Inven Global

Young Thirties advanced to the finals of 'Janatdae 26: StarCraft with CHZZK (hereinafter Snatdae)' to face ACDC in the final showdown.

Enchant hosted the Snatdae semifinals today (6th) at COEX Atrium. With ACDC (Head Coach Kim Seong-hyun, Agu-P, Flame-Z, Ddahyoni-P, Ingangelie-Z) having already secured a spot in the finals by placing 1st in the round-robin stage, a fierce battle unfolded between Dofungreomango (Head Coach MaengdeokEomma, Dopa-P, Gosudal-T, Runner-P, Sopungwanni-P) and Young Thirties (Head Coach SuperNova, Crank-P, SpiritKing-P, Sowooroup-T, Ssangbe-T) for the final ticket.

In particular, starting from this match for a spot in the finals, unlike the group stage, the matches were played as a BO5 series, leading to continuous early harassment and timing rushes back-to-back rather than long macro games. However, against Dofungreomango, who prepared Templar-based builds two times in a row, Young Thirties countered with Bionic-Mech to take the first two games. In Game 3, where the race match-ups shifted, Young Thirties bought time with a timing rush mixed with Dark Templar, established a defensive line with Photon Cannons and High Templars to stop the opponent's counterattack, and pushed forward to seal a 3-0 victory.

Dofungreomango vs Young Thirties | Match 1 Tier D Dofungreomango | Sopungwanni (P) 0 : 1 Young Thirties | Ssangbe (T)

In Game 1, Sopungwanni built a quick Templar Archives, preparing the fast Dark Templar strategy shown on Day 1 of the round-robin stage once again. As Ssangbe prepared for it by quickly building an Engineering Bay, Sopungwanni pivoted to a drop by constructing a fast Robotics Facility, while also preparing Dark Templar harassment and High Templars against Ssangbe, who had delayed gas to prepare a bionic cheese rush. Ssangbe lost some troops to Dark Templar harassment during his rush, but did not hesitate to push straight through the front. Sopungwanni tried to hold off Ssangbe's rush of +1 Armor Marines with rapid Psionic Storms and Dark Templars, but due to a lack of Zealots to form a frontline, the High Templars were sniped, surrendering the Game 1 victory to Ssangbe.

Dofungreomango vs Young Thirties | Match 2 Tier C Dofungreomango | Runner (P) 0 : 2 Young Thirties | Sowooroup (T)

Following Game 1, Game 2 took place on Fighting Spirit. Sowooroup walled off his choke early and prepared a 1-Barracks 2-Factory build. Runner was preparing a fast Dark Templar, but after upgrading Dragoon range, he gathered Dragoons, denied Sowooroup's scouting attempts, and transitioned to an Arbiter tech. Sowooroup expanded and prepared Bionic-Mech while building Missile Turrets in various spots to prepare against drops and scouting. After building a Stargate, Runner scouted with a Corsair, but checked Sowooroup's addition of extra Barracks a step too late due to the wall of Turrets. As a result, Runner canceled his first Arbiter, upgraded Psionic Storm, boosted unit production, and built a Forge to prepare defenses. However, Sowooroup's well-timed Bionic-Mech rush instantly took down Runner's expansion and pushed the front line back to his main base. Runner attempted to slow the advance with the Arbiter's Stasis Field and Zealots, but Sowooroup's Bionic-Mech forces controlled even the Gateway area, giving Sowooroup the Game 2 victory.

Dofungreomango vs Young Thirties | Match 3 Tier B Dofungreomango | Gosudal (T) 0 : 3 Young Thirties | SpiritKing (P)

In Game 3, played on Eclipse, SpiritKing engaged in mind games with a gas steal. Gosudal built two Barracks inside his main base along with an Academy rather than a proxy Barracks, preparing a bionic poke. SpiritKing poked with Dragoons after upgrading Dragoon range while preparing Dark Templars, destroying Missile Turrets quickly to initiate an attack. The rush joined by Dark Templars destroyed Gosudal's natural expansion Bunker and Turret, but Gosudal stopped the rush by quickly picking off the Dark Templars with Scanner Sweeps. Afterward, Gosudal went for a Marine-Medic timing rush with +1 Armor, but could not efficiently respond to Dark Templar harassment due to a lack of scan energy, forcing a temporary retreat. Gosudal then upgraded Siege Mode and tried to attack the opponent's natural expansion with a Bionic-Mech cheese rush alongside 2 Siege Tanks. However, SpiritKing had already constructed multiple Photon Cannons while blocking incoming Marines with Dark Templar harassment, completely neutralizing the cheese rush. Gosudal, who had attempted the cheese rush without taking his natural expansion, regrouped his forces to take the high ground and gradually set up a contain line by building Bunkers step-by-step. Although SpiritKing cleared the Marines with Psionic Storm, he failed to clear the Siege Tanks, initially allowing Bunker construction. However, after merging his energy-depleted High Templars into Archons, he engaged in a direct battle with Dragoons and Dark Templars, breaking through Gosudal's defensive line and pushing into his natural expansion. Gosudal pulled SCVs in an effort to hold, but could not overcome the army gap, securing Young Thirties' spot in the finals.

Dofungreomango vs Young Thirties | Match 4 Shutout Match Dofungreomango | Dopa (P) Loss : Win Young Thirties | Crank (P)

With Young Thirties' spot in the finals already secured at 3-0, a Shutout Match featuring Tier A players as team captains took place with 1 million won in team prize money on the line. In this Protoss mirror match, the builds diverged as Dopa went for 10-12 Gate, while Crank went 1-Gate Gas Cybernetics Core into a 2-Gate build. Crank lost a few workers to Dopa's 3-Zealot poke due to delayed scouting, but defended with Dragoons already in production and quickly built a Robotics Facility. On the other hand, Dopa expanded to 3 Gateways and produced 2 Zealots and 7 Dragoons to force a direct battle before Reavers could come out. However, upon seeing that Crank had secured 6 or more Dragoons, Dopa settled for occupying Crank's natural expansion. Afterward, Dopa built an expansion at his own natural to widen the resource gap, but had to retreat his front line against Crank's attack accompanied by a Reaver. Against Crank, who steadily advanced with an Observer in tow, Dopa gathered a large number of Dragoons for a final direct battle. Dopa fought desperately around the high ground while quickly picking off the Reaver, but as the gap in Dragoon numbers widened, Young Thirties secured the additional 1 million won in team prize money.