On the first day of the tournament with three Terrans and one Protoss, the only Protoss player in Group A was the first to secure a ticket to the round of 16.
On the evening of the 23rd, Group A matches were held on the first day of the Google Play ASL Season 21 (hereinafter referred to as ASL Season 21) Round of 24 Dual Tournament at Freak Up Studio in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Terran’s Ki-seok ‘Sharp’, Seung-gon ‘Scan’ Yoo, Chan-hee ‘Mong’ Yoon, and Yun-jong ‘Rain’ Jeong of Protoss participated, and with three matches played, Yoon-jong ‘Rain’ Jeong passed the tournament as the top of the group.
In the one-game match between ‘Sharp’ Jo Ki-seok (T) and ‘Scan’ Seung-gon Yoo, Cho Ki-seok, who chose the factory instead of expanding in the early stages and went for information warfare, gradually increased his strength after the middle of the game and broke through the opponent’s defense line to win.
In the match between the two players, which took place on the Octagon map, Jo Ki-seok entered at 7 o’clock and Yoo Seung-gon entered at 11 o’clock, and Ki-seok Cho, who chose Factory first, checked the opponent’s construction status first through quick reconnaissance. At around 4 minutes and 30 seconds, Jo Ki-seok’s two Vultures entered the opponent’s front yard, reducing the number of SCVs and marines, and then continued to expand into the front yard.
Afterwards, while chasing the Vulture unit and taking a large circle around the map, Jo Ki-seok, who did not miss the gap where Yoo Seung-gon’s Vultures were separated, went on the offensive first, and even took advantage of his superiority in strength and even exploded Yoo Seung-gon’s tank. Ki-Seok Jo seemed to occupy a wider position on the central hill, but Seung-Gon Yoo also broke through and entered the hill. Jo Ki-Seok, who attempted a counterattack by taking out a race, inflicted damage on Seung-Gon Yoo’s troops and dug in to the front of the opponent’s base.
Jo Ki-seok, who had some time to attack, widened the population gap and cleared out the opponent’s areas one by one. He broke through Yoo Seung-gon’s defense line and went down the hill, receiving his surrender in 15 minutes and 11 seconds.
The next two-game match was between ‘Rain’ Jeong Yun-jong (P) and ‘Mong’ Yoon Chan-hee (T), and while the battle of forwards and retreats continued fiercely, Jeong Yun-jong, who steadily inflicted damage on his opponent, ended the game without losing the victory he had once gained.
While Jeong Yun-jong was positioned at 1 o’clock and Yoon Chan-hee at 11 o’clock on the Octagon map, Jeong Yun-jong attempted to expand to the bottom of the fast dog, sent two Zealots to the opponent’s camp, destroyed a Vulture, and succeeded in escaping the opponent’s marine pursuit thanks to Dragoon’s backup. Chan-hee Yoon tried to counterattack by sending Vulture and Marine, but Yun-chong Jeong calmly fired Vulture and avoided the opponent’s trap play, and set up a triple in the meantime, but Chan-hee Yoon attacked it and wasted time.
Meanwhile, Jeong Yun-jong watched Chan-hee Yoon’s expansion of the center while keeping a check on the shuttle, and after pushing back the entry of the vulture unit, he tried to raise the river towards the opponent’s base, but was caught by Chan-hee Yoon’s defense and retreated. After 10 minutes, the difference in the number of troops was about 40, so Jeong Yun-jong attempted a multi-attack at 12 o’clock and reduced the number of workers, and also reduced the troops at the entrance, widening the gap in strength even further. Jeong Yun-jong, who caught the Vulture sent down towards the 5 o’clock area, sent the Dragoon to push it away, then went up to attack the retreating force behind it and destroyed the Vulture unit that had not yet been laid down with a Zealot, but Yoon Chan-hee also blocked it without significant damage.
Yoon Chan-hee, who blocked Jeong Yun-jong’s attack on the Templar headquarters with Goliath, pushed Jeong Yun-jong’s troops south, expanded to the center, and captured the 5 o’clock probe, but Jeong Yun-jong broke the flow through an attack on the front yard centered on dragoons. Dark Templar’s expansion strike at 9 o’clock failed, but they drew a line in the front yard and completed the expansion of the 4 o’clock and 5 o’clock regions, and hit the opponent’s expansion again at 9 o’clock. In a situation where Chan-hee Yoon had piled up troops with tanks, vultures, and mines in the front yard, Yoon-jong Jeong minimized the damage and inflicted damage by striking, and then once again inflicted significant damage to the troops with his strength.
Instead of giving up the nexus in the 4 o’clock area, Jeong Yun-jong attacked from behind the opposing forces by sending a carrier toward 7 o’clock. To prevent this, Yoon Chan-hee sent down Goliath and deployed the main troops, breaking the will to resist and confirming advancement to the winner’s match in 25 minutes and 46 seconds.
The winner’s match between ‘Rain’ Jeong Yun-jong (P) and ‘Sharp’ Jo Ki-seok (T), which was held on the match point map, plagued Ki-seok Cho’s growth from the start, confirming his advancement to the round of 16 with consecutive wins.
In a situation where Jeong Yun-jong was stationed at 1 o’clock and Jo Gi-seok at 7 o’clock, Jeong Yun-jong attempted to expand downward and at the same time sent one probe to Ki-seok Cho’s camp to prevent gas collection and harass him. Jeong Yun-jong then sent 2 additional Zealots and 1 Dragoon to attack the expanded area and consistently touched Ki-seok Jo. He held out until the second half of the 5th minute when Vulture came out and then pressed the button to build the stargate.
Jo Ki-seok sent 3 Vultures to the opposing area to scout and simultaneously set up a multi-tank at 11 o’clock, and placed a tank on a hill to block the opposing forces and hide them. Jeong Yun-jong, who confirmed the 11 o’clock area as an observer, retreated to the central area and pulled out the opposing forces. In the meantime, he attempted to enter with a Dragoon-Zealot combination and retreated to the 12 o’clock direction. Jeong Yun-jong, who started the attack by sending his troops at 9 o’clock centered on the 3 carriers, moved downward and destroyed the main buildings and even exploded the tank that was positioned for defense, ending the game at 14 minutes 04 seconds and becoming the first to advance to the round of 16.
Reporter Kim Hyeong-geun (noarose@dailygame.co.kr)