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Zurich15328 Posts
Battle in Berlin - TeamLiquid Previewby: DeezlMLG Providence and Dreamhack Winter blaze forth like the apocalyptic, earth-shattering meteors they are, and little shooting stars like Battle in Berlin are blotted out by their fiery glow. Not to fear, however - TeamLiquid is here to keep you posted. Our resident German Zatic will be on location to bring you results, photos, and interviews.
Battle in Berlin isn't a tournament out to revolutionize ESPORTS like some of the other November tournaments. It is an 8-man European invite tournament, flying in famous players and crowd favorites into the German capital city to provide a solid day of entertainment for ESPORTS fans. The venue appears to be sizable, reportedly allowing for up to 500 spectators with extra space for many other things. A $10,000 prize pool and good payouts for all places is to be respected, and the talent is certainly good. German home favorites Atn.Socke, Liquid'TLO and ESC.GoOdy are in attendance, so I damn well expect every Berliner worth his socks to show up and support their local eSporters. And hopefully some Dutchmen too, to cheer on Ret and Grubby.
The overall bracket is pretty damn deadly and the first round should produce at least three exciting matches out of the four. The three championship Zergs are all in attendance - WCG Poland winner Nerchio, BNet Invitational and Assembly Winter champion Ret, and IPL3/ESWC champ Stephano. TLO will also be playing Zerg for this tournament, reportedly - and last we checked, TLO has Ret and Morrow for training partners and had a unique and successful brand of Zerg in the past. Though it's been awhile since we've seen him tearing up the scene like he used to, I think he'll provide us with some amazing games. With four great and varied Zergs attending, this tournament should be a great Zerg clinic for aspiring players watching the stream.
The Protoss in attendance are the rock-solid Socke and the world-famous Grubby, who qualified over Nerchio's teammate Osho. Socke is a proven warrior with his staple robust builds, but Grubby had been looking quite flimsy until the past few months. One big Protoss notable is absent from the tournament – White-Ra was unable to obtain a Visa. This is, of course, a big loss for the tournament. White-Ra is a huge crowd draw and entertaining player, and has shown his ability to compete on level with any player at any event - something Socke and Grubby have yet to prove.
The Terran invite, Kas, is a player we haven't heard much of on the international stage in a few months, but recent cup results confirm his continued beastliness. Kas will be joined at the front by White-Ra's replacement - Panzer Terran Goody. Goody has been a great but inconsistent player in EU since he was unleashed, but he will, if nothing else, greatly extend the duration of the tournament. Notably lacking are Korean and NA attendees, which is fine for a first time event of this scale – success should be gauged before spending more money on flights. It provides a rare chance to see the depth of the EU talent pool minus expatriates Naniwa and SaSe.
Crisis Managementby: PrimadogYou’re five days from the opening of your first major event. After months of hard work, it’s finally starting to come together; five local sponsors, ten thousand dollars up for grabs, and eight of the world's most famous StarCraft stars travelling to Berlin. Then the most famous of them all sends you the dreaded message:
Hello, seems I not get Germany visa in time you replacement me plz...
I have already fly tickets but t.t ((
What do you do?
"The first one always sucks," this is a mantra repeated by every tournament organizer I’ve ever spoken to. In eSports, something always goes wrong; it’s like a fundamental force of nature (and let’s not forget tournaments beset by actual forces of nature, poor MLG). Regardless of how prepared you are, there will always be times when the things going wrong are out of your hands. The true test of character for tournament organizers is their resolve in handling the inevitable crisis. Some fold under the pressure, some deflect blame onto others involved; Blizzard, the ISP, God, whoever is most convenient. Others fade away, going AWOL, disabling cellphones and feigning broken mics. Still others simply abscond with mountains of raw currency… allegedly.
Luckily, the Battle in Berlin staff has kept it together.  White-Ra hit VISA-trouble just days from the Invitational, and they immediately went searching for a worthy replacement.  GoOdy may not have the universal appeal that White-Ra brings, but who does? GoOdy is well-known, plays an iconic "Panzer general" style, and brings with him the hope of the home nation.
Most importantly, the staff was candid, honest, and quick in explaining the situation to the community. Surprisingly enough, TeamLiquid accepted the apology in stride. It's easy to forget, despite the tired talk of how quixotic the userbase has become, TeamLiquid.net remains the center of the English StarCraft universe for good reasons.
The lesson here for aspiring tournament organizers is a simple one; don't panic. We appreciate your hard work, honesty, and humility, even in the face of occasional hiccups. As long as the event ends better than it started, the goods will be all we talk about.
On November 12th, the fate of the world will once again be settled in Berlin.
Tune in.
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Where are all the EU terran and protoss power house? Sjow, Strelok and Naniwa, Mana
I think this tourney is for the SWARM
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Crappy for White-Ra, but either way it's just free money for Stephano.
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Canada1637 Posts
Really pumped to see Grubby vs Stephano more than anything else. Commentary from players will make it fun too 
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SirJolt taught me a new word today, now my favorite word is "QuiXotiC."
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Grubby and ret fighting!!!! Woohooooo
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Who are the casters for this?
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SpecialEndry is doing the English casts I think.
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Yep, Special Endrey & Player casting.
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On November 12 2011 15:51 DarkRise wrote:
Where are all the EU terran and protoss power house? Sjow, Strelok and Naniwa, Mana
I think this tourney is for the SWARM
They failed to qualify...
Mana was 2nd in one of the qualifiers. With WhiteRa Visa trouble he was next in the line on the invitation list. But couldn't come on such a short notice (remember we have a long weekend in Poland now)
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Today is the day! I can't wait :D
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Why is it surprising that the TL community accepted their apology about white-ra not being able to make it? When has TL ever been pissed at organizers for something 100% out of their control?
Other than that, good read. Whoever wins between Stephano and Grubby will win this event IMO.
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Too bad Mana couldnt make it, i guess i will be cheering for Nerchio and Stephano then.
Ps.Also these kinds of problems are one more reason for us Europeans to love Shangen. At least most of us.
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That piece was mostly motivated by this, Doomsville. The contrast in attitude and action between the two recent tournament leadership made me want to encourage Berlin to succeed.
On November 11 2011 08:06 Special Endrey wrote:
we are sweating over TONS of stuff you have no frikin idea :§
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so Stephano's bagagge was lost in frankfurt - handleing it right now . will be brought to his hotel in the next hours
we there seems to something wrong with the power supply - working on it 
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my first real tournament in attendance ... see ya in 3-4 hours in Universal hall :D
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No Swede =(
GO Grubby! Stephano is no match!
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Stephano will definitely win
Aw darn no whitera? it would be cool to see whitera vs stephano finals, though stephano would probably win
Anyways Goody is cool too. I hope Goody or TLO wins. Stephano will probably win but if Goody or TLO win I think it'll be more interesting, especially Goody since he does mech xD
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oh yeah first live event im coming! cya there! :D
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Haha epic previews! Sure as hell I'll tune in!
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GoGoGrubby! And of course Ret too, but he's very inconsistent xD. I think Stephano will take it and I'm very curious as to how TLO will do it as zerg
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Pretty strong zerg lineup.
Besides the obvious guess that Stephano will win the tournament, I also see Nerchio and Ret having a good chance beating him in a ZvZ. Has just to be the final and we'll have a happy team Acer or Liquid.
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Russian Federation51 Posts
Looking forward to seeing how Kas has been preparing for WCG, since he is the Ukrainian preliminaries champion. Also, I would really like TLO to show that he is back on track and his mechanics are finally up to par with his brilliant mind (however, TLO - zerg, wtf is up with the guy???)). Finally, Nerchio v Stephano have a chance to show the most entertaining ZvZ finals ever.
Ret and Grubby, I can't really figure out where these 2 are at atm, so we'll see =)
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The winner of Grubby vs Stephano will win this tournament. Absolutely think Grubby has a shot.
TLO will show impressive result.
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Russian Federation6 Posts
which match will be the first?
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I have bets going with my friends that stephano isn't going to lose a single map at 2;1. Pretty insane stuff going but I am so confident in this guy! <3
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Will the stream be free? Or must pay on the Battle of Berlin site?
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On November 12 2011 18:10 Kraww wrote:
No Swede =(
No, but TLO lives in Sweden now so i´ll be rooting for him! (And the panzer general Goody ofc!)
Edit: Darn! TLO and Goody fights in the first round! Well, at least one of my favourites will make it to the Semi-finals! :-)
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One of the few tournies that has clear zerg favorites, i think it will be a Stephano vs Nerchio final most likely.
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ok Grubby you can take Stephano and all tournament.GL
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On November 12 2011 19:33 RiversCuo wrote:
Will the stream be free? Or must pay on the Battle of Berlin site?
HQ-stream costs 2,5 Euro, but I asume there will be a non HQ-stream for free...
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On November 12 2011 18:10 Kraww wrote:
No Swede =(
GO Grubby! Stephano is no match!
Well TLO is pretty close to one :-P
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On November 12 2011 19:44 Lordlake wrote:Show nested quote +On November 12 2011 19:33 RiversCuo wrote:
Will the stream be free? Or must pay on the Battle of Berlin site? HQ-stream costs 2,5 Euro, but I asume there will be a non HQ-stream for free...
I hope so! Thanks
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My bracket prediction: Socke will beat Nerchio, but will then lose to Ret or Kas, their match is too close to call though. Grubby will take out Stephano in a close series, then beat TLO and will probably win the tournament. He's been besting up everything lately.
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White-Ra's absence from the tournament is quite a large hit, I guess we'll have to cheer for some other Protoss player then in his stead. Although I believe that Stephano will have a very good chance of winning, my hopes are high for someone like Socke or Kas to take the win this time.
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2 hours to go. the Battle of Berlin!
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they even have 2 high fiving ponies as static image for stream! this can't spell anything else but epicness!
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Wait, how exactly did White-Ra hit visa issues? He obviously has a visa of some kind with how he travels (MLG's and such) so why would it be more difficult to go to Germany vs the US?
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Why! WHY is Grubby vs Stephano an ro8 match and not the finals! Oh cruel world...
Of all of the WORST things that could happen, this is THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING.
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This seems like the underdogs time to shine, that is if Stephano doesn't take it all!
Totally pumped!
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Roccat comercials here we come ...
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Really nice, the last part was especially awesome.
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Really looking forward to Grubby Vs Stephano and TLO vs Goody :D
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What happened is this starting in 5 minutes?
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does the stream work already?
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On November 12 2011 20:56 Daray wrote:
What happened is this starting in 5 minutes?
2 pm CET
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Grubby/Socke/Stephano for the win! Gogo!
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if goody wins this, imma laugh SO hard 
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i always like two threads for one tournament!
so i can copy paste and post in both and i like copy paste.
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On November 12 2011 21:49 The Void wrote:
i always like two threads for one tournament!
so i can copy paste and post in both and i like copy paste.
so more +1 for you...
BiB should be live now/soon...
Don't know who i want to see winning... gogo Berlin!
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meh, kas performs really bad outside ladder and the rest of the players are pretty uninteresting to watch
i hope grubski wins it
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Russian Federation1849 Posts
there is a delay cuz of technic. I read it in the chat of russian streamer.
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Russian Federation1849 Posts
On November 12 2011 22:09 SKYFISH_ wrote:
meh, kas performs really bad outside ladder and the rest of the players are pretty uninteresting to watch
i hope grubski wins it
Stephano vs Grubby is promising to be somewhat interesting, Grubby got much better after being a month in Korea.
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On November 12 2011 22:09 SKYFISH_ wrote:
meh, kas performs really bad outside ladder and the rest of the players are pretty uninteresting to watch
i hope grubski wins it
Kas won WCG Ukraine against Strelok, White-Ra, Dimaga etc. in a LAN environment.
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Can anybody see anything? I just want to know if there is a problem with my conection.
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already delayed...
@MyStarCraft
MyStarCraft
Battle in Berlin will start about 45 minutes later #starcaft2 #Berlin
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https://twitter.com/#!/MyStarCraft/status/135339786536890368
Thanks for the info!
But: 
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On November 12 2011 19:58 NunedQ wrote:
My bracket prediction: Socke will beat Nerchio, but will then lose to Ret or Kas, their match is too close to call though. Grubby will take out Stephano in a close series, then beat TLO and will probably win the tournament. He's been besting up everything lately.
he got beaten by MKP and Mana two players Stephano ripped a part at ESWC. tbh i only see ret having a shot against Stephano, imo ret is the 4th best foreigner a bit after Idra, huk and Stephano. Naniwa might be up there but i havn't seen him in some time.
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On November 12 2011 20:19 turnip wrote:
Why! WHY is Grubby vs Stephano an ro8 match and not the finals! Oh cruel world...
Of all of the WORST things that could happen, this is THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING.
my thoughts exactly, I'm so bummed out for whoever is gonna lose that match. It should be a good watch though.
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crap i decided not to play a wc3 tourney because i wanted to watch. should have played :D
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On November 12 2011 22:25 AndersR. wrote:Show nested quote +On November 12 2011 19:58 NunedQ wrote:
My bracket prediction: Socke will beat Nerchio, but will then lose to Ret or Kas, their match is too close to call though. Grubby will take out Stephano in a close series, then beat TLO and will probably win the tournament. He's been besting up everything lately. he got beaten by MKP and Mana two players Stephano ripped a part at ESWC. tbh i only see ret having a shot against Stephano, imo ret is the 4th best foreigner a bit after Idra, huk and Stephano. Naniwa might be up there but i havn't seen him in some time.
Ret definitely has a chance, but every time I've seen him play against a good ZvZ player, he lost. I have more faith in him in the other matchups.
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Endrey just announced that they are waiting for 2-3 last cables to arrive. Prox 20min delay from now on.
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when the first battle will begin?
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What a joke... It was supposed to start an hour ago and still nothing, even any updates...
And the stream... why not twich or own3d tv, which are especially made for things like this? It`s hard to watch self made streams...
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On November 12 2011 23:03 Mahgoo wrote:
What a joke... It was supposed to start an hour ago and still nothing, even any updates...
And the stream... why not twich or own3d tv, which are especially made for things like this? It`s hard to watch self made streams...
First, you are looking for communications about the delay in the preview thread. There is another thread about the tournament.
Second, regame is a sponsor of the tournament. It doesn't take any extra effort to watch it. You click on the play button just like you would do on jtv. Minus the stutter.
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On November 12 2011 23:03 Mahgoo wrote:
What a joke... It was supposed to start an hour ago and still nothing, even any updates...
And the stream... why not twich or own3d tv, which are especially made for things like this? It`s hard to watch self made streams...
It's not the fault of regame, they have technical issues at the location.
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Cables are being plugged in. A few more minutes.
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I can only see music there.
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TLO is playing Z for this tournament btw
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shees the sound is messed out in the english stream!
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they should really try doing something about the sound.
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Please work on the sound quality, it seems like there is a problem with the connection to endreys mic. quality of the picture is ok but sound is unbearable
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will all matches be played during different times? or are all 4 matches being played as we speak?
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they are played one at a time
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o my god, it is 5 o clock und 1 game ist played, I will see gooodyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
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I think Stephano has this easy, but nothing short of TLO winning this would make me happier than a Grubby upset!
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Easy money for Stephano. To zee bank!
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United States301 Posts
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ehm what is up with this tournament? now the english stream is german?
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..... No English stream? I'll just watch the Zowie tourney then, or maybe get some studying done. I know first tournaments always have hicks, but can it really be that hard to have two streams for the commentators - one for German, one for English? I don't know, so I'm kind of talking out of my @$$, but it just seems like every other tournament does this. I'm not trying to be mean, it would attract so many more viewers if there was an English stream.
Oh well, I'll check back a little later, apparently TLO's match is going to be cast in English.
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the organisation is just a pain in the ass :X anyway khaldor and mori did a good job
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Goody is in the Final versus Nerchio.
He win versus Stephano 2:1 ,
very very interesting
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I looooved the show! Great job Endrey and everyone making this happen! This is definitely saving esports!
And big t hanks to Socke, Kas, Stephano and Ret for doing great cocasting in the tournament! I loved it!
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Every tournament has had issues. All in all great job Endrey!!
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FUAR MOAR MINUTZ!
Seriously now, the tournament was great and all, but starting two and a half hours late was kind of .....
anger-inducing.
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Are there vods of the tourny?
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juicyjames
United States3815 Posts
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EPT
Acer.Nerchio, 
TLO
