[IPTL SPOILERS] On player performance/winners format in to…

On September 12 2012 12:05 Kennigit wrote:


An interesting side note to this is that at the IPL TAC 3 final, taeja didn't eat breakfast and refused to have anything besides water (and some coke) during the first set where he destroyed IM. He had a sandwich and coke between the two sets, but i think that was pretty much it.

At MLGs i yell at HerO when i see him drinking Dr. Pepper and ask him to eat a banana instead (he ignores me ;_;).

On September 12 2012 12:05 Kennigit wrote:
Since some fans believe that addressing this after a match is making excuses, i'll take it to my blog. I write this as a nerd with a big mouth - i have nothing to do with player scheduling, line up decisions, league management etc.

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So without taking too much away from the fact that Stephano won, i'll address a lot of the comments about Taeja and Hero's performance/making mistakes. These two games were played between 2:30 and 3:30am korean time - hero had just played his code s matches (at around 5pm) then came home to wait for this. Scheduling matches internationally fucking sucks - its pretty common that you can be in worse or better condition that your opponent just based on scheduling (it was about 9pm EU, 3pm US when stephano/taeja played, and probably 230pm US/130am KR when Sheth played). Iirc we had basically hit the limit for delaying this set, so delaying the games wasn't really an option.

Robin (our player manager), disagrees with me that the timing affected either Taeja or Hero's performance (that they are on odd sleeping patterns), but i think there has to be some value to the idea that if your physical and mental condition isn't at it's peak, you aren't going to play as well as you can.


An interesting side note to this is that at the IPL TAC 3 final, taeja didn't eat breakfast and refused to have anything besides water (and some coke) during the first set where he destroyed IM. He had a sandwich and coke between the two sets, but i think that was pretty much it.

At MLGs i yell at HerO when i see him drinking Dr. Pepper and ask him to eat a banana instead (he ignores me ;_;).

JYP and Puma both had to play under the same conditions so it's possible that we could have lost earlier (5-2/5-3) if it was in their favor (Sheth played from US). Teams play with the idea that whatever time you agree on is the time, and you just deal with the unfortunate consequences of having your players spread all around the world. It's kind of like in the MMA world where you never really come into a fight without some bumps, bruises,dehydration - i think a lot of fans just assume everyone is always at 100%.

Because of the IPTL winner-stays format, you cant just schedule certain matches for better timing. There's not an optimal solution for timings right now. Ideally your players are in the best possible mental condition when they play hard matches due to the cerebral nature of SC2...it's just not as feasible as we'd like.

Until we have all players in central locations or some better solution you just have to factor in more variance in performance/decision making for all your favorite players.

It leads me to question if a winner-stays format is really the best for players in the long run considering they are all spread around. EGMC is a 4xBo3 with a Bo3 Ace match which is a different dynamic for predicting and sniping, but also allows for scheduling that is a bit more forgiving (robin can probably give better details on this).

I'm interested to know if you think an all-kill format where more play variance exists is more "fun" or "interesting" to watch than a 4xBo3 that players can prep/schedule for.

On September 13 2012 03:58 101998 wrote:



This is a much more interesting topic to me than timezones (in regard to a player being at “100%”). I am constantly dumbfounded at why pro players/teams don’t take physical/mental preparation more seriously. In every pro sport the diet of the player is closely monitored to make sure their body is running at peak efficiency. I have read interviews talking about how F1 drivers will do weekly blood/urine draws to make sure their bodies are absorbing nutrients correctly and that their brain is in the best possible state for a race. Then with all the studies flying around showing how much diet/exercise directly effects mental state/awareness/focus I am amazed that teams are not dictating a clean diet to their players. Feels like full amateur mode in an environment where everyone is claiming to be a professional.

On September 13 2012 03:37 Randomrichie wrote:
Stephano won NASL yet had to play multiple games at stupid times in the early morning due to time differences :| I distinctly remember him waking up at like 3am simply to play a match then go back to bed. Sure it sucks but it obviously didn't affect him as much as is being made out here. The kids got skills.

I'm interested to know if you think an all-kill format where more play variance exists is more "fun" or "interesting" to watch than a 4xBo3 that players can prep/schedule for.

On September 13 2012 04:44 turdburgler wrote:
i dont see why anyone is making a poop about taeja losing because he was floating 1k minerals and didnt build a bunker ;p the biggest and probably only weakness in taejas play is that when hes attacking he tends to fall behind on macro, especially when hes harrasing with his banshees and helions. he may of been tired of made a bigger mistake than normal but this is what taeja does every game :D i still love his play and when he perfects his balance of macro and micro he will probably be the best in the world but i wasnt suprised he lost to an all in counter attack.

i definitely prefer the all kill format though, it makes it feel more like a team than a series of blindly picked 1v1s.

On September 13 2012 04:23 StarStruck wrote:


You guys need to get a handle on your players. They don't like listening but you are trying to do what's best for them and they'll appreciate it more in the long run.

Robin says the players were fine. Taeja most certainly didn't look that way against Stephano, lol.

The game prior was a bit of a squash as well, so you cannot really get a good read.

Anyway, I never did like all these bush leagues and I would like to see a central tour/league as well that way everyone is on the same sleep schedule opposed to delaying and trying to micro manage your players sleep patterns through online tournament to online tournament.

I personally think the All-Kill format has been over done and I've never been a big fan of the GSTL format amongst the rest either.

I prefer season play carried throughout a world circuit. So every pro player and team could compete at each destination.

That would only happen if all the major organizers actually start working together to create one circuit where each plays host to a number of cities and get the broadcast rights.



It's called better coaching & managing. It's as if everyone needs to be treated as an MC where he has his personal assistants. You need to teach them and inform them of how to take better care of their health so they're always alert and getting the job done.

Like a Hawk.



He most certainly does. EG doesn't really need to worry about him so much which is a good thing.

On September 12 2012 12:30 Lyter wrote:
AK format bores me because it is often so straightforward, especially when losing team picks the next map (srsly that is the dumbest rule ever) as that just makes the entire match a snipe fest that doesn't actually require any thought on the coaches part and he could draw a flowchart before the match for players to follow and go out and get hammered at a bar instead

On September 13 2012 10:06 Bumblebee wrote:

We can all improve. Running team's as a professional sport is still very young and we're all learning, but I really think you need to slow down. You think a lot of things that aren't true and a lot of things have more than what meets your eye.

On top of that TaeJa didn't play well - there can be many reasons to this, but one thing is for sure is that there's absolutely no reason to make excuses for why he didn't play well. He played greedy, didn't see the bust coming and generally just got out-played by Stephano who is a great player.

On September 12 2012 16:58 Liquid`Nazgul wrote:
We travel a lot, we play jetlagged, short on sleep, in the middle of the night, we win and we lose. Throughout the years we have had hundreds of matches with disadvantageous conditions. I really believe that as long as the conditions are predictable you accept them by joining the league, and shouldn't make an issue out of it when you lose.

Being tired is so common for players it should not be brought up when losing. Every team could pretty much be talking about jetlag, being tired, and scheduling issues after every match they lose. We shouldn't want that kind of scene. I have always found it extremely important that we keep those excuses from the fans who try to enjoy the matches. Kennigit's statements don't reflect how the team feels. I apologize to EG and the fans for what was said.

On September 12 2012 13:51 Falling wrote:
I really am not a fan of the all-kill format. I like the head games of when coaches are trying to decide who to send out against who. It seems to me, the different roles in a team come much more into play. Specialist players to knock out x player or race, Ace player to bring the team home, etc.

Rather than we'll just send out our most dominant player and you try and find someone to beat him. It just doesn't seem that interesting to me.

On September 13 2012 12:16 Myrddraal wrote:


This seems like a very biased and narrow minded explanation of both formats. Here's how I would probably write it:

I really am not a fan of the proleague format. I like the head games of when coaches are trying to decide who to send out against who. It seems to me, the different roles in a team come much more into play. Specialist players to snipe x player or race, Ace player to bring the team home, etc.

Rather than we'll just send out our most dominant player as the ace and you try and find someone to beat him. It just doesn't seem that interesting to me.