Some people might wonder how a random Mid masters player got a spot in IEM, so I'll give an insight on it. I originally applied to compete at IEM NY for the hell of it; since I live in the area it would be nice to compete since I was already going to be attending NYCC and IEM in the first place. As expected, I didn't get a spot. It didn't bother me because I was going to meet all of my favorite players regardless and have a great time. Fast forward a couple of weeks I got an e mail from an IEM admin asking if I was available as a last minute fill in for Stardust / Polt since they wouldn't be able to make it. I accepted it and was really excited. I finally got to compete in my first premier Starcraft 2 event, and it'll be in my hometown New York!
Thursday was the day when the open bracket was played and they reset the bracket on that day. I was supposed to play either Shew or sWs, but they changed the bracket and I had to face Liquid`Snute. My ZvZ is a little shaky but I knew how much of a beast Snute was already. So I just thought I should just roll a dice and cheese him. It failed. :D I did a 14/14 baneling ling all in and Snute crushed me. In Losers Bracket I was supposed to face the loser of DesRow and San. However due to desRow having problems with flights, he had to miss his matches in both winners and losers so San and I got a walkover. I faced sWs. I was looking forward to playing desRow because I talk to him sometimes and watch his stream. First game on Akilon vs sWs I went a really greedy opening and tried to go for Ling infestor ultra build. However sWs did a gateway timing with +2 and killed me before I could get him. Game 2 on Whirlwind I went for the same but I was caught off guard by his fake third and I was eliminated from the tournament. I wasn't upset, I had such an amazing time getting to do what I've always wanted to do, compete.
After elimination I still had an amazing time. Everyone there was really nice and I just had an amazing weekend. After IEM finals I went to barcraft with my friends and it was a lot of fun. My good friend xVixen was hosting Barcraft and it was also her birthday! We went out to eat korean food and it was a blast. Can't wait for Red Bull!!
Hope you guys enjoyed the read!!!!
TL;DR IEM IS FUCKING AWESOME. <3 Shout out to QT Ling <3