In perhaps the most interesting matches during the first round of the playoff bracket SaSe and Ret were fighting for a spot in the quarter finals at DreamHack.

In a match with no initial favourite, we have to look at recent results for either player to see who stands a better chance of advancing. Doing so SaSe's PvZ definitely stands out, following his impressive run at MLG in which the Swedish Protoss took out the likes of Leenock, viOLet and even Stephano in an effort which would eventually win him a fourth place finish and $5,500 of pocket money. Will the Swede be able to do the same thing again on home turf?

As both players follow their trademark economic openings, with Ret going fast 3 base while SaSe postponed his building for a fast nexus. By sheer build order Ret took an early strategical advantage, going to spire (and therefore mutalisks) whereas SaSe intended to go very immortal/sentry heavy. The action commenced when the situation was 4 base zerg versus 3 base protoss. Ret flew his recently popped muta's into the third with the intention to do economic damage, but ended up flying right on top of SaSe's ball of sentries, killing all of them in the process.

Obtaining a large army lead and having all the map control Ret went up to an astronomical 115 drones, while establishing another 2 bases. The drones came to use later as Ret threw up a forest of spines to defend his bases while harassing with his muta's. SaSe realized his economy couldn't keep up with Ret and saw himself forced to attack with a largely blink stalker and Templar army. Initially the Swede was looking very good with his push, utilizing strong feedbacks and storms to deal with Ret's defences. Ret however was able to get his muta's back just in the nick of time, and eventually shuts down the attack. While Ret advanced into his late-game infestor/brood lord army SaSe tried to continue his aggression with his mobile blink Stalker and Templar army. With his army and economy dwindling SaSe was eventually outlasted by Ret, who's Mutalisk play pretty much decided the game from the beginning on.

After standard openings amongst the rooftops of StarCraft 2's metropolis, in which Liquid`Ret went with zerglings and roaches while SaSe opted for sentries reinforced by stalkers and immortals, Ret took the offensive around the 10 minute mark. With waves of roaches and zerglings the Dutch player was able to contain SaSe in his base for a little while, denying map control and picking off updates. However, as the situation stabilizes and SaSe finally gets around to sorting out his army composition and updates, the momentum shifted in favour of the Swede.

Once again being met by a plethora of Spines the outcome looked somewhat bleak once again for SaSe, if it weren't for a crucial mistake by Ret. Having (miss)placed his greater spire relatively close to the battle, SaSe has no problem picking it off and impeding technological progress for the Dutch zerg by many minutes. As the situation further unfolds it turns out Ret had become too comfortable behind his early aggression, going very economical and lacking in crucial army units. SaSe tears through the defenses and equalizes the series, one all.

In the third game we see a change of mentality for the Swedish protoss, as instead of taking 3 bases and defending Ret's aggression the Swede opts to take the offensive himself, going for a 2-base timing attack. As Ret did virtually the same build as before the both players met in the middle of the map. The unexpected attack by Ret allowed him to pick off a few crucial units, but did not render the Swede unable to continue the aggression. As SaSe continued the attack a tense battle occurs outside of Ret's third. SaSe's lack of force fields allowed Ret's roaches to get a good concave on the Protoss army, meaning SaSe lost all of his offensive forces.

Ret instantly takes his chance and counters, but runs into a robust wall of buildings and on-point force fields. The twist in the game came as SaSe used one of his remaining hidden pylons to warp in a round of zealots and take down Ret's third base, while his forces were still being held off outside of the protoss base. With the two back on equal footing the situation stabilizes, however Ret's insistence on taking the offensive was costing him dearly in the long run. After attempts at fighting bits and pieces of SaSe's army Ret eventually amassed a force to try and kill the warping third of the Protoss. However in this losing effort Ret's attempt fails to kill the base, while SaSe manoeuvres his forces brilliantly around the map and towards Ret's main.

While SaSe ravages through Ret's buildings the retreating forces of the Dutch zerg are brilliantly force fielded outside of the base, meaning Ret had no means of defending. SaSe pulls some more magic out of his hat and advances into the quarterfinals of DreamHack Summer 2012.

Check out Cadred's DreamHack Summer Coverage Hub for all the latest and more on DreamHack Summer 2012.