“Where did this come from? Spending the last year or two inactive, Cabracan was formerly a Top 3 Terran in New Zealand. He was decently well known within the community, often popping up in chatbox. Nobody knows where he’s been or what he’s been doing, but we do know that he is back and he is signed up for the WCS Qualifiers. Who knows what we can expect from him?”
-Soundwave
Only top 3? I guess it’s time for me to practise and reclaim my rightful place as second best Terran in New Zealand.
Last year I moved cities and started my clinical years of medical school (This is when you at in a hospital following around doctors rather than in a lecture theatre). While I was much busier than previous years I still had time to play sc2 I just never got around to it.
But then as the last summer holiday of my life began I had a dream. Otago University had put on another SC2 competition and I had gone down as the returning champion. Only to get knocked out by a diamond player. This unknown dream player started to bad manner the shit out of me, but I couldn’t say anything because I had lost to him. While most of my friends took this opportunity to travel the world I realised what I had to do.
After my first game I was placed in diamond NA. After a few games I realised I belonged in diamond. Obviously this is unacceptable, the grind had to resume.
WCS Qualifier
I figured the qualifier would be a good chance to cheese a bunch of players and have fun with my first tournament in over a year. I practised my two rax and experimented with a friend to find the quickest way to get four widow mines into a dropship. Despite still getting supply capped every game and not having played on some of the map pool I was ready.
I remember Alpha being pretty good and I remember Fray being pretty good. But then this matchup is just oracles and scv pulls and I do remember how to pull the boys.
Game 1 Overgrowth – After he stops my widow drop with no losses we both start macroing, except he is doing it better. I approach his third with a poke to prepare for the scv pull and see an archon. My two word game plan falls apart and later on my army is destroyed easily in a fight over his fourth ending the game.
Game 2 Nimbus – I’m feeling confident on this map but because of how easily he stopped my drop last game I decide to play a more macro style. This time he’s building colossus but some very critical supply blocks delay my push. I was still able to destroy his army and third base. However his warp ins at home and harassment at my base overload my struggling macro and he manages to end the series 0-2.
After the first Dunedin University SC2 competition MetalCore promised to practise up and then beat me at the next one. This meeting was too soon, I wasn’t ready even if we weren’t playing over the title. Luckily MetalCore had also been struggling in TvT.
Game 1 Overgrowth – I open gas first but luckily scout earlier than I do on ladder, these competitions tend to be filled with cheese and on scouting his base it was clear some was coming. A quickly placed bunker repels his proxy marauder shenanigans giving me a large marco advantage. I start teching and expanding and then use my lead to shut down his natural ending the game.
Game 2 Nimbus – I open gas first again because I didn’t get to use my build properly last time. I scout what I thought was a late factory swapping onto a reactor and think MetalCore has done a fast CC. However he was actually doing an elevator hellion drop. We are both out of position for each other’s harass and both take more loses than necessary. I manage to load up 8 marines and 2 tanks into medivacs and drop behind his mineral line. With only a few hellions at his base to defend the series is mine 2-0.
With a large number of GPD opens to his name Ravenflames seemed like a good but beatable opponent for my current level of play. Thankfully Soundwave’s Preview gave me a heads up about his affinity for dark templar.
Game 1 King Sejong Station – Finally a change of scenery. My reaper found only two pylons so I dropped an engineering bay immediately. My missile turret got up to prevent critical scv losses but my rallying marines were killed before reaching safety. With no turret on my production Ravenflames was able to close out the game with a stalker voidray push while killing my marines with his oracles.
Game 2 Merry Go Round – A map by fake crux. This time Raven expanded putting the game towards the standard macro I was comfortable with. However my late reaper scout found a starport with a carrier in production. With no idea how to respond to this style was I figured I could probably just build marines and vikings to deal with it. When the battle came my targeting was terrible but I had enough raw stuff from my 3 bases to overpower the protoss fleet.
Game 3 Overgrowth – Wouldn’t be a wcs qualifier series without a game on overgrowth. Raven fell back on his characteristic DT’s but I had turrets and bunkers ready for them. I was playing overly safe figuring if I could get to late game I would probably win. He was also playing safe with cannons in his mineral lines, but when it comes to widow mines cannons are a challenge not prevention. I manage to get off big hits on his workers but then follow that up with some terrible fights. Luckily with my 3rd base landed and mules working over time I manage to trade off army favourably until Raven has to tap out.
When I think Fray I think (Chadmann) Iaguz, Pet, mostly players from their old roster. I didn’t know anything about Eros but I figured if he was on Fray he was favoured to win the series.
Game 1 KSS – I had been mostly practising mech in the past few weeks so decided to use that today. My hellions managed to scout his early roach attack right as they spawned allowing me to hold it with minimal loses. Eventually I pushed out to attack his fourth base. Our armies traded but I managed to destroy his fourth while making a planetary and several turrets at my own. Putting together the biggest counter attack he could muster after the losses we had both sustained he decided to tap out on seeing the line of tanks and turrets I had amassed outside my fourth.
Game 2 Overgrowth – Putting Electric Romeo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kzj6wdJuyQ) on for what must have been the 20th time atleast that day I asked myself what would Flash do. Looking deep inside he made the answer clear to me. Cheese. Game starts up. Two Rax are down. Bunkers are down. Queens are dead. Hatchery is dead and finally the baneling bust, held. Eros types gg putting me 2-0.
I’m already much deeper into this bracket than I thought I would get, thanking the bracket for a forgiving run. Only one win away from day 2 I’m happy with what I’ve managed so far.
Game 1 Merry Go Round – After stopping his early lings from cancelling my natural cc I was in a good position. However I forgot to drop an engineering bay and went into total panic mode when I saw his first mutalisks. He took total control of the tempo of the game and forced my third to lift killing lots of scvs. He took this advantage and ran with it leaving me one game down.
Game 2 Overgrowth - From his match history I had seen that he went spawning pool first almost as frequently as he went hatch first. Given this I decided to forgo the two rax and play mech again. My hellbat timing achieved nothing and he proceded to pick, pull and tear me apart untill his mutalisk switch annihilated my underwhelming army.
Overall I was still happy, not letting one more win syndrome ruin the fact I had won three series when I was hoping to win one. Plus I had got myself a few OSC points which I hope I can buy candy with or something.
The next day I was messaged by Ice asking if I wanted to join Dynasty. I saw MetalCore was in the team so I figured I’d go ahead with it. This will be my busiest year in medical school but I intend to make up for all the time I didn’t play in 2014. With a new team to represent I’m hoping to achieve my former glory of “adequate tournament filler”.
A blatant plug for my new sponsors in a blog about a tournament I was a freelancer in. Thanks Streamline Servers , Esport Clothing, Aussie Gaming TV, Cinch Gaming and Se7en Controllers.
I was gonna call you the best NZ Terran initially, then I remembered that Tilea used to be Terran, and then there was some Terran in WCS NZ who wasn't you so I just went with Top 3 LOL.
Good to have you back m80
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The Transformer Zerg, Jadron Burgerman @Soundwave
I was gonna call you the best NZ Terran initially, then I remembered that Tilea used to be Terran, and then there was some Terran in WCS NZ who wasn't you so I just went with Top 3 LOL.
Good to have you back m80
Tilea was debatably NZ , Horizon was always much better than me. SIN was the guy who made it to Auckland in WCS and from all accounts a really cool dude. But only appeared for one competition, in which I 2-0d him, I'm going to stick to my claim.
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