After spending 3241234 hours searching for people to be in my 1v1BR, I had the fortune of getting these fine 2 players to battle each other. Here is what happened…

The Silence falls…

Map: Forgotten Realms

Silent-Strike

vs

Orcmaniac

This was the second match up between Orcmaniac and Silent-Strike, the first match played on snowbound. Unfortunately, Orcmaniac disconnected 5 minutes into the game, and a rematch was arranged. Both players randomed, and the game was off…

Silent-Strike drew protoss at the upper left starting position and Orcmaniac found himself spawning as zerg in the lower right. Both players gear themselves for an early rush, Orcmaniac deciding his best bet is to over run Silent-Strike with three hatch lings. His build order is as follows: overlord, hatchery at main, spawning pool followed by a third hatchery at main. Silent-Strike elects to follow a slightly more conservative build, going pylon, gate, gate, pylon followed a while after by an assimilator. Both players elect to build up their forces a while, the only significant early event being Orcmaniac’s attempt to offensive hatchery the top of Silent-Strike’s ramp. The first zealot pops out of Silent-Strike’s gate and heads up the ramp, finding the still morphing hatchery and proceeds to start attacking it. After a brief eloquent monologue by Orcmaniac, showing his position on the effectiveness of offensive hatches, he cancels and retreats his drone back to his base.

While Orcmaniac has been busy pumping lings, Silent-Strike has added a cybernetics core and has begun production of dragoons out of his 2 gateways, electing not to establish a tech quite yet. Silent-Strike has amassed about 3 dragoons and 7 zealots at the top of his ramp leading into his base when Orcmaniac gathers his two control groups of lings and heads out to Silent’s main. The lings prove too much, as they dispose of the zealots and a dragoon before Silent-Strike retreats his last 2 goons into his main. It seems Orcmaniac will be able to end this early, as he still has a sizable force of lings left, and charges into Silent-Strike’s main. As another zealot pops out of a gateway, Silent-Strike pulls of some of the most amazing micro I have ever seen, taking 8 probes off of mining, moving his remaining goons around his base buying time for the probes to get free hits while using his tight building placement to force the lings into a one on one battle with the zealot. After dancing for a good 30 seconds, the last of the lings are disposed off and silent is safe, though at what cost?…

Silent-Strike regroups from the attack, adding a robotics facility and a support bay right after. Meanwhile, Orcmaniac has decided to follow up his successful attack by teching, adding a hydra den, a lair and morphing a sunken colony behind his mineral line to prepare for incoming drops. As Orcmaniac pumps hydras from his 3 hatches, Silent-Strike has a standing force of dragoons, zealots and 2 reavers, along with a shuttle at the top of his ramp, sending a lone zealot out on a scouting mission. At the same time, Orc has decided to expand to the bottom left expansion, sending along a group of hydras to help defend. The scouting zealot happens upon this expansion attempt right before it finishes, and upon seeing it, Silent-Strike immediately moves out his forces to crush it, adding an observatory and another gate back at home. His forces arrive at the ramp leading up to the expansion and begin to assault the defending hydras, as Orcmaniac sends another 12 hydras from his main to hit the protoss warriors from 2 sides. Silent-Strike unloads the 2 reavers he brought along with his forces in a shuttle, and it looks like the hydras are simply too numerous until the reavers fire their first shots, halving the number of hydras in an instant. Silent-Strike’s reavers get off another lucky shot, taking out the last of the hydras as everyone can only gape at the effectiveness of the reavers.

Both players take time to regroup after the attack, Silent-Strike expanding to the upper right expansion as Orcmaniac adds a spire back at his main. Orcmaniac gathers up another force of hydras and decides to take the offensive back to Silent-Strike, arriving at the bottom of the ramp to the new expansion and begin hammering on the pylon standing at the bottom. Silent-Strike, realizing that most of Orcmaniac’s forces are busy at his main, moves his left over forces from the expansion assault and heads into the zerg main. It appears Orcmaniac is about to be dealt a crushing blow with the majority of his forces across the map, and even they are being dealt with by newly made dragoons and reavers, when 3 surprise lurkers hatch and burrow, forcing Silent-Strike to retreat his forces until and observer can be brought in. Silent-Strike decides to further his resource advantage by expanding to the upper middle right expansion, giving him 3 mineral intakes to Orcmaniac’s one.

Silent-Strike brings over an observer a short while later, and proceeds to Orc’s main, but the protoss forces are heavily damaged from previous fighting and die quickly to a combination of lurks/lings/hydras. Orcmaniac has no sooner taken his ramp when a squad of goons and a shuttle of reavers arrive below the ramp. Silent-Strike tries to force his way up, but is greeted by 2 control groups of hydralisks and opts to get more troops first. Soon more dragoons arrive and Silent-Strike charges up the ramp, but the high ground advantage allows Orcmaniac to hold off the assault with a small number of casualties. Smartly, Silent-Strike drops his 2 reavers at the top of the ramp by the hydras and then charges up with his goons, forcing the hydras to retreat, but a lone lurker in the middle of the plateau again forces Silent-Strike to wait for an observer, is first one a casualty in one of the previous assaults. The lurker is cleared out a minute later, and Silent-Strike is about to charge down the ramp into Orcmaniac’s main when Orcmaniac calls out GG abruptly, despite the fact he has a sizable standing army of hydras. A quick look to his main reveals he ahs mined it out and only has 75 minerals left in the bank. With no expansions left, Orcmaniac concedes and Silent-Strike cleans out the last of his main. Congratulations to Silent-Strike, and GGs to both. I hope you enjoyed this report.

Ho finito….