What an evening! We expected great players and good games, but what we got was so much more than that. From Colossus drops to Battlecruiser vs Void Ray action, the first Team Liquid Starcraft 2 Invitational delivered and delivered in style. The tournament, which was played out over four rounds, was casted throughout by TL's own Sean "Day[9]" Plott. As game after game unfolded and players dropped out and others advanced, the tension mounted as some of today's top RTS players rose to the top. Here is the action as we saw it here, live.
WhiteRa 3:1 TheLittleOne WhiteRa < Lost Temple > TheLittleOne WhiteRa < Scrap Station > TheLittleOne WhiteRa < Kulas Ravine > TheLittleOne WhiteRa < Steppes of War > TheLittleOne WhiteRa < Metalopolis > TheLittleOne
From long drawn out macro games to quick and dirty proxies that resulted in much hilarity, this tournament did not disappoint. Whether you were completely new to the world of Starcraft, or had played SC2's predecessor since it was first released, this event had something from you. Players from the Broodwar, Warcraft 3 and even Supcom spheres came together to celebrate not just SC2, but the art of RTS in general, for if today showed us anything, it was that a good Real Time Strategy game can produce moments of intensity that other genres can only gawk at.
Speaking of gawking though, we know you're waiting for those replays. Well, here they are! Download, analyse, theorise - they're yours for the taking.
Now, on to what you've been waiting for. If you hung out on IRC with us, you'd have seen people go nuts during the finals. Not only was the Bo5 an intense series, it was an interesting one. Bringing two players from vastly different backgrounds together, it pitched them together in a tussle that was by all accounts, a showdown to remember. In the aftermath of a fantastic series, let's now see what Oleksiy "White-Ra" Krupnyk and Dario "TheLittleOne" Wünsch, our Champion and Runner-Up respectively, have to say about what went down today.
First, we're going to dive into the psyche of TheLittleOne, who in the course of an evening played SC2 in ways that many of us had never seen before, did so in style, and went through some of today's top contenders to reach the finals of the TLI. Now with a fanclub on TL, Dario Wünsch sat down to tell us what's what.
A Little Less Conversation, A Little More Action
By Chobopeon
TeamLiquid.net: First off, congratulations on second place. Can you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about who you are?
TheLittleOne: Thanks a lot. My name is Dario Wünsch, I am from Leipzig in Germany and 19 years old. Right now I am studying Anglistics in the 2nd semester.
TeamLiquid.net: Very cool. Can you tell us a little bit about your gaming history? You were a very good Brood War gamer, yes? What else have you played competitively?
TheLittleOne: I used to play WarCraft 1 so I've stuck with the Blizzard games for quite while. I played broodwar from 2002-2004 but then lost the interest in gaming for some time. The game which hooked me again was Supreme Commander an excellent RTS which didnt get the credit it actually deserved. Its about 1 year now that I started playing broodwar again, but this time I trained really really hard and got to the b+/a- level.
TeamLiquid.net: So congratulations once again on your second place. Even though you didn't win the tournament, you've gained a LOT of fans. I think every one of the 5,000+ viewers today was completely impressed with your creative play. What we're all wondering is, how much of you can we expect to see? How much time are you putting into the game and what are your plans for the future? I think I speak for everyone when I say the more LittleOne the better.
TheLittleOne: Right now I have semester break so I could play 4-6 hours a day. But in 1 week this will be all over and I will return to my 2-4 hour routine. Luckily I am not a mechanical player so I hope it wont effect my skill too much. How much you can expect of me? Well I will try to take part in as many tournaments as possible. I hope one day that I might actually be able to make money from e-sport so that I can live from it. Maybe not as player but somehow connected to the scene.
TeamLiquid.net: Yeah, you won a lot of fans with your creative play today. How much of your games are improvised and how much do you have planned? Throughout the tournament, you seemed to be able to transition back and forth between styles and units. Is that all premeditated or done on the fly?
TheLittleOne: Partly it was planned, like the shuttle play. But in the 2nd game vs Nazgul I had no clue what was going to happend next, I just felt like trying out something new. Most players only use like 2-3 units in 1 match right now. I think thats kinda discriminating to the others!
TeamLiquid.net: During game 2 vs Nazgul I think everyone thought on several occasions that you were going to lose but you somehow managed to pull it out with great marine counters and nukes. Did you think you were going to lose at any point during that game? Were you close to typing 'gg'?
TheLittleOne: I was thinking that I was going to lose ALL the time. But hope dies last.
TeamLiquid.net: Do you have a favorite moment from the tournament?
TheLittleOne: I think I pick the 2nd game vs White-ra. Killing him with my last drones was really cool^^
TeamLiquid.net: Do you plan on choosing a single race at some point or will you stay random?
TheLittleOne: I will stay random as long as I am able to compete with the top players. Only think that I dont like about random is that I might get zvz and thats soo boring
TeamLiquid.net: Have you played White-ra before? Have the games gone anything like this? Because these seemed very crazy but watching your other games it becomes evident that the craziness is a theme for you
TheLittleOne: I played White-ra a lot in ladder already and he beat me most of the time. The games before this tournament were pretty standard though. I think White-ra is a really great player and a nice guy. So I am pretty happy with who won the invitational. He really deserved it.
TeamLiquid.net: Great. Thanks for the time and congratulations again on second place. Have fun with all the new fans
TheLittleOne: I thank you ^^. this day went really unexpected lol, I think I am going offline now, drinking some beer^^
Of course, you can't talk about foreign Starcraft without mentioning White-Ra. A veteran in every sense of the word, he has been around the community for yonks and is known to everyone as a good manner, exceptionally talented Protoss. With the arrival of SC2 he began tearing up the ladder and at the time TLI was being organised was the player with the most ladder games played on the EU server. Today, he walked away with 300$ in cash as the winner of the 1st Team Liquid Starcraft 2 Invitational, a title that he will no doubt be remembered for. Let's see what he has to say about that.
White-RAWR
By Chobopeon
TeamLiquid.net: Congratulations on first!
White-ra: Thanks! I did it^^
TeamLiquid.net: Very impressive, too! Can you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about who you are?
White-Ra: Ohh, I think many people know me but we will get a bigger community in SC2 so maybe some don't know me. I live in a beautiful city near the Black Sea. My name is Aleksey, a very old progamer ^^
TeamLiquid.net: Yeah, I think most know you and we're all big fans. How do you feel about your victory against TheLittleOne? Those were some great, great games.
White-Ra: Yeah, TheLittleOne played very well and had interesting build orders. He's like Testie in SC1 (Testie hihi, hope you come back in SC2 -_-). But all the same, I could break its resistance. I am very glad because this is my first victory in SC2.
TeamLiquid.net: Have you played TheLittleOne before this? Were the games anything like these crazy ones?
White-Ra: Actually, this is the first time I've played him in SC2 but before I participated in many competitions with him.
TeamLiquid.net: What was going through your mind during these games?
White-Ra: All the games were interesting but the one on my mind is game 2 on Scrap Station. I've seen that type of game before but very rarely and I know he's very strong. Eventually, time started to work against me and I had to take action when he killed my probes.
TeamLiquid.net: Do you have a favorite moment from the tournament?
White-Ra: Yeah, my 2 Immortal harrass against TheLittleOne and my defense push against Brat_OK in game 2.
TeamLiquid.net: Congratulations again on a really impressive victory!
White-Ra: Thanks and all greetings and good luck!
Well, with that we're done for now, and exhausted, but in a good way. If you joined us for the cast, you don't need to be told that it was a cracker evening. If you missed it, the reps are above, with VODs on the way. Thanks for tuning in, and see you next time. Congratulations once again to our podium finishers - good games!
Thanks A number of people helped make this tournament a success. The TL staff would like to thank today's participants for accepting our invitation and coming to share a great evening of SC2 with us. Also, thank you Nyovne, Naruto, Keit and Shauni for always being ready to take one for Team Liquid. You guys rock! Last but not least, thank you QuothTheRaven for working so hard on the VODs.
This post was made by the Team Liquid Starcraft 2 Coverage Team. For more of TL's coverage, please visit the Team Liquid Starcraft 2 Beta Page.
On March 28 2010 06:09 Alur wrote: "Some guy say me, 'i win tournament.' But, he lie." - White-Ra, March 27th, 2010
god damn it, white-ra is such a baller. TLO got a lot of the love because of his crazy play this tournament but it's hard to ignore the strong play and politeness of ra
plus with quotes like that, how can you not love him?
i want to write an article about TheLittleOne that highlights how he says "hf gl" to start every game instead of "gl hf"
While you're weighed down by the oppressive chains of repetition and building drones (you are a drone), your insincere "GL HF" goes ignored and is, in the end, a waste of key strokes.
TheLittleOne, intent on demonstrating just what true freedom is, breaks the shackles of conformity with a "hf gl" and his opponents are blown away before their first peon pops out by his sincerity, his creativity, his wit and his good looks.
Grab a permanent marker, TLO, and sign your autograph on my chest.
Nice short interviews. Both are really good mannered! Well done to the organizers once again! I slept early to stay up for the whole thing and missed dinner
On March 28 2010 06:32 Jyvblamo wrote: Wait, TLO says he played White-ra on the ladder before, but White-ra says he never played him before this tournament? A bit confused...
Anyways, cool interviews ^^ Going to enjoy these replays a lot.
white-ra may have thought i was asking him if he's played TLO in a tournament for sc2. i dont know!
TeamLiquid.net: Have you played White-ra before? Have the games gone anything like this? Because these seemed very crazy but watching your other games it becomes evident that the craziness is a theme for you
TheLittleOne: I played White-ra a lot in ladder already and he beat me most of the time. The games before this tournament were pretty standard though. I think White-ra is a really great player and a nice guy. So I am pretty happy with who won the invitational. He really deserved it.
TeamLiquid.net: Have you played TheLittleOne before this? Were the games anything like these crazy ones?
White-Ra: Actually, this is the first time I've played him in SC2 but before I participated in many competitions with him.
TeamLiquid.net: Have you played White-ra before? Have the games gone anything like this? Because these seemed very crazy but watching your other games it becomes evident that the craziness is a theme for you
TheLittleOne: I played White-ra a lot in ladder already and he beat me most of the time. The games before this tournament were pretty standard though. I think White-ra is a really great player and a nice guy. So I am pretty happy with who won the invitational. He really deserved it.
TeamLiquid.net: Have you played White-ra before? Have the games gone anything like this? Because these seemed very crazy but watching your other games it becomes evident that the craziness is a theme for you
TheLittleOne: I played White-ra a lot in ladder already and he beat me most of the time. The games before this tournament were pretty standard though. I think White-ra is a really great player and a nice guy. So I am pretty happy with who won the invitational. He really deserved it.
It was a really great Tournament, but sadly, so many good games went unstreamed and uncommentated, which is sad for ppl that can't watch the reps. I think it would be awesome if more ppl streamed in the first rounds or if VoD's are made of the games or sth.
We should really keep looking out for the ppl that don't have Beta right now - they're being punished enough by not being able to play SC2....
Don't get me wrong - I'm not downsizing the effort ppl made with broadcasting this tournament, just maybe give some incentive for some nice Day[9]-Daily's or some other ppl that like commentating and making VoD's!
I'm watching the replays right now and so far the games have been absolutely freaking awesome!
Btw. TLO has great mechanics, imba mapcontrol and a great understanding of the game from what I've seen, so ppl sayin' he just cheeses or sth should check out his reps - pretty amazing stuff.
And finally a Tourney that wasn't dominated by Z and T!
Oh the best results possible!!! I rooted for Ra coz he is Ukrainian and such a great personality. I also rooted for TheLittleOne coz I saw his reps and I really liked his strategical choices and BOs, and also he is playing random. I expected him to show good games but didn't think he would go that far. Also glad he made it to the GF so I can now watch maximum of his reps . Congrats to all 3 winners.
For vods check out: http://www.youtube.com/user/nevake Right now under favourites you can see he has uploaded other games, they just haven´t been processed yet. Shouldn´t be too long before we can watch them
On March 28 2010 07:42 calin wrote: For vods check out: http://www.youtube.com/user/nevake Right now under favourites you can see he has uploaded other games, they just haven´t been processed yet. Shouldn´t be too long before we can watch them
edit: finals are up
Thanks alot for the heads=up
Although I only caught glimpses of this, it sounds really sick
Congratulations to the winners! They did a spectacular job.
While it goes without saying that White-Ra and TheLittleOne did really well, I was really impressed with Nazgul's play. Even though he has not played competitively in years, he proved today that he still has what it takes to fight with the best of them. A well deserved third place!
I'll be making VODs of all the Ro8 sets that weren't covered by Day[9]. Most of the VODs are already finished being processed, so look for them to be uploaded on YouTube to the Nevake account sometime tomorrow!
I might pick and choose a set or two from the Ro16, if I see one that's particularly good (probably going to cover TheLittleOne vs. MorroW at least).
TeamLiquid.net: Have you played White-ra before? Have the games gone anything like this? Because these seemed very crazy but watching your other games it becomes evident that the craziness is a theme for you
TheLittleOne: I played White-ra a lot in ladder already and he beat me most of the time. The games before this tournament were pretty standard though. I think White-ra is a really great player and a nice guy. So I am pretty happy with who won the invitational. He really deserved it.
TheLittleOne was the most creative and original Supreme Commander player you could find. That game offered a lot of strategic options and TLO explored them in awesome ways! I'm really excited to see him playing at this level in Sc2.
On March 28 2010 20:49 Acies wrote: What resolution are the vods in? I downloaded the 720p ones from youtube but they appear to be of lower quality.
The VODs should be in 1080p. YouTube first uploads them in very basic quality, then takes a couple hours to process them before they're available in HD. You probably downloaded them before they were finished processing.
Nazgul vs TheLittleOne game2 was epic!!!!!! I saw it on the commentary by husky and it was really long but i think was the best game of the tournament!
On March 29 2010 02:38 riptide wrote: Nazgul vs TheLittleOne Ro4 series was uploaded (thanks QuothTheRaven) and is currently processing. It has been added to the vod list in the post.
Wohooo! Thanks you! Left in the middle of that game thinking the technical problems would force a replay only to come back to find one of the most EPIC SC2 games ever STILL RUNNING! Finally i can fill in the blanks and still have Day9 casting :D
Edit: guess only the first game has been uploaded so far, did watch that one. No worries though, still waiting patiently, eventually it'll appear on /striderdoom as well so :>
i just watched all of the reps and i gotta say that was an afternoon well spent
it was pretty cool to see my two favourite players get into finals. i really liked whiteras toss and who cannot love thelittleones cool builds and random play
one thing i didnt get was why thelittleone cancelled that roach warren in the last game. i guess it was to scare whitera or whatever, but roaches couldve been really good at that moment anyways, i think he kinda overdid it with the creativeness there
In 1st game LittleOne and Morrow both started well and got their expansions up. But Morrow was massing Maradeurs whole game whereas LittleOne transitioned to other units. Is terran's mech so useless? Or are terrans so used to that Maradeurs rape everything? LittleOne was using tanks in TvT and did well.
After watching the semifinals and finals, I have to say the player that deserved to win did not.
Why?
TheLittleOne's OVERALL better play, his creative new builds, and his ability to adapt as games drag on.
TheLittleOne's polite demeanor. When I read WhiteRa's comments, then read TheLittleOne's, I thought WhiteRa sounded... Well I don't want to start a flame war here, so lets just say he sounded a teeny weeny bit arrogant.
How lucky WhiteRa was with his scouting and attacks on expansions, almost right when they came up. If I didn't respect WhitaRa as a player from his SC1 days, I would be screaming MAP HACKS all over the place.
TheLittleOne PLAYS FREAKIN' RANDOM.
So basically those are my thoughts. I've been a long time reader on the TL forums and just now signed up, because I thought I had to say something about this, and in my mind, TheLittleOne steamrolled WhiteRa in his caliber as a player.
On March 29 2010 16:20 TLOBrian wrote: After watching the semifinals and finals, I have to say the player that deserved to win did not.
Why?
TheLittleOne's OVERALL better play, his creative new builds, and his ability to adapt as games drag on.
TheLittleOne's polite demeanor. When I read WhiteRa's comments, then read TheLittleOne's, I thought WhiteRa sounded... Well I don't want to start a flame war here, so lets just say he sounded a teeny weeny bit arrogant.
How lucky WhiteRa was with his scouting and attacks on expansions, almost right when they came up. If I didn't respect WhitaRa as a player from his SC1 days, I would be screaming MAP HACKS all over the place.
TheLittleOne PLAYS FREAKIN' RANDOM.
So basically those are my thoughts. I've been a long time reader on the TL forums and just now signed up, because I thought I had to say something about this, and in my mind, TheLittleOne steamrolled WhiteRa in his caliber as a player.
Even Jaedong doesn't win all of his matches. He's best with ZvZ but he doesn't win every time in ZvZ. Flash or other top players don't win every time. SC, SC2 and all RTS for that matter has a luck factor to it (mostly due to timing of attacks and unit composition). Higher macro/micro and creativity does not mean you will win every game. It only increases the chance of winning.
I do agree WhiteRa is less creative but he's a solid player. He doesn't crumble under pressure and know what to do in most of situations. WhiteRa was thrown off guard by TLO's innovative play but he responded accordingly. WhiteRa at the end won because TLO randomed protoss a lot. WhiteRa is possibly one of the best PvP players in SC2. If TLO concentrates on one race (plz let it be terran) I believe TLO will be a great SC2 progamer.
On March 29 2010 16:20 TLOBrian wrote: After watching the semifinals and finals, I have to say the player that deserved to win did not.
Why?
TheLittleOne's OVERALL better play, his creative new builds, and his ability to adapt as games drag on.
TheLittleOne's polite demeanor. When I read WhiteRa's comments, then read TheLittleOne's, I thought WhiteRa sounded... Well I don't want to start a flame war here, so lets just say he sounded a teeny weeny bit arrogant.
How lucky WhiteRa was with his scouting and attacks on expansions, almost right when they came up. If I didn't respect WhitaRa as a player from his SC1 days, I would be screaming MAP HACKS all over the place.
TheLittleOne PLAYS FREAKIN' RANDOM.
So basically those are my thoughts. I've been a long time reader on the TL forums and just now signed up, because I thought I had to say something about this, and in my mind, TheLittleOne steamrolled WhiteRa in his caliber as a player.
White-Ra really isn't arrogant as far as I can tell. The reason he wasn't giving nice, long answers and the reason he might not come across as a pillar of modesty or something in this interview is because we had a very short amount of time and the guy doesn't speak english well. TLO is certainly a nice guy and he gave a nice interview but blame me for getting short and seemingly curt answers out of White-Ra.
From the brief interaction I had with him, he seems like a decent guy.
That said, they both played really well. Can't wait for the NA tourny.
Totally awesome games, love the Day[9] commentating and spent an awesome few hours watching these. SC2 is already in my eyes far more interesting to watch than SC1 and it can only get better as play develops. Yay to White-ra for winning especially as he has always shown class and manner. Yay to TLO for taking 2nd because his playstyle in just this tournament will, I think, change the way certain races are played and open up peoples eyes to how unique you can get with sc2. Yay to all the rest of the contenders for interesting games and making this a super spiffy TL invitational! Yay also to TL for making this happen...made my day off very entertaining!
Now to go rewatch that tlo v nazgul and tlo v ra game2 because they were both so incredibly fun to spectate that I require a 2nd viewing ^_^
hey, i'm new and sorry if this is the wrong place to ask, but can someone direct me to a place i can download the VOD's for this tournament. I love to watch SC2 tourneys on my ipod between classes. I could use a firefox addon to dl the youtube videos, but didn't know if there was better way. (torrent, direct download links, etc.) Thanks!
Also, just wanna say what a great tournament, and great shoutcasting by Day[9], don't get yourself electrocuted by your webcam!
On March 29 2010 23:48 Nighthorns wrote: hey, i'm new and sorry if this is the wrong place to ask, but can someone direct me to a place i can download the VOD's for this tournament. I love to watch SC2 tourneys on my ipod between classes. I could use a firefox addon to dl the youtube videos, but didn't know if there was better way. (torrent, direct download links, etc.) Thanks!
Also, just wanna say what a great tournament, and great shoutcasting by Day[9], don't get yourself electrocuted by your webcam!
VODs are in the original post on youtube. I don't see anything in the tracker, so you'll have to download it from youtube i guess. that's not really a big deal, if you google around there's easy ways to do this.
On March 29 2010 16:20 TLOBrian wrote: After watching the semifinals and finals, I have to say the player that deserved to win did not.
Why?
TheLittleOne's OVERALL better play, his creative new builds, and his ability to adapt as games drag on.
TheLittleOne's polite demeanor. When I read WhiteRa's comments, then read TheLittleOne's, I thought WhiteRa sounded... Well I don't want to start a flame war here, so lets just say he sounded a teeny weeny bit arrogant.
How lucky WhiteRa was with his scouting and attacks on expansions, almost right when they came up. If I didn't respect WhitaRa as a player from his SC1 days, I would be screaming MAP HACKS all over the place.
TheLittleOne PLAYS FREAKIN' RANDOM.
So basically those are my thoughts. I've been a long time reader on the TL forums and just now signed up, because I thought I had to say something about this, and in my mind, TheLittleOne steamrolled WhiteRa in his caliber as a player.
What an absolutely bizarre post. It's one thing to cheer for a player you like or compliment his style, but it's a completely different thing to make subtle accusations and tear down another player to do so.
Yes, TLO is good. He's creative, dynamic, and yes, very polite. But so is White-Ra. He's widely considered one of the most mannered foreigners around.
The fact that you'd attribute his wins to pure luck, and not his notorious preparation and thoughtfulness, is pretty insulting.
What I think is humorous is how tlobrian thinks White-ra's scouting was lucky. Sign of high level play is how they know exactly when and where to be at just the right time to learn what is going on on the map. When an opponent attacks my expansion just as it goes up I don't mentally think "oh that lucky sob!" instead I think "wow nice skill."
There are always people that view skill as luck and it says a whole lot about their ability to perceive the world around them.
TLO showed awesome adaptability and really unique gameplay, I was blown away. White-ra showed pure unadulterated preparation for anything and everything, combined with intensely crisp play. It was a pure pleasure to watch both of them especially because of the diverse styles of play clashing head to head in the final!
On March 30 2010 09:06 BroOd wrote: What an absolutely bizarre post. It's one thing to cheer for a player you like or compliment his style, but it's a completely different thing to make subtle accusations and tear down another player to do so.
Yes, TLO is good. He's creative, dynamic, and yes, very polite. But so is White-Ra. He's widely considered one of the most mannered foreigners around.
The fact that you'd attribute his wins to pure luck, and not his notorious preparation and thoughtfulness, is pretty insulting.
WhiteRa is a really good player, one of the best foreigners, and I didn't mean to insult anyone. Its just that in some of his games, he was extremely lucky to be in the situations that he was. It just seemed like he knew where expos were going down and forces were moving in a lot of situations.
Now, what I really want to get at now is the fact that TheLittleOne had the capacity to play at tournament level and WIN with all three races, and WhiteRa had a HUGE problem with any matchup (Versus the little one) he faced except PvP.
Had TheLittleOne not gotten Protoss, he would've won, hands down.
I've downloaded the replay pack and I'm getting this error: "The game makes reference to invalid or unavailable files". This is since patch 11. I've not tried to watch replays of games other than my own before this so I don't know if this is a new issue. I've seen it reported on various forums but can't find a fix. Any help?
I've downloaded the replay pack and I'm getting this error: "The game makes reference to invalid or unavailable files". This is since patch 11. I've not tried to watch replays of games other than my own before this so I don't know if this is a new issue. I've seen it reported on various forums but can't find a fix. Any help?