Liquibition #24 - Nostalgia

December 6th, 2008 23:07 GMT

The ancient art of Liquibition is a long held TeamLiquid tradition which has been enjoyed by generations of gamers over the years. Indeed, this event is TeamLiquid's oldest feature and was started only 3 months after the site was formed. Across his 23 episode life span some of the best players in the world have competed, and fallen, inside the Liquibition arena. Such names include Elky, Blackman, Legionnaire, Joyo, Gundam, Ogogo... the list goes on.

However, in recent times Liquibition has taken a back seat to other, newer, features like our infamous TeamLiquid: Attack! and the mighty TeamLiquid Starleague. After a successful season of TL:A and the TSL in between seasons; the opportunity arose to revive this TeamLiquid tradition. It gives me great pleasure to announce that the 24th Liquibition will be held just over 6 years after the very first episode on December 14th 2008 at 4pm EST (that's 10pm CET, 6am KST on the 15th).

Many of you will not know what Liquibition is, but don't worry! All shall be revealed. The first place you need to visit is this history lesson on Liquibition by Manifesto7. Written as a precursor to the 21st Liquibition, it now stands as an invaluable document detailing the progress and development of Liquibition through the ages. Modern Liquibition is very similar to the older Liquibitions. It is, in essence, a Best of 7 showmatch between two players - one being the previous winner of Liquibition and the other being the challenger for the Liquibition throne. However occasionally the winner of the previous Liquibition cannot defend his title because he is in prison or moving to Korea (e.g. Liquibition #7) so those players get replaced by another challenger. A complete list of Liquibitions, and results, is as follows:

+ Show Spoiler +

#1 Elky 3-1 Crystal, December 13 2002
#2 Elky 6-3 Blackman, December 25 2002
#3 Elky 4-0 Beast, February 5th 2003
#4 Elky 7-0 Rekrul, February 11th, 2003
#5 Smuft 6-2 Elky, March 18th, 2003
#6 Froz 6-5 Veg, May 10th, 2003
#7 Ret 4-0 Froz, May 27th, 2003
#8 Ret 4-3 Legionnaire, June 4th, 2003
#9 Infinity[pG] 4-2 Ret, June 7th, 2003
#10 Infinity[pG] 4-3 Daaman[pG], July 6th, 2003
#11 Infinity[pG] 4-3 Suker[pG], July 31st, 2003
#12 Tomson 4-1 Infinity[pG], September 10th, 2003
#13 Joyo 4-2 Tomson, September 14th, 2003
#14 Joyo 4-0 Cope, November 6th, 2003
#15 Elky 4-1 Joyo, January 7th, 2004
#16 Legionnaire 4-3 Elky, February 4th, 2004
#17 Legionnaire 4-2 Ret, April 5th 2004
#18 Ogogo 3-0 Legionnaire, June 6th, 2004
#19 Gundam 4-3 Strafe, October 17th, 2004
#20 Gundam 4-1 Breakdown, January 22nd, 2005
#21 BlackJack 4-2 FrozenArbiter, April 16th, 2006
#22 IdrA 4-0 iNontroL August 27, 2007
#23 IefNaij 4-0 ret March 2, 2008

As with each new 'season' of Liquibition, a new twist has been added on to the traditional format. The map pool for the tournament will consist of 3 maps chosen by each player, with the reigning Liquibition champion having his maps played on games 1, 3 and 5 and the Challenger's maps being played on games 2, 4 and 6. The final map for the series will be decided 48 hours before the event and will be decided by myself - with help from TeamLiquid. You will see a list of 5 maps, ranging from old school classics, to the very latest progaming maps. Whichever map receives the most votes will be the final deciding map.

By now the format and history of this beloved feature should be ingrained into your brains, so let's take a look at the players for Liquibition #24...

During the TSL many stories were told, many legends were born, and some were lost in a sea of amazing players. One of the great legends of TSL is the legend of Brat_OK. Prior to the TSL, Brat_OK was virtually an unknown player in the scene. But during the tournament be blasted out and defeated some very impressive players along the way. He 2-1'd NonY in the TSL qualifiers to qualify first out of his group and then went on to defeat the BBQ Toss, Dreiven, in the quarterfinals. Brat_OK's dream TSL run was cut brutally short by the eventual winner IefNaij in a close series 2-3.

The time for revenge has come - IefNaij, the current Liquibition champion, has been challenged by Brat_OK and will be the first episode of the revival season of Liquibition. The maps and poll for this event will be out within 24 hours.

As usual, Liquibition will be streamed on the day so you can watch this epic matchup unfold. There is also a prize for this event. Will Brat_OK get his revenge on IefNaij? Will IefNaij hold onto his Liquibition crown? All will be revealed on Sunday, December 14th 2008 at 4pm EST (that's 10pm CET, 6am KST on the 15th). - so get ready for another awesome weekend of foreign Brood War.

UPDATE:
IefNaij has chosen the following maps: Andromeda, Troy and Othello
Brat_OK has chosen the following maps: Othello, Destination and Lost Temple
Thus, the series will play out as follows..