In Group C of the Round of 16 in Google Play ASL Season 22, held at FreecUP Studio in Daechi-dong, Seoul on September 14, "The Iron Wall" Soulkey (Kim Min-chul) secured his spot in the quarterfinals by defeating Cho Il-jang 2-0 in the final match, avenging his earlier loss in the opening game.
In the elimination match with no remaining second chances, Jung Young-jae built an elevated Command Center to deceive his opponent. Soulkey was unable to accurately gauge his opponent's composition and produced a large number of Zerglings. When the Terran moved down to re-activate his natural expansion, Soulkey traded Zerglings for Marines. However, with the Zerg also severely lacking Drones and starved for resources, he desperately needed to inflict additional damage with Mutalisks.
Soulkey opted for a macro-oriented style, building Drones and teching up to Hive without overextending with his Mutalisks. He then inflicted heavy damage by using a mass of Mutalisks to destroy the Missile Turrets at the Terran's natural expansion. Jung Young-jae ignored this harassment and pushed forward with his bionic forces, but achieved no results. Despite having no additional expansions, Zerg remained in a playable state thanks to the heavy damage inflicted, eventually building up a large number of Lurkers. Defilers even reached the Terran's natural expansion while the Terran had not even produced Science Vessels. In the end, Soulkey overwhelmed Jung Young-jae with decisive decision-making to take Game 1.
In Game 2, Jung Young-jae applied pressure with a proxy 8-Rax while building a Factory in his main base. Soulkey cleanly defended against Jung's bunker rush with virtually no Drone losses. The Terran harassed the Zerg with Vultures and Wraiths while securing his natural expansion and preparing a Vulture drop. However, during the window when the Vultures pulled out, Zergling counter-attacks dealt massive damage to the Terran, allowing Soulkey to quickly finish off Jung Young-jae and advance to the final match.
Meeting again in the final match, Cho Il-jang and Soulkey faced off, with Soulkey opting for a 12 Hatchery opening while Cho Il-jang chose a 9 Drone Speedling build. Once his Zerglings spawned, Cho Il-jang took a long detour to avoid being spotted by Soulkey's Overlord. Although Soulkey realized his opponent's intentions late, he managed to hold his natural expansion and defend. However, a severe tech disparity emerged: Soulkey had not even started Lair tech yet, whereas Cho Il-jang had already built a Spire. Soulkey produced Drones while preparing Spore Colonies.
Cho Il-jang caught up by taking his natural expansion and replenishing Drones, but Soulkey turned the Mutalisk count in his favor and went on the attack, taking Game 1. In Game 2, Soulkey went for a 9 Drone build this time, while Cho Il-jang took his natural expansion after a Pool-first opening. However, Soulkey did not send his Zerglings out immediately; instead, he massed them to strike right as the Speed upgrade completed. Soulkey gained a huge advantage in this engagement and completed his Spire. Cho Il-jang was so starved for resources that despite having a Lair, he could not afford to build a Spire and had to resort to Spore Colonies instead.
The situation differed from Game 1. Once Soulkey secured Mutalisks, he traded hits with Spore Colonies to pick off Drones and pressured Cho Il-jang with Zerglings, leaving him no room to replenish Drones. Meanwhile, Soulkey took his natural expansion and secured even more Drones. Cho Il-jang kept pace well and managed to produce a large number of Mutalisks. However, Soulkey launched an attack right as his Mutalisk +2 Armor upgrade hit, overrunning Cho Il-jang's main base to secure second place in the group and advance to the quarterfinals.
