Team Liquid welcomes Liquid`Amaz as the first member of our Hearthstone division!
I'm incredibly excited for Amaz to be a part of our team. For Hearthstone fans, Amaz is someone who needs no introduction. For Liquid fans who aren't familiar with the scene: Amaz is one of the most popular streamers in Hearthstone, who started as a complete unknown and in a short span of time has worked his way up to having 20,000 watching his stream. He has achieved this by having a positive and joyful attitude toward the game, and giving his fans an amazing, interactive experience on his stream. I know I won't be able to communicate it as well as just showing you this video will so take a look and have it do my job for me.
If you haven't seen his stream, I highly recommend you check it out. He never fails to bring a smile to my face, and it's a place you can go to if you need to brighten your day. The energy and positive attitude Amaz carries with him is something we'll be looking to learn from as we get to know him better.
As one of the most popular players in the scene, Amaz showed confidence in our organization by choosing Liquid. As much as he believes that we're a good fit for him, we believe that Amaz is a great fit for Liquid. I am confident that together we can take Team Liquid and LiquidHearth to greater heights.
Root Gaming
Root Gaming was open minded to the wishes of Amaz and it was smooth working things out with them. I want to specifically thank Catz for putting in a good word about our organization. It's not every day that someone in his position will do something like that and it means a lot. I wish them nothing but the best and when we have enough players we will not hesitate to challenge them to some friendly matches. Check Root's statement on the transfer.
LiquidHearth
Hearthstone has gone through tremendous growth within our community. Starting out as just a forum topic on TeamLiquid.net, it grew into its own forum and eventually into a whole new website. Over the last six months, we have shown that we're dedicated to providing Hearthstone fans with quality articles and a place for high level discussion.
One thing was still missing from the equation was a professional team. With Amaz, we have now opened our Hearthstone division. He will be our first member but not the last. Team leagues will be taking on a more prominent role in competitive Hearthstone, and we would love to be able to participate in them.
That's not to say you're going to see us announce a bunch of new signings this month. We will look around and take our time to carefully consider which players we would like to approach. Eventually, with a roster of players we feel represent Liquid the best, we hope to compete with the best teams in the world.
The opening of our Hearthstone team goes hand in hand with giving LiquidHearth more exposure as a community site and brand. To that end, the team will be called LiquidHearth, and our shirts will be red instead of the traditional Liquid blue. The tag, of course, will be Liquid.
Thanks to our sponsors HyperX, Razer, NEEDforSEAT, Twitch, Barracuda and Shiny Things for supporting Liquid and Hearthstone. Without them this would not be possible.
Liquid`Nazgul
Liquid`Amaz Interview
Welcome to LiquidHearth! What separates you as a streamer/player from others? What do you consider your strengths and weaknesses to be?
I think my enthusiasm and love for the game makes me stand out from other streamers. Since I main the Priest deck a lot, that's one of my main strengths. Because of this, I would need to practice other decks, such as the ones used for tournaments, off-stream to keep myself relevant.
At what point did you realize you could do this for a living? What were your parents and friends reactions?
When I first started streaming, I did it purely for the fun of it, and didn't realize I could actually pay the bills around 3 months in when my viewership increased. Most of my family members don't really know what I'm currently doing, since this is kind of a new generation thing. When I explained to my dad what I'm doing now, his reaction was something like "oh, cool!", but I can tell it's a "I have no idea what you are doing and how you can earn money".
I am very surprised on the community's reception of my stream, and will be forever grateful to all my supporters!
There's been a rise of team leagues lately. What makes teams important? What do you think about teams in general?
Teams in Hearthstone are important because you can test new deck concepts and strategies with your teammates. There's also an added bonus of testing out tournament settings: since tournaments typically run multiple decks, and ladder decks are designed to be consistent across all matchups, it's important to test specific matchups to prepare for events.
You are preparing for DreamHack right now. How do you do this? Is it difficult to do while streaming?
I prepare tournament decks off-stream, and it's usually by scrimmaging with other pro players. While it is alright to prepare for a tournament using the ladder system, I think it's much more accurate to be playing against other people in a "tournament" setting. It is also extremely useful to practice against a certain matchup (the hard ones) so that you familiarize yourself with more situations and the optimal plays for them.
What has your experience been like with tournament play? Playing in front of a crowd?
Playing in front of an audience is not a problem for me: I usually zone in and focus on the match itself.
Tell us something about yourself that your stream viewers don't know! Second part: what do you do other than hearthstone? Whats your daily life like?
A usual day would be checking and responding to HS tweets and PMs in twitch, and then going out for my favorite foods. In the afternoon it could be anything, from editing highlight videos, to practicing Hearthstone, to playing other games and even going to a friends place for board games. Then of course, after dinner is my regular streaming schedule!
Outside of Hearthstone, I love the Touhou series, and am a big fan and player in bullet hell shooters. I also love watching speed runs espcially Super Mario 64 120stars, and Siglemic is one of my favorite streamers I watch.
I was also a guild master + raid leader in World of Warcraft for 2 years, a game I played for 7 whole years. We did a lot of HC content and actually got Top 2 in the server when we did our very best.
I learned a lot of social skills such as interacting with people and figuring out other people's emotions from leading raids. This in turned helped me develop a better sense of communication in my stream towards my viewers, and I always value the interaction between me and my viewers from Hearthstone discussion to answering questions about life and everything else.
What is one hearthstone moment (in real life or in game) that you will never forget? Have you been recognized in real life yet?
In Hearthstone there were lots of moments were big plays occur, but that attributes mainly to the Combo Priest deck I usually run. I guess the moment where I first got 1,000 viewers out of the blue one day really knocked me off my chair when I was still a relatively new streamer!
I haven't been recognized in the streets of Hong Kong yet, but that is something I am not actively looking for. I don't consider myself a celebrity because it's the community which powers the scene, and I think we should all try and contribute to keep it alive. In my case, I try and focus on the fun side of Hearthstone while keeping it entertaining for viewers, while hopefully still maintaining a competitive standard in tournaments.
Shoutouts!
Shoutout to my many practice partners, most notably Xixo, Backspace, and zggleoz. To my family who supports me in whatever I do (even if they don't know what "exactly" it is I'm doing). To Mom, for the memorable times we had together. And of course to my supporters, you guys are making my dream come true, and I am super grateful for that!
Connect
Liquid`Amaz
Follow Liquid`Amaz on Twitter! Watch Liquid`Amaz Stream! Like Liquid`Amaz on Facebook!
fuck yeah! congrats to both Amaz and Liquid! this is awesome, Amaz might just be my favorite person in the Hearthstone scene and TL is of course amazing.
Congrats to Liquid and Amaz. I only started watching the guy recently (I needed a stream to switch to when MaSsan logged off) but I've really been enjoying his play.
Its almost like it was just yesterday when I was watching Artosis's stream and he was constantly talking about this priest he kept queueing into called Amaz....
On June 12 2014 21:20 Liquid`Amaz wrote: Hey guys, thanks so much and I'm very excited to be a part of a wonderful Hearthstone community that is Liquid.
Will definitely do my best at Dreamhack! amazGasm
Does this mean we get to see more articles here and general posts?
Damn I'm such a softie, that video made my eyes wet... Have to agree that from the description Amaz fits to the TL player profile flavlessly. Congratulations for both the team and the player!
YES! I shouted "Yes" in real life, haha. Amaz is love and Liquid is love and having them together is the best. Amaz is probably my favorite HS player at the moment. He's just so brilliant and original and entertaining. The optimal pickup for Liquid. Best of luck, Amaz, get all the titles!
I'm so happy for Amaz to see how he has grown. I remember watching his stream when it was in the 500 viewer range. If there is anyone who deserves it, it's definitely him. Super nice person.
he is a more popular streamer than trump, hafu and kripp? i have never even seen him on the sidebar.
edit: i guess it said "one of" so nevermind.
You're probably not here when he streams. He's in Hong Kong so his streaming schedule is a bit different (mornings in the US). He's definitely more popular than hafu and in the same ballpark as trump and kripp.
he is a more popular streamer than trump, hafu and kripp? i have never even seen him on the sidebar.
edit: i guess it said "one of" so nevermind.
You're probably not here when he streams. He's in Hong Kong so his streaming schedule is a bit different (mornings in the US). He's definitely more popular than hafu and in the same ballpark as trump and kripp.
ah, i didnt know he was Hong Kong. i would like to see his stream as i have seen him in tournies with his priest deck and have been amazed at how he handicaps himself. ;-)
he is a more popular streamer than trump, hafu and kripp? i have never even seen him on the sidebar.
edit: i guess it said "one of" so nevermind.
You're probably not here when he streams. He's in Hong Kong so his streaming schedule is a bit different (mornings in the US). He's definitely more popular than hafu and in the same ballpark as trump and kripp.
ah, i didnt know he was Hong Kong. i would like to see his stream as i have seen him in tournies with his priest deck and have been amazed at how he handicaps himself. ;-)
This is both unexpected and totally awesome :D. Man I love Liquid.
On June 12 2014 21:20 Liquid`Amaz wrote: Hey guys, thanks so much and I'm very excited to be a part of a wonderful Hearthstone community that is Liquid.
as someone who was becoming a fan this leaves me in an awkward spot but i guess theres nothing to say but congrats on your new team and good luck in the future.
On June 13 2014 18:11 Fi0na wrote: isn't Acer the rival of Liquid now that EG has fallen apart in SC2 besides Jaedong?
Not really. EG is still a reasonable force in the SC2 scene, Acer doesn't even have a Dota team while both TL and EG will be at TI4, they both got into the Smash Bros scene at about the same time, and the fact that TL jokingly suggests they need a new rival is evidence that EG is still their main rival.
On June 13 2014 18:11 Fi0na wrote: isn't Acer the rival of Liquid now that EG has fallen apart in SC2 besides Jaedong?
Not really. EG is still a reasonable force in the SC2 scene, Acer doesn't even have a Dota team while both TL and EG will be at TI4, they both got into the Smash Bros scene at about the same time, and the fact that TL jokingly suggests they need a new rival is evidence that EG is still their main rival.
No in sc2 Acer is the rivial. And EG is still a resonable force in sc2? What year is this 2011? come back to reality check ATC scores maybe.
just out of curiosity, did AmaZ actually get a reasonable salary on Root? Was he just there to be part of a known team? It's so I can judge the level of poaching liquid did also Catz is a great guy
i´ve actually been waiting quite some time for Nazgul to make a official liquid announcment and here it is! as a liquid fanboy in both sc2 and dota2 im nothing less then über excited about this :D congrats to Amaz and yay for HS
I've always been a huge SC2 TL fan, so I am stoked to see LiquidHearth starting out with one of my favorite players! Congrats to both TL and Amaz, and kudos to Catz and Root for being so awesome!
EPT
