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The Sc2ReplayStats Balance Test Map KOTH was played on the Balance Test Mod with participating players including Scarlett, KelaZhur, Masa, Bails, Bly and TRUE fighting for $200.

Format: 6 players King of the Hill. Players must win 2 maps in a row. No vetoes, loser picks map.

Event Recap

You can download the whole replay pack or browse this post and find replays where unit compositions you find intriguing were used. Highlighted in the replay names are units with relevant changes that were significantly used, so if you want to see how a particular unit plays out with the new changes, just search for it with your browsers Find (Ctrl+F) ability. Each replay also comes with a short description, so you can read through them looking for one that sounds interesting.

Match 1 – Bly vs Masa

Apotheosis LE - Siege Tanks, Cyclones, Hydralisks vs Masa’s Hellion Cyclone mech opener cancels Bly’s third, but is ultimately defended by fast mutalisks. Masa transitions to Marine Tank while Bly goes Roach Hydra, but the damage from his mutalisk harass gives Bly enough of an edge to win the macro game with an Ultralisk Broodlord push. King Sejong Station – Siege Tanks, Cyclones, Swarmhosts, Infestors, Hydralisks, Banelings vs Masa sees how well Marines work vs the new Hydralisks for the first half of this macro game, with a few low-impact Swarm Hosts and Cyclones thrown into battle. The game really starts to get interesting in the later half, when a few Swarm Hosts turning into many and causing some real problems for Masa. Masa falls back on the defensive power of Siege Tanks while going drop-crazy, and the game turns scrappy but in the end Bly’s Ultralisk Viper Hydra Speedling army proves more cost-effective.

Match 2 – Bly vs Scarlett

New Gettysburg – Banelings vs Bly attempts a one-base Baneling bust vs Scarlett, but the +10 health doesn’t help him enough: Scarlett easily defends. Frozen Temple – Hydralisk, Ravager vs Both players open similarly, but Bly builds a flood of speedlings on 2-base to try and break Scarletts wall and fails, both players take a third with a group of roaches. Again Bly is the aggressor. Scarlett holds his roach push with her own backed by Spines and Queens, but just a few Zerglings go unnoticed and take down her third. The game slows down, but eventually ends as Scarlett crushes Bly with the power of Lurkers and a big upgrade lead.

Match 3 – Scarlett vs Bails

Frost LE – Adept, Tempest, Hydralisk vs Bails opens Phoenix while defending his third from Speedlings with Sentries, but his Tempest transition can’t handle the raw power of Hydralisks — especially when Drop Overlords bypass his cannon defenses — and the game ends before he can finish researching Blink for his Dark Templar. King Sejong Station – Tempest, Hydralisk, Baneling vs Bails proxies a Stargate for early Tempest harass, which deals decent damage but is ultimately shut down by Corruptors, which later use Caustic Spray to take down Bails third. Once again, Bails is left in a position where his army just can’t take a fight vs the brute force of Hydralisks.

Match 4 – Scarlett vs Masa

Frozen Temple – Cyclones, Siege Tanks, Hydralisks, Infestors vs Masa’s Cyclone opening is shut down hard with a Speedling surround and his second push is shut down with Queens. Masa takes a late third and starts to add Siege Tanks, but Scarlett bullies him around with Hydralisks before dealing the finishing blow with some Brood Lords. King Sejong Station – Siege Tank, Banshee, Hydralisk, Infestor vs Masa holds some speedling pressure with some well positioned Cyclones, but doesn’t accomplish much with his hellion cyclone banshee push. However, he keeps the pressure on with a squad of speed Banshees and makes a fairly successful Marine Hellbat push, gaining an upgrade lead that lets him trade well, eventually leading to a win. New Gettysburg – Siege Tank, Banshee, Thor vs Masa opens with a high Hellion count followed by continued Banshee production with Banshee speed to keep the pressure on, securing 33 worker kills. Scarlett goes Mutalisks to cope but the damage is already done, and Masa’s mech army rolls in.

Match 5 – Masa vs Bly

New Gettysberg - vs A cleanly executed proxy 4-rax from Masa defeats Bly. Apotheosis – Mass Widow Mine, Cyclone, Hydralisk vs Masa open’s his usual Hellion Cyclone push, but doesn’t accomplish much in the face of early Mutalisks. He holds the Mutalisks with Cyclone, Widow Mine, Missile Turret without taking game-ending damage. However, ultimately his Hellion Widowmine Cyclone army isn’t able to compete with the raw power of Hydralisks. Frozen Temple – Siege Tank, Hydralisk vs Masa opens three-rax Reaper and puts on some moderate pressure while teching and expanding. Bly handles it well, leading into a fairly equal mid-game of Bio-Tank vs Roach Hydra. Bly tries Lurkers, but it doesn’t work well vs the constant Bio Tank push from Masa. Dasan Station - vs After a surprisingly uneventful early-game, Mutalisks catch Masa’s base empty and gut it, and a last-ditch attempt from Masa is unsuccessful.

Match 6 – Bly vs Scarlett

New Gettysberg - vs Bly goes for a quick third, but then doesn’t drone it and Roach all-ins to take victory by surprise. Dasan Station - vs Bly goes pool first and expands to the gold immediately after, killing 11 Drones without getting behind economically, then follows it up with a deadly Roach push. King Sejong Station – Banelings vs In this 9 minute game, Scarlett is the aggressor, killing Bly’s natural. Scarlett expands, Bly counter-attacks, and they trade Banelings. Then Scarlett pushes across the map off-creep with six queens while flooding Zerglings. Despite building many Spine Crawlers, Bly can’t handle the Queen push.

Frozen Temple - vs Bly opens with some slight aggression but is defended by Scarlett’s safe opening. Both players forgo Banelings in favor of sizable pure Zergling armies, and trade evenly. Scarlett takes a third but Bly all-ins, winning with some good Baneling connections. Galactic Process – Banelings vs This time Scarlett commits heavily to one-base aggression, and by defending it Bly gains a significant lead that snowballs into victory when his Mutalisks pop.

Final Battle – Bly vs TRUE

King Sejong Station – Banelings vs Both players open hatch first and then get a third base, but TRUE is able to cancel Bly’s third. Bly remains defensive until eventually pushing, but loses the resulting Roach wars due to his slower economy. Frozen Temple - vs TRUE goes gas first while Bly goes pool first, both players avoid each others Overlords and surprise each other with Zerglings in the mineral line. But with the advantage of speed, TRUE takes a better trade out of it and continues to flood Speedlings until Bly is worn down and defeated. Glactic Process – Banelings vs Both players hatch-first and go for thirds. Like the first game, Bly defends with Roaches while TRUE attacks with Speedlings, eventually killing Bly’s third. Bly is forced to counter-attack with Speedlings and takes a bad fight in a choke, losing him the game.

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- Sc2replaystats.com staff

Post written by Justin “TheSkunk” Purdy