Sound the alarm! The sixteenth TL Open gave us further evidence that MLG syndrome is spreading amongst Korean pro-gamers.
Though many big names such as Catz and Moonan competed in the tournament, it was a last minute sign up -- the relatively unknown Korean protoss player MVP_HwangSin who took the first place prize of $100. Not bad for a night's work, though he must have been feeling quite tired by the end (the games ended around 7AM Korean time).
HwangSin tore through his bracket with blazing speed, winning most of his games with perfectly calibrated timing attacks. This trend continued through the finals, where he decisively defeated the recently impressive sixjaxMajor with three such timing attacks. Though the victories looked almost casual, there may have been more to the games than what we saw on the surface as HwangSin complimented Major's skill afterwards.
With TLOpens now open to players from any region, the international community will have to be prepared for a wave of Koreans seeking to win fame and fortune outside their homeland.
Semis and Finals VODs casted by Chill and LiquidTLO
Prizes
1st: $100
2nd: $50
3rd-4th: $25
Players who perform well in TL Opens #16 - #28 will receive invitations to a future $1000 tournament.
About Our Sponsor
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On June 12 2011 04:34 MechKing wrote: Btw, the brackets are somewhat difficult to use xD
What is difficult about them? Lack of lines, or something else?
When you're scrolling down, it's hard to figure out which players were playing and which round they were in. It's not terrible though, I got used to it
On June 12 2011 04:34 MechKing wrote: Btw, the brackets are somewhat difficult to use xD
What is difficult about them? Lack of lines, or something else?
one thing that would be great to implement is if you condense it to show down to, say, the ro16, have something to show the previous round rather than having to click to show all rounds then click again for the ro32
On June 12 2011 04:54 Djagulingu wrote: LuckyFool vs Darkcell games are pretty funny actually
how to fail at tvz 101 rofl. my worst matchup by far right now. I hope darckell plays well vs gositerran...He's going to have to if he will stand a chance.
On June 12 2011 04:34 MechKing wrote: Btw, the brackets are somewhat difficult to use xD
What is difficult about them? Lack of lines, or something else?
When you're scrolling down, it's hard to figure out which players were playing and which round they were in. It's not terrible though, I got used to it
Btw Major just beat Sterling to advance.
Would be cool if the round numbers there the whole time, kinda like how you can save the first row as a row of labels in excel so that when you're scrolling down through the sheet you always know the what each column is.
On June 12 2011 06:32 Benjef wrote: When did Inka get dropped from EG? He was in EG at the MLG? Can't find any news on it, just hes not on the EG Roster on their website anymore.
Iirc he joined LG just before they stopped existing.
I don't like to complain and defend the Koreans but... he moved that Zealot and seen 3 dropships, he must have had brainlag cause its so early in ze morning
Korean 'sin' often is pronounced 'shin' (e.g. Hwasin = Hwashin), and Chill once mentioned learning Korean some time (year?) ago, he might be right for all I know :p
Not seen many Immortal timings lately, that was pretty cool to see! I'm not sold on the FF's though, Zealots getting wedged away from the tanks looked scary for him momentarily.
I think iNkA seriously wants to be on a team. Really perfect play there, from the early probe harass, to not losing his scouting probe midmap, to saving the observer, to making the decision to attack with the warp prism.
Attention to detail and the mechanics to make it happen, at least in that first game.
Juan tried to tech up to quickly. He should've just built units that whole time, but he spent money on raven and banshees and kept switching buildings to different add ons lol.
On June 12 2011 07:28 tree.hugger wrote: I think iNkA seriously wants to be on a team. Really perfect play there, from the early probe harass, to not losing his scouting probe midmap, to saving the observer, to making the decision to attack with the warp prism.
Attention to detail and the mechanics to make it happen, at least in that first game.
Agreed. Inka is showing a lot of investment into refining his timings and builds. You can tell he's really striving for improvement instead of just playing some games and seeing where it goes. He's a really smart player with a lot of talent. I hope to see him picked up by a good team =)
On June 12 2011 07:47 Azuroz wrote: getting black borders on the stream, using a 16 1920x1080 monitor, didnt have this issue with the tsl streams though.
On June 12 2011 07:47 Azuroz wrote: getting black borders on the stream, using a 16 1920x1080 monitor, didnt have this issue with the tsl streams though.
Bad map to 1 rax expand against 3 gate if the toss knows what he's doing. You need a lot of bunkers to cover that natural. Better to play safer and stay up there longer.
On June 12 2011 08:13 NexUmbra wrote: Top level Koreans > Top level foreigners Lower level Koreans > Lower level foreigners
This is unfortunately what SC2 is starting to look like
The foreigners have a lot to lose right now. Unlike in BW, there are a ton of SC2 events all over the world, and I have a feeling that recent events such as MLG are going to make foreign pros realize they need to stop being lazy and practice.
i was watching thinking... man terran looks like so much fun with tanks then the protoss army rolled through it at the end and I got all giddy inside as a protoss player :D
On June 12 2011 08:27 PDizzle wrote: awh didn't hear what tlo said about catz it sounded funny tho!
That day[9] can get to the root of what happened at MLG, wasnt that great tbh ^^ Also major just wants to have a fast expo, i expect the same tank push, he used to do it all the time.
On June 12 2011 08:13 NexUmbra wrote: Top level Koreans > Top level foreigners Lower level Koreans > Lower level foreigners
This is unfortunately what SC2 is starting to look like
Koreans: More practice, better teams, this shouldn't surprise anyone at this point
And its not like code b is terrible since its really hard to get into code A. I mean leenockfOu is in code B and made it to the RO16 in the GSL super tournament so lets not assume non-code A players are bad. Line (the K Zerg) was also not Code A and made it pretty far in the super tournament
Can anyone tell me what is meant with "Players who perform well..." Is there a more detailed definition? Just curios, because whatever it means the Invitational will be awesome^^
I remember Major losing in this exact same situation before, maybe MLG. His ghost build just dies to a colossi build because starport tech is too late.
On June 12 2011 08:37 hewley wrote: T.T late ghost timing and mass supply block at 110 for major, i think he had that game, but well played by hwangsin
Dunno, hwangsin played that pretty perfectly. Only thing he could've done better was moving up the ramp, where major got a lot more out of his units than he would've/should've. If it had been closer, he'd probably just have waited outside the natural and macroed.
On June 12 2011 08:37 Awesomeness wrote: 574 players and the only korean wins.
Is it true this korean is code B as well? Ughh.
To be fair, it has been said for a long time, that the Code B competition is probably the toughest, so being Code B, doesn't necesserily mean you're a bad player.
I hope more koreans play in the next na tl open (even though it's an ungodly hour for them) that way anyone who beats them on stream is going to be a hero.
On June 12 2011 08:37 Awesomeness wrote: 574 players and the only korean wins.
Is it true this korean is code B as well? Ughh.
To be fair, it has been said for a long time, that the Code B competition is probably the toughest, so being Code B, doesn't necesserily mean you're a bad player.
But we mean good foreigners like Gositerran getting dismantled by an unknown Korean is a bit disheartening to see
lol, koreans discovered the foreign scene. Korean superstars takes the big lans, unknown korean takes the weekly cups. Koreans are taking everything! Hide your women!
On June 12 2011 08:37 Awesomeness wrote: 574 players and the only korean wins.
Is it true this korean is code B as well? Ughh.
To be fair, it has been said for a long time, that the Code B competition is probably the toughest, so being Code B, doesn't necesserily mean you're a bad player.
But we mean good foreigners like Gositerran getting dismantled by an unknown Korean is a bit disheartning to see
just being on a team in korea means you're really good by foreigner standards. its not like they just pick random kids off the ladder or streets.
remember in broodwar, idra was a b-teamer. the same idra who was considered one of the best foreigners at the time. its not quite the same skill gap in sc2 as it was in bw yet, but they're still quite adequate.
edit
On June 12 2011 08:43 godemperor wrote: lol, koreans discovered the foreign scene. Korean superstars takes the big lans, unknown korean takes the weekly cups. Koreans are taking everything! Hide your women!
lol, didn't you see the "how to pick up girls with starcraft lingo" thing? white girls v asian guys are imba ):
On June 12 2011 08:37 Awesomeness wrote: 574 players and the only korean wins.
Is it true this korean is code B as well? Ughh.
To be fair, it has been said for a long time, that the Code B competition is probably the toughest, so being Code B, doesn't necesserily mean you're a bad player.
It has been, but people do kind of overlook quite how deep the top levels of the Korean scene appear to be with all the talk of how western player x would do great in Code A/S etc.
Damn, Hwangsin did all that playing KR -> NA and from like 2am to 8am lol, that's pretty badass.
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Need more props for Major btw even if he did lose the finals in one sided fashion, backing up his fantastic run at MLG and definitely making a case lately for being one of the very best Terrans in NA
My confidence in the NA/EU scene is getting lower and lower every time :<. Off course this guy is very good but if he just rolls over some of the better NA players like it's nothing, something is wrong.
On June 12 2011 08:43 Jakkerr wrote: My confidence in the NA/EU scene is getting lower and lower every time :<. Off course this guy is very good but if he just rolls over some of the better NA players like it's nothing, something is wrong.
luckily I still don't think the scene is so far behind that it's impossible to catch up, some progammers are already starting houses, hopefully more follow suit or do something that will at least catch up and hopefull surpass in the future
I don't think they will participate in the EU ones.
Not to knock Hwangsin's accomplishment, but the participation wasn't exactly top notch except for like top 8. There are several big invitationals this weekend so it's understandable that many players who think they have a shot at winning something bigger chose to skip this
On June 12 2011 08:57 Zaphid wrote: I don't think they will participate in the EU ones.
Not to knock Hwangsin's accomplishment, but the participation wasn't exactly top notch except for like top 8. There are several big invitationals this weekend so it's understandable that many players who think they have a shot at winning something bigger chose to skip this
Well, an unknown korean made high/mid tier foreigners (cruncher, major and moonon) looks silly. Sigh...Hope the non-koreans do better next time.
lol, just so you guys know i only typed "rofl" because he paused the game and left after saying "gg". juan is a good friend of mine and i wouldn't BM him in tourney semi-finals . good games all!
On June 12 2011 08:43 Jakkerr wrote: My confidence in the NA/EU scene is getting lower and lower every time :<. Off course this guy is very good but if he just rolls over some of the better NA players like it's nothing, something is wrong.
luckily I still don't think the scene is so far behind that it's impossible to catch up, some progammers are already starting houses, hopefully more follow suit or do something that will at least catch up and hopefull surpass in the future
Yeah but the practice houses that are coming up here has nothing on teamhouses in Korea. They have double the players in the house with Code A and Code S players, they have a coach, they have a cleaner who clean and cooks for them and they have the korean ladder. They also have something that really pushes them to practice more and be better - GSL S-class. Have in mind that they play 10+ hours a day with all this included. We got nothing on them soon.
I hope Koreans take all foreigner prize money so they have no choice but to move to Korea or give up being a 'pro' gamer. I think it's funny how foreigners' desire to unite the communities has backfired because they never wanted anything more than casual success or pseudo-professional lifestyle.
He changes names so much it's hard to keep up... Just wanted to let the OP have a heads up, hopefully I can make the next TL Open (missed checking in by a minute apparently...)!
I'm not too surprised about the US - Korea skill difference. But I'm really wondering can europeans show at least decent results on an international LAN. I don't want to be a dick but the skill difference between EU and NA is probably bigger than that of Korea - EU.
He changes names so much it's hard to keep up... Just wanted to let the OP have a heads up, hopefully I can make the next TL Open (missed checking in by a minute apparently...)!