"...everybody out of the hot tub. Now! Annie, Emma, Kei and Ivy..."
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| 2v2 Cornell - TA vs JG - Game 1 | | | Author: | | | IP: | px2cl.gvXXXX | | Date: | 05/13/00 04:05 | | Game Type: | Starcraft | | Labels: | none | | Report Rating: , # of Ratings: 3, Max: 8, Min: 8
Lifetime Rating for CynicalMagician: 8.7556 |  | It all began on an otherwise uneventful evening at the Br.com forum. I was cruising around, and came across a post that was after observers for a tournament containing 1100+ caliber players. After about 2 seconds of thought, I emailed John about this opportunity and soon after I was on the SC ride of my life. Well, the SC ride of the month anyway. It turns out that there are a bunch of really good SC players that live at Cornell University, and they were having a 2v2 tourny on some interesting maps. There were 3 rounds of games, with each team competing with the others in best 2/3 elimination games. I believe there were about 8 teams to begin with, and all were battling for the everlasting respect and admiration of their Brothers in Battlenet. (Editor's Note: This is a technical way of saying there was no prize).
The maps for round one were: The Hunters, Ashirigo, and if a third game was required, Lost Temple. The first set of games that I was allowed to watch was Tarsonis Academy vs Jungle Grooves. So, without further adieu, let the reporting of the epic conflict commence!
 Map: The Hunters
Game Style: Brood War
Players:
[TA]Ramius - Zerg - 6:00
[TA]SlayerJu - Protoss - 3:00
vs
ryuooki - Zerg - 4:30
rompwomp - Protoss - 9:00
Yeah I know, the map is hunters, and everyone hates hunters, but I didn't choose it so don't come crying to me. Besides, the game made up for it. Speaking of which, everyone in the game used fairly traditional build orders. Both Protoss players went for 2 gates, with [TA]SlayerJu getting a forge soon after, and rompwomp deciding to go hard zealots.
 ryuooki went pool then hatch, while [TA]Ramius chose to pool, sunken, and lots of drones to power his economy. Soon after this, a red OL drifted lazily on the air currents over [TA]Ramius's base, and seeing that [TA]Ramius had not bought many lings, ryuooki decided that an early attack was in order. Sensing this, [TA]Ramius built a bunch of the little zerg puppy dogs, and soon he had a force capable of dealing with the 6 lings that were en route from ryuooki.
Joining this force were about 5 or 6 zealots from rompwomp, and in due time the order was given.
In an unparalleled push of andrenalin fueled excitement the Jungle Groove Task Force (JGTF) charged in to meet their fate. [TA]Ramius sent his lings to hold off the zealots in a time-buying maneuver, and let the sunken deal with the 6 lings.
First Blood. Always a pleasure.
 In a quick response, [TA]SlayerJu realizes that his partner cannot hold off such an assault on his own, and begins sending troops, with the first arrivals being 3 zealots. Once seeing this, the JGTF prophesizes that further conflict is pointless at this junction, and after managing to kill a couple more units, the JGTF is no more. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, [TA]SlayerJu has started gathering gas, and has built a cy core. Following soon after is a robotics facility, and a support bay. In the same manner, rompwomp builds up his base a bit, and climbs the tech tree, but also gets a citadel of adun, and the inevitable templar archives.
 About now, there is news from Paris that attacking is in style, so the Jungle Groove Task Force #2 is formed, under the leadership of Tibor Feldman, military extraordinaire and teen heartthrob. (Watch the movie Fat Guy Goes Nutzoid, and you'll understand).  Unfortunately, this news of the latest trends also reached the Tarsonis Academy, and everyone attacks at the same time in a big ol' smash fest. The force of lings that is trailing out of ryuooki's base is quickly put down by a crew of [TA]SlayerJu's goons and zealots, and the protoss force moves to take up a defensive posture at ryuooki's natural. However, this stance is short lived, as an assault on [TA]Ramius's natural expansion (you may have noticed that on the mini map) forces [TA]SlayerJu to turn around and help his partner. rompwomp's forces are put down after being pinned between two armies.
 However, even this diversion does not save ryuooki completely, as [TA]SlayerJu has dropped him a little present near his mineral line in the form of a reaver and a dragoon. These valiant undead and non-living warriors wreak havok on ryuooki's peons, and also takes on a group of lings until finally being dispatched.
With his economy shattered, [TA]SlayerJu goes in for the kill. He runs down the path to ryuooki's base with about 7 dragoons, a bunch of zealots, and 1 reaver. He is met by about 8 hydras who sacrifice themselves by targetting the single reaver, killing it, and then pulling back to the 3 sunkens after taking a large amount of damage.
However, [TA]SlayerJu does not go in all the way, and after seeing the sunkens retreats his slightly damaged force back to his firebase at his natural expansion (which he still hasn't taken advantage of).
During this time, [TA]Ramius has not been idle, and has built up his base a good amount to reflect his added economy with his expansion.
 About now, rompwomp asks his partner the question that has plagued philosophers for ages. Apparently he didn't see the reaver drop.
 While pondering this question, rompwomp has grown tired with his economy, and decides to expand to the 12:00 natural. [TA]SlayerJu has also grown weary of his single base, and so starts warping in a nexus at his natural, behind his firebase. He also gets a templar archives, curiously enough at his firebase, rather than in the heart of his base.
 Also, you can see on the minimap a force of blue and brown heading down the road to destiny, at the end of which is ryuooki's base. Like before however, ryuooki runs out, kills the reaver, and retreats to his 4 sunkens, which are arranged in a crescent shape, to give maximum defensive ability. However, [TA]Ramius is not phased by this, and charges in his army of 1:1 hydras and lings to combat ryuooki's 0:0 hydras and sunkens.
 [TA]Ramius is butchered fairly quickly by ryuooki's larger numbers. A few seconds later [TA]SlayerJu attacks, but is once again forced to retreat after doing minimal damage.
A brief interlude from the fighting to bring you Obscurity, the latest fragrance from Charpaggio.
 And now back to the match. ryuooki is rewarding himself for fighting off the TA assault by finally expanding to his natural. TA is not pleased by their failure on assaulting ryuooki, so they too expand, [TA]SlayerJu to the gas node above his base, and the 1:30 start, and [TA]Ramius to the 7:30 start position. In fact, all the players decide to up the ante for resources, as rompwomp expands to his mineral only natural.
This lull in the action is short lived though, as [TA]SlayerJu discovers rompwomp's 12:00 expansion, and decides to recreate the crowd scene from Fat Guy Goes Nutzoid. The results are not pretty, but eventually the reaver is chased away by some goons, and he manages to escape in the helicopter -- er -- shuttle.
Also, by now everyone has realized the importance of holding the center of the map. [TA]SlayerJu has had a firebase outside his natural expansion for some time now, and after rompwomp discovers it, he decides to follow suit, and places a shield battery and 3 cannons just in the center field. He guards this with a smattering of templar, dragoons and zealots. Also, with his new expansion at the 7:30 natural, [TA]Ramius decides that his defense is not adequate, and so he begins morphing a hatchery at his entrance to the eye of the storm.
 It is time now for [TA]SlayerJu to concentrate his efforts once again on rompwomp's 12:00 expansion. This time, he drops a whopping 4 zealots in the base, and they proceed to tear down the assimilator. Why rompwomp didn't use the couple troops he had there instead of pulling back some firebase troops is a mystery to all of us, but at any rate, the assimilator exploded in a blue puff.
Another drop takes place about now, this one executed by [TA]Ramius to the expense of ryuooki's main. Descending like angels of death, 8 hydras and 2 lurkers jump headlong into the fire from 3 lofty overlords, and with 2:2 upgrades, they proceed to destroy all mining drones and a good number of ryuooki's 0:0 hydras before they finally succumb to pure numbers. The damage has been done though, and so once again ryuooki's economy has suffered. Uplifted by his 'victory', [TA]Ramius techs up further, building a greater spire.
 However, ryuooki is hardly out of the game, as he can quickly produce a new batch of hydras. With these he decides to get revenge for the reaver drop which [TA]SlayerJu blessed him with earlier. He loads u p about 24 hydras in 6 OL's and charges into [TA]SlayerJu's main base. Unfortunately, [TA]SlayerJu has 2 templar waiting in his base for such an occassion, and he commands them to hurl bolts of white-hot lighting on the zerg host. Seeing this, ryuooki wisely decides to retreat, and his wounded OL's make their way back to their home.
By this time, [TA]Ramius's forward hatch has finished morphing, and the creep has started to extend into rompwomp's field of vision. He is somewhat alarmed by this, but it was to be expected, since both of the protoss players have firebases already. Tension was building in the middle of the map.
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Suspense hung in the air like a dull blade, slowly swinging back and forth like a pendulum, coming closer and closer to severing the frayed ropes which were holding chaos at bay. Inevitably the calm was broken, and the center of the map was plunged into a war torn hell hole. It was started by ryuooki charging his hydras out into the fray and tearing into [TA]SlayerJu's cannons and troops. Psionic storms erupted in the sky, and then [TA]SlayerJu found himself trapped between two armies, as rompwomp attacked the other side of [TA]SlayerJu's firebase, in a two pronged attack. However, [TA]SlayerJu had storms waiting for these troops too, and in a move that saved him hundreds of crystals, he managed to storm 3 of rompwomp's high templar, who were just itching to unlease their psionic storms. The 1 hallowed templar that did kill the 3 opposing HT's died a hero's death soon after, torn down by a rogue scarab. His name shall live on forever in the archives.
 
At any rate though, [TA]SlayerJu was going to be in trouble without the help of his partner, because he was definitely strong enough to take one 1 of the players, but two would have been too much. Fortunately for him though, [TA]Ramius's 12 guardians had finished morphing, and he put them to good use here, tearing into the flank of the purple protoss attack force. Zerg troops burst forth from the hive cluster, and [TA]Ramius's hydras and lings began their rampage across the middle.
 Within minutes the combined might of TA had finished off both armies of JG, and without any troops with which to continue the fight, JG concedes game 1 to the Tarsonis Academy.
Unfortunately, I am a white chobo, so I didn't get a picture of the final scores, but who really looks at those anyway?
Lessons Learned:
1) Upgrading rules. [TA]Ramius absolutely owned ryuooki's ground troops because his were 3:3 vs 0:0. With protoss and terran units, upgrading isn't AS important, but with zerg it is the difference between life and death.
2) Work as a team in 2v2's. TA worked very well as a team by supprting each other's units and attacking at the same time. JG unfortunately was seperated from each other by a larger space and so they could not work with quite the same synthesis.
3) Map control is everything. Enough said.
With that, I bring to a close a BR that hopefully does an incredibly well fought matchup justice. Congrats to both teams for showing me how bad I really am at SC >). But its still not over yet, because this is a best 2/3 series. Look for further BR's starring TA and JG in the next few days as I get time to sort through my 50 megs of screens. Til next time,
PS. Fat Guy Goes Nutzoid, which I made reference to several times in the BR, is a really bad, but really funny movie from the 80's about an escaped mental patient (named Fat Guy). If you have nothing to do, and you dont mind getting weird looks from the video store clerks, rent it sometime.
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