WHO? Michael “ProTech” Ballman is an ex Brood War, Warcraft 3, D2 and Counter Strike player. He has played Starcraft for 14 years, all of which were spent playing 2vs2 whether it be on iCCup, Asia, East, or West he has always played team games.
That said, ProTech is one of the most prolific and recognized 2v2 players in SC2. Over the course of his career he has held the #1 USA ranking in arranged and random 2v2 team formats numerous times. The events of which have been made available to the masses for the past year on his stream. His most notable claim to fame was winning the Prodigy Star League Season 2 representing Team PowerTech.
ProTech was recently on Kings of Tin with DJWheat and WackStevens, be sure to check it out here!
His regular arranged team partners are tehredbandit and Power, aka Destructive.
StarCraft 2 Season 1 Rankings: #1 2v2 Random Team (Global) [haCkProTech] #1 2v2 Arranged Team (NA) [haCkProTech & Power] #2 2v2 Arranged Team (Global) [haCkProTech & Power]
StarCraft 2 Season 2 Rankings: #1 2v2 Random Team (Global) [haCkProTech] #2 2v2 Random Team (Global) [Catalyst] #5 2v2 Random Team (EU) [untamed] #3 2v2 Arranged Team (NA) [haCkProTech & Power]
1. He does solid 2v2 better than me, which I'm happy to learn from 2. He interacts with the stream, other times he shares some good music, he also plays additional games between his queues to help speed/entertain and that doesn't touch the shenanigans 3. I enjoy his personality. He's a fun guy ^_^ Fun enough that I keep coming back.
1) Put some of his BW info in there 2) Find some more notable games PTSL 1, fun games, high-skill looking... things, etc) 3) Add info about PTSL1? He got 4th out of like 16 teams, which is pretty good. 4) The fuck is wrong with you son, add me to the fan list. 5) Add this, which lets is know when ProTech is streaming: http://protechsc2.com/2011/09/03/protech-notifier-windows/
Sign me up, This is my first post on TL and the only reason I come to this site generally is to watch ProTech. I have no idea how he is not on the featured stream list.
Great 2v2 matches, brings a good image and mix to TL.
Love the stream ProTech, watch every day. Also, could you un-ban me from your chat? I still can't figure out why I'm banned :/ Use the same name as my profile here on TL, CARvett2004.
Sign Me Up Bro And what about that fan video? I could make you one with suitable music and stuff just tell me what you want in it and send me the content Anyway guys think about it!!
On November 05 2011 08:29 TBone- wrote: Why is there so many people with sub 10 posts? Also glad he has a fanclub now :D
I'm guessing it's because TeamLiquid is primarily for 1v1, and for new posters, always seeing the red text of bans/warns is an extreme deterrent (it was for me for a loooong time). And 2v2 players/lovers really don't have anywhere to post safely... Now they do.
Yep, people like me, I only use teamliquid for the stream page, and don't use it for anything else. Apart from now of course to show support for ProTech Sign me up!
I remember a baneling bomb that just absolutley annihilated a full 2 player army, it was a moment of pure ownage and was absolutley hilarious because it was so damn good. Like a clutch baneling landmine in a Nestea game or something.
He has also had moments of epic micro, I remember him once going up against 4 players after his 3 allies had died, and microing a big pack of units to a near victory.
His zergling control is phenomenal. One of the best at surrounds, pursuits, harrasment and winning engagements with zerglings that he should lose. Most people suck at microing those feisty little cats, they just A-move everywhere.
I should also mention that despite his main race being Zerg, he regularly plays Random. Regardless of the race he gets, he can destroy people.
I dont play 2v2, 3v3 or 4v4. I have never enjoyed them to be honest. I am all about 1v1. Yet I watch Protech so much because this guy has a ton of skill. He could be grandmasters if he played 1v1. No doubt about it. I would also happily wager that he'd end up in big tournaments like MLG's doing dam good if he devoted all of his play time to 1v1.
My favourite player is MVP and Nestea tied. I judge on skill alone and have no racial bias. So me saying this shit about Protech means a lot. Watch the stream
The moments I value the most are when we see to observe the finer details of team synergy like covering each-others larva injects and expansion saturation while another micros an assault. I'm excited by the resource pooling, which often happens in AT at particular moments to create for unique timings. It's also pretty interesting when you see unit interaction with army compositions not possible in 1v1s like zerglings body-guarding tanks. Overall there is a huge unspoken dynamic of team games that is neglected by most players and casters.
All of which is occurring at the highest level of play through ProTech and friends, which makes the difference to me.
On November 05 2011 08:29 TBone- wrote: Why is there so many people with sub 10 posts? Also glad he has a fanclub now :D
I'm guessing it's because TeamLiquid is primarily for 1v1, and for new posters, always seeing the red text of bans/warns is an extreme deterrent (it was for me for a loooong time). And 2v2 players/lovers really don't have anywhere to post safely... Now they do.
On November 05 2011 09:33 untamed wrote: Yep, people like me, I only use teamliquid for the stream page, and don't use it for anything else. Apart from now of course to show support for ProTech Sign me up!
^^ this
if dota and LoL get their own forums on TL i think 2v2 should.
well one thing that bothers me a bit .. as much i enjoyed the ptsl games with so much serious 2v2 im questioning myself is there so less attention span that its not profitable to run tournaments in therms of viewers and or good players?
On November 06 2011 09:08 Angelbelow wrote: Played Protech and a random partner on battlenet with my usual 2v2 teammate and we got absolutely destroyed
Sign me up - ZergVoluptas. Protech's -always- streaming, there's no other 2v2 streamers at this level out there.. at all; he provides us high-def streams for literally the majority of the day. No reason to defeature.
I understand the new rules, but if we were to follow them this way, people will never even get a chance to watch and get interested in 2v2s in the first place. They probably dont even know if competitive 2v2s would exist. I really don't see a reason why such an enjoyable and quality stream would get defeatured.
On November 07 2011 11:36 ZergVoluptas wrote: Sign me up - ZergVoluptas. Protech's -always- streaming, there's no other 2v2 streamers at this level out there.. at all; he provides us high-def streams for literally the majority of the day. No reason to defeature.
I understand the new rules, but if we were to follow them this way, people will never even get a chance to watch and get interested in 2v2s in the first place. They probably dont even know if competitive 2v2s would exist. I really don't see a reason why such an enjoyable and quality stream would get defeatured.
Cheers,
-Vol
Precisely. Why belittle the achievements of ProTech and team players everywhere in favor of the same humdrum 1v1 streams? ProTech's 2v2 is the spice of life!
/sign me up, its never too late, i watch his stream now for almost one year and everyday its becoming more awesome to watch it, i disabled adblock only for u brotech <3
On November 08 2011 04:46 FILM wrote: Ladies and gentlemen I present to you, "The Bitch Rush". POSSIBLY... no, just the actual greatest strategy in all of StarCrafts.
"The Bitch Rush" is one of the funniest things to watch tbh. Its not a serious strategy, he only does it for viewer entertainment in lower league 4v4's. Between Bronze and Gold. It consists of an early pool, an instant queen, then the queen walks out toward the enemys half of the map. He brings 3 drones with the queen and uses one to build a Hatchery, with an instant cancel. This leaves a small patch of creep behind with which he places 1-3 creep tumours on with the Queen. He then builds Spine Crawlers with the 3 drones (leaving about 10 mining at home), and keeps building however many drones he wants, which are all rallied to the front and made into Spine Crawlers, sometimes even Spore Crawlers if the enemy attempts an air counter. Then its just an entertaining watch of him pushing creep and spines into the enemies bases. Its remarkably effective for a joking around strategy, but of course it is done in lower leagues of 4v4. Where madness reigns.
On November 08 2011 16:46 Selendiis wrote: Uhm.. i really love protech but i think i saw him hack this other day..? But i guess its ok its protech <3 i love him too much to disslike it!
yo dood tell kenny he looks fat in that dress he wears
selenidiis 5 months i see that stream Tech never hack and hate hackers so his fans too.So take care what say at your posts ,here is the Temple of 2vs2 and techs fan club.
btw, for ppl who still dont get why R2v2 is gonna make u insane sooner or later.. its because when u are on a level like mike, the matchups (to equal both teams mmr) usually turn out like this:
ProTech ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ vs. (┛◉Д◉)┛ ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ
what in the short run results in epic stream moments and in the long run gonna cause major distress havoc
On November 10 2011 23:42 odem wrote: u forgot to sign me up, nouuuuuuh!
btw, for ppl who still dont get why R2v2 is gonna make u insane sooner or later.. its because when u are on a level like mike, the matchups (to equal both teams mmr) usually turn out like this:
ProTech ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ vs. (┛◉Д◉)┛ ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ
what in the short run results in epic stream moments and in the long run gonna cause major distress havoc
LOL wtf is this?! xD
ProTech been playing petty good lately. His viewer count also hit about 250 a few times, iirc. We need to get them up higher though!
On November 10 2011 23:42 odem wrote: u forgot to sign me up, nouuuuuuh!
btw, for ppl who still dont get why R2v2 is gonna make u insane sooner or later.. its because when u are on a level like mike, the matchups (to equal both teams mmr) usually turn out like this:
ProTech ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ vs. (┛◉Д◉)┛ ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ
what in the short run results in epic stream moments and in the long run gonna cause major distress havoc
ProTech and pyramid-haircut-having djWHEAT are currently setting up a date to appear on Kings of Tin! :D
He also has something else currently in the works, another show or something, but I am unaware of enough details to actually say more. About damn time!
i was thinking about the idea to get something like the GM League for the Team Leagues
u could call it "TopMasters League" - with a new tight emblem of course
myb even with 2 different smaller icons for AT & RT, would be tight aswell, however..
the obvious problem with just master leagues is, that the top team gamers are all #1 in their ladders, but u dont really see from their profile if they are really at the top or not.
with a high spot in the "TopMasters League" the rank would really illustrate the dominance on a spefific server and not only in some random ladder.
and with a quality sign like that the team scene could myb even get more attraction to other ambitious players!
so far so good, but i dont have any idea how u could win Blizzard for that idea or even make them think about it. thats why i'm posting it here. because if u guys like that idea (or a variation of it) myb someone can come up with a way how we can make Blizzard notice it.
Protech is doing 2v2 viewer games today! If you want to join in, hop on SC2 (NA Server) and join the chat channel "Protech" and he will randomly select ANY player from the channel! LEAGUE DOES NOT MATTER!
Question: Protech just split his drones by selecting them all and seemingly just clicking in a circle around his base, is there a way to deselect one drone at a time besides clicking or did I just miss the mouse-clicks on the bottom bar?
i think the switch to 1v1 is pretty interesting all in all.
it will take some time until he will get used to all those new timings/strategies and especially to find out what kind of (unconsious) early/mid/metagame strategies he used in 2v2 that arent suitable anymore in 1v1 + really being able to change his gamestyle to an appropriate 1v1 gameplay (e.g. way more subtle unit compositions and transitions with alot more hotkeys for several different unit groups, etc.)
i could imagine it'll take at least 1000 games to get rly into the 1v1 way of play.
well that sounds alot, but luckily its protech, he doesnt sleeps/eats/w/e so with 30 games a day he can do it in a month ;D
On November 25 2011 16:35 VashTS wrote: ProTech and pyramid-haircut-having djWHEAT are currently setting up a date to appear on Kings of Tin! :D
He also has something else currently in the works, another show or something, but I am unaware of enough details to actually say more. About damn time!
On January 02 2012 13:42 VashTS wrote: No. I dunno what happened. They ended up having somebody else go on, which got rescheduled anyway due to WHEAT being sick.
On January 02 2012 13:42 VashTS wrote: No. I dunno what happened. They ended up having somebody else go on, which got rescheduled anyway due to WHEAT being sick.
Yeah! Protech on Kings of Tin! It's been ages since I saw a fun episode, but the banshee game was hilarious! Now hitting the sack but so going to watch the vod of this tomorrow
On January 03 2012 09:56 Ghanburighan wrote: Yeah! Protech on Kings of Tin! It's been ages since I saw a fun episode, but the banshee game was hilarious! Now hitting the sack but so going to watch the vod of this tomorrow
I watched his stream many times ^^ Was fun when protech + another guy played vs SeleCT and opticzero on ladder and they meet 14 times in a row, SeleCT team won every game :D
On January 04 2012 04:48 Fus wrote: I watched his stream many times ^^ Was fun when protech + another guy played vs SeleCT and opticzero on ladder and they meet 14 times in a row, SeleCT team won every game :D
wasnt it 140 times? 14 times in a row inst rly that much tbh..
well, that other guy myb was tehredbanditguy also known as the zergonlyguy. so when its zz vs pt its no surprise that the pt wins since its like an auto win. its probably the most imba race combination matchup.
w/e. not that selectguy and opticzeroguy weren't good in 2v2. its just that they pulled out the same strat (fast stargate 6 phoenix into mass void ray + mass tanks) every single game. and simply as it sounds. its still an often used strategy todays time cause its kinda impossible to beat with several other race combos. (at least when a good team pulls out the strat).
sometimes ppl misunderstand if you're ironic or smt because too much trolls who are seriously nerve wrecking.. so there are some kind of 'accidents' that lead to ppl banned who (myb) didnt even mean to be annoying. w/e just post ur chat nickname next time with ur request and we can unban, if its needed because i doubt ppl who arent frequent watchers would even know about this thread right. pz o/
Thanks everyone for watching, been around 500 viewers on average! Much appreciated and hope you enjoy the games. I've been a little inconsistent with the times that I stream due to some other things going on, but I'm still putting in 10hrs a day at odd times, so just check your facebook or twitter to see when I go live!
On March 12 2012 04:37 ProTech wrote: Thanks everyone for watching, been around 500 viewers on average! Much appreciated and hope you enjoy the games. I've been a little inconsistent with the times that I stream due to some other things going on, but I'm still putting in 10hrs a day at odd times, so just check your facebook or twitter to see when I go live!
Go Protech!! Great commitment to team play. I'm Terran but learn a lot from his Z play. It's said he'll do 3v3s and 4v4s at the end of his stream for fun. Can't wait to watch him live (and maybe somehow be on his team!?) when that happens.
His Korean server play has been a lot of fun to watch.
PS: - u can login there with ur standard teamliquid account from this site - for the trivia: player with the highest alltime viewer count on twitch due to constant awesomeness
Been my favourite stream for a long time. Attempted to replicate his play-style for a couple months last summer and went as high as rank 66 2v2r player worldwide on sc2ranks - while I was still diamond 1v1. Playing against him (non-snipe) for the first time was crazy, played a total of ~15 or so ladder games with/against him when I was playing 2s - only twice out of those games did the team he was on lose (once when he was on my team my fault, once when he was on the opposite team, quite the feeling to beat someone that inspires you). /lifestory, bit of a fanboy
Btw, we can add this sentence to ProTech's first page maybe :D
He was making a proxy 4 rax cuz he's teammate was 6pooling, but it was walled with canon, so he said I've got the solution to this. He lift up his rax and set them in the base of the first guy, produced around 16 marines kill the first, then lift up his rax in the other opponent base and there he said : I'm like a whore, I go to one guy then the other one !
On August 09 2012 16:42 ProteiNSheikH wrote: Finished Protech's liquipedia page the other day. Still needs a good pic. Check it out guys! http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Protech
thumbs up man
its pretty cool to see someone finally did it!
its an interesting read. u really collected a ton of information into that site. the way of including the rant video is so good lol. not sure if the power incident or the 2nd fun fact should be mentioned (officially) tho. but thats for him or u to decide.
for this one: "He is the most recognized 2v2 player,[citation needed]" u maybe could use a quote from day9 in one of the older 2v2 specials. or u could use the fact that he's the only 2v2 streamer who is featured on TL (and that for a quite long time). dno how it works actually.
anyway. all in all very well done and pretty creative! keep up the good work
On August 09 2012 16:42 ProteiNSheikH wrote: Finished Protech's liquipedia page the other day. Still needs a good pic. Check it out guys! http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Protech
thumbs up man
its pretty cool to see someone finally did it!
its an interesting read. u really collected a ton of information into that site. the way of including the rant video is so good lol. not sure if the power incident or the 2nd fun fact should be mentioned (officially) tho. but thats for him or u to decide.
for this one: "He is the most recognized 2v2 player,[citation needed]" u maybe could use a quote from day9 in one of the older 2v2 specials. or u could use the fact that he's the only 2v2 streamer who is featured on TL (and that for a quite long time). dno how it works actually.
anyway. all in all very well done and pretty creative! keep up the good work
baem
+1
Didn't know ProTech had done a Kings of Tin, that was fun to watch. Good job Sheikh.
I played 2's with protech for the first time last night and it was awesome! We were only going to play an hour together because that was all I had paid for but he ended up saying "fuck it" and we played for three and a half hours and only lost 2 games. It was awesome just playing and talking with him and we managed to beat 2 teams that were stream cheating. Anyways just wanted to say if you have spare time and 15 bucks buy an hour with protech!
Never know about this topic. Wanna be sighned up. Started to watch your stream when you was on JTV. Was very impressed and stil have much positive emotions from your games %)
Gotta say I sorta love that he's pushing for GM in 1v1. He gets a lot of hate but his micro/attitude are generally top notch as long as he stays away from calling everyone on earth a stream cheater. Combine that with the recent change in/lack of music and I'm really enjoying his stream!
For what it is worth, the defeaturing of Protech will cause me to cut back my visits to the team liquid website. Protech's stream is one of my favorites if not my absolute favorite mostly because I find team games more entertaining. If I have to hunt for his stream in unfeatured from TL, it is just easier to go straight to twitch. I still support team liquid and plan to come to the website for strategy articles and for gaming news, but when looking for streams I am likely to go straight to twitch rather than watch embedded from TL like I used to.
On March 08 2014 02:04 meadbert wrote: For what it is worth, the defeaturing of Protech will cause me to cut back my visits to the team liquid website. Protech's stream is one of my favorites if not my absolute favorite mostly because I find team games more entertaining. If I have to hunt for his stream in unfeatured from TL, it is just easier to go straight to twitch. I still support team liquid and plan to come to the website for strategy articles and for gaming news, but when looking for streams I am likely to go straight to twitch rather than watch embedded from TL like I used to.
It is possible to favourite streams on TL so that they pop up on your sidebar thar.
On March 08 2014 02:04 meadbert wrote: For what it is worth, the defeaturing of Protech will cause me to cut back my visits to the team liquid website. Protech's stream is one of my favorites if not my absolute favorite mostly because I find team games more entertaining. If I have to hunt for his stream in unfeatured from TL, it is just easier to go straight to twitch. I still support team liquid and plan to come to the website for strategy articles and for gaming news, but when looking for streams I am likely to go straight to twitch rather than watch embedded from TL like I used to.
It is possible to favourite streams on TL so that they pop up on your sidebar thar.
Community was really supportive of Total biscuit when he got sick, he's a good guy and all, but Protech has literally provided 100+ times more content than TB.
As a lot of you know, for about 6 months now, Protech has been struggling with a debilitating wisdom teeth condition. Whatever controversy has surrounded it, one thing is for certain, he has a serious condition that needs to be addressed. For the procedure he needs $1700.
The fact that he has been bearing this pain specifically to CONSTANTLY GIVE VIEWERS CONTENT shows just how committed he is to the community.
Now, to head off any people say that protech gets money blah blah blah, well guess what? In the real world people have BILLS to pay. Not everyone can just go out and pay $1700 out of pocket!
He has been averaging about $2000-3000 a month in just donations which is classified as LOW INCOME.
Anyone who has watched streams for awhile KNOWS that the ad revenue is GARBAGE! As he has said it is laughable at around $300 a month!
Protech has averaged around 165 subscribers and has now gotten up to 200. Before you say wow, that's another $1000 a month, you need to THINK and realize that Twitch takes HALF of that money! He only sees an extra $500 a month from that $1000!
He has said very specifically that he spends all his money on putting a roof over his head and money in his belly. Anything left over he uses to pay his bills. He doesn't waste it on drugs or any crap like that.
If we are going to pull together as a community and get this guy enough money to get past his monthly bills, I feel like we could do that if he were up to around $5,000 a month. If he is breaking even now, then he should be able to get his MUCH NEEDED operation at that level.
A lot of people talk a lot about the community and helping out, but I bet a lot of people watch his stream and don't donate or subscribe and probably even use adblock. I agree with Protech, he has been doing this for FOUR YEARS and makes a pittance compared to what other streamers make. He's said he really deserves that kind of success and income but he has continued streaming despite not getting what he is worth.
$5 or $10 is probably the price of a movie or a beer, so time to man up people!
Oh and to make matters worse, he just lost his No Scope sponsorship after less than one day. They cited "racist and discriminatory" behavior on his chat. Total BS, anyone who has seen his stream knows that he has never said or done anything like that! Just like he said, go look through ALL his vods, you won't find anything like that at all! Just more garbage perpetuated by people.
On August 23 2014 08:17 iverysmiles wrote: Community was really supportive of Total biscuit when he got sick, he's a good guy and all, but Protech has literally provided 100+ times more content than TB.
As a lot of you know, for about 6 months now, Protech has been struggling with a debilitating wisdom teeth condition. Whatever controversy has surrounded it, one thing is for certain, he has a serious condition that needs to be addressed. For the procedure he needs $1700.
The fact that he has been bearing this pain specifically to CONSTANTLY GIVE VIEWERS CONTENT shows just how committed he is to the community.
Now, to head off any people say that protech gets money blah blah blah, well guess what? In the real world people have BILLS to pay. Not everyone can just go out and pay $1700 out of pocket!
He has been averaging about $2000-3000 a month in just donations which is classified as LOW INCOME.
Anyone who has watched streams for awhile KNOWS that the ad revenue is GARBAGE! As he has said it is laughable at around $300 a month!
Protech has averaged around 165 subscribers and has now gotten up to 200. Before you say wow, that's another $1000 a month, you need to THINK and realize that Twitch takes HALF of that money! He only sees an extra $500 a month from that $1000!
He has said very specifically that he spends all his money on putting a roof over his head and money in his belly. Anything left over he uses to pay his bills. He doesn't waste it on drugs or any crap like that.
If we are going to pull together as a community and get this guy enough money to get past his monthly bills, I feel like we could do that if he were up to around $5,000 a month. If he is breaking even now, then he should be able to get his MUCH NEEDED operation at that level.
A lot of people talk a lot about the community and helping out, but I bet a lot of people watch his stream and don't donate or subscribe and probably even use adblock. I agree with Protech, he has been doing this for FOUR YEARS and makes a pittance compared to what other streamers make. He's said he really deserves that kind of success and income but he has continued streaming despite not getting what he is worth.
$5 or $10 is probably the price of a movie or a beer, so time to man up people!
Oh and to make matters worse, he just lost his No Scope sponsorship after less than one day. They cited "racist and discriminatory" behavior on his chat. Total BS, anyone who has seen his stream knows that he has never said or done anything like that! Just like he said, go look through ALL his vods, you won't find anything like that at all! Just more garbage perpetuated by people.
You're comparing TotalBiscuit's cancer to ProTech's wisdom teeth? I don't know much about the latter problem (as you didn't go into any detail), but to downplay TB's situation (and then make up the absurd notion that ProTech "has literally provided 100+ times more content than TB", which exactly zero educated people from this community will agree with you on) is despicable.
I'm all for ProTech starting some sort of kickstarter or charity fund or whatever if he wants to try and receive more community support (and he seems to have enough of a following that he'll probably make some money that he may need), but you starting off your rant by downplaying other community members' situations and then trying to guilt trip us into donating by saying that ProTech's job-of-choice doesn't pay super well, is not the way to go about this problem.
I wish ProTech good health and a safe recovery from whatever his medical issue is. If he does have a serious issue that he believes deserves community support, I hope that he explains his situation in a much less aggressive manner than you have.
EDIT: Also, it doesn't help to full-out lie and say that ProTech doesn't act in a racist or discriminatory manner, especially when people dump screen shots of him doing exactly that all the time (e.g., http://imgur.com/m0o3ttg ). Instead, you might not want to mention anything related to his bigotry when looking to garner support from the community, and just focus on his medical issue.
EPT
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FANCLUB![[image loading]](http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/images2/1/10/Gold.png)
Prodigy Team Star League/Season 2
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/FA1na.jpg)
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