Smaller is Better

by: confusedcrib

HomeStory Cup is my favorite weekend tournament. That's not an uncommon opinion, even with so many great options out there. Europeans tend to rally behind Dreamhack, and Americans around MLG, but HomeStory Cup is a tournament that everyone loves. It's not just the spectators, it's the players too. HomeStory Cup had barely any negativity going into or coming out of it; it was a tournament that almost unanimously generated positive feelings.

Table of Contents

Brought to you by:
Elly the ESPORTS Elephant

Results and Standings on Liquipedia

Smaller is Better

Review Podcast with aTnClouD

Downstairs: HSC at Limmerick's Irish Pub

Memorable Moments

Winners and Losers of HomeStory Cup

From an online viewer's standpoint, HomeStory Cup provided great stream quality, and most importantly, an amazing opportunity to get closer to the players. A lot of people will tell you that the biggest thing they took away from Homestory Cup was their enjoyment of MarineKing and MC's casting. The fact of the matter is that fans can't get enough of their favorite players; whether they are talking about game balance, other players, or their personal lives. I don't care if MC is speaking English or Korean, talking about his girlfriend or saying how Phoenixes are imba imba, I just love seeing as much MC as I can.

If other tournaments provided half as much player focused content as HomeStory did, it would go a long way to filling fans' desires for more of anything pro-gamer related. Moments like Moman trolling through the window, MC's jaw-dropping dancing ability, and Destiny talking poker are things that we could never see at any other tournament. Content like that helps everyone. Us fans fill our stalker-like needs, players get more fans, and the tournaments get those extra fans as viewers.

From what I read in Pholon's blog, and the video I saw streamed from the bar downstairs, the 'live' experience seemed absolutely amazing. The fans got to watch from the comfort of a local bar, enjoying great food and great Starcraft. Better yet, the pro-gamers would come downstairs to mingle and party with the fans as well. For its small audience, it sounds like HomeStory has figured out how to give them the perfect experience by holding a kind of ultimate Barcraft. From the rave reviews Barcrafts around the world are getting, I'm sure other tournaments are aware of the great tournament viewing experience Barcraft provides. Maybe it's time for other tournaments to start trying to incorporate certain aspects seen at HSC. HSC has the advantage of having a truly tiny crowd compared to other major tournaments, but it doesn't mean there isn't room for some innovation. IPL3 already managed to serve beer inside the venue, and I assume that went over very well with the fans. What if we promise to stop harassing pro-gamers on the way to the bathroom, and you give us a more interesting way to interact with them than a 20 minute signing session?

On that note, HomeStory offered what looked like the best environment possible for the players. There seemed to be no logistical worries on the player's side, or swarming fans adding stress at undesired moments. The players got to relax or train as much as they wanted, and could head downstairs to get bombarded by a ton of eager fans if they felt the desire. MLG in particular, could learn a lesson about giving players their space. It ensures both that a fan's experiences with a player are always positive, and that players are always performing at their highest level. (Of course, all that could just be a carefully constructed illusion by the production crew. There might have been all sorts of illicit activities going on behind the scenes to keep everyone smiling. Seriously Moman, you looked really really happy.)

I think that if the almost unanimous love for HomeStory Cup says anything, it is that Starcraft 2 fans love the feel of a small tournament. While larger tournaments like MLG and Dreamhack shouldn't make their tournaments smaller, that doesn't mean that they can't feel smaller. E-sports fans want to feel like they're really a part of something, not just onlookers at a spectacle, separated by an invisible wall. When it comes to Starcraft 2 tournaments, smaller is better; learn from HomeStory Cup, it's the best bang-for-the-buck tournament out there.

Though HomeStory Cup is over, we just couldn't get enough of what the players had to say. Given the opportunity to speak their minds to the masses, the players both entertained and dropped some serious knowledge. Also, compared to the typical political correctness that most organizers and casters are bound to, the raw honest of the players was a refreshing treat.

Download

Though many players were stars at HomeStory Cup, but we decided to bring on Italy's champion and Goody's arch-nemesis in Carlo "ClouD" Giannacco of team Alternate Attax. As you should know from that time he called out organizers about late prize payouts to players, ClouD's not afraid to speak his mind.

We talked to ClouD about a variety of topics, including his experience as a player and caster at HomeStory Cup, the Korea-World divide, the fairness of caster/player pay, and the love/hate relationship with Starcraft II for ex-Brood War pros. Needless to say, it was quite interesting and entertaining.

Recorded on January 11th, 2012

Downstairs

by: Pholon

Take's place with the pub below it

...and on the inside

Driving into the near-derelict streets of Krefeld town wasn't the most appealing of experiences; the buildings are looming and industrial, while the city's center was nearly deserted on the Saturday night we spent there. The "Limericks" pub makes up for it though. The hostess is warm, the waitresses friendly, and strings of holiday lights illuminate faded Irish newspapers & placards lining the walls, giving the place a cozy feeling long into the night. The food is excellent, shamrocks are drawn in the head of every pint of Guinness, and the Irish coffee is superb.

MKP and MC being interviewed by German documentary makers.

The view from below

When we arrived, it was clear that things were progressing so well that we might be physically unable to fit through the door. The place was packed to the rafters, with the atmosphere that only a crowded pub at the height of an event can bring. As we squeezed our way to the bar, it was clear that everyone was friendly and in a good mood, with talk of Starcraft on everyone's lips.

The gamers and casters started trickling down into the street just as the Goody vs Cloud series began (coincidence?) to hang out, sign some posters and take some pictures. As the tournament ran deeper into the night, the bar quieted down, downstairs excursions from the pros became more and more commonplace (as did their inebriation), and as the playday drew to a close TaKe took crew and the SC fans all to a club for some afterpartying.

Sunday morning we met the ever friendly, ever busy Take. He made it obvious that he was having a good time and appreciated the effort from the fans to make it out there. Sunday was remarkably quiet by comparison. The pub's attendance had dwindled down to perhaps two thirds of what it had been the previous day, but the new found room to move and breathe was a welcome change of pace. As is often noted during European tournaments, there was a distinct lack of cheerfuls (which we promptly remedied). I wonder when events are going to start handing out blanks and markers...

The highlight of the live experience was Dimaga's series against JYP. The Ukrainian Zerg entered the series as the last foreign hope who has spent a good part of the last three days with his fans. Rallied by his doppelganger Carmac’s zealous cheers, the crowd moved as one in support of their drinking buddy.

DIMAGAAAAA

The series was nothing short of awesome. With everyone rooted to the floor and all eyes nailed to the screen, the tension in the room was even more suffocating than the throng of fans from the other night. The series held the crowd in awe for what felt like several hours but, after some nerve-wracking moments, Dimaga tapped out 1-3. Carmac loped upstairs to fetch Dima, who received a standing ovation for his efforts. He lost the game, but he won our hearts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-0Kqtwfcjw

With the last foreigner out, people started to leave and things quieted down considerably. With a 3.5 hour drive ahead of us on a Sunday night, we left after the first semifinal. Damn you real life, why can't you accommodate yourself to ESPORTS?

The venue was nothing short of phenomenal, the crowd was amazing, and the games were spectacular. What can I say? I'm looking forward to HSC5 already.

Pictures by the amazing Jeroen "Weiman" Weimar. Much love <3

"Progamers <3 Liquipedia" thanks to Squavelon and BronzeBas

Memorable Moments from HSC4

by: whatthefat

Though the antics from the broadcast couch might have been the easiest thing to notice HomeStory Cup IV, the tournament provided exciting games worthy of the excellent players assembled to compete. Here are three memorable games from the tournament that caught our attention for one reason or another.

Dimaga vs. DarKFoRcE, Round of 16, Game 1, Metalopolis.

One of the games of the tournament would have to be the round of 16 clash between Dimaga and DarKFoRcE. With both players badly needing to win the best of 3 to progress, the first game saw fireworks go off. Both players expanded early, sticking with a ling/bane composition. Off-stream, DarKFoRcE took an early lead, after getting into Dimaga's main and killing 14 workers.

The mobile army of DarKFoRcE allowed him to continue droning up and take an early third, while Dimaga teched to roaches and tried to consolidate his position. When DarKFoRcE destroyed Dimaga's just completed third with zerglings, Dimaga's position seemed hopeless.

Seeing a wall of 6 spine crawlers at DarKFoRcE's natural and no roaches on the field, Dimaga correctly reasoned that DarKFoRcE was teching to mutas. And it was here that Dimaga hatched an inspired plan. Realizing he was too far behind to continue into a macro game, he gave up all hope of taking a third, and instead devoted his efforts to mustering up the scariest possible two-base army. This was not a remarkable decision in itself; what made it remarkable was the composition he decided to employ. First, he used his gas to get infestors rather than hydras. He then sunk his minerals into constant queen production, with any remaining resources going into roaches and upgrades.

It was a bizarre and incredible sight to see Dimaga's army slow march down the map, planting creep tumors as it went. At this point, most viewers had their heads tilted on a slight angle and were struggling to imagine just how this fight was going to play out.

Expecting a standard hydra/roach composition, DarKFoRcE had made banelings. But they had no suitable targets in Dimaga's army, and were completely nullified by fungal growth.

What had looked like a dead-lost position for Dimaga just minutes ago turned into a complete rout of DarKFoRcE's ill-prepared army. With transfuses whooshing away, the queens quickly melted the mutalisk resistance.

With queens now forming an Occupy DarKFoRcE's Main movement, DarKFoRcE had little choice but to gg. It was an unbelievable situation, and the feed went justifiably crazy. Would a base trade have been a better option for DarKFoRcE? Maybe. Should he have changed his composition to roaches once he had such a comfortable lead? Probably. But it didn't change how impressive Dimaga's turnaround was.

Dimaga vs. JYP, Round of 8, Game 1, Dual Sight.

Being one of the only two foreigners left standing in the round of 8, Dimaga looked like he might be the hero of the tournament. Unfortunately, it was not to be. Having looked powerful and inspired on day 3, Dimaga's play against JYP was frankly inscrutable. Time and again, he seemed to build towards killer blows... that were never delivered.

Of all the games in the series, the first was the most bizarre. It was in fact so bizarre, that despite it being only January, I am confident in declaring it one of the most bizarre games of 2012.

First off, Dimaga decided that the incredible death ball with which he defeated DarKFoRcE was so much fun that it was worth repeating in a ZvP. So he built queens. Lots of them.

This had the added benefit of refuting JYP's stargate play, but I'm pretty sure Dimaga had his heart set on mass queens no matter what JYP was doing.

Soon enough, the insane creep spread had reached JYP's base, and Dimaga, now maxed, began his slow and steady march across the map. Unfortunately for Dimaga, queens are unable to crush forcefields (Blizzard patch please), and JYP was able to stand his ground at the third base.

When the dust settled, JYP was left with the stronger army, but Dimaga looked comfortable on 4 bases. Here, Dimaga made the decision in pumping out infestors and corruptors as defense while he teched to brood lords, since JYP was already on double robo, and a rather frightening stalker/colossus ball was beginning to coalesce.

At this point, JYP got a little over eager in his tumor hunting, and a major engagement occurred.

Both sides took heavy losses, but JYP's remaining forces were enough to destroy Dimaga's fourth while he waited for the brood lords to hatch.

The tables had now turned, with JYP taking the economic advantage of four bases to three, and Dimaga holding the scarier army. A poorly judged blink resulted in JYP's army evaporating, and suddenly Dimaga led in supply 170-100.

JYP managed to buy some vital seconds with DT harassment, but it was quickly dealt with, and Dimaga, now maxed was ready to pull the trigger and crush JYP. But he didn't. He just sat there.

This passivity in response to light harassment was to become a theme throughout the series, and spelled Dimaga's ultimate downfall. In this instance, it allowed JYP to take the one chance he had left...

A Mothership.

After a phase of heavy maneuvering, JYP forced an encounter, and successfully archon toileted most of the brood lords.

For his part, Dimaga managed to destroy the colossi and void rays, leaving JYP with a purely stalker force. With Dimaga pumping out 13 infestors, neither side was able to engage in the short term.

At this point, the game entered what I shall call the rope-a-dope phase. Dimaga - once vortexed, twice shy - decided to turtle. And I mean really turtle. Sitting in the bottom corner at his last mining base, he built a quadrillion spine crawlers, massed a ludicrous number of infestors and brood lords, and then he just sat there. For 20 minutes.

JYP poked from time to time, looking for a good angle to engage, but Dimaga just continued lying against the ropes. With the map almost completely mined out, the game became equal parts fascinating and boring. As the commentators aptly stated: "I'm not sure how Dima's gonna win this game. I'm not sure how he's gonna lose either."

Eventually, JYP slipped up, allowing his void rays to become separated from the rest of his army, and Dimaga pounced.

JYP was forced to engage in an unfavorable position, and Dimaga, through brilliance or dumb luck, was able to deliver the long awaited knock out blow.

MC vs. JYP, Semi Final, Games 5 and 6, Metalopolis.

The Protoss President and EG's latest acquisition took the second Semi Final down to the absolute wire. With the best of 5 tied up at 2-2, everything came down to this game on Metalopolis.

Spawning close by air, JYP opted for a 1 gate robo, going up to 3 gates, while MC opened with his trusty 4 gate. By forcefielding the ramp and picking off the zealot that would be used for vision, JYP was able to hold MC's assault until his immortal arrived, and MC was forced to waddle his stalkers home and start his own robo.

Seemingly far ahead, JYP made the interesting decision to go for robo bay and colossus, while MC threw down a twilight council for blink. Crucially, MC also made a warp prism to open counterattacking options.

With a colossus out, JYP threw caution to the wind, and charged towards MC's base, even bringing most of his probes.

MC recognized that he had zero chance in a straight up fight, and so immediately blinked outside his base to begin a base trade. He also had the presence of mind to pick up 8 probes in the warp prism; but not the presence of mind to make them return their resources to the Nexus first, leaving him stuck at 390 minerals.

With both players' bases in pieces, and neither with enough minerals to build a new Nexus, we had a crazy game in front of us. MC had the more mobile army, and slightly higher resource count, whereas JYP had the stronger army in a straight up fight.

At this point, MC offered a draw, to which JYP responded "wait". As both players started to look for a solution, JYP managed to catch MC's warp prism drop, while MC caught JYP's colossus out of position.

JYP managed to build a new assimilator just as his last building was destroyed, and the two players continued in their valiant attempt to give iNcontroL a heart attack.

Finally, with JYP left needing to defend his final assimilator, both players agreed to a draw.

The rematch on Metalopolis had the players spawning in cross positions. Both players opted for a 2 gate robo into twilight council. MC went for almost pure stalkers and delayed his blink while he went up to 4 gateways, whereas JYP built a single immortal and got slightly earlier blink while staying on 3 gateways.

Now in one of those goddawful PvP positions where daring to go beyond one base seems like suicide, MC boldly planted a Nexus.

On spotting this heresy, JYP instantly started towards MC's base. With a necessarily smaller army, MC would need to use every ounce of his considerable talent to survive.

JYP blinked his stalkers into the main, but on seeing MC's immortal decided to blink his way back out.

Here began a complex micro battle. MC managed to trap JYP's immortal with some extremely cute forcefields, while JYP forcefielded the ramp to prevent MC's army from defending his newly completed Nexus.

MC was having none of it, and blinked his stalkers onto the low ground to flank JYP's army. With JYP's stalkers wasting valuable shots on the Nexus, MC crushed through to take the series 3-2.

Showing his class, MC had achieved a spot in the Final. And he sure as hell didn't waste it.

Winners and Losers of HomeStory Cup

by: WaxAngel

In the spirit of HomeStory Cup, this winner and loser ranking will take into account both in-game and out of game performances. Also in the spirit of HomeStory Cup, it will be unprofessionally irreverent in certain parts.

Big Time Winners:

Grubby: At HSC4, Grubby got to show over fifty thousand Starcraft II fans that he's a top tier commentator. Not only was the Warcraft III legend a natural on the mic, but he demonstrated a deep understanding of the game that we rarely ever get from the current bunch of 'top tier' casters. If he wanted to switch to being a caster (a career decision EG.HuK might endorse if he were Grubby's manager), I'm sure this kind of impressive performance would convert to a future value of more than the $7,500 first place prize at HSC4. I kind of wish he would, too, so the current batch of casters would be forced to up their performances.

On the other side of things, Grubby had some good in-game performances as well. Though he's already had bigger success in smaller tournaments (notably, the one he organized himself), this was his first good showing in a major tournament with a massive viewership.

With HSC4, Grubby further increased his status with the hardcore fans familiar with him from the War3 scene, and won over a ton of new fans to whom Starcraft II is their first ESPORT. The winner among winners.

Cloud: Cloud also killed it on the mic, just not on Grubby's "I'm applying for your f***ing job, Artosis" level. With a perfect mixture of casual storytelling, in-game analysis, and friendly ribbing, Cloud was probably the caster most in tune with the overall atmosphere at HomeStory Cup. In a tournament where any foreigner was lucky to improve his reputation a pure Starcraft player, his RO16 finish and impressive showing against MC did him a lot of good as well.

MoMan: Europe's iNcontrol? I'll leave it to other people to fight over who that's more insulting to and move on.

Delphi: After MC, the only other champion at HSC IV with a first place finish at the $1,000 Poker tournament. Also, he beat MKP. Not bad, not bad.

The Cabinet: MKP's tournament performance was disappointing, and MC's first place was essentially expected by a lot of viewers.

It didn't matter. Two of the most popular Korean players somehow gained even MORE popularity by virtue of their uproariously off the cuff casting performance. Alongside them, the behind the scenes man for SK gaming and Own3d, SK.Reis also got his chance to come out of the shadows as part of this hilarious casting trio (Bi-lingual listeners will have enjoyed his occasional interjections in Korean).

A litany of Terran imbalance complaints, mispronounced Starcraft II terminology, and some licentious dancing moves were some of the highlights of their performance. For sheer entertainment value, it would be worth going back and watching some of the games casted by this trio.

Twitch.TV: For a measly sum of $5,000, Twitch.TV bought yet more good-will from the community. On a less cynical note, they're also a gigantic winner for rescuing us from ESL.TV's terrible, terrible VOD page.

Take and the HSC crew: Like, duh.

Sort of Winners

Anyone who casted: As long as you get to cast a game, there's really no way to lose in HomeStoryCup. Winning tournaments is great, but just getting your personality out there is a good way to increase your marketability as a player. Though not everyone made the most of it, casting at HSC was still an awesome way for a lot of lesser known pros to get some kind of exposure.

When you think about how pros who decide to turn on their mics start to get stream viewers disproportionate to the number of trophies they've won, I wonder why the mic and webcam aren't default on pro-gamer streams. Progamers casting at HSC were all fairly good on the mic, and they were all capable of dropping some serious knowledge. Continuing with vanilla, featureless streams seems like a wasted opportunity for a lot of the guys. In Reddit speak: ~~Shut~~Speak up and take our money.

CARMAGA: Stupid memes are a great way to increase your profile in the SC II community, but I'll be surprised if this one has the lasting popularity of timeless classics such as "Grack" and "Top 3 Control."

Germany: Socke and HasuObs were solid as casters. Goody defeated his arch-nemesis Cloud 2-0. Darkforce came in 2nd place at the poker table. HOWEVER, the nation had to suffer the shame of having a Barcraft broadcast from an Irish pub. Overall, the pros outweigh the cons, though, and we'll give Germany a minor win.

JYP, Real, Sound and Violet: Unless you win GSL championships, it's really hard to stand out as a Korean – whether you're training in Korea or have traveled abroad to pursue better opportunities. It doesn't matter if you fly to a foreign tournament, play really well, and beat a lot of good players, because that's what Koreans are supposed to do in the eyes of foreigners. Just look at SlayerS_Ganzi, FXOLucky, or oGsTheStC. For their good play and high finishes, I don't think Real, Sound, or Violet will have left long lasting impressions in the minds of fans (at least JYP can go play in Code S). Still, it's better than nothing. They will command our respect for at least the short term future, and it might be a base to build upon with future tournament success.

Treading Water

iNcontrol & Destiny: The Incontrol and Destiny experience went pretty much as expected. They told funny stories, half the viewers failed to understand their sarcastic humor, and they didn't get out of their groups. A solid performance from two of NA's biggest entertainers, but nothing ground-breaking.

North America: HSC4 affirmed the following SC Hierarchy: Koreans > Koreans living outside Korea > Everyone Else > … > … > … > North America. Nonetheless, NA is not a loser, because really, who didn't know that already?

Losers

HerO: I didn't expect the introverted HerO to find a seat on the casting couch, but I didn't expect him to put in such disappointing Starcraft II performances either. Impressing neither with his personality nor his in-game content, he was the only clear loser at HomeStoryCup. After his stock hit peak value after winning DHW 2011, he's landed back at being a very talented but very inconsistent player.

Blizzard: LAN MODE.

Writers: confusedcrib, Pholon, Waxangel and whatthefat.
Graphics: alteredclone and shiroiusagi.
Photos: Jeroen "Weiman" Weimar.
Editors: SirJolt and Waxangel.
Podcast audio technician: R1CH.

Special thanks: Hot_Bid and Smix.