As much as GSL America MLG Anaheim was undoubtedly one of the most successful ESPORTS events held on American soil, we're afraid we will remember it mainly as 'that time we got totally crushed by Koreans.' For all the dozens of other story lines that were going on last weekend, nothing really lingers in memory like total embarrassment.
Sure, we took a look at the winners and losers of the tournament, provided a detailed account of Boxer's most epic SC2 game, shined some light on the little guys in pro-gaming (the semi-pros), and put up a massive gallery of professional quality photographs.
But inevitably, we had to put in a wall of text, where we pondered about where the foreign scene went so wrong, and what we might do to set things right.
Is there even a way? With Mvp and Bomber receiving invites to the next tournament, it's likely that the ghost of Anaheim is going to follow us to Raleigh.
Thinks look bleak, for sure. But even if the day comes when we have to concede that they will always have the best players in the world, we can always take comfort in the fact that we're always going to have the greatest fans.
Everything is Imbalanced: Koreans, Terran, Korean terrans, et al.
By: tree.hugger
The premise of this article in one picture.
By most accounts, MLG Anaheim was a great event. Countless interviews, reactions, and reflections attest to this fact. But for those of you who happened to be Korean Terran players, it seems this tournament was extra special. The top four finishers were all Korean Terrans. Five of the top six were Korean Terrans (only one of the best Korean Zergs broke the pattern). The remainder of the elite eight? Two foreign Protoss players, one being trained in Korea and the other headed there.
Predictable as it was distressing, this beatdown somehow managed to hurt more than most.
There are important, wrenching, soul searching questions to be asked after MLG Anaheim. Why did this happen? Are the Koreans that much better than everyone else? Is Terran that much better than everything else? WTF blue flame hellions? And what on earth do we as a community need to do to avoid embarrassment on this scale again?
Jävla Terran imba!
A good deal of the Terran dominance shown last weekend had to do simply with the fact that five out of nine Koreans played Terran. But tempting as it may be to argue that this disparity in participation completely accounted for the disparity in the final standings, that argument covers only half of the picture. The Terran dominance at MLG mirrors the success of Terrans in Korea, as many people have noted and QQ'd about. Alongside the recently announced invitations of Bomber and MVP to MLG Raleigh, it forces some interesting questions: What exciting new Protoss and Zerg players are there to invite anyway? Was the choice of invites biased towards Terran simply because Terran is better?
Before MLG, much of the focus was on the nasty 1-1-1 TvP all-in attack which continues to be difficult to stop. Terran are seeing tremendous success with this strategy, most noticeable lately in the GSL Up/Down matches. Like many "OP" builds, it's too easy for a player without a plan or a clue to just defer to this build and have a fairly good chance of winning (similar to the way Protoss players dealt with Zerg's roach-ling all-ins earlier this year, I'm convinced the answer lies mostly in better micro, positioning and tactics from the protoss). MLG demonstrated on a large scale that Terrans have similar weapons in TvZ and (somewhat ironically) in TvT.
Click this.
Blue flame hellion builds have been around for a while, but the major conceptual difference of the new school BFH builds is actually pretty simple: build even more of them. It doesn't really make sense from an efficiency perspective, as blue flame hellions do not become exponentially more effective as they grow in number the way that marines or sentries do.
Instead, the theoretical basis for blue flame hellions is pretty similar to the rationale behind MMA's aggressive drop play against Zerg. If just two blue flame hellions of ten make it to the mineral line, they can pay back the cost of the entire strategy. In SC2, there is simply no cheaper harassment unit than BFH's. As Zergs have become more adept at deflecting harassment from two, four, and six hellions, Terrans have simply upped the ante and made more hellions, and found more creative ways to ship them into Zerg mineral lines.
It's interesting that this trend has continued into TvT. It makes quite a bit of sense, of course, as Terran is usually in a hurry to tech, and thus is relying on marines to provide early game defense. Against hellions, that's far from adequate. But the popularity of BFH vs BFH battles in Anaheim brings back memories of the very best of BW TvT's, which often began with intense mass vulture battle. This was because in TvT the margin of error is was somewhat larger than any other match-up, and a later tank switch did not necessarily mean an auto loss. The case is similar in SC2, and thus the extended utilization of mass hellions past the point where counter units are out in numbers is a testament to growth among Terrans. More confident in their micro and game management, Korean Terrans are willing to take more risks in the early game to achieve a decisive economic advantage. Though much derided by the SC2 viewing populace, hellion TvT's are a sign of progress and growth in Terran players.
All of this brings us back to predictability. BFH's are a trend, not a one-time gimmick. They're predictable, deadly, but nowhere near un-counterable. In the later stages of Anaheim, DRG came out virtually unscathed against hellions (though he would lose to other things), while MVP especially showed how to capitalize on successful BFH defenses.
Frankly, there's really no excuse for how flat footed NA Zergs seemed to be against this kind of play. Unlike oGs's DT openings (used by HuK and MC at DreamHack and HSC) or LosirA's early roach ling play, blue flame hellions are tremendously old hat in Korean and European competition.
Sc2 strategies have an interesting history of being developed in Europe, perfected in Korea, and used on unsuspecting Americans. Anyone who has watched a European Zerg stream in the last two months has seen this style of play. Anyone who regularly watches GSL has seen similar variations of the "BFH harassment at any cost strategy". The consequences of not defending properly (SlayerS_Min, constantly) are bad. The consequences of not defending at all are MLG Anaheim.
Koreans imba!
The most obvious lesson that Anaheim taught us is the value of Korean training. We've heard this lecture before, but never before have we been taken to school so patently obviously and brutally. At Columbus, the Korean top three represented some of Korea's absolute best players. It's never been a secret that their best are better than our best. At Dreamhack, the Koreans dominated in similar fashion, but the ultimate triumph of a foreign born player masked the extent of Korean server dominance. Even at NASL - as mid-level Koreans swamped the qualifiers and PuMa and MC put on a show in the final - Sen and DarkForce offered a sliver of hope that maybe foreigners were catching up.
There's no argument now. The Korean invites easily dealt with their groups as expected, but the success of GanZi and Rain coming out of the open bracket was the killing blow to the myth of foreign capability. Excellent players, certainly, but far from the cream of the crop in Korea. And yet they demolished the best the foreign scene had to offer. Here are the totals. Koreans lost only five series to foreigners, all of them PvPs. No Korean Terran dropped a series to a foreign player during the tournament. The total number of Korean vs Foreigner series won by the Korean at MLG was... (are you sitting down?)... fifty five. The combined set record for Koreans against Foreigners in the Championship Pools and Bracket alone was sixty two wins against twelve losses.
This has been called a wake-up call. But we've hit the snooze button many times before.
Here's why we suck.
The story of Korean dominance isn't just about practice time or team houses. That's a part of it, certainly. but it's also something explained more fully by social science. One of the most important reasons Koreans dominate is because the Korean network is located in a tremendously small area spatially and socially. Koreans don't just practice in close proximity to their teammates, they practice in close proximity to every other progamer in the GSL galaxy. Players in the Korean scene do not travel far for their tournaments. Their teams do not need to spend significant sums of money on travel, and can instead improve the practice environment of the teamhouses. The players encounter each other regularly. Many know each other from BW or from prior teams and clans. The Korean scene operates within the same time-zone. The pro teams operate on similar schedules. This is all a huge advantage. The Korean scene is the densest network in the entire gaming world, and perhaps one of the most focused in all of sports. That tight ball of yarn will beat the foreign scene's loose spiderweb every single time.
Dense networks breed innovation and hard work. The foreign scene is separated geographically, culturally, and socially in ways that directly inhibit our ability to compete. Not to mention the split between EU and AM servers, which promotes improvement about as well as the iron curtain. The results were disastrous at MLG. The American server looked like a backwater against the combination of blunt European ingenuity and smooth Korean refinement. The term foreigner or non-Korean is becoming antiquated nearly as fast as the Blizzard map pool. Though this was a tournament held in North America, the top three players who practiced primarily on the AM server placed 12th, 14th, and 18th. If it weren't for the Koreans, MLG would be free money for the Europeans.
Austerlitz, not Waterloo
Apologies in advance for the history.
At first I thought that MLG Anaheim might be our Waterloo, in which a much chastened foreign coalition would finally come together to end the the mighty Korean empire. However, it turned out I was looking too far forward. MLG Anaheim is better cast as Austerlitz, the decisive French victory often cited as Napoleon's greatest tactical victory, where the coalition forces of Europe were defeated and embarrassed by a vastly superior French army. As unbeatable as Napoleon seemed at the time, his reign was not long in the larger scope of history. His opponents learned, while he himself became overconfident. After shame, there was a recovery, and after recovery there was eventually victory. This must be the non-Korean path.
It would have been great if Stephano had played.
For the foreign scene, some steps are clearer than others. I'm deeply hesitant to criticize the recent development of several foreigner houses. There's no reason that this should hurt the play of these players. But there's equally good reason to be skeptical of how much a difference it'll make. The road to competing with Korea means learning from them. There is simply no 'western way' as some hoped with SC2's release. SC2 is not such an easy game that eight hour practice is the same as four hour practice. Furthermore, the answer includes more engagement, not less. That Koreans have discovered that our weekly cups and appetite for streaming is only a good thing. AM in particular needs much more in the way of weekly low-money cups. Tournaments must continue to aggressively recruit Koreans to come overseas. All of this will stem the bleeding. If the foreign scene takes its monthly medicine against Korean players, the gap that widened during the first half of 2011 might be stabilized.
Catching up is another story. It's been unlikely since the beginning that the depth of the Korean scene could be matched by the foreign scene. I admit, I have less ideas in how exactly to outperform a tried and true ten-year old system for ESPORTS dominance. I'm better as a critic than an adjunct ESPORTS professor. And of course, cost prohibitions are understandable. But there are some clear steps that can be taken.
I cannot imagine a way for foreigners to compete with Koreans that does not involve spending more money, or changing some of the big structural issues present in the foreign scene. A stronger network has to be built between foreign players and teams, through shared houses, clan leagues, and regular group practice. Blizzard needs to help out and remove the barriers between the EU, AM, KR, and CN servers. And we need to co-opt parts of the Korean system as well. The initiative of FXO in establishing a global network that includes Korea was very admirable in this regard. The cost of GSTL participation is extremely high, but the benefits of an extended Korean stay may be greater. GSTL should be a consideration for other teams as well for the sake of trying to remain competitive.
These coming months will be crucial. Another MLG is coming fast. And some of the brightest stars in the foreign scene have accepted the Korean challenge. Their success might be the most critical step in foreign development since FXO acquired fOu and Team Liquid established its partnership with oGs. Parity is slipping ever further from our grasp as the SC2 scene grows further and further imbalanced.
Though there is only champion in any tournament, there can always be a multitude of winners and losers. Cliché as it may be, this writer has decided in his infinite wisdom to lay it all out for you.
Photos courtesy of the amazing GhostClaw, video by AskJoshy
Slumping? Overrated? To be fair, that may have been his condition two months ago - not that we had any good way to check. But when it comes to winning tournaments, all that matters is the present.
MVP proved at Anaheim that he is as good as he ever was and maybe even better. His man-handling of widely acclaimed #1 ZvT player DRG raised eyebrows even in Korea, while his Terran vs Terrans-who-are-not-Bomber was just as amazing. The way MLG Anaheim tierings worked out was like this: Foreigner tier - Korean tier - IMMvp tier (hopefully there will be an even loftier 'IMNestea tier' in the future).
Hopefully this tournament will be the impetus MVP needs to get his GSL butt in gear and start bringing the same kind of domination to Korea.
By now the "You'll know when I'm practicing as hard as I should because I'll start winning" story is old news (or however that quote went). I don't know how much practice Tyler had over the past few weeks, but he sure did a lot of winning at Anaheim. Tyler made it out of the winners' open bracket into pool play, besting most notably Quantic Gaming's iNka, and FXOChoyafOu.
Unfortunately, Tyler was then seeded into not only the hardest championship group, but the one with nearly his entire team in it. It was a disappointing end to such a good start, as Tyler went 0-5 in his group. But his open bracket recovery was a bright sign for ESPORTS and Nony fans alike.
I remember sitting at home, looking at the brackets, and watching this relative unknown’s rise through the tournament. I couldn't believe it when I saw that he even made it a few rounds into the championship bracket.
Apparently, from what I gather from various sources (replays faster please), this unknown cannon rushed every (or almost every) game. Do I hold that against him? No way! You're playing in tournaments to win, and if you can get yourself closer to that goal with some devious tactics, more power to you wbc! If anyone knows more about him, please contribute to his liquidpedia page like any true nerd baller would.
In my mind the second biggest winner of this tournament was our Ukrainian hero White-Ra. As one of SC2's most popular players, the fans in North American just couldn't get enough of him. Despite only coming in twenty fourth place, he still delivered some great performances for his fans by making it into the championship bracket and taking down some well-known opponents. Anyone who gets this much love from the fans can only be called a winner.
All three of these players always seem to go under the radar at MLG events as championship contenders. It's not that people don't know that they're excellent players, it's just that they get no hype whatsoever. Of course, they respond by blowing people away with their high level, creative performances. Whether it's watching Ret's queens at zero energy twenty minutes into the game, Sjow's safe and solid play, or Slush's late game multi-pronged zerg attacks, these players never fail to put up a good game. Placing right behind Naniwa, Idra, and Huk, these players really do deserve your attention at the next MLG, as their games never disappoint.
Let me start by saying that obviously both of these players are winners by some standards, as they are the best of the foreigners and always bring their top performances to MLG events. With that being said, these two players failed a sacred ideal they were charged with representing at Anaheim: foreigner hope.
As the championship bracket played out, it became clear that Naniwa and Huk were the last two chances foreigners had to best the Koreans. Huk and Naniwa reached a crossroads between inspiring hope or instilling everlasting (twenty-something days) despair into the hearts of foreign fans.
Unfortunately, Huk and Naniwa didn't just lose, they were swiftly 2-0'd by their Korean opponents MMA and Ganzi. Huk and Naniwa aren't losers because they didn't play well; they're "losers" because our hopes died with them.
Maybe DongRaeGu isn't as good as we all want him to be. Sure, he dominated his pool play and then only lost by one game to both MVP and MMA (the first and second place winners), but he didn't totally dominate the tournament in the way that some of us foreigners had predicted.
We've all watched his GSTL play where he's looked nigh unstoppable, but the top tier Koreans at MLG showed us why he struggled for so long to make it into GSL. It's unfortunate, but DRG's fifth place finish has definitely dampened the hype.
Team FXO
It's not that FXO did that poorly. They showed some pretty good gameplay, but the results just weren't what people expected considering their training in Korea.
In the winner's open bracket, every FXO player was eliminated from the tournament by a Koraen. After that, they were eliminated by solid, if less heralded players such as Tod and Demuslim. Tgun actually made it into the championship bracket, only to be eliminated by wannabecool. Considering that Qxc beat the winner of this whole tournament in the GSTL, I think it's safe to say we expected more.
Evil Geniuses
For a team that has a massive fan base and prides itself as being the best of the best, this was a disappointing performance. Aside from Idra, the two top placing EG players were Machine and iNcontroL who only won six games (that's games not matches) between both of them. LzGamer, Axslav, and Strifecro also only managed to make a small splashes on the tournament. Demuslim was the only EG member to escape Anaheim with an improved reputation (though the universe seems to be conspiring to cause him physical harm), with an additional month of practice granting him that big comeback he was aiming for at Columbus. That being said, perhaps their new training house will help them perform better next time.
Team Liquid
Two words: Team. Kill.
The Winneriest Winner That Ever Won
Boxer! (and team SlayerS)
Prior to this event, googling Boxer+washed+up led to a stream of forums and news posts saying that Boxer was out of form and far past his prime. This weekend, people's hearts (except WaxAngel's stone cold void) were reignited by the ESPORTS flame that is Boxer. Before being called the weakest Korean at the event, Boxer proved himself more than worthy of his fans' approval, brining innovative builds and his infamous tactical play.
Just as awesome as Boxer's performance was his team Slayers'. Despite SlayerS_Alicia running into a brick wall made of ToD, SlayerS dominated the tournament and took three of the top four spots while evangelizing to the West with their holy blue flames.This video says more about Boxer's victory at MLG than anything I could say:
Boxer and Rain brought us one of the most memorable TvT's in SC2 to date. Though some view TvT as a slow and boring match-up to spectate, it is hard not to get excited over mass explosions, nuclear missiles, hunter seekers, and grandiose engagements combined in a symphony of glorious destruction.
Boxer spawned as red Terran at the 12 o’ clock position, and Rain spawned at 6 o’ clock as blue Terran. Following the dominant trend of the MLG weekend, both players opened up with a very quick refinery that allowed for a fast factory and immediately moved up to blue flame research. While both players continued to mirror each other by getting matching starports, Boxer landed the first blow by slipping a hellion raiding party into Rain's base and slaughtering ten of Rain’s SCV’s. Not to be outdone, Rain countered with hellions of his own, but through a drop instead. Rain also managed to kill a substantial amount of workers, evening the game up again.
LINE EM' UP
Boxer continued the pressure, making effective use of several hellions at the front of Rain’s main to keep him feeling the heat. With a substantially earlier reactor on his starport, Boxer’s air force began to exert its dominance in the skies as he continued to wrestle map control away from Rain. Unfazed by Boxer's overall map control, Rain calmly look his third base with his superior tank force.
Boxer then blew his lead and grip on map control with an inadvisable assault on Rain's newly established third base, as defending tanks blew up hellions and ground-mode vikings alike. As a small consolation, Boxer finished expanding to this third during the engagement.
There was a follow-up slew of aggression and pressure from both players, but with neither player able to gain a significant advantage, the game began to transition into a typical TvT tank cold war as both players marked their territory with treacherous tank lines.
"The line must be drawn HERE!"
Rain began mixing Thors into his mech composition while taking his fourth expansion at the other natural expansion. On the hand, Boxer chose to take his fourth base at his gold expansion, planning to use it as a staging point for offensives. However, Rain proved to be too entrenched and the game plunged further into stalemate.
With the center of the map impassable by land, both players began switching to starport tech. Rain drew his sword first with battlecruisers, while Boxer responded with mass reactor-starports for vikings. With a massive battle looming in the future - but no frontal engagements possible until then - both players tried to gain advantages through other methods.
Boxer began the production of mass orbital command centers while sacrificing his SCVs to free up population; Rain surprised the audience and began to research hunter seeker missiles for his numerous Ravens.
You could say the crowd EXPLODED with excitement when they saw this.
Rain also took the initiative to soften up Boxer’s tank lines by landing his own offensive mules on top of Boxer’s tanks.
You know a game is getting ridiculous when mules start "doing damage"
The first major engagement almost occurred when Boxer's took some Yamato potshots at Rain's gold base. The two forces were close to having a drawn out engagement, but Boxer was forced to immediately flee upon seeing five hunter seeker missiles flying towards his vikings.
Really hope the TvT trends witch to mass raven, viking, thor.
Shortly after, Rain noticed that Boxer's slow discarding of tanks in favor of aerial units might allow him to make some progress on the ground. Using a combination of nukes, tanks, and mules, Rain began to make forward progress across the bottom left lane of the map.
In a move that would influence the outcome of the game, Boxer decided to ignore this push by land, as he already had more than enough money in the bank to need any further mining from the bases at 9 o'clock.
Rain continued his slow encroachement into Boxer’s territory using cheap and supply-free missile turrets to keep any battlecruisers from easilty thwarting him. With Boxer beginning to cycle Thors into his army, the minimap begins to display a slight advantage for Rain as Boxer became slowly cornered.
Wat
As Rain slowly took the over the 9 o' clock area, Boxer's widely spread production facilities began to come under pressure. Seeing that Boxer was unwilling to commit to a major battle, Rain slowly began to tighten his enclosure. Boxer was forced to lift his buildings into the rearguard, putting himself in a very cramped position. Rain continued to use nukes to chip away at the edge of Boxer's territory, though he would not do any significant damage.
Might be in bit of trouble when nukes are regularly landing on your base.
Backed into a corner, Boxer finally decided to commit to a battle and find out who would win the game. As the screen erupted with missiles, lasers, and explosions, Rain successfully landed a critical volley of hunter seeker missiles on Boxer’s mass of battlecruisers and obliterated almost all of them. With the battle clearly lost, Boxer attempted to flee with his remaining vikings.
It's so beautiful
There was little left for Boxer to do as he could not fight Rain head on. As Rain moved in to start demolishing Boxer's buildings, Boxer attempted to force a draw by lifting his buildings to the corners and protecting them with vikings. However, he did not have nearly enough vikings left over to make this strategy work, and was forced to GG after his air force was wiped out.
What more can you say?
Rain took game one after one hour and five minutes in game time.
Hundreds of players duked it out at MLG Anaheim this past weekend. There were super-stars aplenty, hailing from all corners of the world. But most of the players went unheralded regardless of the progress they made in the tournament, their games watched only by a passing referee or two. Yet, it's their aspiring competitive hearts that keep this community running. We took the time to get to know a few of them...
The Dude. The Legend. The biggest name in ESPORTS this weekend. Gimix, aka "The Most Mannered Player in ESPORTS", has been for most of his career a rather unassuming player on a rather unassuming team. A chance meeting with White-Ra in the Open Bracket, however, changed all that...
You and your team are a bit unknown to the community, can you talk about you and your team's accomplishments before this MLG?
Eternal PlagueeP placed 2nd in ESGL Season 2 and recently defeated VPGamers in the SGL Playoffs. Our current lineup consists of Gimix, Fingo, ButteryLlama, Valkyrie, JakeBake, Haustka, and ArtOfTerran; five of which are GrandMasters; two, Gimix and Valkyrie, peaked in the Top 25.
My personal accomplishments (according to my manager, Mike): 2nd Place Versus Gaming LAN 1st Place University of Utah LAN 2nd Place University of Utah LAN 2nd Place ESL Go4SC2 Cup #61 2nd Place ESL Go4SC2 Cup #57 2nd Place ESL Go4SC2 Cup #53 2nd Place US CraftCup #29 4th Place - BYOC Riverton Tournament LAN
What was going through your head when you saw that you would probably face White-Ra in round 2?
I was first excited, but also a little sad. I didn't feel very confident. After all, he's White-Ra! I don't want to get knocked out so early.
Are you a White-Ra fan?
I wasn't until I met the guy. I mean, I knew of him, but I didn't follow him closely since I am Terran, but I am now.
What were you thinking, when White-Ra didn't show up for your upper bracket match?
It was a bizzarre experience when White-Ra finally came in. I was kind of disappointed, but also a little relieved. It was very bittersweet, I didn't get eliminated, but on the other hand, I didn't get to play White-Ra.
After White-Ra's match, you went on to defeat EG.StrifeCro 2-1, establishing that you are not just lucky but a rather skilled player. Care to talk about those games?
For the first game on Xel'Naga Cavern, I did a 2-factory 1-base rush and managed to destroy his natural. After that, I just expanded myself. When he tried to take a third at the Gold, I pushed and after that it was pretty much over.
In the second game, I tried to use the same build, but StrifeCro was ready for it. He beat my army back, but it was still fairly even. Eventually, he managed a very beautiful Roach/Baneling to Mutalisk transition. I was prepared but still fell behind, and it ended in a slow loss.
Game 3 on Shattered Temple, I pushed in the only timing window I have, because he was about to get Broodlords. I pushed just before he teched to hive, his infestors vs my Marine/Tank/Hellion. I pushed and siege between the natural and Gold and it was over.
Sound like they're all straight up games.
Yes. I didn't cheese him out or anything.
After you got knocked down to the Lower Bracket by ThisIsJimmy. You managed to land on White-Ra's side of the lower bracket again. What were you thinking?
When I saw the bracket I just thought, oh I get to play White-Ra again! I looked at the players and I knew I would face White-Ra. When it comes to it, I was excited to meet him again.
It was a best of 7?
Yes, an extended series with me starting 2-0, so I gave him back two games to make it a regular best of 3 to make it even.
What did you do in those two games?
I just moved my SCVs over to his base and typed "GG."
After the match, did you get a chance to chat with White-Ra?
He was very busy so we didn't get to chat very long, but he came over and we shook hands. He told me that we should practice together sometimes.
So you got yourself a Protoss practice partner?
I guess so!
When did you find out about the Day9 shoutout and that you're on front page of Reddit.com (not just r/StarCraft)?
I kinda left.
I couldn't handle the attention, so I went back to the hotel. When I came back my manager, Mike, told me that I am the top story on reddit.
I didn't really comprehend what that means then. It was definitely the coolest experience ever. Mostly because the Day9 shoutout. That's all I ever needed or wanted.
Did you expect such a large reaction? How have you dealt with the sudden fame? Are you the more withdrawn type?
I didn't expect it at all. I am definitely more of the withdrawn type. The fame is great, since I am an unknown player, even though I often beat strong opponents. On the other hand, I want to be the best. Not just famous, but the best.
How did you feel about having a larger TL fan club than DJ Wheat?
It was undeserved. DJWheat busted his ass and worked hard for the community. I just happened to play against White-Ra.
A recently TL featured streamer, Sterling "Sterling" Kolde is an emerging American Terran player who is currently in transition to becoming a professional player. Pictured with his brother, Satchel Kolde, on the left.
My first name is Sterling, and it's also my gaming ID. I am a Terran player from Seattle, Washington. I love StarCraft, I stream on TeamLiquid. I was recently featured on there so you guys may know me from there. I play a lot of StarCraft and love to coach and just talk about the game.
I am really happy to answer some of your questions!
Satchel Hi, I am Sterling's brother, Satchel. I started spectating since StarCraft 1, when Sterling started picking it up competitively. In the last WCG event for StarCraft 1, he made it to the last qualifier and he was deep in the tournament.
It was a 12 hour qualifier. I sat there and watched every game, and I was way more stressed out about it then he was! It was really exciting to watch the games. During the last game, I was the one shaking and he wasn't.
Sterling Ya, man! You were there the whole time for me for the the qualifier. You may be a bit modest here, but this is my support. This is my family; this is my support. When I lose, I come into his room, and I'm upset with him, in his room. When I win, he's right there besides me. He encourages me, every day, to stream and to play; to help me get my own name out there. He helps me manage different things, like my Youtube channel, which I'm just starting out right now. He is the one that started my stream and figured all the X-Split stuff out. Personally, I am really bad with technology.
He is my brother, my manager, my friend... you know, my encouragement. He does a lot for me as a player, for my career, as a brother. It is very important to have support, as an aspiring semi-pro player.
What brought you to StarCraft 2?
I played StarCraft 1 for a couple of years. I first picked up that game early middle school, that's why I got interested in StarCraft 2. I just loved StarCraft 1, so it's a natural progression for me.
I started playing StarCraft 2 in October, after the last major StarCraft I event. Ever since then, I've really enjoyed playing. It is a very different game, but also a lot of fun.
How was your MLG experience so far?
God, it's been awesome! What a huge turn-around from Dallas!
Everything is great. The production is terrific and the games are great! Everything, like meeting people, absolutely phenomenal. I've shaken hand with Sean Plott, y'know, he's actually a person who walks and talks. I shaken hands with Jinro. Met these people who are just my heroes, personally, it's just so cool!
The MLG guys, the production, watching the main stage, is just great. They've got interviews between games, they do so much to keep the whole event captivating, from Friday until Sunday. It's a long event, two-and-half, three days is a long time to keep thousands of people entertained, and they're doing a great job!
Did you fund this trip out of your own pocket? You traveled all the way from Seattle, so it must had cost a lot of money.
That's an interesting question. We did. Satchel, my brother, paid out of his own pocket. Well, our parents supported him.
I came here partially out of my own pocket, but my viewers on my stream have been making donations to support me. They have been tagging donations, saying "this is to help you out on your way to MLG." It's $20 here, $50 here, so more than half my expenses have been paid for by my viewers.
I gotta say, huge thank you to the people that supported me and brought me down here!
What's your perspective on difference in live vs online play?
Coming down here, I expected it to be basically the same, playing at a live event. I was expecting the same feeling as I get when I play online. Just very relaxed, very calm, collected. I know my strategies and I know what I'm doing, but it's totally different. Sitting down across from your opponent, who's trying to advance in the tournament, trying to kill you. He's thinking about my play style and trying to take advantage of my weaknesses, so it's a whole different ballgame compared to playing online, like when I played on the Korean server, playing against someone across the ocean. He doesn't know me and just trying to practice, so it's a totally different atmosphere.
It's made me second guess a lot of my style and my strategies. I like to play aggressively online, because I can take advantage of soft players who are just practicing and playing mediocore strategies. Here at this live event, of the games I lost, people have came out with cookie-cutter builds that takes advantage of my strategies.
I have been changing my own style so I can play as safe as possible with minimal risks. To get through a huge field like MLG, that's really important.
Your stream was recently featured on TeamLiquid. Would you care to talk a little about your streaming experience?
I would love to! I actually started streaming about a month ago, and it's been really fun. It makes playing so much more fun when I have people to interact with, and I get to talk StarCraft with people. I just love doing it.
I started with just a couple viewers, and that was really exciting for me. When I hit 10 viewers, I was thrilled! I was a try-hard streamer - I was talking as much as I could, and commentating as much as I could, and I got good feedback. For a couple weeks, I never had more than 25 viewers.
Then it kind of pick up, I got featured on TeamLiquid. Now when I logged in, I get two, three hundred viewers, and it makes it so much more fun to play. More than anything else, now that I have a stream and a viewer base, it gives me a motivation to actually login and play and practice a lot more.
Can you talk about your playing style?
Terran as a race is beautiful, I love Terran.
I honesty can't see myself playing any other race. Just because, I can do what I need to do as a gamer. If I need to play safe, I can play safe. If I need to play aggressively, I can play aggressive. The units I have to work with - the Reaper, the Hellion, frankly even the Marine - have so much flexibility. They can do so many different things. With the same set of units, say Marine-Marauder-Medivac, I can play defensively and form a nice concave around a expansion, and just bolster my economy. Or I can play aggressively and do multiple drops in different areas to spread my opponent apart, and do different attacks.
Terran allows me to do the different things that I want to do, without having to all-in or overcommit, compared to when you tech to Dark Shrine or Warp Prism.
Have you enjoyed your MLG experience?
Oh yeah, it has been great! I met a bunch of really cool people. It is a great venue and it's been a blast. I gotta say, if you considered coming to a live event, if you're on the fence, go for it! There's so much fun to be had.
My brother is down here, and he's not even playing. He just came down, as a spectator to watch, and he's been having a great time too, I think.
Satchel Yeah! It's been phenomenal.
Will you do this again?
Oh yes, absolutely! I think the prize pool is a bit small, but I don't think anyone comes here for the money. It may cost $600-700 to come down here, and the winner only gets $5000, but it's about the experience. I am supporting the game I love and an event that is very well run.
Hi, this is Katzby, right here in front of me is GoSuSTX, also known as ONEShield. Can you introduce yourself to TeamLiquid?
I am Caleb "STX" Richard. I play on the team It's Gosu and have been playing since the Beta.
Can you give us your RTS background?
I played StarCraft and WarCraft 3. I actually played WarCraft 3 first for two years, but switched to Brood War when I heard that StarCraft 2 will be coming out, and played it for three-four months until the Beta.
What motivated you to switch to Starcraft 2?
I thought it will be better than StarCraft I, and definitely better than WarCraft. I am pretty happy with the way StarCraft 2 turns out.
Let's talk about your results here at the MLG. Your first two games, I guess you can say, are against fairly easy opponents. Can you talk about those games?
I played both Protoss, and TvP is my best matchup, but sometimes I still manage to lose them. The first two are both mid-masters, so it was pretty easy.
After them I played wbc. He prepared a build just for me (wbc is a teammate at It's Gosu). He did a 3-Gate expand, but hid the expansion, so I thought it was an all-in. Eventually he took a third, but I thought it was his second, so I just sat. He had three base against my two, so ya...
That sucks! After wbc drops you to the lower bracket, you played against RevShadow. How did that go?
He all-ined the first game. I scouted 2-gas and knew something was up, so instead of 3-rax and 2-gas, I went 4-rax, a safer build. It was a pretty easy win even though I essentially blind-countered him. The second, third game were a complete blur. I don't remember what happened.
How was your experience here at MLG?
Yeah it was pretty good, but there had been a lot of standing between matches, sometimes for several hours, because there are not enough chairs. It can be a couple hours or a couple minutes until your next match, but overall it had been pretty good.
I heard some of the games started at 1:30 AM last night?
I was here until 3 AM last night, because I was up to the [upper bracket] fourth round. Once I lose though, I can go home, but it all depends on how well I do. Then you have to wake up at 10 again.
Are you satisfied with how well you did?
I definitely could have done better, but I also need to practice more.
This is your first MLG right?
Yep. First time competing. I visited one once just to watch, StarCraft 2 wasn't out then.
Will you be attending future MLGs?
Yes! My team It's GoSu will send me to more MLGs in the future.
Thank you for your time. Do you have any shoutouts?
We would like to give specials thanks to zemotion for sharing her professional photography with TeamLiquid. Jinn is a member of Infinity Seven and photographer of Studio Zemotion. Her work can be found at www.zhangjingna.com and www.facebook.com/zemotion , or www.twitter.com/zemotion .
WOW those pictures are pure money she NEEDS to get picked up by somebody dear god great pictures of all the players (MMA's crazy haircut) but that Day9 one with the pen is the best sc2 pic I've seen of him and thats above his WCG 2k5 amazing hair cut one. Just fantastic I hope she goes to every MLG.
Great Write up but I got to say those pictures really made it into something really special.
thios came across as a bit whiny tbh. terrans are not imba, just that early on they WERE imba and alot of top koreans went T. Now alot of very good players are T.
What you have to ask is this, if the top Zergs were invited (nestea, losira, drg) instead pf mma, mvp , boxer would they also take 3 of the top 4? i think they would.
as for protoss, well MC would also finish top 4, Alicia was surprising. P suck tbh
eP.Gimix most mannered man in esports, that story was so awesome :D
Strange that ToD is not mentioned as a winner at MLG. I had never heard of him prior to this, but it really put him on the map as far as I am concerned.
One player i'd love to see on (hopefully) the next installment of the list of semi-pros is vileState. Came in 2nd to IdrA in a WCG qualifier, and he's on the same team as Spanishiwa, what a baller!
Woke up - opened my laptop - read this article. The result: Happiness and all the energy needed to go into the day!
I have to add that I couldn't watch MLG because Internet is too slow over here right now, so I had to rely on some LR threads and the hope to soon be back in Germany to watch some of the VoDs. I avoided (almost) all spoilers like hell, but this writeup really managed to convey some of the tension and atmosphere of the event - very much appreciated!
EDIT: Missed the semi-pro stories on the first read-through. Definitely huge props to Gimix. Gimix vs. White-Ra - a match of two of the greatest guys in E-sports
Wow, such a weak description of TL's status: "Teamkill"? You seem to enjoy using harsh words towards every other person on this planet, except for anyone involved with TL. That is a bit infuriating, imo. ;oo
Why don't you shed some light on how washed up Tyler, TLO, Jinro and Hayder has become? Amazing ignorance. Except for Sheth, TL needs some fresh, young, solid players. The fact that no one ever mentions this baffles me in these post-tourney articles.
On August 07 2011 11:17 Carlin wrote: Wow, such a weak description of TL's status: "Teamkill"? You seem to enjoy using harsh words towards every other person on this planet, except for anyone involved with TL. That is a bit infuriating, imo. ;oo
Why don't you shed some light on how washed up Tyler, TLO, Jinro and Hayder has become? Amazing ignorance. Except for Sheth, TL needs some fresh, young, solid players. The fact that no one ever mentions this baffles me in these post-tourney articles.
TL did collectively better than any other foreign team. So before saying someone else was "washed up", please just think about their recent performances.
Just wanted to point out there's a couple of spelling errors. One in the FXO second paragraph, and one in BoxeR's first paragraph. 'Koraen" and "brining"
Other than that, I was waiting for this all week. I'm enjoying the read, but I can't help but feel the bitter taste in my mouth when I really want to see the foreign scene improve, and I really hope it does!
Awesome write-up, great read. I missed that epic TvT between rain and boxer. T.T Ah, my prediction of boxer winning it was so close... ... his run is so inspiring- makes me want to switch lol.
Also those photos at the end are awesome, I shall combine them (MMA/boxer) with my slayers wp.
Fantastic games much respect to eP.Gimix, that dude is a boss. Also, I really hope that the foreign teams start investing in team houses it would be so beneficial I believe, perhaps even make the team houses in korea haha jk. I just hope that the koreans are always gonna just stomp the foreigners like they are right now I don't want broodwar all over again.
On August 07 2011 11:17 Carlin wrote: Wow, such a weak description of TL's status: "Teamkill"? You seem to enjoy using harsh words towards every other person on this planet, except for anyone involved with TL. That is a bit infuriating, imo. ;oo
Why don't you shed some light on how washed up Tyler, TLO, Jinro and Hayder has become? Amazing ignorance. Except for Sheth, TL needs some fresh, young, solid players. The fact that no one ever mentions this baffles me in these post-tourney articles.
Excluding the Koreans, TeamLiquid had 5 players in the top 20. The closest team is Dignitas with 3 in the top 20. That goes down to 4 in the top 16 for TL and 2 for Dignitas. TLO and Haypro were both in the top 20. Huk tied with Naniwa for top foreigner position (technically above him since Naniwa didn't play their 7th/8th place matches). Ret got farther than Sheth.
On August 07 2011 11:17 Carlin wrote: Wow, such a weak description of TL's status: "Teamkill"? You seem to enjoy using harsh words towards every other person on this planet, except for anyone involved with TL. That is a bit infuriating, imo. ;oo
Why don't you shed some light on how washed up Tyler, TLO, Jinro and Hayder has become? Amazing ignorance. Except for Sheth, TL needs some fresh, young, solid players. The fact that no one ever mentions this baffles me in these post-tourney articles.
Calling players like Tyler and TLO "washed up" just proves your ignorance regarding TL, when there are such obvious facts like how TLO's only recently returned from injury, and how this very article already mentioned how Tyler has shown that he can still perform with wins against players like Choya.
great read. I'm still sad that my internet had to die on the first 2 days of MLG. I had to watch it at the library, but I couldn't watch it at night TT I hope the next mlg is even better
And this is why I dislike Liquid signing Sheth. He had a chance to really get into the Korean system but he bailed. Now I read stuff like "there is no western way about it".
Then again, apart from Huk and Jinro, all other TL players are too laid back to contribute anything significant.
It's quite sad really, the only thing westerners are really good at is delusion of self. This is not a sudden change but the culmination of a disease left unchecked. Look back at the many posts of the past and you will see many posts proclaiming that foreigners could at least give koreans a run for the money. Where are these posts now?
If you want to make it big, you better well commit like hell to it. Kudos to Huk, Nani, ThorZain, Sase for putting a lot on the line to go to korea and practice there. Same thing to the entire FXO team and FXO in general for making things happen. As far as Im concerned, all the other players who are not willing to commit fully to this can just fall to the wayside and lose. It's easy to be a good player but to be a pro? Much much harder.
I believe its time to separate the chaff from the wheat. There are many good players in the western scene but hardly any pro players. The only difference is that this definition and separation was not as obvious as it is now.
What? Rain not listed as a winner? Crush through open bracket and go 5-0 IN A GROUP WITH MMA AND RET? WUT? Then having probably the most epic TvT's ever? Rain is definitely a winner in this tournament after so many people put him down as a cheeser all those GSL's ago. Rain, IMO, is second only to Boxer in the stories of this tournament!
Anyway... besides that oversight, I ALWAYS love TL tournament writeups with all their humor and insight. WRITING TEAM HWAITING!!!
On August 07 2011 13:26 Crissaegrim wrote: And this is why I dislike Liquid signing Sheth. He had a chance to really get into the Korean system but he bailed. Now I read stuff like "there is no western way about it".
Then again, apart from Huk and Jinro, all other TL players are too laid back to contribute anything significant.
It's quite sad really, the only thing westerners are really good at is delusion of self. This is not a sudden change but the culmination of a disease left unchecked. Look back at the many posts of the past and you will see many posts proclaiming that foreigners could at least give koreans a run for the money. Where are these posts now?
If you want to make it big, you better well commit like hell to it. Kudos to Huk, Nani, ThorZain, Sase for putting a lot on the line to go to korea and practice there. Same thing to the entire FXO team and FXO in general for making things happen. As far as Im concerned, all the other players who are not willing to commit fully to this can just fall to the wayside and lose. It's easy to be a good player but to be a pro? Much much harder.
I believe its time to separate the chaff from the wheat. There are many good players in the western scene but hardly any pro players. The only difference is that this definition and separation was not as obvious as it is now.
... I love how quick you guys are to rail against TL... Ret nearly winning a group with MMA in it, and utterly destroying everyone else and putting up consistent results everywhere else? Haypro putting up a strong showing the group of death and making solid finishes in all tournaments he participates in? Just because there's been no recent wins, every player on TL is solid and determined. Some other teams? No, not nearly, but TL is one of the few NA teams with a powerful roster and a lot of determination
I didnt like the us vs them concept but it was all good writing and the profiles of up and comings in the brackets plus the final photo gallery = <3333
On August 07 2011 13:26 Crissaegrim wrote: And this is why I dislike Liquid signing Sheth. He had a chance to really get into the Korean system but he bailed. Now I read stuff like "there is no western way about it".
Then again, apart from Huk and Jinro, all other TL players are too laid back to contribute anything significant.
It's quite sad really, the only thing westerners are really good at is delusion of self. This is not a sudden change but the culmination of a disease left unchecked. Look back at the many posts of the past and you will see many posts proclaiming that foreigners could at least give koreans a run for the money. Where are these posts now?
If you want to make it big, you better well commit like hell to it. Kudos to Huk, Nani, ThorZain, Sase for putting a lot on the line to go to korea and practice there. Same thing to the entire FXO team and FXO in general for making things happen. As far as Im concerned, all the other players who are not willing to commit fully to this can just fall to the wayside and lose. It's easy to be a good player but to be a pro? Much much harder.
I believe its time to separate the chaff from the wheat. There are many good players in the western scene but hardly any pro players. The only difference is that this definition and separation was not as obvious as it is now.
... I love how quick you guys are to rail against TL... Ret nearly winning a group with MMA in it, and utterly destroying everyone else and putting up consistent results everywhere else? Haypro putting up a strong showing the group of death and making solid finishes in all tournaments he participates in? Just because there's been no recent wins, every player on TL is solid and determined. Some other teams? No, not nearly, but TL is one of the few NA teams with a powerful roster and a lot of determination
Fine, but I was trying to generalize. As good as TL is, they could and should be better. Why keep patting their backs if they are only going to get "solid finishes"? You make it sound like this is the best result they can achieve. These guys are 1st place competitors in every fiber of their being, everyone knows this, both you and I. That's why I dont think that "solid finishes" are meant for them. I want them to push on and push hard
On August 07 2011 11:17 Carlin wrote: Wow, such a weak description of TL's status: "Teamkill"? You seem to enjoy using harsh words towards every other person on this planet, except for anyone involved with TL. That is a bit infuriating, imo. ;oo
Why don't you shed some light on how washed up Tyler, TLO, Jinro and Hayder has become? Amazing ignorance. Except for Sheth, TL needs some fresh, young, solid players. The fact that no one ever mentions this baffles me in these post-tourney articles.
There was a post-tourney article about TL at MLG. Look under "Liquid Team News." They may not be as harsh as you'd like, but then TL arguably had the best showing out of any foreign team. Jinro and Tyler getting far/through the open bracket is no mean achievement either.
Thanks for the recap. I thoroughly enjoyed the encouragement/warning that foreigners need to pick up the slack. I want to see more foreigner success, or my allegiance will continue to shift to Korean players, and I'm not sure how much the foreign scene would grow if foreign players become obsolete. My favorite players are already mostly Korean (MMA, MC e.g.), but I still find myself cheering for Ret, Jinro, Thorzain, and lately also Naniwa, QXC, and even Idra.
Also foreign players, take note that FXO's Korean players have been streaming, as well as SlayerS_Dragon, and they've been getting some good numbers. Streaming may not be a future source of income if enough people feel they can watch better games on a Korean's stream.
I will like to make a special thank you to Katzby for her huge contributions of putting the "Hard Knock Life" piece together. In all honesty, she deserves to be credited for the piece, not me. It was mostly her work.
As Rain moved in to start demolishing Boxer's buildings, Boxer attempted to force a draw by lifting his buildings to the corners and protecting them with vikings. However, he did not have nearly enough vikings left over to make this strategy work, and was forced to GG after his air force was wiped out.
Wait, I thought the only reason Rain was able to win was because he had like 50 gas left over, just enough to repair his single Viking?
Epic write up. Best wake-up material! <3 Even though Koreans have every advantage over Foreigners, I believe that there will a foreigner star that will put an end to the Korean domination
On August 07 2011 15:28 ItsMeDomLee wrote: How do you get off for saying DRG's performance was a failure and then saying Tyler's was a success?
He said that in context of expectations, it was a failure. Everyone said DRG will win this, or even place top 3.. or top 4. But he didn't. He failed and got top 5.
Tyler on the other hand was expected to bomb out completely. Written off. But he did incredibly, getting through as (i think) the top seed from the open bracket and into the pool play.
Geoffrey West has some interesting things to say about tightly-packed networks producing greater numbers of 'supergeniuses', per capita. It also supports the idea that foreigners could learn something from the Koreans' practice style.
Whats up with the Nani HuK bashing, makes me sad. "With that being said, these two players failed a sacred ideal they were charged with representing at Anaheim: foreigner hope"
"Unfortunately, Huk and Naniwa didn't just lose, they were swiftly 2-0'd by their Korean opponents MMA and Ganzi. Huk and Naniwa aren't losers because they didn't play well; they're "losers" because our hopes died with them."
so the other 260+ foreigners did well/ok but the top two are losers and shuld be ashamed of them selfs. like WTF!!!
Hmm, interesting you found DRG was a loser of the tournament. Truly though, a lot of DRG's fans were overrating him, but just as many were underrating him, calling him a terrible player for using Hydras at all vT.
Tbh, as a DRG fan myself, he did as expected. The hydra thing was undoubtedly confusing, but whether a brain fart, a bad read or a strategy which just didn't work out, I don't dwell on it much.
Basically: I see DRG as Code S material still, but he might dwell in Code B / A forever. He's not "super star" enough to, even as a fan, bet on him with certainty to win everything.
Anyway: great write up. As someone who actually doesn't care where players come from, I don't have any feelings of "failure", but I can see how foreign fans might be disappointed. I like to see new talent: I don't care where it comes from.
I don't think DRG is a "loser" of the event at all, he had to face the 2 finalist and lost both series 2-1. It was pretty predictable that his series vs mma was gonna be close like the matches they had in GSTL. I was sad that he didnt beat one of the two since he could have prevented the tvt marathon but i don't think he did bad at all during mlg.
On August 07 2011 18:03 kovac wrote: Whats up with the Nani HuK bashing, makes me sad. "With that being said, these two players failed a sacred ideal they were charged with representing at Anaheim: foreigner hope"
"Unfortunately, Huk and Naniwa didn't just lose, they were swiftly 2-0'd by their Korean opponents MMA and Ganzi. Huk and Naniwa aren't losers because they didn't play well; they're "losers" because our hopes died with them."
so the other 260+ foreigners did well/ok but the top two are losers and shuld be ashamed of them selfs. like WTF!!!
It's because people expected them to do better. Huk and Naniwa are arguably the 2 best foreign players. Thus people had hoped that they would be able to give the koreans a run for their money. Instead they ended up losing pretty badly to the koreans.
It's not that they are not good, it's that they didn't live up to their expectations. For pretty much anyone else, a top 7-8 finish would be excellent, but people had hoped that these two would place higher.
"I don't believe we need to train like the Koreans to beat them a nice a balanced approach is what is needed"
I remember hearing that quote a few months ago and just said to myself that none of the top NA players have the hunger to win at all cost. This past tournament just proved that.
Great article great read was not able to watch as I was at EVO last week.
Think both zerg and protoss would benefit by having better mirror matchups as there is still a strong rock-paper-scissors element in both ZvZ and PvP.
How does this hurt both races? Say protoss A has a win ratio of: 80%Z:80%T:50%P and he faces Protoss Player B who has win ratios of: 50%Z:50%T:50%P.
Half the time protoss A will get eliminated by Protoss B despite A being statistically overall a much better player. In fact, Protoss A could be amazing and have 90% win rates vs Z and T, but it would take just playing about two Protoss B's to really hurt his chances of advancing.
This is the issue when certain matchups evolve into rock-paper-scissors instead of chess...inferior players advance. Terran doesn't have this problem as bad because TvT is a lot less random.
On August 07 2011 10:21 Zaffy wrote: thios came across as a bit whiny tbh. terrans are not imba, just that early on they WERE imba and alot of top koreans went T. Now alot of very good players are T.
What you have to ask is this, if the top Zergs were invited (nestea, losira, drg) instead pf mma, mvp , boxer would they also take 3 of the top 4? i think they would.
as for protoss, well MC would also finish top 4, Alicia was surprising. P suck tbh
GSL>MLG losira and nestea had a finals between them so they didnt come im sure they were asked and when they get knocked out in the first round they might come, if that ever happens nestea is probably gna win a few more GSLs still
Gosh, this write up was excellent, it made me happy, I wish someone mentioned THE nuke. But it also left me feeling sad because foreigners really took one up the a$$.
The article was great. Enjoyed it a lot. I think it strikes quite a few good points about the competition in SC2. Sadly didn't have time to watch much of MLG because of time zones+work. If the next MLG is kind enough, I might be able to LR it.... >.>"
Great photos at the end! Also, owmygroin has got to be one of the best names I've ever seen haha. I think I'm going to become a fan of Infinity Seven just for that.
When it comes to Terran, the main problem, in my opinion, is that they are simply good at everything. They have no real weakness and can pretty much always apply pressure without any real risk. On the other hand, it is extremely difficult to apply pressure to the Terrans, due to medivacs, planetary fortress and bunkers. Having medics changed from a relatively poor and easy to kill healer to the much smoother medivacs, which gives free unlimited dropships is a bit over the top.
It may be because Terran were the focused race for Starcraft 2 but they just feel much more solid than any other race. This can most easily be shown in the mirror match-up. ZvZ or PvP is basically rock-paper-scissors, as they and their units and structures have so many weaknesses (and strengths to some degree) whilst in TvT, the T units and structures have little weaknesses and isn't as rock paper scissors-based, thus it makes the games generally won by the better player.
As for the tournament, the major disappointment wasn't Korea doing too well but the United States doing too poorly. The United States, which has bought more copies of Starcraft 2 than any other country, brought 200 of the best players to the tournament, with every single of their top players represented on their home turf. Still, they only managed to get 2 players into the top19 and zero in the top 8.
Even a tiny country such as Sweden did much better, despite just sending four players and hardly having the best represented there (such as Thorzain, Morrow or SaSe) and having purchased only 2% of the copies compared to the US.
Why does the US do so extremely poorly on a tournament in their own home country despite having such a massive amount of SC2 players? Judging from players such as Idra and other top US players, it must be something in the US mentality that makes them unable to succeed in games.
On August 07 2011 11:17 Carlin wrote: Wow, such a weak description of TL's status: "Teamkill"? You seem to enjoy using harsh words towards every other person on this planet, except for anyone involved with TL. That is a bit infuriating, imo. ;oo
Why don't you shed some light on how washed up Tyler, TLO, Jinro and Hayder has become? Amazing ignorance. Except for Sheth, TL needs some fresh, young, solid players. The fact that no one ever mentions this baffles me in these post-tourney articles.
TL did collectively better than any other foreign team. So before saying someone else was "washed up", please just think about their recent performances.
Dignitas got two players in the top10, so your statement is false.
When Game 1 of Boxer vs Rain is the featured game, you know there is something wrong with Esports. What I look for in a good game is non-stop action, with both players always being active in counter attacks or harassment, all while teching to be able to use their races' entire arsenal in this way.
What I got from Game 1 is an hour long stalemate of absolutely nothing, that eventually lead up to two balls of death engaging each other. How anyone could enjoy this game was beyond me, as it demonstrates exactly what is wrong with TvT.
As for the tournament, the major disappointment wasn't Korea doing too well but the United States doing too poorly. The United States, which has bought more copies of Starcraft 2 than any other country, brought 200 of the best players to the tournament, with every single of their top players represented on their home turf. Still, they only managed to get 2 players into the top19 and zero in the top 8.
Even a tiny country such as Sweden did much better, despite just sending four players and hardly having the best represented there (such as Thorzain, Morrow or SaSe) and having purchased only 2% of the copies compared to the US.
Why does the US do so extremely poorly on a tournament in their own home country despite having such a massive amount of SC2 players? Judging from players such as Idra and other top US players, it must be something in the US mentality that makes them unable to succeed in games.
Guess you didn't read the article or maybe you just didn't understand it, but Korea (or Sweden if it makes you feel better) have a HUGE advantage because they are small countries. Not sure where you got the idea that sales numbers reflect the intensity of pro-gaming communities. Nice try though.
Wontae (wbc) is one of the most amazing, humble, and hardworking guy you will ever meet =] I'm so happy for him and I look forward to seeing him win a major title in the future!
As for the tournament, the major disappointment wasn't Korea doing too well but the United States doing too poorly. The United States, which has bought more copies of Starcraft 2 than any other country, brought 200 of the best players to the tournament, with every single of their top players represented on their home turf. Still, they only managed to get 2 players into the top19 and zero in the top 8.
Even a tiny country such as Sweden did much better, despite just sending four players and hardly having the best represented there (such as Thorzain, Morrow or SaSe) and having purchased only 2% of the copies compared to the US.
Why does the US do so extremely poorly on a tournament in their own home country despite having such a massive amount of SC2 players? Judging from players such as Idra and other top US players, it must be something in the US mentality that makes them unable to succeed in games.
Guess you didn't read the article or maybe you just didn't understand it, but Korea (or Sweden if it makes you feel better) have a HUGE advantage because they are small countries. Not sure where you got the idea that sales numbers reflect the intensity of pro-gaming communities. Nice try though.
lol, remember there were probably more copys sold in like NY or LA than Korea or Sweden so USA should be able to have multiple "power-cells" capable of beating everyone ells...
I'm not sure I buy the argument that the smallness and "density" of Korea gives them a huge advantage. It seems to me that the reasons the author gives either aren't a big deal or don't actually distinguish Korea from the western scene.
- Koreans don't just practice in close proximity to their teammates, they practice in close proximity to every other progamer in the GSL galaxy.
Okay, what does "close proximity" mean, and secondly what does it matter? People playing games on the internet don't need to be in close proximity, assuming lag isn't an issue. If this is supposed to be referring to the fact that they're in team houses, it's irrelevant to the author's argument which is concerning the size of Korea as a whole.
- Players in the Korean scene do not travel far for their tournaments.
What does this have to do with practice and improvement? The only difference this could possibly make is less practice time lost due to travel. However, foreign players don't travel enough, and their travel times aren't long enough, to make an appreciable difference.
- Their teams do not need to spend significant sums of money on travel, and can instead improve the practice environment of the teamhouses.
Sort of beside the point since most foreigners aren't in team houses, and the establishment of team houses is a separate issue from the density of Korea (as the author acknowledges). In any case, it's hard to imagine how spending more money on the team houses would make a big difference in player improvement. It's not like teams like EG can't afford leather chairs for their team houses. The author is basically grasping at straws with this one.
- The players encounter each other regularly.
What does this mean? That they talk about the game in person more? They see each other at the Gom studio more? This point overlaps with the first one and again, since the players are on the internet I don't see how in-person contact between teams could make a huge difference.
- Many know each other from BW or from prior teams and clans.
The same is true of many foreigner pros. Regardless I don't see this making much of a difference. What matters is the dedication of practice partners. Would acquaintances be more dedicated to each other than people who just met?
- The Korean scene operates within the same time-zone.
This is the one point that I could see making somewhat of a difference. However it is only relevant to the gap between US and European time zones, since players within the US and within Europe don't have enough of a time zone difference to impede practice time. In any case I think there's enough of a waking-hours overlap for US and Euro players to practice together during those hours and then practice with players closer to them in other hours. Furthermore this issue is superceded by the establishment of team houses issue, which of course would put foreigners in the same time zone.
- The pro teams operate on similar schedules.
This is a repeat of the previous point.
In sum, the author makes a bold, broad statement but can only back it up with weak points of evidence.
On August 08 2011 05:33 Doodsmack wrote: I'm not sure I buy the argument that the smallness and "density" of Korea gives them a huge advantage. It seems to me that the reasons the author gives either aren't a big deal or don't actually distinguish Korea from the western scene.
- Koreans don't just practice in close proximity to their teammates, they practice in close proximity to every other progamer in the GSL galaxy.
Okay, what does "close proximity" mean, and secondly what does it matter? People playing games on the internet don't need to be in close proximity, assuming lag isn't an issue. If this is supposed to be referring to the fact that they're in team houses, it's irrelevant to the author's argument which is concerning the size of Korea as a whole.
- Players in the Korean scene do not travel far for their tournaments.
What does this have to do with practice and improvement? The only difference this could possibly make is less practice time lost due to travel. However, foreign players don't travel enough, and their travel times aren't long enough, to make an appreciable difference.
- Their teams do not need to spend significant sums of money on travel, and can instead improve the practice environment of the teamhouses.
Sort of beside the point since most foreigners aren't in team houses, and the establishment of team houses is a separate issue from the density of Korea (as the author acknowledges). In any case, it's hard to imagine how spending more money on the team houses would make a big difference in player improvement. It's not like teams like EG can't afford leather chairs for their team houses. The author is basically grasping at straws with this one.
- The players encounter each other regularly.
What does this mean? That they talk about the game in person more? They see each other at the Gom studio more? This point overlaps with the first one and again, since the players are on the internet I don't see how in-person contact between teams could make a huge difference.
- Many know each other from BW or from prior teams and clans.
The same is true of many foreigner pros. Regardless I don't see this making much of a difference. What matters is the dedication of practice partners. Would acquaintances be more dedicated to each other than people who just met?
- The Korean scene operates within the same time-zone.
This is the one point that I could see making somewhat of a difference. However it is only relevant to the gap between US and European time zones, since players within the US and within Europe don't have enough of a time zone difference to impede practice time. In any case I think there's enough of a waking-hours overlap for US and Euro players to practice together during those hours and then practice with players closer to them in other hours. Furthermore this issue is superceded by the establishment of team houses issue, which of course would put foreigners in the same time zone.
- The pro teams operate on similar schedules.
This is a repeat of the previous point.
In sum, the author makes a bold, broad statement but can only back it up with weak points of evidence.
to each their own opinion =). i think the reasons the author gave make a lot of sense. great write up!!
As for the tournament, the major disappointment wasn't Korea doing too well but the United States doing too poorly. The United States, which has bought more copies of Starcraft 2 than any other country, brought 200 of the best players to the tournament, with every single of their top players represented on their home turf. Still, they only managed to get 2 players into the top19 and zero in the top 8.
Even a tiny country such as Sweden did much better, despite just sending four players and hardly having the best represented there (such as Thorzain, Morrow or SaSe) and having purchased only 2% of the copies compared to the US.
Why does the US do so extremely poorly on a tournament in their own home country despite having such a massive amount of SC2 players? Judging from players such as Idra and other top US players, it must be something in the US mentality that makes them unable to succeed in games.
Guess you didn't read the article or maybe you just didn't understand it, but Korea (or Sweden if it makes you feel better) have a HUGE advantage because they are small countries. Not sure where you got the idea that sales numbers reflect the intensity of pro-gaming communities. Nice try though.
I guess you didn't read my post, or the article. Of course sales make for a bigger chance that there are good players. To give you an obvious example, Europe (which includes Sweden) will have better players than Sweden alone. Just like the US will have better players than just California. As such, which such a large pool of players, the US should do better. If you want a small community, feel free to think of the US as lots of states. There is no advantage to be just Sweden when you could be all of Europe (which is basically what the US is). Still, the US has extremely lackluster results. Why is that?
Another thing is that it seems like YOU didn't read the article. It doesn't talk about how big or small the country is, but the density of the community. "One of the most important reasons Koreans dominate is because the Korean network is located in a tremendously small area spatially and socially. Koreans don't just practice in close proximity to their teammates, they practice in close proximity to every other progamer in the GSL galaxy"
Sweden is one of the countries in the world with the lowest population density. So if anything, the US should have a "HUGE" advantage even in that department. Not to mention that one single city in the US (New York) has as much population as the entire country of Sweden. Guess which has the biggest density?
Really like the semi pro interviews by primadog well done! Good feature overall, I was wondering when this would be released but It's good quality coverage.
On August 08 2011 06:25 noemercy wrote: I kinda feel like the OP was biased against IdrA.
In the first part they kinda just mocked him in his matches against boxer which in no way was needed for the recap.
Then for some reason they didn't mention him as a top foreigner, and then topped it off by saying EG failed.
Just because someone isn't praising IdrA doesn't mean they are subtley constructing an article against him. He got BFH roasted and the OP used his game as an example of Korean T's causing chaos with this build. I suppose if it was any other zerg there wouldn't be a problem?
Are you mad that they didn't list SjoW as a top foreigner? Because if you look at the rankings they mentioned the Top 8 - IdrA came 9th, SjoW 10th followed by a slew of other foreigners including Ret, Slush, Sheth, Kiwi etc etc, i think you are taking an arbitrary "Top 8" reference a little to far, but again i feel it's just the "IdrA factor"
And finally if you read the "EG failed" section at all, you would have read the very obvious:
Aside from Idra, the two top placing EG players were Machine and iNcontroL who only won six games (that's games not matches) between both of them. LzGamer, Axslav, and Strifecro also only managed to make a small splashes on the tournament.
Feels like you are making a big deal over very little.
OT: I feel like i write "awesome write up" after every major article that comes out of the writing team so instead this time i am going to stick with incredible write up! Really fun read and good recap of the event! The Korean + Terran domination was interesting to see - so many TvTs haha! Looking forward to Raleigh!
On August 08 2011 05:33 Doodsmack wrote: I'm not sure I buy the argument that the smallness and "density" of Korea gives them a huge advantage. It seems to me that the reasons the author gives either aren't a big deal or don't actually distinguish Korea from the western scene.
- Koreans don't just practice in close proximity to their teammates, they practice in close proximity to every other progamer in the GSL galaxy.
Okay, what does "close proximity" mean, and secondly what does it matter? People playing games on the internet don't need to be in close proximity, assuming lag isn't an issue. If this is supposed to be referring to the fact that they're in team houses, it's irrelevant to the author's argument which is concerning the size of Korea as a whole.
It matters because of the opportunities players have to learn from each other. The average player would get significantly better sitting next to MC in a teamhouse than they would sitting alone at home, no matter their practice schedule. Being in close physical proximity to other top-level players creates the best possible environment for discussing and learning about the game. Frequently in post-win interviews, players have cited their neighbors in the practice house as big influences on their game.
On August 08 2011 05:33 Doodsmack wrote:- Players in the Korean scene do not travel far for their tournaments.
What does this have to do with practice and improvement? The only difference this could possibly make is less practice time lost due to travel. However, foreign players don't travel enough, and their travel times aren't long enough, to make an appreciable difference.
It makes a huge difference. Travel cost is a massive part of the budget for foreign pro-teams. Because foreign tournaments are spread across three continents and countless countries, it's extremely difficult for foreign teams to support a dedicated team-house, to send their players to Korea to train, or to add additional players. But for Korean teams, living, practicing, and playing within a single metropolitan area is a huge benefit. Teams can afford more players, and to support their teamhouses in the most comprehensive way possible.
On August 08 2011 05:33 Doodsmack wrote:- Their teams do not need to spend significant sums of money on travel, and can instead improve the practice environment of the teamhouses.
Sort of beside the point since most foreigners aren't in team houses, and the establishment of team houses is a separate issue from the density of Korea (as the author acknowledges). In any case, it's hard to imagine how spending more money on the team houses would make a big difference in player improvement. It's not like teams like EG can't afford leather chairs for their team houses. The author is basically grasping at straws with this one.
See above. Domestic help for example. If the team can pay someone to keep up with household activities, then the players and coaches do not have to spend hours cooking or doing laundry or other things like this.
On August 08 2011 05:33 Doodsmack wrote:- The players encounter each other regularly.
What does this mean? That they talk about the game in person more? They see each other at the Gom studio more? This point overlaps with the first one and again, since the players are on the internet I don't see how in-person contact between teams could make a huge difference.
Because it helps develop relationships that can translate to good practice relationships online. I'm not trying to suggest that if the entire foreign scene came together and played soccer together twice a year that things would all get much better. But this is one of many factors to consider.
On August 08 2011 05:33 Doodsmack wrote:- Many know each other from BW or from prior teams and clans.
The same is true of many foreigner pros. Regardless I don't see this making much of a difference. What matters is the dedication of practice partners. Would acquaintances be more dedicated to each other than people who just met?
Not as much. BW players and WC3 players didn't know each other well at the beginning. Again, it's a part of the puzzle that gave Korea a head-start earlier. You have an entire scene that speaks the same gaming and practicing language.
On August 08 2011 05:33 Doodsmack wrote:- The Korean scene operates within the same time-zone.
This is the one point that I could see making somewhat of a difference. However it is only relevant to the gap between US and European time zones, since players within the US and within Europe don't have enough of a time zone difference to impede practice time. In any case I think there's enough of a waking-hours overlap for US and Euro players to practice together during those hours and then practice with players closer to them in other hours. Furthermore this issue is superceded by the establishment of team houses issue, which of course would put foreigners in the same time zone.
The last couple MLG's were a perfect example of how AM pro's were completely unprepared for styles that became common months ago on the European server. Of course AM and EU players could practice with each other, but do they very often? Not at all, because it's inconvenient.
On August 08 2011 05:33 Doodsmack wrote:- The pro teams operate on similar schedules.
This is a repeat of the previous point.
No it's not. European players are affected by MLG's much less than AM players. The opposite is true for DH and other big Eurolans. Only a handful of players have roughly similar schedules. But this kind of disconnect hurts opportunities for (say) KawaiiRice to practice with NightEnD, because both are excellent players who fall a little below the bar for inter-continental competition.
On August 08 2011 05:33 Doodsmack wrote:In sum, the author makes a bold, broad statement but can only back it up with weak points of evidence.
It's been routinely proven that dense and fluid networks will produce better results than isolated individuals. My main point is that Korea is the former, and the international scene is the latter. I can bring up a number of specific small examples, but the overarching point is what's important. Korea is the Sc2 scene best able to adapt to new strategies, develop new ones, and optimize their play. This advantage is the kind that snowballs without a response.
Great review although i feel you missed some cred for idra. He did really well in his group and was fairly stable overall in the tournament. If you are going to mention slush sjow and ret you might as well give idra a shoutout Regardless it is always a pleasure to read these things. So well written
the thing with Zerg is that they don't have as many tools to be creative, as Terran and Protoss do in the early stages of the game. This design issue will stunt Zerg growth in the future i think. I hope they give lings another evolution path in HotS or something like that.
by the way, great photos. is there anyway of getting them in HQ?
I'm not a very good SC2 player myself but i like following the SC-Scene and watching Tournaments.
In my opinion, the biggest difference between Korean and "Foreign" players imo is constancy and endurance. From time to time there are players like HuK or Jinro who really seem to be on the same level with korean players when competing against them in tournaments and who are able to beat some really good korean players. Then a few weeks later they get completely smashed by koreans again.
The top korean players are playing on the same high level since SC2 got released, while the top foreign players were sometimes able to reach that level but they weren't able to stay up there.
The reason for this may simply be dedication... even if you are the best foreign SC2 players in the world you still won't get rich and you won't get much recognition in real life. So why should someone put so much effort and time into something that in the end won't really make you life better? Even if playing SC2 is the thing you like doing the most it probably won't give you enough motivation to really do it 8h per day for several months. The other way round in korea you can earn a lot more money by playing sc and esports are a lot more accepted in their "popculture"... people will want your autographs and all that stuff if you are the best...
A foreigner could of course go to korea to earn more money and recognition, not just for a few weeks/months but years, but then again: Even though SC2 may be the biggest esport you won't get rich even in korea. People move from europe to america to play basketball there if they see the chance of earning thousands (if not millions) of euros or people from south america move to europe to play soccer in hope to become rich and famous...... but honestly: would you voluntarily move to korea and leave all your friends/family behind just for the chance of earning money for playing sc2 that you could also earn with any standard job in your homecountry? i don't think so and thats why koreans will always be better at playing sc2.
I'd think that the Rain vs Boxer series was the most epic throughout MLG. The Emperor made some insane comeback after dropping a 1 hour game to Rain. You could really tell that he's exhilarated by the repeated chanting of "BoxeR!".
I am not gay but seriously, Idra looks so handsome in those photos, he always looks so damn smart. He has these really well defined facial structures, if starcraft 2 is as big as football, he would be in all the ads. That day[9] photo with the pen is great too.
Have to say, I don't actually see the players play as a team (as in EG team doesn't really mean too much to me), I just see one player as individual. I don't think it is our players being way worse than the koreans are but they are just better at being flexible at their builds and responding better.
I really appreciated this write up more than pretty much any other. I (of course along side many others) am an avid foreigner fanboy. I have to be honest that seeing all the random people rooting for koreans over foreigners shocks me. Its ok to want koreans to be at a tournament because they are un-arguably the best. But please remember that you havent had to watch koreans > world for 10+ years. Support the underdogs.
To the foreign players: I avidly root for you guys. Even those who I dont really "like". If your against a korean, im on your side. Many of you train so hard. And it shows. But there are alot who think that because SC2 is mechanically simpler than BW, that they can get away with sub par training. Wake up. Did you enjoy the last 10 years? I guarantee that you probably didnt enjoy the $500 dollar 1st place prize as much as you enjoy the prizes of todays tournaments. For those of you who have the means to become the best, its time to train like you can. This is a problem that bugs me even seeing a tournament called Korea vs the World
Do I sound like im whining? yes, cause i am. I dont really care if the top koreans all played terran. They were the trend setters for this tournament, and given time, the other races will figure out ways to beat it (think vultures in mech TvZ BW).
Wake up foreigners. Its now or its too late, and once again you will enjoy your $500 dollar 1st place prize tournament instead of the future prize potential that SC2 has.
Amazing article and even better pictures. I really hope that Liquid gets distributed equally throughout the groups. and hopefully BoxeR can make it again.
The most heartwarming moment in the tournament was when Boxer ordered MMA into his booth prior the match to talk senses into his student, because there were rumors of MMA slipping the game so that his mentor could take Code S spot. And in the game, when the following was typed into the chat:
Great Article, but I really do not know why u do not mention Millenium.Tod when talking about Winners of the Tournament, he bet Alicia 2times in the tournament and fought his way all the way through the open-bracket to place 30. of the tournament! That is only 6 places behind White-Ra from a Protoss, who is not really well known in the sc2 scene! TOD DESERVES RESPECT!
Edit: Well okay, there is one sentence at the end, but he should be mentioned on the winners side
Good writeup, however I can't fathom how anyone can like what BFH does to TvT unless you're relying on it's daftness to win you games or you want it to be a dice roll.
On August 08 2011 10:43 suejak wrote: Anybody else think it's really odd that Tyler gets praised for taking out Choya, but nobody mentions that InControl ALSO beat Choya?
I don't think anyone should be praised for beating Choya. Choya wasn't even in Code A, as he is a manager/coach and entered the tournament more for fun than anything else. He is an alright player but as his focus isn't on gaming I am not so sure he is even in the top 100 in Korea.
Tyler on the other hand is the most overrated player together with Spanishiwa in my opinion. Tyler has in the group stages of the past three MLG gone 2-12 in matches. Feels a bit desperate to give him any praise at all.
Not sure if I agree that the Rain/Boxer Game one was the most epic game. I think it showcased how useless HSM can be against a player with a brain, but even Day[9] wasn't a fan of that game(Source: SOTG of last week)... At least in comparison to many other games played. However I guess it was the most memorable.
I just want to offer my condolences to a large part of the TL community that the white people didn't do as well as you hoped, indeed a sad day in e-sports history for you. hopefully you can all still move along and keep playing and watching Starcraft2 matches, although it will be difficult with tears in your eyes, one day the Aryans will prevail. and you can all rejoice once more.
To the rest of you who just wanted to watch great Starcraft2 games, what an awesome tournament! Gratz!
Nice write-up, in spite of (or because of) the slight TL bias. Those interviews with formerly unknown players at the end was a nice touch. Hopefully Raleigh (or Orlando) can be the foreigners' Leipzig!
There should be an article focusing on the team TL. TeamLiquidPro is great and all, but we would like to know when TLO, Haypro, Tyler want to start getting some results. Maybe they should crash some minor tournaments, just to prove how good they are. They enter big tournaments only to get disappointing results AND games. Tyler said it himself, Open Bracket was pretty easy. Does it make him a winner that he got out of it and then goes 0-5? Props to him for making it out of there, but come on... 0-5?
No honorable mention for the guy who threw 2 games against Whitera because he was late to their first encounter (without it being his fault) and due to the extended series rule?
just wanted to share to everyone the longest autograph line at MLG Anaheim. this video i took will hopefully give those who weren't able to make it there a little feel of how e-sports is growing rapidly.
just wanted to share to everyone the longest autograph line at MLG Anaheim. this video i took will hopefully give those who weren't able to make it there a little feel of how e-sports is growing rapidly.
I don't see why its a big deal that the foreigners got owned. Its insulting to think that somebody who hasn't put in as much effort should automatically be able to beat koreans. I'm sorry, but the reason koreans are good is because they take training seriously. Its like anything else in life - the more effort you put in, the more you will be rewarded. There is something wrong with the western mentality of instant gratification for little to no effort. Idra was talking about how he didn't need to practice so much, and that's why he is no longer anywhere close to being the best foreigner now. This is also why Huk has been doing so well lately, and why Naniwa is going to become even better once he practices in Korea.
And what on earth do we as a community need to do to avoid embarrassment on this scale again?
I am really sick hearing things like that. Most probably it is just me, but I don't like this segregation between koreans and foreigners at all, because it should be a segregation between those training REALLY hard and those who are not, that is all there is to it.
Well, nevermind, besides that I felt really lucky about a great event like that and not embarrassed at all as a community member.
On August 08 2011 10:43 suejak wrote: Anybody else think it's really odd that Tyler gets praised for taking out Choya, but nobody mentions that InControl ALSO beat Choya?
I don't think anyone should be praised for beating Choya. Choya wasn't even in Code A, as he is a manager/coach and entered the tournament more for fun than anything else. He is an alright player but as his focus isn't on gaming I am not so sure he is even in the top 100 in Korea.
Tyler on the other hand is the most overrated player together with Spanishiwa in my opinion. Tyler has in the group stages of the past three MLG gone 2-12 in matches. Feels a bit desperate to give him any praise at all.
That's right, Choya and Thebest are one of the lesser tier korean players.
Here's a more optimistic way to look at team kill: If the losing player loses to an opponent, better to lose to a teammate (so he gets a better seed/advances) than to lose to someone else.
And what on earth do we as a community need to do to avoid embarrassment on this scale again?
I am really sick hearing things like that. Most probably it is just me, but I don't like this segregation between koreans and foreigners at all, because it should be a segregation between those training REALLY hard and those who are not, that is all there is to it.
Well, nevermind, besides that I felt really lucky about a great event like that and not embarrassed at all as a community member.
The point of my article was not just about hard work and dedication. It was to point out that Korea has more advantages than just hard work. There are a few foreigners who practice like players on Korean teams, but they still are at a disadvantage, for reasons I explained.
And what on earth do we as a community need to do to avoid embarrassment on this scale again?
I am really sick hearing things like that. Most probably it is just me, but I don't like this segregation between koreans and foreigners at all, because it should be a segregation between those training REALLY hard and those who are not, that is all there is to it.
There are several foreign players who play 12 hours per day. Training isn't everything.
And what on earth do we as a community need to do to avoid embarrassment on this scale again?
I am really sick hearing things like that. Most probably it is just me, but I don't like this segregation between koreans and foreigners at all, because it should be a segregation between those training REALLY hard and those who are not, that is all there is to it.
There are several foreign players who play 12 hours per day. Training isn't everything.
That means nothing. Do you honestly believe that koreans have some innate talent that makes them good at Starcraft? No, of course not. The reason their training is stronger is because they have a long established Starcraft "culture" where they train with eachother all day and hammer out match ups. So while one foreigner may train like a Korean in duration, the quality of his opponents may not, thus lowering the quality.
Wow this was the best writeup of a tournament i have read so far. Maybe because your words about boxer could have come right out of my own mouth. Beeing rewarded for beeing a boxer fanboy, made the tournament for me.
And what on earth do we as a community need to do to avoid embarrassment on this scale again?
I am really sick hearing things like that. Most probably it is just me, but I don't like this segregation between koreans and foreigners at all, because it should be a segregation between those training REALLY hard and those who are not, that is all there is to it.
There are several foreign players who play 12 hours per day. Training isn't everything.
That means nothing. Do you honestly believe that koreans have some innate talent that makes them good at Starcraft? No, of course not. The reason their training is stronger is because they have a long established Starcraft "culture" where they train with eachother all day and hammer out match ups. So while one foreigner may train like a Korean in duration, the quality of his opponents may not, thus lowering the quality.
I agree completely, it's not just how much you practice but how well you practice. Hopefully we have more foreigners going over to Korea to get some practice or starting to play primarily on Kr/Eu ladder now. It's the big thing that worries me over the EG house and any new NA progamer team houses that might spring up...yes extra structured practice will help but it's not going to lessen the skill gap if the quality of the opponents is not up to snuff.