This is the third of a three part series. You can read the first Report here. You can read the second Report here. You can skip to the beginning of this Report here. Special Note; Read before the report loads: You will not learn any new tricks in this report. In fact, after the first couple lines, you will know who will win. Don't let the report load if you don't want to. Hopefully it will be at least an entertaining read, but you have been warned. If you do decide to read this Report, please wait a while and give it a refresh to be sure all the images load. Featuring a special suprise guest: Well, here we go again. This is the final game in a two vs. two series, in which the participants traded partners after each game. The idea was to observe the player combinations to see how they interacted with each other. Theoretically, certain teams should be more compatible and therefore more effective on the battlefield. Unfortunately, things don't always work out the way you want them to, especially on the shaky ground of bnet servers. Splits and lag plagued the series and as a result, the three games do not feature the same four players each time. Such is life. The second game ended with a well-earned victory for ::nobody:: (using the name Animated_Vixen) and Dr.Zchivago, who had defeated Drefsab (using the name E-Minor) and Fox^1. As this game ended, Drefsab announced that he was exhausted (it had been a big day for him) so he turned in for the night. That left us with only three players. Fox^1 quickly ducked into clan ~nohunters and emerged with the second surprise guest of the series: GammaRayBurst! With four players, it was time to once again venture into the realm of RoseWood. It's a five-player map where each starting position has a nearby natural expansion that is elevated, meaning that you need transports to access your natural. For the final game, Dr.Zchivago and Fox^1 were paired against ::nobody:: (as Animated_Vixen) and GammaRayBurst. The game began and I floated my Command Center into the corner. Here we go! Fox^1 (Protoss) and Dr.Zchivago (Protoss) vs. Animated_Vixen (Protoss) and GammaRayBurst (Terran)

Now, I must apologize, but I missed some key screen shots in the beginning of the game. However, I can recreate the conversation, which may shed some light on my error:

GammaRayBurst: It's been a long time since I've had to kill my SCV's…

At this point, I am staring at the computer screen, thinking "Wha? Huh? Gah?"

After a few seconds, GammaRayBurst spoke up again:

GammaRayBurst: Everyone give me vision

I remained paralyzed and slack-jawed. "Hah? Zuh? Buh?"

Finally, I spoke up:

Spuzz: Uhhh, I'm the one reporting this game, GammaRayBurst…

After several minutes of sorting things out, I managed to convince poor GammaRayBurst that I was, indeed, the person reporting the game, and that he should be the one to give me vision.

I was greeted with a gristly sight: while the other three players are well into their building orders, GammaRayBurst is forced to build SCVs frantically to catch up.

The players' early build order goes like this:

Fox^1=pylon, Gateway, Gateway, pylon. Rallies Zealots at top of ramp.

Dr.Zchivago: pylon, Gateway, pylon, Gateway, Assimilator, Cybernetics Core. Rallies Zealots at top of ramp.

GammaRayBurst: SCVs (Hahahahahahahahaha)

Animated_Vixen: pylon, Gateway, pylon, Gateway, Assimilator, Cybernetics Core, Citadel of Adun, Templar Archives. Rallies Zealots to top of ramp.

Everyone was horrified at the fate of GammaRayBurst's SCVs, particularly Dave Lister and Cryton.

Check that image out…Fox^1 has his second freaking Gateway coming in and GammaRayBurst has three SCVs. A Rematch offer was made, but the two unlucky teammates took it all in stride and decided to press onward despite the crippling error. You have to admit, they are good sports and took the situation with a great sense of humor :D

During the remake debate, Dr.Zchivago scouts my base and finds it empty. Understanding that this is a five-player map and there is only one vacant starting position, Dr.Zchivago knows at least where his opponents are, although he has yet to see what they are up to. The Probe wanders to the mineral only expansion at the top center of the map and waits.

While Dr.Zchivago's probe takes 5, Fox^1 has sent a probe of his own to scout, and finds both opponents quickly. The probe investigates each one unhindered and returns to Fox^1's the mineral line with bragging rights over all the other probes.

A brief period of building ensues, as I can only imagine what GammaRayBurst must be thinking. We've all had that feeling of impending doom. However, he doesn't give up and suggests that the two should begin scouting. I was impressed with GammaRayBurst's decision; although he had only 7 SCV's, he still sent one to scout rather than gather minerals. The SCV makes its way to Fox^1's base and is instantly obliterated by the guarding Zealots. Ouch.

Meanwhile, GammaRayBurst's partner, Animated_Vixen, sends a probe to first my base and then Dr.Zchivago's, where it turns tail and runs away to the center of the map.

At this point both Fox^1 and Dr.Zchivago have two active Gateways each. GammaRayBurst takes a brave step and begins building his very first supply depot, because believe it or not 8 supply just isn't going to sustain this powerhouse!

Knowing that they have an advantage, Fox^1 decides to make a quick game of it and suggests to attack while said advantage still exists. Since Animated_Vixen is the strongest opponent at this point, he becomes target of a double team.

It worked out so that Fox^1 got to Animated_Vixen's base much earlier than Dr.Zchivago. Rather than press on without his partner, Fox^1 decides to wait until the yellow zealots arrive. Animated_Vixen sees the orange Protoss accumulating at the bottom of his ramp like flies to shit. Sadly, GammaRayBurst explains his situation (by "aint done" he means the Barracks is at 621/1000) and Animated_Vixen is forced to recognize that he is on his own with only two Gateways and half a Cybernetics Core. Fortunately, the few extra seconds it took Dr.Zchivago to arrive ended up being a factor in this battle.

As the attack begins, Animated_Vixen launches both a defense of his base and an offense directed at his opponent's manliness. It was a good try, but you can't attack something that doesn't exist and his words fall on deaf ears. The brown Zealots bravely lunge into battle, outnumbered six to eleven. Things look grim.

Before long, Fox^1 and Dr.Zchivago break into Animated_Vixen's base and head towards the probe line. The little workers are pulled off mining duty and all hell breaks loose. Seeing his partner's dilemma, GammaRayBurst announces his presence with a mighty, "I'm Coming!" and launches his own army towards Animated_Vixen's base.

Now, up to this point I had always thought that there was no such thing as a mineral hack. It had seemed simply impossible to me, despite the rumors. But what I saw cannot indicate anything but two things: the existence of such a thing and the painfully obvious fact that GammaRayBurst uses it. Move your mouse over the image below to see the insane number of units that GammaRayBurst sends to his partner's rescue. It just makes you sick.

Ahahahahaha! Godspeed, brave single Marine, and may your 6 damage per volley turn the tide of this horrible war!

But that was not all. Shortly after I took the screen shot of GammaRayBurst's only attacking unit, he repeats his battle cry:

A quick look at the mini map showed that there was a blue line exiting GammaRayBurst's base and heading towards the fledgling Animated_Vixen's headquarters. What in the world could that be? I quickly investigated to solve the mystery. This is what I saw…

OMG rofl!! The sight of SCVs rushing to a battle in another base struck me as freaking hilarious. I was also very impressed with GammaRayBurst's dedication to his partner. You have to admit, a guy who is willing to halt all mining and risk his workers in order to help you out is someone you want to have for a partner. Three cheers for GammaRayBurst!

While I was dying laughing from this spectacle, I weakly clicked back to Animated_Vixen's base. To my amazement, he had actually fought off the double team! Two Dragoons had emerged from the brown Gateways and had begun firing upon the enemy Zealots. Fox^1's troops were the first to fall, but by this time he had 5 Gateways back home (yes you read that correctly…five Gateways!). A cluster of orange reinforcements began their way down towards Animated_Vixen's base to finish the job. At almost the same time, Dr.Zchivago's Zealots fell to the power of…Guass fire! That little Marine made a difference after all!! :D

Disappointed that they missed all the action, GammaRayBurst's SCVs reluctantly turn back and begin the journey back to mining labor. Unfortunately, they have bad timing. Remember the reinforcements that Fox^1 was sending to Animated_Vixen's base? You guessed it. The Orange Zealots ran right into GammaRayBurst's SCVs and the carnage began.

You have to feel sorry for poor GammaRayBurst. Absolutely nothing has gone right for him. Most of the SCVs were killed by Fox^1's Zealots, but a few did manage to retreat back into his base. In a desperate but clever move, one SCV was ordered to block the ramp while a single Marine fired. This, of course, did not last long and suddenly GammaRayBurst's base was flooded with Fox^1's Zealots.

During the mayhem, Animated_Vixen notices the problem and lets his partner know help is on the way. But it's along trek to GammaRayBurst's base, and in the meantime Fox^1 is left with little opposition. Pandemonium breaks out as SVCs do their best to defend the Barracks.

I must say that GammaRayBurst did a very good job of microing his little workers around. As Fox^1's Zealots chase a particular SCV, GammaRayBurst has him run past the fellow SCVs, who get free hits as the Zealots ran past. Fox^1's Zealots receive a considerable amount of damage in this manner, but let's face it: a battle between SCVs and Zealots can only end one way.

After some long seconds of getting pummeled, making one marine at a time, and running his SCV's away, GammaRayBurst is joined at last by Animated_Vixen's Dragoons and Zealots.

To my surprise, Fox^1 is once again beaten back in defeat. Animated_Vixen's Dragoons and Zealots are just enough to destroy all the enemies in GammaRayBurst's base. To help keep unwanted Protoss assholes from getting back in, Animated_Vixen kindly parks his troops at the top of GammaRayBurst's ramp.

Fox^1 is not ready to back off yet, though. His five Gateways have replenished the Zealot army and he decides that he and Dr.Zchivago should split up and attack separately. I believe he did this for two reasons: 1), because he knew that both of his enemies were crippled, and a quick attack should be enough to finish both of them off, but a delay in attacking either one might open a window of recovery. And 2), because he is a dickhead who knew I would have to try and watch two battles at once this way. Bastard. Dr.Zchivago, who has also replaced his army, is more than willing to try this idea and immediately heads towards Animated_Vixen's base.

At this point, I know it is almost over. Fox^1 and Dr.Zchivago have been smart enough to press their advantage, and simply keeping the pressure constant has taken a toll on their opponents. I have almost typed "gg" when I notice something in Animated_Vixen's base: the warp rift of a building; a glimmer of hope:

Look at how close Dr.Zchivago is to Animated_Vixen's base. And the Templar Archives building is only halfway done! Oh man, what will happen??

The gods of StarCraft smile upon Animated_Vixen. Dr.Zchivago's troops hesitate slightly, and allow the Archives to just barely warp in. As he busts into Animated_Vixen's base, Dr.Zchivago immediately targets the five-second-old Archives--it was that close. Had Dr.Zchivago been fifteen seconds earlier, the Archives would never have warped in.

You might be thinking to yourself, "Ok, so what if the Templar Archives stood for five seconds? It came down in five seconds too! What does it mean?" Read on...

Meanwhile, back at GammaRayBurst's base, Fox^1 has begun his assault. Animated_Vixen's Protoss warriors were still holding off the ramp. Note the good troop placement: the Zealots are on hold position in the center of the ramp, blocking the passage of enemy troops. At the same time Animated_Vixen's Dragoons and GammaRayBurst's Marines are at the top, getting free shots on Fox^1's Zealots, who cannot get up the ramp. Nice work, Animated_Vixen!

Despite this nice micro, GammaRayBurst knows it will not be enough and once again pulls his SCVs off of mining duties in preparation for the dance of death. But before they need to enter battle, Fox^1 decides that getting into GammaRayBurst's base is going to take too many casualties--his Zealots back off, and head towards Animated_Vixen's base instead!

Something kind of funny happens when the orange Zealots left GammaRayBurst's territory. The SCVs follow them and begin attacking! To deal with this, Fox^1 splits his troops into two groups. The larger group continues towards Animated_Vixen's base while a few Zealots remain to kill GammaRayBurst's poor SCVs. Surprisingly, these Zealots are actually overpowered by the SCVs (with a little help from some Marines and Animated_Vixen's Dragoon).

Now temporarily liberated from his containment, GammaRayBurst notices the direction Fox^1 has sent his troops and gives chase! By now he has mustered a rather decent force of Marines who start towards the brown Protoss camp. All four players are now focusing on Animated_Vixen's base! What will happen?

Speaking of which, what is happening in Animated_Vixen's base now? Well, the Archives have fallen, as well as the Citadel of Adun. However, the short time that the Templar Archives stood allowed Animated_Vixen to start two Dark Templar, one from each Gateway. The Dark Templars pop out and begin attacking Dr.Zchivago's troops with impunity. Dr.Zchivago sees that he cannot do anything about it, so he decides to target the Nexus as Animated_Vixen's Dark Templars work their asses off, trying to destroy the yellow Protoss units. When the dust settles, Dr.Zchivago manages to break the Nexus with two Zealots and a Dragoon to spare.

This is of course a crippling blow to Animated_Vixen. He has now lost the ability to gather resources, meaning that he must live off his surplus. Judging by how early in the game it still is, I know that he is done for. To make matters worse, Fox^1's Zealots have arrived and are attacking Animated_Vixen's Cybernetics Core.

The Dark Templars sigh heavily and get to work on the new enemy. Fortunately, GammaRayBurst's troops arrive as well and help to destroy the invaders, but not before the Cybernetics Core and two pylons fall.

Well, I hate to say it, but this is just too severe of a blow for anyone to recover from. GG fellas. It's too bad the last game in the series was quite short, but it was still fun to report. I would especially like to thank all the players for humoring me in this series. All three games were a blast to watch, and--what the hell??

Are you freaking kidding me?? Animated_Vixen apparently had 400 minerals to make another Nexus! This game ain't over yet folks! While the blue rift struggles to pass a brand new Nexus into RoseWood, Fox^1 and Dr.Zchivago continue to focus on the game. Animated_Vixen and GammaRayBurst may sill be in this game, but their opponents are sure not going to make it easy on them! In fact, they make plans to rectify their one error of having no detection!

During the long, long wait for his new Nexus, Animated_Vixen shares his feelings as GammaRayBurst notices that neither one have detection…kind of ironic considering that the only reason Animated_Vixen is still alive now is because Fox^1 and Dr.Zchivago didn't have detection. Turnabout is fair play, especially in StarCraft. In order to correct this, GammaRayBurst finally begins an Academy for the all-important ComSat.

A long, uncomfortable silence envelops the map as each player focuses on the game rather than talking. Long seconds pass as probes sit there picking their noses. Suddenly, Animated_Vixen chirps up:

Ok...

Ok...

Ok...

I know reading that will never give you the same impact I felt when I saw those words pop onto my screen. Maybe it was the intensity, maybe the fact that I was still in shock over Animated_Vixen's recovery, or maybe I drank too much pop, but that was seriously the funniest thing I have EVER SEEN. I honest to God came close to falling off my chair. That is going to be one of the things I will remember for the rest of my life and it will make me laugh every time.

Ugh, back to the game. At long last, Animated_Vixen's Nexus warps in and he immediately begins harvesting minerals. As this happens he and GammaRayBurst have a little pep talk to justify their stubbornness :) Note that poor GammaRayBurst is just now getting gas, which will probably be handy considering that his Academy is nearly finished.

Also note what Animated_Vixen is saying. It took me a while to figure it out, but he is actually referring to the two Zealots that are still blocking GammaRayBurst's ramp.

Of course, during this time, Fox^1 Fox ^1 and Dr.Zchivago have not been idle. Remember earlier when Fox^1 made a comment about getting Observers? Dr.Zchivago took it to heart and sends one to both Animated_Vixen and GammaRayBurst's bases. Impressively, Animated_Vixen manages to spot the ghostly figure float over his Nexus, and with GammaRayBurst's help, he destroys the spy. In doing so, the two pull off a nice piece of teamwork and also win a moral victory that Fox^1 and Dr.Zchivago can NEVER TAKE AWAY ;)

You might have noticed things happening on the minimap. Fox^1 has moved a large force of Dragoons to the center of the map in order to secure the center mineral field, which he will probably need seeing as he is now mined out. He has also taken his natural, meaning that he has shuttles. At the same time, Dr.Zchivago has dropped two defenders on his natural for fear of a turbo newbie attempt by GammaRayBurst (remember his concern, "blue will try and drop?).

During this quiet build-up time, GammaRayBurst builds a decent sized force at his choke, where those two turd-brown zealots are still blocking the ramp. In a somewhat obvious predicament, neither player has had the time or resources to upgrade anything.

You may also have noticed from the mini-map that Dr.Zchivago has taken my main base as an expansion, as well as his own natural. He has also placed an Observer at the very edge of the Turret's line of sight (you can just make it out, to the right of the Supply Depot on the image).

Further into the Long Uncomfortable Silence, GammaRayBurst makes an impressively bold decision to expand. Most players I know would have turtled and try to scramble together an army, but GammaRayBurst took the smarter route and attempts to gain a secure financial foothold. Animated_Vixen and he laugh a little about their hopeless situation.

Suddenly, Fox^1 strikes! An army of Dragoons invades Animated_Vixen's personal space and begins fighting for access to his ramp. Animated_Vixen's trusty Dark Templar are standing by, but Dr.Zchivago learned his lesson the first time and brought a few Observers to reveal the vicious marauders.

While this battle was being fought, the spirit of someone I once knew contacted me. Bane was back from the land of the dead! Aaah! When I didn't answer immediately, Bane continued his attempt to return to our side.

I was too busy taking screen shots to run and get my bible, so I instead tried "/w Bane{Hero} sorry dude busy". This seemed to hold the specter at bay, as he responded with an "Oh, cool. See you in the channel after."

Meanwhile, Fox^1's Dragoons were relentlessly pushing inward as Animated_Vixen desperately micros and produces troops out of his two Gateways. GammaRayBurst immediately tries to rescue his partner, but the two patient Zealots that were blocking his ramp served to obstruct the Marines' exit! Shee-it!

Animated_Vixen moves these two roadblocks when he receives the message from his partner, but GammaRayBurst's rescue mission has already been severely delayed, and there is no end to Fox^1's Dragoons. Animated_Vixen fights valiantly in this scuffle, but he is simply overwhelmed and Fox^1's troops break in.

As luck would have it, GammaRayBurst's troops arrive as Fox^1's Dragoons converge at the top of Animated_Vixen's ramp. Fox^1 finds himself trapped in a sandwich of Blue M&Ms and a few Protoss units. Unfortunately, there are just too many of Fox^1's Dragoons, and during the confusion, Dr.Zchivago performs a drop on Animated_Vixen's Nexus. What the hell does this guy have against Nexuses? (Or is it Nexi?) Animated_Vixen knows his number's up and offers a sportsmanlike "gg". GammaRayBurst refuses to throw in the towel, however, and he sends in a secret weapon: Siege Tanks! Sadly, by now it is a lost cause, and the two tanks die rather embarrassingly. The game finally ends for real.

Thanks to Animated_Vixen, GammaRayBurst, Fox^1, and Dr.Zchivago for a fun game to report.

Notes:

• Even though the game was rather one-sided, I think that there is a good lesson to learn: Fox^1 and Dr.Zchivago pressed their advantage and massed a lot of early, low tech units to finish the game as quickly as possible, rather than dick around and risk their opponents making a comeback.



• Animated_Vixen and GammaRayBurst didn't give up. As lame as it sounds, this inspired me. :) In addition, I seriously could not believe what GammaRayBurst managed to do with his huge handicap, and frankly, I'm very impressed.



• Yeah, due to a mistake, GammaRayBurst started out killing his SCVs, but don't forget that since he thought he was observing, he also deliberately picked Terran. This is yet another disadvantage he started out with, because honestly, who in their right mind ever picks Terran on purpose? ;)



• I think the best move of the game was when Dr.Zchivago focused on Animated_Vixen's Nexus and broke it down. It takes about 90 seconds for a Nexus to warp in. Let's be conservative here: Assuming that Animated_Vixen only had ten probes, during that time he lost out on at least 660 minerals (I checked it). Who knows, maybe six more Zealots, or a few cannons could have let him squeak by.

Ok, that's it. The end of the series. I know that the last game wasn't epic, and for God's sake it's a game that's over seven months old. I would like to truly apologize to the players for taking so long to write it-the length of time it took me to publish this report was very unprofessional. Sorry about that. :(

On a similar note, I would like to thank Fox^1 for being the reason why this series got off the ground in the first place. Fox^1 supported me and also did my job for me when he found excellent players after the original lineup didn't work out. I honestly couldn't have planned it any better, and I am in Fox^1's debt. In addition to this, I also learned a lot by observing him. It's not saying much, but as a player I am significantly better than I was before seeing Fox^1 in action, and for that I am in his debt once again.

After game three, I took him aside and said that I hoped to work with him again some day. His reply was:

Then he beat me up and peed in my mouth. Fox^1's pee tastes like cat pee.

At any rate, I wold like to present Fox^1 with a special honor:

Thanks Fox^1!! :D

Well, that's finally it. Please comment. Tell me what to do better.