Lost Temple
Pezpunk: Zerg (9 o'clock)
~Steam~: Terran (6 o'clock)

Shockingly, the game began with the Terran (Steam) rushing ZERG (me). i'd scouted with an overlord (and thus found his position) but had decided that the OL was sufficient scouting. Admittedly, i had gone with a questionable strategy -- second hatch before pool -- i was convinced upgraded hydras (and lurkers) could make short work of most terran weaponry.

i had gas and a hydra den (with 2 hydras coming) when i sent a zergling to scout, only to have him get eaten by 4 marines hanging out at the top of my ramp! There was a bunker under construction as well, and i could see another 1 or 2 marines heading around the corner ready to come up my ramp and join the party, before the ling died. this was still quite early in the game -- i had rushed to the hydras with little to no defense. Yes, big mistake on my part.

i gathered my two (now three .. now four) hydras and about 5 lings and attacked the quickly - growing party at my choke. i destroyed about 5 marines, the bunker under construction, and the SCV, but from the top of my ramp i could see ANOTHER mass of units, with SCV, just outside my natural expansion.

i took time to gather a few more hydras and i descended the ramp to meet the marines. to my horror, it was no longer a sausage fest -- the marines had brought along their girlfriends (medics) and i doubted my ragtag group of un-upgraded hydras and a handful of lings could handle it. i prayed that my opponent didn't have stim yet.

well, my hydras and lings did manage to eliminate the terran threat there, and as a lone medic scampered back to her home (followed by a ling) i realized that the early marine threat had probably passed. i quickly built two evolution chambers and began both the attack and defense upgrades for the hydras. i also researched the speed, range, and lurker abilities. all this upgrading made me late with the OL speed and ventrical sacks, although i was able to pump a decent number of hydras. i had a few lings hanging around outside his natural expansion to give me early warning if he was going to try another land advance.

It was quiet. Too quiet. i had heard nary a peep out of him for quite a while. he allowed me to get a large mass of hydras, now 1/1, plus the transport and speed upgrades for the overlords. i was nervous, but my lings remained unmolested outside his (unmanned) natural expansion. i was wary of a drop.

as i saw my 2/2 hydra upgrades about to complete, i loaded 24 hydras into 6 overlords. i should have brought some lurkers, but i was too low on gas, having no expansions and having spent so much gas on upgrades.

cautiously, i headed southeast towards his ledge. as i got close, i noticed a decent group of marines and meds just WAITING for me. of COURSE he knew i was hydra dropping. damn.

i retreated my OLs, changed my mind, and landed them right on one of his turrets. one of my OLs exploded violently as it vainly tried to release its cargo (only one hydra made it out alive), but the hydras in the other OLs landed safely and began ripping into ~Steam~'s base. the marines and meds are quickly looking at their own innards, but a tank blast roars out and annihilates a few of my hydras. i back them up and decide to focus on buildings, out of range of his tanks. DOWN goes the engineering bay. DOWN goes a few supply depots, and a starport.

Here, i make my cardinal mistake. Perhaps.

I took my eye off the battle (seeming to have it under control) and i quickly load some units into an OL to expand at the top island. i begin construction of the hatchery there, and notice too late that my hydras have died to a repositioned tank, and something else -- "probably just a few more marines" i think to myself.

i retreat my remaining overlords to my base, and begin preparing my next wave. in a matter of seconds, i have 16 more hydras. i rush them in, but ~Steam~'s defenses are stronger than i anticipated, and they are slaughtered.

i then spawn another group of hydras, thinking much more defensively now, and morph many of them into lurkers. i also tech to hive, thinking now might be a good time to learn to utilize nydus canals.

as i'm pondering this, i notice someone sneaking around on my western perimeter of my base area. "oh SHIT." i quickly send in all my hydras and lurkers, just in time to see a large group of meds, marines, tanks, and science vessels. the tanks had just dropped and hadn't seiged yet. the hydras provided just enough of a diversion to allow the lurkers to burrow. even when detected, lurkers rip up marines.

about this time, i noticed he had taken his natural expansion. to stay up on minerals, i took my natural as well (i try to avoid land wars with terran -- that's why i didn't take it earlier).

we slowly settled in for a long war. he herrassed my OLs and the occasional hydra with irradiate while i prevented him from expanding beyond his natural with some timely drops.

the game had been going on a long time by now. my main was long dry of minerals, but i had 2 productive bases (top island and natural expansion), to his one. i went for air, just to surprise him, and for recon. i had also taken the 6 o'clock starting spot, uncontested. my hydras were 3/3 and were coming out in droves. nydus canals were providing easy access to any of my 4 bases. in short, i was feeling in charge. i thought i was moving in for the kill. i just had to figure out a good way to launch my attack. i had scourge all over the map. i knew what was going on. or so i thought.

i was tending to normal base chores at one of my expansions when it happened. "the hive cluster is under attack!" glance down, and i see a large number of dropships unloading a lot of stuff, accompanied by about 10 battlecruisers and several science vessels, casting defensive matrix.

first thing to go were my nydus canals. damn. the hydras already at that base put up a valiant effort, but there was just too much firepower against them. i had invested too heavily in lurkers, which aren't really so great against battlecruisers.

i wrote off my main as gone. i sent a huge mass of hydras straight south from my 6 o'clock expansion, hoping to annihilate his base before he could maneuver his ships all the way around the map and take out mine.

down goes my natural expansion. damn.

i took some drones and started building extractors at every available spot. i also built hathes in random locations.

My hydra army ripped right through his natural expansion, levelling it. my island base was gone, and with it all my tech buildings. i began morphing a spawning pool and lair at my one remaining real base, the 6 o'clock starting point. i hoped all my extractors strewn about the map would remain undiscovered for a few more minutes.

my hydras headed up his ramp into his main. there was very little defense. i began systematically eliminating his buildings quickly. i had him on the ropes.

damn mobile terran buildings.

he lifted off his buildings and began hovering them over water. i had no minerals. i had no drones. i thought i was screwed, but then i remembered my scourge! yes!

i gathered the scourage and attacked his two remaining buildings. one was a factory. i attacked it down to red, knowing it would die on its own. i had three scourge left for his floating science center. i prayed it would be enough to get it into the red as well. blam. blam. blam. yellow. shit.

there was nothing i could do. the science station was still in the yellow, and i had no way of reaching it. i had no choice but watch as he, with no scv's or buildings save the crippled floating science center, systematically eliminated my remaining buildings. i gathered my hydra army around my last remaining extractor, but it was to no avail -- his battlecruisers' yamato cannons destroyed my last building, and after an exchange of "good game"'s, i was gone.