Spring Arena 2 is rapidly approaching! 32 players will meet in NYC on May 18-20, and the competition will be brutal. The Top 8 will be competing for a share of $26,400 in prize money, and top finishers will receive all-expenses paid trips to the Spring Championship, where they'll begin in Pool Play.
We currently know five of our 32 Arena 2 players: our Top 4 from Arena 1–DongRaeGu, Heart, Ganzi and MC (MarineKing cannot attend, and MC replaces him as the next highest Arena 1 finisher)–and the Winner of the Dreamhack EIZO Open–Thorzain. The remaining spots will be determined by the Invite-Only Online Qualifiers. All this week on MLG.tv, we'll be broadcasting the best matches from the Qualifiers, so you can see exactly who wins and how. More details can be found here. When the Qualifier broadcasts are complete, we will have our 32 Arena 2 players. Here's what you can expect to see on the streams during the Arena.
The Casters
We're switching things up a bit this time around, to bring you even more of the best casters in the business. We'll miss Tasteless and Artosis at Arena 2, but we're incredibly happy to announce that the casters for this event will be none other than Apollo, Totalbiscuit, Wolf, djWHEAT, Rob Simpson, and JP McDaniel. And once again, Adebisi will be providing us with his superb Observing on the Central Stream. And speaking of the streams…
The Streams
Spring StarCraft II Arena 2 will have eleven streams, all in HD.
The Central Stream: Featuring highly produced content, the Central Stream is the Arena equivalent of the Pro Circuit Main Stage
The GamePlay Stream: Loads of matches, chosen on the fly, complete with expert casting and replay analysis.
EIGHT POV streams: Four POV streams will show the points of view of each player competing on the Central and Gameplay Streams. The remaining four will show the points of view of each player in two more matches that will not be cast. We want to bring you every single game of the three-day Arena, so if a match does not get cast on the Central or Gameplay stream, it will be aired on the POV streams.
The Dr Pepper Ultimate Access Stream: Expert analysis, interviews, pros playing against the community, and more.
How to Watch
The Dr Pepper Ultimate Access Stream will be free to all, all weekend long. The first match on the Central and Gameplay streams on Friday and Saturday will be free. To access the rest of the Arena, you have two options:
Spring Season Pass: If you’ve already purchased a Season Pass, your HD upgrade code can be found in your email. (Be sure to check your junk mail.) To use the code, simply select an HD quality in the stream player and follow the steps to redeem it.
If you don't yet have a Season Pass, you can purchase one today in the MLG Store for $30 (or $15 if you’re a Gold Member). With a Season Pass, you’ll get access to Spring Arena 2, as well as HD access for the Invite-Only Qualifiers and the Spring Championship.
A la carte pass: Your other option is to get a $20 pass that will grant you access to Spring Arena 2, and HD access to the Invite-Only Qualifiers– these two events cannot be purchased individually. You can purchase the pass here, and then, once the event is live, switch to an HD quality in the video player and follow the instructions given.
Hmm, sad to see TB casting the event, I sadly do not think he is on par with the MLG standard. (No offence, I just do not like his style particularly, great for him tho)
awesome, i have a feeling the boss toss will get his mojo back after seeing parting&squirtle trying to take his aiur throne and dominate this arena with some crazy games...
also i hope the MLG audio guy gets a chance to do some mic checks with TB totalbiscuit is one of my fav casters, but he elevates his voice to higher volumes more often then rest of the top caster crew and sometimes when mic output is not properly processed this ends in lot of distortion
It's great to see more of MC and all, but it still depresses me to see just how many foreign tournaments he attends, and therefore how long he spends outside of Korea.
He's only been in Korea for a significant amount of time at Christmas, and in that time he went from the guy who dropped out of GSL entirely to a Zerg to probably the best PvZ player in the world (with the possible exception of Squirtle).
Cool! Where will this be n NY? I know there will be no spectators..but can fans meet with the gamers and casters? TB's voice is intimidating but id love to meet him. (or am i an idiot for thinking theyre casting this in NY in person and not at their homes?)
Can I just say how fucking fun a cast would be with Day9 + TotalBiscuit? I like all the other guys and think they have great chemistries in various pairs, but I've never seen those two together and think it'd be a BLAST.
On May 16 2012 00:57 Sphen5117 wrote: Can I just say how fucking fun a cast would be with Day9 + TotalBiscuit? I like all the other guys and think they have great chemistries in various pairs, but I've never seen those two together and think it'd be a BLAST.
could be really cool indeed! but I enjoy TB + apollo anyway
On May 16 2012 00:57 Sphen5117 wrote: Can I just say how fucking fun a cast would be with Day9 + TotalBiscuit? I like all the other guys and think they have great chemistries in various pairs, but I've never seen those two together and think it'd be a BLAST.
could be really cool indeed! but I enjoy TB + apollo anyway
Yeah, I think TB + Dapollo go great together and I enjoy their casting. I figure while we have the opportunity for a cute little mix-n-match, well why not?
On May 10 2012 00:39 Testuser wrote: Hmm, sad to see TB casting the event, I sadly do not think he is on par with the MLG standard. (No offence, I just do not like his style particularly, great for him tho)
Oh well, will be exciting!
Hmm I can understand that you don`t enjoy TB but atleast in my opinion Rob Simpson or JP aren't the most insightful casters either and TB is a better entertainer and fits very well with Apollo.
On May 11 2012 18:35 gruff wrote: I would have like to see bitterdam step in as casters.
I second this, they are in the states anyway for NASL duties. Probably my favourite casting duo (Yes i am including Tastosis) at least Apollo is there, he is amazing.
On May 10 2012 00:39 Testuser wrote: Hmm, sad to see TB casting the event, I sadly do not think he is on par with the MLG standard. (No offence, I just do not like his style particularly, great for him tho)
On May 16 2012 07:23 CygNus X-1 wrote: Not particularly a fan of TB (style doesnt fit the MLG scene) however event should be great nonetheless.
I think TB would be a fine caster if he just took the time to learn the game. I actually like his unique casting style, but the problem is that he doesn't understand the game at all. He never knows why a player does this or that, and when he thinks he understands and tries to explain it, his explanation is wrong more times than not. If your profession is going to be casting then I would at least expect a Masters level of understanding (if not Pro level, which is what he's casting after all), but his understanding is more along Silver/Gold and it shows in every cast he makes. Then, in practically every cast he has the audacity to heavily criticize a player for making a mistake when he doesn't even realize why that mistake was made, and sometimes it's not even a mistake, but a calculated opportunity cost decision that actually puts the player ahead.
On May 16 2012 07:23 CygNus X-1 wrote: Not particularly a fan of TB (style doesnt fit the MLG scene) however event should be great nonetheless.
I think TB would be a fine caster if he just took the time to learn the game. I actually like his unique casting style, but the problem is that he doesn't understand the game at all. He never knows why a player does this or that, and when he thinks he understands and tries to explain it, his explanation is wrong more times than not. If your profession is going to be casting then I would at least expect a Masters level of understanding (if not Pro level, which is what he's casting after all), but his understanding is more along Silver/Gold and it shows in every cast he makes. Then, in practically every cast he has the audacity to heavily criticize a player for making a mistake when he doesn't even realize why that mistake was made, and sometimes it's not even a mistake, but a calculated opportunity cost decision that actually puts the player ahead.
Sigh, another post without a single example of this actually happening. Really frustrating to read. "heavily criticizes a player practically every cast", that's nonsense. "explanation is wrong more times than not", examples please.
One could say the reason I'm not "improving" (even though I am and my knowledge is clearly far better than it was) is that nobody in the community seems to have the capability to provide constructive criticism. It's the same old baseless tired cliches and never any actual evidence to back them or actionable advice. It's a get-out, it's easy to say "should know game better", it's hard to actually point out my mistakes.
no(groan) not tb, reading that has me not getting a ticket, really enjoyed the last one as well . . . sigh. as a brit youd think id be in support but i just cant stand it. soz man just saying
looks like a great line up as well, hope TL do their same brilliant job at commenting on the forums like they do
I am so happy that TB is finally getting to cast an event in the US got SC2. He has had a hell of a time getting over here and its nice to see that finally taken care of. Frankly, we need more play by play announcers and I have enjoyed TBs SC2 cast more as of late.
Meh, this hating on TB is so unwarranted it's insane. Feels like people are just jumping on some bandwagon instead of really giving him a chance. He is a good caster, one of the absolute best we have. His teamup with Apollo is up there with the best casting pairs as well.
EPT
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/z3DIj.jpg)
