In my haste last Friday to quickly post the YouTube videos of the leaked Battle Report 3, I was unable to properly sit down and watch the match and provide my usual insight. Well, last night I watched all 17 minutes of its gloriousness and can tell you that this is by far the best Battle Report, and best StarCraft II match we've seen so far. If you haven't had a chance to watch this video yet I've embedded it below. After the jump I offer some insight on the intricacies of this match up.
The theme of this match is micromanagement. The players, Yeon-Ho Lee and David Kim use Zerg and Protoss units in ways we have never seen. Ultimately David Kim's superior resource collection is what tips the balance of power in his favor and allows him to claim the victory, but for the first 15 minutes of the match it was anyone's game. Between the matches I watched at BlizzCon 08 and the three Battle Reports, I have yet to see such a back and forth match as this one where superior micromanagement was on display.
- David Kim uses the Stalker's blink ability to help push back a superior Zerg Roach attack and was then able to go on the offensive. The battle begins at around the 9 minute mark.
- The Nullifier's force field ability was used defensively as well as offensively to block the Zerg attackers from getting into the Protoss base and then again to trap them inside the base, preventing them from retreating. Battle begins around the 5:05 mark.
- At one point David Kim uses his Nullifier's force field to try and prevent the Zerg forces from surrounding his Colossi but Yeon-Ho Lee uses the neural parasite ability to turn his own Colossi against him and in turn eradicates David Kim's forces. Battle begins around the 15:45 mark.
- Yeon-Ho Lee uses what is becoming a classic strategy of springing a spider mine-like trap with his Banelings. He lures David Kim's large force above them and then unborrows and detonates destroying almost the entire force and probably saving Lee's base in the process. Battle begins at the 13 minute mark.
- We see the Phoenix's new Graviton Beam ability used wisely by David Kim to lift the Zerg's queen in the air allowing for the Void Ray to use it's very powerful beam attack to destroy the queen. The Graviton Beam, formerly known as "anti-gravity," was once an ability of the Nullifier but seems to have been moved to the Phoenix in this recent build.
For those hoping to get a better look at the new map they played on, Scrapyard, it is shown in full detail below.
