Kongdoo finally announces the next iteration of its premiere tournament, featuring offline qualifiers in the two largest Korean cities, Seoul (north/west) and Busan (south/east). Thanks to CaucasianAsian for translating
Sponsor VANT 36.5 appears to be a beauty products retailer with stores across Korea and has been working with Kongdoo for some time now. Recall Bisu's commercial for VANT 365
On September 21 2015 22:55 Probemicro wrote: lol way too top heavy, 1st place getting 20k+ USD more than 2nd, and nothing for 4th and below?...
Agreed. There are so many players now living off playing BW and streaming on Afreeca. But it's not a life in luxury, every dime counts and everyone who reached top 16 should receive prize money so they could continue and focus on BW. If not we are only going to get same elite group reaching the top.
Maybe the sponsors want a big price for 1st place 'cause that gives the impression of it being a bigger leauge?
On September 21 2015 22:55 Probemicro wrote: lol way too top heavy, 1st place getting 20k+ USD more than 2nd, and nothing for 4th and below?...
Agreed. There are so many players now living off playing BW and streaming on Afreeca. But it's not a life in luxury, every dime counts and everyone who reached top 16 should receive prize money so they could continue and focus on BW. If not we are only going to get same elite group reaching the top.
Maybe the sponsors want a big price for 1st place 'cause that gives the impression of it being a bigger leauge?
top 16 would be like all the current pros getting money without effOrt. No hard practising needed to secure the money spot. A large gap between 1st and 2nd place prizes will provide the best Finals. That will encourage finalists to practise harder and study strategies more. But at the same time lesser players who knows they can't reach the finals might not give their best shot at the tournament since all the money will go for just few top players, so maybe balancing out the money spots could be good.
On September 21 2015 22:55 Probemicro wrote: lol way too top heavy, 1st place getting 20k+ USD more than 2nd, and nothing for 4th and below?...
Agreed. There are so many players now living off playing BW and streaming on Afreeca. But it's not a life in luxury, every dime counts and everyone who reached top 16 should receive prize money so they could continue and focus on BW. If not we are only going to get same elite group reaching the top.
Maybe the sponsors want a big price for 1st place 'cause that gives the impression of it being a bigger leauge?
top 16 would be like all the current pros getting money without effOrt. No hard practising needed to secure the money spot. A large gap between 1st and 2nd place prizes will provide the best Finals. That will encourage finalists to practise harder and study strategies more. But at the same time lesser players who knows they can't reach the finals might not give their best shot at the tournament since all the money will go for just few top players, so maybe balancing out the money spots could be good.
I think if the problem with the scene is that the top 16 are very comfortable, it might not matter how you divide the prize pool. A big part of that may be exactly that only these top players make anything off Afreeca, and so they're the only ones who can still do SC as a job. So they just need to beat the people who can't make money of BW and have to early their living elsewhere.
I think money is not nothing when it comes to motivating players, but it's a lot more important what the pride value of winning the competition is. Especially for players who became experienced in a much more competitive environment, it may be dull to them. With no dangerous up and comers, there's not much motivation to innovate and push themselves.
The prize distribution appears to be similar to the first KSL:
I imagine it's as tanngard theorized, the big first prize will grab more media attention... Hopefully there are smaller prizes for the other top 16 or whatever, if at least resembling an appearance fee for taking the time/effort to go participate in the qualifiers, etc.
Wonder if even top names from Kongdoo like Bisu will receive any kind of a bye. The advantage of having Kongdoo at the helms is they represent all the biggest names, so they'll be able to exert some influence to get Bisu off his bottom and away from the comfort of streaming to compete offline again..
On September 22 2015 08:28 GTR wrote: so much for having finals at gstar
Same thought.
I would like a see Ro16=get a cash prize too. But to justify it, organizers have to implement a larger qualifier system to make Ro16 sweeter. It will be just like the old OSLs/MSLs where qualifying for the Ro16 is quite the achievement itself.
On September 22 2015 14:42 konadora wrote: same rant from last time right before bw died off, i'm sick of the same maps over and over again omg
mist was fun, bring back maps like triathlon and outsider plz
the usual uncertainties that new or less played maps will bring about->affect calibre/quality of games->affect viewership. already you can somewhat see that in KSL1, though i feel they should have just tried 1 new map instead of2
On September 22 2015 14:42 konadora wrote: same rant from last time right before bw died off, i'm sick of the same maps over and over again omg
mist was fun, bring back maps like triathlon and outsider plz
the usual uncertainties that new or less played maps will bring about->affect calibre/quality of games->affect viewership. already you can somewhat see that in KSL1, though i feel they should have just tried 1 new map instead of2
Well, some one needs to point it out: Avalon is first and foremost in need of some major bugfixes before it actually becomes a viable map...
As things are, I'd much rather see Demian return. I don't really see the problem with it (maybe some unbuildable ground should be put around the natural entrance, just to make cheeses and contains a bit harder, but that would be a pretty trivial edit).
Appears to be a live count of how many have entered -- only a few hours and already 77 signed up. Only those with verified Korean IDs, it seems, are permitted
On September 23 2015 21:49 Freakling wrote: Well, some one needs to point it out: Avalon is first and foremost in need of some major bugfixes before it actually becomes a viable map...
As things are, I'd much rather see Demian return. I don't really see the problem with it (maybe some unbuildable ground should be put around the natural entrance, just to make cheeses and contains a bit harder, but that would be a pretty trivial edit).
Nah, it's just because Avalon encouraged players to deviate from standard styles that makes it a much more memorable map. It saw more exciting games than Demian too. Like Bisu vs Rock and Mind vs Kwanro to name a few.
That 77 has turned into 109 . I wonder what's the ratio between Seoul players vs Busan players. ^^ Nice find Prech!
But that's exactly the point: Demian perfectly fits one of the big gaps in the current common map pool: That of a standard three player map. So using Demian can break both the cycle of endless FS/CB recycle and the curse of either no 3 player maps at all in the pools (most Korean tourney map pools) or the endless Aztec/Tau Cross (with the occasional Outsider) cycle prevalent in current foreign map pools.
On September 21 2015 17:15 BisuDagger wrote: Such standard maps. I hope they add two fun ones again in the later stages.
I pray for the return of Outsider. Such an exciting map. Anyways, I can live with the maps the chose, they are all good. But I loved the old times where you would always have 1 or 2 non-standard maps between the solid ones.
Registration EffOrt: Alright! I'm in. National Starleague champion here I come.
At the qualifiers EffOrt: Okay... keyboard? Check. Mouse? Check. EffOrt: Wait, what's this? Kongdoo Guy: Uhh, it's Windows 7. Is there any pro~ EffOrt: I'm outta here.
On October 04 2015 20:14 c3rberUs wrote: Probably because it was announced on the GSL stream recently as you can see in the other thread in general. ^^
Tasteless and Artosis also strongly implied they'd be casting an English stream of it, though no English stream (let alone casters for it) has been officially announced yet
Wow, it would be cool but it's too early. He can take games from amateurs and semi pros but I don't think he'll put up much of a fight against the mainstay of Afreeca.
We are looking for casters to cover the VANT 36.5 National Starleague in English. If you are interested, please send an email to recruit@afreeca.tv with the following information:
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On October 10 2015 03:37 afreecaTV.Char wrote: We are looking for casters to cover the VANT 36.5 National Starleague in English. If you are interested, please send an email to recruit@afreeca.tv with the following information:
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I know Tastosis expressed interest... Can this happen please?
On October 10 2015 03:37 afreecaTV.Char wrote: We are looking for casters to cover the VANT 36.5 National Starleague in English. If you are interested, please send an email to recruit@afreeca.tv with the following information:
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I know Tastosis expressed interest... Can this happen please?
On October 10 2015 03:37 afreecaTV.Char wrote: We are looking for casters to cover the VANT 36.5 National Starleague in English. If you are interested, please send an email to recruit@afreeca.tv with the following information:
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I will email you. Hopefully BisuDagger can do this with me
On October 10 2015 03:37 afreecaTV.Char wrote: We are looking for casters to cover the VANT 36.5 National Starleague in English. If you are interested, please send an email to recruit@afreeca.tv with the following information:
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I will email you. Hopefully BisuDagger can do this with me
Yup. KSL is the one league I'm always available for due to times. Let's do this!
I'm going to email as well but I'm going to request to see if I can cast at the studio itself rather than at home since I am in Korea already. Also, if Nick and Dan are legit about casting this, I can rotate with them each day so they don't get burnt out.
On October 10 2015 03:37 afreecaTV.Char wrote: We are looking for casters to cover the VANT 36.5 National Starleague in English. If you are interested, please send an email to recruit@afreeca.tv with the following information:
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this could fall in so well with what I said before
On August 30 2015 23:32 BLinD-RawR wrote: if we can get someone with these 3 qualities I'd be fine.
Has decent/good understanding of the game
Knowledge of the current scene and players
Can explain the game in a way that attracts newbies and veterans alike
it need not be just one person though, if someone has 1 and 3 and they have someone else as 2 that would also be good, as long as the casting team meets the 3 criteria.
xkcd and BD fit with 1 and 2 perfectly, but 3 is the most important which honestly I'm not sure, BD would do really well with people coming from the SC2 scene since hes familiar with the game and the current scene, so all in all the xkcd and BD duo is currently the best for KSL.
On October 10 2015 18:50 [sc1f]eonzerg wrote: so i guess tasteless and artosis arent part of the bw league
Not necessarily. Even in SC2, it's not all that uncommon for Tasteless and/or Artosis to not be casting a given Code S game due to other commitments (insert "ded gaem" meme here). Artosis in particular has been hinting strongly he'll do it. I expect Tastetosis will cast the finals plus a game here or there and the rest will be filled by a hodgepodge of community casters that'll get narrowed down after a season or two.
it's near where i live so no big deal for me to head to the pc bang where the qualifiers are but i dunno if we're allowed to go spectate/cover also i have 4 midsems that week =[
location: 서울 종로구 명륜1가 83-5 지하1층 3POP PC방 성균관점 (3pop pc bang sungkyunkwan store)
If you're allowed go ahead, I'm sure a lot of people here (including myself) will appreciate it given how difficult qualifier coverage was in the Kespa era. (it was.. right?)
512 contestants are registered. I wonder how they will cut that number down to a more manageable and more elite group.
On October 11 2015 20:46 GTR wrote: it's near where i live so no big deal for me to head to the pc bang where the qualifiers are but i dunno if we're allowed to go spectate/cover also i have 4 midsems that week =[
location: 서울 종로구 명륜1가 83-5 지하1층 3POP PC방 성균관점 (3pop pc bang sungkyunkwan store)
qualifier will go from 10am to 8pm
Please do check it out! Take a few pics of the bracket and players for us
On October 12 2015 01:03 BisuDagger wrote: Applied. GL everyone!
I applied too, it'd be fun to cast with you or anyone else, whoever gets picked gl hf! And ....I think we all want Tastosis but if not it will still be amazing
update on maybe covering seoul qualifier: i talked with wolf and he's expressed an interest in possibly co-casting the offline qualifier with me at the venue if we're allowed to by kongdoo/afreeca.
On October 14 2015 00:20 GTR wrote: update on maybe covering seoul qualifier: i talked with wolf and he's expressed an interest in possibly co-casting the offline qualifier with me at the venue if we're allowed to by kongdoo/afreeca.
would people be keen for this?
don't ask, the answer is obviously a yes from everyone.
On October 14 2015 00:20 GTR wrote: update on maybe covering seoul qualifier: i talked with wolf and he's expressed an interest in possibly co-casting the offline qualifier with me at the venue if we're allowed to by kongdoo/afreeca.
On October 14 2015 00:20 GTR wrote: update on maybe covering seoul qualifier: i talked with wolf and he's expressed an interest in possibly co-casting the offline qualifier with me at the venue if we're allowed to by kongdoo/afreeca.
would people be keen for this?
I do not imagine it being a problem, but I will double check with someone.
On October 14 2015 00:20 GTR wrote: update on maybe covering seoul qualifier: i talked with wolf and he's expressed an interest in possibly co-casting the offline qualifier with me at the venue if we're allowed to by kongdoo/afreeca.
would people be keen for this?
I do not imagine it being a problem, but I will double check with someone.
please do and let us know in here if its a good to go don't want to turn up then them telling us we cant stay there
No list of players that I can see, but some additional rules and schedule/itinerary posted (mirrored at Kongdoo's site)
Looks like 4 start times/groups in Seoul and 2 in Busan.
Also it appears the 512 players is the maximum allowed/accommodated, so registration was actually closed earlier than the Oct11 deadline. Bodes well that there's so much interest, but hopefully no procrastinating progamers were left out
Looks like organizers tried to separate the top players, but crap, there are going to be some really tough groups if only 1-2 make it out of each group:
On October 17 2015 11:18 prech wrote: Looks like organizers tried to separate the top players, but crap, there are going to be some really tough groups if only 1-2 make it out of each group:
On October 17 2015 15:42 Probemicro wrote: Calm down guys EffOrt can still go to the Busan qualifiers to try again
I wonder if he can, though? Would he have had to register twice before it closed last week?
Fortunately Larva and sSak have made it through
the seoul qualifier already include all 512 participants...
Looks like about ~130 byes or "NONE"s, so those were just placeholders to set up the bracket
Reading Ygosu forums, several people said Seoul losers can re-attempt at Busan. Bisu's checking out EffOrt's bracket and mentioned "Busan" a few times, so hopefully that means players still have that option...
he is a notable player so i assume they (organizers) would give him a priority second chance. (they already show favoritism trying to distribute the pros into different groups evenly)
On October 17 2015 15:59 Probemicro wrote: ^how many of those are no shows though?
he is a notable player so i assume they (organizers) would give him a priority second chance. (they already show favoritism trying to distribute the pros into different groups evenly)
No format can please everyone. Personally. I think the format is pretty good. If non-notable players want to get in, they should at least go through a pro or have a chance of meeting a pro. And of course, there's the fans.
Sea > Rush in Group 13 July > Ample in Group 15 Mind vs Perfectman in Group 16
and I don't think they are the final Ro32 groups - just the players who've advanced out of each qualifier session (which they refer to as groups). they will definitely re-seed and (probably) divide each ro32 group with 2 players from seoul, 2 players from busan.
I think we got a nice mix of prominent fixtures of SC, players trying to get to the next level, businessmen and even an old-schooler. Excited to see who'll show up tomorrow.
I still don't get how the NONEs got wins and stuff. Also, some the NONEs are from Busan right?
^^Lots of the "NONE"s are a bug (either on Challonge or Kongdoo). If we click on the /log version of those brackets, many do have names but somehow don't quite display as such.
For example, in /seoul004, BeSt appears as NONE12 in the bracket, but in the log version, it shows his name 도재욱(3993)
July getting in was quite a miracle -- it looks like 3 of his 5 matches went the full 3 sets, including a win over Ample. Contrast that group with Grp14, where 4 potential progamers could have made it with free, GuemChi, Shuttle and HoGiL... Boy, I really hope some of these folks re-attempt at Busan, with 16 more slots there... I wouldn't mind a few no-name amateurs, but don't want to see a good dozen progamer candidates eliminated by their own
I presume that some other notable players (other than the ones aforementioned) might be showing up at Busan? Hyuk? Iris? Leta? Or did they drop out/choose not to participate?
EffOrt mistakenly occupies two spots in Grp8, one in the upper half, one lower half. Hope he/organizers don't screw up, causing either him or HiyA to get eliminated
On October 18 2015 10:33 c3rberUs wrote: Hyuk hyuk'd himself wtf
Well, that can't come as a complete surprise to anyone.
Still doesn't mean you can't go w.t.f. ^_^
This is definitely true. Hyuk can be a frustrating player to watch sometimes because I think he can clearly be better than his usual hyuking self. Maybe this is an ignorant question, but where are you guys getting the info on the qualifiers?
On October 18 2015 10:33 c3rberUs wrote: Hyuk hyuk'd himself wtf
Well, that can't come as a complete surprise to anyone.
Still doesn't mean you can't go w.t.f. ^_^
This is definitely true. Hyuk can be a frustrating player to watch sometimes because I think he can clearly be better than his usual hyuking self. Maybe this is an ignorant question, but where are you guys getting the info on the qualifiers?
GTR posted this link. If you can read Korean names, this is definitely helpful. Brackets
On October 18 2015 10:33 c3rberUs wrote: Hyuk hyuk'd himself wtf
Well, that can't come as a complete surprise to anyone.
Still doesn't mean you can't go w.t.f. ^_^
This is definitely true. Hyuk can be a frustrating player to watch sometimes because I think he can clearly be better than his usual hyuking self. Maybe this is an ignorant question, but where are you guys getting the info on the qualifiers?
GTR posted this link. If you can read Korean names, this is definitely helpful. Brackets
Thanks a lot, man. Leta is doing well. He has an opponent now, but I don't recognize the name.
Wonder how the military/powers that be are going to react to an active enlistee participating in such a public event... I don't think I've ever heard of a Korean popstar/actor enlistee taking part in a TV-broadcasted concert/show/movie, etc. but maybe because this is an online event there's more leeway? But then I'm pretty sure Mini hasn't streamed since his enlistment began, even when he's been really active on Fish...
On October 18 2015 15:19 prech wrote: Phew, HiyA and Mini are in
Wonder how the military/powers that be are going to react to an active enlistee participating in such a public event... I don't think I've ever heard of a Korean popstar/actor enlistee taking part in a TV-broadcasted concert/show/movie, etc. but maybe because this is an online event there's more leeway? But then I'm pretty sure Mini hasn't streamed since his enlistment began, even when he's been really active on Fish...
thestc from sc2 was in a similar situation and he was fine
Bisu, Free, Sea, Leta, Zero, Effort... can't believe what an amazing line-up of talent this tournament has. So cool to see. I'm gonna try to set aside some time to follow this.
Shin Sang Moon hwaiting! The man who turns paper planes into genuinely scary birds of prey. ^___^
edit - if you're talking about the Ro32 groups. No announcement yet. If you're talking about the Busan brackets, both guys beat a bunch of no-name guys.
edit - if you're talking about the Ro32 groups. No announcement yet. If you're talking about the Busan brackets, both guys beat a bunch of no-name guys.
On October 18 2015 15:19 prech wrote: Phew, HiyA and Mini are in
Wonder how the military/powers that be are going to react to an active enlistee participating in such a public event... I don't think I've ever heard of a Korean popstar/actor enlistee taking part in a TV-broadcasted concert/show/movie, etc. but maybe because this is an online event there's more leeway? But then I'm pretty sure Mini hasn't streamed since his enlistment began, even when he's been really active on Fish...
thestc from sc2 was in a similar situation and he was fine
Ah, neat! Good to know... Thinking about all the Korean celebs/popstars who've gotten into trouble during off-duty or even abusing off-days, I was under the impression the military's been more strict about personal activities during enlistment, but maybe eSports isn't notorious enough to be considered a "scandal"...
On October 18 2015 17:14 Miragee wrote: Only 8 zerg. : / I hope they will do well. Ro32 looks stacked.
I think the Zerg numbers sound about right in light of the map pool, i.e. Terran advantage on FS. A good number of Protoss, though -- hopefully the amateurs don't just fall out immediately
On October 22 2015 02:30 amazingxkcd wrote: for the english casting, would you guys prefer game sounds over or korean commentary that will be casted over?
So with BisuDagger busy finishing up his work until the end of the month, more than likely is that I will be covering for him for the first week of games with xkcd. Excited for this opportunity!
On October 22 2015 13:47 GTR wrote: So with BisuDagger busy finishing up his work until the end of the month, more than likely is that I will be covering for him for the first week of games with xkcd. Excited for this opportunity!
Thanks for filling in for me! I'm excited you get to cast some games. I'm sure youll have tons of fun.
On October 24 2015 04:35 ]343[ wrote: was there a group selection? why is group C so ridiculous
I don't know if it's confirmed cause I just read Prech's post and looked for it in the graphic. With my shotty Korean, there will be a group selection for Ro16 (since on the schedule, it's going to be held after Ro32)
On October 24 2015 13:37 ]343[ wrote: so you're telling me there just randomly happens to be a group of sSak, Larva, Shuttle, and Movie?
ouch
Movie doesn't practice as much anymore though he has pulled quite the upsets. Shuttle is ok, nothing impressive either. Only sSak is the big name in this group imo.
On October 25 2015 07:22 ]343[ wrote: maybe i'm behind on the times, then @_@
Lol. Movie is slightly above average. Shuttle is meh. Larva is bad. and Ssak is good. This wasn't really a stacked group and for me at least, it's a pretty easy prediction of ssak and Movie.
Group H is my go to group rn with Last, Mong, and free looking like a really serious group to get out of. Spire sadly going to get his ass handed to him there.
Group G also interesting with the hero vs Sea rivalry. Kick his ass hero :D
There will be a ceremony one hour before the games start on Wednesday so please tune in to that as well! I'll be working inside the studio while xkcd will be casting via VOIP.
There will be a ceremony one hour before the games start on Wednesday so please tune in to that as well! I'll be working inside the studio while xkcd will be casting via VOIP.
On October 27 2015 08:54 icystorage wrote: Is Kwanro still good?
He got to KSL finals earlier this year. But it remains to be seen what he can actually do because he doesn't stream a lot. (That or I don't know his stream/streaming habits)
Arcadia 2 being removed after the Ro16 completes, to be replaced by another map in the elimination round after concerns expressed by players and viewers. Something about Terran/Zerg imbalance relating to resources, as far as I can tell?
Bisu vs Last Sharp vs Mind Zero vs free Guemchi vs Effort
Hm, I assumed they would place the matches so that two out of the same group can't meet before the finals but they didn't. :/ I'd say Bisu, Mind and Zero advance. Last match is hard. Dunno whether I should start believing in Guemchi magic and jinx him or vote for Effort so that Guemchi wins.
On January 19 2016 16:15 doihy wrote: Why arent bw finals bo7? seems to kill the hype.
In one of the first Sonic Starleagues we had bo7 in finals and it was too long. BO7 was great for Team Leagues though, but for individuals BO5 is enough
i would definitely prefer bo7 for bisu v effort that would be a better spectacle. These two players of the highest level are definitely capable of any BoX. (bisu usually starts off with a cheese so with bo5 that means only about 2-3 potentially decent games)
On January 19 2016 16:15 doihy wrote: Why arent bw finals bo7? seems to kill the hype.
It was done back in 2004 once. Even though I watched the series only from VODs, it went on so long (but because it was GoRush vs NaDa I couldn't care less.) Energy would be quickly depleted from the audience, so it wouldn't necessarily add hype.
Thanks Prech! Good thing Gladiator is only played once.
On January 19 2016 16:15 doihy wrote: Why arent bw finals bo7? seems to kill the hype.
It was done back in 2004 once. Even though I watched the series only from VODs, it went on so long (but because it was GoRush vs NaDa I couldn't care less.) Energy would be quickly depleted from the audience, so it wouldn't necessarily add hype.
Thanks Prech! Good thing Gladiator is only played once.
i actually talked to gorush about that finals series and he said the reason why they never did a bo7 finals again was because that it was simply too taxing for everyone involved (players, audience, casters, production).