This weekend, us Americans will be busy doing what we do best – putting on a brash, expensive, over-the-top spectacle. Of course, what's an eSports spectacle without Koreans, by and large the best players in the world? IPL has certainly spared no expense in that department, as nearly forty top-notch Korean players will be in attendance at Las Vegas. On the other hand, Europe will be glancing sideways at their noisy friends across the Atlantic and their enigmatically gifted guests as they hold their own, cozier kinds of celebrations.
There are three major European LANs taking place over the weekend: Copenhagen Games in Denmark, Gamers Assembly in France, and The Gathering in Norway. European LANs have long been standard-bearers of esports, and the tradition has continued in recent years with the inclusion of large Starcraft II tournaments for pro-gamers and amateurs alike. With nearly €30,000 in prizes being awarded over the weekend, business is indeed, serious.
While the Koreans have been entirely distracted by the fanfare of IPL4, many of the best European pro-gamers have chosen to play closer to home. For some it may be a sign of commitment to their local scenes, though for many it's likely to be the result of a shrewd financial decision. Whatever the reason may be, they have made these three tournaments harken back to the days before Starcraft II's wild success led to its inevitable globalization.
Perhaps those days are gone for good, never to return. But at least for one weekend, Europe will relive the past, when one could be king of one's own backyard.
Dammit Sweden, if you were just going to walk into Norway and take their money anyway, why bother to dissolve the union? With a fearsome trio of ThorZaIN, MorroW, and SjoW leading the way, Sweden seems determined to show that you don't need Koreans to stage an esports invasion. However, Norway might just be able to hold its ground.
After spending a long time as one of Europe's hidden gosu's, Norway's Snute finally exploded into the spotlight last week by winning the second ONOG Invitational, where he took down Killer, Sheth, Titan, and NightEnd on his path to victory. Could there be a possible better end to this tournament than an Sweden vs Norway final, where international star ThorZaIN takes on the crowd-backed, local hero in Snute? One can only hope.
Unlike Norway, Denmark is still looking for a national Starcraft II savior who can make a splash on the international scene (unless you count mono-battle extraordinaire, Bumblebee). Even so, the spectators will surely hope players like Ciara, BabyKnight and Avekatten can use their home field advantage to manufacture some memorable upsets against the notable competitors. Interestingly enough, Copenhagen will play host to a large contingent of Finnish players on the weekend, with elfi, Fuzer, Protosser, and Welmu all in attendance.
On paper, it looks like Kas would be the favorite to take home the first place prize. However, with players like Happy, Bly, Cloud, elfi and Jimpo participating, we might see an unexpected winner. Of course, you can never count out the hometown boys, and with a few dozen lesser known Danish gosu's also playing, you never know what might happen.
Is this what égalité and fraternité mean? Europe's best players have spread themselves between three tournaments, giving everyone a better shot. Even Stephano – the best European player – seems to be in on it, travelling to the United States as to give his brothers a chance (fittingly, at Las Vegas, it's more about hitting the jackpot).
The defending champion Adelscott will be looking to make it back to back championships, but he's going up against a strong field of challengers. Mouz is bringing some of their big guns in HasuObs, biGs, and MaNA, while AureS, MoMaN, SarenS, and KenZy will be eager to show that there's real depth to the French SC II scene.
T"his weekend, us Americans will be busy doing what we do best – putting on a brash, expensive, over-the-top spectacle." well we have these Lans AND the big shows like DH and IEM
Just to clear things out, SonG is no longer a part of Virus ( Virus disbanded, actually ). He's now a member of mTw. Aside from this, damn it ! I'm supposed to work this week-end. :[
Unlike Norway, Denmark is still looking for a national Starcraft II savior who can make a splash on the international scene (unless you count mono-battle extraordinaire, Bumblebee).
Unlike Norway, Denmark is still looking for a national Starcraft II savior who can make a splash on the international scene (unless you count mono-battle extraordinaire, Bumblebee).
This is pretty awesome, although I am surprised that no one is complaining about these tournaments and their inability to coordinate. Weren't a lot of people pissed at MLG for scheduling things at the same time as other tournaments? Has the community matured in the last two months, or do we only hate MLG now?
I wish all these tournaments, even the big ones by not feeling superior, went to greater length to avoid overlap. Then the attendence would be better for everyone and the community gets to see more stuff live.
On April 05 2012 09:14 Proseat wrote: I wish all these tournaments, even the big ones by not feeling superior, went to greater length to avoid overlap. Then the attendence would be better for everyone and the community gets to see more stuff live.
Nice writeup I was beginning to find it troubling to try and keep track of all what was going on this weekend, this helps a lot! I'm pretty happy that my family will as always choose to ignore easter. That way I'll be able to shut out the rest of the world for a few days and drown myself in more Starcraft streams than my internet connection can handle.... :D Love it! xD
On April 05 2012 09:14 Proseat wrote: I wish all these tournaments, even the big ones by not feeling superior, went to greater length to avoid overlap. Then the attendence would be better for everyone and the community gets to see more stuff live.
To host a lan like The Gathering with over 5000 people attending it is pretty hard to schedule outside of a holiday. You got to remember that some lans have alot of participants and are not only tournaments, that is only a small part of what goes on
On April 05 2012 09:14 Proseat wrote: I wish all these tournaments, even the big ones by not feeling superior, went to greater length to avoid overlap. Then the attendence would be better for everyone and the community gets to see more stuff live.
Well, TG is mainly a "LAN party", thats been celebrated in the easter now for almost 20 years. The tourneys they hold at the party (Sc2, LOL etc.) is only additions to the main event, so its no question for them to switch dates just so they dont clash with IPL.
On April 05 2012 20:51 eXeprOxy wrote: TG: ThorZaIN over Snute CPH: Kas over Happy GA : MaNa over ReaL
Looks like the most likely to me.
Sjow and morrow might be dangers for thorzain at TG but i'd still pick thorzain over them all the time. At CPH there seem to be a lot of Protoss, so elfi might get far and depending on the brackets might even make the final but not sure about his other matchups. At GA there is really only MaNa, not much else he has to be afraid of, though Adelscott has quite good PvP IIRC.
Unlike Norway, Denmark is still looking for a national Starcraft II savior who can make a splash on the international scene (unless you count mono-battle extraordinaire, Bumblebee).
WOW this tournament is looking pretty stacked! I'm excited to see how Snute Bly, Grubby, and Sjow do. I think Hasuobs, Morrow, Kas will all preform well though!
does anybody know if/where vods for Gamer's Assembly are? I found some of the French casted games on youtube and daily motion but none of those that were cast in English.