Week 139's of the Korean cup saw a poor turnout, highlighted by Dark, Cure, and SpeCial, presumably due to TSL9 being played offline in the Netherlands.

The semifinals were reached by all three of these players, who played admirably as was predicted. The semifinal matches went as expected, with Cure defeating SpeCial 2-0 and Dark defeating NightMare 2-0.

The Recap

Cure narrowly prevailed in the championship match against Dark by a score of 3-2 reverse sweep (VOD). In game one on Data-C, Cure started with proxy -Barracks, which was detected quite late by his opponent. Drones were used by Dark in an aggressive defense strategy that stopped the onslaught but cost him 7 Drones.

Dark managed to play himself into a macro game that was more or less even despite this expensive hold. After nearly 26 minutes of fighting, Dark finally won by overwhelming Cure because to his numerous expansions that allowed him to maintain control of the situation. Dark used an aggressive strategy early on with many Nyduses, so the second game on Waterfall was shorter. Cure's main was in ruins, and despite a few moments where he appeared to be stabilizing, he eventually had to tap out.

After those two games, Dark led 2-0, but Cure exhibited incredible tenacity to complete a reverse sweep. His Marine-Marauder combination plowed over the Zerg defenders on Tropical Sacrifice at a poor moment, and that was where it all began. The series was then tied 2-2 when Cure successfully countered Dark's early Ling-Roach push.

In the end, Cure won the crucial map of Inside and Out by successfully employing a variety of harass tactics; Hellions, Liberators, and Marines squads all dealt considerable damage. Dark was economically so far behind that he was forced to launch a desperate counterattack, and when he failed to close the gap, he GG'd out.

The Conclusion

Except Cure beating Dark, there were no real surprises at the Korean Cup. Despite that all the favorites won their matches, the tournament was pretty exciting, and considering that there’s a lot of time left before the finals, nothing is sure and nobody is safe – which guarantees one hell of a show.