Hello everyone! IGN Pro League is thrilled to announce our second iteration of Team Arena Challenge, featuring many respected and elite invited teams! This edition of Team Arena Challenge also has a semi-open, application-based qualifier element. If you are unfamiliar with IPL Team Arena Challenge, check out the following links:
Note: The team Incredible Miracle, a joint winner of Team Arena Challenge 1, have declined their invitation. We are sorry that they did not wish to participate, and we hope to see their players in our various other events! * : SlayerS has ultimately decided to withdraw from the tournament, so their position has been given to the third-place qualifying team StarTale instead.
The Format!
Semi-Open Qualifiers
IPL TAC 2 welcomes any uninvited team to apply for participation in our two online qualifiers. The first online qualifier will begin this Sunday, January 8th at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time (18:00 GMT (+00:00)). To apply for the semi-open qualifiers, send an e-mail to ffields (at) ign (dot) com with the subject line "IPL TAC 2 Application: (Team Name)" Please include your team roster and website if you have one in the e-mail. We are not placing a cap on how many teams may enter, but we do ask that only serious teams with Masters and Grand Masters players (with a MINIMUM of 5 players) send applications. All applications will be accepted or declined at the discretion of IGN Pro League. Our second online qualifier will be on Sunday, January 15th, also at 10:00 a.m. PST (18:00 GMT (+00:00)) and any team that is accepted may play in one or both of the qualifiers. Only team managers may observe games, maximum two managers per team. ALL REPLAYS must be submitted to IPL admins from both teams to ensure that no games are missing or disputed. If all replays are not submitted, teams may be asked to re-play their matches.
All teams that are accepted for our qualifiers will be placed into a fully randomized, single-elimination bracket. The format of each match will be Winner's Format best of 9. The first map of each round will be determined by IPL, and the first players for each team will be declared to an IPL admin before the match begins. The default server for this tournament is North America unless both teams agree to play a game or series on another server. The top two teams from each of the two qualifiers will be seeded into the main tournament against our invited teams!
The Main Tournament
This tournament is a double-elimination bo9 Winner's Format. Each match will consist of five players from each team. Teams choose their first player blind, then the winner of the first game stays on to play a new player from the losing team. The winner of each game stays on until all five players from the opposing team have been defeated. This can result in an all-kill, where one player defeats all five of the opposing players in a row. It can also result in a reverse all-kill, where a team's anchor player can come back from 0-4 to win it all for their team!
If Team A loses to Team B in their first match, they will drop into the lower or losers bracket and will have another chance to fight their way to the finals. The grand finals will require the team coming from the lower bracket to win twice in order to become the champions, while the team coming from the winners or upper bracket will only need to win one bo9. There will be 16 total teams competing from around the world!
Prize Breakdown
1st Place: $9,000 split between the team any way they see fit.
2nd Place: $4,000
3rd Place: $3,000
4th Place: $2,000
5th/6th Place: $1,000
Schedule
As always, our live casts will begin at 5 p.m. PST, or 01:00 GMT (+00:00) each day and qualifier broadcasts will begin on Monday, January 9th! The main tournament will begin on Monday, January 23rd. The grand finals are currently scheduled for early March.
There will be a European rebroadcast each day following the first broadcast at 18:30 CEST (17:30 GMT (+00:00))
Keep watching for more information on a fully-defined schedule.
Map Pool We are pleased to add three NEW maps to our tournament pool from our Mapmaking Contest! Terminus SE Darkness Falls Sanshorn Mist Atlantis Spaceship Shakuras Plateau Calm Before the Storm Shattered Temple Antiga Shipyard (Cross Only) Daybreak Tal’Darim Altar
*All of our maps can be found easily by searching "IPLMap" when creating a game on NA! Maps will be finished uploading to Europe and Korea as well by the end of the week.
Casters
Every game will be commentated by our in-house IGN Pro League casting team of CatsPajamas, HDStarCraft, PainUser, and Doa!
Stay up to date with IPL 4 Qualifiers, IPL TV, IPL Fight Club, and IPL Team Arena by checking our Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Justin.TV!
On January 04 2012 09:02 FrostedMiniWheats wrote: Awesome, but I'm incredibly sad that IM won't be attending ._.
We're very sad about it as well, but we can't force them to play! We know that there will be some incredible series in this tournament, even without this amazing team.
Yet again with new maps that most people won't have practiced on. Sure it's refreshing as a spectator to watch new maps but it does cut into the quality of play. Stoked for another season of team arena though since the first one was awesome
If MVP play as well as they did in KSL, they should take home the glory. Seriously, finale, Keen, sc, genius, noblesse are beeeasts, and then we have DRG.
On January 04 2012 09:08 Micket wrote: If MVP play as well as they did in KSL, they should take home the glory. Seriously, finale, Keen, sc, genius, noblesse are beeeasts, and then we have DRG.
MVP is pretty unbeatable at the moment. Keen/DRG are playing like two of the best players in the world. Then you have a backline of sC, Noblesse, Finale, Genius, etc. and it seems almost impossible to beat.
So excited about this!! Really glad to see you guys decided to include 3 new maps as well to the map pool... It's nice to see all the different leagues introducing new maps
On January 04 2012 09:08 wattabeast wrote: Is there a maximum number of players to enter for the qualifier? Thanks
Teams applying for the qualifiers must have a roster of at least 5 players. There is no limit to the number of teams we accept, provided they are all of the quality we are requiring. The bracket may end up with 4 teams, or 12+, we don't know yet! =)
Is complexity and MVP attending as one team again? Didn´t they cancel their partnership like a month after they started it? Or am I mixing things up now?
On January 04 2012 09:11 Darkfrog wrote: Awesome and everything but question is this:
Is complexity and MVP attending as one team again? Didn´t they cancel their partnership like a month after they started it? Or am I mixing things up now?
You may be thinking of Quantic IM. Quantic is participating in TAC 2 as a single team, and IM declined their invitation. coLMVP is still a functioning partnership!
YEAAHH!!! Mouz and MVP are my 2 favourites to get to the finals this, but there an indecent number of amazing teams with amazing players in this, so it could go to anyone. GODDAMIT I love team leagues. Oh, and I'm also expecting Keen, Thorzain and Sase each to perform disgustingly amazing all kills at some point during the tournament.
On January 04 2012 09:11 Darkfrog wrote: Awesome and everything but question is this:
Is complexity and MVP attending as one team again? Didn´t they cancel their partnership like a month after they started it? Or am I mixing things up now?
You may be thinking of Quantic IM. Quantic is participating in TAC 2 as a single team, and IM declined their invitation. coLMVP is still a functioning partnership!
I apologize. I editet my original post a few seconds ago. Got that mixed up.
I'm always amazed by the professional of IPL. This looks like it will be really well run like your previous ones but even better!
I love the idea of lesser known teams getting the chance to prove themselves. There are lots of smaller teams are there who I know can make a splash. I know I'll have my eye on a certain few =)
Also really excited about Doa. Loved him as a caster at IPL and was my favorite code A caster so to have him here will make this tournament 100% awesome!
Hope Rox.Kis apply, cant get enough of Titan at the moment. Also if Alternate had a 5th player they could be a good german representative. Damn after looking here http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Portal:Teams/Europe and here http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Portal:Teams/America_and_Australia its really got me excited about teamleagues. IPL you gotta keep this up, and make it even bigger! Team events have so much more excitement about them, especially when you get the teams that are largely based around one nation. Gets people all patriotic, its great.
On January 04 2012 09:35 Ollie wrote: Just played a game on Darkness Falls. It's completely awesome.
I can't help but feel skeptical (sieging nat from 3rd in tvz, massive ground distance for zerg to get round to attack) but i'll give it the benefit of the doubt until i see it in action
This might be a very weird piece of input, but I wonder if i'm the only one who would enjoy more grandiose graphics, sounds, and themes for this team arena challenge. The fighting dojo theme was neat, but I feel like IPL has an opportunity to make this the number one team league to win (outside of the GSL) if they give it a more dramatic or serious mood.
Sorry if that's horrible input. Either way I'm sure i'll enjoy this as I do with all IPL events!
On January 04 2012 10:12 amazingoopah wrote: just to clear it up, but I'm guessing Slayers was never beaten in the 'next challenger' format and they ended that particular system as 'champions'?
IPL Team Arena (weekly showmatch) is just on a long hiatus. It will likely resume in the future!
Do you have any info about IM not joining? It seems really odd, why not give their B teamers some real experience? I'm sure they want to focus their A teamers for GSL but they have a thick roster.
Holy SHIT. IPL TA was one of the best tournaments to watch of 2011 in my opinion. I love best of 9s, and tournaments dispersed throughout a longer time period (like TSL, unlike MLG. However awesome MLG is ).
Isn't this the exact same time as the second half of the NASL qualifier? VPGamers will sign up regardless, an opportunity like this is too good to pass up!
I don't know who's making the map decisions over there at IGN but they definitely seem to know what they're doing.
I get many opinions on what maps to add/remove before making any decisions, there's a lot of different input.
On January 04 2012 12:39 Lewan72 wrote: I'm nervous about the three new maps added...they could be horribly broken and would affect the results of the matches.
We ran an entire tournament just dedicated to testing maps and have worked extensively with the map creators to make many minor adjustments and additions/subtractions based on feedback and statistics. Are they perfect? Probably not. But they are very solid maps that I feel confident in including in our map pool.
Hurray for a source of high quality games, high quality production values, at a time that is reasonable, and a price that can't be beat! I will definitely be tuning in, and please keep up the amazing work!
On January 04 2012 12:03 decerto wrote: Hope mouz smash TL and EG for their insolence to assume they are a better team!, mana, thorzain and morrow 2 strong
Puma, Huk and JYP are all better then anyone on Mouz and Idra is as good as Mouz's best player so no Mouz is not too strong.
On January 04 2012 12:03 decerto wrote: Hope mouz smash TL and EG for their insolence to assume they are a better team!, mana, thorzain and morrow 2 strong
Puma, Huk and JYP are all better then anyone on Mouz and Idra is as good as Mouz's best player so no Mouz is not too strong.
On January 04 2012 12:03 decerto wrote: Hope mouz smash TL and EG for their insolence to assume they are a better team!, mana, thorzain and morrow 2 strong
Puma, Huk and JYP are all better then anyone on Mouz and Idra is as good as Mouz's best player so no Mouz is not too strong.
Here's the 2 things you don't understand: It's online. Thorzain doesn't fuck around online. TSL? Exactly. It's a team league. Mouz doesn't fuck around in team leagues. Every team league they have ever participated in? Exactly.
On January 04 2012 12:03 decerto wrote: Hope mouz smash TL and EG for their insolence to assume they are a better team!, mana, thorzain and morrow 2 strong
Puma, Huk and JYP are all better then anyone on Mouz and Idra is as good as Mouz's best player so no Mouz is not too strong.
And even then mouz has brutally crushed EG everytime they have played
On January 04 2012 12:03 decerto wrote: Hope mouz smash TL and EG for their insolence to assume they are a better team!, mana, thorzain and morrow 2 strong
Puma, Huk and JYP are all better then anyone on Mouz and Idra is as good as Mouz's best player so no Mouz is not too strong.
After the foreigner team of the year controversy and drama, I think that this is a perfect venue for teams like Liquid, EG and Mouz to see who really has the best team.
Hopefully the finals of this tournament can be played live at IPL 4. This team league is already the premier team tournament outside of Korea, but I would really love to see a live finals.
On January 04 2012 12:03 decerto wrote: Hope mouz smash TL and EG for their insolence to assume they are a better team!, mana, thorzain and morrow 2 strong
Puma, Huk and JYP are all better then anyone on Mouz and Idra is as good as Mouz's best player so no Mouz is not too strong.
LOL !!! MOUZ > EG !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Care to elaborate or will you let your caps lock do the talking for you?
On January 05 2012 01:08 Arceus wrote: I hate to whine about this everyday, but why every single teamleague has to be in winnerleague format ?
They would most likely have to have it as a Bo5 then if so. Otherwise i doubt any foreign team beyond EG would be able to compete with the ammount of korean teams in this time.
So for longer series they would have to use winners league format
On January 04 2012 12:03 decerto wrote: Hope mouz smash TL and EG for their insolence to assume they are a better team!, mana, thorzain and morrow 2 strong
Puma, Huk and JYP are all better then anyone on Mouz and Idra is as good as Mouz's best player so no Mouz is not too strong.
LOL !!! MOUZ > EG !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Care to elaborate or will you let your caps lock do the talking for you?
I think he's talking about when Mouz won some event or another.
EDIT: Also MaNa has a winning record over PuMa and ThorZaIN has beaten PuMa (lost series at NASL but could definitely beat PuMa in a Bo1 like they have here). MorroW has never played PuMa, but MorroW's ZvT is remarkable, and I think that he could beat him if he played his best.
HuK and MaNa have a pretty even record (3-4 for MaNa). ThorZaIN is 4-2 over HuK. MorroW is 2-1 against HuK since he switched to Zerg.
To the best of my knowledge mouz has never played JYP in a televised match, but ThorZaIN, MorroW, and MaNa are all capable of beating him especially when we're talking about a Bo1 setup like this tournament.
That being said team events are way more interesting when it's Proleague format or whatever EG Master's Cup used because the team that is deeper wins, not the team who has a better Final Boss (lol that's my name...)
On January 04 2012 12:03 decerto wrote: Hope mouz smash TL and EG for their insolence to assume they are a better team!, mana, thorzain and morrow 2 strong
Puma, Huk and JYP are all better then anyone on Mouz and Idra is as good as Mouz's best player so no Mouz is not too strong.
LOL !!! MOUZ > EG !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Care to elaborate or will you let your caps lock do the talking for you?
I think he's talking about when Mouz won some event or another.
This does not make Mouz a better team considering EG has CLEARLY the better roster now and has had FAR MORE individual tournament wins.
On January 04 2012 12:03 decerto wrote: Hope mouz smash TL and EG for their insolence to assume they are a better team!, mana, thorzain and morrow 2 strong
Puma, Huk and JYP are all better then anyone on Mouz and Idra is as good as Mouz's best player so no Mouz is not too strong.
You obviously didn't see TZain all-kill QIM
Lol to be fair, theognis and apocalypse aren't that great. Still really impressive that he beat Yoda, Seed and Happy. To bad he lost to horror the next series lol.
On January 04 2012 12:03 decerto wrote: Hope mouz smash TL and EG for their insolence to assume they are a better team!, mana, thorzain and morrow 2 strong
Puma, Huk and JYP are all better then anyone on Mouz and Idra is as good as Mouz's best player so no Mouz is not too strong.
LOL !!! MOUZ > EG !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Care to elaborate or will you let your caps lock do the talking for you?
I think he's talking about when Mouz won some event or another.
This does not make Mouz a better team considering EG has CLEARLY the better roster now and has had FAR MORE individual tournament wins.
This isn't an individual tournament. This is a team event. As far as foreign players go (and foreign teams in general) Mouz has one of the deepest rosters. Also, Mouz's players have been homegrown. The only one of their players I would even consider a "purchase" from another team is ThorZaIN, but that was because Prae was breaking up (also he's gotten a lot better since he got purchased). MorroW has become one of the best Zergs while on Mouz. MaNa has gone from a PvT specialist to dominating in every match-up while on Mouz. Hasu is still one of the best foreign Protoss players.
EG's team consists of PuMa (TSL), JYP (TSL), HuK (Liquid/oGs), and IdrA (CJ Entus). All of those players--while fantastic--became fantastic before they were on EG. EG is the Yankees, the Heat, or whoever else you want to compare them to. Yes they have a solid lineup, but it's a roster that has been built up by it's money. That being said, all those players have improved a lot on EG, but a lot of their progression as great players took place on other teams (we'll have to wait and see about JYP, he's incredible).
On January 04 2012 12:03 decerto wrote: Hope mouz smash TL and EG for their insolence to assume they are a better team!, mana, thorzain and morrow 2 strong
Puma, Huk and JYP are all better then anyone on Mouz and Idra is as good as Mouz's best player so no Mouz is not too strong.
LOL !!! MOUZ > EG !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Care to elaborate or will you let your caps lock do the talking for you?
I think he's talking about when Mouz won some event or another.
This does not make Mouz a better team considering EG has CLEARLY the better roster now and has had FAR MORE individual tournament wins.
This isn't an individual tournament. This is a team event. As far as foreign players go (and foreign teams in general) Mouz has one of the deepest rosters. Also, Mouz's players have been homegrown. The only one of their players I would even consider a "purchase" from another team is ThorZaIN, but that was because Prae was breaking up (also he's gotten a lot better since he got purchased). MorroW has become one of the best Zergs while on Mouz. MaNa has gone from a PvT specialist to dominating in every match-up while on Mouz. Hasu is still one of the best foreign Protoss players.
EG's team consists of PuMa (TSL), JYP (TSL), HuK (Liquid/oGs), and IdrA (CJ Entus). All of those players--while fantastic--became fantastic before they were on EG. EG is the Yankees, the Heat, or whoever else you want to compare them to. Yes they have a solid lineup, but it's a roster that has been built up by it's money. That being said, all those players have improved a lot on EG, but a lot of their progression as great players took place on other teams (we'll have to wait and see about JYP, he's incredible).
What does Mouz developing their players and EG "buying" their players have anything to do with skill? When it comes down to it, the best team wins and EG with the addition of JYP has a better roster. Moreover, last time I checked SC2 is an 1v1 game. Which means that although this is a team league, the participants will still be playing each other in a 1v1 format. Yes Mouz has had more success in team leagues up to date but with the recent additions of EG, they will most definitely overcome Mouz this time around.
On January 04 2012 12:03 decerto wrote: Hope mouz smash TL and EG for their insolence to assume they are a better team!, mana, thorzain and morrow 2 strong
Puma, Huk and JYP are all better then anyone on Mouz and Idra is as good as Mouz's best player so no Mouz is not too strong.
LOL !!! MOUZ > EG !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Care to elaborate or will you let your caps lock do the talking for you?
I think he's talking about when Mouz won some event or another.
This does not make Mouz a better team considering EG has CLEARLY the better roster now and has had FAR MORE individual tournament wins.
This isn't an individual tournament. This is a team event. As far as foreign players go (and foreign teams in general) Mouz has one of the deepest rosters. Also, Mouz's players have been homegrown. The only one of their players I would even consider a "purchase" from another team is ThorZaIN, but that was because Prae was breaking up (also he's gotten a lot better since he got purchased). MorroW has become one of the best Zergs while on Mouz. MaNa has gone from a PvT specialist to dominating in every match-up while on Mouz. Hasu is still one of the best foreign Protoss players.
EG's team consists of PuMa (TSL), JYP (TSL), HuK (Liquid/oGs), and IdrA (CJ Entus). All of those players--while fantastic--became fantastic before they were on EG. EG is the Yankees, the Heat, or whoever else you want to compare them to. Yes they have a solid lineup, but it's a roster that has been built up by it's money. That being said, all those players have improved a lot on EG, but a lot of their progression as great players took place on other teams (we'll have to wait and see about JYP, he's incredible).
What does Mouz developing their players and EG "buying" their players have anything to do with skill? When it comes down to it, the best team wins and EG with the addition of JYP has a better roster. Moreover, last time I checked SC2 is an 1v1 game. Which means that although this is a team league, the participants will still be playing each other in a 1v1 format. Yes Mouz has had more success in team leagues up to date but with the recent additions of EG, they will most definitely overcome Mouz this time around.
Team leagues are a lot more about strategy and matchups than 1v1 tournaments. Look what happened to IM when they played MVP and Startale. Send out MVP? Okay, we have the perfect PvT sniper in Tails and Parting waiting for him.
Mouz doesn't just randomly play their guys like some Korean teams seem to do, which is why they're so successful in team leagues.
On January 04 2012 12:03 decerto wrote: Hope mouz smash TL and EG for their insolence to assume they are a better team!, mana, thorzain and morrow 2 strong
Puma, Huk and JYP are all better then anyone on Mouz and Idra is as good as Mouz's best player so no Mouz is not too strong.
LOL !!! MOUZ > EG !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Care to elaborate or will you let your caps lock do the talking for you?
I think he's talking about when Mouz won some event or another.
This does not make Mouz a better team considering EG has CLEARLY the better roster now and has had FAR MORE individual tournament wins.
This isn't an individual tournament. This is a team event. As far as foreign players go (and foreign teams in general) Mouz has one of the deepest rosters. Also, Mouz's players have been homegrown. The only one of their players I would even consider a "purchase" from another team is ThorZaIN, but that was because Prae was breaking up (also he's gotten a lot better since he got purchased). MorroW has become one of the best Zergs while on Mouz. MaNa has gone from a PvT specialist to dominating in every match-up while on Mouz. Hasu is still one of the best foreign Protoss players.
EG's team consists of PuMa (TSL), JYP (TSL), HuK (Liquid/oGs), and IdrA (CJ Entus). All of those players--while fantastic--became fantastic before they were on EG. EG is the Yankees, the Heat, or whoever else you want to compare them to. Yes they have a solid lineup, but it's a roster that has been built up by it's money. That being said, all those players have improved a lot on EG, but a lot of their progression as great players took place on other teams (we'll have to wait and see about JYP, he's incredible).
What does Mouz developing their players and EG "buying" their players have anything to do with skill? When it comes down to it, the best team wins and EG with the addition of JYP has a better roster. Moreover, last time I checked SC2 is an 1v1 game. Which means that although this is a team league, the participants will still be playing each other in a 1v1 format. Yes Mouz has had more success in team leagues up to date but with the recent additions of EG, they will most definitely overcome Mouz this time around.
MaNa is 5-2 against PuMa and ThorZaIN is 4-2 against HuK. The point is that Mouz is a better team. Their players have been trained by Mouz (or at least while they are being sponsored by them) and they dominate in Team Leagues.
On January 04 2012 12:03 decerto wrote: Hope mouz smash TL and EG for their insolence to assume they are a better team!, mana, thorzain and morrow 2 strong
Puma, Huk and JYP are all better then anyone on Mouz and Idra is as good as Mouz's best player so no Mouz is not too strong.
LOL !!! MOUZ > EG !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Care to elaborate or will you let your caps lock do the talking for you?
I think he's talking about when Mouz won some event or another.
This does not make Mouz a better team considering EG has CLEARLY the better roster now and has had FAR MORE individual tournament wins.
This isn't an individual tournament. This is a team event. As far as foreign players go (and foreign teams in general) Mouz has one of the deepest rosters. Also, Mouz's players have been homegrown. The only one of their players I would even consider a "purchase" from another team is ThorZaIN, but that was because Prae was breaking up (also he's gotten a lot better since he got purchased). MorroW has become one of the best Zergs while on Mouz. MaNa has gone from a PvT specialist to dominating in every match-up while on Mouz. Hasu is still one of the best foreign Protoss players.
EG's team consists of PuMa (TSL), JYP (TSL), HuK (Liquid/oGs), and IdrA (CJ Entus). All of those players--while fantastic--became fantastic before they were on EG. EG is the Yankees, the Heat, or whoever else you want to compare them to. Yes they have a solid lineup, but it's a roster that has been built up by it's money. That being said, all those players have improved a lot on EG, but a lot of their progression as great players took place on other teams (we'll have to wait and see about JYP, he's incredible).
What does Mouz developing their players and EG "buying" their players have anything to do with skill? When it comes down to it, the best team wins and EG with the addition of JYP has a better roster. Moreover, last time I checked SC2 is an 1v1 game. Which means that although this is a team league, the participants will still be playing each other in a 1v1 format. Yes Mouz has had more success in team leagues up to date but with the recent additions of EG, they will most definitely overcome Mouz this time around.
MaNa is 5-2 against PuMa and ThorZaIN is 4-2 against HuK. The point is that Mouz is a better team. Their players have been trained by Mouz (or at least while they are being sponsored by them) and they dominate in Team Leagues.
I agree with your overall point, but to be fair, h2h matchup scores rarely mean anything, especially if those games were played a long time ago. The SC2 metagame moves too fast for any results that are over 1-2 months old to be indicative of anything. Current player form is much more important.
On January 04 2012 12:03 decerto wrote: Hope mouz smash TL and EG for their insolence to assume they are a better team!, mana, thorzain and morrow 2 strong
Puma, Huk and JYP are all better then anyone on Mouz and Idra is as good as Mouz's best player so no Mouz is not too strong.
LOL !!! MOUZ > EG !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Care to elaborate or will you let your caps lock do the talking for you?
I think he's talking about when Mouz won some event or another.
This does not make Mouz a better team considering EG has CLEARLY the better roster now and has had FAR MORE individual tournament wins.
This isn't an individual tournament. This is a team event. As far as foreign players go (and foreign teams in general) Mouz has one of the deepest rosters. Also, Mouz's players have been homegrown. The only one of their players I would even consider a "purchase" from another team is ThorZaIN, but that was because Prae was breaking up (also he's gotten a lot better since he got purchased). MorroW has become one of the best Zergs while on Mouz. MaNa has gone from a PvT specialist to dominating in every match-up while on Mouz. Hasu is still one of the best foreign Protoss players.
EG's team consists of PuMa (TSL), JYP (TSL), HuK (Liquid/oGs), and IdrA (CJ Entus). All of those players--while fantastic--became fantastic before they were on EG. EG is the Yankees, the Heat, or whoever else you want to compare them to. Yes they have a solid lineup, but it's a roster that has been built up by it's money. That being said, all those players have improved a lot on EG, but a lot of their progression as great players took place on other teams (we'll have to wait and see about JYP, he's incredible).
What does Mouz developing their players and EG "buying" their players have anything to do with skill? When it comes down to it, the best team wins and EG with the addition of JYP has a better roster. Moreover, last time I checked SC2 is an 1v1 game. Which means that although this is a team league, the participants will still be playing each other in a 1v1 format. Yes Mouz has had more success in team leagues up to date but with the recent additions of EG, they will most definitely overcome Mouz this time around.
Aside from the strategic aspects that Qaatar already mentioned, there are also special circumstances, which can give a team like Mousesports an advantage. Mousesports was always a very team driven organisation. This goes back to their CS 1.6 roots and their focus on the WC3l in WC3. They take team events extremely seriously. Furthermore all of their players said, that one of the things they enjoy the most on mouz is the team spirit. They get extra motivation in such events, because they just don´t play for themselves or to present the sponsors, but also for the sake of their team mates. This can lead to victories over other teams, which have perhaps more accomplished players (MVP, Slayers, EG etc.) in solo events
For managers who have players in HomeStory Cup, I would ask Take if it's possible to play from HSM. I know White-Ra played a BO5 match from HomeStory Cup during IPL2.
On January 05 2012 06:05 Jayjay54 wrote: I love how the foreign fan base slowly divides in EG and Mouz. This can become a real rivalry between the teams and the fans alike.
also, mouz is waaay better.
this ! It like Eg is Man city Mouz is Man utd XD but Korea proteam like Real+Barca that so far ahead in skill hahaha
On January 05 2012 06:05 Jayjay54 wrote: I love how the foreign fan base slowly divides in EG and Mouz. This can become a real rivalry between the teams and the fans alike.
also, mouz is waaay better.
this ! It like Eg is Man city Mouz is Man utd XD but Korea proteam like Real+Barca that so far ahead in skill hahaha
On January 05 2012 06:05 Jayjay54 wrote: I love how the foreign fan base slowly divides in EG and Mouz. This can become a real rivalry between the teams and the fans alike.
also, mouz is waaay better.
this ! It like Eg is Man city Mouz is Man utd XD but Korea proteam like Real+Barca that so far ahead in skill hahaha
The gap between Mouz and EG is much larger than the gap between Man City and Man U ;D
On January 05 2012 08:56 Tidus Mino wrote: Hello my team Infused are signed upto the qualifier and we have just added 3 more players, is there anyway we can get them added to the roster please?
Sure, just email us again with the updated roster.
On January 05 2012 08:56 Tidus Mino wrote: Hello my team Infused are signed upto the qualifier and we have just added 3 more players, is there anyway we can get them added to the roster please?
Sure, just email us again with the updated roster.
If the Koreans decide to play, they will win just to sheer depth. The remaining foreign teams are not deep at all.
That's pretty cool. I'd love to see teams like eSahara or CheckSix because I've rarely seen them, but I would be pretty happy to see FXO Open Imba get in (Strelok hwaiting! ^^). They have one of the best foreign teams, so I'd love to see them compete.
But yeah, if Korean teams play I'm rooting for HoSeo and StarTale!
We have already received applications from more than 10 teams and are very excited about Sunday's matches! It's not too late to apply for this week or next week's qualifiers though, so get those applications in to ffields (at) ign (dot) com before it's too late!
How in the world did this devolve into Mouz vs EG? Especially when it was the consensus of the TL writers to award that specific award to TL/EG. EG had nothing to do with that award (obviously aside from being the best team ).
On January 05 2012 10:43 MCDayC wrote: I must be the only guy who likes mouz and EG, but not TL (as a team)!
That makes two of us! I don't not like TL, but they get TOO much love just because this site has the same name.
On January 05 2012 10:43 MCDayC wrote: I must be the only guy who likes mouz and EG, but not TL (as a team)!
Honestly, how can you not like TL? Sheth and Tyler are easily two of the most lovable people in the StarCraft community (plus they have the almighty Banjo!!!
On January 05 2012 11:57 ssg wrote: Contenders for the last 4 spots, if they play, with some selected players: FXO Open (Brat_OK, Strelok, Lowely)
If the Koreans decide to play, they will win just to sheer depth. The remaining foreign teams are not deep at all.
Just wanted to note here that FXO Open and imba.FXO are completely seperate teams. FXO Open's primarly sponsor is FXO, but imba.FXO only has them as a secondary supporter (and shirt provider). Imbalanced is the main sponsor of that team.
If the Koreans decide to play, they will win just to sheer depth. The remaining foreign teams are not deep at all.
You have a really weird idea of who are the best players on the NA teams.
e: just so I don't sound selfcentered or anything, I'm not saying I should be on there xD but..
Nah, it's not that he has a weird idea, it's just that most people only see a few big tournaments and the players whom get the most exposure. Unfortunately, most people (like me) aren't high enough on ladder to face them on a regular basis to judge how good they truly are apart from sparse appearances.
On January 05 2012 06:05 Jayjay54 wrote: I love how the foreign fan base slowly divides in EG and Mouz. This can become a real rivalry between the teams and the fans alike.
also, mouz is waaay better.
this ! It like Eg is Man city Mouz is Man utd XD but Korea proteam like Real+Barca that so far ahead in skill hahaha
The gap between Mouz and EG is much larger than the gap between Man City and Man U ;D
XD money can make it's happen man (and it's sure fast)
We have decided to end applications for Sunday's qualifier at 3 p.m. PST today. That's about 5 hours from this post. We will announce the teams playing in Sunday's qualifier at 4 p.m. PST today. Teams that miss this new application deadline will still be able to apply for our second qualifier next Sunday. Thanks!
Good to see that IM will probably be playing in this tournament, as they are participating in the first qualifier.
Edit: Just realized that this tournament has a larger prize pool than the GSTL open tournaments, and looking at the teams already signed up for the first qualifier as well as the invited teams, a stronger pool of participating teams.
Updated the thread with new information. SlayerS has ultimately decided to withdraw from the tournament, before any games were played. Their spot has been given to the third place qualifying team StarTale instead.
The first broadcast for Team Arena Challenge 2 is today at 5 p.m. PST (about 6 hours from right now). The match is NSHoSeo vs. Dignitas and the live report thread for it can be found here: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=305738
On January 24 2012 03:49 Joshy.IGN wrote: Updated the thread with new information. SlayerS has ultimately decided to withdraw from the tournament, before any games were played. Their spot has been given to the third place qualifying team StarTale instead.
The first broadcast for Team Arena Challenge 2 is today at 5 p.m. PST (about 6 hours from right now). The match is NSHoSeo vs. Dignitas and the live report thread for it can be found here: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=305738
On January 24 2012 03:49 Joshy.IGN wrote: Updated the thread with new information. SlayerS has ultimately decided to withdraw from the tournament, before any games were played. Their spot has been given to the third place qualifying team StarTale instead.
The first broadcast for Team Arena Challenge 2 is today at 5 p.m. PST (about 6 hours from right now). The match is NSHoSeo vs. Dignitas and the live report thread for it can be found here: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=305738
wow, this tournament is stacked. I have a feeling most of the foreign teams will be out of it quickly with all the korean teams participating. Quantic vs Mousesports is the only first round match without a korean team
Interesting. Is there a particular order that the matches will be played in? I was curious as to why NSHoseo vs Dignitas was broadcasted first, as compared to Quantic vs Mouz.
Of course with 16 international teams, we can only schedule games as they are completed. IEM Kiev had some conflicts for scheduling as well, so we have to take them as we can. Tomorrow's scheduled match is TSL vs. ReIGN.
On January 24 2012 05:28 Lawliet wrote: Without IM or slayers I don't really see any team with realistically being able to compete against colMVP.
Mouz, NSHoseo, Prime, FXO, oGs, Startale. The difference between the Korean teams is not that great. Mouz also finished higher than colMVP in the last TAC.
lol trustme the difference is really great.. i didnt see all the last one but the ones i saw.. korean teams used like team D.... so lets hope they play more serious this time
On January 24 2012 13:44 iamkaokao wrote: lol trustme the difference is really great.. i didnt see all the last one but the ones i saw.. korean teams used like team D.... so lets hope they play more serious this time
So far they have. NSHoseo fielded their top lineup against Dignitas + Show Spoiler +
Jjakji was not played since there was no ace match
On January 24 2012 13:44 iamkaokao wrote: lol trustme the difference is really great.. i didnt see all the last one but the ones i saw.. korean teams used like team D.... so lets hope they play more serious this time
So far they have. NSHoseo fielded their top lineup against Dignitas + Show Spoiler +
Jjakji was not played since there was no ace match
I'd consider Seal in their A team too, but yeah it certainly wasn't a full B Team list like IM used last year.
On January 24 2012 13:44 iamkaokao wrote: lol trustme the difference is really great.. i didnt see all the last one but the ones i saw.. korean teams used like team D.... so lets hope they play more serious this time
So far they have. NSHoseo fielded their top lineup against Dignitas + Show Spoiler +
Jjakji was not played since there was no ace match
I'd consider Seal in their A team too, but yeah it certainly wasn't a full B Team list like IM used last year.
IM used happy who is clearly in their A-team i would say
On January 25 2012 00:41 ViRii wrote: Anywhere to see VoDs for this? I don't want to watch the entire rebroadcast, only two matches I missed.
We're working on getting the VoDs cut now and we will repost here when they are done! It should be done this afternoon. Until then, you can also check the jtv archive and skip to the games you missed. http://www.twitch.tv/ignproleague/b/306387025
If the Koreans decide to play, they will win just to sheer depth. The remaining foreign teams are not deep at all.
You have a really weird idea of who are the best players on the NA teams.
e: just so I don't sound selfcentered or anything, I'm not saying I should be on there xD but..
I think he got got the players wrong for vile, I would consider Chance, illusion, and State as the top 3. Not that I necessarily know any better than he does either, but that's just my experience in games / seeing them play. All of them are very underrated I believe..
On January 24 2012 13:44 iamkaokao wrote: lol trustme the difference is really great.. i didnt see all the last one but the ones i saw.. korean teams used like team D.... so lets hope they play more serious this time
So far they have. NSHoseo fielded their top lineup against Dignitas + Show Spoiler +
Jjakji was not played since there was no ace match
I'd consider Seal in their A team too, but yeah it certainly wasn't a full B Team list like IM used last year.
IM used MVP against colMVP. They used a lot of B-teamers, but by fielding guys like MVP and Happy it at least showed that they wanted to win.
CatsPajamas can you get your mic away from ur face A BIT? Every time you laugh or scream "OH MY GOD" the sound volume at least triples that's so annoying x\
On January 27 2012 04:08 msty wrote: CatsPajamas can you get your mic away from ur face A BIT? Every time you laugh or scream "OH MY GOD" the sound volume at least triples that's so annoying x\
+1
its not that you're bad at casting but the volume level does increase by like three fold numerous times throughout the cast, please try to fix this. Other than that you are doing a good job guys
I find it weird all these teams are partnered up an in leagues with one another cept SlayerS and EG. I thought they were in a partnership like lets say ColMVP? Is it just that they're letting a few players in their team house or one where they just pay for one anothers players to be in tournaments an stuff minus entering with one another?
I will ask for two things: Please make Control Groups visible... please. Don't show who leaves the game last, it gives away which team won the whole thing after the first game or two. If you don't understand what this means, you can PM me.
On January 27 2012 15:05 MrCash wrote: I will ask for two things: Please make Control Groups visible... please. Don't show who leaves the game last, it gives away which team won the whole thing after the first game or two. If you don't understand what this means, you can PM me.
No, because both the winning and losing teams BOTH submit the reps, and we randomly choose which ones to air. So you watching someone leave just means that that's the team who sent in the reps, which does NOT mean that they won since we get them from both teams.
hey guys, i love the team arena show and the ign pro league as well.. always watching the european rebroadcast and last days i noticed some really annoying spikes/lag always during the late game. when you were talking to the cam or in the early game it is all running fine, but when it comes to bigger groups of buildings and units it starts lagging.. others noticed as well in chat.. and i wanna keep watching these shows, but if its lagging this much its not making fun to watch.. please search for a kind of mistake somewhere, i wouldnt know where to search for such a thing ^_^ thanks and much <3
I wanted to know a little thing. Does someone knows what headset are using the casters please ? I know IGN pro league uses those too and the quality is exacly what i'm looking for.
So if anyone has an idea, I would be pleased to know,
On January 27 2012 15:05 MrCash wrote: I will ask for two things: Please make Control Groups visible... please. Don't show who leaves the game last, it gives away which team won the whole thing after the first game or two. If you don't understand what this means, you can PM me.
No, because both the winning and losing teams BOTH submit the reps, and we randomly choose which ones to air. So you watching someone leave just means that that's the team who sent in the reps, which does NOT mean that they won since we get them from both teams.
Hmm, that didn't seem to be true in the last couple fight clubs, I thought that wasn't true yesterday as well, but i might be mistaken. I believe the repays ended when Mana left, whether he won or lost, same happened in Kas vs Ganzi.
Edit: Checked some vods and you are correct, it seems that in the Team Arena Challenge the replay giving away winner isn't an issue.
How about making the control groups visible aspect?
Painuser already stopped casting with doa coming in? I really fell that duo doa plus catz lacks the game knowledge and depth eventough they are good casters. Would really love to see painuser with catz again...
On February 02 2012 11:32 MyTHicaL wrote: lol at this game... coL apparently can't swing with the big dogs... How exactly are they associated with MVP?
Player skill is not a factor, this is a business arrangement.
Just on a side note since im apparently perma banned from the ipl chat without warning/explanation... Idra top 15 in the world? These rankings are sooo messed up it's not even funyn ^_^ the only thing they've got right is #1/#2... Not particularilly hard xD!
edit: thanks doa for displaying the disgruntlment of the general public . +1 in my books. That puts u at... 2.. 3..maybe
On February 03 2012 09:58 MyTHicaL wrote: Just on a side note since im apparently perma banned from the ipl chat without warning/explanation... Idra top 15 in the world? These rankings are sooo messed up it's not even funyn ^_^ the only thing they've got right is #1/#2... Not particularilly hard xD!
edit: thanks doa for displaying the disgruntlment of the general public . +1 in my books. That puts u at... 2.. 3..maybe
If it's based on tournament results no foreigner should be in the top 30.
well stephano/naniwa are arguably in the top 30 but not at all in the top 15.. However I really truly think that empire has a fricking awesome team and could possibly win this, gooo empire!_! beasty/kas ftw!
Hi. You really need to give a look(ear) to your stream volume. For the last couple of days the volume has been good, except with HD and PU, causing NO distortions. But today, the Jjakji Vs Hero, the sound quality was poor, each time DOA and CATsPJ got excited the sound distorted or clipped and the sound comes across as hard. Now I have to turn down the stream volume to 15-20% instead of the 50% it was at before because the sound quality is atrocious. On the threads for Playhem and Imba I touted your stream and Day[9]'s as good examples for good sound quality, because those streams have really poor quality. I got windows volume at 50%, so I can easily turn my volume up alot, but you don't need to. Quality of the sound really need to be a high concern. Maybe it's just a bad trend for all these SC2 streams, as if being worried people can hear you. If the spreading of SC2 and E-sports into more mainstream areas is a priority, the quality; being that of the casters, the video or the sound needs to be done with utmost care. It's jarring to my ears, and though I am an audiophile, I can't understand why noone else seems NOT to be having this issue, perhaps because everyone has been numbed by the poor quality of Youtube and mp3's through the last 10 years.
Do you even have anyone looking at the quality of the sound?
Love the IPL Team Arena Chalange! One vocal crutch makes it a tough listen. "as well" is spoken every few statements. "He's producing some vikings as well and theres an attack at his expantion as well. What he needs to do i make some ghosts as well." If it was a drinking game we'd all be drunk! keep up the good work though.
when they say... "As well" = 1 drink "I'm sorry" = 1 drink "commercial break" = 1 drink "Casters curse" = 5 drinks Start talking back and forth about some random movie/TV show = 3 drinks
On March 02 2012 10:14 Corsica wrote: OMG Empire stop sending Aristeo he is not even Code B...
If you're not Code B then you're either Code A or S Bomber, losira and Polt are in Code B as well, so there is no shame. But Empire doesn't really have too many players, so they don't really have too many options.
On March 02 2012 10:14 Corsica wrote: OMG Empire stop sending Aristeo he is not even Code B...
If you're not Code B then you're either Code A or S Bomber, losira and Polt are in Code B as well, so there is no shame. But Empire doesn't really have too many players, so they don't really have too many options.
On March 02 2012 10:14 Corsica wrote: OMG Empire stop sending Aristeo he is not even Code B...
If you're not Code B then you're either Code A or S Bomber, losira and Polt are in Code B as well, so there is no shame. But Empire doesn't really have too many players, so they don't really have too many options.
Finally they put real player BeastyQT , I mean they are both not super well known, but Aristeo looked like Diamond zerg, while BeastyQT outplayed Sting with superior mech play...
On March 02 2012 10:14 Corsica wrote: OMG Empire stop sending Aristeo he is not even Code B...
If you're not Code B then you're either Code A or S Bomber, losira and Polt are in Code B as well, so there is no shame. But Empire doesn't really have too many players, so they don't really have too many options.
Finally they put real player BeastyQT , I mean they are both not super well known, but Aristeo looked like Diamond zerg, while BeastyQT outplayed Sting with superior mech play...
Beastyqt is good, and in my opinion stronger than Aristeo, but that was simply because of the strength of competition. Put any GM player in EU against MMA or MVP and they will look like a diamond player, but simply because the strong competition forces mistakes out of them. When you play against a top caliber player, every mistake will snowball out of control.
On March 02 2012 10:14 Corsica wrote: OMG Empire stop sending Aristeo he is not even Code B...
If you're not Code B then you're either Code A or S Bomber, losira and Polt are in Code B as well, so there is no shame. But Empire doesn't really have too many players, so they don't really have too many options.
Finally they put real player BeastyQT , I mean they are both not super well known, but Aristeo looked like Diamond zerg, while BeastyQT outplayed Sting with superior mech play...
Beastyqt is good, and in my opinion stronger than Aristeo, but that was simply because of the strength of competition. Put any GM player in EU against MMA or MVP and they will look like a diamond player, but simply because the strong competition forces mistakes out of them. When you play against a top caliber player, every mistake will snowball out of control.
It wasnt Mvp, nor wasnt it MMA, it was Sting... get it? Guess what Im trying to say, Aristeo is not completely horrible but still bad enough to face korean b-teamers, because European B-Teamers =/= Korean B-teamers..
On March 02 2012 10:14 Corsica wrote: OMG Empire stop sending Aristeo he is not even Code B...
If you're not Code B then you're either Code A or S Bomber, losira and Polt are in Code B as well, so there is no shame. But Empire doesn't really have too many players, so they don't really have too many options.
Finally they put real player BeastyQT , I mean they are both not super well known, but Aristeo looked like Diamond zerg, while BeastyQT outplayed Sting with superior mech play...
Beastyqt is good, and in my opinion stronger than Aristeo, but that was simply because of the strength of competition. Put any GM player in EU against MMA or MVP and they will look like a diamond player, but simply because the strong competition forces mistakes out of them. When you play against a top caliber player, every mistake will snowball out of control.
It wasnt Mvp, nor wasnt it MMA, it was Sting... get it? Guess what Im trying to say, Aristeo is not completely horrible but still bad enough to face korean b-teamers, because European B-Teamers =/= Korean B-teamers..
Wow you don't watch very many team leagues do you? Sting often starts out #1 and ussually goes through more than 1 opponent before being taken down, he might not be code S but he ain't a B teamer either ;x.
On a side note: stop with the retarded PPV esport events, it's a ridiculous money grubbing concept that hurts the community in general- getting sick of hearing advertisements about it. And don't come up with any retarded "they need the money to run it arguments"; they don't, they didn't for war3/sc/many others, they don't for sc2. Every time you make us pay a kitten dies.
On March 02 2012 10:14 Corsica wrote: It wasnt Mvp, nor wasnt it MMA, it was Sting... get it? Guess what Im trying to say, Aristeo is not completely horrible but still bad enough to face korean b-teamers, because European B-Teamers =/= Korean B-teamers..
Aristeo is one of my favorite players. He has quite possibly the best micro I have ever seen, and has always had a 70%+ win rate in european GM's. That's more than enough to be allowed to play against any kind of koreans.
What has cats pyjama vs doa? he always seems to dismiss him. at least don't show it as commentator. We don't need Tastosis but at least their respect towards each other.
So awkward when one of the commentators is using day9's phrases all the time. Like "when first you dont succed make...", "There is always that player in FFA game that is massing void rays". Cant remember any more but there was a lot of this shit.
On March 11 2012 10:44 zarcel wrote: So awkward when one of the commentators is using day9's phrases all the time. Like "when first you dont succed make...", "There is always that player in FFA game that is massing void rays". Cant remember any more but there was a lot of this shit.
Because Day9 is the only person who has ever mentioned people going Mass void rays in FFA, or used the incredibly common phrase "when at first you don't succeed". The commentators didn't sound like they were copying Day9 at all to me.
EPT
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