Hi folks! I watched a great game a few days ago, and I feel I should at least try to describe it to you. It was a game between NH players, or at least they were in NH when it was created =). Anyway, I present to you, The Close Encounter!

The players are Liquid`Drone, a very good player despite being norwegian #:). His opponent is 1vs1_Msg_Me, who I know have played against Liquid`Drone several times before and they seem to be good friends. The name does suggest that it is a smurf, but if you smurf in a game you're going to have to smurf in my reports too, whether you like it or not. The matchup is PvZ, as you might have guessed from the title image, and if you can't tell who is which race, then go back to school.

The map is our beloved The Lost Temple as always. Liquid`Drone warps in his green nexus at 9, and 1vs1_Msg_Me spawns his black (!) nexus at 12. Liquid`Drone's build order is roughly pylon, gate, gas, pylon, core. 1vs1_Msg_Me on the other hand, doesn't get any pylons at all, instead he builds his second overlord at 8 control, then morphs a hatchery below his ramp soon followed by a spawning pool.

As soon as possible, Liquid`Drone builds his robotics facility. At this time the only fighting units are six zerglings and a zealot, so Liquid`Drone would have been in trouble, had 1vs1_Msg_Me attacked. He doesn't attack however. Instead he is content with claiming his natural expansion and executing a perfect maynard transfer. Then he gets gas, both at the expansion and in his main base of operation.

The inevitable robotics supportbay is started, at the same time as a hydralisk den is morphed. The first shuttle pops out soon. 1vs1_Msg_Me isn't building any sunkens to protect for this drop, perhaps he doesn't believe Liquid`Drone is bold enough to pull this move, since they discussed this reaver strategy seconds before the game started =). He is in for a surprise, as the reaver pops out of the robotics facility and hops into the shuttle where it plays poker with a dragoon during the trip. The shuttle pilot finnished his education yesterday it seems, as he almost collides with an overlord hovering above the cliff overlooking the protoss natural. The pilot manages to drop his cargo in the back of the zerg base however...

As you can see (hopefully), the reaver is dropped, but it is forced by some hydras and zerglings to load up again and try its luck at the natural instead, leaving the dragoon to its destiny. Over there, 1vs1_Msg_Me has yet another group of hydras waiting, and before the reaver can do any damage it turns into a cloud of blue smoke, very pretty smoke, but still not too good. The shuttle pilot, although he wet his pants three times, makes it back home. As the attack was happening, 1vs1_Msg_Me started his lair upgrade.

Liquid`Drone is not discouraged by this setback, and warps in a citadel of adun together with his second gateway, to increase troop production. He continues his reaver production (he produced during the attack) and soon another reaver is ready to deal some damage. Together with another dragoon, it is transported north, but makes a short stop at the 12 o'clock mineral only to waste a drone that is obviously waiting for a command to start a hatchery. As that drone dies, 1vs1_Msg_Me's fourth hatchery is finnished back home.

After killing the drone, the shuttle continues to the zerg natural, and the dragoon is dropped on the cliff while the reaver is dropped below it. The goon dies rather quickly to the hydras below, and because the hydras then attack the reaver in a line as seen on the image, every scarab only damages one or two hydras.

The reaver takes heavy damage and Liquid`Drone is forced to evacuate it. He has now tried to hurt his enemy's economy two times, and failed, so he does what he can to establish some economical balance. The protoss army marches out and secures the natural expansion, and a nexus is started.

Now, the game needs to be paused. Don't blame me, I didn't even fill my SS directory ={. Well, during this time of rest, I happen to scroll past something on the map...

I guess he is referring to the reaver drop that he repulsed in the beginning. The game resumed, and the lurkers start heading for the protoss natural. However, as they approach and commence their attack, Liquid`Drone drops a reaver and a goon at 1vs1_Msg_Me's natural! He drops just like in the last drop he did, so scroll up to see the image =). That drop does not do much damage though. The brilliance of it is that ot forces 1vs1_Msg_Me to micro his ass off back home, thus not controlling his lurker/hydra attack! The lurkers die terribly to the defending goons and reavers, because lurkers kick very little ass when unburrowed. That attack doesn't even deserve a picture, I don't think it killed one unit.

Soon though, more hydras and lurkers arrive, and they want revenge. Unfortunately, the protoss in reluctant to give in to their wishes..

Perhaps this is only a minor setback to 1vs1_Msg_Me, for he as another trick up his sleeve. A single lurker is loaded into a waiting overlord near the middle, and is then transported into the very heart of the protoss base. It burrows at the northern end of the mineral line and starts ripping the poor probes apart!

There's the pain right there Liquid`Drone! That's gotta hurt. A small group of probes makes it away from the slaughter, and I don't think those 9 kills are the final score of that lurker =).

After a while some troops come and kill the tresspassing lurker, but the damage has been done, mucho.

Knowing he will need more minerals than the ones in his natural, Liquid`Drone moves out with his growing army and seizes his mineral only. 1vs1_Msg_Me will have none of that, and he dispathces his hydralisks to deal with it. The first wave, attacking from the north and being contained by the temple wall and the coast line, does not accomplish anything before scarabs and storm blasts them to smitherens, but another group swings around and attacks from the south. They manage to take down two precious reavers before they die.

As you can see on the minimap above, 1vs1_Msg_Me has recently expanded to the 3 o'clock main. In an attempt to battle the massive reavers, 1vs1_Msg_Me starts a spire for mutalisks. However, he is weakened as Liquid`Drone drops reavers on his new expansion. A coupe of drones manage to escape, and 1vs1_Msg_Me already has his attention elsewhere, the expansion is not worth saving.

He is about to deal a powerful bash to the protoss controlled by Liquid`Drone, and before you know it, here's another killer picture...

That vicious hydra drop killed some important buildings, including a few gateways and the robotics support bay that enables Liquid`Drone to produce his beloved reavers. The doom drop should have contained some more doom however, because it was soon slaughtered by the furious protoss warriors, not pleased with the intrusion. The drop on the zerg natural that you can see above was not very successful, due to the mutas that you can also see :). Liquid`Drone decides to counter-strike (pun intended) the drop on his main, and moves his entire army north towards the enemy.

As the army is half way there, a pack of mutalisks harass Liquid`Drone's mineral only, and some dragoons are forced to return to defend. The mutas are chased off and the titlewave towards the zerg is continued. The final (?) battle is now fougt in the area of the zerg choke point. Goons die to zerglings, the zerglings die and more reinforcements arrive. The ground is stained with blood from this battle...

Man, that is one brave Mr Anderson zealot. This battle ended in favor of the mighty protoss, and with that, 1vs1_Msg_Me conceded the game, since he couldn't battle the dragoons and reavers with any success.

Winner: Liquid`Drone.

And for you who wish to know the scores, tough luck. But to make it up to you...

This was made by...