We are still almost 4 weeks away from the first cup of the season, but I needed a thread for the calender entries
Also, the A-Series has started already. The Koreans MC, HyuN, YoDa, First and Golden have recently joined the league and played their first matches in order to earn some points to be able to compete with their countryman Patience, who made it to the Grand Final last season.
_____ Finals @ gamescom _____
First semifinal starts right after the FIFA14 final, but not earlier than 13:00 CEST.
I'm normally not the guy complaining about Koreans taking spots from foreigners but this makes me a little sad. EPS was one of very few tournaments where young German players and, as important, the smaller German teams, could get some exposure. If next season, what is very likely, most of the spots will be taken by established Korean players there won't be much room for players like Lambo, GungFuBanda or CPU. Even the more established players like Hasu or Socke will get problems with this.
This isn't a big tournament like WCS, Dreamhack or MLG, I think guys like MC, Hyun or Yoda should have enough other possibilities.
Well, EPS is one of the very last healthy regional based tournaments in the SC2 scene (in the way that it supports a relatively large player base because it gives up and coming players some exposure). If Koreans overtake this tournament as well, the SC2 EPS will be shut down within 2 seasons and the German scene will be as dead as most other regional SC2 scenes.
I also think EPS Germany should be restricted to German nationals. It s a great way to promote the local scene and it lets younger player grow before moving on to more stacked tournament. Now, the Koreans attending do indeed live and Germany, but still they are all well-established players and I dont think it s great for the future of the German local scene... Time will tell I guess!
I agree with the statements above. As much as I dislike the attitude of German Pros to just farm EPS money while avoiding to prove their worth internationally, this will vertainly put an end to the careers of Goody, Socke, Hasu and co.
On May 22 2014 09:22 marcesr wrote: Well, EPS is one of the very last healthy regional based tournaments in the SC2 scene (in the way that it supports a relatively large player base because it gives up and coming players some exposure). If Koreans overtake this tournament as well, the SC2 EPS will be shut down within 2 seasons and the German scene will be as dead as most other regional SC2 scenes.
Pretty much this. Every Country need local heroes.
Haha wtf, EPS suddenly became a sick tournament. Poor Germans, but this is kinda cool.
Edit: Also this may look bad at first. But I think with this Germany might become a lot stronger over all. If German players have to play players like MC and Hyun on a regular basis they will get a lot better. They will get to prepare against them and once they know how they play and don't get suprised by the korean meta, they can actually go toe to toe with them. Showtime still won EPS over Patience and the surprise effect of the korean strength will become less and less .
This should also generate more international viewership for the english stream.
On May 22 2014 18:45 Musicus wrote: Haha wtf, EPS suddenly became a sick tournament. Poor Germans, but this is kinda cool.
Edit: Also this may look bad at first. But I think with this Germany might become a lot stronger over all. If German players have to play players like MC and Hyun on a regular basis they will get a lot better. They will get to prepare against them and once they know how they play and don't get suprised by the korean meta, they can actually go toe to toe with them. Showtime still won EPS over Patience and the surprise effect of the korean strength will become less and less .
This should also generate more international viewership for the english stream.
There are shitton tounaments where everyone can attend... Its time to find tournaments without this, we need more national/regional/local tournaments. Its so boring if all tournaments "feels like the same". I really hate what happened in the last 4 years in sc2. Yeah this tournament is not special anymore, is like go4sc2 with offline stage.
On May 22 2014 08:38 Myt wrote: I'm normally not the guy complaining about Koreans taking spots from foreigners but this makes me a little sad.
Doesnt matter if Korean or British player attend German EPS. THIS is only for GERMANS. I really hope EPS France stays only on french/benelux players.
On May 22 2014 18:45 Musicus wrote: Haha wtf, EPS suddenly became a sick tournament. Poor Germans, but this is kinda cool.
Edit: Also this may look bad at first. But I think with this Germany might become a lot stronger over all. If German players have to play players like MC and Hyun on a regular basis they will get a lot better. They will get to prepare against them and once they know how they play and don't get suprised by the korean meta, they can actually go toe to toe with them. Showtime still won EPS over Patience and the surprise effect of the korean strength will become less and less .
This should also generate more international viewership for the english stream.
There are shitton tounaments where everyone can attend... Its time to find tournaments without this, we need more national/regional/local tournaments. Its so boring if all tournaments "feels like the same". I really hate what happened in the last 4 years in sc2. Yeah this tournament is not special anymore, is like go4sc2 with offline stage.
But most Germans won't even play go4sc2 since they want to avoid the competition and rather farm EPS. Now they are forced to improve and that's what I want, a stronger German scene. I'm sure real competitors like TLO won't complain, but see this as a challenge and a chance to improve. Young players dream of facing MC in a tournament and now they can in the freaking A-Series.
I really think EPS made some German pros lazy, this will force their hand.
DeMusliM, Cloud, Naniwa all played EPS back then, I don't see the problem as long as they live in Germany and even play the EU ladder. It's not a Korean flying in and winning EPS before he goes home. Germans are allowed to play GSL too.
Doesnt matter what you want or what I want... If you are strong enough to win EPS, thats all what you need. You can say that to Bayern and Bundesliga too. Do you like if ManU and Real Madrid are coming to Bundesliga next season? I dont like it.
Edit:
Germans are allowed to play GSL too.
What I dont like. I wish that Korean has a local tournament too.
Edit2: If you want to be "best german player" and you have beaten non-germans opponents in semi and in grandfinal. Do you feel as "best german player"?
On May 22 2014 19:12 Dingodile wrote: Doesnt matter what you want or what I want... If you are strong enough to win EPS, thats all what you need. You can say that to Bayern and Bundesliga too. Do you like if ManU and Real Madrid are coming to Bundesliga next season? I dont like it.
Well the Bundesliga's level of play is already as high as it gets, so I wouldn't really care, the effect wouldn't be huge, since Bayern (and Dortmund I guess, I'm bad with football) is already so strong, that other teams are under pressure to improve. There would just be more than 2 favourites now. But if the Bundesliga was a low level competition, I'd welcome more foreign teams or players to improve the competition and elevate the level of play. Otherwise the level of play would always stay low, since there would be no need to improve.
Edit: I guess we can just agree to disagree, but now I am hyped for the next EPS .
It would be interesting to see if TLO actually plays EPS now, since he perceives himself more of an international player and doesnt really like national competitions. (thats how i understood it at least)
now that the EPS is basically a very good training ground for international tournaments, it would make sense if he participates as well. But somehow i doubt it. Technically Stardust and Jjakji could participate as well.
Its not too bad for the top German players like Hasu, Tlo, Heromarine, Showtime and Socke.. some of them could still get top8 in the EPS. Its just really bad for the average German pro. They're gonna have a hard time winning a single series because the brackets gonna be so stacked. up and coming players have a much harder time to break into the scene. I mean its probably harder now to get top 8 in eps than to qualify for WCS challenger league.
EPS is the most important exposure for the German market and i dont think you can justify to sponsor the German middle class of pro gamers if they lose every game.
I've attended quite some EPS finals and other events in germany and supported HasuObs with my friends, but this will be so boring i won't even consider going there.
On May 22 2014 19:22 Tigi wrote: I've attended quite some EPS finals and other events in germany and supported HasuObs with my friends, but this will be so boring i won't even consider going there.
I'm pretty sure Hasu will still make top8 at least. It will be even more awesome to cheer for him if he wins this season against Korean competition.
Well, this is going to be harsh for the German scene. But the argument that German players also technically have the right to compete in the GSL is indeed a heavy one. Globalisation, guys :/
On May 22 2014 20:00 TTBest wrote: Well, this is going to be harsh for the German scene. But the argument that German players also technically have the right to compete in the GSL is indeed a heavy one. Globalisation, guys :/
My main concern isn't about nationality, it's more about exposure (and therefore sponsorship aka money for new players and smaller teams) and level of play. If there is no chance even in small national tournaments lilke EPS for newcomers there will be no incentive or even a chance for most of them to become a pro. Guys like MC an Hyun are way above our average german newcommers. Sure you might say they should improve but I don't think they survive as long as ist would take to be able to really compete with toplevel players.
GSL ist as best as it can get, it's only fair that only the best get a chance to compete there. Same for the big international tournaments with big pricepools but EPS isn't that.
There was alot of talk in the last few years why the NA scene ist behind EU. Most statet reason was the nonexistense of smaler tournaments and a local scene for new NA-player, now we are getting the same situation in EU or at least in Germany.
On May 22 2014 20:00 TTBest wrote: Well, this is going to be harsh for the German scene. But the argument that German players also technically have the right to compete in the GSL is indeed a heavy one. Globalisation, guys :/
Also most of the German up and coming players still go to school or only do part time pro.
Players like Heromarine, Gungfubanda, Lambo, CPU all still go to school.. Even if they wanted to practice 6-10 hours a day.. they cant because they have other commitments
They cant practice as much as a full time korean pro, they didnt play years of korean ladder and benefit from a team house environment. To win the EPS you need to defeat the WCS europe champion. The probability for a foreigner to win EPS is similar to the probability that a foreigner wins WCS.
oh god plz no ... all this koreans destroy spirit of EPS ... mc and yoda live in germany but the other 3 too ?
On May 22 2014 20:47 SatedSC2 wrote: In the long run, I would hope that this is good for the German players. The chance to constantly practice and train with German-based Korean teammates (especially those Koreans who are on German/European teams) and to regularly play against them in EPS tournaments could improve the skill level of German players.
EDIT:
You have to remember that this tournament is essentially region-locked in that you have to be a resident of Germany in order to compete. Because these players have to come to Germany, they have to play on the EU server and practice with EU players, and that should be good for EU players if they can use it to their advantage.
they still there for wcs ...
i hope they change rules from residence to nationality -.- sry but its a german tournamnet and i not wnat 4kor in finals ... then i can watch an international tournament ...
On May 22 2014 20:47 SatedSC2 wrote: In the long run, I would hope that this is good for the German players. The chance to constantly practice and train with German-based Korean teammates (especially those Koreans who are on German/European teams) and to regularly play against them in EPS tournaments could improve the skill level of German players.
EDIT:
You have to remember that this tournament is essentially region-locked in that you have to be a resident of Germany in order to compete. Because these players have to come to Germany, they have to play on the EU server and practice with EU players, and that should be good for EU players if they can use it to their advantage.
I don't disagree with you, overall I'm happy, that all this great Korean players are living/playing in EU for all the reason you mentioned. But nevertheless the new player need some forum to show themself and their teams till they are able to really compete with the best.
As someone else mentioned, you now get the WCS-champion and other Premier-League-Level-Player even in EPS-Quali.
On May 22 2014 09:22 marcesr wrote: Well, EPS is one of the very last healthy regional based tournaments in the SC2 scene (in the way that it supports a relatively large player base because it gives up and coming players some exposure). If Koreans overtake this tournament as well, the SC2 EPS will be shut down within 2 seasons and the German scene will be as dead as most other regional SC2 scenes.
Pretty much this. Every Country need local heroes.
Hm, so does local hero mean a hero who comes from your local place, or a hero who only exists locally?
On May 22 2014 09:22 marcesr wrote: Well, EPS is one of the very last healthy regional based tournaments in the SC2 scene (in the way that it supports a relatively large player base because it gives up and coming players some exposure). If Koreans overtake this tournament as well, the SC2 EPS will be shut down within 2 seasons and the German scene will be as dead as most other regional SC2 scenes.
Pretty much this. Every Country need local heroes.
Hm, so does local hero mean a hero who comes from your local place, or a hero who only exists locally?
national heroes (within your country/nation). You play only against people with same nation.
So the current situation is that MC, Golden and Hyun can play but Yoda and First have to hope that some of the guys ahead of them in points dont sign up so they can compete. Jjakji and Stardust dont compete.
If we're getting swarmed by koreans then why not some more terrans at least
Thats what i thought. They might play 1 or 2 cups and hope to win it, but they dont take the EPS all too serious. Like, they will play if they have nothing better to do. So yeah, HeroMarine/Hasu/Goody for the win!
Classical GoOdy on Habitation Station: Let Hanfy mine out his half of the map and get to 20k/12k and then grinding him all the way down to 0/0 again. GG
Fourth cup today. Again, without many of the Koreans due to missing trusted accounts and maybe without some players who advance to round 3 of the WCS qualifier. Gungfubanda will miss today's cup for sure as he is barred for this playweek. Patience and Marine are already qualified for the groupstage and hence for next EPS season as well.
So we could get an interesting lineup today. Signup starts 90 minutes from now. #hype
If I may ask; why did you choose a date, that overlaps with the WCS qualifier? CPU, GoOdy, Hasu, kaup, Knowme, Lamboking, Monty, Showtime, Socke and Tarra are all already signed up for the WCS qualifier, in the worst case the cup ill end up without quite a lot of it's best players.
The EPS date was scheduled long before the WCS qualifier and couldn't be moved anymore on such short notice. Cause it would've meant that players, who don't care about WCS but already planned to play the EPS cup today, couldn't participate in it. And even though they may improve the quality of an EPS cup, we can't value players like Hasuobs or Goody over A-Series players, especially not in an open system like we are using in the EPS.
It would've been different if this was just an ordinary EPS playday with a fixed pool of players, but it is not. It would've also been different if it was early in the season, or early enough to reschedule the whole thing. But that is and was not the case. So we decided to stick to our schedule that was announced in May.
Hopefully it won't influence the EPS lineup too much, although I do wish the German players to get as far as possible in the WCS qualifier.
Hmm, I guess all of this is just very unfortunate. At least Heromarine, Patience and possibly Golden should be in EPS though. And Hanfy plays NightEnD very early in WCS so if things go bad, he will be here, too.
Edit: KitoO out of WCS, so probably attending, Lambo plays MLord and Tarra and Socke play eachother currently.
Edit2: Now, that the bracket is out, it seems everyone is just playing in both: Hanfy, Monty, Lambo, GoOdy, Hasu, Socke all checked in in EPS, while still alive in WCS. RIP schedule.
On July 24 2014 04:19 Nebuchad wrote: Looks like it's harder to mech vs terran than vs protoss =D
Yes, this TvT doesn't exactly look, like I was hoping it would. At least Heromarine looks good in TvT, so he may have a chance against Jjakji in Challenger.
On August 13 2014 21:12 Dingodile wrote: wow that one wm hit did a very huge damage to 3stalkers and 3collosi, game completely changed because of this one hit. I really hate wm with passion.
As a terran, I understand. We all have units that we hate with passion.
On August 13 2014 21:12 Dingodile wrote: wow that one wm hit did a very huge damage to 3stalkers and 3collosi, game completely changed because of this one hit. I really hate wm with passion.
It was a great hit, but I don't think it completely changed the game, Heromarine was way ahead, that wm hit just unlocked the instant kill.
On August 13 2014 23:05 Musicus wrote: Poor golden, he is crushed and his time as a progamer is running . But congrats Showtime, well played!
Yea kinda heartbreaking, when i was watching live in ESL studio you could really see his passion, lots of that in him But well full german finals, me likes!
Getting stalkers with blink that out of position is a skill you should forget. To greedy at sniping the Vikings I guess.
I think Heromarine thought Showtime would stay on 2 base and went for 3 base and then saw the 3rd of the Protoss and used his own as a fake. Either way Worker pull works if there is not enough anti air so the Vikings can snipe the Colossus before the Bio has to fight.
On August 13 2014 23:36 JustPassingBy wrote: WTH, why scv pull now?
edit: why would you pull scvs after planting down a third? Wouldn't it be stronger with only two bases?
I think you might as well put down a third if you have the 400 minerals, to be in a better position if you deal heavy damage but can't finish the game with the scv pull.
#GERKOR 6-2 btw. Looks like the Koreans were not as game-breaking as most people here thought at the beginning of the season Winter season might be a different story, but we will see about that, starting late September / early October.
EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/ElmUb.png)
MC, 
Madals
.
Stupid work.
