EPTOne Year Anniversary of Starcraft 2
My little tribute to Starcraft 2 after Year 1.
When Starcraft w was announced at the Blizzcon World Invitational in 2007 in South Korea, the entire gaming industry was hyped up to see the finished product of what would be the predecessor of Starcraft Brood War - the game that started the industry we know today as E-sports.
So the expectations from day one was very high. 10 years. That was the amount of time it took before Blizzard decided to announce a sequel to the Original Starcraft game. For 10 years, fans were waiting, including myself. After the announcement the most popular question was then... when would it come out? and in true Blizzard fashion, the game would be ready... when it was ready
. As much impatience as this caused the fans to be, this is why we all love Blizzard and the games they make. They take their time, there is no rush, and when it comes out, you can be assured it will be good, and more often then not, Great. On July 27th, 2010, the retail game came out. I can still clearly remember what I was doing. I got off work and rushed to the computer centre where I had preordered the game. I got it, got a huge banana grin and went back and started playing the campaign immediately.
More importantly, Starcraft 2 propelled the E-Sports scene on a global scale that I have ever seen. Tournaments were popping up all around the world and the prize pools were getting increasingly bigger. Then there were all sorts of local tournaments that happened monthly/weekly, Starcraft 2 was really becoming like a sport.
Year In-Review
In less than 1 year, we have had many many major tournaments around the globe. Although the fans are important in growing E-Sports, I wanted to pay tribute to the players who showed us what it took to win and what is possible in Starcraft 2:
Major Tournament Winners:
Major League Gaming:
MLG Dallas 2010
Winner: Liquid`Jinro
MLG Washington D.C. 2010
Winner: EG.Idra
MLG Raleigh 2010
Winner: Liquid`HuK
MLG Dallas 2011
Winner: Dignitas.Naniwa
MLG Columbus 2011
Winner: SlayerS`MMA
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Blizzcon Invitational 2010
Winner: NEXGenius (Now MVPGenius).
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Dream Hack Steel Series LAN
Winner: Mouz.Naama (Now Virus.Naama)
Dream Hack Invitational
Winner: oGs.MC
Dream Hack Summer 2011
Winner: Liquid`HuK
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Assembly Winter 2011
Winner: Liquid`Ret
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IEM World Championship
Winner: ST_Ace
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Team Liquid Star Leauge 3 (TSL3)
Winner: Mouz.Thorzain
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IGN IPL Season 1
Winner: EG.Idra
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Copenhagen Games
Winner: oGs.MC
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Gigabyte Starwar Killer 6
Winner: oGs.MC
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Home Story Cup III
Winner: Liquid`HuK
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North American Star League Season 1
Winner: TSL_Puma (Now EG.Puma)
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The Global Star League (GSL)
GSL Open Season 1
Winner: TSL_Fruitdealer
GSL Open Season 2
Winner: IMNesTea
GSL Open Season 3
Winner: oGs.MC
GSL Janurary
Winner: IMMvP
GSL March
Winner: oGs.MC
GSL World Championship
Winner: IMMvP
GSL May
Winner: IMNesTea
GSL Super Tournament
Winner: PoltPrime.WE (Now OptimusPrime.WE)
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So who are the legends of Starcraft 2 after 1 year?
I will separate them as Koreans and Foreigners.
So First Off.
The Top 3 Koreans (In My Opinion)
Third Place
IMMvP
Race: Terran
Team: Incredible Miracles.
The two time GSL winner (GSL January and GSL World Championship) is clearly in a very small class of players that many players feared when they played. IMMvP may be the most balanced player in Stacraft 2 in its first year. He was nicknamed (By Tastosis) the Game Genie Terran because his play style almost seemed like he was cheating, that is how good he is.
Second Place
IMNesTea
Race: Zerg
Team: Incredible Miracles
The two time GSL Winner (Perhaps 3 time winner pending GSL July Results) was quite easy to be picked as one of the top Korean Starcraft 2 players. In fact, I feel at this moment the article is published, he is the most feared player in all of Starcraft 2. His strategies are well thought out and he seemly knows how to handle every situation calmly and really does seem unbeatable.
First Place
oGs.MC
Race: Protoss
Team: Old Generations Starcrafters
So wait... I said that IMNesTea may be the most feared and unbeatable player in all of Starcraft 2 at the moment, why isn’t he on top? Well, to put it quite simply, the tournament results really do speak for themselves for oGs.MC and why he is the top Korean Starcraft 2 player. He is a two time GSL Winner and his foreign achievements are really remarkable. (Look at the Year in Review Major Tournament Winners to check his wins.) IMNesTea is scary and I feel is the best player, but due to achievements, there is no player that can rival oGs.MC’s
The Top 3 Foreigners
Now the Top 3 foreigners is actually quite hard to pick out, there have been so many players that have shown strong play. The first two players are quite logical but the third rank is really open for debate IMO. Ultimately I went with results and so...
Third Place
Liquid`Jinro
Race: Terran
Team:Team Liquid (oGs-TL)
Jinro takes the third spot over players like: Dignitas.Naniwa, Dignitas.Select, Reign.Kiwikaki, and Mouz.Thorzain. This is because his achieves are really quite outstanding. He was the first foreigner to make it to two GSL Semi-Finals and won the MLG Dallas 2010 tournament.
Second Place
EG.IdrA
Race: Zerg
Team: Evil Geniuses
Idra, is clearly one of the best foreigners right now. His achievements include winning MLG D.C. 2010 and IPL Season 1. His time in Korea has really refined his mechanics and his macro-oriented style is really something to be appreciated. His online personality has also made him a player everyone wants to watch not only for his play but for what he has to say at times.
First Place
Liquid`HuK
Race
rotossTeam: Team Liquid (oGs-TL)
Huk has stayed on top of the foreign scene since the beta, he has always been widely known as one of the best foriegners out there and recently, he has shown why. He is currently the only Code S foreigner and has won major tournaments such as MLG Raleigh 2010, Dream Hack Summer 2011 and Home Story Cup III. His highlight would most likely be DHS2011 where his Victory was quite historic, taking home the championship for the foreigners when there were top level Koreans competing such as: ST_Bomber, ST_July, WeMadeFox_Moon etc...
To me, it was quite clear that Liquid`HuK is the top ranked Foreigner as of right now.
In Conclusion...
It’s only been one year guys... and I feel like so much as happened and it seems like there is so much more to come. So it is quite exciting for Starcraft 2 and E-Sports in general. The best players are still leaning towards the Korean teams and players but the foreigners are catching up fast.
In Korea, we have top level teams such as: IM, oGs, SlayerS...
We have top Foreign teams such as: Liquid, Dignitas, Evil Geniuses...\
The scene looks strong and healthy and I am exciting for what is to come in the future.
What do you guys think? Does your Top 3 Korean and Foreign players differ from mine?
To End Off Again. This Video Needs More Views!! Created by LaxxSC. a SC2 1 Year Video Tribute
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DexVitalitY
PS.
Happy Birthday Starcraft 2
