"I'm just a cute furry bug."
-SnowSquall
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| A ladder match on Fading Realm! I swear. | | | Author: | | | IP: | XXXX | | Date: | 09/21/99 08:09 | | Game Type: | Starcraft | | Labels: | none | | Report Rating: , # of Ratings: 2, Max: 7, Min: 6
Lifetime Rating for AQD3: 7.6184 |   | INTRODUCTION
I'm continuing my ladder play. I realize from the feedback on my last game that it seemed one sided, but I will get better matches as I play higher people. This match is an exception to the rule of playing higher people though. As I was scanning the ladder game list for someone of my rank I clicked on a title that said "1v1 Fading Realm 1025+". I spent a few minutes gasping for air and checking my pulse. A ladder game not on lost temple? Surely this must be a hallucination! I couldn't pass up this opportunity. I joined the game and found my opponent to be ^^bloodsea^^. He had a 3-2-1 ladder record with a score of 1025.
For those of you who don't know, Fading Realm looks like this:
THE BEGINNING
We both chose protoss. A natural choice as terran takes a lot of skill, especially on a long winding map, and the zerg player does not have the natural expansion that is essential for mid level players to compete. I got the lower right start and he the upper left.
"Manner game?" AQD3
"OK" ^^bloodsea^^
Fading Realm has a lot of distance between the starts, so I went with a tech build order. It looked like this:
8: Pylon
10: Gateway
11: Assimilator
14: Cybernetics Core
15: Gateway
16: Pylon
17: Zealot
This build gives me the quick tech essential on a long distance map. Tech units can do a lot of damage in small numbers, and transportation gives you a lot less headaches. I chose to scout with the probe making my first pylon, knowing it would take a long time to get to my opponent and scout him. When I arrived I found two gateways (one warping in), and no gas. I secured my probe in the little traveled area on the raised area above his base, to the north of his reverse choke. He appeared to be straight zealot rushing with his lack of gas. I scouted again after my initial build was done. Still no gas, but I saw a forge and some zealots taking off for parts unknown...
Now, Fading Realm lends itself to cheese. I have it on good authority that 57% of people from Wisconsin prefer this map over any other map for ladder, and you know how they all love cheese. It was just a question of what sort of cheese it would be. Cheddar? Swiss? Offensive cannons? The two most popular cheese strats are to make cannons at the top of the ramp leading out of the main base, or to make a few gateways out of the way on the high ground outside of the main base. (Quick flashback to gauntlet and my preferred cheese method vrs muta rushers =])Most real cheese masters combine the two.
But my opponent had invested in two gates at his base. I chose to get the templar tech tree, going for map control with dark templar. My forces patrolled the high ground around my base, alert for a mass zealot rush or cheese cannons. With one last look around my probe checked the upper right base for an expansion and beeped happily to itself as it headed for home. Still no gas... Maybe he just sucked. He had low visible troop count and no gas when my first dark templar was already being trained...
THINGS TAKE A TURN FOR THE WORSE
My probe's beeps changed from happy to terrified as it ran smack into his plan. He had taken the middle expansion. He had a nexus, about four cannons, a few pylons, and was getting gas. My probe died to the cannon blasts, but not before it saw the four or so zealots he had there. Looks like that was where they had all gone. I quickly made the dark templar I had ordered to go check the expansions to halt just outside cannon range.
My surety of victory had fallen from about 90% confidence to half that. If he knew how to exploit the resources he could crank troops and sit secure in the knowledge he had easy access to over half the resources of the map. I would have to have an insane cost effectiveness ratio to win. Or I could take the middle away from him. That sounded like a plan. To take the middle I would need troops. Preferably ranged troops that could focus fire and take the cannons one by one. That sounded like dragoons to me. I wasn't willing to invest in a second tech tree for reavers this early in the game.
To get the troops I needed I would have to expand. And I needed to match his resources anyway. I sent a probe to the lower left expansion and started setting up shop. I had stopped at two dark templar when I saw the cannon trap. Dark templar are fine for map control and punishing people without detection, but in a stand up fight they cost a lot more than they are worth. My gateways started on the production of dragoons. As my probe arrived at the lower left it ran into a zealot. My respect for my opponent went up another notch. He had active scouting and was planning on denying my expansions. I sent the five zealots and dragoon at the top of my ramp to convince the zealot of the error of his ways. With his demise, I expanded to my goal.
I kept on using only two gateways. I got my dragoon upgrade and +1 weapons rather than setting down a third gateway. Range was going to be more important than numbers when taking the mass cannons... It was time for my opponent to make a move. And move he did. My dark templar started following the wave of ten zealots he sent to the bottom left to stop my new expansion. This looked sort of grim. I microed my troops as best I could, but when the smoke cleared my zealots and goon had been sent back to Auir and he still had three zealots left. Of course, my dark templar hadn't been hurt. Rather than leave his troops to be butchered he sent them on a suicide run into my main, looking for some free recon. They did their job before getting pummeled by the three cannons I had set up as drop defense.
THE COUNTER
He had his chance. I was taking mine. I set down two gates at my expansion. I had seven dragoons when the weapons upgrade kicked in. Something was nagging though... Something about his base layout. Then it hit me! Some of the cannons were in range from the high ground outside my base! I moved my goons to the edge and let them open fire. Three cannons fell with no real damage to my goons. I sent in another four goons and a templar from my expansion and started in on his cannons from the low ground. He came out with his zealots just as I hit, showing good tactical sense. But four zealots weren’t going to turn the tide against eleven goons, especially after they got stormed coming in. His six remaining cannons went down in short order. I saw he had built his tech at the expansion. He had a templar archives and core there. My goons rolled over the expansion and then he showed me why he had the archives. Invisible warp blades started taking chunks out of my goon force.
I retreated my goons to my main base losing the templar and a slow moving goon in the process. I sent my own dark templar out to patrol the map now the cannons were gone. I also tried to expand to the second bottom left expansion on the low ground. His patrolling dark templar denied that attempt. He tried my lower left base, but the three goons and two cannons killed two dark templar. I denied an expansion attempt by him at the upper right expansion with my dark templar. We were both contained for now, but I had an expansion and large troop count and he didn't. I set down a robotics facility and teched for observers. In the meantime I amused myself with dual upgrading my troops for armor and weapons while pumping goons from my four gates. When the observer speed finished I moved my forces out. My first stop was the low ground expansion in the lower left. I cleared that and expanded there. I had 24 dragoons ready to go.
AN UNEXPECTED END
I knew he was making troops from one base. It was time to show what macro can do. My goons camped out on the high ground over his base while one zealot trotted into his base to check things out. Hmmmm. He had two stargates and a fleet beacon. No troops around. Oh well. I guess that was his plan, mass cannons in the middle and carriers to finish with his resource advantage. It's so cute when BGH players start doing the ladder. I patrol in my 24 dragoon army. And promptly get the waiting for ^^bloodsea^^ screen. With lightning quick reflexes I hit print screen. He lags all the way out and I spend an amusing few minutes cursing him out while composing my letter to ladder.abuse@blizzard.com.
Thank you for reading my report. I would appreciate it if you would comment on the tactics that my opponent and I used.
AQD3
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