Breaking Out Season 4!

Breaking Out Season 4

Watch the show live over at:
http://www.twitch.tv/feardragon64
Or catch the vods on the same day at:
http://www.youtube.com/feardragon64

This past November, Breaking Out finished its third season of highlighting different up & coming player in the North American scene. It's time for yet another season to see who is going to win learn more about some of the up & comers in the scene and find out who is the next most likely player to Breakout of the North American scene.

There's a common misconception that players in North America don't work hard, aren't motivated, and don't have much talent. Breaking Out looks to prove otherwise by highlighting some up & coming players that might not be on your radar yet. North America as a scene may be behind others like Europe and Korea, but we have the players with the talent to be better. We just need to give them the resources and the motivation to do so. The show seeks to show some of those players worth caring about and give them a bit more exposure. And of course, the invitational that has hit over two-thousand dollars doesn't hurt to motivate the players a little...

Breaking Out is about fostering growth in the local scene. I'm not going to lie to you. These guys are not WCS Grand Finalists or GSL Code S winners. But what they are is a group of hard working individuals who have the potential to be a "foreign hope" or top NA player given the right environment. If you haven't watched some of these guys play, this is your opportunity to see just how awesome some of their games can be. You might surprise yourself at how much fun you'll have cheering for these guys if you give them a chance.

Format

We're really excited to announce Season 4 of Breaking Out. Picking up where Season 3 left off, Season 4 will see a return of the old format that focused on quality, edited content that gives you everything you need to know about a player in a reasonable amount of time.

Breaking Out Season 4 will run twice a week for one month. The broadcast time is planned to be Friday's and Saturdays at 7:00pm PST/10:00pm EST. Each day will highlight a single player, with two players covered each week. The show will run through the month of March, with qualifiers for the show taking up the majority of February. The exact date for the Invitational itself will be announced at a later date after consulting with the players for availability.

Each episode focuses on a single player with interviews, gameplay and analysis that should give you a very good idea of who the player is. The format will be as follows:

1) Brief 3-4 minute interviews to give you a feel for the player
2) Cover the player's XvZ matchup
3) Cover the player's XvT matchup
4) Cover the player's XvP matchup
5) Cover an AWESOME game from the player
6) A short 5ish minute fun segment where we embarrass the hell out of the player

Interviews are fantastic but sometimes it can be hard to pay full attention to one person talk about themselves for an hour straight. Instead, small 3-5 minute clips will be interspersed throughout the show so you can get a better feel for the player in a shorter amount of time!

+ Show Spoiler +

Are you a player interested in being on Breaking Out? Well before we get into how you can qualify, first you need to register! Registration is an required part of being considered for the show no matter what qualification method you use. So, let's go over how to register.

Submit an e-mail to feardragon64@gmail.com with the following information by February 13th

1) Proof of North American Residency. Some examples of this are Drivers Licenses, Student ID's to NA universities, Passports, etc.
2) A picture of yourself meeting most, if not all of the requirements listed.
3) A link to your battle.net profile on the account you want considered for the ladder qualifiers. This account should be *your* account and should not be shared with others. Obvious rules such as win trading, hacking, boosting, etc. being grounds for a DQ from any or all parts of Breaking Out apply. (Note this account will be publicized as your account.)
4) A 3-8 minute video of yourself answering the following questions(be ready for parts of this video to be used on the show!):
a) What is your name, age & Starcraft 2 race?
b) What do you do for a living?
c) Tell us the most interesting fact about yourself that you can think of.
d) Describe your playstyle for us.
e) Why do you deserve the chance to be the next breakout player?
f) What does Starcraft mean to you?

Once you submit your application and it has been processed, we will respond to confirm or deny it. We are reserving the right to reject applications. However, the main reason we're doing so is to prevent players that already have a good bit of notoriety. Some good examples would be if for some reason Evil Geniuses' Huk or Acer's Scarlett applied, their applications would be rejected because I don't think anyone could argue they haven't already "broken out." If you have any question of whether you would be accepted or rejected, feel free to shoot an e-mail and ask. All applications will be considered by a small committee due to the arbitrary nature of issue.

Also note that during the season, there will be an expectation for you to behave appropriately on the show, as well as off it to a degree. While we have no interest in disqualifying players that have already qualified, we reserve the right to show the door to any players who demonstrate behavior that is seen as unfit for their position. This is basically saying, we reserve the right to boot you from the show and tournament if you're being a complete jerk, subject to our own opinion. We don't want to, but know that we can and don't be stupid. Things that would put you in an awkward position for this would include maphacking, racial slurs, etc.

Similar to previous seasons, there will be a total of eight players on the show. In the interest of making qualifications as open as possible to everyone walking the different paths of life, we've opened up three different methods of qualification.

Qualification Methods

The two registered players that hold the highest ranking on the North American ladder will be given a spot on the show. This does not mean you have to hold spot 1, 2 in GM. You just have to be the highest ranked of all those who are trying to qualify. The end time for the ladder qualification will be 11:59pm EST on Sunday March 1st.
Four will qualify through two separate tournament qualifiers will be held for those unable to qualify through the first method. The first and second place finishers of both qualifiers will earn a spot on the show, meaning the top 2 will qualify. The first qualifier will be held on Friday February 13th at 8:00pm EST. They will be hosted by the SC2 Up & Coming Podcast hosts, NanMan and MasterDalk. The second qualifier's date will be on Sunday March 1st at 3:00pm EST. For updates on the qualifiers, be sure to register.
Bracket for the first qualifier:
http://challonge.com/BOS4Q1
Bracket for the second qualifier:
http://challonge.com/BOS4Q2
If you've been unable to qualify through the ladder or through the tournament qualifiers, one last qualification method is possible. The final two player spots will be awarded via invite. These players will be picked by a small committee and be decided by various factors including the answers given in their application video, performance in various tournaments, etc.

Currently Qualified Players
1) EJK(T) through Qualifier #1
2) PiLiPiLi(P) through Qualifier #1
3) HuShang(P) through Qualifier #2
4) Trace(P) through Qualifier #2
5) Bioice(Z) through Ladder Spot #1
6) Moosegills(Z) through Ladder Spot #2
7) ElhayM(T) through Invite #1
8) SLeet(Z) through Invite #2

Be sure to remember in order to qualify, you MUST register. Don't forget to before the deadline(BY February 13th, NOT AFTER). We will be much more strict about this than previous seasons.

The show eventually leads up into an eight man tournament that has a $1000 base prize pool that has payout even to last place. However, we do take donations for that prize pool to increase. The last three season through donations we were able to raise the prize pool at least an additional $1000 through donations. If you'd like to contribute to the prizepool for the next Breakout Invitational, feel free to use the link below to do so!

$1,219.05 Updated 3/27/2015 12:00pm PST

Donators to this season's prize pool
Boblekonvolutt - Archnog - doenietjigg - peacenluv - mYi.Halcyon

Big thank you's go out to everyone that has made this possible. From those who helped with the art assets for this season and the last (Noobity, Sybert, MinnyMausGG) to those who have provided feedback, adminstration help(NanMan, MasterDalk, KurenTV), as well as casters(Boisterous, Day[9], ZombieGrub, iNcontroL, Temp0, etc.). To the all the viewers of the previous seasons, I extend my thanks for helping to make this all possible. I also want to send a big thank you to all the players working hard in North America! Keep on fighting the good fight!

Q/A

I was in a previous season of Breaking Out. Can I apply again?
Breaking Out has a 1 season layout period. If you were a part of Breaking Out Season 1 or 2, feel free to apply! If you were in Season 3, you'll have to wait until Season 5!

Is this an actual tournament? All I saw was info on player interviews and such.
Good question! This is both a show and a tournament. The idea is that I spend a month doing a show talking about the players and letting people(including myself to be honest) get to know them, and THEN we have an 8 man tournament called The Breakout Invitational. The invitational has a base prize pool of $1000 and takes donations to be increased. The past two seasons it's over doubled the base prize pool to roughly $2150.

Can a player from Latin America participate?
Yes! Season 3 even featured the Brazillian player Kelazhur! If someone in Latin America is interested, they should feel free to apply as long as they feel comfortable communicating in English in extensive interviews. Unfortunately, the format relies very heavily on speaking good English at the moment.

Your question here! Ask in the thread!
Some incredible answer that blows your mind.

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Breaking Out Season 4!

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