Welcome back once again to the SCAN invitational! After amazing success with the previous 2, we are back for a 3rd!! We have 8 of the best players within Europe fighting it out once again for your entertainment!! This will be a 1day tournament, 8players, 8hours of SC2 action!
This tournament is going to be brought to you live from Sweden this time around with a live interactive show, great SC2 games, hilarious banter, prizes to be won and lots of fun to be had! Coverage will be brought to you by dApollo and a special guest!!!
Format: The tournament will be played out live!! Game after game after game, with little breaks. There will be a rough line estimate of for each game, but depending on how fast/slow the games go, the schedule will change. The tournament will remain best of 3 until the finals which will be a best of 5. Reason for this is due to not enough hours in a day! Map pool and Brackets will be released publicly after all players have been announced.
Invited players: The invited players will be released throughout this week, 2players every day until Saturday, where we announce the map pool/bracket and Sunday the games begin.
Pre tournament announcement schedule 24th 17:00 CET = BlinG/Nerchio 25th 17:00 CET = Kas/Snute 26th 17:00 CET = Grubby/BeastyQT 27th 17:00 CET = Stephano/TiTan 28th 17:00 CET = Map pool/Bracket
29th = Live show begins
Rough Tournament Schedule: (Local time - Swedish CET) 16:00 Tournament introduction 16:15 Game1 ro8 - Best of 3 17:15 Game2 ro8 - Best of 3 18:15 Game3 ro8 - Best of 3 19:15 Game4 ro8 - Best of 3 -- 20:15 Game1 ro4 - Best of 3 21:15 Game2 ro4 - Best of 3 -- 22:15 - 22:30 BREAK -- 22:30 - Final introduction 22:40 - Game1 ro2 - Best of 5
Map pool: TalDarim Altar LE ESL Metalopolis ESL Shakuras Plateau GSL Antiga GSL Terminus SE (Official.) ESV Cloud Kingdom GSL Daybreak
Brackets: Game1 ro8 - Grubby vs Snute - Best of 3 Game2 ro8 - Kas vs BlinG - Best of 3 Game3 ro8 - Titan vs Stephano - Best of 3 Game4 ro8 - Beastyqt vs Nerchio - Best of 3
Name: Samayan Kay Game ID: DignitasBlinG Race: Protoss Age: 20 Nationality: English Largest Achievement: Top 8 WCG 2011
Team Dignitas representative for this invitational steps up. Samayan 'BlinG' Kay, under careful watch of Team Dignitas management has finally broken into the spotlight and as gained a lot of respect and fans while doing so. He finished top 6 in the IPL4 UK qualifier finally losing to SlayersRyung, he also went on to compete as the UK num1 in the WCG where he had his break through, going undefeated in group stages beating players such as Kiwikaki, Strelok, ToD, Cloud before falling 1-2 vs MVP in the quarter finals. He has recently paired with Stephano to make a deadly 2v2 team also. There is a lot of potential for this talented Protoss player, this tournament may be another difficult test for him, will he sink or swim?
Nerchio
Name: Artur Bloch Game ID: AcerNerchio Race: Zerg Age: 19 Nationality: Polish Largest Achievement: 1st Battle in Berlin - November 2011
SCAN invitational #2 winner is back to try and keep his title! Sersiouly, who can stop Nerchio online? He has won so much, he still has an impressive offline record also, recently playing in the Home Story Cup 4 tournament and having a fantastic run only to run into another Korean pro-gamer who took the victory over Nerchio, keeping him away from another big win. Will Nerchio show his dominance again within the EU scene to add to his huge virtual trophy cabinet? Or will somebody stand in his way?
Kas
Name: Mihaylo Hayda Game ID: EmpireKas Race: Terran Age: 23 Nationality: Ukrainian Largest Achievement: 3rd WCG 2011
The destroyer is here!!! Look out!! Kas is arguably the number 1 Terran player in Europe right now! He has always been extremely solid and strong as a competitor for a long time yet recently he has started to shine offline rather than just destroying the online scene. He placed 3rd at WCG after an incredible run, he also 3rd place at IEM Kiev just recently, he is placing well and is looking as strong as ever before! Kas has a very bright 2012 coming up and what better way to set this tournament standard high, than to invite Kas!
Snute
Name: Jens Aasgaard Game ID: GLSnute Race: Zerg Age: 21 Nationality: Norwegian Largest Achievement: Top 16 WCG 2011
Yeah, thats right, believe your eyes, Snute is invited. A lot of people are talking about him recently, his stream, his replay pack and more importantly his baneling build on Antiga Shipyard :D! Only recently coming into the spotlight, Snute has been providing some excellent commentary on his stream and is also now starting to record wins online, most notably beating Violet 3-0 late November in a gamecreds tournament. More importantly, he managed to defeat his group at WCG 2011 advancing through as 2nd place only losing to HuK but sadly losing to finalist XiGua in the ro16. No doubt he is going into this tournament as an underdog and by god, I bet a lot of people are excited and will be routing for him here.
Grubby
Name: Manuel Schenkhuizen Game ID: Grubby Race: Protoss Age: 25 Nationality: Dutch Largest Achievement: 4th ESWC 2011
The fan favourite, who doesn't like Grubby? He is an idol in esports, dedicating his life to it from WC3 into SC2. His SC2 career is on such a steady rise, from joining the scene late, to finishing 4th at ESWC, every time we watch Grubby it seems like he is getting better and better. Most recently Grubby has started streaming his high level Protoss play where he competes with the top end of Europe ladder but what he is more loved for his is reasoning on stream behind every action and game changing move. He carries the hope of Protoss into this tournament, but the field is tough.
BeastyQT
Name: Aleksandar Krstić Game ID: EmpireBeastyQT Race: Terran Age: 21 Nationality: Serbian Largest Achievement: 1st SC2RO Season 2
Another Empire Terran joins the tournament. The beast is well known for having one of the best vs Zergs in Europe, claiming it has his favourite matchup, he has a very solid, well designed style with multiple different pushing timings with an army size which is never small. The lights are never off in the Barracks of the Beast. He is no slouch in the other matchups either, vs Protoss he statistically has a better record. Another underdog to this tournament as his achievement list would say but I do not think anybody in this tournament will under-estimate the Beast and he could very well cause an upset here.
TiTan
Name: Oleg Kuptsov Game ID: RoXKis.TiTan Race: Protoss Age: 22 Nationality: Russian Largest Achievement: 4th WCG 2011
TiTan, another bright up and comer, especially for Protoss fans! He hasn't had much spotlight time but when he has, boy has he displayed some great results. His 4th at WCG, nobody could have predicted, beating Idra, KiwiKaki and Supernova along the way. Another underdog in such a stacked tournament but TiTan has been stamped as one of the Protoss players to follow during 2012, so let it start here!
Stephano
Name: Ilyes Satouri Game ID: Millenium.Stephano Race: Zerg Age: 18 Nationality: French Largest Achievement: 1st IPL3 2011
Welcome back to the SCAN invitational #1 champion, joining #2 champion Nerchio. What other Zerg could you really ask for? This guy is raw talent, his mechanical skill is second to none, what a great year from zero to hero in 2011 and now claiming that 2012 will be he last and only year as a professional player saddens us all. Stephano is certain to rock the Starcraft world this year and it excites a lot of fans! Will his 2nd invite into this tournament result in another 1st place?
On January 28 2012 23:54 d.Apollo wrote: Updated with the brackets/map pool and your lovely commentators !!!!!!!
On January 24 2012 01:34 Dingodile wrote: According to your schedule I doubt that a bo3 takes only 1 hour. I saw shoutcraft two weeks (?) ago and it needed around 5-8 hours for 4 bo3 matches.
BO3 on 1 hour schedule is extremely standard for tournaments and is a safe assumption to build your schedule around. Most major tournaments make this assumption as well.
On January 24 2012 01:34 Dingodile wrote: According to your schedule I doubt that a bo3 takes only 1 hour. I saw shoutcraft two weeks (?) ago and it needed around 5-8 hours for 4 bo3 matches.
BO3 on 1 hour schedule is extremely standard for tournaments and is a safe assumption to build your schedule around. Most major tournaments make this assumption as well.
I know this is extremely standard but every tournament were always behind the schedule, nearly always 1-3 hours. I know that is very difficult to make a reliable schedule.
On January 24 2012 01:34 Dingodile wrote: According to your schedule I doubt that a bo3 takes only 1 hour. I saw shoutcraft two weeks (?) ago and it needed around 5-8 hours for 4 bo3 matches.
BO3 on 1 hour schedule is extremely standard for tournaments and is a safe assumption to build your schedule around. Most major tournaments make this assumption as well.
On January 24 2012 01:34 Dingodile wrote: According to your schedule I doubt that a bo3 takes only 1 hour. I saw shoutcraft two weeks (?) ago and it needed around 5-8 hours for 4 bo3 matches.
basically this, if you time it for 45 minutes per series, list all the start times as "not before xx:yy" but make players/casters/viewers aware things may run a tad late if a mass air TvT pissing contest starts while having the infrastructure in place for however long is needed based on the current schedule, it works fine, just as it does in other sports where you have varying lengths of matches (see: boxing). would MUCH rather have things get 15-30 minutes late in some spots if it's because i'm still watching the previous game, rather than have a pvp go 2-0 and have 45 minutes downtime
Also, the winner of my competition for 1hours coaching was dmans (http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/profile.php?user=dmans) Who was the only one to guess correctly!
The same competition applies, guess tomorrows 2 players and win 1hour coaching again with me :D
On January 26 2012 01:09 d.Apollo wrote: Welcome our latest two players :D:D
Also, the winner of my competition for 1hours coaching was dmans (http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/profile.php?user=dmans) Who was the only one to guess correctly!
The same competition applies, guess tomorrows 2 players and win 1hour coaching again with me :D
Omg omg, my before night post went in and hit the jackpot!
going for Dimaga - Thorzain as next 2 invites Btw you should definately invite Babyknight, awesome protoss player and he lives in denmark so he's close :D Anyway awesome tournament, looking forward to it!
On January 26 2012 05:40 Nomili wrote: Looking forward to the torunament, cheering for snute!!:D
There is so much hype around this guy. I don't remember seeing him play during WCG, but I saw him ladder vs Kas and it was very damn impressive. He beat Kas with very solid counter attacks and overlord drops. So much multi-prong aggression, he was playing the way Terrans normally play TvZ. Definitely an interesting lineup so far.
I really wanna say ThorZain but I have a feeling that it will be a Protoss and a Zerg so ... I also get the feeling that there won't be two players from one country. Since Germany and France aren't there I am going with Socke and Stephano.
Socke vs Stephano. Was thinking either Haypro or Stephano since they're both good zergs from countries/teams not yet represented in the tournament, but I figure Stephano is a bigger name. Well since YawnOC chose Socke vs Stephano and I imagine two people can't both win, I'll switch to Socke vs Haypro
Welcome TiTan and Stephano!!! Only 1person guessed this right... and it was on the first round of the competition. Sadly... thats not how things work BUT I am nice and will award him with the Prize anyway, congratulations Macbane (http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/profile.php?user=MacBane).
That is the final 8, hows it looking? Tomorrow 5pm CET I will announce the map pool/bracket and my commentating plans for Sunday, who with... where.. and how you will be entertained !!
On January 28 2012 03:44 Vagabond wrote: I have a feeling the special commentator is TotalBiscuit. But can we have a 4 way cast with TB, Apollo, TLO and 2GD ?
I am not commentating this tournament, since Apollo now lives in Sweden and I can't get over there this weekend.
Another frustrating map pool though. Terminus and shakuras should definitely not be there, with antiga and tal'darim being debatable inclusions as well. Nevertheless, should be a great tournament
On January 29 2012 02:56 YounKa wrote: I'm both happy that it's TLO and sad that it's not TB ._. Hopefully he will be back on the 4th edition, yes yes? :>
Hopefully. This one was short-notice, I couldn't have flown over there.
yeah that sounds awesome great invites and SUPER GREAT CASTERS - tlo dropping the knowledge and Apollo is just best caster ever no matter who he casts with
On January 29 2012 00:52 milesfacade wrote: Yay tlo.
Another frustrating map pool though. Terminus and shakuras should definitely not be there, with antiga and tal'darim being debatable inclusions as well. Nevertheless, should be a great tournament
antiga without gold is not really debatable its one of the most-played maps in tournaments so it cant be that bad or people would veto it
taldarim is also not that bad
shakuras and terminus shouldnt be there youre quite right with that
Game1 ro8 - Grubby vs Snute Game2 ro8 - Kas vs BlinG Game3 ro8 - Titan vs Stephano - the closest one, tough to call, maybe leaning towards Stephano, but just a little. Game4 ro8 - Beastyqt vs Nerchio
On January 29 2012 02:56 YounKa wrote: I'm both happy that it's TLO and sad that it's not TB ._. Hopefully he will be back on the 4th edition, yes yes? :>
Hopefully. This one was short-notice, I couldn't have flown over there.
don't worry john, I am not trying to steal Shaun from you. Gonna be in Korea soon enouhg anyways!
On January 29 2012 05:46 5ukkub wrote: Game1 ro8 - Grubby vs Snute Game2 ro8 - Kas vs BlinG Game3 ro8 - Titan vs Stephano - the closest one, tough to call, maybe leaning towards Stephano, but just a little. Game4 ro8 - Beastyqt vs Nerchio
On January 29 2012 08:20 A-p-p-l-e-s wrote: cant beasty beat nerchio?
Of course he can, but I think it is clear that Nerchio is the favorite here. Over the last 18 games Nerchio has a 17-1 W/L record vs beasty (according to TLPD). That is somewhat misleading as Beasty really has fairly good tvz and has beaten some great players recently, and before his current 12 loss streak vs nerchio he actually had a pretty even record vs him. However presently it seems Nerchio has the edge in that matchup. I do believe Beasty has a fair chance though.
On January 30 2012 01:10 lycan wrote: And Grubby played great. Snute was never in a lead.
Country: Netherlands
don't mind being a fan, but dont try to make your statements sound purely objective
Correction: Its my humble opinion that Snute had no chance at all in those games Better have some passion for one or the other player, it makes the match more amusing then if you dont care about a result. I also agree with Arnstein, Snute can play better.
On January 29 2012 02:56 YounKa wrote: I'm both happy that it's TLO and sad that it's not TB ._. Hopefully he will be back on the 4th edition, yes yes? :>
Hopefully. This one was short-notice, I couldn't have flown over there.
don't worry john, I am not trying to steal Shaun from you. Gonna be in Korea soon enouhg anyways!