Two convincing 3-0 victories from the Zerg NesTea and Terran MVP set up a stacked semifinals matchup between the two.
NesTea vs. Choya
Game 1: Scrap Station
Nestea came into this series as the big favorite and Choya knew it. Choya prepared a very interesting build, full of feints to throw off the season 2 champion.
Choya opened with a wall-off to suggest a fast expand or a four Warpgate rush. Instead, he built a single Void Ray to suggest to Nestea that a Void Ray rush was incoming, forcing Hydralisks for the Zerg. Changing course once more, Choya built a surprising five Warpgates and prepared to bumrush the Zerg.
It was at this point that Artosis and Tasteless were pronouncing Nestea dead. In fact, when Choya’s Stalkers first set foot on the creep, there was only a single Zergling and two Queens to fight back. That changed quickly as Roaches and more Zerglings popped out.
It took a dozen back and forths but Nestea was able to grab victory from the jaws of defeat. Choya’s severe lack of micro hamstrung him and Nestea’s excellent Roach play won him the game to start the series off with a loud statement.
Game 2: Lost Temple
Against all prior predictions (and advice), Choya opted to play this game straight up. His two base play depended heavily on the success of his Phoenix harass (minimal) and the security of the eventual third island base.
However, Nestea interrupted these plans with a massive drop of Hydralisks on Choya’s main at about 12 minutes into the game. Although Choya fought to hold on, there was little to nothing that could be done. Nestea gained a 2-0 lead.
Game 3: Metalopolis
The momentum was clearly in Nestea’s favor by this point and Choya knew that he had to pull something out of his hat if we going to stop it. He opted for Dark Templars, a choice which gaine him almost nothing. A Spore Crawler was up before the Dark Templars had made it to Nestea’s expansion and they were eliminated in short order.
As Choya tried to expand, another drop from Nestea began the road to victory for the Zerg. Hydralisks and Zerglings destroyed Choya’s main. Although the Protoss was able to work off his two remaining bases for a considerable amount of time, the ultimate outcome was never in question. Once Nestea put his resources toward a final Roach army, there was little the Protoss could do but gg and step out.
MVP vs. Trickster
Game 1: Scrap Station
Trickster opened up with a very fast expansion (pre-Cybernetics Core). MVP responded with early harassment and it won him the game. Marines and a Hellion killed all the Probes at Trickster’s fast expansion. A Banshee at the main put MVP further ahead and it took only one forceful push to end the game. Trickster’s low Probe count meant a low unit count which was too much for the Protoss to overcome.
Game 2: Xe'Naga Caverns
This was a quick, straight up game. Another fast expansion from Trickster gave way to heavy Stalker play. It was simply run over by MVP’s army: nine blue flame Hellion, five Marines, seven Marauders and a handful of SCVs beat the Protoss army thoroughly.
Game 3: : Shakuras Plateau
Trickster’s meek showing continued to have no teeth. MVP’s quick Bunker push put himself ahead early. MVP gained a significant SCV lead and put himself in a commanding position. Tester’s Sentry heavy army was able to fend off the immediate aggression from the Terran but could do nothing to prevent the Terran from taking his side of the map.
Trickster’s last hope was a backdoor attack. It was defeated after he got caught on the ramp against a perfectly position Terran army thus sealing the Protoss fate and advancing the Terran to the semifinals.