While the seeding format of IPL3 makes the group stage of the tournament not quite as bloodthirsty as some other competitions (namely MLG), the players still bring a bevy of interesting tales.

The Chip on the Shoulder

Stephano, TheStC, Ret, Strelok and Ryung. For whatever reason, these guys just can't get much credit outside their own local scenes. Being feared by everyone in a thousand mile mile radius must be pretty damn sweet, until you see some guy you just smashed in practice getting lauded as 'one of the best players in the world' because he happened to get a lucky invite to some high profile tourney.

At least for Stephano, a combination of word of mouth and a somewhat ignominious scandal has created a ton of interest. People want to see what's up with the kid at the center of the controversy.

TheStC has it way worse. Him and DongRaeGu used to be the twin titans of Korean cult superstardom, but somehow his old compadre has gone mainstream and left him in the dust. The viewers coming to IPL probably haven't even heard of TheStC, though he's arguably as good as TheDRG. The skill-to-recognition ratio on this guy is so low, it's practically criminal. Well, time to correct that.

And though they don't face quite the same level of injustice, Ret, Strelok, and Ryung are victims, too. Enough people will say they're “pretty good,” but it's time to divorce themselves from that kind of underselling and make sure they're always described with expletives.


The Redeemers

HuK and MC are in brutal slumps right now. Perhaps they are doing well in practice – though it would make the lack of tournament results even harder for them to swallow – but they just can't seem to get it done in a tournament setting.

Protoss needs them. Starcraft II needs them. The call is always there. We just await for them to answer.

The Awkwardly In-betweeners

First off, I don't think any of us know much about Sleep, so let's not embarrass ourselves with idle talk (or even more idle than this has already been).

HerO seeks to prove that he's got substance behind all the flash. Also, he's out to show that you can play at the pro level with one eye constantly obscured by your sexy but inefficient haircut.

Meanwhile, aLive is out to send the message of “HEY, I'm one of the only three guys in this tournament who is in Code S. I'm also a KOREAN TERRAN. You're really going to regret overlooking me.” Then again, he did lose to DarkForce at NASL. Hmmm....

The Champions

It's a rich man's sympathy, but you can't help but feel a little bad for ex-champions MMA and ThorZain. It just seems so tough being a player for whom even winning won't increase your stock. Once you've won once, that's the standard for the rest of your life.

Oddly enough, I get a similar vibe off SeleCT, though he hasn't won a major. The “Best North-American Player” is so strong with him that our expectations stay unnaturally high.

These guys are just three of thirty-two here, let's cut them some slack and keep in mind they're facing the same odds as everyone else.

The Untouchables

Oddly enough, there's a special breed of champions who suffer none of the ills of the former category. These are the untouchables, for whom every victory is another embellishment on their already glorious legacies, while every loss simply bounces off and slips away into nothingness. Their names are White-Ra and Boxer.

It's hard to say exactly how they did it, but the two have become the icons of everything good in e-Sports. Their very existence brings meaning to this fragile, blossoming garden, and for that we have granted them immunity to every ill and blemish. There is literally nothing to lose for these two, while their legends will only grow should they succeed.

Idra

It's kinda funny. I can't say I'm the biggest Idra fan in the world, and I was pessimistic about his string of mediocre finishes (by the standards we have for him). Adding the “awesome potential if he ever puts it together” line for every preview started to feel like a cliché, more formal than meaningful. And yet, we kept putting it in.

I think it was faith. Not the self-entitled faith that believes devotion is always rewarded, or blind faith that reinforces itself in a circular fashion. It was the cold-hearted, cynical faith that knows no matter how much you rage at, become frustrated with, complain about, disrespect, or even straight-up despise the game – as long as you really f***ing hate losing – it's gonna pay off.

And so, IEM Guangzhou.

Now what?

Gambling is one topic that, with good reason, will raise an awful lot of hackles with the long time Starcraft fans out there, but when it comes to an event like as big as IPL there’s always going to be some interest. While there are no official outlets for those who'd want to bet on the event, we understand that there are those of you out there who will stop at nothing, who will turn to the shady underbelly of e-Sports to place your bets.

For those who’d like to get a better feel for the odds, we’ll be you can consider us your racing form, your tipsters; we’ll make sure you know the odds you’ll need to know going in to make sure your betting habit doesn’t become a fiduciary disability.

With that in mind, we’re going to look at the odds you might get of certain events unfolding over the course of the IPL3 event. Remember to keep these to yourself; before you know it, everyone'll have a case of the gimmes...



5,000 : 1

A player builds Carriers while not suffering a brain seizure.

+ Show Spoiler +

2,000 : 1

IPL host Allyn Hoang will NOT get a fan club.

+ Show Spoiler +

1,000 : 1

No Terran players make it to the IPL3 grand finals.

+ Show Spoiler +

500 : 1

Idra inexplicably GM in spite of losses

+ Show Spoiler +

200 : 1

Casters use more than five casting cliches in one game: Pointing out how “high level” this play is / Scream “line ‘em up”/ “Soooo many banelings” / “Table flipping”

+ Show Spoiler +

100 : 1

Zerg player is praised for creep spread, and then criticized for poor creep spread later in the same game

+ Show Spoiler +

50 : 1

A Protoss player has more than one observer on the map at once.

+ Show Spoiler +

40 : 1

Casters refer to any Terran build as “The 1-1-1”

+ Show Spoiler +

20 : 1

The words “sick nerd baller” are used more than eight times in one cast.

+ Show Spoiler +

10 : 1

An important game lags, prompting a renewed steam of demand for Blizzard to bring back LAN.

+ Show Spoiler +

2 : 1

Casters go off on long, involved but unrelated tangent while important aspects of the game unfold.

+ Show Spoiler +

1: 50,000

ESPORTS will get hurt.

+ Show Spoiler +
Closing:

Well, that’s it from us for now. For those of you planning on taking bets on the upcoming IPL, these are the sorts of odds you can expect to be offering. For those of you sizing things up who think you might have a bit of insider info, remember your old friends at TeamLiquid; we could always use a little help.

Don't say we were never good to you. Next time something falls your way, remember to share the wealth and PM your favourite TL staffers with hot tips

IPL 3 is the live event culmination of the work of a tireless organization that has produced and assisted in creating more Starcraft II content than any other group outside of the GSL production team. Every man has his story. Every Hero has his shining moment. Every villain, their tragic fall. Every epic night of Starcraft has its Origins...

(And I'm damn sure that I'm not going to throw away a perfectly good title just because IPL changed the name on me.)


Let's all look back at the original IGN Proleague. This was a not-so-long-ago day when the GSL reigned supreme over all foreign tournaments, at least in terms of stylish production, experienced casters, daily broadcast content, and dangerous flames. But the upstart American-funded NASL had gotten off the ground and received financial backing, and its brackets were saturated with international talent. MLG was starting up its new season, and good old Justin.tv had become an established platform for streamers and tournaments of all sizes in held in every corner of the world. Fans all over were tingling with excitement for international level Starcraft II on every stage, any time they wanted.

And then, out of the blue, IGN.com hired a young and unknown manager of ROOT Gaming named Alex Conn to head its e-Sports division, which before that day did not exist. IPL Season One was announced. A production team was acquired, in the form of WellPlayed.org, and prominent casters such as HDStarcraft and AskJoshy were recruited by popular request. Justin.TV partnered with IGN to provide the streaming service.

It was a something of a golden age for early Starcraft II, and to be honest, it feels slightly strange to talk about it in past tense. GSL was becoming more successful and interesting with each new season, but THREE major, well-sponsored leagues had sprouted in the Americas. IEM and Dreamhack were hosting events all around Europe (along with half a dozen weekly cups). Starcraft II was everywhere. So when IGN started picking up industry veterans for their e-Sports division, it went surprisingly unnoticed.

IPL's vision was different from the rest of the major organizers. MLG and GSL are fundamentally live events. NASL focused on being as close to live as they could with an intercontinental tournament. In contrast, IPL chose a delayed, time released, replay-cast model, playing out their tournament a full month in advance, and airing VODs daily during prime time. Where other productions focused on an explosive live show, IPL focused on consistency and accessibility, and making sure the events were risk free and financially sustainable. Everything was taken into account so a product could be safely and reliably delivered.

IPL partnered with Justin.TV, which ended up being mutually beneficial relationship. IPL brought Justin.TV new subscribers and introduced many people to the platform, and in return Justin.TV backed IPL by featuring them heavily to a user base full of Starcraft II fans.

Another key point here is that IPL benefited from having great and popular casters with lots of fans - and the casters benefited from being featured in a top class production bearing a brand as strong as IGN.com's. Justin.tv, WellPlayed.org, both got a great boost in visitors from partnering with IPL - as IPL greatly benefited from them. IGN's e-Sports team began establishing relationships with players, casters, teams and the fans by involving them from the very beginning, and offering them a way into the business that benefited them strongly. Without muscling, without bossing anyone around, the first season IGN Proleague came onto the scene with a great sense of legitimacy.

I think we were all wowed by the level of production that WellPlayed and IGN put together for the first event. It was doubly highlighted by its ugly brother, the NASL, which was stumbling forward and tripping over its own shoelaces with an assortment of technical issues. The difference was clear; NASL needed another month to do test runs and iron out its faults; IPL waited until it was good and ready and delivered what was promised.

While IPL’s first tournament was small and prize pool was only $5,000, the talent featured North America's best - IdrA, KiWiKaKi, SeleCT - but the moves that IGN had made to establish itself ensured that it was the equal of its rivals. And that was the test run!


Fast Forward to July. IPL 2 kicked off with the qualified players from Season one, a dozen or so Europeans, and a massive prize pool. The team was assembled, including CatsPajammas, HDStarcraft and PainUser. They built a brand new, in-house broadcasting studio and broadcast daily during prime time. IPL1 almost looked like a test run. The production was again excellent; a rusted, steel-and-bronze theme that reminiscent of the introduction to HBO's Game of Thrones series, or the basement in a Rob Zombie movie. Live, professional interviews were done with many of the players. There were commercials, player billings, and CatsPajammas even trimmed his beard. With all eyes on them, IGN proceeded to once again, do everything right. Or so it seemed.

The viewer count proceeded to tell another story. Even with huge names like White-Ra and Idra in their final four, the numbers were for the lack of a better word, disappointing. Though the first tournament had gone well, the second revealed a major error in keeping up with the times: there were no Korean players. How could you aspire to compete with the best tournaments in the world and not bring the best players?

Beyond that, there was another factor still missing. You could hear whispers of it on the TeamLiquid threads and in the stream chats. The show still wasn’t live.

IPL still felt like a test run.



IPL3 in Atlantic City is the response to the fan’s requests. Koreans? You got it. Live cast? You got it. Excellent venue filled with screaming fans? You probably got it. IPL has a history of delivering from the production side, but Errol Pinto, Alex Conn and the team have little direct experience in running live events. Still, their intuitive approach, dynamic presentation and resourceful recruitment has always more than delivered on their promises - and they always act when they are confident.

IGN has dipped their feet in the water, measured the temperature, and is about to take the plunge. Is this the main event, or another test run? I think in Atlantic City we’ll see how far IGN has come – and further more – how far they can go.


* Deezl has been credited as "Techno" in the past.