Game 1 – Waterfall (Bunny win): Bunny opened with an unorthodox 2-Barracks strategy, delaying his expansion and tech to rush out three Reapers quickly. On the other side of the map, herO planned to go for some type of Blink-Robo build.
Whatever herO’s original intent was, we never found out, as he ate a quick one-two Terran combo. Bunny sacrificed his Reapers to kill 5 Probes and a Zealot and then followed up with a fast and powerful no-stim Marine-Tank-Liberator push at the 5:30 mark. herO barely managed to survive by the skin of his teeth but was left with a huge army deficit. Bunny came back with another powerful army a few minutes later, this time forcing the GG out of herO.
As for herO, he didn’t commit to any big Gateway unit timing with his mineral advantage and instead chose to play things out slowly. He used Oracles and Phoenixes to perform effective harassment, putting himself in a great mid-game position with a better economy and stronger army. He furthered his lead when Bunny started to move out on the map, using backdoor Zealot warp-ins to put the Terran at a severe economic disadvantage.
Bunny’s only hope was to try and use the infantry + mines army he had gathered to win a battle decisively, but herO would allow nothing of the sort. He used his Phoenixes to execute a devastating mine-drag over the Terran infantry, taking all of the steam out of Bunny’s offensive. After a few more failed drops and attacks, Bunny realized the game was a lost cause and surrendered.
Bunny was rapidly headed toward another defeat, but had a slim chance of turning things around when his 1/1 infantry upgrades finished. He went for the good ol’ fashioned ‘pull the boys’ move, bringing his SCV’s along for a desperate attack with his Marine-Tank-Medivac force.
With Chargelots, Phoenixes, and some Disruptors starting to come out, herO seemed like he was in position to defend without too much trouble. However, a second of inexplicable miscontrol cost him dearly, as his Phoenixes were wiped out after pausing bizarrely above enemy Marines. Bunny ruthlessly took advantage of the situation, crushing the Protoss army in a game-deciding fight to take the comeback victory.
Bunny turned out to have another aggressive move up his sleeve, this time going for fast pressure with Marines, 2 Cyclones, and a Medivac. herO did not anticipate this at all—he blindly shaded 3 Adepts into Terran territory looking to harass, only to lose them all to advancing Marines and Cyclones. herO made the snap decision to split his forces, using his Oracles to initiate a backdoor attack while trying to stall with Stalkers and Overcharge back at home. Unfortunately for herO, this semi-basetrade didn’t work out at all, as he lost far more Probes than the SCV’s he killed (we can’t say for sure things would have gone better if he had committed to a full defense instead).
Bunny played great from his advantageous position, pressuring herO constantly while also retaining his economic lead. While herO was able to buy some time with storms on defense, he was eventually worn down by relentless Terran infantry attacks.
This segued beautifully into his 4-Gate Blink follow-up—it’s hard enough for Terrans to stop this when playing standard, so you can imagine how tough it was for Bunny with a failed 2-Barracks opener delaying the timings on all his crucial tech. herO executed his attack with clinical precision, wringing the GG out of Bunny at around the 7:15 mark on the clock.
Yet, somehow this wasn’t an auto-lose type of disaster for herO. Due to Bunny playing quite cautiously after scouting the proxy, his tech was delayed and most of the advantage he accrued was in early-game army count. When Bunny declined to go for an immediate counter-attack, that gave herO the breathing room to establish three bases and try and play for a longer macro game (in hindsight, Bunny might have been able to win by pulling some SCVs and going for the kill sooner). Bunny only had a marginal advantage when he finally advanced with Stim and Medivacs, and good defensive storm usage from herO actually swung the game in favor of the Protoss side.
A good mine-drop from Bunny kept the Protoss snowball from rolling downhill even faster, but it wasn’t enough to stop the every-splash-unit deathball from coming together. Disruptors arrived on time to counter Ghosts, and Bunny found himself unable to take any good engagements. Rather, it was herO’s attacks into bad positions that kept Bunny in the game, but he was never so reckless as to give Bunny an opportunity to retake the lead. Eventually, herO assembled an overwhelming Protoss force and collected the series-tying GG from Bunny.
When herO saw Bunny’s troops crossing the map, he took some of his Blink-Stalkers aside to try and cut off reinforcements. Some clever Medivac use from Bunny let him sneak his way around, giving him three Tanks sieging up right below herO’s ramp. However, Bunny erred in placing his Tanks a little too far apart, which herO exploited with a decisive move. His Stalkers and Immortals leapt forward for just a moment, focusing down two out of three tanks before pulling back.
This move made it impossible for Bunny to actually push up herO’s ramp, opening up herO’s Blink-Stalker cadre to simply counter-attack Bunny’s lightly defended main. Not only did this cut off a few rounds of reinforcements, but it bit deeply into Bunny’s SCV count as well.
Bunny retreated from his siege position to regroup back at home, but the game had already spiraled out of control. herO joined his Stalkers, Disruptor, and Immortals together and charged into the Terran natural. The Terran defenders were woefully outgunned, and Bunny had no choice but to type out the final GG.
