Gaming
Gaming
StarCraft’s evolving: Axiom shows us how
Those who embraced change saw success at the second Battle Grounds online qualifier.
Axiom’s CranK: a winning Archon
© Turtle Entertainment
During the second online qualifier for Red Bull Battle Grounds, you could see both Archon Mode and Legacy of the Void coming into their own. Focusing on familiar approaches from Heart of the Swarm doesn't work anymore, nor does simply splitting up the Archon workload between macro and micro play.
No, the finalists in Friday's qualifier were the most effective teams, and the players who are taking the most aggressive advantage of what Legacy of the Void has to offer. Not surprisingly, it was the Korean pairings who showed the way.
StarTale Hack
© Lee Jung Sik
Heaviest drop
Axiom's CranK and Alicia looked strong from the start. Showcasing how the improved micro-potential of Archon armies can overcome game balance, the Axiom duo just started brute-forcing their Samsung rivals, Armani and Solar.
In their final match, despite the fact that Armani and Solar had the right composition in their final game to stop CranK's and Alicia's mob of Stalkers, they couldn't keep up with the pace of the Stalkers' splits and blinks. The Zerg position crumbled around the crucial Hydralisks as the hydra-like Stalker army swarmed up into the Zerg base to drive the Samsung Archon out of the qualifier.
But the signature moment of the semi finals had to be the first game in the Terran vs Terran series between QXC and Xenocider as the Red Archon, and TheStC and Hack as the Blue. Hack and TheStC seemed to have figured out both Legacy of the Void and Archon Mode and the result was pure carnage.
The series started out pretty conventionally, and the American team of qxc and Xenocider seemed to enjoy a slight advantage thanks to some great Reaper harassment. But then the Korean players dropped Siege Tanks on the Americans' natural expansion. The instant wall of siege shots devastated the American duo, who lost half their supply in workers and army trying to push the Siege Tanks out of their corner before the tanks were flown to safety aboard Medivacs.
But that's not the important part. Look at this picture, because it shows the future of Terran vs. Terran in Legacy of the Void.
Hack and TheStC chase down QXC and Xenocider
© Twitch
Qxc and Xenocider tried to get back in the game by moving out against the Korean players, but after being chased off, they had to get back across the map. And they couldn't do it because Hack and TheStC were chasing them down with airborne Siege Tanks (!!!). It was gruesome and strange to see if you're a long-time StarCraft fan, but it showed just how profoundly the combination of Archon micro and siege-drops have changed the dynamics of Terran vs. Terran. If a Terran player controls the air, the Siege Tank becomes one of the most mobile and nimble units in the game.
Hack and TheStC controlled the series after that. Their siege-dropping micro consistently got the better of the Americans, who could not survive the lopsided exchanges going against them. That cleared the way for Hack and TheStC to take the fight to Axiom in the final.
Stasis Wards crush Hack and TheStC in the final
© Twitch
Powerful protoss
As good as Hack and TheStC had looked in their semi final, CranK and Alicia found an extra gear for the final. They absolutely dominated the Terran duo from the outset, completely crippling a Terran push by luring the bio army onto Stasis Wards – a new trap that the Oracle can use in Legacy of the Void. The Stasis Wards trapped most of the Terran army for 30 seconds, allowing the Protoss to enjoy crushing numerical superiority as they killed the first half of the Terran army, then waited around for the Stasis Wards to wear off before killing the rest.
That kind of crisp dismantling set the tone for the rest of the final as the Protoss duo went on to win 3-1. In their final game, they took their time in dispatching the Terran Archon just to make it a better show. A pair of Adepts slipped into the Terran base and used their Psionic Transfer ability to kite between bases and rack up a worker body-count. There was the simultaneous Dark Templar drops that paralysed the Terrans at a key moment. Then there was the slow, methodical finisher, as they started picking off Terran expansion while cornering and killing the Terran army.
With their victory, CranK and Alicia are bound for the playoffs at the Red Bull Studios in Santa Monica, California, at the end of August (28-30), where they will encounter Battle Grounds veteran DRG with his partner True, and MaSa and viOLet, as well as the rest of the qualifier victors. It's all in preparation for the Battle Grounds Grand Finals in Washington, DC. on September 19.
