Receiving an walkover against the yesterday-retired Jangbi, sOs needed to win but one match to advance to the Ro16. Following him was Dear, who left Supernova down in challenger after 4-0'ing him in two games.
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One match is all it takes
In the shortest playday this season, Woongjin Stars' sOs made sure that he joins his teammate Soulkey in the Ro16 of WCS Korea Season 3. After receiving an automatic win against the retired Jangbi, the Protoss was two quick games away from making the next group stage.
In game one, sOs pulled an old strat out of his hat and went for a double gas steal, shutting out Dear completely from the essential resource, who failed to react on time and take his free geyser in response. Able to produce only zealots, Dear was an easy victim for sOs' 4-gate follow-up and a quick GG was called, pushing the series into game two on Bell'Shir Vestige.
For that set, sOs opened with a DT expand but not everything went so seemlessly as in game one. The small zealot/stalker/MSC raiding party of Dear was able to snipe down the nexus, while the robo tech of his was already producing immortals.
It was that production of immortals that helped sOs make a turn-around. Infiltrating a pair of DTs in Dear's main, sOs abused the lack of observers and the preoccupation of the robo facility of his enemy and swung the balance of power in his favor. Sandwiching the forces of Dear between DT psi blades and stalker firepower was the last thing he needed before being awarded a Ro16 spot.
Dear's PvT and the struggles of Supernova
Known for his excellent Terran-slaying skills, which had taken the heads of Taeja, Flash and MarineKing among others, Dear was a hard Protoss for Supernova to face in the Ro32. What's even worse, the Azubu Terran had to play him twice, only to see his every strat and play bested, almost ridiculed by the Protoss ace of STX SouL.
Dear set the tempo in match one of game one and extracted a quick victory on the back of an immortal/MSC rush which drilled through Supernova's bunkers. In attempt to tie the score, the Azubu Terran called forth his signature multitasking skills and dropped Dear everywhere only to see his every task force shut down by the colossi of the Protoss. After having critically small ROI on his drop play, Supernova eventually had to call GG and drop straight to the deciding match.
It was Dear again who he had to face as the STX Protoss suffered a 0-2 loss to sOs. Once again, Dear was able to beat Supernova in a straight up game, forcing him to try a quirky strategy on Polar Night. Going for a proxy factory, Supernova deployed tanks and bunkers behind Dear's natural and started raining shells upon his economy. For a minute it looked this could be Supernova's comeback until Dear's phoenixes arrived to lift-snipe the Terran positions, extorting a fourth and final GG and making for a perfect Protoss playday.
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