Hello, Starcraft fans and welcome to a new era of TeamLiquid! Just hours before the retail release of Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty, TL is proud to announce that Liquid`, our home team, is now proudly sponsored by The Little App Factory. So, for the first time ever, we’re here today to present TLAF-Liquid`!
There you have it, TL. The gloves are off, and Liquid` is ready to brawl. No longer just a team, but a sponsored team, Liquid` is an outfit that is preparing itself for greater things. We’d give you an introduction, but you already know these guys well. They’re from among us, and when Victor, Tyler, Jonathan, Dario and Hayder don their uniforms later this season, it's us that they're truly representing.
There are teams, and there are teams, but this is our team, TeamLiquid. Our team. As Nazgul and his men clean their keyboards, uncoil their mouse chords and get ready to roll out into Starcraft 2, they do so knowing that they have a plethora of rabid SC2 fans behind them.
“We’re really happy that we got sponsored in time for SC2 - it's a chance to play more tournaments and be more visible for our fans and community,” says Victor “Liquid`Nazgul” Goossens, co-founder and current player/manager. “TLAF has been very supportive of Starcraft 2 during the beta, and we’re delighted that they have now chosen to walk this road with us – we hope to do them proud!”
Makers of software like iRip, TLAF made its mark on the Starcraft 2 Beta scene early on. Sponsoring tournaments and events, TLAF's Chairman Mathew Peterson is what we like to call a Playing Sponsor, a guy who not only funds a team, but funds a team because he plays the game and loves to see it played well at the highest level. In fact, here's the man himself, talking about SC2, Liquid`, and why he does what he does.
Mathew Peterson Chairmain TLAF, North American Zerg, Liquid` fanboy
"Whatever you're doing just make sure you are having fun with the people you are working with."
TL: Hi Mathew, and thanks for joining us. In a few short months you've come from being yet another fan of SC2 to a sponsor of an entire team. How did this happen, and what has the ride been like?
Mathew: Thank you for having me. The ride has been an interesting one, starting off with our sponsorship of the HDH and some unique showmatches. This introduced me to a number of players, and I always found that the best mannered players and individuals tended to reside in Liquid and TL.net. Once Nazgul approached me about sponsoring the team it was basically a no-brainer to say "Yes!".
TL: Awesome! We've heard bits and pieces about your gaming history in other interviews, but I think now is the moment to go back and look more closely at how you went from being just another guy with a passion for E-sports to being someone who is now a major player in the most competitive RTS scene of today. Where did this journey start, and where do you see yourself and TLAF going from here?
Mathew: I was always a gamer, ever since I was younger, and I've especially liked RTS and RPG. A few years ago I was part of the WoW guild Death & Taxes and that really introduced me to the passion and desire of competitive gaming. After my friend showed me SC2 I really started to notice the scene via Husky, HD and Day9 and I wanted to see more competitive play, so I suggested the idea of HDH and we had a lot of fun and success.
As for the future, I'd love to remain involved in the community, but with the hassle of seeking permission from Blizzard to run tournaments, sponsoring a team and helping to nurture some hopefully great players makes a lot more sense to our company.
TL: Let's talk a bit about the game itself. Given that you're a huge fan of SC2, what were some of your favourite plays during the Beta?
Mathew: Haha, there were too many! Obviously I, along with nearly everyone else, enjoyed the TLO vs. Nazgul game! However, I enjoyed Whitera vs. IdrA in the HDH finals, TLO's creep harass of Strelok in the GLHF.it, Tester vs. TLO in Day9's KotB and any interesting play by others that I've forgotten. I'm also amazed by the quality of play from the likes of Tester, ITR, White-ra, QXC and IdrA.
TL: Wow, way to be TLO biased, man! :D
Mathew: Haha, I will happily admit that! But basically anyone who has done nifty play will win me over and TLO seems to do it in a regular fashion. On a personal note, one of my favourite moments was playing a 4v4 with TLO, TBO and my brother. Husky put up one of the videos but there were many more games with them that make me smile.
TL: That must have been a ton of fun. I'm sure you just made a lot of people very, very jealous!
Mathew: I hope not!
TL: Let's talk some business now. Your company makes products for Apple platforms, including OSX and the iPod/iPhone mobile OSes. You also develop some applications for Windows. How does the market for these products overlap with the general SC2 userbase, and what are your goals for TLAF in the months to ahead as it comes forward to sponsor Liquid`?
Mathew: iRip, our primary product, is a tool that makes the lives of the non-tech savvy easier. As many of us tech-savvy users are often our families' technical support we believe that Liquid supporters can use iRip to provide their family with a simple and cost effective means of recovering their music in the event of an emergency.
As we move forward we will continue to port more of our applications to Windows and we hope the community enjoys their simplicity and ease of use. As for Mac users, please, check out our catalogue as we believe it is one of the best when it comes to media management on the Mac! In fact, as a thank you to all the kind supporters of Team Liquid we would like to offer them a coupon for 25% off our products which will last for the entire 12 months of the sponsorship. The coupon is TEAMLIQUID and please, feel free to share it around.
TL: Wow, thanks! I’m sure a lot of us will make good use of that offer. We also look forward to seeing what TLAF produces in the months to come. Moving on, let's talk a bit about Liquid`. As main sponsor, what is your vision for the team in general, and are there any specific goals you'd like to see them fulfil in the months to come?
Mathew: I leave those decisions up to Nazgul and the team. All I want is for them to have fun and grow! All of the team have been invited to HDH2 and I'm really excited at their prospects.
TL: OK, that makes sense. Personally though, what is your vision for Liquid` - beyond this first season of SC2, beyond this year, where would you like to see the team, say this time next year?
Mathew: I'm hoping we seen a league system appear that is very similar to the one we have in Korea. If that's the case, I'd love Liquid to be one of the top 3 teams in the world.
TL: Oh, we'd love that too! Finally, how about we talk a bit about the process of investing in SC2? If there was one piece of advice you could give another individual or small business interested in sponsoring SC2 activities, what would it be?
Mathew: Don't anger Blizzard! Haha, but seriously, whatever you're doing just make sure you are having fun with the people you are working with.
TL: Hahaha. Sound advice indeed. Well, we're ready to wrap things up, so thanks again for talking to us and of course, thanks a lot for sponsoring our team! We wish you all the best with TLAF and hope you will join us on the forums as we root for Liquid` in the weeks and months to come.
Mathew: I certainly will! Thanks for having me.
So yes, thanks again, The Little App Factory! Too much good news to handle, TL? Wait, there's more. With Liquid` ready to rumble and SC2 being released just days from now, TeamLiquid is proud to present a new season of everyone's favourite show! Men and women of Starcraft, please welcome back TeamLiquid Attack!
After a long hiatus, TeamLiquid Attack is back with everyone's favourite host, Chill! Joined by numerous guest stars throughout the season, our renowned strategy forum mod will pit these players up against the community, letting fans like you play against your favourite players.
Of course, the big news is TLO and Nony, TLO and Nony, TLO and Nony! Yes, as part of TLA this season, we're bringing you Liquid` members Tyler "Liquid`Tyler" Wasieleski and Dario "Liquid`TLO" Wunsch. You can watch them, you can play them, right here on TL! Don't miss it.
Oh my, oh my. One thing’s for sure – this is just the beginning. The best, as they say, is yet to come. With Nazgul’s men out on the field and the entirety of TL behind them, there’s really only one way to go from here. Up. Hang on, TL, we're going for a ride!
This is really awesome, and I'm happy to see someone who is actually interested in games sponsoring a team. While it is obviously also for their own benefit (HDH Invitational got them tons of views, etc.), it feels better to have a real person sponsoring a team with their company, not some bunch of marketing gurus saying "hey, this'll be great, hyuk hyuk!". I'm sure that's a terrible mischaracterization of how most gaming things get sponsored, but this just feels more genuine to me.
On July 26 2010 13:24 mOnion wrote: is it bad if i saw this on facebook first?
I saw this on facebook first as well. Congratulations TL, and to all TL members. I checked out their site, and they have some really great programs. If I ever need these programs I will certainly shop on their site.
This is godly. The little App Factory is in my opinion pioneering Esports in Sc2. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! And Congrats for TL for being the central hub for all foreigner Esports. I will continue to support as long as you continue to exist.
TLAF-TL HWWAAAIITTTIINNGGGG!!!
Oh and Im going to play in that TL.net attack just so you know.
So much going on. Congrats to all the Liquid members for getting sponsored. Must be kind of weird working out a contract when the website associated with the team is as big as this. Best of luck.
I am so happy that TL finally got sponsored and I am very excited to see what is going to happen in the future. I am also eagerly awaiting the return of TL Attack, that should be so much fun ^_^
On July 26 2010 13:37 0o0o0oh wrote: hah! im glad to see Nony is still in it to win it! I wanna call him GangsterToss but isnt there some other pro with that nickame? anyways glgl TL!
Tester is Barbarian Toss, which is really just an old school Gangster Toss. So maybe Nony can pick up the new school reigns and ride that pony.
Out of curiousity - how far does a sponsorship of this nature actually extend? Interested in knowing what is and isn't provided and supported as part of it. Obviously it would differ sponsor to sponsor and team to team, but any general ideas?
Congratulations, awesome to have a sponsor, but that TLAF-Liquid` tag is soooo long now lol. I wish it could just be TL` or something or even TLAF` since people will think team liquid, as well as the little app factory. Just my 2 cents
why did i suddently shout YES when i saw the lineup of the team? lol.. its not like im on it or anything. but i just got all warm and fuzzy inside when i saw TLO and Jinro on the same team xD
I'm soooo anticipating TL-attack, I wanna see a comeback of my all-time broodwar hero decaf-gambit who proxyhatched with the creep in sight of opponents buildings! But I guess this will be played on NA servers so I can't join the fun?
Yes!!! As a larger supporter of both Mac and Teamliquid (and of course Starcraft), i am very happy to hear this. I wish TL luck in the HDH2 and all future tournaments. have fun!!!
I always read an interview with some guy and he says 'yeah I play games' and I always think he's just some noob playing Wii bowling, but then he says he was in DnT... and he instantly gains 10K nerd respect from me.
That's great news guys. I wish the TL team the best of luck and hope that the upcoming season will work in your favor. Keep up practicing, keep up playing and show the world what TL got.
Absolutely sick! As someone whos been following the korean scene through teamliquid for years now, I really feel like this is my hometown team. I wish you all the best, especially Nony (USA! USA!) and can't wait to see what comes of this. TL is the most focused of pro-SC sites and always looks before it leaps, so I can't wait to see where this leap lands.
Thanks TLAP for sponsorship, and can we say WHOAYAAHH TL ATTACK YAAAAAHHH
Fantastic News! Congratulations on the sponsorship, I am so excited as to what the future will bring us! I really like the players on this team and wish you all the best of luck!
Half and half expected razer to do this, may i ask if you discussed it and why that didn't work out? so... is this team teamliquid? :D the little appfactory is where i will go if i ever need anything they can provide ^_^
I hope you get even more sponsors in the future so you can have no problem sending your players to worldwide events. Also make a cool clan outfit sort of like the korean proteams has.
Congrats to this sponsor, you're a very happy team to have such a e-Sports loving Person as a sponsor! As well, I am very excited about TLA, I'm happy you brought it back. I haven't been into SC long enough to see it before, but I will surely watch it return in SC2 with glee!
Matthew seems like a nice guy, glad that the sponsor actually plays the game and enjoys it
Also, it will be fucking awesome to have TeamLiquid Attack back with Chill hosting. I loved watching the old episodes and the new ones will no doubt be atleast as good.
My feeling about SC2 is up and down all the time. This is a huuuge UP! Really happy for you Liquid! Thanks to the The Little App Factory for supporting ESPORTS!
The return of TL attack... YAY. Are we gonna see more of the old guys aswell? HotBid and Plexa etc?...Fakesteve should drop by once in a hile with a random rap.
yeeeeesssssss!!! It's kind of funny because just a month or so ago after the HDH tournament I was wondering why Matthew didn't sponsor TL. I thought he would be in to it because he is one of the first big sponsors for SC2 and in some interviews he was very in to helping E-Sports grow to something phenomenal. Thank you Matthew, and iRip!
This is SO COOL! It is awesome that progressive guys like Mathew get into the scene in this way, and I have a big hope that this is the start of a trend, as lot of gamers are now entrepreneurs.
It's frikkin awesome dude! Always great with new sponsors. I visited iRip's page during the HDH Tournament and it seems like a great company - Of course you're great for sponsoring a Starcraft team. Love from Sweden to iRip
Congratulations to all of the TL staff! It is so exciting to see this transition happen right at the launch of SC2. I can't wait to see how everything progresses and wish you all the best!
I was so hoping tl would bring back TLA since that poll. TLAF you guys, ah, you guys are just amazing for sponsoring probably the most stacked team in the beta.
It would be interesting to know if you plan on signing any new players to the team. As of now it seems like you would need 100% attendance to fill a clan war old PL style. That was not a hint to try to get JD on the team!1!1!1!111!!!
Awesome... I just love to see how the e-sports scene get more and more respected outside of Korea and I look forward to see the new TLAL-Liquid! Team perform in the upcoming events.