UK Showmatch Series!

rANDY vs RMP preview

Andy ‘rANDY’ Whittle
• Twitter: @randysc2
• Race: Protoss
• Current status: uninspired to practice but still taking out top players on his smurf
• Stream: twitch.tv/rANDY_UK
Josh ‘RMP’ Oppenheim
• Twitter: unknown
• Race: Zerg
• Current status: pretending he doesn’t like computer games to his new friends at university
• Stream: twitch.tv/tvRMP

rANDY has an enormous wealth of RTS experience, starting off his RTS endeavours with Total Annihilation, working his way up to become arguably becoming the best player in the small scene. Then switching to Brood War where he became one of the best UK players (B+ on ICCUP). Starting out with Zerg at the release of Starcraft 2 beta he easily became a force to be reckoned with (check out his stream VODS! twitch.tv/randy_uk). He went on to take second at the first Starcraft 2 tournament at iSeries + Show Spoiler +. From this peak rANDY has committed less and less time to the game, and switched to protoss, however, this doesn't stop him turning up to LANs and consistently smashing his seeding after minimal practice (when will Daygore and his admins learn?).

RMP has a much shorter history, with all of his RTS experience being packed into the history of SC2 (as far as we know). Hitting GM on EU towards the middle of 2013 and attending his first LAN in August at i49. his peak and experience is all much more recent, however, since starting university, in September of 2013 he has un-installed the game, much to the distress of anyone who follows the UK scene. He was one of the most promising players we had in that period, working his tits off and having huge success on the ladder (will ret ever forget the double evo lings?)

Both players have incredibly different and interesting competitive attitudes. rANDY the coolest, calmest and quietest player I've ever seen play, and RMP the cockiest, most out spoken and confident. Whilst at i48 rANDYs competitive mind-set was shown to me in one of my most memorable moments; as everyone was stressing and moaning to the admins about lag, Andy was sat there smiling, I asked what he was chuffed about and he said ‘the lag, everyone’s getting so stressed, but I love it’. Having been a competitor for so long it’s no surprise that rANDY uses every dirty trick in the book, with absolutely no concern for how his game-play appears to others, only caring about optimising his chances of success. RMP on the other hand loves to win with style, subtle trolling even in the most serious of games is common place, and his game-play focuses on impressive feats of mechanics over cheap tricks.

Most notable achievement:
RMP, having not attended many LANs and falling short at his only attendance (being knocked out my Dez) has limited notable results. In my opinion his utter domination of the ladder vs top pros is his most notable achievement.
rANDY has achieved such a wide range of things it’s hard to balance them against each other, biggest up-set at a LAN, 2-1 vs Krass knocking him out of the ESET UK masters 2013: season 1, or totally dominating a smaller RTS such as Total Annihilation, or maybe continuously out performing people who practice 10x more than him, who knows?

Prediction:
I think I’m going to cheat and give two predictions: if RMP researches rANDY and doesn't underestimate him, the score will be 3-0 for RMP, if he doesn’t do his homework, I think the final score will be 3-2 to rANDY.

Who do I want to cast?
Of the three casters/hosts that have stepped forward I’d like to see Grant or Pughy cast as they both play protoss at a decent level, of all the players I’d like to see Shibbxyz co-host as he has a huge history of playing against rANDY and a really great understanding of playing alternative zerg styles that RMP was known for. Weven though he probably isnt on the same form as Jamesykins he still takes my vote just because of his style.

rANDY wins 3-2

After a shaky start, going down 0-2 rANDY manages to come back winning 2 games in a row. Unfortunately RMP had to leave due to other commitments, giving rANDY the def win 3-2!

VOD:
http://www.twitch.tv/roboticsoul/b/496177257

Replays:
http://drop.sc/371297
http://drop.sc/371298
http://drop.sc/371299
http://drop.sc/371300

My idea for week two is to have a showmatch between Ireland and Great Britain. First of all though I need to know which players from Ireland are available on saturday the 25th at 19:00!

Post in the thread please!

Introdouction
By Wombat_NI
The gauntlet has been thrown down. For hundreds of years the proud Irish have been neglected, oft-ignored by their more illustrious neighbours. No more we say! We shall prove our worth, the unfairness of our obscurity! Upon what better locales to make this point than on the battlefields of the Koprulu Sector?

Sadly, one of the chief lieutenants, mYi’s Abomb has been unable to make it, who doubtless would have given some extra firepower to our ranks. One thing his absence does is simplify the whole shebang and limit us to Northern Irish players. We have lost a skilled and valued warrior we just hope that no longer having to represent the entirety of the island will relax our brave souls and help them show their finest games.


What they may lack in gaming ability, they make up for in eclectic dress sense.

Northern Ireland Starcraft - The Players

Mark ‘SHODAN’ Lavery


Anachronistic Image, as 2 Rax is no longer good

Age: 23
Team: N/A, Northern Ireland Starcraft
Race: Terran
Steam: http://www.twitch.tv/sc2_shodan (catch him live, he doesn’t save VoDs)

He probably would be the first to agree that he isn’t an extravagantly naturally gifted player, but he has grafted and studied the game since release and has reached the cusp of holding the coveted title of Grandmaster. Mechanically he is pretty solid, as any Terran with a high ladder rank has to be these days, but his main strength is his wide repertoire of builds- some highly unorthodox. A longstanding RTS player, Starcraft 2 has been the game that he has really reached a high level at, his previous palmares include a brief stint in the top 1000 2v2 teams in Warcraft 3, with a certain Wombat. A longstanding associate of the aforementioned Team Liquid spammer, he has far outshone him in game skill.

He is on the cusp of achieving more recognition but is really waiting for that breakout performance that will get him noticed and picked up for a team. His propensity to ‘occasionally’ BM in ladder may be part of that, but his occasional losing of cool should not take away from his dedication to the game and continuous improvement.

He is just off finally winning his first Q-Con tournament at the third time of asking, probably the SC2-related LAN with the most high-level players in attendance we have over here. While there are definitely players out there who are likely on his level, we’re unaware for them and at this time he is probably the strongest player that I am aware of in Northern Ireland.

SHODAN in peak form


Liam ‘Luppa’ Henry


Such a baller that he isn’t just married to two women, but they’re cool hanging out together.

Age: 20
Race: Zerg

Liam, unlike SHODAN has his fingers in a lot of pies. He has started to cast more frequently, and alsoappeared on the inaugural ‘n00bview’ Irish E-sports show. While his casting may lack the obtuse analogies and X-rated humour of a Wombat cast, he bridges this gap by actually knowing what he is talking about in matches other than PvT. He is also a talented musician, with a voice that can bring a tear to the eyes of even the most stoic of persons.

The downside of being such a well-balanced individual is that perhaps his Starcraft 2 level isn’t as high as it could be if he could dedicated more free time to it. It is for that reason that his play is even more remarkable, a reactive and strategically-intelligent brand of Zerg play that is backed up by the mechanics to execute his gameplans.

While he has yet to really achieve anything truly momentous on a consistent basis, he is a player who is capable of extreme potency when the stars align.

Mix

Age: 15
Team: TeamSC2Improve
Race: Zerg

Finally we come onto Mix, who has shamefully slipped under my radar for the entire duration of my tenure as the entirely self-appointed scout for talent in my geographic sphere of influence. Part of the reason for that may be that he’s 15 years old and not female.

From my brief discussions with him I have picked up a few tidbits. He play Zergs and SC2 is his first RTS game, which so far hasn’t proven an obstacle to him achieving a high level of proficiency in the game. Despite picking up the game at the tender age of 12, he has a wiser head than players twice his age. Unlike the other two here he is a rather humble individual, so hyping him up has proven harder than I would have liked

Stylistically, Mix is a very macro-oriented player and one who is really focused on the mechanical side of the game. Something of a Scarlett fanboy, if he has focused on emulating her strengths expect to see truly disgustingly good creep spread!

The players voted in to defend Great Britain from Irish invasion:

Lasse ‘Deranging’ Schmieding
Race: zerg
Team: FM
Twitter: unknown
Stream: twitch.tv/deranging

Nathan ‘Lau’ Lau
Race: Terran
Team: Infused
Twitter: unknown
Stream: twitch.tv/infusedlau

Jake ‘Rotcod’ Forsey
Race: Protoss
Team: TLR
Twitter: @TLR_Rotcod
Stream: twitch.tv/TLR_Rotcod


Deranging!

Derangings playstyle is incredibly distinctive, playing a really mutas heavy strategy in most games and match-ups. By focusing on Micro, game sense and base trades deranging manages to force mutas to work even vs people who knows its coming! Even during the hay day of brood lord infestor, or Stephanos roach max, deranging stuck to his mutas and really developed a unique style. Unfortunately queen injects and creep spread often let him down.
Whilst being an emotional and easily frustrated player who takes losses to heart he is always very well-mannered at lans and online tournaments alike.

Deranging has been prominent in the UK scene since Starcraft 2 release, switching from WC3. While competing in lots of online and offline tournaments he is yet to have taken a really high placing at a really big tournament, however consistency is his strength attending the majority of iSeries and placing well. Notable results include beating dDream in the finals of an UK open and getting first in SCReddit EU open #27. Maybe a surprise about deranging is that he has never broken into GM, while being so close so many times.


Lau!

Like Deranging, Lau has his only unique play style, characterised by his unending patience, efficient engagements and passivity. While not known for his mechanics he still plays for the ultra-late game this seems to be a juxtaposition, but he makes it work, being one of the most consistent players in the UK scene.

Lau is incredibly humble and calm probably owing to his extensive LAN experience. At my first LAN EGL4 I said I was so impressed by him being in top 50 GM and he said he wasn’t that good and that he just plays when no other GMs are playing! Whilst often playing poorly in group stages or early rounds he always buckles down and gets consistently high placing.

Before Starcraft 2, Warcraft 3 was his game of choice, in which his inspired players such as demuslim under the ID of Yarakyo! Lau was in GM for almost every season of WoL, while not replicating that in HoTS at the most recent iSeries (i50) he showed he’s still a tip top player in the UK scene getting 2nd, only losing to dTefel. Back in 2011 Lau had his best showing taking 1st place in the ECL3 Loughborough tournament beating powerhouses of the UK scene at the time rANDY, Pureball and Bling. Winnging $2855 http://www.sc2earnings.com/search?search=lau Lau is the highest earning starcraft player in the showmatch and should carry GB to an easy win.

Rotcod:
Makes carriers sometimes

Bonus picture:


Lau may be busy at the required time, so if anyone can remember who got 4th in the poll that would be great, just in case.

Casting poll:

GB wins 3-1
Deranging>Luppa
Mix> Deranging
Rotcod>Mix
Rotcod>Mix

VOD games start at 35 mins in: http://www.twitch.tv/clueless_uk/b/498114275