check the minimap again...

Yikes. E-Minor is completely unequipped to defend against this, and his Spire is only about halfway done.

Not only is Animated_Vixen attacking his Drones and buildings with impunity, but E-Minor has also just lost the rights to a natural expansion, which was cancelled when the purple dropships flew over it. The turbo newbie is bad enough, but let’s not forget that he is being attacked from both sides:

Fox^1 has troops coming to help, but they are a long ways off. E-Minor has no choice but to deal with attacks at either end of his base. The Hydras at his choke point are turned into Lurker eggs and the Sunken Colonies to their best. Fortunately, there are plenty of Overlords hanging around, so detection was not a problem. When the Lurkers finally hatch, they are burrowed immediately to help defend the Zerg base.

Impressively, E-Minor manages to fight off all the Protoss trespassers, with the loss of his Sunken Colonies and Zerglings. The Lurkers and Hatchery survive, and the Spire finishes at last. Now Fox^1’s Medics and Marines arrive in time to do absolutely nothing. Neither Fox^1 nor E-Minor have anything to counter Animated_Vixen’s Tanks on top of the cliff, so E-Minor makes a brave decision:

This move is just plain smart. Fox^1’s army is there, waiting for something to do, and it has been too short of a time since Animated_Vixen was attacked…he could not have had time to restock all his defenses. I have to admit I’m impressed. E-Minor did the best thing he could have done by temporarily abandoning his main base and counter-attacking Animated_Vixen.

With this plan of attack, E-Minor and Fox^1 begin towards Animated_Vixen’s base. E-Minor also sends a Drone to my main base, because he knows that he will need it to stay alive.

When E-Minor and Fox^1 arrive at Animated_Vixen’s base, they find a decent defense of Tanks, Marines, and occasional Vultures. By now, Fox^1 has Tanks of his own, and the battle begins!

This time, the Lurkers stay behind and wait for a chance to run into the base while Fox^1 dukes it out with Animated_Vixen.

As Fox^1's large army pushes forward, it starts to look like curtains for the purple Terran commander, but then who should appear without warning but good ol' Dr.Zchivago! He arrives with a sizeable force of Dragoons, and flanks the attacking Fox^1. E-Minor's Lurkers are forced to burrow in order to help fight, but Fox^1’s army gets pounded viciously from both sides and is overwhelmed without penetrating Animated_Vixen's base. The burrowed Lurkers are now on their own. A scan (courtesy of Animated_Vixen) is placed to reveal said Lurkers, who pop up and scamper into the enemy base in an attempt to cause trouble. However, a second scan exposes the Zerg and Tank fire finishes the threat:

It was pretty suprising how quickly Fox^1's army fell. Animated_Vixen's Tanks had the elevation advantage, and getting attacked from behind by Protoss units certainly didn't help. Still, Fox^1 put up a good fight. I just couldn't believe that he was not able to get inside Animated_Vixen's base. If it hadn't been for Dr.Zchivago, he would have. Oh, by the way, did you notice that Animated_Vixen is almost mined out?

You may be wondering, what is happening in E-Minor’s base? Is Animated_Vixen still beating on helpless Drones from the safety of a cliff?

The answer is no. All the Drones within the range of sieged Tanks are dead, so Animated_Vixen has begun ferrying the Tanks down the cliff via dropship. E-Minor’s Spawning Pool and Hydra Den have been destroyed, and it looks like Animated_Vixen has his sights set on the Lair.

During the fight at the entrance of Animated_Vixen's base, E-Minor had been slowly hatching Mutalisks to combat Animated_Vixen's turbo newbie. Unfortunately, minerals, gas, or larva availability seemed to limit him, because he was hatching them one at a time and was forced to keep them out of the marine's deadly fire until there was a substantial number.

Once he finally accumulates three Mutas, E-Minor goes for Animated_Vixen's tanks, which are being ferried over by the Dropship at this point.

The three Mutalisks bravely fly over to the ledge, just as Animated_Vixen's Dropship finishes loading some marines. E-Minor quickly targets the Dropship in an attempt to kill seven birds with one stone. Animated_Vixen is no slouch, though, and quickly unloads all the marines unto the creep.

Despite the fact that all marines have safely unloaded and begun firing on the Mutalisks, E-Minor keeps the Dropship targeted. I thought to myself, "E-Minor, you dummy! You should worry about the tanks and marines!"

It wasn't until later that I realized what he was doing. By destroying the Dropship, Animated_Vixen had two tanks stranded on top of the ledge. Good move, E-Minor!

You might be wondering why Animated_Vixen has only one Dropship. After all, he sure as hell didn’t use just one Dropship to get his troops there. So why was he only using one to transport his troops now? The answer is that he has since employed the extra dropships to transport SCVs to the mineral only island above his base.

Anyway, back at E-Minor’s base, the Mutas do their best to destroy the Terran scum, but there is only so much that three Mutas can do. The Lair pops into a red mass:

During this time, Fox^1 has been moving a large number of SCV’s and Tanks to one of the mineral-only expansions in the center of the map. This is almost immediately spotted by Dr.Zchivago, who quickly informs his partner. Also, check out the minimap. Fox^1 has moved his newest Command Center to my natural, so that E-Minor can have my main base. A new Hatchery is being made while Animated_Vixen continues to pound on any buildings in E-Minor’s old base. Eventually, E-Minor’s three Mutalisks finish off the Tanks, but the damage has been done. The only buildings that remain are an extractor, the choke point Hatchery, and the hidden Spire.

Animated_Vixen replies to Dr.Zchivago’s information by screaming at him. He then proceeds to explore the map with a Wraith. This lonley fighter eventually finds its way over to my main, where E-Minor has been rebuilding from scratch. Feeling brave, the Wraith starts to attack an Overlord, but is chased away by the E-Minor’s three Mutalisks. While retreating, the Wraith accidentally comes across my natural, where Fox^1 has set up camp. Animated_Vixen reports what he finds and starts to take shots at the defenseless SCV’s.

After a short time, E-Minor sends his three Mutalisks along with an Overlord and chases away the Wraith. Animated_Vixen retreats the slightly damaged plane to E-Minor’s old main base, where two more Wraiths have found the Spire and are shooting it. This is not good for E-Minor--he needs that Spire.

The three Mutalisks are sent on a journey to confront the Wraiths, and for a while the two groups duke it out--organic tissue vs paper. It looks like the Zerg Cerebrate is going to be able to ward off Animated_Vixen's Wraiths, but then reinforcing Medics and Marines arrive and E-Minor has no choice but to reluctantly abandon the Spire and retreat his Mutas.

This is a critical blow to E-Minor, who now has no way to produce units other than Drones. A new Spawning Pool is started, but those things take FOREVER to morph. E-Minor is temporarily helpless. Will his enemies take advantage?

Let’s check back at Fox^1’s newest expansion, in the center of the map. Its defenses consist of five sieged Tanks, a few mines and Vultures, a Science Vessel, and two Turrets standing very close to each other. Oh yeah, and the most important defensive unit, one single Marine:

Suddenly, and without warning, there are actually a few seconds where no one is fighting. E-Minor makes a request of his partner and comments on the way the game is going. Out of the clear blue, Animated_Vixen says, “Nice”.

I’m not really sure what the hell he is talking about, but his Medics and Marines have finished off E-Minor’s main base and are currently heading down towards Fox^1’s mineral only expansion. An Observer (curtesy of Dr.Zchivago) has taken advantage of the bad Turret placememt, and reveals the mines that were laid by Fox^1's Vultures.

Without saying a word, Dr.Zchivago unexpectedly breaks the silence and attacks Fox^1’s mineral-only expansion with a large platoon of Dragoons. Fox^1 is quick to react and immediately pulls his SCVs out of the line of fire. The Tanks do their job, but receive considerable damage as well. Luckily, there are plenty of idle SCVs sitting around, so they are ordered to repair any damage the Tanks receive, and a Defense Matrix helps extend the life expectancy of one Tank.

The Dragoons are destroyed, leaving two Tanks, two vultures, and one Turret surviving. But just as Fox^1 thinks he has earned a break, Animated_Vixen’s troops arrive and begin attacking from the North! The battle-worn teal Terrans manage to fight off this second attack, but not without considerable losses. Fortunately, Fox^1 continues to reinforce the expansion with Tanks as soon as they are made.

Having quelled the threat, Fox^1 enjoys a brief moment of peace. By “brief moment” I mean one second. Without warning, two SCVs mysteriously explode. Ka-blamo! A rush of Zealots and Dragoons follows this, and begin attacking the remaining SCVs.

Fox^1 makes a clever (or was it accidental? ;)) move, and has his SCVs cluster together, making sort of an artificial barrier between the attacking Protoss and sieged Tanks. This works well until the mysterious force that instantly killed two SCVs earlier suddenly introduces itself. Two Reavers! And not just plain old Reavers--hardass Reavers! Fox^1 seems to be in a bad bind. Two scarab volleys kill most of the clustered SCVs in the blink of an eye. The survivors are ordered to attack. Luckily for Fox^1, he had a very special man operating an SCV that day.

Notice the fresh Tanks that have arrived straight from Fox^1’s Factories. These constant reinforcements help in the battle subdue the relentless Protoss assholes that kept trying to eliminate the expansion, but it is not enough. Fox^1 is in trouble, and to make matters worse, Animated_Vixen arrives with more Tanks, Vultures, and Marines. How many double teams can a guy fight off? Things look bad for the expansion… All of a sudden, who should appear but E-Minor’s three Mutas! What a guy! Without being asked, he has sent his only three attacking units! But wait! What’s that on the minimap? A red splotch?…Zerglings???

That’s right, folks, E-Minor has reappeared in this game. Joey Lawrence was completly stunned. Unfortunately, the Zerglings are killed by Marines and Tanks before doing any damage, but they do manage to stall Animated_Vixen's forces while the Mutas help destroy the Reavers and then turn their attention to Animated_Vixen’s attacking Tanks.

Hmm. I haven’t been watching E-Minor’s newly relocated base lately. What could he have done in this short time to make him so damn optimistic?

Well, not bad…Hey! Not bad! A third Hatchery coming in, a Spawning Pool, and a Hydralisk Den. As an added bonus, Lurker aspect has already been researched. I had written him off as being good as dead, but maybe E-Minor’s on to something…

You might have noticed a purple blob in E-Minor’s old natural on the minimap. Animated_Vixen has claimed that land in the name of the Terrans, which I guess is fair enough since he was the one who evicted E-Minor from it in the first place. Remember that the only place to get gas on this map is from either a main base or a natural. My main and natural were both already occupied by E-Minor and Fox^1, so this expansion that Animated_Vixen took had the last available Vespene Geyser in the game.

During this, Dr.Zchivago reminds Animated_Vixen that Fox^1 still may be a threat, something he knows thanks to Animated_Vixen’s reconnaissance. However, Animated_Vixen has an agenda that needs to be filled and the two partners organize an attack on the struggling Zerg Cerebrate. After a short pause, a sneaky Templar that was dropped into the Drone line storms E-Minor’s peaceful base. Many a Zerg died in that storm, which was followed up by another that targets some retaliating Zerglings and Hydras (as well as an unfortunate Observer).

As E-Minor struggles to react, Animated_Vixen joins the fray and begins attacking Overlords with his Wraiths. To make matters worse, Fox^1 is still smarting from losing that mineral-only expansion and, for the first time this game, is not prepared to help his partner. E-Minor quickly begins morphing three Lurkers and does what he can to stall the purple Marines and Medics that are pouring into his base. However, he knows the end is near and quickly loads a single Drone into an Overlord and evacuates it to the mineral-only island directly below his base.

Back at the war zone, E-Minor does an admirable job of working with what he has. He manages to kill the early wave of Wraiths and Marines, but a second, larger wave steps right up and barges in. This time, Tanks are present, too. At this time, E-Minor’s Lurkers hatch, and immediately burrow. These newborn defenders are successful in killing a few Marines and Medics, but a ComSat and Observer reveal the last of E-Minor’s units. The rest is history.

The Fall of E-Minor

The gloves are off. Fox^1 suddenly finds himself in the same prediction he was in the first game--his partner is dead. Fox^1 accepts E-Minor’s plan of attack and moves his army into the basin of Dr.Zchivago’s ramp, where the Tanks are stormed and the Marines receive heavy fire from above. Dr.Zchivago has Dragoons, Cannons, fucking High Templars, and Reavers providing defense, and Fox^1 is unable to penetrate the choke point. The battle lasted about thirty seconds, but I missed most of the action because I had to transfer screen shots. :( Oh well, you really didn’t want to load more pictures anyway, did you? So it’s actually a good thing. At any rate, Dr.Zchivago held his ramp without losing much and Fox^1 is forced to concede the game.

Good Game, fellas!

Scores:

• I think there is a VERY big lesson in this BattleReport. If nothing else, I hope everyone who reads this Report walks away with it:
  
  Remember reading this?
  
  
  
  How do you beat them? By helping your partner, using good communication, and having CONFIDENCE! Give yourself some credit...you just may suprise yourself! :D



• All four players did a good job of watching their partner's back, especially Fox^1. In most cases, a player who was under attack recieved a "Coming" message from their partner before even asking for help.



• I think one of the most important moments of the game was when E-Minor and Fox^1 failed to coordinate their first attack on Animated_Vixen. It worked out so Animated_Vixen only had to face one enemy at a time, and separated, they were beatable.
  
  
• Fox^1's record for these games is 0-2. He hasn't won once! I mean seriously, what a fucking loser.
  Ha ha, just kidding man. :) Fox^1 had the highest scores in both games, and I really learned a lot just from watching him. He's the hardest working man in StarCraft (that I know)! Not to mention that these games would never have happened if it weren't for him. I'll elaborate more in Game 3, which will feature a Thank You Fox^1 Shrine.



• A very belated but sincere HAPPY BIRTHDAY to good ol' Drefsab, who turned the big 22 on the night these games were played. How's it feel, Drefsab? Kind of sucks, doesn't it? You're not a minor anymore...you don't have a special age to look forward to. When you were a kid, it was, "When I turn 16 I can finally drive!" Then when you turned 16, it was "When I turn 21, then I can finally drink (legally). Now there's nothing.
  
  Drefsab: Oh yeah? Well when I turn 27, I can finally run for state representative. So FU Spuzz!"