When: Saturday, September 10th (and maybe Sunday if it goes long) at 11 AM PDT - Check-in at 10:30 AM PDT Cost: $20 You must also be 18 years or older to participate. Prize: Free flight, free hotel, free food and minimum $1000 prize payout from being guaranteed a slot in our Championship Bracket.
Now the waiting game begins again to see who will sign up for a very good chance at winning a free trip to Atlantic City and earning a minimum of $1,000 in prize money for entering the championship bracket. How many foreigners will sign up this time? Qualifier #2 was about 40% Korean!
Lowest turnout yet :/ Only 15 signed up with one day to go. I guess the Koreans really scared off everyone in the first two qualifiers. Kinda sad nobody even wants to try to compete against them...
It's also Thanksgiving in Korea so a lot of players are on vacation. That being said a bunch of players will probably sign up the day before. That's what always happens.
How come more europeans don't sign up? Very few euros turned up for the 1st and 2nd one. Every interview of a euro pro say they're not afraid of koreans, yet hardly any sign up. Don't get it.
On September 09 2011 12:13 Canucklehead wrote: How come more europeans don't sign up? Very few euros turned up for the 1st and 2nd one. Every interview of a euro pro say they're not afraid of koreans, yet hardly any sign up. Don't get it.
I know this tournament is perfect for them since IGN is providing full travel costs. Kind of disheartening to say the least.
On September 09 2011 11:28 Devolved wrote: Lowest turnout yet :/ Only 15 signed up with one day to go. I guess the Koreans really scared off everyone in the first two qualifiers. Kinda sad nobody even wants to try to compete against them...
I honestly would have signed up last week if I wasn't invited in the FXO International KOTH. I don't see why people should be scared of koreans. I think 20$ is not worth it if there's only europeans/americans because there's not much to prove but playing a qualifier stacked with koreans is exciting and well worth the 20$
It's a shame that there are only 4 qualifier spots left. I wonder if Slayers/TSL will invade the open bracket...assuming all of Slayers doesn't just sweep the remaining spots. =P
On September 09 2011 12:13 Canucklehead wrote: How come more europeans don't sign up? Very few euros turned up for the 1st and 2nd one. Every interview of a euro pro say they're not afraid of koreans, yet hardly any sign up. Don't get it.
It's because Europe has tons of small tournaments that offer a couple thousand dollar prize money. It's alot smaller than IPL's but they have a better chance to win, there's more of them, and travel is easy. The euros have it good right now.
On September 09 2011 12:13 Canucklehead wrote: How come more europeans don't sign up? Very few euros turned up for the 1st and 2nd one. Every interview of a euro pro say they're not afraid of koreans, yet hardly any sign up. Don't get it.
It's because Europe has tons of small tournaments that offer a couple thousand dollar prize money. It's alot smaller than IPL's but they have a better chance to win, there's more of them, and travel is easy. The euros have it good right now.
In order to get to the Korean level they need to play Korean's though.
$20 seems like a pretty low investment for the potential price and the chance to learn and play against the cream of the crop.
I'm surprised Stephano hasn't signed up considering how well he did last week (knocked out MKP and anypro and only lost to Alive 2-1 in the finals T_T) and now when he's full time he should play everything he can no?
gogo Abdelscott -_- europeans are super lazy, its disheartening but not shocking to me im afraid some of them will never take it as serious at they could
On September 10 2011 00:50 Choboo wrote: I'm surprised Stephano hasn't signed up considering how well he did last week (knocked out MKP and anypro and only lost to Alive 2-1 in the finals T_T) and now when he's full time he should play everything he can no?
Yeah, Stephano and Nerchio need to sign up for this. They both have a chance to qualify.
yay it worked on my home pc, something with that laptop I was on earlier didn't like the playhem site. all good now, ready to die horriblywin this shit!
On September 09 2011 12:44 coL.Minigun wrote: I'll be trying again
trying key word there :s
Respect for signing up and good luck. Work hard in the right situation and anyone can be the best. The koreans just have the perfect training situations right now.
man, I was thinking of signing up for this one due to the low number of entrants... but that list is just too damn intimidating. I have a lot of pride (ehem) in my ability to play... but not at that level. I am rooting for minigun with my heart and soul though. You are an inspiration to us all good sir!
More Koreans signed up than North Americans. How about that.
For all of you people that complain about Koreans dominating: this is why. Their level of dedication is of miles ahead of everyone else. There are no excuses for the Americans feeling outmatched; do TSL_Heart and MVPTails look at the list of players and say "fuck it there is no way I'm going to win?" No, clearly not. Step up your game if you want to complain, it's that simple.
On September 10 2011 14:50 puzzl wrote: More Koreans signed up than North Americans. How about that.
For all of you people that complain about Koreans dominating: this is why. Their level of dedication is of miles ahead of everyone else. There are no excuses for the Americans feeling outmatched; do TSL_Heart and MVPTails look at the list of players and say "fuck it there is no way I'm going to win?" No, clearly not. Step up your game if you want to complain, it's that simple.
I would never complain about the Korean domination. It is clear that they play at a higher level and spend more time practicing. So they deserve their rank.
However, I do find that for me, I don't enjoy watching a majority of the playoffs games being Koren TvT. I prefer watching other matchups and creative gameplay.
The SC2 scene is so fucked up... actually, it seems as if foreign players have no incentive to really try to become competitive. Tournament organizers know they need a mix of Koreans and foreigners to make for a good tournament. Without Koreans, most people is going to think it is a second class tournament. But without foreigners, you are just doing a second GSL. Some months ago, they had to hand-pick some koreans, and most foreigners entered tournaments through qualifiers. Now, with koreans participating in all this online tournaments (who could blame them, there's zero money for SC2 inn Korea, besides Blizzard dollars in GSL), all the qualifying places are going to them. Now, it is the turn of foreigners to be invited....
In this new scenario, for a foreigner, it is better to be popular rather than good, as most tournaments organizers, understandably, will invite popular players over gamers with better skills but a smaller fanbase. TB inviting Tyler or Destiny; or Idra getting an auto-invite to all places when he's playing like shit are an example. No wonder why they don't take the risk to play in this kind of korean filled qualifiers. it is better for them to stream some shitty ladder games instead of practicing.
On the other hand, huge respect for the foreign players that are playing all or most of these qualifiers: Merz, Major, TT1, Stephano or Adelscott. I have seen their names several times, and they deserve all our respect as they are just trying to play good games against some strong players.
I forgot to say that i love the IGN tournament and that i have seen all the reruns (living in Europe!) of the qualifiers. Thanks!
On September 11 2011 01:30 legaton wrote: The SC2 scene is so fucked up... actually, it seems as if foreign players have no incentive to really try to become competitive. Tournament organizers know they need a mix of Koreans and foreigners to make for a good tournament. Without Koreans, most people is going to think it is a second class tournament. But without foreigners, you are just doing a second GSL. Some months ago, they had to hand-pick some koreans, and most foreigners entered tournaments through qualifiers. Now, with koreans participating in all this online tournaments (who could blame them, there's zero money for SC2 inn Korea, besides Blizzard dollars in GSL), all the qualifying places are going to them. Now, it is the turn of foreigners to be invited....
In this new scenario, for a foreigner, it is better to be popular rather than good, as most tournaments organizers, understandably, will invite popular players over gamers with better skills but a smaller fanbase. TB inviting Tyler or Destiny; or Idra getting an auto-invite to all places when he's playing like shit are an example. No wonder why they don't take the risk to play in this kind of korean filled qualifiers. it is better for them to stream some shitty ladder games instead of practicing.
On the other hand, huge respect for the foreign players that are playing all or most of these qualifiers: Merz, Major, TT1, Stephano or Adelscott. I have seen their names several times, and they deserve all our respect as they are just trying to play good games against some strong players.
I forgot to say that i love the IGN tournament and that i have seen all the reruns (living in Europe!) of the qualifiers. Thanks!
On September 11 2011 01:30 legaton wrote: The SC2 scene is so fucked up... actually, it seems as if foreign players have no incentive to really try to become competitive. Tournament organizers know they need a mix of Koreans and foreigners to make for a good tournament. Without Koreans, most people is going to think it is a second class tournament. But without foreigners, you are just doing a second GSL. Some months ago, they had to hand-pick some koreans, and most foreigners entered tournaments through qualifiers. Now, with koreans participating in all this online tournaments (who could blame them, there's zero money for SC2 inn Korea, besides Blizzard dollars in GSL), all the qualifying places are going to them. Now, it is the turn of foreigners to be invited....
In this new scenario, for a foreigner, it is better to be popular rather than good, as most tournaments organizers, understandably, will invite popular players over gamers with better skills but a smaller fanbase. TB inviting Tyler or Destiny; or Idra getting an auto-invite to all places when he's playing like shit are an example. No wonder why they don't take the risk to play in this kind of korean filled qualifiers. it is better for them to stream some shitty ladder games instead of practicing.
On the other hand, huge respect for the foreign players that are playing all or most of these qualifiers: Merz, Major, TT1, Stephano or Adelscott. I have seen their names several times, and they deserve all our respect as they are just trying to play good games against some strong players.
I forgot to say that i love the IGN tournament and that i have seen all the reruns (living in Europe!) of the qualifiers. Thanks!
theres no need to generalize foreigners like that, also, idra still gets up there in all the tournaments as far as non koreans, so its no stretch of the imagination to invite him.
On September 11 2011 02:18 zeenix1 wrote: When does it start & where do we find live-results (brackets etc.)? I know it won't be streamed, pity IGN real pity..
On September 11 2011 02:18 zeenix1 wrote: When does it start & where do we find live-results (brackets etc.)? I know it won't be streamed, pity IGN real pity..
Brackets will be updated live. OP has the link to the playhem brackets once the tourney starts.
Edit 1: I suggest anyone who wants to see a game or two to go to Sarens' stream. He streamed his IPL matches last time.
On September 11 2011 01:30 legaton wrote: The SC2 scene is so fucked up... actually, it seems as if foreign players have no incentive to really try to become competitive. Tournament organizers know they need a mix of Koreans and foreigners to make for a good tournament.
Er, no? This is so far off the mark it's unbelievable. If someone ran a tournament with Jinro, Huk, Naniwa, Idra, Mana, Nerchio, Stephano, Ret, White-Ra, Demuslim, Socke, Thorzain, Sen, Strelok, qxc and TLO as the lineup, it'd be bad because there's no Clide in it? Come on now. Hell, replace TLO with MVP in that list and the tournament instantly becomes much less interesting.
On September 11 2011 01:30 legaton wrote: The SC2 scene is so fucked up... actually, it seems as if foreign players have no incentive to really try to become competitive. Tournament organizers know they need a mix of Koreans and foreigners to make for a good tournament.
Er, no? This is so far off the mark it's unbelievable. If someone ran a tournament with Jinro, Huk, Naniwa, Idra, Mana, Nerchio, Stephano, Ret, White-Ra, Demuslim, Socke, Thorzain, Sen, Strelok, qxc and TLO as the lineup, it'd be bad because there's no Clide in it? Come on now. Hell, replace TLO with MVP in that list and the tournament instantly becomes much less interesting.
On September 11 2011 01:30 legaton wrote: The SC2 scene is so fucked up... actually, it seems as if foreign players have no incentive to really try to become competitive. Tournament organizers know they need a mix of Koreans and foreigners to make for a good tournament.
Er, no? This is so far off the mark it's unbelievable. If someone ran a tournament with Jinro, Huk, Naniwa, Idra, Mana, Nerchio, Stephano, Ret, White-Ra, Demuslim, Socke, Thorzain, Sen, Strelok, qxc and TLO as the lineup, it'd be bad because there's no Clide in it? Come on now. Hell, replace TLO with MVP in that list and the tournament instantly becomes much less interesting.
No, I agree with him. However, who knows where the majority lies, but for me I only watch foreign tournaments if koreans are in it because it just makes it so much more interesting to watch.
On September 11 2011 04:13 Scribble wrote: Is there a bracket up somewhere? I noticed that some folks were commenting on results that weren't put up by the IPL twitter.
On September 11 2011 04:41 amazingoopah wrote: if slayersmin wins that would be 4 slayers players guaranteed to go through.
If 1 more Slayers player gets invited, and Slayers sweeps the remaining qualifier spots, we could end up with a top 8 Slayers. Honestly, I kind of want to see that happen.
On September 11 2011 04:57 Asha` wrote: July's ZvZ letting him down again T_T
Good news he reported it wrong, he actually won 2-1! God of War fighting!
July fighting!
---
ZENEX Puzzle going strong =)
SlayerSPuzzle
ZENEX IN MY HEART.
LONG LIVE ZENEX.
you can't take him away T___T
(I'm well aware, I just refuse to acknowledge Zenex losing 2 of their best players to slayers, I thought the all caps team tag would have made it clear TT)
Wish you guys would stream some of these games live, just doesn't have the same feel watching it cast from a replay later in the week. Great group of players though, would love to see Puzzle and MMA make it through!
On September 11 2011 05:26 Scribble wrote: MMA vs Min in the Ro4. At least 1 more Slayers guaranteed for the finals. :D
Go Min!
Edit: Any word on when the final invite will be announced?
Not quite, Round of 8, whoever wins will need to beat July or Tarson to get a spot. Last qualifier is so close to being locked down 100%, he's 99% right now but I don't want to announce and then take it back!
On September 11 2011 05:26 Duravi wrote: Wish you guys would stream some of these games live, just doesn't have the same feel watching it cast from a replay later in the week.
I hear you, but there are reasons for doing it the way we do that we feel are good enough to warrant not doing it live.
On September 11 2011 05:26 Scribble wrote: MMA vs Min in the Ro4. At least 1 more Slayers guaranteed for the finals. :D
Go Min!
Edit: Any word on when the final invite will be announced?
Not quite, Round of 8, whoever wins will need to beat July or Tarson to get a spot. Last qualifier is so close to being locked down 100%, he's 99% right now but I don't want to announce and then take it back!
Thanks for the correction. Really excited to see who it is!
As they're in NA and most players are Korean, I wouldn't think they would want any bit of possible lag to interrupt the matches. Definitely hard for an international online tournament to be done live. Isn't TSL even done from replays?
On September 11 2011 05:31 Megiddosc wrote: As they're in NA and most players are Korean, I wouldn't think they would want any bit of possible lag to interrupt the matches. Definitely hard for an international online tournament to be done live. Isn't TSL even done from replays?
Correct sir this is a large part of why we don't add casters.
On September 11 2011 05:31 Megiddosc wrote: As they're in NA and most players are Korean, I wouldn't think they would want any bit of possible lag to interrupt the matches. Definitely hard for an international online tournament to be done live. Isn't TSL even done from replays?
Yup it is. Almost all online tournaments are done from replays.
The exceptions are usually small weekly cups (GO4SC2, competo cups etc.).
On September 11 2011 05:26 Duravi wrote: Wish you guys would stream some of these games live, just doesn't have the same feel watching it cast from a replay later in the week.
I hear you, but there are reasons for doing it the way we do that we feel are good enough to warrant not doing it live.
You should know (and probably do, but I'll say it anyway) that there are people like me who would watch some if they were live but won't watch at all from the recordings. I'll just look at who went through and be done. If the results were secret, maybe I'd watch the casts.
On September 11 2011 05:38 AIOL! wrote: Revival 1-0 Stephano
Revival ZvZ'ing his way through the brackets o_O
last time I saw him ZvZ he was hideous at the match up. Wonder if he's improved, whether the difference is just that big between kr/foreign, or whether he simply had a really bad run of games lol.
really thought steph would beat him; I mean I suppose he may still but I didn't really see Revival winning a game. I watched like 6 ZvZ's recently out of him and each game he went for some kind of 1base play :/
I don't even know how they're playing. They were all at the GSL finals yesterday night. Now it's like 6 am over there, poor guys must be falling asleep at the keyboard. :p
Stephano is really improving lately, stand out in the EU ladder right now, I think EU Zergs is really good, much better than NA, people such as Stephano, Nerchio, Dimaga and even Darkforce show a lot of promise and clever play.
On the other hand, I hope that Puzzle will make it through the top bracket, he is my favorite and protoss hope btw. If Puzzle lose to Stephano, then Stephano will probably make it, I dont see him losing to Kiwi after taking down Puzzle.At the other bracket, It is highly probable that MMA will make it.
These qualifers are so stacked, we all saw great players in the Ro64 or ro32. I used to think that invited players are good enough, but I highly doubt that now, and I get that they must feel lucky that they do not have to qualify.
I do not see players like Idra, Select, Ret will make it through the qualifer, maybe Huk, Thorzain, will have a shot at it
On September 11 2011 07:10 Asha` wrote: Awesome to see a foreigner make it. Good proof that there's no reason for players to pussy out when playing KR's cross server.
At the same time kind of sad since I expect either of them to get pretty much rolled in a LAN environment, but oh well.
Hopefully Stephano makes it =)
Kiwikaki needs to make it, there is a lack of protoss.
Edit: Well actually the same with zerg, only 3 zergs and 3 protoss, along with (now) 6 terrans that will be playing at the live event so far.
On September 11 2011 07:15 Scribble wrote: This is really messing with my hopes of seeing an all Slayers top 8. Oh well, there's always the open bracket.
So greedy. 3 out of 6 qualifiers not good enough for you. :p
On September 11 2011 07:10 Asha` wrote: Awesome to see a foreigner make it. Good proof that there's no reason for players to pussy out when playing KR's cross server.
At the same time kind of sad since I expect either of them to get pretty much rolled in a LAN environment, but oh well.
Hopefully Stephano makes it =)
Stephano didn't get rolled by Puma or Huk in a LAN environment, he might have only a small chance to win but I don't really see him getting rolled by anyone but the very best korean terrans.
On September 11 2011 07:10 Asha` wrote: Awesome to see a foreigner make it. Good proof that there's no reason for players to pussy out when playing KR's cross server.
At the same time kind of sad since I expect either of them to get pretty much rolled in a LAN environment, but oh well.
Hopefully Stephano makes it =)
Stephano didn't get rolled by Puma or Huk in a LAN environment, he might have only a small chance to win but I don't really see him getting rolled by anyone but the very best korean terrans.
Stephs very good, but if the KR players are over with a bit of time to adjust to timezones (I'm presuming IPL will bring them over with a days grace or two since they seem pretty dedicated to delivering both a good player and fan experience) I just don't see anyone really touching them. Maybe a couple of the weaker players.
On September 11 2011 07:10 Asha` wrote: Awesome to see a foreigner make it. Good proof that there's no reason for players to pussy out when playing KR's cross server.
At the same time kind of sad since I expect either of them to get pretty much rolled in a LAN environment, but oh well.
Hopefully Stephano makes it =)
Stephano didn't get rolled by Puma or Huk in a LAN environment, he might have only a small chance to win but I don't really see him getting rolled by anyone but the very best korean terrans.
Stephs very good, but if the KR players are over with a bit of time to adjust to timezones (I'm presuming IPL will bring them over with a days grace or two since they seem pretty dedicated to delivering both a good player and fan experience) I just don't see anyone really touching them. Maybe a couple of the weaker players.
IGN, these brackets should not be spoiled ahead of time.
I enjoy watching your content and I also enjoy you being forthcoming about the winners of the qualifiers but you'd get twice as many people watching the qualifiers if people didn't actually already know the outcome of every game.
It's absolutely human nature to care less about something competitive if you already know the outcome. It's the reason people will go so far out of their way to avoid spoilers of a football game they couldn't watch but are going to go home later for on their DVR. Or avoid all their favorite forums until they watch the GSL finals because they don't want them spoiled.
I understand you can't do the qualifiers live, I understand that I don't have to check to see who won if I don't want to, and I understand that people will probably find a way to find out through match histories who won anyway.
But damn, these players and games are awesome, why do you tell us who won every match a week before we get to watch them? My two cents.
On September 11 2011 07:45 Vehemus wrote: IGN, these brackets should not be spoiled ahead of time.
I enjoy watching your content and I also enjoy you being forthcoming about the winners of the qualifiers but you'd get twice as many people watching the qualifiers if people didn't actually already know the outcome of every game.
It's absolutely human nature to care less about something competitive if you already know the outcome. It's the reason people will go so far out of their way to avoid spoilers of a football game they couldn't watch but are going to go home later for on their DVR. Or avoid all their favorite forums until they watch the GSL finals because they don't want them spoiled.
I understand you can't do the qualifiers live, I understand that I don't have to check to see who won if I don't want to, and I understand that people will probably find a way to find out through match histories who won anyway.
But damn, these players and games are awesome, why do you tell us who won every match a week before we get to watch them? My two cents.
Because some people dislike watching replays and like knowing who won right away. I know I do most of the time. Also it is just a qualifier so it isn't as important. I don't avoid the GSL results because I didn't see it, in general it is nice to know who won.
On September 11 2011 07:45 Vehemus wrote: IGN, these brackets should not be spoiled ahead of time.
I enjoy watching your content and I also enjoy you being forthcoming about the winners of the qualifiers but you'd get twice as many people watching the qualifiers if people didn't actually already know the outcome of every game.
It's absolutely human nature to care less about something competitive if you already know the outcome. It's the reason people will go so far out of their way to avoid spoilers of a football game they couldn't watch but are going to go home later for on their DVR. Or avoid all their favorite forums until they watch the GSL finals because they don't want them spoiled.
I understand you can't do the qualifiers live, I understand that I don't have to check to see who won if I don't want to, and I understand that people will probably find a way to find out through match histories who won anyway.
But damn, these players and games are awesome, why do you tell us who won every match a week before we get to watch them? My two cents.
Because they tried to hide results from qualifier 1 and the results got leaked right away. They realized it's pointless to try to hide results since then and most people want to know who qualified, so it's better to give live results.
I still think it's a pity that they haven't set up a "live" cast of the qualifier from replays. Would keep the live feeling while not making the time between matches and casts drag out to weeks. This qualifier will be done before we get to see the late (and most interesting) matches from the last one. Not the best way to keep peoples interest peaked.
On September 11 2011 07:56 m0ck wrote: I still think it's a pity that they haven't set up a "live" cast of the qualifier from replays. Would keep the live feeling while not making the time between matches and casts drag out to weeks. This qualifier will be done before we get to see the late (and most interesting) matches from the last one. Not the best way to keep peoples interest peaked.
We broadcast the matches during the week after the qualifier ends. So this qualifier will be cast from Tuesday-Sunday
It's interesting to see the ramifications IPL is going to have on MLG because the tournaments are back to back.
Because he made it MMA is definitely going to accept his seed into pool play for Orlando. Boxer already got himself an invite to Orlando after IPL invited him.
Then Ryung will probably play in the open tournament and they will probably bring some other guys along with them for both tournaments.
On September 11 2011 07:45 Vehemus wrote: IGN, these brackets should not be spoiled ahead of time.
I enjoy watching your content and I also enjoy you being forthcoming about the winners of the qualifiers but you'd get twice as many people watching the qualifiers if people didn't actually already know the outcome of every game.
It's absolutely human nature to care less about something competitive if you already know the outcome. It's the reason people will go so far out of their way to avoid spoilers of a football game they couldn't watch but are going to go home later for on their DVR. Or avoid all their favorite forums until they watch the GSL finals because they don't want them spoiled.
I understand you can't do the qualifiers live, I understand that I don't have to check to see who won if I don't want to, and I understand that people will probably find a way to find out through match histories who won anyway.
But damn, these players and games are awesome, why do you tell us who won every match a week before we get to watch them? My two cents.
Because they tried to hide results from qualifier 1 and the results got leaked right away. They realized it's pointless to try to hide results since then and most people want to know who qualified, so it's better to give live results.
Not only that, an overwhelming number of people requested that the bracket results be released.
On September 11 2011 07:45 Vehemus wrote: IGN, these brackets should not be spoiled ahead of time.
I enjoy watching your content and I also enjoy you being forthcoming about the winners of the qualifiers but you'd get twice as many people watching the qualifiers if people didn't actually already know the outcome of every game.
It's absolutely human nature to care less about something competitive if you already know the outcome. It's the reason people will go so far out of their way to avoid spoilers of a football game they couldn't watch but are going to go home later for on their DVR. Or avoid all their favorite forums until they watch the GSL finals because they don't want them spoiled.
I understand you can't do the qualifiers live, I understand that I don't have to check to see who won if I don't want to, and I understand that people will probably find a way to find out through match histories who won anyway.
But damn, these players and games are awesome, why do you tell us who won every match a week before we get to watch them? My two cents.
Because they tried to hide results from qualifier 1 and the results got leaked right away. They realized it's pointless to try to hide results since then and most people want to know who qualified, so it's better to give live results.
Not only that, an overwhelming number of people requested that the bracket results be released.
This right here.
If we were doing an online tournament we would of course hide the results.
But this is a qualifier for a live event. A live event that we want people to go to. If it helps someone make a decision to go to IPL 3 because MMA or Stephano qualified we want to make it as easy and cheap for them as possible by releasing the information asap, rather then waiting a week to reveal it and making someone buy a more expensive plane ticket.
On September 11 2011 07:56 m0ck wrote: I still think it's a pity that they haven't set up a "live" cast of the qualifier from replays. Would keep the live feeling while not making the time between matches and casts drag out to weeks. This qualifier will be done before we get to see the late (and most interesting) matches from the last one. Not the best way to keep peoples interest peaked.
We broadcast the matches during the week after the qualifier ends. So this qualifier will be cast from Tuesday-Sunday
Ah, I see the event-schedule has been updated. Either that or I'm blind. I remembered the schedule you mentioned, but as I didn't see the broadcast in the schedule I presumed it had been delayed. Thanks!
Because he made it MMA is definitely going to accept his seed into pool play for Orlando. Boxer already got himself an invite to Orlando after IPL invited him.
.
Wait I'm confused, what does MMA qualifying for ipl 3 have to do with him going to mlg orlando? Has he said he's going to orlando as well because I haven't heard that yet?
Because he made it MMA is definitely going to accept his seed into pool play for Orlando. Boxer already got himself an invite to Orlando after IPL invited him.
.
Wait I'm confused, what does MMA qualifying for ipl 3 have to do with him going to mlg orlando? Has he said he's going to orlando as well because I haven't heard that yet?
Orlando is the weekend after, would seem somewhat logical that the SlayerS contingent may consider stopping over in NA for the week and heading to MLG afterwards (GSL schedule permitting)?
That said I think MMA is guaranteed a place for providence so maybe he won't bother.
Because he made it MMA is definitely going to accept his seed into pool play for Orlando. Boxer already got himself an invite to Orlando after IPL invited him.
.
Wait I'm confused, what does MMA qualifying for ipl 3 have to do with him going to mlg orlando? Has he said he's going to orlando as well because I haven't heard that yet?
Orlando is the weekend after, would seem somewhat logical that the SlayerS contingent may consider stopping over in NA for the week and heading to MLG afterwards (GSL schedule permitting)?
That said I think MMA is guaranteed a place for providence so maybe he won't bother.
It depends how far MMA makes it in code S. It's already going to be really tight for him to get to ipl if he makes it to round of 16.
Code S ro16 Oct 4/5. I'm sure if code s players make round of 16, gom will try to let them play oct 4th, and then they would have to fly out like right after their games to make it in time to get to atlantic city oct 6th.
Then if they make it to ro8, they will have to return to korea because those games are played oct 11/12 and mlg is oct 14-16.
On September 11 2011 09:02 Alex.IGN wrote: Stephano 2-1 MMA in the finals! (just for seeding)
Stephano #1 foreign player? I don't think any non-Korean besides the GSL participants has taken down that many Koreans in a single tournament before. 3 BoX wins against Koreans is more than what many have in their entire career.
hmm, is it just me, or does the matches on the side when you click on the qualifers for now give away the fact that stephano beats marineking, as it says him vs marineking, then him in the quater finals
I was gonna save my 1000th post for something funny or snarky or creative, but I'm watching the qualifiers now and its worth using the big 1k just to say I love the dynamic with cats & hd and I love the quality all round in the casts. Keep up the great work guys
On September 11 2011 09:25 ItsMeDomLee wrote: I didn't see the MMA game but judging from this MKP game I'm seeing against Stephano I'll have to assume the Koreans are playing with massive lag.
For the Qualifer #2 (the one you are seeing right now) Stephano had a higher lag as he was in Tunisia. Plus it's not an excuse, if you are a professional, you should train yourself to play with lag, if you don't then you deserve to lose.
On September 11 2011 09:25 ItsMeDomLee wrote: I didn't see the MMA game but judging from this MKP game I'm seeing against Stephano I'll have to assume the Koreans are playing with massive lag.
For the Qualifer #2 (the one you are seeing right now) Stephano had a higher lag as he was in Tunisia. Plus it's not an excuse, if you are a professional, you should train yourself to play with lag, if you don't then you deserve to lose.
It can be a valid excuse. Lag isn't linear all the time, and random lag spikes can effect crucial moments of the matchup or mess up a players flow and thinking. Yeah you can get use to the latency, but you cannot stop or predict random lag spikes so they don't mess you up.
On September 11 2011 09:25 ItsMeDomLee wrote: I didn't see the MMA game but judging from this MKP game I'm seeing against Stephano I'll have to assume the Koreans are playing with massive lag.
For the Qualifer #2 (the one you are seeing right now) Stephano had a higher lag as he was in Tunisia. Plus it's not an excuse, if you are a professional, you should train yourself to play with lag, if you don't then you deserve to lose.
It's not an excuse to lose, but it is an excuse when comparing skill levels.
You know NesTea is like 3-6 in online tourneys and has refused to play them anymore because it ruins his name?
On September 11 2011 10:10 absalom86 wrote: HD just solved the 1/1/1. Protoss are finally saved. All you do is play one base against it.
LOL I know right. All he had to do was just say it's hard to hold (pretty neutral) and that's that. When you start giving people like Puzzle and MC tips that even Masters players know is flat out wrong is retarded.
Considering Puzzle is called the next hope for Protoss in Korea, and even he got obliterated by the 1/1/1 strategy - I'm very worried about any Korean Terrans showing up to IPL3 and unleashing this strategy on foreign protoss. Same for MLG.
what a fucking beast hooooly. who thought in a million years a foreign zerg would take win the qualifier vs koreans. if there was lag involved it would be less impressive.
On September 11 2011 12:52 HoldenR wrote: Considering Puzzle is called the next hope for Protoss in Korea, and even he got obliterated by the 1/1/1 strategy - I'm very worried about any Korean Terrans showing up to IPL3 and unleashing this strategy on foreign protoss. Same for MLG.
Why are everyone talking about 1/1/1 against Puzzle, when he lost to Stephano, a Zerg?
On September 11 2011 12:52 HoldenR wrote: Considering Puzzle is called the next hope for Protoss in Korea, and even he got obliterated by the 1/1/1 strategy - I'm very worried about any Korean Terrans showing up to IPL3 and unleashing this strategy on foreign protoss. Same for MLG.
Why are everyone talking about 1/1/1 against Puzzle, when he lost to Stephano, a Zerg?
And I think he crushed Puma's 1/1/1 in the 2nd qualifier.
Stephano's good, no doubt, but remember when we all jumped the gun in TSL3 with the "foreigners are just as good" hype? Then Columbus, NASL, and Anaheim happened (lan events, not online). We'll see what happens in Atlantic City.
Edit: To be fair, then Raleigh happened, and we're clawing our way back it seems.
Koreans are pulling all-nighters to play this thing. For this one MMA, July etc, had to come back from the GSL finals, start playing after midnight, and continue all the way until morning with no sleep.
First foreigner qualifying from an IPL online qualifier. And doing it in style. Will be interesting to say the least how his year of professional Starcraft develops. So much potential. And it warms the heart to see the foreigners that are actually willing to face off with Koreans in these qualifiers do well. Much respect to all the sign ups, I will definitely be rooting a little extra for the ones that want to compete.
On September 12 2011 02:46 Porcelina wrote: Stephano is such a hero.
First foreigner qualifying from an IPL online qualifier. And doing it in style. Will be interesting to say the least how his year of professional Starcraft develops. So much potential. And it warms the heart to see the foreigners that are actually willing to face off with Koreans in these qualifiers do well. Much respect to all the sign ups, I will definitely be rooting a little extra for the ones that want to compete.
One datapoint doesn't make a trend. We'll see what happens in Atlantic City.
its sad how little HD knows about the eu scene (or even the na scene really) especially considering hes a caster its his job too know. Stephano didnt even participate in the blizzard eu invitational. Good ol HD though , "Stephano won the blizzard eu invitation right" Cats "no that was ret" Hd: "oh well i know he placed really high in it"
On September 12 2011 02:08 Ansinjunger wrote: Stephano's good, no doubt, but remember when we all jumped the gun in TSL3 with the "foreigners are just as good" hype? Then Columbus, NASL, and Anaheim happened (lan events, not online). We'll see what happens in Atlantic City.
Edit: To be fair, then Raleigh happened, and we're clawing our way back it seems.
Well, the problem with Raleigh as opposed to Columbus is that Raleigh had Korean players that weren't exactly top tier mixed in with the top tier players.
On September 12 2011 02:46 Porcelina wrote: Stephano is such a hero.
First foreigner qualifying from an IPL online qualifier. And doing it in style. Will be interesting to say the least how his year of professional Starcraft develops. So much potential. And it warms the heart to see the foreigners that are actually willing to face off with Koreans in these qualifiers do well. Much respect to all the sign ups, I will definitely be rooting a little extra for the ones that want to compete.
One datapoint doesn't make a trend. We'll see what happens in Atlantic City.
Hmm? Did not say anything about trends. All I said and that I wanted to say was that every foreigner that enter these competitions where you basically know that you will be fighting through masses of Koreans are much appreciated by myself. I am not saying that Stephano is better than Koreans in general, not even that he is better than the ones he did beat in this specific qualifier.
It has been somewhat baffling to see the foreigner sign ups for these qualifiers, so when Stephano does and then goes on to qualify, beating top level Koreans, it is a fairly big deal. Just a blast to see. And yeah, we will see in Atlantic City, and I am expecting Korean dominance. But it is still fantastic to see Stephano take this.
I really like IPL overall, pretty good match, watching Stephano play that good is interesting. I just wanted to say that I feel like the two casters are always fighting against each other, and it feel a bit strange from time to time.
What is the point of a 3rd place match in these qualifiers if only top two go to the live tournament? Do these qualifiers also give monetary rewards to players?
On September 12 2011 02:08 Ansinjunger wrote: Stephano's good, no doubt, but remember when we all jumped the gun in TSL3 with the "foreigners are just as good" hype? Then Columbus, NASL, and Anaheim happened (lan events, not online). We'll see what happens in Atlantic City.
Edit: To be fair, then Raleigh happened, and we're clawing our way back it seems.
Well, the problem with Raleigh as opposed to Columbus is that Raleigh had Korean players that weren't exactly top tier mixed in with the top tier players.
It seems that good foreigners can beat mid-tier koreans fairly often, but only a few foreigners can take series off of the top Koreans even infrequently. Better than BW where the best foreigners couldn't even get Progaming licenses.
On September 12 2011 05:23 -Archangel- wrote: What is the point of a 3rd place match in these qualifiers if only top two go to the live tournament? Do these qualifiers also give monetary rewards to players?
I think an IGN rep answered that in one of the other qualifier threads. The third place match is there because the Playhem tournament structure is just a borrowed template; it has no relevance to neither invitations nor monetary rewards. The fact that the result is listed as 1-0 probably means that it was just a walkover and that the match was never meant to be played.
On September 12 2011 02:22 sitromit wrote: Koreans are pulling all-nighters to play this thing. For this one MMA, July etc, had to come back from the GSL finals, start playing after midnight, and continue all the way until morning with no sleep.
It makes sense. Look at the potential prize pool. Then look at past recent events (MLG) where Koreans pretty much top the charts. Now look at signups for Qualifier 3 and how much it as shrunk (maybe it was an odd weekend, dunno)
It makes plenty of sense to go out of your way, get as much of your team as possible to get into the top 32.
They understand that 20 dollars for a potential guaranteed 1000 dollars + a free vacation is worth it, especially since they have the ability to win it, almost uncontested.
On September 12 2011 02:46 Porcelina wrote: Stephano is such a hero.
First foreigner qualifying from an IPL online qualifier. And doing it in style. Will be interesting to say the least how his year of professional Starcraft develops. So much potential. And it warms the heart to see the foreigners that are actually willing to face off with Koreans in these qualifiers do well. Much respect to all the sign ups, I will definitely be rooting a little extra for the ones that want to compete.
One datapoint doesn't make a trend. We'll see what happens in Atlantic City.
The problem is people see that what happened at the previous MLGs and NASL as evidence for Korean dominance, and I do not think that is quite true (the evidence, not the conclusion).
We have to ask ourselves just who is being invited to these tournaments. The average Korean? No. I do not have time to assess this scientifically but I will just make a philosophical claim and others can follow this up.
I will use other sports to make up the model that my analogy follows, and while this works with all traditional sports, I will use Broodwar since it is relevant to this case. Broodwar has four major distinctions of player categories:
S CLASS (including FlasH, Jaedong, Bisu, and possibly Stork) Top A-teamers (the players that get to participate in their team's matches AND are vastly successful, without being S CLASS) A-teamers (the players that get to participate in their team's matches AND are not in the last two catagories) B-teamers (the practice partners of everyone)
If we were to indicate that FlasH, Jaedong, Bisu, and Stork were not Korean but Fakestian, then this changes how we view the dominance in the scene. If the OSL seeded and held qualifiers for 28 spots, and invited four Fakestians, then we would see 28 Koreans and 4 Fakestians. We would see the 4 Fakestians do very well, and we could even see a one-two-three-four finish for them. If Fakestan has 10 other players in the same skill level as the Top A-teamers, they might try to qualify as they think they have a chance to take the whole thing.
Why is this relevant? Well my claim is that even though Fakestians look unstoppable, it doesn't mean that Koreans can't compete with them. Yes they are the best, but someone has to be. If we look at the SC2 scene, I think most people will point to Koreans as the dominate set of players. However, I do not think that MLG or GSL or NASL is a good indication for either, because foreigners are constantly having to fight against the BEST Koreans. None of them will fly over to MLG or NASL if they do not sincerely think they can take everyone. As such, foreigners are constantly having to be pitted against the FlasH, Jaedong, and Bisu of the SC2 Korean world. To make matters more complicated, the foreigners never have their creme of the crop in this fight. MLG seriously lacks the top Europeans, and even more so the Chinese and Taiwanese (hi Sen). Furthermore, newer competitors, no matter how good they are, are fatigued by the long open bracket because some of the convenient spots of the pools are taken up by our B-teamers, so to speak.
The NASL had MC, the at-the-time-current best Protoss and player in the world with two GSL championships. He was met by the person who got through a VERY tough open bracket that would undoubtedly decide a very VERY strong opponent. PuMa ended up beating Ret, the #1 seeded player, in the first round and eliminating the best foreigner player (seeded anyway). The rest of the way, he never had to play a non-Korean. MC only played Select and Sen, and barely beat Sen 3-2 to advance to the finals (and Sen went on to beat July for 3rd place).
I would make the case that Ret and Sen were the best two players there. Ret lost first round to the eventual champion (who knows how far he could have went if the #1 seed didn't have to play the eventual best player in the tournament). Sen finished 3rd place ahead of 5 other Koreans.
MLG, more of the same. Inviting the best of the best (MMA, MVP, Bomber, DRG, MC, Losira) and other top players like (Boxer, Coca, Trickster, Nada etc.) and having them fight 1-2 great foreign players and 2 subpar players is hardly fair competition (it is fair, but not fair if you want to make comparisons of skill levels between Koreans and foreigners). The last MLG, we saw that Koreans who are CONSTANT top 8/semifinalists like Nada and Trickster didn't have a very easy time in their pools. Kiwikaki and other foreigners were taking games from these guys and others were making the games look competitive.
If we were to draw a conclusion, we can say the upper echelon of Koreans, the S Class or the superstars, are better than everyone, including Koreans. But all the evidence points to that there ARE foreigners that can easily compete with the TOP Koreans and provide competitive matches. There is evidence of this (and only this) in every tournament. We can also argue that the best 3 Koreans are also the best 3 players in the world, which is an assertion that I would never argue against (or try to disprove, it is almost obvious). But to say that the top 3 Koreans can dominate a tournament without the best of the best foreigners implies that Koreans are levels ahead of foreigners is silly.
Note that I am not talking about numbers. Yes, there is a large number of top Koreans compared to the number of top foreigners. And no, we do not have a player that can compete with MVP. Apparently, though, neither does Korea. It is also notable to say that he doesn't quite lose very often, but out of the last 3 map losses, one of which was to QXC.
What do we take from all of this? If a Korean comes to MLG Orlando or IPL 3 and wins, it doesn't mean that foreigners are outdone by Koreans. It means that the foreigners that played him were outdone by him.
Well, MKP certainly MarineKing-ed his matches against Stephano. I haven't seen Stephano's other matches, yet, but I am going to assume he played much better against other people, because anyone but MKP would have 2-0'ed him pretty quick in those matches.
Also, after Puzzle vs. Polt game 1, we now know why MKP didn't build the bunker versus Trickster in the Up/Down matches, haha.
EDIT: Are the brackets for this thing wrong? I don't even see MKP or Polt on there? Am I just very confused...?
On September 12 2011 09:08 Tehs Tehklz wrote: Well, MKP certainly MarineKing-ed his matches against Stephano. I haven't seen Stephano's other matches, yet, but I am going to assume he played much better against other people, because anyone but MKP would have 2-0'ed him pretty quick in those matches.
Also, after Puzzle vs. Polt game 1, we now know why MKP didn't build the bunker versus Trickster in the Up/Down matches, haha.
EDIT: Are the brackets for this thing wrong? I don't even see MKP or Polt on there? Am I just very confused...?
This is for the third qualifier, you're probably thinking of the second. But you should check out who Stephano got lucky against this week.
EDIT: Now that I think, though, that fact didn't hold them from reaching top spots: both 2nd and 3rd places came from the GSL the last day, and they didn't seem to have such close results in their ways to the top, and 2nd even 2-0'ed every game all the way to the semis.
On September 12 2011 02:22 sitromit wrote: Koreans are pulling all-nighters to play this thing. For this one MMA, July etc, had to come back from the GSL finals, start playing after midnight, and continue all the way until morning with no sleep.
It makes sense. Look at the potential prize pool. Then look at past recent events (MLG) where Koreans pretty much top the charts. Now look at signups for Qualifier 3 and how much it as shrunk (maybe it was an odd weekend, dunno)
It makes plenty of sense to go out of your way, get as much of your team as possible to get into the top 32.
They understand that 20 dollars for a potential guaranteed 1000 dollars + a free vacation is worth it, especially since they have the ability to win it, almost uncontested.
Yeah, I understand all of that. What I'm trying to say is, don't expect their top game, when they're playing all night with no sleep and cross-server to boot.
On September 12 2011 04:56 WhiteDog wrote: I really like IPL overall, pretty good match, watching Stephano play that good is interesting. I just wanted to say that I feel like the two casters are always fighting against each other, and it feel a bit strange from time to time.
It's pretty terrible sometimes. Too much undercurrent of personal tension, particularly between HD and that portly fella (no offense, forgot his name). A little too much effort in HD's part to constantly call games, too. In any case, I thank everyone for the awesome entertainment.
On September 12 2011 04:56 WhiteDog wrote: I really like IPL overall, pretty good match, watching Stephano play that good is interesting. I just wanted to say that I feel like the two casters are always fighting against each other, and it feel a bit strange from time to time.
It's pretty terrible sometimes. Too much undercurrent of personal tension, particularly between HD and that portly fella (no offense, forgot his name). A little too much effort in HD's part to constantly call games, too. In any case, I thank everyone for the awesome entertainment.
Yeah that's exactly my point and it's really boring. They need to fix that attitude, we don't see that when wheat and day, tasteless and artosis are casting.
EPT
![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/YwMM8.png)
. Although I like the idea of an easy bracket for DRG :O.
