The second day of StarCraft II semifinals at IEM Gyeonggi featured another exhilarating five-game series. Ultimately, Kim "Stats" Dae Yeob (Protoss) triumphed over Han "ByuL" Ji Won (Zerg), 3-2, in the quest for the $15,000 first prize.
On paper, Stats entered as a massive favorite over ByuL. Stats was on the verge of claiming the title for the best Protoss in the world and ByuL was still inconsistent in tournament results. ByuL entered his matchup against Stats with plenty of question marks. He was a strong player with the power of creativity on his side in terms of builds and macro timings, but his understanding of fundamental strategy was lacking. Stats was a player that outplays the opponent and typically crushed matches with his deep understanding of StarCraft II. Even though the matchup seemed one-sided at the outset, it ended up going the full distance for an entertaining semifinal set.
Game 1: Vaani Research Station
Stats took advantage of the holes in ByuL's early strategies with a Stargate start for harassment and initiation. Stats' Phoenix timings and control allowed him to dictate the pace and movement on the map as well as exploiting army sizes and relative economies to best advantage. He then transitioned into Carriers for the ultimate finish while ByuL played defense and catch-up to the macro deficit. Despite the dire situation, it was ByuL's decision to all-in on Hydralisks that forced a lengthy stalemate. Stats' impatience would end up costing him -- instead of building more Carriers, he opted to fight into the Hydralisk army and lost most of his unit count for the game loss.
Stats 0:1 ByuL
Game 2: Habitation Station
Map two would end up in the late game. Stats opened with Phoenixes and Adepts to overwhelm ByuL's defenses, but the Zerg player absolutely prepared accordingly. ByuL countered with Speedlings and Banelings for economic damage while Stats transitioned into another Carrier-heavy strategy. ByuL opted to focus entirely on the macro game to ensure adaptability in the late game and Stats farmed up while waiting out the midgame in a defensive mode. The final push came from Stats; in his first aggressive take, he successfully traded his only mining base for the entirety of ByuL's army.
Stats 1:1 ByuL
Game 3: Overgrowth
Stats went for a cheese opener with mass Gateways, but ByuL scouted for the perfect defense and countered with an early Spire. After building up more tech, Stats went for a timing push with Immortals, Archons, and charge Zealots for an attack on the ground, but ByuL defended again and countered with Mutalisks. Although he had no set defense against the Mutalisks, Stats went for a final timing push with mass Archons and crushed through ByuL's base before all of the late game tech was completed.
Stats 2:1 ByuL
Game 4: Newkirk Precinct
ByuL grabbed the early aggression with his Mutalisk timing and kept Stats on complete defensive mode. His multi-pronged attacks forced irreparable damage to Stats' economy and it was only a matter of time before the set was tied up. ByuL's superior macro advantage and map control led to a straightforward push into the rest of the defenses.
Stats 2:2 ByuL
Game 5: Whirlwind
Stats took the initiative on the final game with an early aggressive push of Adepts, Zealots, and an Immortal with a Warp Prism. The push crushed through over 20 casualties and ruined ByuL's economy. The reinforcements sealed the game and Stats would finish off the set.
Stats advances to the grand finals of IEM Gyeonggi. He was the second qualifier out of Group A, arguably the toughest group during the group stage, and will rematch against the other qualifier out of the same group, Lee "INnoVation" Shin Hyung in the grand finals. Although he played well in this series, Stats' macro and defensive mistakes will need improvement and overhaul if he wants a chance against a player in absolute top-form like INnoVation.