How long can you stay on 1-base?
For our third Replay Spotlight, I didn’t have to look long: This week’s replay comes from Sc2ReplayStats owner and creator, Breath. He billed this replay to me as a 22 minute ZvT where the Terran never had more than one base.
Of course, he did utilize the ability to lift off his Command Center to mine at a new location, but he never built another Command Center.
(A Terran’s dream: If only Planetary Fortresses could actually lift off.)
The game starts off on King Sejong Station with a bang, as our Terran player executes a flawless Bunker rush, proxying a Barracks and then lifting it to make a walled in area for the SCV to safely repair the Bunker.
(Perfectly timing: the Barracks lands and the bunker starts at same moment)
Things turn from bad to worse ReplayStats decides not to try and save the doomed hatchery, but instead attempts a counter-attack with Zerglings, only to find the Terran already has a siege-tank out.
(“This Terran is never going to expand, is he?”)
If you thought things couldn’t get worse, you were wrong: After building some Ravagers to clear out the bunker rush, ReplayStats tries to retake his natural expansion. But in the middle of all the chaos he never had the time or resources to destroy the rocks, and that Siege Tank wasn’t built for nothing. Even with some Ravagers, two Siege Tanks and two Medivacs make short work of ReplayStat’s second attempt at a natural.
(You might think Queens would help, but its hard to get your Queen count up on 1 hatchery)
So picture this: You’re a Zerg who lost your natural hatchery once and canceled another time, failed to do any counter attack damage, have no tech except Roach Ravager and no upgrades, your army’s been whittled down by Tank Harass, and you’re only just trying to take your natural at your third location when a swath of Stim marines, Tanks, and Medivacs come barging in.
(Including an SCV train)
ReplayStats holds the Terran’s push — just barely. But just barely is good enough, because at 9 minutes in to the game the Terran still hasn’t expanded, and although he isn’t mining off of it, this time the Hatchery lives.
A second push comes, but it just isn’t quite as intimidating.
Finally, at 10:30, the Terran lift’s his Command Center to his natural — and ReplayStats finally gets to mine his natural at his third, and start his third at his natural. Both players take a few minutes to breath, only to get back at it two minutes later.
For once, Isaac takes a good fight with the help of some missed Corrosive Biles, and is rewarded by getting the kill on a Hatchery at the natural for the third time — bringing him back into the game.
As Isaac moves on to gut all of ReplayStats tech in his main, ReplayStats throws down two more Hatcheries.
Both players continue to trade blows in this close, scrappy slug-fest with both players remaining within a few supply of each other.
(One fight goes the Terran’s way…)
(…the next goes the Zerg’s way.)
I the end, it truly was Isaacs refusal to build another Command Center that lost him the game. At the 20 minute mark he lifts his lone Command Center to his third, but it’s too late. ReplayStats is now mining haphazardly three Hatcheries with 44 Drones.
But despite often floating 400+ minerals, Isaac never did build another Command Center. The last fight was just as close as every other one, but this time Isaac had nothing to fall back on and he had to leave the game.
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- Sc2replaystats.com staff
Post written by Justin “TheSkunk” Purdy