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Just played an epic game and felt that I HAD to share it, it was sooo intense! It will almost be play by play because no other way of presentation will do it justice.

Just to give the game some context, I was hanging around in the chatbox earlier and Shortizzz was talking about how 7 pooling was a legit strat on maps like Shakuras, TDA, where your opponent is definitely going to FFE. On Shakuras it's even better because you don't have to Drone scout, your OL will be able to tell you where your lings have to go.
The idea was to deny the standard FFE and force some non FE transition or some wall-off response.

So, on to the game! (Replay here if reading is not your thing)

PulseSPR vs TheGrayZerg

1) The opener
Pulse opens standard FFE, while I go for a 7pool


Pulse doesn't like what he sees

2) The complete wall-off
He reacts by cutting Probes to wall off his ramp.


I actually made a mistake of pulling my Drone scout back (Yes, I forgot I didn't have to Drone scout), on hindsight I should've left my Drone there to deny the wall-off! Then would have been quick win
His cannon finishes before I can break his forge, and so I pull back and expand.

3) Chronoboosted Gateways

I don't know if this was a good idea or would going macro (chronoboosting probes, then expand) be better. Getting 2-4 zealots out is definitely nice to put on some pressure and force lings /units from me and maybe even kill me outright, but that's only if I don't react well...

4) The zealot assault

I got 2 Queens, made as many lings as I could, and had one Spine up. I only barely held it with my relocated Spine, 2 Queens and a dozen lings.
After holding this, I began making Drones, and ran out to scout the map with my lings.

5) Sentries = ?
I was feeling proud of myself for holding that Zealot aggression, and was ready to settle into a macro game, until I saw:


Why does he have so many sentries? Shit, he's trying to kill me!
Indeed, he had been Chrono-boosting his Warp Gate non-stop, and gearing up for a 4 Gate !


6) Spines are good
My natural reaction, upon seeing the Sentries and anticipating aggression, was to plant as many Spines as I could. This came in handy as he began his 2nd assault:


Some perfect Forcefields denied my lings which were trying to attack the Sentries, and he killed more than he should have.


But when Forcefields dropped, so did his Sentries...

7) Mid game
I droned up and maintained the harvester lead for most of the game, while he expanded. I kept trying to snipe a particular forward Pylon, but it refused to die as his army managed to deny my lings from killing it multiple times.


Pylo's cousin.

I hit Lair tech, and my plan was to get a bunch of Hydras out to help myself get my 3rd, due to his Sentry-heavy army which I spotted with my lings. He transitions into DTs, which I was more than prepared for with a Spore Crawler up and Overseer , though it did delay my 3rd. After my initial Hydras I pumped out Roaches for the meatshield that I needed.


8) Third Fight


Seems like an even fight?

Well,


Not anymore.

Oh yea that's right, Forcefields are good. With some sick Forcefields, he makes my army spasm out like some disabled neurosclerosis patient He marches forward and we trade again with my reinforced army - and a key point of this next mini-fight was I took out about 5 sentries due to some awkward positioning.

9) Goodbye Third.


His army was way too big, I had to give it up.

10) Turning Point
What I had going for me was my creep spread - it extended all the way over to the entrance of my 3rd.



After this I double expanded, but I never quite got the chance to Drone again as he was threatening with a large Gateway ball. One thing he neglected though was his upgrades! He didn't remake a Forge after he destroyed it to bust his own wall-in. On the other hand, I had 2-1 upgrades.

He makes another push towards my 3rd with his Gateway ball, and I decide to engage:


Creep played a big role in this fight in allowing me to reposition my army to flank his Forcefields



Spot the Drone


Hydras > Stalkers

My early Drone lead allowed me to reinforce fast and I took out almost his entire army. He only managed to salvage 6 or so Stalkers with Blink. At this point, he was actually 16 Probes ahead as his non-stop aggression prevented me from Droning. I knew I had to attack; it was my timing window.


I'm opting to engage at the wider choke to his forward 3rd, for obvious reasons.


Even at this wider choke, he forcefields it off entirely to delay my army,


This delay worked out for me, as it meant my rallied units reached at the precise moment his Forcefields were down.

I continued to rally Roach / Hydra into his 3rd, and with my 2-1 upgrade advantage and stronger composition, he was forced to tap out.


GG!


Thoughts
I missed my chance for a cheesy quick win by blocking his wall-off, and his Zealot follow-up was good but he shouldn't have pressed on with the 4 Gate. If he had just chrono-boosted Probes and played an eco game, he would have been in a better position.
Also, he forgot to remake his Forge which proved to be costly and staying on Gateway tech (without Templar) for too long meant that Roach-Hydra would dominate and win me the game.
Was a great fun game to play, should be nice to watch too. Replay can be found here.