DOOM’s Survivor Recap: Ep. 8

Full Episode 8 Link

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the final DOOM BLOG of Starcraft 2 Survivors (insert sad face here).

Damn… the way this feels… it’s almost as though I’ve got you all sitting at our own personal tribal council session – but have no fears, until we do a Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites you won’t have to experience the anxieties of that which is tribal. For now, the only feelings you may experience are happiness or sadness while I recap your favorite survivor making it or not making it to the final two. If you didn’t see last week’s episode, SPOILERS AHEAD!!

Reward Challenge: We brought back IMBA League zombie mode because simply put: it’s awesome. In reality, this is the most “fair” of the IMBA League maps and since we’ve only explored what would play out in a 1v1 + the fans of the show were clamoring for more this = giving it a go in free-for-all format for our final reward challenge of the game.

In a peculiar move (read: super risky), Tempo decides to off-race as protoss while Brent and kaitlyn go with Terran and Zerg respectively. It initially appears as though Tempo wants to cannon rush (brilliant!), but as soon as he figures out that he’s blocked in by rocks that plan totally goes to hell in a hand basket (d’oh!).

Already faced with the huge disadvantage of Brent & kaitlyn potentially helping each other win, Tempo looks as though he’s going to opt to subvert the rocks and go for quick protoss air upgrades and void rays (a solid choice considering the double investment you would get in a zombie void ray attack), but it’s quickly revealed as an inadvertent misclick while Brent continuously peppers away at Tempo with repears.

Tempo’s hopes at winning reward quickly fade away from him while kaitlyn goes into full gosu foresight mode and decides to take the handful of spots on the map zombies have yet to claim. With her superior macro and a seemingly never-ending flock of mutalisks, kaitlyn officially marks her place in Starcraft 2 Survivor history as ‘most likely to surive a zombie apocalypse’ and forces Brent to tap (little did Brent know, infinite zombie broodlings would eventually swarm kaitlyn and eliminate her remaining buildings, but this didn’t really matter, as the alliance really only needed to eliminate Tempo.)! With that, kaitlyn wins her 3rd challenge in a row (#BEASTMODE on twitter, folks).

Immunity Challenge: This was perhaps the most imbalanced reward to date, and who better than kaitlyn to be in possession of it (kaitlyn was very outspoken earlier in the game in regards to rewards being imbalanced or unfair)!

Just to clear the air, there was a pretty big discussion between not only Brent and kaitlyn – but Tempo too – in regards to what the final challenge would be. Rather than lock it up by picking something that her and Brent would easily be able to win at, kaitlyn actually indicates that she wants to put on a show for the fans and leaves the decision up to a vote!

At this point I was really thinking a blindside was in the works – why wouldn’t kaitlyn and Brent pick something that guarantees them top 2? The official book of Starcraft 2 Survivor odds says to pick what favors your alliance, take the ball, AND RUN TO THE FINAL 2!! (Official book of Starcraft 2 Survivor odds coming soon to an online marketplace near you)

But no, it turns out that the “vote” may have been a disguise to convince Tempo that she isn’t as dominant in the game as it seems, and alas, while Tempo wants Raynor Party and Brent wants a King of the Hill, kaitlyn decides to go with monobattles as the others collectively shrug in agreement.

Tempo is given the opportunity to choose whether units are picked or units are randomed and he wisely choose to leave it up to the heart of the cards and go for random.

This is it – the moment we’ve been waiting for: kaitlyn gets Reapers. Brent gets Reapers! And Tempo gets Banshees!!

Not the perfect scenario, but this means that kaitlyn & Brent will be forced to build missile turrents while Tempo essentially has two opportunities (don’t forget about the mulligan idol!) to defend any early pressure and planetary fortress push his way to victory!

…but he decides to play the mulligan idol to repick.

At the time, I didn’t think this was a bad move, but the resulting picks made it pretty heartbreaking.

kaitlyn gets Battle Cruisers (looking good for tempo). Brent gets Marauders (ouch). And Tempo gets…

…Banshees …again

Double ouch.

Tempo wisely tries to tech up to banshees by going for a fast planetary fortress for defense, but unfortunately for him Brent spawns way too close to not push the issue and without ample gas and enough space in base to build, Tempo’s hopes at winning final reward are crushed. Brent and kaitlyn end up duking it out in an epic battle of marauders + missile turrets vs. BCs + planetary fortresses and Brent solidifies himself in Starcraft 2 Survivor history as the first player ever to make the final 2 (Congrats Brent!!)

Tribal Council: Here we are… Will Brent flip on kaitlyn? Let me shoot it to you straight: Brent will not flip on kaitlyn.

Despite me saying it felt like Tempo was giving up, you could tell that he was subtly trying to get these two to come to his side throughout the entire game (magic carpet ride with kaitlyn, “native american” heritage with Brent). I absolutely loved Tempo’s answer to the legacy question, and I’ll be the first to admit I didn’t think he’d make it past the merge. All in all, it was a well played season for the “When I’m Grandmaster” superstar (what a sick ending tribute by Mr. Rifkin, btw!) but it wasn’t enough to get to the final two, as kaitlyn becomes our second survivor in the final two and Tempo becomes the fourth and final member of our jury.

Did I say Tempo was the final member of the jury?! I’m mistaken:

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, YOU ARE THE FINAL MEMBER OF THE JURY!

By donating to either kaitlyn or Brent, you have the power to potentially sway the title of Ultimate Survivor one way or the other. That’s right, we’re putting the power of the final jury vote in YOUR HANDS, and the player who raises the most money by the end of the final tribal council will receive the final community vote.

Will that vote matter in the grand scheme of things? Only time will tell! Tune in FRIDAY at 3PM EDT on twitch.tv/basetradetv for our FINAL TRIBAL COUNCIL where our jury members will do their best to get in the minds of our final two survivors and we will crown the first ever, Starcraft 2 Survivor.

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