Real Time Strategy

Update 8:23EST

Just a small update, there are some SC2 exhibition matches being played right now. I would cover it but I will not really have an idea what is going on, so I highly suggest you guys check out the stream if you want to find out what is going on.

Update 5:57EST

Once again, Effort wins the 2009 Blizzcon Starcraft Invitational! He played excellent throughout the whole series, and truly showed why he is definitely the (second) best Zerg in the world. Unfortunately, Jaedong was too busy winning his Golden Mouse to worry about Blizzcon.

Update 5:35EST

Game three: Effort(Z) vs Zero(Z). Map: Outsider

As the announcers have stated many times, Zero is truly one of the smartest players I have seen. His Ling shenanigans were just executed perfectly! I wish you could have seen it. He ran 4 Lings intentionally past Effort’s Overlord, then when it passed over he pulled the other 4 that were hiding and headed to Effort’s expansion. From there Effort just could not recover.

This time Zero scouts the wrong direction, Effort goes the right. Zero goes for 9 Pool+Gas, Effort goes 12 Pool+Gas. Zero is already teching to Lair. Looks like he will go for a 1 Hatch Mutalisk opening. Effort has a fast expansion going down. Effort is not teching to Lair yet, so it looks like Effort is going for Speedlings. Effort pushes towards Zero’s base, and actually manages to break Zero’s ramp again! Effort now inside Zero’s base with mass Lings, no Sunken down yet for Zero, but he manages to set a perfect Ling formation and is able to push Effort back and only lost a couple Drones. Zero has Mutalisks out now, looks like Effort is going Spore Colonies again. Zero looks to break into Effort’s main, but Effort pulls Drones off in time to block the Lings and manages to surround them with his own Lings+Drones. Zero only has Mutalisks now and is forced to fall back from the Colonies. Effort’s Spire is coming now now and his expansion is up and running now.

Effort’s economy is doing great, but Zero’s expansion is coming down now. Effort is now producing a lot of Mutalisks, and he may be able to gain the air advantage this time. Zero does not have near the Drone count as Effort, and Effort is producing many Mutalisks now. AMAZING timed attack from Effort, OH WOW. Mutalisks push into Zero’s main, while Zerglings hit the expansion. Zero is forced to send his Mutalisks to defend his main, and Effort takes down Zero’s expansion with Lings. Perfect play from Effort. Zero has no Drones left.

Zero GG’s. Effort is crowned the winner of the Blizzcon 2009 Starcraft Invitational!

Update 5:20EST

Game two: Effort(Z) vs Zero(Z). Map: Heartbreak Ridge

Definitely think Effort will take this whole thing here. Zero looks to be disheartened by the loss as Effort just severely outmicro’d him. No scouting advantages this time of course. Zero puts down the 9 Pool+Gas. Effort goes 12 Pool+Gas. Effort puts down the early expansion. Zero hides 4 Zerglings from Effort’s Overlord, and it appears he has tricked Effort into thinking he is only pushing forward with only 4, when Zero actually has 8. Excellent play from Zero! He pushes in and Effort has grossly miscalculated Zero’s Ling count and he is not prepared to defend his expansion. Effort is forced to pull Drones off in order to push Zero back. Zero’s Lair is done and now his Spire is going up. Effort does have a Spire going down, but he CANCELS it, and puts down and Evolution Chamber. This has potential to be crazy as Effort may potentially go for an offensive Spore push like he did yesterday.

Effort is clearly shaken, however by Zero’s early shenanigans and he is now just putting down a few Colonies at his expansion, while sitting back with his Lings. Zero now has a few Mutalisks and is at Effort’s door. This is actually not looking so well for Effort. Effort is finally putting a Spire+ second Gas now. Zero has his natural going down as well. Bad misplacement by Effort and his second gas is going down. Effort opts for an aggressive move and sends all of his Lings to Zero’s natural, but with Mutalisks+Drones and his own Lings Zero completely wipes out Effort’s Ling army. Effort’s Spire is down, but he seems to be too far behind. Effort’s economy is being hurt badly by Mutalisk harassment. Zero has a ridiculous amount of Mutalisks now, and I expect to see him take down Effort in this game any time now.

Effort’s army is dwindling as he keeps having his Mutalisks picked off Zero. Zero pushes in now, and completely overrunning Effort’s expansion. Effort seems to be done for. Not sure what Effort is doing, but he has clearly lost and just has not wanted to GG for some reason. Looks like Zero is actually going to win just by killing all of Effort’s buildings..

Ok, Effort finally GG’s. Fantastic play by Zero, he may have a chance after all!

Update 5:10EST

Game one: Effort(Z) vs Zero(Z). Map: NeoMedusa

Effort spawns top left, Zero spawn bottom. Effort scouts wrong direction, Zero goes the right. Scouting advantage to Zero. This should be a good match, I feel like Effort is the stronger player, but if it does come down to Mutalisk micro, Zero definitely has a chance. Effort opts for 9 Pool+Extractor, Zero goes straight for 12 Hatchery. Could see a quick game if Effort decides to rush. Zero got a really late Pool. Zero realizes Effort has Lings on the way and goes ahead and cancels his Hatchery. Effort has the early advantage, but he had a Sunken up in his main so Effort had to retreat. Zero teching to Lair now. Effort’s Spire comes up, and he puts down a second Hatchery. Zero has a second Hatchery coming down as well, but his Lair is slightly behind Effort’s.

Small Ling altercation here, but Effort just showed clearly superior Ling micro and he kills most of Zero’s while only losing a few of his own. Zero is looking to be in a bad spot now as Effort Mutalisks already and Zero has none. Zero’s Mutalisks pop and we have a Mutalisk micro battle going on, but Effort actually wins as he kills many Drones, and then out micros Zero in the Muta battle. Effort pulls back, but has a nice economic advantage now. Effort is now looking like the superior Mutalisk controller as he is winning the micro battle right now. Effort pushes into Zero’s base with Muta’s and Scourge, Zero tries to defend but Effort lands some perfect Scourge and takes out all of Zero’s Mutalisks. Zero has nothing to defend his base and Effort has Scourge hovering over his eggs about to hatch.

Zero GG’s, Effort takes game one.

Update 5:08EST

So slightly longer than 30 minutes, but Starcraft is back! Effort vs Zero coming up in just a few minutes.

Update 2:47EST

Never mind. Looks like they are going to play the WC3 Grand Finals first. Probably going to be a long, long time before we see the SC Grand Finals.

Update 2:01EST

Looks like we have quite some time before the next match. Stream is saying Effort vs Zero Grand Finals in 30 minutes. Good luck to Zero, he is going to need it. Badly.

Update 1:43EST

Game two: Savior(Z) vs Zero(Z). Map: Destination

Once again, no scouting advantage this time. Destination is a great map. I feel like Savior played better last game, but he just made too many mistakes mid game, especially when he lost so many Mutalisks to the Spore Colonies. Both players go for 12 Pool+Gas this time. Both putting down expansions, and then upgrading to Lair as well. Savior does a Ling run by with a couple, and manages to take out a coupe Drones with only 2 Lings. Savior’s Ling micro is looking really well, if only he could work on his decision making. Spires coming up at the same time for both players. Savior’s Lings keep running right by Zero’s army with 1-2 Lings and keeps scoring Drone kills. Savior is looking good so far this time. Zero looks to push out with lots of Lings+a few Mutalisks, but Savior looks like he is ready to defend. This time Savior pushes forward and engages in a Mutalisk battle, but at the same time Savior sneaks Lings in once again and takes out nearly all of Zero’s Drones at his expansion, and somehow Savior managed to win the air battle as well. Savior is looking great right now. And wow, once again Savior sneaks a couple Lings into Zero’s base once again and scores a couple more Drone kills. Savior is pulling ahead now economically and now has a much larger army of Mutalisks. Savior’s multitasking is looking fantastic right now.

Savior is now edging forward with his Mutalisks+several Scourge and he definitely outnumbers Zero. Wow, Zero manages to win the Mutalisk battle. Savior did not land a single Scourge, and Zero landed quite a few. Just much superior Muta control from Zero right now. Zero now has a clear advantage. This could be bad for Savior. Savior pushes forward again with Mutalisks+Scourge, and this time Savior manages to land a few Scourge. This time Zero goes all in and pushes towards Savior’s expansion. Zero has many more Mutalisks than Savior, despite losing all of his Drones. Zero breaks Savior’s expansion. Savior just built far too many Scourge, I would say he had a 1:10 ratio for landing Scourge. Zero’s Mutalisk control is just too good.

Savior GG’s. Zero vs Effort rematch in the Grand Finals. My money is on Effort.

Update 1:29EST

Game one: Savior(Z) vs Zero(Z). Map: NeoMedusa

Zero spawns top left. Savior spawns top right. Zero scouts the right direction, Savior does not. Scouting advantage goes to Zero. Savior goes 9 Pool+Gas. Zero getting 12 Pool, little later Gas. Zero puts up a quick expansion. Savior has yet to see Zero’s base yet due to scouting the wrong direction. Savior is harassing a bit with Lings, hitting but Zero has equal Lings. Savior has Spire making right now, Zero however, has two Hatch up now and his Lair will be done soon. Looks like Zero is massing Lings early on and preparing to go for Savior right off the bat. Zero is making 2 Spore Colonies in his base. Savior expands now. Zero is sitting back, just now putting up a Spire. Savior has quite a few Mutalisks out now harassing Zero’s base.

EXCELLENT play by Savior! Zero went in with Lings to kill Savior’s expansion, but Savior counters and takes out Zero’s Spire and quite a few Drones. But Savior makes a horrible mistake as he just ran his Mutalisks right into Zero’s Spore Colonies and loses many of them. Sloppy play from Savior. He is still in a nice position, however. Zerp pushes forward with a small group of Mutalisks but Savior has more and pushes him back. And the same time, Zero pushes in with a ton of Zerglings and takes out all the Drones at Savior’s expansion, and brings the Hatchery down below 100hp. Zero still harassing with Mutalisks, but Savior has way more and is now pushing to Zero’s expansion. Savior pushes into Zero’s expansion and does lots of damage, but loses all of his Mutalisks to Spore Colonies + Zero’s Mutalisks. After losing his army this time, Savior just does not have enough Drones to rebuild.

Savior GG’s, Zero takes game one.

Update 1:13EST

Stream just came on. Stupid as hell. Apparently Savior and NaDa already played, and Savior won. Looks like we will be having a Savior vs Zero rematch. What a retarded tournament, Blizzard.

Start: Hey guys. Once again I will be covering the Starcraft matches from the 09 Blizzcon Invitational. Hope you all will stick around and check out the updates, I know a lot of people were never able to get the stream working. If you are one of those people, stick around! This will be the perfect place to get live updates on each match. Anyways, the stream should be coming online soon, and hopefully we will have our first match soon, which will be Savior vs NaDa. And for those wondering what has happened so far, here are the current bracket standings.

So I just came across this a little while ago.

Want an SC2 beta key? Blizzard is doing a Twitter contest, with 500 Starcraft 2 beta keys up for grabs! Their Twitter page is brand new, and what better way to get more followers than this? You can read the rules here. To become a contestant, you have to first signup for a Twitter account https://twitter.com/signup , then follow @Starcraft. There is more than that, but it can be a little confusing if you are new to Twitter. I suggest just carefully reading through the rules in the above link, and trying to figure it out. Now, I have never been much of a fan of Twitter, but I do admit it can be quite useful for receiving updates on your favorite blogs and such. I just could not pass up another opportunity to get my hands on an SC2 beta key. Sure, the odds are slim, but I am going to try anyways. At the current time, I have not been playing much of any particular game. I believe part of that is due to being so excited about Starcraft 2, that everything else just seems boring. I have been playing Starcraft some, though it is a huge pain to figure out how to get it running on the Windows 7 32bit RC version. I have also been playing the new DotA standalone game, called Heroes of Newerth. It is entertaining, but starting to become a bit boring now.

Avalon MSL Semifinals: The first game of the Avalon MSL Semifinals was played this week with Jaedong vs. Calm, and Kwanro vs. Iris as the last four players remaining. If you have been following the tournament, I am sure that you, like me, are disappointed with the results of the Jaedong vs. Calm match. You can read a full report of the match here, so I won’t spoil the outcome for you. The winner of that will be facing the winner of second Semi final match, which will be Kwanro vs. Iris. Needless to say, the quarterfinals proved to be a huge shock as everyone had thought they would finally see an epic Jaedong vs. Bisu final. Unfortunately, Bisu was not able to overcome Iris in, what has been called, one of the best Starcraft best of 5 series ever. If you have not seen the match yet, I highly recommend watching it over on youtube. Game 1 can be found here, then just follow the video responses to see the rest of the games. I must say it was definitely one of the most exciting Starcraft matches I have ever watched. Anyways, with Bisu out of the tournament I am definitely pulling for Iris to win it all, and after coming off of this huge win, I believe he has the momentum to do it, which would be a huge shock to everyone.