ESFI World

The second installment of the $10,000 NASL Team League took place this week as competition between the eight foreign powerhouses continued to heat up.

In the round robin stage, the teams' strengths and weaknesses are exposed as each team plays each of the other seven once in a rotating seven-week schedule. Each round-robin match begins with four one-versus-one matches in which each player can play only one game. If after the four games a team has taken three wins, they take the match. If the teams tie at two, however, a best-of-three ace match takes place to determine the winner.

The following maps have been hand-picked for the Team League by the NASL organization:

• TPW Ohana
• TPW Artifice
• TPW One Must Fall
• TPW Damage Inc
• TPW Odyssey
• NASL Antiga Shipyard
• GSL Daybreak

Week 2 Results

NASL Team League: Week 2 Results

Evil Geniuses	1-3	FXOpen e-Sports	Match Page
Team Empire	3-0	Quantic Gaming	Match Page
RoX.KIS	1-3	Team ReIGN	Match Page
Mousesports	2-3	Team Liquid	Match Page

Match of the Week

Putting up the longest fight and most enticing matches in this week's NASL Team League, Mousesports vs. Team Liquid played a fierce and grueling series.

Starting on Artifice, the players spawned vertically across from one another. As they both fast-expanded, Sheth managed to get his spawning pool and extractor out miles before biGs. After seeing biGs' high drone count, Sheth made fourteen zerglings while biGs prepared himself with a baneling nest. At the six minute mark, Sheth's zerglings attacked. With the baneling nest unfinished and biGs' queen blocking the ramp, Sheth was able to kill both queens before losing his last few units. Sheth had not, however, killed any drones and so the question remained: could Sheth make up the distance in economy while biGs' larvae production was crippled without his queens.

As both players began to macro, Sheth built a fast third, but biGs was well aware and took his own third along with a roach warren and +1 ranged attack.

With some good baneling play to follow, Sheth eliminated biGs' third while he countered by trying to take out Sheth's second expansion. biGs was now behind in both drones (fifty two to fourty four) and bases, continuing to fall further as Sheth equalized upgrades and won the game. 

Now 2-0 for Team Liquid as Zenio took out MaNa with great mutalisk and baneling play, Mousesports' fate in the series hung by a thread. On the next map, TPW's One Must Fall, Mouz would find luck though as MorroW took a quick win against Ret with a two barracks bunker rush making the series score 2-1 in favor of Liquid.

ThorZaIN, playing with a loosened collar after MorroW's victory against Ret, now found himself facing HerO on Antiga Shipyard. Scouting one another thoroughly, both players chose to fast expand, however ThorZaIN appeared to be preparing for a two-base timing as four barracks had already finished before his second orbital command. With only two gateways and ThorZaIN not pressuring yet at all, HerO warped in a twilight council for a fast blink upgrade, hoping to gain map control and the upper hand. ThorZaIN then chose to stall his marine attack for the stim upgrade, but it had barely started when HerO's blink technology was only seconds from completion.

Despite the large number of early barracks, ThorZaIN had missed his opportunity to attack HerO before blink and extra warpgates began to complete. With the assurance of blink finished and charge on the way, HerO invested in a third nexus while Thorzain continued to wait for a long list of upgrades: concussive shells, medivacs, +1 attack and stim pack.

As the templar archives warped in, HerO's third had finally completed. ThorZaIN then decided to push out, perhaps not realizing that his opponent held a thirty supply lead. Ultimately, ThorZaIN's motivation did not matter as HerO trapped all of ThorZaIN's units in what one might describe as a Protoss Big Dipper of forcefields. Having dealt significant damage to HerO's unit count, ThorZaIN stepped out of the ring and began to play catch-up as he constructed his third command center. HerO, perhaps miffed after a battle that seemed at the beginning to be in his favor, called in the big guns and summoned high templars for archons. ThorZaIN was already ahead of the tech switch, however, producing ghosts while getting +1 infantry armor.

ThorZaIN, per his usual style, continued to upgrade while producing marines, marauders, and ghosts. Meanwhile HerO had finally started his own upgrades at 1/1 and had invested in a robotics bay and storm technology. In the end, it was a failed warp prism harassment from HerO that triggered ThorZaIN to attack the third and take the win.

It was now down to the ace match as Mousesports elected ThorZaIN to face Team Liquid's Ret. Starting on TPW Ohana, ThorZaIN took a risk and tried to perform a proxy two barracks play, but it was quickly spotted by the fast expanding Ret. As ThorZaIN marched forward with six marines and three SCVs, Ret took the fight to him and engaged with ten drones. Trying to delay long enough for his zerglings to come out and disabling reinforcements with the pulled drones, ThorZaIN was forced to reevalutate his position.

ThorZaIN, realizing that he had passed the point of no return, continued to produce marines from his two proxy barracks while adding three more, leaving his main completely bare and open to an attack.

Finally, ThorZaIN once again moved into Ret's base with twenty-eight marines to three spinecrawlers and a handful of zerglings. Ret, however, had his trump card: a baneling next. Baiting Ret to defend his second entrance with spine crawlers, ThorZaIN pushed the front again. Ret then massed as many zerglings and banelings as possible, but ThorZaIN pushed through ignoring the second base and trying to completely wipe out the main. Ret's drones got a good surround but ThorZaIN's marines continued to rack up kills. Once the fighting was over, the numbers showed that Ret was still up in workers: twenty four drones to twelve SCVs. One last desperate push from ThorZaIN proved fruitless as the game ended at the thirteen minute mark.

Game two and three were then split as ThorZaIN took game two against strong mutalisk play from Ret who eventually won game three to give Team Liquid the victory.

Watch the rest of the VODs from this series and more on NASL's YouTube page: YouTube.com/NAStarLeague