After pre-game discussion in ~NoHunters the game was made on the venerable Lost Temple field and all four combatants joined. Along with the players the game would also be observed by -telefragged- and my Battlereporting brother-in-arms, the()vermind.

With each player's race now apparent, the teams got down to initial building and scouting.

CaughtNaked went for his first Barracks at the top of his ramp, followed by a supply depot to continue the wallin, finishing with a third depot and starting a second Barracks just behind it and getting gas at the same time

Sedatives opted for a pylon and gateway in his main, then another pylon/gate, finally adding an assimilator and a cybernetics core. A pylon and shield battery were also warped in at the top of his ramp to protect against an early rush

Joclyin constructed a barracks and supply depot in her main, then a second Barracks and depot, followed by an Accademy.

DeonPeon morphed an Overlord, followed by a Hatchery at the top of his ramp, then a spawning pool and extractor.

Sedatives choice of a Shield Battery chose to be quite handy as both CaughtNaked and Joclyin sent thier first seven marines each to the base of the Protoss ramp.

The white Marines of CaughtNaked run past the two newly warped Zealots and head for the probe line, while Joclyin's Marines are caught up by the Zealots.

Sedatives uses the battery well and manages to kill the blue Marines, with help from DeonPeon's six newly arrived Zerglings. Trapped on the ramp the Marines are quickly killed.

Meanwhile CaughtNaked's Marines are able to kill a few probes before the Zerglings and vengeful Probes cut them down.

Not deterred by this early setback, Joclyin expands to her natural, guarding it with a pair of Marines and a pair of Firebats, while CaughtNaked adds a third Barracks in his main for increased production.

While his zerglings were saving his teammate, DeonPeon has upgraded the Hatchery in his main to a Lair and begun an expansion at his natural, while Sedatives adds a Robotics Facility, a Robotics Support Bay and a Forge in his main.

CaughtNaked and Joclyin decide to take the offensive again and this time send a combined force of Medics, Marines and Firebats towards DeonPeon's new expansion.

DeonPeon spots this assault coming and sends a group of Zerglings past his Mineral only to act as a flanking force, while at the same time upgrading the Hydralsiks to Lurkers. The Terran forces make short work of the defending Zerglings and Hydralisks, but this allows the Lurkers time to do thier work.

However, a quick comsat allows the remaining Marines to deal with the burrowed Zerg troops. But this in turn allows DeonPeon time to bring in his flanking force of Zerglings to deal with the last Marines

Following on from this attack, DeonPeon sends his remaining Zergling towards Joclyin's Natural expansion in what apears to be a suicide run. However, the sacrafice of these Zerlings distracts Joclyin's attention and allows Sedatives to maneuver a shuttle into the mineral line of Joclyin's main.

The shuttle unloads a Reaver which makes short work of the unguarded SCVs working there before being loaded up. The shuttle then heads north to try for more SCVs in the Terran expansion. However, a nifty piece of micro allows Joclyin to destroy the Reaver with the loss of only 1 Marine

During this time CaughtNaked makes another attempt on DeonPeon's natural but a miss-timed comsat results in a large red mass of dead Marines.

All four players have added thier respective upgrade buildings but as yet only Joclyin has actually finished any upgrades, that being +1 Marine weapons. During the brief lull, Sedatives takes time to expand to his natural.

Let's take a break for a moment to take a look at how things stand:

Sedatives and DeonPeon take the initative now and go on the offensive against CaughtNaked, the only player yet to expand. DeonPeon sends a force of Zerglings and Hydralisks, while Sedatives commints a large forece of Dragoons and Zealots.

Unfortunately for the pair, the attack is not well co-ordinated. The Zerglings arrive first and are funneled through CaughtNaked's wall-in and butchered by the stimmed Marines waiting there.

The rest of the force arrives just after this. However due th the wall-in, the Dragoons and Hydras are forced to mill around the base of the ramp, shooting uphill at the Defenders. DeonPeon morphs a number of Hydras into Lurkers to continue the assault.

After checking that her team mate will be alright and taking time to begin a new Command Center at her Mineral only expansion Joclyin sends her massed force of Medics and Marines towards DeonPeon's natural in a counter attack. The stimmed Marines make short work of the defenders and proceed to destroy the hatchery there, while the drones run to the saftey of the main.

Because of this, Sedatives has to pull his troops from the attack on CaughtNaked to help his beleagured team mate, even though the wall-in has just crumbled, leaving just two of DeonPeon's Lurkers to continue the assault there. They are dealt with after a comsat, and CaughtNaked lives on, and begins floating a Command Center to the top left island

Having relieved the pressure on his partner, Sedatives takes his forces and heads back north th renew the assault on CaughtNaked.

This time, the wall-in is not there to hinder his troops, however the large numbers of stimmed Marines, medics and a well placed bunkerprove too much, espescially when the shuttle carrying two Reavers is hot down before dropping its cargo.

DeonPeon expands again to his natural, defending it with a sizeable force of Zerglings and Hydras.

The team of Sedatives and DeonPeon choose to attack again, this time at Joclyin. The two forces stream out towards the center of the map. However, Joclyin has also decided to go on the offensive with her massed army of Marines, Medics and Science Vessels.

If the the Zerg and Protoss forces attack together, the combined weight of troops would pull them through, leaving Joclyin's base almost undefended.

Unfortunately it does not happen. DeonPeon's Zerg arrive first and are taken down by the massed infantry, while Sedatives splits his forces, sending half to assist his partner and half to take out the minerla only expansion. The un-coordinated attack is quickly quelled and a force of Joclyin's Marines retreat back to defend the mineral only.

DeonPeon sends a drone to his mineral only and begins a new Hatchery there, unaware that CaughtNaked has now sent his large force of Marines to join Joclyin's army already in the center of the map.

The combined Terran force heads across the map towards Sedatives base. The small force of Dragoons at the natural choke point are soon defeated, but a much larger Dragoon compliment waits inside the Main.

Joclyin makes excellent use of the Defensive Matrix power, using matrixed Marines to absorb the Protoss fire while the rest of the army climbs the ramp. A small group of tanks also leands its supporting fire, weakening the defenders.

Using this method the Terrnas are quickly able to push into the Protoss Mainwhere Sedatives' Dragoons and Zealots are soon outnumbered and out gunned. Without defence the Protoss Main is soon in flames and Sedatives offers a GG.

With his partner under siege, DeonPeon attempts to exact some vengance, sending a huge conga line of Zerglings toward Joclyin's natural. They manage to destroy the SCVs mining at the mineral only before reinforcements from the Terran base end the attack.

The Terran team now turns its attention to the Zerg base. Clever use of Dark Swarm by DeonPeon serves only to prolong the inevitable as the massed infantry stea-roll through the Zerg expansions and into DeonPeon's Main. With a GG and the issue of a rematch challenge, the game ends, leaving Joclyin and CaughtNaked victorious.

The MVP award for the game goes to Joclyin. This is clearly reflected in the scores, but aside from that, she played an excellent game throughout, and towards the end became the clear power of the game.

There were a number of points during this game when it could have swung either way, but in the end the more co-ordinated team work of Joclyin and CaughtNaked is what swung the game in thier favour.

DeonPeon and Sedatives went on to win the rematch on Dire Straights but CaughtNaked was unable to play in the deciding 3rd match and was substituted for |]agomar. Game 3 also went to DeonPeon and Sedatives on Rivalry. Both the rematch games were much shorter, with victory coming early on for the winning team.

Well done to both teams for a hard fought game that was most enjoyable to watch.