EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/XneRHfr.png)
Hey guys, most of you dont know me, but my name is EggY and I have been playing starcraft for just about 2 years now, anniversary coming up in late September. In that time I have been on I suppose 2 mid tier teams. One being gamed!de(had a good LoL team season 1 getting 5th place at WCS kinda fell down after that) and Pulse-Esports(ex team of Kane HelloKitty). I have had decent local lan placements and prob made about $300ish dollars in my career in tournament earnings.
Ive always been an up and down player and never really played on KR a lot other than some placement matches. Oddly enough my internet is good enough to play on KR without ping, I just cant stream+play on KR or else it lags pretty hard.
Regardless, this season I decided to "go to" Korea. I installed the KR client(kept talking language english though) and really wanted to immerse myself in the Korean ladder culture. The account was already in masters from previous season placements. I really wanted to see how "tough" this place is and if I could become a better player.
My main problem(s) with playing on NA are EU are the following(mostly pointed towards NA)
a) the hackers(i seem to run into them more than usual, mostly because there are quite a few at high master
b) the amount of BM and bullshit you get
c) I suppose the level of play everyone talk about being sub-par(if you look at the sc2ranks GM ranking , NA hardly shows up in terms of points)
This really, really, really makes the NA server not fun to play on and I have a feeling its one of the reason why the NA server is not doing as well as others. This is why I play on EU more than NA, but when I stream I have to play on NA without getting any lag.
EU has more mannered people(yes they still have BM players) and that's what makes them better. If your gaming experience is more enjoyable then everything is more enjoyable when you click the 1v1 matchmaking button.
Before the start of the season I was still on Pulse-Esports, but I felt the team in itself was bringing me down as a player. Being on a team can give you the "im okay with what I got" effect. What I mean is you're on a sponsored team(like Razer) and you dont put as much effort into the game, because the dream of any low-level aspiring player is to be on a sponsored team. Further in this blog I will explain on "sponsored" teams.
I leave Pulse-Esports to make myself work for something. I was being to "safe" and not caring about the game other than being "yo im on a sponsored team, buy Razer, I dont really play."
Just for a preface, I have a full time job(price analyst), girlfriend(who thank god is Esports friendly) and well I suppose the gym. I pretty much start the ladder at rank 99.
I play about my first 15 games in my first ladder night, and OH MY GOD.
The BEST ladder experience I have had so far in my life. Nobody BM's(honestly I have gotten maybe less than 5 BM's from what I can read from google translate.)
It's either they leave the game or GG.
That’s.
It.
I dont play much everyday just 2-3 hours, on weekends if I don't go out I can usually put in 5-7 hours.
At the beginning I still had my old mentality of winning 2-3 games in a 2-3 hour session because I would watch a stream in-between games etc etc. Eventually I got better and better at playing and now I can actually fit a good 2-3 hours of only games, very little downtime.
Currently I have ~1800+ points on the Korean server with a 63% win ratio. in under...150 games(I am zerg) and I hope by next week I can hit top8 in my ladder.
Another thing I noticed. Korean ladder are SO GO DAMN ACTIVE.
Maybe it was logging in first day and getting into the most active ladder. but shit.
Just to get 8th place right now you need 2k points. I am sure that will change by the time I reach 2k(hopefully this weekend)
Has korea made me a better player?
Yes and No.
(mostly because I need to play another 2-3 seasons on KR to see more results)
It is not as hard as I thought it would be, but then again I am a very aggressive player. Many of my builds I do are very refined all ins. In ZvZ I will never macro, and ZvT if they dont CC 1st Ill macro-ish(depending on build they are doing) and in ZvP I will most likely aggro-macro.
I find a decent number of wins come from my timing attacks, but when you look at the SPL, kespa koreans, are they really doing anything else. I HEAVILY studied SPL and watched it religiously and most of my builds I make are revolving around them.
With a 63% win rate I feel good, but I need better. I always am a firm believer of win percentages on your main ladder account. If you cant consistently beat randoms, what chance do you have against a pro?
What have I learned about Esports.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/1hrNFaX.png)
It is more a less a sham until you get the the "good" teams. Sure Pulse Esports "sponsored by Razer" but its 100x harder to get gear from Razer if youre on Pulse than if youre on Evil Genius's. They dont treat every team the same, as it should be. They will send out the gear the fastest to major established teams, people that give them 24/7 marketing, and will give any "run off" items to the other guys.
Ever heard of people being on "mousepad salary" ? Well because thats pretty much what it is being on a lower tier Team.
The only pros you get is getting some random gear from a sponsor. Unfortunately unless you are the "1%" you most likely wont make money(living) off esports.
When a team picks up a sponsor its either
a) they are actually growing
b) did well in a major tournaments(usually LoL or Dota) and get a quick 6mo-1y sponsorship from a company.
What I have learned is that stream is the best way to get into Esports. Not tournaments, not grinding that ladder to GM. Nobody cares about that. Got GM? Grats, now get rank1, Getting 2nd at a Local LAN? Grats maybe if you win another 13 Local LANS+online cups you might, MIGHT, get noticed.
The reason why I am most likely not top8 on the KR server yet, is because of streaming. I have been really, really, really trying to stream as much as I can. My heart says "go play get really high on KR ladder, and start winning" but lets be serious, what the fuck does it matter. With my schedule I *most likely* never become good enough to take games of JD consistently or Rain. After watching STOG Episode 100 last night, they were correct. If you want to make it onto the scene stream, and do stuff for the community. My mantra that I stuck with in Pokemon that got me far in tournaments, if you're not first, then you're last.(also in the Movie Ricky Bobby)
In a game such as Starcraft where its 1v1. You win or you lose, there is no top8. Maybe at top4 you get a little more looked at, but top2 is where its at.
The good news is I have about 20-40 avg concurrent viewers these day and I think I can really build off that. I really try to be entertaining with banelings. It seems to attract viewers. If someone wanted high level play, you can go watch X amount of other players that are better than me.
The most important part about streaming is just being fun. You are there to be entertainment, and I have a feeling I can achieve this. In the past I had internet/computer rig issues, but those are pretty much gone so I hope in the next season in Starcraft I can do some sort of 70% stream 30% korea.
A quick plug, follow me on twitter @Eggysc2 on twitch @eggysc2. I will be streaming every night 10pm EST to 2am. <3 Thats my Blog/Rant folks. Hope you enjoy.
I think that's all I wanted to write about in this blog. Maybe more in the future not sure.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/WNiFvKL.jpg)
