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
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:
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:
$1,990.52Updated 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
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.
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.
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.
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 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
Thinking about it, this show really does live up to its name. Since his appearance and victory from last season, Sarovati really has broken out a fair amount.
and as for the haters saying we can't take on the established pros many of us have -___- i personally have beaten both puck and suppy in online tournaments t.t
On May 02 2014 15:20 Circumstance wrote: Thinking about it, this show really does live up to its name. Since his appearance and victory from last season, Sarovati really has broken out a fair amount.
That kid's greatest enemy is not a player, it's his internet and his school schedule.
On May 02 2014 16:16 sWs wrote: Really looking forward to this. <3 fear dragon
and as for the haters saying we can't take on the established pros many of us have -___- i personally have beaten both puck and suppy in online tournaments t.t
Don't be silly. It doesn't count unless it's the semi-finals or finals of Dreamhack or WCS, on a full moon and if David Kim wakes up on the left side of his bed that day.
Update on recent events. There was a recent thread on reddit about one of the players having a history of bad manner. There was a discussion in the thread on whether NaYa should be allowed to participate in the tournament give his history and various allegations/evidence of bm on the ladder.
After careful consideration, I've decided to allow NaYa to participate in the tournament as planned, with the additional rule that any form of substantial bm in the starcraft community between now and the tournament would result in his disqualification. The reasoning for this comes down to a few factors.
1) NaYa is a damn good player and I still feel he deserves the chance to break out because of his skill at the game. Now allowing him to showcase his strong suite would be something that goes against the core principles of the show since I try my best to allow players to shine strongest where they can.
2) In the interest of fairness, I do not feel comfortable disqualifing a player from the tournament for a rule I did not explicitly specify. NaYa has been very much respectful of "keeping it clean" any time he was on the show or in content related to the show and that was all that I had asked of him when he came on. As some like mYi's Pengwin said in the reddit thread, there are lots of players exhibiting various outbursts on the ladder(some more extreme than others) and this has no impact on their participation tournaments. This may be a rule I consider implementing in the future seasons of Breaking Out to avoid this type of controversy but for now, it would be unfair to NaYa to disqualify him for something without giving him fair warning of these consequences.
3) NaYa has agreed not to display any strong degrees of bad manner inside or outside the tournament in the starcraft community until the tournament is finished. While I wish it wasn't arbitrairy, I will be the judge for what would be considered a "strong degree." If you encounter anything that happens between this day(5/3/2014) and the final day of the tournament(5/18/2014) please let me know and I will take action if it is warranted.
I understand that there are those that will not like the decision. NaYa has been nicknamed "The Notorious Toss" in the tournament for a reason but I hope that you still decide to tune in. You may not like him for his history but similar to cases of older players like Idra, Naniwa, Firecake, etc., maintaining a positive public perception is not his strong suite. You are not seeing him in his element in these situations. I hope that you tune in to see why he is deserving to be a break out player because his strong suite is his strong play. And if that is not enough for you, there are still 7 other wonderful players also worth cheering for and seeing.
The same way you do not have to like every player that attends Dreamhack or enters into an MLG open bracket and makes it through, you do not have to love every single player in this event. To some, Naniwa was a villain, while others saw him as just not as sensitive to public perception. Whichever side of the aisle you fall on, whether NaYa will be the guy that is misunderstood but plays damn well or is straight up your villain for the tournament, I hope you decide to tune in and keep an open mind.
I agree with the way you are handling this, FD. I also do not envy you for having to deal with this issue but believe this is being treated as fairly as you can.
Not many opportunities come along for someone to show off their personalities and skill, in the way that BONA provides. Hopefully this kid can recognize that his talent and work has led him to the point where he can allow it to be showed off in ways that A LOT of other kids would love to have shown. That can't be taken for granted no matter how fun and easy it is to lose self control.
Grassroots community events should be taken seriously if the scene wants the game to be remain popular and successful. This is not only up to the organizers...but the players as well.
Hendralisk doesn't seem like a breaking out type of player. He's had lots of good results and been somewhat well-known in NA. Either way, love to see more Hendralisk games!
I'm super excited to continue helping with coverage for Breaking Out Season 2! The invitational is really shaping up to be an amazing event!
I encourage everyone to go back through all the vods from the season and learn a little more about these great players before the actually invitational event kicks off
The Breakout Invitational begins in one day! Hope you guys are excited!
Unfortunately, due to Suppy's being in Asia at the moment, he will not be able to play in the showmatches. Instead, ROOT Petraeus, an amazingly sick zerg player who is residing in the United States now, will be playing as the Zerg Progamer representative!
On a more positive note, Breaking Out is happy to announce it's partnership once again with GOIMBA! Check out their site to place your bets on matches for free! Be sure to check out their point system as well as you can raise money for the prize pool just by using their site! http://goimba.com/#!/breakout
I'll be AFK for Day 1 And that was the group of players I knew less about and wanted to learn more from. Ah well, I'll see Group B for sure. Hopefully I can alliterate some during that group, make up for missing the first one.
Less than 200 viewers for this is a joke. Production is sick (have you seen the player intros?) and considering how well promoted and 'supported' it has been in the build up I'm pretty amazed more people aren't actually tuning in.
On May 17 2014 10:23 Wardi wrote: Less than 200 viewers for this is a joke. Production is sick (have you seen the player intros?) and considering how well promoted and 'supported' it has been in the build up I'm pretty amazed more people aren't actually tuning in.
Hopefully more people tune in for the games tomorrow and show some support for these guys. I agree the production has been great, and the casting has been pretty awesome as well. Plus GoIMBA is awesome
On May 17 2014 10:23 Wardi wrote: Less than 200 viewers for this is a joke. Production is sick (have you seen the player intros?) and considering how well promoted and 'supported' it has been in the build up I'm pretty amazed more people aren't actually tuning in.
Only caught the end bit but yeah it was fantastic, everything so smooth. Got up to 500 viewers that I saw, so hopefully more show up for the next days :D
grats to kreos. I was very embarassed by our two games and sorry I wasn't able to show better gameplay, everything just seemed to fall apart and I got severe tunnel vision and my fingeres just felt slower, but again I am not taking away from kreos play, just sad I couldn't show higher level gameplay
Special thanks to everyone who has been donating, betting, tweeting, etc.! Be sure to tune in tomorrow at the same time(5:30pm PST, 8:30pm EST) for Group B!
On May 17 2014 15:26 EJK wrote: grats to kreos. I was very embarassed by our two games and sorry I wasn't able to show better gameplay, everything just seemed to fall apart and I got severe tunnel vision and my fingeres just felt slower, but again I am not taking away from kreos play, just sad I couldn't show higher level gameplay
You showed some seriously sick games today. Definitely proved that you're someone people should watch out for! <3
Man, I'm usually the first to cheer on NA esports and up and comers, but tuning in and hearing from both players that they hadn't actually been playing much the last couple weeks (before this tournament based on Breaking Out onto the scene) just feels kinda sad.
Oh man, that's one of the funnier practice regimens I've heard in a while from Believe. Laddering on a barcode and hitting his opponent multiple times.
On May 18 2014 10:57 Rehio wrote: Man, I'm usually the first to cheer on NA esports and up and comers, but tuning in and hearing from both players that they hadn't actually been playing much the last couple weeks (before this tournament based on Breaking Out onto the scene) just feels kinda sad.
And then the first strategy is proxy cheese.
Well, you won't find too many players who haven't "broken out" that drop everything (school/work) to just play starcraft. That's the whole purpose of Breaking Out, to give guys more exposure so maybe they can afford to drop their job and dedicate more time to sc2.
On May 18 2014 10:57 Rehio wrote: Man, I'm usually the first to cheer on NA esports and up and comers, but tuning in and hearing from both players that they hadn't actually been playing much the last couple weeks (before this tournament based on Breaking Out onto the scene) just feels kinda sad.
And then the first strategy is proxy cheese.
Well, you won't find too many players who haven't "broken out" that drop everything (school/work) to just play starcraft. That's the whole purpose of Breaking Out, to give guys more exposure so maybe they can afford to drop their job and dedicate more time to sc2.
This definitely hits the nail on the had. Only a few of these players have really been able their full attention to the game because school or work makes it really difficult when you're not full time. It's unfortunate the invitational happened in May, which is around the time finals and such tend to happen but I still hope you ended up enjoying the games. I think there were some sick ones for sure.
Anyways, big congrats to Siphonn(P) and Hendralisk(Z) for advancing out of group B! Tomorrow we'll do the showmatches as follows: Siphon(P) vs IvD puCK(P) rebOrn(Z) vs Petraeus(Z) Hendralisk(Z) vs MaSa(T) Kreos(Z) vs QXC(T)
Then we'll move onto the semi-finals and finals after a short break!
Great tournament, great fun. Congrats to Henry for wrecking face and to Feardragon for putting on a sick, awesome tournament that, IIRC, crushed the viewer numbers from last season's tournament.
I'm curious as to how you pick the players for this tournament. Is there a qualifier or anything like that? And at what point do you no longer allow players to participate in this? I was really surprised to see Hendralisk in the list, because in my opinion he's already one of the stronger and more well known NA players. Anyways, congrats to him for winning and I look forward to the next Breakout!
On May 20 2014 05:30 Penguinator wrote: I'm curious as to how you pick the players for this tournament. Is there a qualifier or anything like that? And at what point do you no longer allow players to participate in this? I was really surprised to see Hendralisk in the list, because in my opinion he's already one of the stronger and more well known NA players. Anyways, congrats to him for winning and I look forward to the next Breakout!
Thank you feardragon for running this event, I'm gutted I couldn't really watch it as much as I would have liked (it's broadcast late in the UK and it's the middle of the uni exam period) but from what I saw it was a good event.
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The Breakout Invitational 2
And that was the group of players I knew less about and wanted to learn more from. Ah well, I'll see Group B for sure. Hopefully I can alliterate some during that group, make up for missing the first one.
