Day 1 of the round robin in 'Janatdae 26: StarCraft with CHZZK' (hereafter StarCraft Janatdae) concluded with victories for ACDC (Team Kim Seong-hyun) and Young Thirties (Team SuperNova).

Enchant broadcast Day 1 of the StarCraft Janatdae round robin via CHZZK on September 2. A total of 16 fierce sets took place that day. The four teams formed through the team draft on August 28 are competing in a round robin, with playoffs scheduled for September 6 offline to determine the final champion. As this was the first step toward the playoffs, participating players were reported to have prepared extensively right up to the day before the tournament.

In the day's matches, Ohapjijon (Coach Jo Il-jang, Ambition-T, Cpt Jack-P, Necklet-Z, Sooflower-Z) faced ACDC (Coach Kim Seong-hyun, AGU-P, Flame-Z, Ddahyoni-P, Inganjelly-Z), while Young Thirties (Coach SuperNova, Crank-P, Jeongryeongwang-P, Soowoorup-T, Ssangbe-T) went up against Dopung Reomanggo (Coach Maengduck-eomma, Dopa-P, Gosudal-T, Runner-P, Sopoongwatni-P).

Among the round robin matches, Tier D player games take place exclusively on Fighting Spirit. In contrast, Tier C games feature Fighting Spirit and Polypoid, while Tier A and B matches add Eclipse to those two maps.

Both Day 1 matches ended with 6:2 scores, as ACDC and Young Thirties defeated Ohapjijon and Dopung Reomanggo, respectively. Set results defied initial expectations at times, and high-level mind games and strategic plays transcending skill tiers maintained tension throughout. Below is the summary of the Day 1 round robin matches.

Ohapjijon vs ACDC | Match 1 Tier D Ohapjijon | Sooflower(Z) 0 : 2 Inganjelly(Z) | ACDC

Day 1 of the round robin opened with a Zerg vs. Zerg matchup between Sooflower and Inganjelly. The winner of the first set was Inganjelly. Inganjelly opted for a high-ground 12 Hatchery, focusing on defending against Zerglings to secure faster Mutalisk production. Meanwhile, Sooflower went Overpool into a Natural expansion and quickly added a third Hatchery. She also delayed her gas mining until the 7-minute mark, establishing a defensive line with Spore Colonies. As a stalemate ensued, Inganjelly successfully made a bold expansion by taking a Hatchery at 3 o'clock. Sooflower launched an attack with a mass of Hydralisks upon completing +1 Attack/+1 Armor upgrades. However, she could not breach Inganjelly's position, which was heavily fortified with Lurkers and Sunken Colonies. Having completed his economy optimization first, Inganjelly attacked Sooflower's Natural with Guardians—as Sooflower had no air-to-air response ready—while simultaneously wiping out her Hydralisks with Lurkers and Zerglings to take Set 1. In Set 2, Sooflower threw a curveball with an in-base 9 Drone Two Hatchery, focusing heavily on Zerglings. However, Inganjelly, located cross-positions, gained the build order advantage by opening high-ground 12 Hatchery. While Sooflower mined only 100 gas for Zergling speed before massing Zerglings, Inganjelly built two Sunken Colonies right next to his entrance Hatchery, virtually sealing the match. Steadily producing Zerglings as well, Inganjelly sniffed out Sooflower's intent and increased his Sunken count to four, completely repelling the Zergling onslaught to take Set 2 as well.

Ohapjijon vs ACDC | Match 2 Tier C Ohapjijon | Necklet(Z) 1 : 1 Ddahyoni(P) | ACDC

The second match between Necklet and Ddahyoni concluded in a 1:1 tie. In Set 1, Necklet opted for a standard Overpool opening, while Ddahyoni started with Two Gateways and pushed toward the opponent's base with 3 Zealots. Spotting this early via scouting, Necklet expanded to a third Hatchery and chose to break through with mass Zerglings rather than playing a standard macro game. However, Ddahyoni defended the Zergling assault after securing 7 Zealots, leaving Necklet short on Drones. Ddahyoni picked off all scouting Overlords and quickly added Gateways to focus on ground forces. As Necklet depleted his Zerglings, Ddahyoni pushed his army further forward. At this moment, Necklet counter-routed Zerglings to catch Ddahyoni's Dragoons after Ddahyoni's composition split. He then activated additional expansions and attempted a 7 o'clock starting position expansion, transitioning to Hive tech. As stalling favored the Zerg, Ddahyoni rallied his forces outside Necklet's Natural. With Necklet focused on scaling and lacking army numbers, Ddahyoni pushed continuously with reinforcements to force the GG. In Set 2 on Polypoid, both players adopted the same build orders as the previous set. However, spawning cross-positions allowed Necklet to produce fewer Zerglings and play a wealthier game. Having suffered no army losses, Ddahyoni launched his first push with a solid army composition. Clearing out Spore Colonies to secure a path for his Observer, Ddahyoni used Dragoon range to destroy buildings first while simultaneously taking an additional mineral expansion. However, when no follow-up attack came, Necklet routed his forces to neutralize Ddahyoni's expansion. Holding off further expansion attempts with small forces, Necklet bought time with continuous Zergling run-bys and prepared Ultralisks. Necklet baited small skirmishes with Ultralisks before massing his main army to push once more and close out the game.

Ohapjijon vs ACDC | Match 3 Tier B Ohapjijon | Cpt Jack(P) 0 : 2 Flame(Z) | ACDC

The matchup between Cpt Jack and Flame, former CJ Entus teammates during their pro days, ended in Flame's victory. Set 1 began with Cpt Jack fending off Flame's 9 Pool Zergling speed opening. After the attack failed, Flame suffered an even poorer start due to a waypoint error that sent a Drone into Cpt Jack's base. Cpt Jack also scouted Flame's 2 Hatchery Hydralisk strategy and built additional Photon Cannons. With defeat looming, Flame seized a window when Cpt Jack was slightly short on Cannons and committed to an all-in Hydralisk push. Right before the warp-in of the Cannons completed, Flame's Hydralisks eliminated all remaining Zealots and Probes, instantly turning around a losing game. Set 2 showcased Flame's stable macro play. Unlike the previous set, both players opted for Natural expansion openings. Flame then built a Spire, and Cpt Jack, seeing the Natural gas, relied on Cannons to defend against Mutalisks. However, facing a Cpt Jack who did not construct Corsairs, Flame kept up continuous harass with Mutalisks around Gateways outside Cannon range. He also intimidated Cpt Jack by utilizing Stop Lurkers. With his hidden expansion at the 7 o'clock starting position spotted, Cpt Jack targeted Flame's expansion, but could not break through the defense well-spread with Lurkers. Leveraging his economic advantage, Flame brought out Defilers to wipe out Cpt Jack's deathball. With his resource income dry, Cpt Jack ultimately had no choice but to tap out with GG.

Ohapjijon vs ACDC | Match 4 Tier A Ohapjijon | Ambition(T) 1 : 1 AGU(P) | ACDC

The final Tier A battle saw Ambition and AGU trade a set each. In Set 1 played on Eclipse, AGU pulled off a proxy build for an easy victory. AGU dispatched a Probe early to set up Proxy Gateways. Seeing Zealots enter his base, Ambition pulled SCVs to defend, but his own SCVs blocked the path of his first Marine, causing massive damage. AGU then secretly built a Templar Archives to prepare Dark Templars. Lacking any detection or response against Dark Templars, Ambition was forced to call GG. In Set 2, having fallen to cheese in the previous set, Ambition undauntedly opened with a greedier Barracks Double. AGU delayed his expansion timing to rush Arbiter tech. However, AGU's forward Dragoons were caught in a pincer attack by Ambition's forces. Ambition pushed out right at the Arbiter timing. Bringing SCVs to construct Missile Turrets, Ambition established a containment line. He then narrowly held off AGU's attempt to break the siege, maintaining his lead until the end.

Young Thirties vs Dopung Reomanggo | Match 1 Tier D Young Thirties | Ssangbe(T) 1 : 1 Sopoongwatni(P) | Dopung Reomanggo

The highly anticipated So-Ssang Derby ended in a 1:1 draw, leaving the day without a winner between the two. In Set 1, Sopoongwatni went 9 Gateway while cutting Probe production to prepare Proxy Dark Templars. Blocking Ssangbe's scouting, she built Two Gateways at 6 o'clock. However, noticing that the opponent had no active Natural, Ssangbe constructed two Bunkers and two Missile Turrets at his Natural to shut down the Dark Templar attack. Having gained an early lead, Ssangbe transitioned into a Bionic build. Sopoongwatni built an Arbiter Tribunal to create dynamic variables, but lacked the army to stop Ssangbe's Armor-upgraded Bionic rush. Armed with plenty of Comsat Scans, Ssangbe's army breached directly into her main base to take the set. In Set 2, Ssangbe cut worker production just as Sopoongwatni had done in the previous set to optimize for fast tech. However, Sopoongwatni once again prepared Proxy Dark Templars. She secretly constructed both the Citadel of Adun and Templar Archives outside her base while faking Dragoon Range upgrade mind games in her main base to increase the DT rush success rate. Unlike the previous game, she also took a Natural expansion as macro insurance. Ssangbe traded economic damage with Vulture run-bys, but Sopoongwatni's early Dark Templar attack hit much harder. She then dealt major damage to Ssangbe's main base with Arbiter Recalls while expanding with Nexuses. Hanging on, Ssangbe pushed his army forward. Despite having a high Tank count, he lost numerous Tanks to Zealots, and a second Recall in his main base allowed Sopoongwatni to equalize the set score.

Young Thirties vs Dopung Reomanggo | Match 2 Tier C Young Thirties | Soowoorup(T) 2 : 0 Runner(P) | Dopung Reomanggo

In Set 1, both players appeared to start with standard single-base openings. However, Runner played a gambit by adding a second Gateway after Cybernetics Core. He even cut Probe production to pump forces out of Two Gateways. Soowoorup spotted this early and pulled SCVs to hold the high-ground choke, claiming a positional advantage while simultaneously setting up his expansion. During the lull, both players built up infrastructure and scaled their economies. Soowoorup gradually pushed his front line forward. His +1 Attack upgraded Mechanic forces pushed back Runner's Dragoons, while Runner traded army losses by using Zealots to collapse on Siege Tanks that lacked Vulture support. Leveraging his early advantage to pull ahead in upgrades, Soowoorup pushed all the way to the bridge outside Runner's Natural. Runner managed to break the siege line once using Arbiters. However, with both short on resources, Soowoorup, who methodically solidified control of the center map, claimed the first set victory. In Set 2, after driving off Runner's scouting Probe, Soowoorup pivoted to his specialty—a Two Factory build. He added mind games by tweaking gas mining to conceal his build. Adding Marines to a 3 Siege Tank push, his army marched straight to Runner's Natural. Soowoorup then stormed straight into Runner's unprepared main base to seal a 2:0 victory.

Young Thirties vs Dopung Reomanggo | Match 3 Tier B Young Thirties | Jeongryeongwang(P) 1 : 1 Gosudal(T) | Dopung Reomanggo

Both players opened Set 1 with single-base play rather than fast expansions. Jeongryeongwang threw the first curveball by rushing Fast Dark Templar tech. Gosudal launched an early push with 6 Marines and SCVs, but Jeongryeongwang quickly cleared Spider Mines, buying time for Dark Templars to drive back the offensive. In position to pull ahead, Jeongryeongwang lost his attacking Dark Templars to Spider Mines during a push, allowing Gosudal to quickly catch up on Natural expansions. However, Jeongryeongwang's follow-up Dark Templar survived thanks to a friendly-fire Mine detonation. It then eliminated several Vultures and destroyed Gosudal's Command Center under construction, scoring huge gains. With an expansion advantage, Jeongryeongwang continuously produced ground units while teching to Two Stargate Carriers. Trading efficiently against Gosudal's slightly overextended Siege Tanks, he gained the upper hand in production wars. Although Gosudal managed to destroy one of Jeongryeongwang's expansions, he could not completely stop the mobility of Jeongryeongwang's accumulated Carriers. In Set 2, Gosudal threw down a BBS gambit. Spotting it via early scout, Jeongryeongwang built a Shield Battery to defend. With Marines and SCVs charging into Jeongryeongwang's main base, a fierce micro battle ensued. Gosudal eliminated all defending Probes while preserving attacking Marines, ending the game right then and there with his early rush.

Young Thirties vs Dopung Reomanggo | Match 4 Tier A Young Thirties | Crank(P) 2 : 0 Dopa(P) | Dopung Reomanggo

The final match of Day 1 in the StarCraft Janatdae round robin between Crank and Dopa ended in a 2:0 victory for Crank. In Set 1, both players dispatched early Probes and caught on to each other's tactical intentions. Crank attempted a Proxy Gateway with his scouting Probe, while Dopa focused on Probe harass. Crank used his single Proxy Gateway to constantly disrupt Dopa's Probe mining. Dopa microed his Probes well without losing a single unit, but Crank advanced his tech rapidly in the meantime. With his tech lead, Crank produced fast Dark Templars. Before Dopa's Observatory could finish construction, two Dark Templars penetrated Dopa's main base, ending the game in Crank's favor. In Set 2, Crank went Two Gateways and scouted cross-positions. Seeing 3 Zealots coming for a poke, Dopa played safely with an in-base Shield Battery. However, when Dopa's Dragoon stepped forward slightly to shave Zealot shields, Crank microed his 3 Zealots to surround and kill the Dragoon. Soon, five Zealots breached Dopa's main base, picking off Probes as well. Dopa scouted Crank's Citadel of Adun. Crank then threw a mix-up by expanding to 3 Gateways. Dopa responded with a counter mix-up of his own using Dark Templars. However, lacking Gateway count, Dopa had no army to withstand Crank's accumulated mass Dragoons. Even with Dark Templars, Dopa had lost too many Probes to stage a comeback. Ultimately, Crank claimed both sets, sweeping Dopa 2:0.