Game 2

Introduction

As you probably remember, [o]Mr.X' Hydras were too much for :+:jolly:+:'s Protoss in Game 1, and :+:jolly:+: demanded a rematch. Due to server splits after the first game, this rematch was played two days later. No surprise, the map was Lost Temple again... And I am not the one that can force those famous players to play another map, nor I want to try... I just want to see them playing at their best, and they need to know the map perfectly to do so.

Game started!

This time around :+:jolly:+: wouldn't risk randoming again... Knowing [o]Mr.X' plays Zerg in important games, he decided to pick Terran. But he was in for an unpleasant surprise with [o]Mr.X not selecting Zerg at the last second as he usually does... yes [o]Mr.X decided to be gay and randomed. What did he get?  Heheh... Terran too =] Honestly I was very happy about it because I think this is a very fun matchup... at least to watch.

:+:jolly:+: got a teal CC at 9, and [o]Mr.X a brown one at 6. Their build orders were different - :+:jolly:+: did a standard Depot at 8, Barracks at 11, Gas at 13 build. [o]Mr.X, on the other hand, started with Depot 8, Gas 10, Barracks 12. Remember [o]Mr.X knew his opponent was Terran and :+:jolly:+: didn't know yet. :+:jolly:+: was pumping non-stop marines from his Barracks, and that indeed delayed his Factory a little bit. Another interesting fact - both players didn't do a wallin.

:+:jolly:+: sent his scouting SCV clockwise, and [o]Mr.X sent his counter-clockwise (for some reason both didn't scout their closest positions first) and their SCV's met below 3's ramp, so now :+:jolly:+: finally knew what he would have to deal with. [o]Mr.X finished his Factory before his opponent, and he did a weird thing - he lifted off his Factory and built his first Starport at the same spot with the same SCV. I asked him about this after the game. The answer was even weirder, I just have to tell you about this: He didn't need to produce anything at the factory at this point, and he lifted it so that the SCV didn't have to waste time walking before starting the Starport... He told me he knew he wasn't gaining anything from that move, but he felt bad about the SCV walking around... Ummm... I won't comment on that, Mr.X you ARE weird =P

:+:jolly:+: went for a fast Starport too, and he was still pumping Marines. [o]Mr.X had just two of them, and he built a Vulture a while later, after starting his second Starport. About that time :+:jolly:+: took his now 7 Marines and moved out in decisive fashion, hunting down [o]Mr.X' scouting SCV on the way down the ramp. That was a warning for the latter and I saw the lights at his Factory blinking, a sign that he was producing a second Vulture...

...and the distance the Marines had to travel was enough for that Vulture to get done and join [o]Mr.X' defense at the ramp. Needless to say, :+:jolly:+:'s Marines couldn't even fire at the defending force before 3 of them died and the entire operation was cancelled... meaning, the surviving teal Marines ran back to their home base.

Situation update:

:+:jolly:+: was about to start his second Starport, he had an Engineering Bay and fearing a Wraith rush he was building Turrets in his base. He had produced a Tank and a second one was being built at his Factory.

[o]Mr.X had two Starports, one of which he was using to build wraiths, and he was building an add-on to the other one in order to research cloaking. He had no E-bay, but he was building an Academy. Note the different approach to detection both players had...

Now it was [o]Mr.X turn to waste some units... he sent his 2 Vultures and 2 Marines up :+:jolly:+:'s ramp, but little did he know about the 2 Tanks, 4 Marines and 2 Wraiths waiting there... Well at least he knew now =] By the way [o]Mr.X had 3-4 Wraiths at home but for some reason he didn't use them in this attack.

Now :+:jolly:+: had two Starports and [o]Mr.X had completed his Academy. Needless to say, he added a ComSat to his Command Center. :+:jolly:+: built a Turret at his natural and started setting up a defense line. Soon he expanded there...

Then [o]Mr.X started flying around his 5 Wraiths, and he soon arrived at :+:jolly:+:'s natural... The operations that were going on there weren't to his liking, and noticing that one of :+:jolly:+:'s Tanks was sieged too far from the defending Turret, he immediately attacked. :+:jolly:+: tried to counter with his Wraiths, but [o]Mr.X cloaked his fleet and started popping the defending Wraiths. :+:jolly:+: didn't have any mobile detection yet, so he tried to fool the attacking Wraiths to come closer to his Turret, but [o]Mr.X didn't follow, he rather finished the Tank before :+:jolly:+: could unsiege it and run it away.

[o]Mr.X continued the harassment by attacking some buildings in :+:jolly:+:'s base that were out of Turret range and he managed to destroy a Supply Depot. He also expanded to his own natural, after setting up a Bunker defense there. :+:jolly:+: had a hard time trying to defend, his Academy wasn't completed yet so he had no scan... Then [o]Mr.X had to return to his base because his Wraiths ran out of manna.

Soon :+:jolly:+: had his Academy and ComSat, and [o]Mr.X built an Engineering Bay. As you see on the screenshot, he lifted it, and he floated it towards his expansion. He had built a Dropship as well... I wondered what he had in mind =]. He finally built some Turrets in his base as well.

:+:jolly:+:, on the other hand, was busy expanding to 12 and securing 3. Both players were producing mainly Wraiths and a few Tanks. Oops, [o]Mr.X had his Dropship as well... and he loaded a Tank and two SCV's into it and transported those to the cliff that is overlooking 9's natural. In other words, he was going to try to do a Turbo Newbie =] At his own natural, [o]Mr.X defended against similar actions by flying his E-bay over his expansion cliff and Sieging a Tank below it.

Not knowing that :+:jolly:+: didn't have any defense against a Turbo Newbie, [o]Mr.X decided to first build a Turret at a hidden spot on the cliff, so that he had a moderately fortified position there. then he scouted the cliff and started building two Turrets at the spot where he would siege his Tank a few seconds later...

Now, I don't know if he did this on purpose, but [o]Mr.X scouted :+:jolly:+:'s base with 2 Wraiths and as the main group of teal wraiths chased them, both of them headed for that fist Turret on the cliff... There, probably the decisive Battle of that game took place - :+:jolly:+:'s fleet was hitting the Turret instead of enemy Wraiths since [o]Mr.X had cloaked his.

:+:jolly:+: lost the majority of his airborne fighters without dealing much damage to [o]Mr.X's fleet, and now the brown Tank started hitting the SCV's... Without any means of stopping [o]Mr.X from controlling the map and with his natural under Siege, :+:jolly:+: conceded Game 2.

And the winner is...

[o]Mr.X

Now take a look at the scores:

Lessons learned:

1. [o]Mr.X isn't a one race wonder...

2. ALWAYS defend  your expand against turbo newbies...

3. In Terran vs. Terran a Turret detection strategy isn't as cost effective as building an Academy first.

Have fun!

BREEZE