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Path to Korean GM: Day 5-8
 

Link to original blog in the series: http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?id=309424
A little bit of background for anyone that doesn't know me. My name is Jared Krensel and I'm a full-time SC2 progamer (zerg) from Sydney, Australia playing for Tt eSPORTS.

A few weeks ago I made a goal to get GM on Korea by next season.

Day 5-8:
Summary:
Took friday night and saturday off to hang with the gf was really fun and refreshing to just hang out away from my room i spend all week training in. Watched the British Sherlock series which is epic! Went home saturday night to practice some before IPL on sunday morning at 5am. I practiced till about midnight doing so-so. Managed to get to sleep about 1-1.30am and woke up at 4.30am to my alarm telling me to gtf up. I managed to get up not TOO drowsy (probably because I wasn't even really asleep yet). I hopped on ladder, played a few games before joining my tournament (some info below). That night played Masters cup where I got 3rd yayyy! Monday I coached and played more Korean ladder aswell as Playhem where ANOTHER unfamiliar map ST.Rainbow cheesed me when I scouted him last. 1-1-1 build with 5 scvs brought with 4 marines and first helion, spine slightly out of position so he got up my ramp, no ling speed done so i die . It was the round before the bo3 stage too gawdammit. Streamed alot this afternoon and then did some excercise to start getting back into it after my lazy weekend! Now writing this >.<

Excercise: Nothing friday-sunday, monday: squats, pushups, situps, arms and shoulders.

Games played, who I played, tournaments:
Korean ladder was a joke. I played pretty badly the whole time dropping about 150 points in total.

IPL qualifier I had a dream-bracket, all Protoss through to the finals. Just a diamond zerg to deal with first of all. I beat him game 1 convinvingly. Game 2 he blocks his ramp with 3 roaches and techs straight to 1 base muta. I assumed he was going burrow roaches with ZERO scouting i lose. I realise I really need to wake up and be alert and then defend his 6 pool the next game. Next I face RGNInori. He's korean so it's even earlier there then here in Australia. Luckily I spot his super fast +1 and overprepare for the attack on my 3rd. I deflect his force and take a convinving lead droning up a 4th and 5th in reaction to him taking his 3rd. From here it's just a matter of trading units and then coming with the broodlord/infestor and ultra/bane remaxes to win. Game 2 ends up pretty similar. Yay I beat a really good protoss player! I look ahead and realise next is Soulman formerly of fOu now on Rising Star who beat me 3-1 in a showmatch quite a few months ago. If I beat him it's hwangsin (BEATS ME EVERY TIME), then oGsinka, then FXOz. Well, atleast it's just one matchup I need to worry about!

I host up atlantis spaceyard a map I've seen cast once and never played. Luckily soulman also says "wtf this map" so I know we're on even footing. We both macro incredibly hard and end up with almost every base taken on the map. However I lose my vital timing with my first flock of broods when he feints to my 4th and pulls my army back and then escapes, just biding time to reinforce! When I finally get across this LONGGG map his MOFOship is out and the trades are pretty bad for me. My ultra-bane remax actually trades really well destroying almost his entire army and I manage to attack into his main, destroying his natural nexus and some buildings in his main. However the fleet beacon and the templar archives still stand. Next battle there's 10+ archons and a mofoship. Grrr I lose. I felt like I had a good lead this game but just wasn't well practiced enough in lategame ZvP composition NOR the map architecture. Game 2 he builds 3 VR off 2 base so I go roachhydra, perfect for his blink allin he's planning to do into my main with the VR to see the highground. However the 2 spores I swear I placed at my 3rd got blocked by drones and didnt build so while im in my main/natural with hardly any hydras out yet he hits my 3rd with his VR killing multiple queens and about 20 drones. GRRrr. Just as I get back on my feet 30 stalkers blink into my main and despite having the right composition I just don't have enough stuff .

SC2sea Masters Cup: Placed 3rd in this endless zvz tournament that pissed me off >.< GosuTgun managed to take me from me doing a bad build for belshir (never played zvz on it before) and then me screwing up my baneling allin in game 2. Atleast I got $52 for 3rd. Apparently the $52 represented every week the tournament has been running for :P

Total games:
KR Ladder: 45 games: 26 losses 19 wins. Points: 940, 18th
Can't be bothered counting tourneys.

Replays:
PiG v RGNInori: http://www.sc2sea.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=731
PiG v RGNInori game 2: http://www.sc2sea.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=732

PiG v Soulman 1: http://www.sc2sea.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=735
PiG v Soulman 2: http://www.sc2sea.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=736

Conclusion:
I'm playing faster with the more practice im putting in and in ZvZ this is really giving me an edge where my multitasking is getting more and more comfortable. On the other hand I'm making lots of really simple mistakes and playing too greedy resulting in my poor ladder performance.

Things to work on:
• holding 14/14 lingbane allin with hatch-first on all the new maps especially.
• Fast 1-base tank pushes on shattered
• learning the fast-3rd before even getting roaches style of ZvZ
• Learning to get more corruptors to snipe the mother ship and collosi/vr in ZvP super-lategame
• Revise 2-rax defense especially on maps like shattered/metal where spines don't help very much due to wide entrance
• Practice my new ZvT macro style vs fast 3-base with ~16 mutas into infestorBrood
• Practice defending really well-executed helion-marine+2medivac pressure as I get my 3rd up
• Practice Cloud kingdom, unveto entombed valley, practice belshir, practice IPL maps.

Re: Path to Korean GM: Day 5-8
 

The bbs sherlock holmes series is epic and i believe you had one nub pvz T_T nice blog pig keep going its always an honour to play you in tournaments so want you to do super well so when i can actually take a game off you i can say i took a game of TtPiG and everyone will think im lying ^_^ PiG HWAITING

Re: Path to Korean GM: Day 5-8
 

New sherlock series is pretty awesome!

It's always good to take some time off. Congrats again on 3rd in MC

Re: Path to Korean GM: Day 5-8
 

Looking good and doing well,
Go PiG!!

Re: Path to Korean GM: Day 5-8
 

• Revise 2-rax defense especially on maps like shattered/metal where spines don't help very much due to wide entrance

4 Spines might be 1 or 2 too many mate.