ASUS ROG Stars Invite, $10 000

Sunday 6th of November, the final day of the ASUS ROG Stars Invite event, presents more Starcraft 2 action with Community Choice Showdown Matches with a 1000 $ for the winner of each.

While the eight player ASUS ROG Stars Invite tournament, sponsored by NVIDIA, is played this Friday and Saturday, there's more to see on Sunday as well. 5000 dollars are being handed out in four Community Choice Showdown Matches and a match between elfi and SjoW. That's five more matches featuring the solid bunch of players we're going to see perform during the weekend in Helsinki.

First, we have set a showdown match between the neighboring nations Finland and Sweden. These two countries have been rivals in (e)sports for ages, and now the battle continues with our contestants elfi, representing Finland on his home field, and SjoW, standing for the three crowns of Sweden.

For the rest four matches, we let the community of TeamLiquid.net to decide. There are five opponent pairs to choose from for each match. The match-ups with most votes win with one exception: a player can only appear on two matches max. If three or more matches include the same player, the least voted match-ups for the player will be ignored and the match-ups with the second most votes will be played instead.

All the matches are played in a best-of-three format and casted by TotalBiscuit and Apollo.

Schedule

• Showdown match A, BO3
  • elfi vs SjoW : Sunday, Nov 06 8:30am GMT (GMT+00:00)
  
  
• Showdown match B, BO3
  • TBA vs TBA : Sunday, Nov 06 9:30am GMT (GMT+00:00)
  
  
• Showdown match C, BO3
  • TBA vs TBA : Sunday, Nov 06 11:00am GMT (GMT+00:00)
  
  
• Showdown match D, BO3
  • TBA vs TBA : Sunday, Nov 06 12:00pm GMT (GMT+00:00)
  
  
• Showdown match E, BO3
  • TBA vs TBA : Sunday, Nov 06 1:00pm GMT (GMT+00:00)
  
  

The eight invited players are laid out on a single elimination bracket to determine who will grab a slice of the 10 000 $ prize purse next weekend at the ASUS ROG Stars Invite tournament sponsored by NVIDIA . In addition, the schedule and prize money distribution are announced.

ASUS ROG Stars Invite kicks off the coming Friday. The tournament includes eight invited, top tier players from Europe and North America who we have announced during the last couple of weeks. We’re really happy about all the positive reactions this community has shown towards our event. Now it’s time to reveal some more details about the tournament.

Bracket

Many of you might be pleased to find IdrA and HuK on the opposite sides of the bracket which means a possible Evil Geniuses finals. You might also note that the way the races have been laid out gives a chance for mirror finals, a chance you might be happy or scared of.


Prizes

      1. 6000 $
      2. 3000 $
      3. 1000 $


Schedule

• Round of 8, BO5
  • HuK vs elfi : Friday, Nov 04 11:00am GMT (GMT+00:00)
    
  • DIMAGA vs SeleCT : Friday, Nov 04 12:30pm GMT (GMT+00:00) (estimated, played right after the previous match)
    
  • IdrA vs SjoW : Friday, Nov 04 2:00pm GMT (GMT+00:00)
    
  • White-Ra vs Ret : Friday, Nov 04 3:30pm GMT (GMT+00:00) (estimated, played right after the previous match)
  
  
• Semifinals, BO5
  • TBA vs TBA : Saturday, Nov 05 9:00am GMT (GMT+00:00)
    
  • TBA vs TBA : Saturday, Nov 05 10:30am GMT (GMT+00:00) (estimated, played right after the previous match)
  
  
• Bronze match, BO5
  • TBA vs TBA : Saturday, Nov 05 12:00pm GMT (GMT+00:00)
  
  
• Finals, BO7
  • TBA vs TBA: Saturday, Nov 05 2:00pm GMT (GMT+00:00)
  
  
• Extra
  • Sunday specials!

Sunday specials? Oh yes, we’re extending the fun to Sunday making it a three day event! Since the Helsinki Exhibition & Convention Centre, where the tournament is located, is open to public on Sunday too, there’s no point missing the opportunity to display some great Starcraft 2 action for the audience the whole weekend long. We will be announcing more info about the Sunday specials soon, but for now we can say that the ancient Finland vs Sweden rivalry will continue with a match between elfi and SjoW!

Stay tuned, folks.

EG.HuK will be replacing oGs.SK.MC in ASUS ROG Stars Invite tournament as MC is unable to attend because of overlapping WCG qualifier tournament.

We are sorry to inform that one of the most anticipated players in our roster, oGs.SK.MC, will not be participating in the ASUS ROG Stars Invite tournament. We have been told that he will be attending the Korean World Cyber Games qualifiers held on the same date instead. No official statement about the issue has been given, but we understand that he can not pass a chance to be on the Korean national esports team. This is sad news as we were really excited about our Korean representative when oGs.SK accepted our invite.

Fortunately, MC’s slot has been already filled with a worthy replacement: the fresh MLG champion and Code-S player, Chris “HuK” Loranger. Joining the tournament with his team mate IdrA, HuK now doubles the chances for Evil Geniuses to take the trophy. As unfortunate it is to lose a player of MC’s caliber less than two weeks before the event, the more lucky we are to get such a great player to take his place. We wish MC all the luck in his future battles as we welcome HuK to ASUS ROG Stars Invite.

EG.IdrA and dignitas.SeleCT revealed as the final two invited players for the ASUS ROG Stars Invite Starcraft 2 tournament held 4th of November in Helsinki, Finland.

ASUS ROG Stars Invite is starting next week and it’s time to reveal our last two contestants who will be competing for the 10 000 $ prize money with six other world class players in a two day tournament. Today, we are happy to complete our roster with the long term Zerg champion, representing North America and team Evil Geniuses, Greg “IdrA” Fields, and the foreign Korean, Ryoo “SeleCT” Kyung Hyun from team dignitas.


Love him or hate him, one thing’s for certain: IdrA doesn’t leave anyone cold. Coming straight from his title at IEM Guangzhou and a deep run in MLG Orlando, the Gracken is right back in the front lines of the most beautiful foreign zerginess after a period that many have considered a slump. The little known fact is, however, that during this time IdrA simply focused on his bodybuilding career, and after taking over that scene with the help of his coach Geoff, he’s back in StarCraft 2 to reclaim the foreigner throne.


The story goes that once an aspiring RTS player, yet without a nickname, was staring at a “Select a nickname” prompt of a game name input screen for some time - and finally ending up with the first word he saw on the screen: SeleCT. Judging by the player attendance lists, you might think tournament organizers have gone through exactly the same procedure: from MLGs to the almighty Blizzcon, this Korean/American hybrid has shown his exceptionally aggressive Terran style to many an audience. Some might think he’s outclassed by his fellow competitors here, but he has surprised many naysayers before.

There you have it. The tournament lineup is now complete and looks as follows:

• elfi
  
• DIMAGA
  
• IdrA
  
• MC
  
• Ret
  
• SeleCT
  
• SjoW
  
• White-Ra
  

Soon we will be announcing more details about the tournament such as who will be your host and caster-combo for the weekend. Make sure to get ready and prepare yourself for this awesome event and join the audience with ASUS and Nvidia on site or online.


Nice one, elKaDor!

In the previous player announcement about MC and SjoW there was quite a buzz about who the last two remaining players are going to be or who they should be. To our surprise, one clever TeamLiquid.net user guessed it right only 14 comments after the announcement.


We think this calls for a reward. ASUS and NVIDIA would like to thank elKaDor for his interest in the ASUS ROG Stars Invite tournament and his excellent insight. We think excellent insight calls for an excellent reward and want to congratulate elKaDor with a brand new ASUS GeForce GTX 560 Ti DirectCU II TOP graphics card. We will contact elKaDor with a private message tomorrow about the details.

ASUS ROG Stars Invite, the 10 000 dollar Starcraft 2 tournament in Helsinki, Finland starting at 4th of November, adds oGs.SK.MC and dignitas.SjoW to their roster in which now stands six major, well known names while two more remain unrevealed.

In less than three weeks away the ASUS ROG Stars Invite is getting closer while the remaining invites are getting fewer. Today, we are proud to announce our first non-European player Jang "oGs.SK.MC" Min Chul and our first Terran contestant Jeffrey "dignitas.SjoW" Brusi.


MC, by far the most accomplished Protoss in StarCraft 2 so far judging by prize winnings. For this multiple time GSL champion, one expression and one attitude are enough: the stoic face of destruction, and the assumption of absolute superiority no matter who the adversary is, conveyed through his trademark pre-game banter. His proclaimed career goal is to earn a million dollars in prize winnings, and he’s well on his way to achieve it - even his momentary descent to GSL Code B has been nullified by his great run at MLG Orlando this past weekend and his Code S spot reclaimed. November will show how much the ASUS ROG Stars Invite will help him on becoming a millionaire.


It’s sjowtime, so let’s get this SjoW on the road! This endless source of puns and Terran punishment is back from Korea and in better shape than ever. Many were surprised by his early return and forfeiting of his earned GSL Code A slot, while some are just happy that the talent pool is spread more outside Korea as well. Besides his GSL visit SjoW hasn’t made excessive amounts of noise lately, though that is more due to the overall skill rising in the StarCraft 2 scene instead of a slump on his part. The sjow must go on!

More details about the tournament and the final two invited players will be announced soon. Get ready.

Two more players are revealed for the ASUS ROG Stars Invite Starcraft 2 tournament as Tt.White-Ra and Liquid`Ret are invited to Helsinki, Finland to battle for the win with eight other top tier players starting at 4th of November. Furthermore, Nvidia joins the event as a co-sponsor.

Last week we announced DIMAGA and elfi as our first two contestants for the ASUS ROG Stars Invite tournament. Now as the event draws closer, we reveal a second pair of players who have answered our call to compete for the 10 000 $ prize purse in this two day event. Say hello to Aleksey Tt.White-Ra Krupnyk and TeamLiquid’s very own Joseph ret de Kroon.


Known as the Grandpa Toss and the Beast from the East, this speshial tactickian brings smiles on people's faces as easily as frowns for his opponents that he stomps down on the battlefield. Though being arguably the nicest guy in StarCraft 2, and quite possibly on the whole planet, it is quite hard to be angry even if you lose to him. More gg, more skill, says White-Ra.


Ret, the Zerg stalwart of nearly a decade, and certainly a very familiar face for basically anyone that has built a Spawning Pool in his life. Especially known for many Finns for taking the first Assembly SC2 championship trophy ever in February, his Zergiculum Vitae isn’t short on recent accomplishments either: a solid victory in the European Battle.net Invitational over Naniwa and a decent run in the IPL3 main tournament to name but a few. We will see if his experience in the Finnish winter fighting conditions will give him an edge over his competitors.

In addition to today’s announced players, we are very proud to announce Nvidia as a co-sponsor to ASUS ROG Stars Invite. ASUS ROG Stars Invite will run Starcraft II like it is meant to, on Nvidia GeForce GTX based graphics cards from ASUS (GTX560 Ti DirectCU II and GTX580 DirectCU II).

Four players in line, four to go. Stay tuned.

ASUS ROG Stars Invite, starting 4th of November in Helsinki, Finland, invites the ASUS ROG tournament champion mTw.DIMAGA and Finland’s currently the most successful player Acer.elfi to compete for the 10 000 $ prize pool.

A few weeks to go until the ASUS ROG Stars Invite Starcraft II tournament launches at Helsinki, Finland, to continue the epic started at Assembly Summer 2011 in the form of ASUS ROG Starcraft II tournament. Now, ASUS ROG Stars Invite calls for eight world class players and it’s time to introduce our first two attendees: Dmytro "mTw.DIMAGA" Filipchuk and Samuli "Acer.elfi" Sihvonen.


DIMAGA, the latest ASUS ROG tournament champion, is now given the opportunity to defend his reign on Finnish soil. Should he be successful, the biggest question in the minds of the audience is: can he top the manliness of his celebration flexes from last time? Known for his aggressive and entertaining Zerg style, this smirking Ukrainian has attracted a big fan base far before his first major title in August.



The champion of Finland: elfi. The past few weeks have seen “The Knight of Teuroinen” on a tear, qualifying for four different tournaments held outside Europe, including two IEM World Challenges and the WCG. These latest endeavors are at latest the ones that give him the crown of best Finnish player. Falling to Dimaga in the quarterfinals of Assembly Summer, he might get a rematch against the Ukrainian Zerg and exact some revenge. As it stands he might not have to wait even that long: the two are currently on a crash course to meet in the semifinals of IEM Guangzhou after winning their respective groups, should they clear their quarterfinal opponents.