Day[9] Daily

Welcome back! I hope you had a wonderful holiday! In today's daily, we're going to do a good old school standard daily: A deep analysis of a wonderful game played between AcerScarlett and AxRyung in the Acer Team Story cup :D.

Axiom successfully earned second place in the AcerTeamstory cup with some surprisingly solid wins from Axiom team captain Crank. Today, we'll look at some very easy builds by Crank to get some super solid wins! Including A blink stalker allin to kill Terrans! A lovely and easy 4base play to kill Zergs! A lovely micro-gentle 8gate to kill Zerg! LET'S GET THOSE WINS BABY! :D

In today's EXTREMELY EVIL and VERY WICKEDLY structured daily number 666, we are going to examine some beautiful meching play by Ryung on the rather complicated Yeonsu. We'll analyze The opening and why there are so many marines if we're meching! Ryung's clever choice to add reactors to factories before tech labs for a mass hellion attack! Ryung's follow up to the mid-game, where he's pushing and how Some of the huge positional woes that plague Ryung throughout the game How to be a better mecher I hope to see you then! :D

You must play in a 2v2 where you and your ally lift off at the start of the game and land somewhere else. Double terran as a team is already a difficult endeavor in a 2v2, so we may as well make it more difficult! :D

I am a jerk. Today, we're going to examine a style of mech that was showcased in the Proleague - you literally never attack and keep transitioning to higher firepower until there's not much the Zerg can do. We don't even need that many resources! In this episode, we'll talk about How embarrassed I am to cast this game and why (I am honor bound) How the Terran player stays alive in the opening stage and his important defensive considerations The keys to good placement and staying alive as you spread yourself thin Further transitions into the sky Terran Finishing moves that include mass orbitalz and battlecruisers! YAHOO! :D

Submit to me a game where you play a 2v2 in which you may ONLY build spellcasters. Spellcasters are units with purple energy! Workers are fine to build Overlords are fine too Warp prisms and observers are the only "ok" exception! :D

Tonight we'll examine the way that sOs takes traditional build orders we've seen on other maps and bends them for the newer, weirder ladder maps - Alterzim Stronghold and Daedalus Point. We'll see The standard 3base Colossus blink play that sOs performed on Frost We'll compare this to the 3base Colossus/blink opening that sOs executes on Alterzim. We'll note how elements of the build order shift thanks to our easily defendable 3 bases We'll see the tactics that change regarding our attacking decisions We'll appreciate the excellent late game attack structure of sOs - one that allows him to be aggressive and still build up a scary deathball! We'll look the problems on Daedalus Point for a Protoss player and how sOs overcomes them with a SUPER old school 3gate before expand opening! These games are all part of the GSL Code A Ro48 qualifiers :D

Meching in TvZ has become an extremely common occurrence in Korea in the last month. So, rather than analyze a specific strategy, we're going to do a game review of a long, intense game between BravO and Leenock on Yeonsu where both players play excellently. Highlights include Both players performing very odd openings Leenock rushing for spire on 2 base (delaying his 3rd considerably) BravO sprinting to viking production before any factory-ing Aggressive Muta/roach conterattack play by Leenock Carefully timed aggression and stunning defense from BravO Overall this game is action packed! Excited to talk about it :)

Submit to me a game whereby you and your team perform any type of Planetary Fortress attack before the 10 minute mark!

DRG has long been one of the favorite players of the foreign community. In delightful news, he's been playing better than ever, qualifying for a seat at the GSL Code S tournament! Yay! We'll look at his two winning games vs the prodigy Sora. In these games we'll discuss How to devise EARLY ZERG ATTACKS based upon the timings we know about Protoss How to follow up and avoid death at the hands of an aggressive blink/immortal/sentry counter attack How to rely on queen and spine heavy defenses vs unusually fast attacks When to perform tech switches based upon our reads! These are some fantastic games from DRG that showcase some delightful ZvP. Hope you enjoy them!

PvP is a matchup marked by the ability to IMMEDIATELY DIE AT ANY INSTANT. Despite the fact that there are many varied openings, it's sometimes hard to find some "good rules of thumb to follow." In today's replay, we're going to look at exactly that! We'll see Why fast blink is an extremely safe, reliable way to play How to transition into an immortal + expansion safely The virtues of being able to retreat at any point When, why and how to begin transitioning to colossus How to play out the incredibly tense late game safely These games are taken from the GSL Code A Ro48!

You must play in a teamgame where EACH player MUST expand every 5 minutes.

So the title to this show sounds CRAZY but hear me out. ZvZ is a matchup generally marked by Roach vs Roach battles. The ways to pull ahead involve subtle maneuvers to pick up slight bits of efficiency: an extra 5 roaches, 20s early upgrades, slightly earlier infestors etc. However, against StarTale_Life, Jaedong showcased an outrageously aggressive, ling and counterattack focused ZvZ style that relies on MASSIVE numbers of inefficient units to gain map control! We'll ask ourselves How does Jaedong open to set himself for mass expanding in the midgame? What choices does Jaedong make with and without knowledge of what his enemy is doing? How does Jaedong maneuver his low value units to maximize their damage potential? What way does Jaedong extend the shelf life of his aggressive units into the late game? When does Jaedong dial back the aggression? These games are gorgeous instances of how to elegantly manipulate an EXTREMELY efficient opponent.

Swarm hosts are an incredibly frustrating to deal with unit. Though Protoss has some sickening AoE in the form of storms and colossus, the endless stream of free locusts can prove nearly impossible to battle efficiently head on. In today's games, we're going to admire how CJ_herO is able to take down DRG in a best of 3 when DRG goes for Swarm hosts EVERY SINGLE GAME! We'll talk about How swarm host's biggest weakness is their mobility How to open with mobile, aggressive forces to begin combatting swarm hosts right away How herO carefully picks DRG apart with endless counterattacking and positional play These games are taken from GSL Code S Round of 32 group A games!

Submit me to me a 1v1 or team game in which most of your attacks involve Zerg defensive structures.

With the increasing popularity of mech and the seeming difficulty to produce a proper Zerg "counter army," many of our lovely Zerg buddies are struggling against factory based plays! All that experience vs biomine doesn't quite translate properly. Fortunately, we have LEENOCK to help teach us a thing or two of how to expand, macro, and attack that impregnable looking mech army. We'll discuss The "usual rules" that players tend to operate under - What composition beats his composition? We'll talk about how to violate everything you know about ZvT by acknowledging how immobile the Terran mech army is! We'll see counter attacks and muta/roach galore tear down Supernova despite Supernova being quite far ahead in the early game We'll admire how Leenock cleans up an only thor army with an only mutalisk army. These games are taken from GSL Code S Group B matches from last night. Fantastic games!

The TvP matchup has been marked by a tremendous decrease in variety and interesting plays. Most of the Terran side of things revolves around expanding and defending until MnMnM. At this point, Terrans usually go for a 3rd and round out the tech tree with an assortment of vikings and ghost. In today's daily, we'll get the chance to see Dream go absolutely DROP NUTS through the game. Whereas most players would be halting medivac production in favor of more bases and production, we see Dream almost NEVER STOP constructing those transporter fellows! His incredible micro and aggression allow him to slowly pull an enemy apart at the very early parts of the game. We'll see What the normal terran TvP is like in the mid-game We'll talk about Dream's drop heavy TvP and how it affects T's economy We'll examine the opening that Dream utilizes to step into this drop heavy gameplay. We'll do a jig These games are taken from the GSL Code S Wildcard matches.

Submit to me a game in which you win with "offensive turtle terran." You know the pieces to turtle terran: mass bunker + turret + tank + MAYBE some planetaries. The important thing is that you're gonna be slow and steady and ALL over the map! :D Use your best judgment xD.

Those pesky protosses can throw so much scary stuff at a Zerg lately! Especially with a Protoss as talented as sOs at the helm! That's why today we're going to look at how soO dismantled sOs with amazing transitions from a simple hydralisk based opener! We'll talk about What makes it such a pain in the ass to play ZvP - Air / blink / immortal allin openers galore! :< We'll look at the timing of soO's opening to see how he gets hydra/ling up in time to defend ANYTHANG! How soO transitions OUT of hydra/ling based upon what he's seeing! We'll see the transitions vs skytoss AND vs blink aggro play! Yahoo! These games are taken from GSL Code S Group C!

In today's show, we're going to take a look at some very clever aggressive Mech play on Heavy Rain by the only Terran in GSL Ro16 as of now, Bbyong!

So I totally messed up. I thought I had an event this evening, but I'm totally mistaken. I had the wrong date in my mind LOL. SO! We are going to do a mysterious half value daily. This is episode 683.5! :D In today's episode, we're going to look at a SwarmHost style from Vortix that does NOT revolve around excessive turtling. Instead, we're going to see brilliant and elegant play by VortiX that involves Early roach + tunneling claw counter attacks Swarm host pressure combined with continued counter attacks A swift transition to BroodLords to allow those Swarmhosts to step onto the offensive! We'll see a game that goes well and one that goes not so well to contrast the two! :D

We normally do Funday Monday. But, I missed the scheduled Monday show due to BIG SURPRISE EVENT. That said, the topic for today was to submit the Stupidest Game EVER. Though that's a vague prompt, I'm sure you've played some absolutely stupid games. I wanna see 'em.

In today's daily, we're going to watch some fantastic games 2v2 games from TotalBiscuit's SHOUTCraft Clan Wars tournament. 2v2 is a rather different beast than 1v1 in most regards. We'll look at some fairly simple concepts across two different games including The importance of joining armies together (and why fast aggressive builds are popular) Typical counterplay when you/your allies armies cannot be joined together (such as air!) Team resources vs two individual's resources - How, when and why to share effectively Why 2v2 is more about tactics than build orders Yahoo!

In today's FDMD, you must submit a game in which you float structures in to your opponent's base to win! The stupider the better 8-).

TLO impressed the hell out of everyone with his absolutely fantastic, clean ZvP in WCS EU. He managed to cinch a first place spot going 4-1 in ZvP. We'll take a look at the ways in which TLO shifts his builds around to respond to what he sees from Protoss, and that most of those answers involve TONS of early attacks! (yay!). We'll see The basic opening that TLO uses in many of his games The scouting techniques he uses to identify what his opponent is doing How every response exploits weaknesses n the Protoss composition around the 11 minute mark The tactics and positioning that allow TLO to assault and break most 3rd base plays! These games are taken from the WCS EU Group F Ro32 matches!

These games were so insane I can't help but cover it. I'm deeply blown away at how impressively Grubby held his stuff together against Kas's immense macro. We'll analyze at least 2 games from this incredible series!

I'm a BASTARD! Submit to me the most epic 1v1 or team game in which you and your buddies must open with a 6pool! :D

The TvP matchup has been a tough cookie to crack lately. There hasn't seemed to be a great deal of variety in strategy (bio+medivac into ghost+viking). However, the wonderful and cunning MARU is going to show us some new tricks -> Mines in the midgame! We'll talk about The struggles of midgame TvP - How it's difficult to apply pressure with only bio+medivac What the introduction of mid-game mines allows us to do! When, where, and why we wanna use them mines! How to transition into lategame norms -> vikings + ghosts These games are from Group B of GSL Code S Ro16!!

More details in the coming days! I haven't finalized the angle that I want to talk about, but it's def gonna be on sOs, probably his early game aggression instead of his long term builds!

While Snute was off winning the Seat Story Cup, TLO played a marvelous series with Jjakji in the 3rd/4th place match. Though the TvZ matchup is notorious for having little to no variety in the first 10 minutes (and arguably little variety in build variety beyond that too), but the tactical and strategic decisions to make with armies are extremely difficult, and rare to see performed well! Therefore, today's daily will have one express goal Showing the fantastic post-10 minute decision making, specifically with army positioning and decision making.

Maru and Life played what I'd call a rather violent series in the Ro8 of GSL. Rather than playing out long, elaborate games, each match was fairly swift and decisive. So, I figured we'd check those games out to steal a cute little play from each one :D There's no broad topic for today, just a swift ~10 minute analysis of each game :D.

OH HOLY SEXINESS Dayshi went for mass hellion into tank + viking + hellbat vs Grubby in WCS and it worked BRILLIANTLY! So, we're gonna break it down How Dayshi structures his opening to stay alive Why mass hellions is an excellent way to open and control the flow of the game How Dayshi transitions out of mass hellions and potential ways to have improved the transition The late game moves involving tanks, hellbats, and saucy drops n' expoes! These games are from the WCS Ro16 games played earlier todaY!

In today's Funday Monday, you must submit to me a team game in which you and your teammates ONLY build flying units Some queens are ok, but don't go overboard! anything 2v2 and up is totally excellent! No 1v1 games! Defensive structures are totally great!

If you've been struggling in PvP we're going to look at a number of VERY sexy openings and midgames including Ultra fast phoenix DT fast expand Standard blink play Tempest transitions! To do this, we'll be looking at the Ro4 games from the GSL Code S Semifinals between Rain and Zest, two of the hottest Protosses on the scene right now!

soO made a big impression by being the 3rd player ever to achieve back to back GSL finals. Moreover, soO did so by beating the master of ZvZ, Life, in a best of 7! We're going to be analyzing multiple games in the series to see how the tactics change over the course of the series! In particular we're going to see that, in virtually ever circumstance, soO emphasizes extremely aggressive, ling-speed heavy openings to control the flow of the game, even when he gets 6pooled! :D

In this weeks funday monday, you must play a game whereby you choose a HERO UNIT to achieve as many kills as humanly possible. You must publicly show off and name your hero. Should he die, you must rebuild another! Higher kill count = more likely to be picked! Harder to get high kill count = more likely to be picked! (Worker / reaper / phoenix etc)

The GSL finals were an absolutely stunning display of skills from both players. We'll analyze games 5-7 today! How strategies change in a best of 7 Who has momentum in each game and across the series Why unusual decisions are made And of course, each game will get a juicy highlight analysis :)

Lets tell some stories for fun <3

As we did in episode 699, we'll be doing a swift analysis of every single game played between MC and MMA in their delightful final matchup for WCS EU. The boss toss is BACK baby :).

We're closing out the 3 WCS Finals analysis with the story of Hyun's big win over Oz! We'll analyze each of these games at lightning speed :)

This best of 3 from the DreamHack Bucharest semifinal provides a wonderful educational example of how both Terran and Zerg adjust differently according to the read on their opponent! What we'll see in this episode is An example of a "typical, standard game." We'll talk in depth about the SLIGHT changes each player makes to the ultimate, by-the-book standard play A second game that shows Roach Hydra from Life and a response to go for tanks from Innovation! In particular, we'll see that Innovation is able to perform this maneuver as a "response" and not a pre-planned build order. A third game in which Life performs a cute all-in timing as a response to his opponent's timing!

In these DreamHack Bucharest Grand Final replays, we get the chance to see ST_Life do some amazingly sexy builds to crush Impact in a best of 5. We'll see An extremely aggressive opening on Habitation Station to rush for the gold base A mass queen opening to protect his wide open natural entrance on Merry go Round An aggressive fast 3base strategy on Frost with a narrow defense!

Bling and Snute played a gorgeous, beautiful game that demonstrates both how to go swarm host and great ways to defeat it! We'll largely look at things from BlinG's point of view and examine His basic opening and how he quickly responds to swarm hosts by rushing for a 4th base! How BlinG harasses and moves his army to keep snatching up expansions When and why BlinG goes for the mass air transition with tempests + carriers! Yahew! These games are taken from the WCS Ro32 Group B games!

You must play a game in which all your attacks are based on the warp prism - either via drops or warp ins!

Despite the general sentiment of "Terran being the weakest race," Maru defies all expectations by having some of the most aggressive and beautiful Terran play I've seen in a long while. We'll take a look at 3 (maybe even 4) of Maru's games from GSL! Two TvP games and at least one TvZ vs DRG! We'll discuss Maru's willingness to do the oft neglected no gas expo & fast drop play Maru's aggression in seemingly unwinnable engagements and how that opens up his potential for the end game! The admirable refinement he puts in to each of his builds

Parting wrecked everybody so quickly and convincingly we'll be able to watch all 4 of his GSL group games in a row. We'll see insane fast 3 bases that transition into tricky mass gateway allins as well as unusual 1 base plays vs Terran. The show will certainly be more entertainment than education, but appreciation for Parting's style is the main goal anyways :D.

You may only build the following attacking units Sentry, Phoenix, Immortal, Mothership Core Probe, Warp Prism, Observer In other words, all the core damage dealer units are OUT OF THE QUESTION. Buildings are fine :).

Today's daily will be a clinic on how to perform excellent, long term focused PvT from Harstem. He practiced hundreds of ONLY PvT games in preparation for his WCS Group, and boy do them results pay off. We'll look at The low-risk, low aggression opening Harstem uses to set himself up for the mid to late game The "danger period" that Harstem is battling to survive at around 12-15 minutes How Harstem maximizes the value of his counter attacks and proxy plays by being patient The "retreat focused" attacks that allow Harstem more opportunities to expand These are some of the purtiest PvTs I've ever seen :)

Even though he had a slightly more difficult journey through GSL, Innovation is BACK in the round of 16! Let's take a look at his ability to execute clean, low unit, high attack frequency stylin!

You may not build units that shoot air units. Queens are permissible ONLY IF THEY CHILL BY HATCHERIES! No offensive queen action!

I'm thoroughly enjoying these GSL Run episodes! In today's show, we'll look at Soulkey pull some very tough wins in two ZvP series vs Yonghwa and sOs! I'll add more details the day of the broadcast, but we'll be looking at how to win VERY DIFFICULT ZvP positions w/ style 8-).

In today's funday, y'all must play in a team game where one player can build ANYTHING he likes, but the other players may only build medivacs. Let's see how much support you need! :D

In TotalBiscuit's amazing SanDisk ShoutCraft Invitational, FlaSh put up an astounding performance across all matchups to reconfirm his god status in SC2. In today's daily, we'll take a look at FlaSh's sexy mech moves in TvT to take out Bbyong. We'll see How brave FlaSh is with an extremely tiny, thin defense by making strong reads on his enemy's moves How FlaSh carefully plods forward in the midgame to continue to avoid taking damage The decisive attacks that allow his beastly mech play to close out games :).

Despite FlaSh's best efforts, herO was able to take an excellent win vs FlaSh by defending multiple SCV pulls back to back to back. We'll examine how herO executes his defense so consistently by cutting geysers at his 3rd and emphasizing Colossus count, even in the face of many vikings!

I've officially moved to a new location! I now live in the Bay Area! Since I've been away for a while, I figured we'd just have a nice, fresh hangout time to do the happy time bonding <3

In tonight's funday monday, you were required to tell your opponent EVERYTHING THAT YOU WERE DOING. You are permitted one lie in every game, and in that lie you must use the word "sensational." Lets see how you bastards do! :D

Ok so Maru DIDN'T WIN this series, but he still played damn well. And, I believe that Terrans are struggling hard vs Protosses. It is therefore my duty to do some more dailies on this matchup. Terrans need to win dammit!

Just as I find Maru to be incredibly impressive in TvP, we're going to look at his TvZ in the post-hellbat-buff meta vs Soulkey.

In tonight's funday, you must win by never ever attacking your enemy, except ONCE. During that attack, you must notify it with a battlecry. Hopefully this will be enough damage to put you into the lead given that, otherwise, you can never apply pressure, hurt, or damage your opponent in any way. Tonight's daily features a game that will require 2 parts to analyze full mwahahah.

PigBaby blew everyone's mind by going for mass observer/zealot vs terran! We'll be analyzing this new school mixture by checking out Pigbaby's games vs TaeJa and Bomber! We'll see How Pigbaby's opening isn't all that different from the usual PvT opening That the double forge is the critical component to the strategy How the zealot usage differs DRASTICALLY from a typical PvT game, we're trying to conserve them! Not harass! How to properly harass in this style (w/ units like DTs!) Yahoo! These games are taken from WCS NA

In tonight's daily, we're going to take a look at as many Classic vs soO games from the GSL finals as humanly possible. Classic did a brilliant job of being extremely aggressive at WEIRD ass times, but not with weird ass unit mixes! Classic played, more or less, the standard PvZ timings and units that we always see, but he attacks at odd times while using the mothership core for safety! IT's BRILLIANT!

We'll be taking yet another look at soO's incredible ability to continually beat top Protosses in the GSL. He may have fallen short to Classic, but his fast lair techs are increasingly becoming a norm strategy. We'll examine his fast +1/+1 mass queen, ultra, infestor play. It's virtually indestructable against air focused protosses!

In todays funday monday, you must submit a game where you MUST start construction of a tempest BEFORE you begin your 3rd base.

I was originally planning on talking about Starbow today, but I'm deferring that until I get to TALK ABOUT THESE GAMES. Flash is one of my all time favorite players due to his persistence AND adaptability, two qualities we generally see NOT work well together! We'll talk about Persistence with a build - Willingness to do the same build again and again because it's so refined and well timed Adaptability with a build - Willingness to abandon the current build and respond to the enemy You can see why it's hard to do BOTH well, but Flash nails the shit out of it. We'll examine his series vs Zest to talk about how he's able to dominate so consistently (although it took him a while lol).

Starbow has built an incredibly robust and interesting competitive experience that's rather similar to BW/SC2. Therefore, I wanted to take the time to check the game out and use the same analysis tools we use in a normal daily, but on STARBOW instead! I've changed the matchup to PvZ since I have a particularly sexy game with a number of interesting turning points! Time to dust off the BW toolset and talk about some Starbow! :D

Another amazing series from IEM Toronto deserves some review. We'll see Fairly standard openings (with a few exceptions) with some interesting tweaks Great recovery and follow up by both players after devastating attacks Interesting mid and late game compositions from Flash that de-emphasize the mine A VERY cool swarm host mix from Snute that bolsters his muta/ling mixture (isn't that COOL?)

Cure impressed the hell out of me at Battlegrounds by slaying Trap 3-0 with some extremely convincing TvP play. We're going to be analyzing it in full depth, what Trap is doing cutely and why in this 3 part episode! Yahoo! We'll talk about The TvP logic of yore - establish the 3rd base, be wary of losing units midgame, get a big army! Cure's TvP logic - Attack endlessly and build more barracks! Delay the 3rd! The micro and positioning that makes it all possible. These games are taken from the Red Bull Battlegrounds: DC event.

These two superstars played yet ANOTHER Bo7 (they played last GSL final) in the most recent GSL semifinal! I wanted to give soO a little more air time given that he seems to keep getting 2nd and that stinkers. I'll be talking about how soO used some interesting and unusual strategies to get edges in the entire series!

INNOVATION WON A THING! And soO didn't again... which though tragic did help provide us with a fantastic Bo7 series to learn from. We'll take a look at how soO was able to take some games from the man himself in the post-widow-mine-buff world as well as see how Innovation structures his play to WIN yeah!

We're going to do a full review of the WCS EU Finals! Yahoo! Also, I didn't do a great job preparing this show! Who can guess if it'll turn out well or not? I certainly cannot, but the show must go on. Episode 732 here we come!

Tonight, we're going to look at every game from the very first series in the Ro16, Bomber vs Jaedong! Both players are known for playing their own style. Bomber uses extremely unorthodox openings and favors an almost pure bio force while Jaedong loves massive numbers of drones, larvae, and counter attacks. The result was a very unusual and interesting series that was both entertaining and educational! So let's break't'down yo!

Today we'll begin the first part of a FOUR part series following StarTale Life's road to the Grand Final at Blizzcon! I'll be covering every single series including this very special initial match vs Zest :).

This daily might be a bit short as Life PUMMELED San into the ground at WCS, but we'll include some extra for-fun matches because I love this shtuff so much :).

One of the best TvZ series of the entire year MUST be analyzed! Life went proxy hatch in 2 of the 5 games! Successfully! Whaaaat? Also, Taeja is an absolute monster at answering and responding under incredible pressure whaaat!

We conclude the 4 part series detailing Life's road to win Blizzcon with his final match against MMA! Though this series might be considered relatively "cheesy" and "banelingish," the match showcases how Life is one of the few Zergs to identify consistent timing windows against Terran and exploit them to the fullest.

TvT is one of my favorite matchups to watch due to the awesome mid and lategame judgment calls that players HAVE to make. You can't simply rely on "good timing attacks" to gain advantages. We'll be focusing on exactly how those mid and late game calls work and why MMA and Bomber can pull back into games they seem to have lost.