The North American scene is alive with talent that has not been given the opportunity to shine. It's seen some hard times recently, but The Breakout Invitational is more than just another online tournament. It's a chance for you to get the inside scoop on up & coming talent. It's a chance for you to learn about who these people are. It's a chance for you to watch a tournament about players you may not know much about, but have the potential to play against the pro's and break out of the North American scene. Be sure to tune in if you're interested in a seeing how an online tournament can really help you learn more about the players' playstyle and personality.

Dates
Group A - May 16th at 5:30pm PST / 8:30pm EST
Group B - May 17th at 5:30pm PST / 8:30pm EST
Showmatches/Semis/Finals - May 18th at 12:00pm PST / 3:00pm EST

Live stream location: http://www.twitch.tv/feardragon64
VOD location: http://www.youtube.com/feardragon64

Be sure to check out each week's episodes on the players to learn more about them!
+ Show Spoiler +

Week 8 -Prometheus NaYa
Week 7 -Gravity Kreos
Week 6 - CORE EJK
Week 5 - Complexity Hendralisk
Week 4 - Deimos Siphonn
Week 3 - IvD Phog
Week 2 - Clarity reb0rn
Week 1 - Dust sWs

Map Pool
Habitation Station
King Sejong Station
Alterzim Stronghold
Frost
Waystation
AEM Cottage Hills
AEM Colonial Province

Big thank you to Alloy eSports for providing the maps AEM Cottage Hills and AEM Colonial Province!

In addition to the tournament, this season will feature a new element! Showmatches against well-established North American pro gamers! The semi-finalists of the tournament will be paired up against these pro's in a bo3 on the final day of the tournament, just before the semi-finals themself. Be sure to tune in for this to get a see how these aspiring players fair against others you already respect. The pro-players are:

col.QXC(T), ROOT.Petraeus(Z), IvD.puCK(P), ROOT.MaSa(T)

Players will compete for a grow prize pool. The starting value was $1,000 but has remained open to viewer donations to increase. Thanks to the generosity of the community, the current prize pool is now:

$1,990.52 Updated 5/16/2014 1:50pm EST

If you would like to add to the prize pool to help show up and coming players in North America that their hard work will pay off. The payout is as follows:

1st place - 50%
2nd place - 20%
3rd/4th place - 7%
5th-8th place - 4%

If you would like to add to the total prize pool, you can donate here:

The tournament will be casted by Ravi "feardragon" Pareek, Kwame "Temp0" Mensah, Nan "NanMan" Johnson and Graham "Rifkin" Rogers!

Special thanks to MinnyMaus for the graphics, Sybert for the video editing and graphics, as well as Noobity for the graphics from Season 1. Thanks to Alloy eSports for providing two unique maps that we're looking forward to seeing some interesting games on. Also thank you to Temp0, NanMan, MasterDalk, BoisterousSC2, Rifkin, iNcontroL and the many others that make Breaking Out possible!

I also want to give a big shoutout to everyone that has donated to increase the prize pool! The current list is:

Filthyrake, BoomerangSC, doenitetjiggy, Kalle Christenson, Patrick Quist, NanMan, GOIMBA, CrimeEndorsement

Tbatz

Canada105 Posts

May 01 2014 15:27 GMT

Cant wait!

ElhayM

Canada134 Posts

May 01 2014 15:36 GMT

Let's go rebOrn aka ilLLuuuSiiOOn & Siphl0rd :D

SC2CTL

Canada104 Posts

May 01 2014 15:41 GMT

While the showmatch idea is cool, I personally wouldn't want to do it. In most cases, the pro players the showmatches are against are simply better players than a lot of the Breaking Out players. If I was in a tournament that was supposed to be my breakout performance, I wouldn't want to get shit on by a Pro player live on stream in a best of three, just before I play the semi-finals.

Just my 2c though. Everything else looks great.

teamgravity

United States354 Posts

May 01 2014 15:44 GMT

Very excited! GO KREOS!

feardragon

United States973 Posts

May 01 2014 15:47 GMT

On May 02 2014 00:41 SC2CTL wrote:
While the showmatch idea is cool, I personally wouldn't want to do it. In most cases, the pro players the showmatches are against are simply better players than a lot of the Breaking Out players. If I was in a tournament that was supposed to be my breakout performance, I wouldn't want to get shit on by a Pro player live on stream in a best of three, just before I play the semi-finals.

Just my 2c though. Everything else looks great.

I definitely get your perspective! It's certainly a "risk" but I've seen a lot of these guys play against players like the ones in the showmatch in tournament qualifiers and such. I guess you could say I'm betting on them because I think they can show some really solid games. I won't say every player will win their showmatches, but I think a lot of people may be surprised at how good some of these guys are, win or lose.

JangBang

Sweden2 Posts

May 01 2014 15:53 GMT

Where is Broseidon

feardragon

United States973 Posts

May 01 2014 16:02 GMT

On May 02 2014 00:53 JangBang wrote:
Where is Broseidon

There was actually a qualification period for players to get in during Season 2!
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/starcraft-2/441858-now-announcing-breaking-out-na-season-2

Poo

Canada536 Posts

May 01 2014 16:11 GMT

oo I'm going to predict a Reborn/Kreos and Siphonn/Hendralisk advance out of group stages~

Should be a good event, will tune in

GravTrace

United States27 Posts

May 01 2014 16:48 GMT

#10

Kreos fighting !

Semmo

Korea (South)627 Posts

May 01 2014 17:27 GMT

#11

could you link a picture of the AEM maps?

iNcontroL

USA29055 Posts

May 01 2014 17:30 GMT

#12

looks great! Nice prize pool too.. gl everyone!

Jer99

Canada8159 Posts

May 01 2014 17:31 GMT

#13

go henry

feardragon

United States973 Posts

May 01 2014 17:40 GMT

#14

On May 02 2014 02:27 Semmo wrote:
could you link a picture of the AEM maps?

Sure!

AEM Cottage Hills
http://i.imgur.com/VuhKtkB.jpg
AEM Colonial Province
http://i.imgur.com/YJFYKon.jpg

ChapatiyaqPTSM

France1887 Posts

May 01 2014 17:51 GMT

#15

The Breakout Invitational 2
This is a nice event, good luck!

feardragon

United States973 Posts

May 01 2014 17:59 GMT

#16

On May 02 2014 02:51 ChapatiyaqPTSM wrote:
(Wiki)

The Breakout Invitational 2
This is a nice event, good luck!

Oh my god you are amazing as always! Thank you so much! <3

Holytornados

United States1022 Posts

May 01 2014 18:19 GMT

#17

Nice to see these guys getting some exposure. Only a few names I am familiar with.

ROOTdrewbie

Canada1392 Posts

May 01 2014 19:03 GMT

#18

is Kreos related to destiny?

Circumstance

United States11403 Posts

May 01 2014 19:32 GMT

#19

I've said it before, but you are honestly amazing, Feardragon. You are one of the unheralded saviors of North American Starcraft, and I am VERY excited to see your programming continue to succeed.

ZenMeng

United States31 Posts

May 01 2014 20:03 GMT

#20

I would be really surprised if the top 4 players got shit on in the show matches.. Their skill levels are not too far apart. Maybe Masa will be rekting but besides that should be close games.
Also group A = Kreos/RebOrn group B = Hendralisk / Naya ''the mannertoss'' Kappa

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