UPDATE: you can follow the tournament as it progresses here
You ask, we deliver - that's always been our motto here at Team Liquid, and we're back this May to keep a promise. A little over a month ago, the first ever Team Liquid SC2 Invitational was played off on the European server, with WhiteRa emerging as Champion and TheLittleOne securing second place. With some of the most exciting SC2 games to date, the tournament was awesome to watch, and as we step into the second leg of our Beta TLIs, we're hoping that the US Edition will be nothing short of spectacular as well.
Here's when and how it's going to go down!
Saturday, May 08 6:00pm GMT (GMT+00:00)
Yeah, you can stop gawking now.
It's full of stars, right? Well, TL sat down with one of the brightest to see what he has to say about Saturday. Below, Brood talks to our resident TSL Champion about SC2, the TLI, and what his goals are for the tournament.
Nony Talks
By Brood
TL: How are you feeling about the upcoming TLI?
NonY: I think it will be fun. I don't feel very competitive about it because I have limited practice time.
TL: Do you feel like you have a strong sense of the strengths, weaknesses or game style of the gamers in this tournament?
NonY: I don't know much about the SC2 styles of these players. I have not been watching all the SC2 events going on.
TL: In BW, you were renowned for your clean builds and efficient execution. How much of that description applies to your play style now, in SC2beta?
NonY: When I'm well rested, I think my execution is among the best in the world right now. Unfortunately, it's been rare for me to be well rested lately. I think I have cleaner builds than other people but I still hesitate to call them clean. There was just way too much knowledge and experience behind my builds in BW and I'm not anywhere near that point in SC2.
TL: Which map or maps do you feel the most comfortable on?
NonY: I like Metalopolis and Lost Temple but I think that might be common, especially among BW players. They don't have backdoors and they have many expansions.
TL: Is there a match-up that you feel is stronger than the others for you right now?
NonY: I feel good about PvZ. From the start of SC2 I have been thinking "I don't want to be awesome at PvZ and bad at PvT like I was in BW" because I'd rather have balanced matchups. But I can't help it. I love killing Zerg. PvP is probably my weakest right now just because I'm having trouble coming up with solid builds on many maps. Against good players, I have yet to overcome the rock-paper-scissors dynamic like I did in BW PvP. But of course I feel that's entirely my fault, not some flaw in the game.
TL: Where do you feel you fall in regards to the rankings of American players before this tournament? How dependant would your personal rankings be on race?
NonY: I think I rank pretty well. Not as well as I did in BW but I am getting there. I don't think about race at all -- only how well they are playing.
Of course, Nony wont be getting a PvZ straight off. He'll start the day by facing qxc in a TvP. How do we know? The bracket, of course. Courtesy of random.org, we bring you the battle lines.
Look at that bracket and tell us you're not expecting great games. We certainly are!
From big names like Nony, Artosis, Tasteless and Day[9] to Team EG representing en masse in the form of Incontrol, Inka, Machine, Lzgamer and Louder, this TLI is littered with well known Starcraft: Broodwar personalities. We've got a few WCG US winners and even a TSL champion thrown in here, and if these guys don't give us some games to remember, no one will. What's more, all of these players know each other very well, and the matches that unfold are sure to display this in style.
The rest of the pack includes TL favourites like Orb, a Protoss who is know for his great manner and awesome sentry usage and Cauthonluck, a player who, apart from being famous for his 11Port build against Idra in MLG, is regarded as one of the best Terrans on US at the moment.
Speaking of Idra, the top American Zerg declined our invitation to play in this TLI and will be sitting this one out. Of course, this doesn't mean that there will a shortage of the swarm in the tournament. Among other Zergs, Slush, an old school BW player is back after a lengthy RTS hiatus in which he played Counter-Strike. Along with PainUser, Attero, Huk and qxc, he fills out the rest of the bracket, and completes the sixteen who will battle it out this weekend!
The Liquipedia team has been hard at work and compiled some information on all the players involved in this tournament. To brush up on your player knowledge checkout the foreign players page.
With a healthy dose of Terran, Protoss, Zerg and Random, we think this bracket is going to give us some great Starcraft, and we hope you'll join us this weekend as this event is casted live by TL's own Chill. Be there, or risk welling up with envy as you hear over and over just how fantastic it was to see this go down. See you Saturday, TL!
UPDATE!: djWheat and Chill will be casting this event on wheat's ustream. Day9 will be joining them between games to give insight in the event that he is eliminated.
This post was made by the Team Liquid Starcraft 2 Coverage Team. For more of TL's coverage, please visit the Team Liquid Starcraft 2 Beta Page.
On May 06 2010 00:30 roemy wrote: were any other #1 platinum invited or is the money supposed to stay "within the family"?
Don't think it has anything to do with being #1 Platinum at all. More just the well known people around here who have made a name for themselves and thus get an invitation. I'm sure there are always a lot of other people who deserve invitations, but that's how it goes.
Excellent, excellent I think I'll be rooting for the winner of nony v machine, if it should come to that in the QF unless day9 beats artosis then it's even clearer who to root for. Artosis is so good though..hmm
On May 06 2010 00:30 rei wrote: hahaahah no idra, must be some kind of korean even and a schedule confict? GoGo NONY the Phoenix
He might still be fuming over being banned for two weeks.
Anyways, brackets look awesome, and I'm glad to see that up-and-coming stars like Huk were invited alongside the old comers. Plott brothers going at it again? Well, they have to get through tough competition first!
On May 06 2010 01:01 Endgamer31 wrote: so is this going to get cast by anybody? and if so where is it going to be up?
Read the post, it's getting casted by Chill. And the stream's either going to be Chill's livestream or a custom TL stream. Either way, you'll find the link on TL when the tournament starts.
On May 06 2010 01:01 Endgamer31 wrote: so is this going to get cast by anybody? and if so where is it going to be up?
Read the post, it's getting casted by Chill. And the stream's either going to be Chill's livestream or a custom TL stream. Either way, you'll find the link on TL when the tournament starts.
Day[9] will also join in on the commentary if he is eliminated!
On May 06 2010 01:01 Endgamer31 wrote: so is this going to get cast by anybody? and if so where is it going to be up?
Read the post, it's getting casted by Chill. And the stream's either going to be Chill's livestream or a custom TL stream. Either way, you'll find the link on TL when the tournament starts.
Day[9] will also join in on the commentary if he is eliminated!
VODs will be up asap after the event.
Have you guys looked at Ustream? Livestream panics and dies when it hits 2k people. I remember the last TLI got 6k ish for the final. I hope livestream can handel it!
On May 06 2010 00:30 rei wrote: hahaahah no idra, must be some kind of korean even and a schedule confict? GoGo NONY the Phoenix
He might still be fuming over being banned for two weeks.
Anyways, brackets look awesome, and I'm glad to see that up-and-coming stars like Huk were invited alongside the old comers. Plott brothers going at it again? Well, they have to get through tough competition first!
Where did you see that Idra was banned? I checked the automated and it wasn't there?
On May 06 2010 01:01 Endgamer31 wrote: so is this going to get cast by anybody? and if so where is it going to be up?
Read the post, it's getting casted by Chill. And the stream's either going to be Chill's livestream or a custom TL stream. Either way, you'll find the link on TL when the tournament starts.
Day[9] will also join in on the commentary if he is eliminated!
VODs will be up asap after the event.
Have you guys looked at Ustream? Livestream panics and dies when it hits 2k people. I remember the last TLI got 6k ish for the final. I hope livestream can handel it!
We have everything sorted for the stream, we will not be using livestream
On May 06 2010 00:30 rei wrote: hahaahah no idra, must be some kind of korean even and a schedule confict? GoGo NONY the Phoenix
He might still be fuming over being banned for two weeks.
Anyways, brackets look awesome, and I'm glad to see that up-and-coming stars like Huk were invited alongside the old comers. Plott brothers going at it again? Well, they have to get through tough competition first!
Where did you see that Idra was banned? I checked the automated and it wasn't there?
-orb- and Idra were banned for being annoying and having poor manner on the forums. Idra, however, was invited to the event but decline his invite - I can only presume that is because the event is scheduled for 3AM KST.
and.. Fuck yeah! Chill casting <3. Would like to see a bit better video quality than he normally has though (iirc, it was a little bit poor video quality).
I dont know who to root for... HuK, day9, orb, tasteless, artosis..bah...too hard
Wow, this event definitely looks promising. It's nice to see some relatively new players getting the invite. Really hoping this wont screw over my exams which are coming up soon. =X
It might be a good idea to talk to HD and Husky about the date, because they have scheduled the next round of livestreams for the HDH invitational for friday and saturday, so if they change the saturday cast to sunday instead we would not have to choose between two high class events to watch. A real live tournament is harder to move than watching replays with live comments.
im cheering for nony. everything ive seen from him has been fresh, probably because he had a later start and hasnt been following as much of the mainstream. plus nony is awesome =P
On May 06 2010 01:01 Endgamer31 wrote: so is this going to get cast by anybody? and if so where is it going to be up?
Read the post, it's getting casted by Chill. And the stream's either going to be Chill's livestream or a custom TL stream. Either way, you'll find the link on TL when the tournament starts.
Day[9] will also join in on the commentary if he is eliminated!
VODs will be up asap after the event.
Can we get day casting his games as he plays them?
This is so incredibly awesome. I love that it's all at once and it's so close! I know what I'm spending all Saturday doing (although I wish HDH would do all of the broadcasting on Friday so I don't have to choose!)
It was also very cool to see that Idra was invited - I would have been disappointed if TL purposely left him out.
Haha I had to go over the lineup again and gawk some more. It's like HDH reloaded and promised all at once, holy shit. Every match is like a CraftCup Finals, MLG Showmatch, or Hevad $$$ Showmatch. Why can't it be Saturday already?!
I do wonder about the lack of Sheth and Kiwikaki, but I guess you can only fit so much awesomeness into a 16 person tournament! I wonder how Chill will decide which matches to cast? Nony vs Qxc, Incontrol vs Slush, and Day9 vs Artosis are probably my most anticipated, potentially very close first round matches. (I hope Day9 plays well and doesn't make dumb mistakes like reactor vs. tech lab ><)
How do map choices work? I don't recall from TSL #1. Is it LT first with loser choosing map? There are some heavily skewed maps out there which kind of sucks when you don't have something similar for the matchup (e.g., Zerg vs Protoss on Desert Oasis, Protoss vs Terran on Blistering Sands)
Inka, Incontrol, Orb, LzGamer, PainUser, Tasteless ---- All of these players aren't even close to top 16 on TL. Some better choices could have been made for a more interesting tournament.
On May 06 2010 02:44 Therapist wrote: Inka, Incontrol, Orb, LzGamer, PainUser, Tasteless ---- All of these players aren't even close to top 16 on TL. Some better choices could have been made for a more interesting tournament.
Who would you have prefered over these people then and how exactly do you know that they are sooo much better than these people? You must for example have some secret source for lots of Tasteless replays to be able to judge his skill.
So many great match-ups... louder machine, artosis d9, huk orb... being my favorites from ro16... And the possibilities just get better from there. Can't waittt
On May 06 2010 02:44 Therapist wrote: Inka, Incontrol, Orb, LzGamer, PainUser, Tasteless ---- All of these players aren't even close to top 16 on TL. Some better choices could have been made for a more interesting tournament.
You do realize it's an Americans only tournament? Just as the last TLI was a Europeans only?
On May 06 2010 02:44 Therapist wrote: Inka, Incontrol, Orb, LzGamer, PainUser, Tasteless ---- All of these players aren't even close to top 16 on TL. Some better choices could have been made for a more interesting tournament.
On May 06 2010 02:44 Therapist wrote: Inka, Incontrol, Orb, LzGamer, PainUser, Tasteless ---- All of these players aren't even close to top 16 on TL. Some better choices could have been made for a more interesting tournament.
Who would you have prefered over these people then and how exactly do you know that they are sooo much better than these people? You must for example have some secret source for lots of Tasteless replays to be able to judge his skill.
Obviously the guy doesn't know what he's talking about. If he's ever seen any of these 6 play he'd know they're more than qualified for this tournament.
I'm torn between Orb, Lz, and my favorite casters ever, the Plott brothers.
On May 06 2010 02:44 Therapist wrote: Inka, Incontrol, Orb, LzGamer, PainUser, Tasteless ---- All of these players aren't even close to top 16 on TL. Some better choices could have been made for a more interesting tournament.
You do realize it's an Americans only tournament? Just as the last TLI was a Europeans only?
Well if we had to be super critical of the choices, you could probably argue Drewbie and Kawaiirice instead of Louder and Painuser based purely on tournament/showmatch performances. It's a huge stretch to say that they're not even close to top 16 on TL (US Server) though, especially Inka, Incontrol, and LZGamer. I mean really?
On May 06 2010 02:44 Therapist wrote: Inka, Incontrol, Orb, LzGamer, PainUser, Tasteless ---- All of these players aren't even close to top 16 on TL. Some better choices could have been made for a more interesting tournament.
You do realize it's an Americans only tournament? Just as the last TLI was a Europeans only?
I see his point though. It's hard to believe that players like Drewbie, Sheth, nor Kiwikaki arent participating in the tournament. Either way, its not like these players are terribad or anything, theyre still definitely among the top. Im looking forward to this tournament :D
really excited to be in this sad that first round I have an amazing Z in slush and should I get past him second round I have an even better Z in artosis rofl
Well if I can advance through that I guess I will have earned it!
kind of unfortunate to see no Antimage on this list, even though he cleanly 3-0'd qxc in the most recent showmatch... nevertheless, good players! it should be a lot of fun to watch. my praise to organizers!
On May 06 2010 02:44 Therapist wrote: Inka, Incontrol, Orb, LzGamer, PainUser, Tasteless ---- All of these players aren't even close to top 16 on TL. Some better choices could have been made for a more interesting tournament.
You do realize it's an Americans only tournament? Just as the last TLI was a Europeans only?
I see his point though. It's hard to believe that players like Drewbie, Sheth, nor Kiwikaki arent participating in the tournament. Either way, its not like these players are terribad or anything, theyre still definitely among the top. Im looking forward to this tournament :D
Drewbie lost to me. Having a perfect record vs Chill was an entrance requirement for this tournament.
On May 06 2010 02:44 Therapist wrote: Inka, Incontrol, Orb, LzGamer, PainUser, Tasteless ---- All of these players aren't even close to top 16 on TL. Some better choices could have been made for a more interesting tournament.
You do realize it's an Americans only tournament? Just as the last TLI was a Europeans only?
I see his point though. It's hard to believe that players like Drewbie, Sheth, nor Kiwikaki arent participating in the tournament. Either way, its not like these players are terribad or anything, theyre still definitely among the top. Im looking forward to this tournament :D
Drewbie lost to me. Having a perfect record vs Chill was an entrance requirement for this tournament.
The best part of SCII is all the great tournaments going on all the time. Allthough the prize pool isnt the best, all the american players that i want to see are in this tournament. Great job as allways TL (and GOGO chill as commentator, very underrated imho)!
On May 06 2010 02:44 Therapist wrote: Inka, Incontrol, Orb, LzGamer, PainUser, Tasteless ---- All of these players aren't even close to top 16 on TL. Some better choices could have been made for a more interesting tournament.
You do realize it's an Americans only tournament? Just as the last TLI was a Europeans only?
I see his point though. It's hard to believe that players like Drewbie, Sheth, nor Kiwikaki arent participating in the tournament. Either way, its not like these players are terribad or anything, theyre still definitely among the top. Im looking forward to this tournament :D
Drewbie lost to me. Having a perfect record vs Chill was an entrance requirement for this tournament.
It's ok chill.. people will ALWAYS complain about the player list for an invitational.. he is asking for a guy who is retired (sheth) a guy who has done what? (drewbie) and ANOTHER protoss O_O
kiwikaki is friggin good but that is always going to happen with these kind of things. Unless it was like "they forgot to invite idra" I have no idea why people even bother putting down players and bitching about their personal favs that didn't make it.
Yea I know, it's like the power rank, when you put out a subjective list people just for reason can't see your point of view. There was a lost of back and forth discussion about the player pool and we have a good list.
Inc, you're lucky you raped me or else you wouldn't have been invited either!
This is going to be a great event, even without (insert favorite pet player). I want to see Idra play, but it's probably better this way. Cross region lag + everyone all-ining. Odds of that working out are not good.
On May 06 2010 02:44 Therapist wrote: Inka, Incontrol, Orb, LzGamer, PainUser, Tasteless ---- All of these players aren't even close to top 16 on TL. Some better choices could have been made for a more interesting tournament.
You do realize it's an Americans only tournament? Just as the last TLI was a Europeans only?
I see his point though. It's hard to believe that players like Drewbie, Sheth, nor Kiwikaki arent participating in the tournament. Either way, its not like these players are terribad or anything, theyre still definitely among the top. Im looking forward to this tournament :D
Drewbie lost to me. Having a perfect record vs Chill was an entrance requirement for this tournament.
It's ok chill.. people will ALWAYS complain about the player list for an invitational.. he is asking for a guy who is retired (sheth) a guy who has done what? (drewbie) and ANOTHER protoss O_O
kiwikaki is friggin good but that is always going to happen with these kind of things. Unless it was like "they forgot to invite idra" I have no idea why people even bother putting down players and bitching about their personal favs that didn't make it.
Kiwikaki afaik was invited but unable to attend.
Everyone, please keep in mind that certain players not participating may be their choice, not ours.
I am Truly humbled to even be in the same bracket as most of these players. Best of luck to everyone, hope I can put out some really entertaining matches
i have a question does Ramdon players will have to say their race in the game? bc i think that Ramdon shouldn`t be allow in tourneys, but at the same time in SC2 ramdon inst that dificult to deal with.
Why does orb keep getting in these invites? He's good but not at this lvl. Last time I played him I 2-0 him and no1 has ever heard of me nor should they.
On May 06 2010 07:22 CagedMind wrote: Why does orb keep getting in these invites? He's good but not at this lvl. Last time I played him I 2-0 him and no1 has ever heard of me nor should they.
On May 06 2010 02:49 7mk wrote: Obviously the guy doesn't know what he's talking about. If he's ever seen any of these 6 play he'd know they're more than qualified for this tournament.
I'm torn between Orb, Lz, and my favorite casters ever, the Plott brothers.
I love how you go from "they are more than qualified for this tournament" to "my favorite casters ever", just shows how people mix the two up.
On May 06 2010 03:08 hejakev wrote: Who would you have prefered over these people then and how exactly do you know that they are sooo much better than these people? You must for example have some secret source for lots of Tasteless replays to be able to judge his skill.
I have watched all of them play, and yes I even watched artosis 5-0 tasteless on his stream, But my fault, I didn't know this thing was US only. I'll be rooting for Artosis since Idra isn't here to win it all. GLHF all.
Just curious why whitera and thelittleone aren't returning? Do you not invite the former winners to keep the results from being stale? Either way, exciting tourney. I'm rooting for cauthonluck and huk, I bet one of them will win it.
I'm extremely underwhelmed, I can't wait for blizzard's tournaments to start so we can see the top of the pack actually playing eachother, instead of the top of the pack, and a whole bunch of popular names.
On May 06 2010 08:30 GreggSauce wrote: I'm extremely underwhelmed, I can't wait for blizzard's tournaments to start so we can see the top of the pack actually playing eachother, instead of the top of the pack, and a whole bunch of popular names.
As soon as there are better ways to determine skill, tournament admins will use them. You have no idea who the top of the pack is.
On May 06 2010 08:30 GreggSauce wrote: so we can see the top of the pack actually playing eachother, instead of the top of the pack, and a whole bunch of popular names.
Lol come on man! It's an invitational. Are you telling me that you wouldn't want these ('these' referring to whoever you feel isn't "top of the pack", for whatever reason) players invited?
They are clearly at least among the top of the pack and, as Nony said, you have no idea where these players rank overall.
If you feel there's a bunch of players that aren't getting the exposure they deserve, then run a tournament yourself with them in it. Don't just whine for the sake of it. TL are putting in time, effort and money so that we can all watch great games. Why not just sit back and enjoy it?
Um, why did you force Day[9] and Artosis to play each other in the first round AGAIN? -___- It's all up to you, of course, but I think that's sort of mean...
Edit: Yeah, I just realized that Artosis isn't Day[9]'s brother. I was watching his stream and saw that he was facing "Tasteless", and I was just like *epic facepalm*.
On May 06 2010 09:01 Z3kk wrote: Um, why did you force Day[9] and Artosis to play each other in the first round AGAIN? -___- It's all up to you, of course, but I think that's sort of mean...
Ah the notorious brothers, Day[9] and Artosis. Brothers, fighting to the death. Blood against blood.
Tasteless is Day[9]'s brother, not Artosis. Although I'm sure their time spent together in the Casting Archon has made Artosis and Tasteless as close as brothers.
On May 06 2010 08:30 GreggSauce wrote: so we can see the top of the pack actually playing eachother, instead of the top of the pack, and a whole bunch of popular names.
Lol come on man! It's an invitational. Are you telling me that you wouldn't want these ('these' referring to whoever you feel isn't "top of the pack", for whatever reason) players invited?
They are clearly at least among the top of the pack and, as Nony said, you have no idea where these players rank overall.
If you feel there's a bunch of players that aren't getting the exposure they deserve, then run a tournament yourself with them in it. Don't just whine for the sake of it. TL are putting in time, effort and money so that we can all watch great games. Why not just sit back and enjoy it?
show me where i'm "whining"
I'm stating an opinion, this obviously isn't a tournament that involves the best players. It's a few of the best players in the US, and a handful of names of people that are popular, generally very very good players with streams.
thats it. I'm not that great of a player, I've been slacking lately but I've beaten a few of the popular guys, and there's players out there that hand me my ass that I can't figure out how to beat, but they don't get recognition because they don't have a stream.
thats all i'm saying. Its a pretty easy guess to figure out how each round will go
Louder Machine QXC Nony Artosis Day[9] <=I can't even believe people are giving day9 a chance, unless he 6pools he's just going to lose. Still love the guy but seriously? Someone who doesn't have the time to cast let alone play sc2 can beat one of the best out there? fanboys.. iNcontrol Slush iNka PainUser Huk Orb <-actually not a one sided affair, I believe Huk has it though CauthonLuck Tasteless Cauthon isn't in his prime yet, but he doesn't make stupid mistakes LzGamer Attero I like LZ more in this match, but the fanboy in me says Attero's got this
Louder QXC Artosis Slush iNka Huk CauthonLuck Attero
Artosis QXC Huk CauthonLuck
ARTOSIS wins -- The worst part about this is almost all the match ups will obviously be stompings. Day9, Tasteless, iNcontrol, PainUser, and Nony all need to develop more. We've all seen the last 3 do pull off something awesome, but more often then not I've seen then just get outplayed by someone who's more solid, that will continue.
On May 06 2010 08:30 GreggSauce wrote: so we can see the top of the pack actually playing eachother, instead of the top of the pack, and a whole bunch of popular names.
Lol come on man! It's an invitational. Are you telling me that you wouldn't want these ('these' referring to whoever you feel isn't "top of the pack", for whatever reason) players invited?
They are clearly at least among the top of the pack and, as Nony said, you have no idea where these players rank overall.
If you feel there's a bunch of players that aren't getting the exposure they deserve, then run a tournament yourself with them in it. Don't just whine for the sake of it. TL are putting in time, effort and money so that we can all watch great games. Why not just sit back and enjoy it?
show me where i'm "whining"
I'm stating an opinion, this obviously isn't a tournament that involves the best players. It's a few of the best players in the US, and a handful of names of people that are popular, generally very very good players with streams.
thats it. I'm not that great of a player, I've been slacking lately but I've beaten a few of the popular guys, and there's players out there that hand me my ass that I can't figure out how to beat, but they don't get recognition because they don't have a stream.
thats all i'm saying.
Well why don't you put your vast wisdom to good use and make everyone aware of these 'better' players that you're referring to?
I appreciate your opinion, but, again, as there's no overall ranking system in place I don't know how you expect to see all these players in an Invitational. You have to know who people are to invite them right?
edit - Also, I think you seem to forget that the skills needed to be good in a ladder system bear little relation to those needed to win tournaments. Players like Machine, for example, say that they hardly ladder at all, but practice most of their games in custom games. So how can you judge players' skill levels based on bumping into them in the ladder?
I for one like to use the ladder to try and hammer out new builds and try out ideas on random people. How do you know, say, if you faced Nony in the ladder, that he wasn't trying to work on a new build timing against an unknown player? Or just not really trying at all? Or having a bad day? Or an exceptionally good one? Or that an, as of yet, unknown bug was exploited to cause a win or a loss?
On May 06 2010 08:30 GreggSauce wrote: so we can see the top of the pack actually playing eachother, instead of the top of the pack, and a whole bunch of popular names.
Lol come on man! It's an invitational. Are you telling me that you wouldn't want these ('these' referring to whoever you feel isn't "top of the pack", for whatever reason) players invited?
They are clearly at least among the top of the pack and, as Nony said, you have no idea where these players rank overall.
If you feel there's a bunch of players that aren't getting the exposure they deserve, then run a tournament yourself with them in it. Don't just whine for the sake of it. TL are putting in time, effort and money so that we can all watch great games. Why not just sit back and enjoy it?
show me where i'm "whining"
I'm stating an opinion, this obviously isn't a tournament that involves the best players. It's a few of the best players in the US, and a handful of names of people that are popular, generally very very good players with streams.
thats it. I'm not that great of a player, I've been slacking lately but I've beaten a few of the popular guys, and there's players out there that hand me my ass that I can't figure out how to beat, but they don't get recognition because they don't have a stream.
thats all i'm saying. Its a pretty easy guess to figure out how each round will go
Louder Machine QXC Nony Artosis Day[9] <=I can't even believe people are giving day9 a chance, unless he 6pools he's just going to lose. Still love the guy but seriously? Someone who doesn't have the time to cast let alone play sc2 can beat one of the best out there? fanboys.. iNcontrol Slush iNka PainUser Huk Orb <-actually not a one sided affair, I believe Huk has it though CauthonLuck Tasteless Cauthon isn't in his prime yet, but he doesn't make stupid mistakes LzGamer Attero I like LZ more in this match, but the fanboy in me says Attero's got this
Louder QXC Artosis Slush iNka Huk CauthonLuck Attero
Artosis QXC Huk CauthonLuck
ARTOSIS wins -- The worst part about this is almost all the match ups will obviously be stompings. Day9, Tasteless, iNcontrol, PainUser, and Nony all need to develop more. We've all seen the last 3 do pull off something awesome, but more often then not I've seen then just get outplayed by someone who's more solid, that will continue.
See I disagree with you on a TON of those results, so I guess the organizers are doing something right! :D
Nony has played some tremendous games on his stream (3-0 vs Zelniq including some really epic macro play on Steppes of War, not to mention showcasing an entirely new style of PvT and PvP). Nony fighting!
love that tl is hosting a us version. imo the fans like to see familar names, and as this is a tourney for fans to watch they naturally will be more happy/excited cheering for their fav players, so it makes sense the better/more unknown players on the ladder are not chosen until they make more of a name for themselves.
and i agree with ftrunkz, moonglade is alot better then most of the players. and for those questioning nony, you need to get updated. he has been playing more and has some amazing ladder stats. hes easily top 3 protoss on us now, imo the other 2 are kiwikaki and huk.
im predicting cauthon, nony and huk to do well in this tourney. cauthon winning it
Yeah well Day [9] gets to play his old nemesis Artosis. Go team EG! With so many of you in this one I expect a presence in the later stages! I'm hoping there will be more than just one stream available this weekend.
On May 06 2010 08:30 GreggSauce wrote: so we can see the top of the pack actually playing eachother, instead of the top of the pack, and a whole bunch of popular names.
Lol come on man! It's an invitational. Are you telling me that you wouldn't want these ('these' referring to whoever you feel isn't "top of the pack", for whatever reason) players invited?
They are clearly at least among the top of the pack and, as Nony said, you have no idea where these players rank overall.
If you feel there's a bunch of players that aren't getting the exposure they deserve, then run a tournament yourself with them in it. Don't just whine for the sake of it. TL are putting in time, effort and money so that we can all watch great games. Why not just sit back and enjoy it?
show me where i'm "whining"
I'm stating an opinion, this obviously isn't a tournament that involves the best players. It's a few of the best players in the US, and a handful of names of people that are popular, generally very very good players with streams.
thats it. I'm not that great of a player, I've been slacking lately but I've beaten a few of the popular guys, and there's players out there that hand me my ass that I can't figure out how to beat, but they don't get recognition because they don't have a stream.
thats all i'm saying. Its a pretty easy guess to figure out how each round will go
Louder Machine QXC Nony Artosis Day[9] <=I can't even believe people are giving day9 a chance, unless he 6pools he's just going to lose. Still love the guy but seriously? Someone who doesn't have the time to cast let alone play sc2 can beat one of the best out there? fanboys.. iNcontrol Slush iNka PainUser Huk Orb <-actually not a one sided affair, I believe Huk has it though CauthonLuck Tasteless Cauthon isn't in his prime yet, but he doesn't make stupid mistakes LzGamer Attero I like LZ more in this match, but the fanboy in me says Attero's got this
Louder QXC Artosis Slush iNka Huk CauthonLuck Attero
Artosis QXC Huk CauthonLuck
ARTOSIS wins -- The worst part about this is almost all the match ups will obviously be stompings. Day9, Tasteless, iNcontrol, PainUser, and Nony all need to develop more. We've all seen the last 3 do pull off something awesome, but more often then not I've seen then just get outplayed by someone who's more solid, that will continue.
Quoting this for when you're wrong so I can edit it into all your posts.
UPDATE!: djWheat and Chill will be casting this event on wheat's ustream. Day9 will be joining them between games to give insight in the event that he is eliminated.
On May 06 2010 12:20 Kennigit wrote: UPDATE!: djWheat and Chill will be casting this event on wheat's ustream. Day9 will be joining them between games to give insight in the event that he is eliminated.
"NonY: I think it will be fun. I don't feel very competitive about it because I have limited practice time."
That seems fairly lame/bm to say =/ At least without explaining why, ie finals or something.
I'm excited for this tourney though =] Do well, Day9. I didn't know Attero was a well known player (not that I know shit about the scene), I saw him in my league he was like 12-0 and now is 15-1 or something, impressive.
e2-- PainUser? I feel like I recognize that name from War3...as an Undead player. Correct me if I'm wrong pls!
I'm sad TLO isn't playing. I'm biased because we played Supreme Commander in the same Ventrilo for at least 2 years, but I think he's got the most innovative builds of anyone currently playing SCII.
On May 06 2010 14:03 Nohtanhoj wrote: I'm sad TLO isn't playing. I'm biased because we played Supreme Commander in the same Ventrilo for at least 2 years, but I think he's got the most innovative builds of anyone currently playing SCII.
On May 06 2010 14:03 Nohtanhoj wrote: I'm sad TLO isn't playing. I'm biased because we played Supreme Commander in the same Ventrilo for at least 2 years, but I think he's got the most innovative builds of anyone currently playing SCII.
It would be biased to allow him to play in the US version since he already played in EU, but goddamn it would be very entertaining to watch :C
Nony and Cauthon luck will go far, I feel they are the best of these bunch. But many experienced players invited, so they might have some tricks up their sleeves.
This will be amazing! I will be watching the great casts by djwheat and chill! I dont even want to try to predict who will win. I'm looking forward to some epic games. I hope the underdogs go far in this one.
Most of the favorites have already been stated. I'll just add that I think Huk will go far - he's demonstrated amazing micro and macro and mastery of at least two match-ups (PvP and PvZ), and he's proven himself a lot in recent weeks against formidable opponents. Orb's going to have to bring his best if he wants a chance to advance.
GO AIUR AND SWARM. GO NonY! Go Incontrol! Go Day[9]. It wouldbe great to see tasteless and artosis in action too. I really hope you guys release replays for those of us with a bad net connect. Downloading vods takes 2 days and infinite jars of patience.
I'm sad to see that Gretorp isn't invited. He is such an innovative and entertaining player to watch. Though I don't know how he holds up against the other players in this group.
teamliquid community is so cool i never had tournaments like this to look forward to in wc3 times...it was mostly just random replays of koreans and euros
i was waiting 4 this to happen since the beta opend high rank players match up with difren tactics that they developed since the beta was open...i realy want to see what those guys can do awsome and a big thanks to tl for making this turny
On May 06 2010 18:22 Vei wrote: teamliquid community is so cool i never had tournaments like this to look forward to in wc3 times...it was mostly just random replays of koreans and euros
I agree with this I am loving the sc2 scene so far(shoutout to TL.net for awesome community)
were any other #1 platinum invited or is the money supposed to stay "within the family"?
There's at least a hundred platnium leagues because I'm in 96 or something like that.
So what, are we supposed to expect TL to make a 120 man tournament and invite every rank1 plat player, only to have 80% of them not bother to show up on time? It's a fucking invitational, if anyone was out there that was good enough to beat all these players and win 1st, TL would know about him and invite him. Rank 1 Plat doesn't mean anything, almost any plat player can get to rank 1 if he plays enough.
were any other #1 platinum invited or is the money supposed to stay "within the family"?
There's at least a hundred platnium leagues because I'm in 96 or something like that.
So what, are we supposed to expect TL to make a 120 man tournament and invite every rank1 plat player, only to have 80% of them not bother to show up on time? It's a fucking invitational, if anyone was out there that was good enough to beat all these players and win 1st, TL would know about him and invite him. Rank 1 Plat doesn't mean anything, almost any plat player can get to rank 1 if he plays enough.
As today's ITL match between Huk and a random 1800 ELO Zerg showed (for those curious - Huk virtually defeated the Zerg with just three stalkers, even though the Zerg had almost a dozen roaches), there's a huge gap between "top platinum" and "pro." Honestly, being top platinum is not that meaningful. It's nothing more than a screening process against really bad players. To prove that you're a "pro," you really need to have demonstrated good play in at least a few tourneys. Fortunately, there are many such tourneys floating around, and they *do* help people get noticed.
On May 06 2010 13:57 Vei wrote: "NonY: I think it will be fun. I don't feel very competitive about it because I have limited practice time."
That seems fairly lame/bm to say =/ At least without explaining why, ie finals or something.
I'm excited for this tourney though =] Do well, Day9. I didn't know Attero was a well known player (not that I know shit about the scene), I saw him in my league he was like 12-0 and now is 15-1 or something, impressive.
e2-- PainUser? I feel like I recognize that name from War3...as an Undead player. Correct me if I'm wrong pls!
Yeah, it's because of finals. I was hoping that phrasing it as "having limited practicing time" rather than "I haven't been practicing much" would imply that it's something that is out of my control. It could have been something more personal than school which I shouldn't have to announce to everyone =]
Why is Day[9] and Artosis talking on twitter about playing their match earlier? I thought this will be live? -.- Will the other matches also be played earlier?
On May 06 2010 13:57 Vei wrote: "NonY: I think it will be fun. I don't feel very competitive about it because I have limited practice time."
That seems fairly lame/bm to say =/ At least without explaining why, ie finals or something.
I'm excited for this tourney though =] Do well, Day9. I didn't know Attero was a well known player (not that I know shit about the scene), I saw him in my league he was like 12-0 and now is 15-1 or something, impressive.
e2-- PainUser? I feel like I recognize that name from War3...as an Undead player. Correct me if I'm wrong pls!
Yeah, it's because of finals. I was hoping that phrasing it as "having limited practicing time" rather than "I haven't been practicing much" would imply that it's something that is out of my control. It could have been something more personal than school which I shouldn't have to announce to everyone =]
it means youre busy, which is on a totally different level from saying that you dont need to practice. its fine, the guy is either a troll or stupid so dont be too concerned.. although public opinion is often made like that, so maybe one doesnt want to ignore it completely. /:
On May 07 2010 19:49 cyclone25 wrote: Why is Day[9] and Artosis talking on twitter about playing their match earlier? I thought this will be live? -.- Will the other matches also be played earlier?
The korean may play their first matches slightly earlier so they can get up later (3am KST is pretty hellish for them, and would probably impact on game quality). Nevertheless, all other games will be played on the day and live.
On May 07 2010 19:49 cyclone25 wrote: Why is Day[9] and Artosis talking on twitter about playing their match earlier? I thought this will be live? -.- Will the other matches also be played earlier?
The korean may play their first matches slightly earlier so they can get up later (3am KST is pretty hellish for them, and would probably impact on game quality). Nevertheless, all other games will be played on the day and live.
Ok, fair enough. But if they play earlier, what about the stream? In the "Which Ro16 match should be casted?" poll, this match got the most votes. Will you stream it live when is played, or will the replays be streamed at 20:00cet or it won't be streamed at all?
On May 07 2010 19:49 cyclone25 wrote: Why is Day[9] and Artosis talking on twitter about playing their match earlier? I thought this will be live? -.- Will the other matches also be played earlier?
The korean may play their first matches slightly earlier so they can get up later (3am KST is pretty hellish for them, and would probably impact on game quality). Nevertheless, all other games will be played on the day and live.
Ok, fair enough. But if they play earlier, what about the stream? In the "Which Ro16 match should be casted?" poll, this match got the most votes. Will you stream it live when is played, or will the replays be streamed at 20:00cet or it won't be streamed at all?
Replays streamed at 2pm, results concealed. Depending on how quick the series is able to be played out we may get a look in on Nony/qxc as well.
You guys might want to clarify the start time. Your graphic says "7pm CET / 2pm EST". Since New York is currently on "EDT", which is 6 hours behind Europe (not 5), I'm wondering which you meant. Your calendar says 8pm CET / 2pm Eastern, which makes more sense. Anyway, you might just wanna clarify this.
I've never heard anyone complain about that other than Europeans. Over here we don't say "7 EDT" for half of the year and then "EST" for the other half. We just always call the eastern time zone EST. You should be able to figure out the conversion based on the calendar easily.
Inka it would be awesome if we could re-arrange our match as well. 2PM EST is going to be VERY early for me. I'm attending the bay area TL meetup SC2 ALL-NIGHTER LAN tonight from 12-5.... So I'm going to be off absolutely no sleep if we start at 11PM PST. Also does anyone know what the f'in map list is?
It's a US only tourney, just like TLI #1 was Euro only. One can only hope that TLI #3 is US v Euro! Or maybe Asia - if anyone can do it, it would be TL.
This my be a stuipd post, but i've been searching and trying to understand where this is streamed without any luck at all? And isn't this supposed to tart like now? First tiem i'm trying to watch samoething live, sorry for stupid post.
ye, CET = Central European time.. dunno what happend right there.. thought it will be at 7pm CET but just saw the countdown and readed it on the stream
On May 09 2010 02:10 booo wrote: ye, CET = Central European time.. dunno what happend right there.. thought it will be at 7pm CET but just saw the countdown and readed it on the stream
The stream seams to be going, someone jsut announced that it wil start at 8p.m. CET.
Why isn't this stream link the same as Wheats stream link in the suer streams section? Just tryin to understand all the TL logistics
djWheat and Chill will be casting this event on wheat's ustream. Day9 will be joining them between games to give insight in the event that he is eliminated.
sorry Day9. I like your play, but I'd rather see you cast.
rly great games between day9 and artosis...day9 played great and i didnt expect him to be that good...i guess we ll see him win some tournaments when he finds time to practice
also great solid style from artosis...can learn a lot from him as zerg =)
How do we know if this is legit O.o If so, Orb getting eliminated first round again. Why does he keep getting invited to tourneys, he has been falling short.
I feel like more effort should've been made in the RO16 to avoid mirror matches, I never hear anybody talk about how exciting mirror matches are, but rather the opposite. Given that there are 3 zerg and 3 random, it could've been guaranteed that at least 3 of the 4 RO8 matches won't be mirror.
Artosis is such a boring fucking zerg. Just like Idra. They're the players that make people say zerg is uncreative and 1a. Blah blah. Sean played great. Just lost to the obedient Korean style macro.
just wanted to say thanks to the organisers, players, and the commentators. It was a great tournament and well worth upgrading my internet plan to a bigger cap and getting up at 6am on a sunday to watch it.
Yay Cauthonluck second place (go Frostwolf)
I am a bit disappointed that Chill did not cast the last matches as the Day9/DJWheat/Chill make the best three amigos casting team evar.
On May 09 2010 13:05 Evoke wrote: I am a bit disappointed that Chill did not cast the last matches as the Day9/DJWheat/Chill make the best three amigos casting team evar.
Yeah playing merry-go-host was awesome. My wife was really puzzled when I started laughing out loud staring at the chat lobby listening to three nerds making childish jokes