American StarCraft II community darling Artosis has just posted a VOD with commentary of a ladder game between American Zerg phenom Greg "IdrA" Fields and the most famous StarCraft professional gamer of all time, Lim Yo Hwan, aka Slayers'Boxer, on Youtube. The game takes place on Xel'Naga Caverns and it doesn't take long to see that the Emperor himself is behind the wheel of the Terran army once again. This game comes fresh off of reports that Boxer fully intends to give up Brood War to pursue StarCraft 2 full time.
The following is a brief synopsis of the events of the game, so stop reading now if you would like to avoid spoilers!
Boxer opens with a normal Reaper timing with Nitro packs, opting to wait until he has 3 Reapers to begin harassment. IdrA, possibly having faced off against Reaper openings once or twice before, deflects the harassment with minimal loss. It is Boxers transition into the mid-game which is especially fascinating, opting for a unique build that harkens heavily back to professional Brood War Korean playstyles. he expands quickly and opts for 2 raxes with reactors and Siege tanks, eventually mixing in reactor Medivacs. It's rare in Terran play to see more than one Barracks with a Reactor in early game play, but Boxer, utilizing his very strong micro, is choosing a very Marine heavy build for the mid-game.
The seemingly overwhelming macro of IdrA is thwarted time and time again by the dagger-like drops and harassment of Boxer, truly back in his element, controlling the map with power and style. IdrA is clealry uncomfortable having so much pressure put on him, but falling back on his strong mechanics, continues to produce and tech at alarming rates, all the while moving further and further ahead in the food count and spreading creep like wildfire over the map. But only the Emperor of Terran could make us think he has a good shot at winning while sitting 60 supply behind his opponent, and that's why we love him.
The drops continue while IdrAs force of Ultralisks and Infestors continues to grow, despite losing expansion Hatcheries multiple times. IdrA just can't quite seem to commit to an all-out attack while the terrifying Dropships of Boxer constantly crusade around the map, until eventually we see that IdrA, the great White Hype himself, is left only long distance mining. The game is dangerously close, and thanks to some ingenious placement of Siege Tanks at a crucial map control point, IdrA's army, while large and imposing is suffering and injured very badly.
Boxer's theatrical micro could not weather the storm in the end, however. Eventually the losses of expeditionary forces added up to too much economic pressure for the Emperor, and the preserved Ultralisks finally bore down with finality upon Boxer. But everyone saw glimpses in this game of the majesty and potential of StarCraft 2 in the hands of a legend.
