OK, those were a direct result of my late-night woes and boredom leading up to the writing of this report. Also, I apologize for some of the weird effects MS Paint decided to add, jacking up my colors (maybe I'll learn to use some other program someday). The game itself required me to take 330 screenshots, so it was quite a biggie. Have fun!

Red Turtle Meets Purple and Orange Cows

The Teams:

Team DoctoredZealots
MelfTheZealot randomed to Red Terran at 12 o'clock.
Dr.Zchivago chose Yellow Protoss, ending up at 3 o'clock.

Team HappySnowmen
Frost!^^ randomed to Purple Protoss, receiving 6 o'clock.
xSmYLeSx chose Orange Protoss, getting 9 o'clock.

The Map: The Lost Temple

Early Game Builds The builds leading up to the first attack...

• MelfTheZealot: Depot, Barracks, Depot, Refinery, Factory, Factory, Depot.
• Dr.Zchivago: Pylon, Gateway, Assimilator, Pylon, Gateway, Cybernetics Core, Pylon.
• Frost!^^: Pylon, Gateway, Pylon, Gateway, Pylon, Assimilator, Pylon, Gateway.
• xSmYLeSx: Pylon, Gateway, Assimilator, Gateway, Cybernetics Core, Pylon, Citadel of Adun.

Initial Skirmishes Team HappySnowmen launches the first attack with five zealots and three dragoons, targetting MelfTheZealot, who didn't wall in. MelfTheZealot asks for help from Dr.Zchivago even before the attack, inferring that he would be the target because of the lack of a wall-in. The Dual Protoss forces arrive at MelfTheZealot's doorstep, but Frost!^^ makes the mistake of sending in his dragoons in before xSmYLeSx's zealots arrive. This causes him to lose one dragoon while pulling back from the five marines and three vultures that MelfTheZealot has on the top of the ramp.

The loss of the Dragoon, was actually a factor in the following battle, with MelfTheZealot dancing with marines and vultures to kill zealots and then focus-firing on dragoons to kill them, and it didn't help Team HappySnowmen that six reinforcing dragoons from Dr.Zchivago had arrived. Total Losses for team DoctoredZealots: One Marine.

Not losing a beat, MelfTheZealot immediately orders a counterattack on xSmYLeSx, who has just warped in a cybernetics core and a forge while Frost!^^ is warping in a Templar Archives. xSmYLeSx has about eight zealots availible as defense while Frost!^^ is making his tech for DTs. Dr.Zchivago makes a crucial mistake here by, using attack-move i presume, blocking the ramp with a dragoon while all the rest of Team DoctoredZealots's forces are still lagging behind. Needless to say, the Dragoon was slaughtered by xSmYLeSx's zealots because it failed to use its range. Frost!^^ now set out with reinforcements, and the battle was on...

The Silent Death Frost!^^ now adds a forge and sends out a pair of Dark Templar to wreak havoc on Dr.Zchivago. Dr.Zchivago has just finished his forge (and another gateway). MelfTheZealot has added machine shops to both of his factories, makes an engineering bay and 3rd factory, and starts a Command Center in his main. However, he can do nothing to stop the death of Dr.Zchivago's Nexus, and as time passes, my fellow observer, Mr_Hamster, and I see that he does not have an additional 400 minerals. He desparately makes a Cannon at his choke to stay alive, and eventually baits the templar there to their death, but not before losing his whole main except for the Cannon and its Pylon.

xSmYLeSx now starts two Robotics Facilities, and upon their completion, an Observatory and Robotics Support Bay. Dr.Zchivago is left with a standing army of eight dragoons and two zealots. MelfTheZealot floats his Command Center to his natural, and begins two Starports there while massing tanks. Meanwhile, both members of Team HappySnowmen expand to their naturals and rally their units to the middle in anticipation of an assault on MelfTheZealot.

MelfTheZealot starts adding buildings like crazy, making an academy, two comsats, an armory, two control towers, and a science facility.

Having seen a coming assault from Team HappySnowmen, Dr.Zchivago decides to give it all up and sends all his forces to defend MelfTheZealot. A colossal battle follows, with goon soup for everyone, on the house of course...

Dr.Zchivago has lost all but three dragoons, and from now on, I will consider him out of the game. MelfTheZealot lost just one tank throughout the attack. During that assault, xSmYLeSx also tried a reaver drop on MelfTheZealot, but it was stopped easily with a couple of tanks.

MelfTheZealot now switches to full-blown tank production and dropships four tanks to Frost!^^'s natural cliff. Frost!^^ can do nothing about it, so he expands to his mineral-only. About now, MelfTheZealot and xSmYLeSx mine out their mains. Frost!^^ starts a Robotics Facility and Fleet Beacon and commences with the production of corsairs.

Upgrade Update:
MelfTheZealot: None
Frost!^^: +2 ground attack
xSmYLeSx: +1 ground armor, +1 ground attack

Further Evidence that Tanks Own MelfTheZealot now begins to push out to the center, building turrets and sieging his insane number of tanks evenly spaced so that a storm can only hit one tank and a DWeb can only hit two. He also makes yet another command center and floats his existing idle one to the 3 o'clock mineral-only. After the other command center finishes, he floats it to the three o'clock main. xSmYLeSx takes the top left island and his own mineral-only. Frost!^^ manages to drive off the tanks on his cliff with storm. The tanks pop back into MelfTheZealot's Dropshops. To keep up with these new happenings, there is a minimap update to the left.

After a failed attempt on MelfTheZealot's tank grid by Frost!^^'s dragoons, MelfTheZealot expands again, this time to his mineral-only. MelfTheZealot is clearly in control here, but he doesn't realize it and stays on the defensive.

Team HappySnowmen decides it is time to go, and charges the center in full force. Gayweb flies all over, arclite fires, and Goon soup covers the ground, but in the end, MelfTheZealot's forces hold. Sorry that MS Paint screwed this image over bigtime.

MelfTheZealot follows up with a 2-tank 6-goliath drop on the cliff above xSmYLeSx's Natural and Mineral-only expansions, temporarily shutting them down. Frost!^^ adds two more stargates and switches to carrier production.

MelfTheZealot has five factories and three barracks, Frost!^^ has eight gateways and three stargates, and xSmYLeSx has four gateways and a stargate. xSmYLeSx sends a shuttle with a reaver and two DTs to rid the menace on his cliff, but his shuttle is shot down by goliaths before it unloads anything. Frost!^^ now takes the bottom right island, and with the lack of attacks, MelfTheZealot's advantage is starting to slip away. MelfTheZealot now maynards all the SCVs from his mined-out natural to his 3 o'clock main expansion.

Give and Take

More bad news for Team HappySnowmen; MelfTheZealot announces that . Frost!^^ reacts by sending more forces to the middle, but they are again wiped out. A stray comsat discovers Frost!^^'s bottom right island expansion, and a group of wraiths eliminate it.

Frost!^^ has changed from dragoons to zealots and dark templar, but still cannot break the middle, which has been reinforced with a science vessel. By now, he has mined out his natural as well and soon expands to xSmYLeSx's mineral-only, while xSmYLeSx retakes his natural.

By now, Frost!^^ has a fleet of eight carriers and three corsairs, soon accompanied by a pair of observers from xSmYLeSx. MelfTheZealot has fortunately started making plenty of Goliaths in anticipation of the carriers, but will there be enough?

Frost!^^ decides to test the strength of his fleet, moving on MelfTheZealot's newly established mineral-only. MelfTheZealot fights valiantly, but the space is too cramped, and a few well-placed gaywebs nullify the goliaths and cause the downfall of the expansion.

Instead of defending hopelessly, MelfTheZealot decides to counterattack on Frost!^^'s mineral-only, killing it and the four gateways there with some tanks and goliaths. Dr.Zchivago can't resist the urge and joins in with his three dragoons. xSmYLeSx tries to reinforce with carriers, but they are taken out by cloaked wraiths, as they lack observer support.

Frost!^^'s air force now moves on to MelfTheZealot's main, and some DTs move out to engage MelfTheZealot's assault force. The DTs take out the whole force except for the wraiths and a single tank. At MelfTheZealot's base, Frost!^^'s carriers number five after eliminating all goliath resistance, but flee when the wraiths return home. MelfTheZealot now has 3/3 vehicles, and Frost!^^ has 3/2/1 ground and 2/0/1 air. MelfTheZealot takes the moment to expand to the 3 o'clock natural.

Now, Frost!^^ drops a pair of dragoons on the 3 o'clock natural cliff, accompanied by a pair of templar. MelfTheZealot kills the dragoons with some wraiths, but the templar storm and kill all 18 SCVs there (ouch!). For some odd reason, when I look back later, there is an archon on the cliff (yes, I know, the templar merged, but why leave an archon on a cliff?). xSmYLeSx's carriers follow up and destroy the expansion.

MelfTheZealot, in desparation and probably hurting for gas, drops a bunch of barracks and starts pumping marines. Constant waves of goliaths keep the carriers away, but this is definitely not cost efficient, as he is constantly losing the goliaths. He realizes this and comments However, he commits to go down swinging, and sends cloaked wraiths to circle the map and pick off stray carriers (sounds strange, but they killed around five).

While using most of the gas on carriers, Team HappySnowmen were able to pump out a bunch of zealots, and a final charge clears away almost all of MelfTheZealot's central Tank Blockade. xSmYLeSx decides to uses reavers to take out the remnant of MelfTheZealot's mined out 3 o'clock main exp. and his reestablished 3 o'clock natural expansion.

Red Turns to Blood

Frost!^^ moves in for the kill again, targetting MelfTheZealot's main. Gayweb allows carriers to rock the remaining goliaths, but fancy dancing still causes Frost!^^ to lose almost all of his carriers. MelfTheZealot makes a desparate strike at Frost!^^'s expansion at xSmYLeSx's mineral-only, But is repulsed by 12 new carriers from xSmYLeSx and nice use of psistorm. I do imagine that xSmYLeSx spent a lot of minerals on replacement interceptors though :P.

xSmYLeSx's carriers and Frost!^^'s ground forces hit from the front, and Frost!^^'s carriers hit MelfTheZealot's main from the back (kinda like Frost!^^ likes to do :P). MelfTheZealot again valiantly fights the assault off by mass-producing marines and destroying the interceptors.

As he beats off that attack, MelfTheZealot counters on Frost!^^'s mineral-only, but storm is too much for him. Team HappySnowmen go on the offensive a few more times, while constantly producing more units, and MelfTheZealot can't hold them off with one mining base.

Scores and Lessons Learned

LESSONS LEARNED

• Stay aggressive if you have the advantage.
• Watch your expansions carefully.
• Don't quit in a 1v2.
• MelfTheZealot and Frost!^^ have big mouths :P.