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![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/RJysB.jpg)
I think we can all agree that 2011 was a fantastic year for Starcraft II (yes, I know - we're not quite done yet!). I was sitting at my computer drooling over some of the fantastic play later in the year, especially from the Protosses who had been fairly quiet since Beta. Some of you may recall 2008, the 'Year of the Dragons', with a wide grin on your face. I'd like to recap the last two months for some of my favorite players and share some of the things that fascinate me about Starcraft.
______________________________________________________________________________________ ![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/LiquidNazgul/hero2.jpg)  Liquid'HerO Song Hyeon Deok Birth Date: 1990-06-06 Age: 21 (Korean: 22) AKAs: Liquid`HerO, LiquidHerO, oGsHerO, HerO[Shield], Liquid'HerO Team: Team LiquidAll: 47-32 (59%)vT: 10-13 (43%)vZ: 22-13 (63%)vP: 15-6 (71%)1st DreamHack Winter 2011 HerO 4 : 3 PuMa 3rd Dreamhack Valencia Invitational HerO 0 : 2 ThorZaIN 2nd Gview Thailand Starcraft II Invitational HerO 2 : 4 MarineKing ______________________________________________________________________________________ ![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Plexa/tsl3_finals/nanicheer1.jpg) NaNiwaJohan Lucchesi Birth Date: 1990-03-14 Age: 21 (Korean: 22) AKAs: Empire.Nani, sonnenkind, Skoth, kurorolucifer, srsRAZER.nAni Team: Complexity GamingAll: 23-20 (53%)vT: 5-5 (50%)vZ: 16-12 (57%)vP: 2-3 (40%)2nd MLG Providence 2011 NaNiwa 1 : 4 Leenock 1st 2011 MLG Global Invitational NaNiwa 2 : 1 NesTea 1st 2011 MLG European Invitational NaNiwa 4 : 1 White-Ra 4th Blizzcon 2011 NaNiwa 1 : 2 Sen ______________________________________________________________________________________ ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/wWVsC.jpg) HuKChris Loranger Birth Date: 1989-05-10 Age: 22 (Korean: 23) AKAs: EG.HuK, TLAF-Liquid`HuK, Mill.HuK, VT|HuK Team: Evil GeniusesAll: 42-34 (55%)vT: 17-14 (55%)vZ: 10-7 (59%)vP: 15-13 (54%)1st 2011 MLG Orlando 4 : 1 MC Ro8 2011 GSL August - Code S 0 : 3 Mvp ______________________________________________________________________________________ ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/hQzfp.jpg) SaSeKim Hammar Birth Date: 1987-07-12 Age: 24 (Korean: 25) AKAs: MYM.SaSe, ISEESEE, Deadleaves, 77mylady Team: Quantic GamingAll: 29-17 (63%)vT: 13-6 (68%)vZ: 3-5 (38%)vP: 13-6 (68%)3rd IGN ProLeague Season 4 UK Qualifiers SaSe 1 : 2 TAiLS 3rd MLG European Invitational 2011 SaSe 2 : 4 NaNiwa ______________________________________________________________________________________ ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/Pqi85.jpg) MCJang Min Chul Birth Date: 1991-06-17 Age: 20 (Korean: 21) AKAs: La[ScM], La[gm], IrOn[KaL], AAHero_gm, JangMinChul, oGsMC Team: Old GenerationsAll: 29-19 (60%)vT: 12-6 (67%)vZ: 9-5 (64%)vP: 8-8 (50%)2nd 2011 MLG Orlando MC 1 : 4 HuK ______________________________________________________________________________________ [Maps]9/1/11 - PresentAntiga ShipyardRecord: TvZ: 62-67 (48%) | ZvP: 67-47 (59%) | PvT: 43-50 (46%) Mirrors: 54 TvT | 57 ZvZ | 46 PvP CrevasseRecord: TvZ: 21-10 ( 68%) | ZvP: 19-16 (54%) | PvT: 12-24 (33%) Mirrors: 15 TvT | 6 ZvZ | 10 PvP Crossfire SERecord: TvZ: 21-15 (58%) | ZvP: 19-7 ( 73%) | PvT: 15-14 (52%) Mirrors: 21 TvT | 13 ZvZ | 9 PvP DaybreakRecord: TvZ: 29-34 (46%) | ZvP: 25-25 (50%) | PvT: 29-25 (54%) Mirrors: 30 TvT | 21 ZvZ | 29 PvP Dual Sight Record: TvZ: 53-45 (54%) | ZvP: 45-29 (61%) | PvT: 38-36 (51%) Mirrors: 49 TvT | 42 ZvZ | 30 PvP MetalopolisRecord: TvZ: 60-52 (54%) | ZvP: 59-56 (51%) | PvT: 33-41 (44%) Mirrors: 41 TvT | 75 ZvZ | 30 PvP Shakuras PlateauRecord: TvZ: 79-64 (55%) | ZvP: 93-61 (60%) | PvT: 63-80 (44%) Mirrors: 52 TvT | 75 ZvZ | 65 PvP Tal'Darim AltarRecord: TvZ: 80-83 (49%) | ZvP: 94-81 (54%) | PvT: 84-64 (57%) Mirrors: 73 TvT | 39 ZvZ | 54 PvP Terminus SERecord: TvZ: 34-31 (52%) | ZvP: 44-35 (56%) | PvT: 44-36 (55%) Mirrors: 20 TvT | 32 ZvZ | 31 PvP OverallRecord: TvZ: 439-401 (52%) | ZvP: 465-357 (57%) | PvT: 361-370 (49%) Mirrors: 355 TvT | 360 ZvZ | 304 PvP ______________________________________________________________________________________ ELO PeaksID Team ELO Peak vsT Peak vsZ Peak vsP Peak MC oGs 2300 2434 2254 2302 2218 2245 2176 2255 HuK EG. 2208 2406 2168 2299 2094 2180 2182 2275 NaNiwa coL. 2269 2391 2203 2315 2090 2212 2209 2232 SaSe QxG 2268 2369 2259 2284 2101 2115 2169 2256 HerO Liquid` 2320 2325 2188 2188 2189 2220 2199 2214 ______________________________________________________________________________________
I've really enjoyed the year and I hope this post helps to excite someone else in the same way I'm excited for what comes next... Needless to say, if you've made it this far you've probably noticed that I only chose five players.. does anyone have thoughts on who should be the sixth (aka: free  )? I can't wait to see if the foreigners can continue to play so well or if they'll slowly lose out to the long term training of the Koreans like Grrrr... and Elky and the other early champions.
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United States23455 Posts
This is going to end up like the bonjwa-discussions.
Bisu, Jangbi, Stork, Free and Kal are all shaking their heads at this thread. Nice write-up, though.
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On December 02 2011 11:21 Fionn wrote:
This is going to end up like the bonjwa-discussions.
Bisu, Jangbi, Stork, Free and Kal are all shaking their heads at this thread. Nice write-up, though.
nah, bisu has to respect minibisu, other than that you're 100% right though
edit: omg getting dangerously close to 2k pts...MUST NOT POST TIL EVERYTHING IS PREPARED T_____T
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I think that humans can't be considered dragon in 2012. Theere a constutancy in think the Chinese alphabet for dragons? Correct mne If im wrong but the draagons can't be germinated, but yes good analogy i think they comeback this season.
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On December 02 2011 11:21 Fionn wrote:
This is going to end up like the bonjwa-discussions.
Bisu, Jangbi, Stork, Free and Kal are all shaking their heads at this thread. Nice write-up, though.
Oh God, couldn't agree more. People keep jumping the gun these days seriously. X-X
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I think FXO Oz deserves mention more so than Sase. No offense to Sase of course. Other Protoss who I believe would be worthy are NSHoseo Sage and Slayers Puzzle, we just have to wait and see if they deliver results.
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United States23455 Posts
I mean, at the time of the dragons, all six of them were in the top seven or ten best players in the world. Hero still needs to make Code S for the first time; Naniwa is in Code S, but was given three Code A seeds and got 0-2'ed in every single tournament; Huk is fighting to get back into Code S and has never made a semifinal; MC dropped all the way down to Code B, had to go through MLG to get a Code S seed, and hasn't made a semifinal in probably half a year; Sase? Very good player...but what?
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So Bisu and Hero were both in the [Shield] clan?
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On December 02 2011 11:21 Fionn wrote:
This is going to end up like the bonjwa-discussions.
Bisu, Jangbi, Stork, Free and Kal are all shaking their heads at this thread. Nice write-up, though.
You forgot Best  .
Movie and Stats to replace Free and Kal soon though.
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second coming of the dragoons T_T
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Tell me when they are getting solid 60% or above win ratio for a period of time. Then I'll consider them as "dragons"
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United States23455 Posts
On December 02 2011 11:29 zyzq wrote:Show nested quote +On December 02 2011 11:21 Fionn wrote:
This is going to end up like the bonjwa-discussions.
Bisu, Jangbi, Stork, Free and Kal are all shaking their heads at this thread. Nice write-up, though.
You forgot Best . Movie and Stats to replace Free and Kal soon though.
I always forget Best for some reason.
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This thread can only end badly.
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Make this thread if in 5 years they are doing just as good... Cause Being really good now doesn't mean that much Long Term think about Boxer he was amazing and revolutionized the game. Though he probably couldn't beat Flash/Jaedong/Bisu in a bo5/7
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I'm sorry but no. This isn't even close to what a real "Year of the Dragons". When the top 5 out of 10 players in the world are all Protoss we can revisit this thread IMO.
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9070 Posts
I'm just wondering, is anyone from the current sc2 stars born in November ?
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you guys are trying way too hard with all these attempts to legitimize sc2 with the BW comparisons. the game is just over a year old give it time...embarrassing.
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Haha, this is hilarious....
Anyways, at the time of the 6 Dragons, they were absolutely dominant (and hence the term was coined). I don't see any of the protosses you mentioned being especially dominant.
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On December 02 2011 11:21 Fionn wrote:
This is going to end up like the bonjwa-discussions.
Bisu, Jangbi, Stork, Free and Kal are all shaking their heads at this thread. Nice write-up, though.
Yea none of those players OP listed are better than any of the players you listed... sadly.
Though I want HerO or Huk to do good in 2012. 
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United States23455 Posts
On December 02 2011 11:40 disciple wrote:
I'm just wondering, is anyone from the current sc2 stars born in November ?
Not a single person in the top 25 of the current Korean ELO was born in November.
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Not enough silver medals in this group to be called dragons. Bisu, stork, jangbi, best and kal accounted for something like a dozen 2nd place finishes between osl, msl, wcg, and the gom classic. The players you listed have an aggregate winning percentage of around .500 in Korea the past few months. It isnt even close.
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9070 Posts
On December 02 2011 11:44 Fionn wrote:Show nested quote +On December 02 2011 11:40 disciple wrote:
I'm just wondering, is anyone from the current sc2 stars born in November ? Not a single person in the top 25 of the current Korean ELO was born in November.
bonjwa discussion solved then
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Nani picture is amazing<3
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United Arab Emirates1141 Posts
On December 02 2011 11:27 Fionn wrote:
I mean, at the time of the dragons, all five of them were in the top seven or ten best players in the world. Hero still needs to make Code S for the first time; Naniwa is in Code S, but was given three Code A seeds and got 0-2'ed in every single tournament; Huk is fighting to get back into Code S and has never made a semifinal; MC dropped all the way down to Code B, had to go through MLG to get a Code S seed, and hasn't made a semifinal in probably half a year; Sase? Very good player...but what? Fionn just shuts the entire thread down lol.
To all the people who like to discuss "dragons" or "bonjwa" or whatever - time to watch GSL so you realise where the real competition is...
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What about DH summer and Homestory cup 3 for Huk:0
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None of them are even close in accomplishments, let alone skills. Needs more Koreans anyways.
Dragons were the top 5 protoss, where is killer/oz/etc?
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On December 02 2011 11:24 StarStruck wrote:Show nested quote +On December 02 2011 11:21 Fionn wrote:
This is going to end up like the bonjwa-discussions.
Bisu, Jangbi, Stork, Free and Kal are all shaking their heads at this thread. Nice write-up, though.
Oh God, couldn't agree more. People keep jumping the gun these days seriously. X-X
Agreed. "Hey let's just pick 5 good Protoss players and a mystery one."
These aren't even the top 5 Protoss players lol. You forgot the rest of the frickin Koreans...
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I root for protoss so the protoss on ladder can stop complaining about imbalance 
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Isn't this just a "Wouldn't it be cool if these guys became the dragons 2 - enter the fist?" thread?
I mean, sure. Love to see a phenomena like that happen in starcraft. Heck, I'd like to see someone term a "phase" of starcraft 2, but there hasn't been any solid phenomena occur across the board. Sure, terran OP'd Korea for a couple of months, but even then the rest of the world shrugged and had other champions even pre-patch.
There just hasn't been any sort of "domination" in any sense unfortunately. No single player, team, race, country, etc has really dominated. If things change in the future, there might be something to be said for the current state as the era of "The Koreans are coming" where high level korean players threw their hat into international tournament rings more consistently and typically dominated, but an era is only an era if it can end =P
We'll see. I actually wonder whether (and this is because I don't follow BW), people considered themselves within the "5 Dragons" phenomena whilst they were in the 5 dragons phenomena? =/
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That's pretty damn impressive. Kinda ironic to see forGG there at 8.
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Not quite sure protoss is dominating the scene enough for there to be dragons.
Also, can someone tell me the story behind MC's picture? Looks boss.
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I'm sorry but this is probably not going to end very well. I'm looking at the stats and none of them truly stands out to me; a few match ups were below 50% and most are below 60%. I mean its a nice comparison and all, but the Six Dragons from BW were at the time the six best players out of the best ten in BW. During their reign they accumulated literally a dozen silvers and several championships.
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GRAND OLD AMERICA16375 Posts
On December 02 2011 11:29 zyzq wrote:Show nested quote +On December 02 2011 11:21 Fionn wrote:
This is going to end up like the bonjwa-discussions.
Bisu, Jangbi, Stork, Free and Kal are all shaking their heads at this thread. Nice write-up, though.
You forgot Best . Movie and Stats to replace Free and Kal soon though.
Free looks like he actually rebounded back from his slump
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On December 02 2011 12:11 Trang wrote:
Not quite sure protoss is dominating the scene enough for there to be dragons.
Also, can someone tell me the story behind MC's picture? Looks boss.
After winning a series in this past MLG he ran out onto stage and impersonated a Murloc (Which is what his hoodie is)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/9HxfJ.gif)
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All this hype at a time when Protoss are finally getting some wins again and the obvious neglect to mention Oz / Killer / Puzzle over Sase / Naniwa. God, just last GSL Killer held the hopes of all Protoss fans alone and made it pretty deep. Brush him aside for Sase... Come on.
There have been some positive changes since the most recent patches for Protoss as well as some much needed metagame adjustments over the last couple of months and it all seems to be producing results.
Taking a look back on 2011, I'd say it has been a pretty good year for Terran and Zerg. There were some flashes of Protoss awesomeness, although not many. We'll have to look back on 2012 around the end of the year to determine whether or not a particular race was dominating the podiums of the upper tourneys.
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As some people mentioned, this thread is really just mentioned as a "let's look forward" post and not a "omg these 5 players are as good as the dragons". I was hoping to get people excited for possibilities going forward, really.
No need to get defensive of the BW players, if you click the link in my post you'll see I wrote a very similar article in early '09 about the Dragons... have and always will be a fan of fantastic toss play.
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If protoss really do dominate to the extent of the six dragons, it would get nerfed almost overnight . . . .
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Toss has been having a pretty good 2 months; it doesn't mean that they're Dragons. Tomorrow T/Z could find a niche in the metagame and they (Protoss) all suck again.
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Yup, nothing else to see here, let's move along...
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On December 02 2011 11:50 ChuCky.Ca wrote:
What about DH summer and Homestory cup 3 for Huk:0
The series from DH summer was so hard to watch. Moon did an extremely intelligent hatch cancel on crevasse, Huk missed scouting the hatch in the first place so prepared for an all-in. Then on tal'darim altar Moon went for a six pool when he was destroying EVERY protoss on that map with Muta ling. I'm not saying Huk didn't deserve that win, because he did. It was just so hard to watch Moon make a great decision that didn't pan out and then a terrible decision two games in a row.
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Switzerland2892 Posts
On December 02 2011 11:46 disciple wrote:Show nested quote +On December 02 2011 11:44 Fionn wrote:On December 02 2011 11:40 disciple wrote:
I'm just wondering, is anyone from the current sc2 stars born in November ? Not a single person in the top 25 of the current Korean ELO was born in November. bonjwa discussion solved then
What about boxer :D?
I will not mention flash so I don't get killed in my sleep by some purist
(Yes I know it's stupid to talk about bonjwas in sc2)
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We don't have anyone anywhere near deserving of being a Dragon or Bonjwa yet. Not even MVP and Nestea can hope to compare to the Bonjwas and there is no really good protoss, much less one as good as the Dragons.
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So much hubris. Even with a mappool being fixed to get toss wins. I have strong doubts.
Also to be fair, I agree with others that its early to talk about Dragons. We need to see some consistency first. (And the game needs to evolve to the point people can be considered "epic".)
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I know that Dragons are coming in Game of Thrones this season
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No, its just freaking fall. -_-'
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I don't think we're at a dragon year in sc2, not yet. Protoss only started doing well in these recent months. Awhile ago there were only 1 or 2 protoss actually doing well as it's been terran domination 2011. It's been an interesting few months for naniwa/huk/hero/oz but it definitely hasn't been their year. sc2 is also still unstable, we don't have any consistent winners, we used to think it was mvp/nestea but now leenock? hero? naniwa? jjakji? there were few who expected these players to suddenly beat everyone.
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Your lack of Stephano disturbs me.
All: 309-160 (65.88%)
vT: 143-75 (65.60%)
vZ: 78-40 (66.10%)
vP: 88-45 (66.17%)
Consistently at 66%'ish.
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On December 02 2011 14:56 Aberu wrote:
Your lack of Stephano disturbs me.
All: 309-160 (65.88%)
vT: 143-75 (65.60%)
vZ: 78-40 (66.10%)
vP: 88-45 (66.17%)
Consistently at 66%'ish.
The dragons are...protoss?
edit: And these aren't the dragons, but protoss do get stronger in the fall. But Winter is coming.
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I thought this thread was going to be about Dragoons coming in HotS.
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only person that can be called kin to dragons is tyler since he plays so much skyrim
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Won't happen.
People would cry out 'IMBAAA' and Blizzard would end up nerfing protoss to death.
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Shouldn't Oz be up there since he made the ro4 this season, and has been performing strongly?
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I don't see SlayerS_Dragon, this thread title is misleading......
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this thread is a few years too early
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1 year in and we have dragons? No tanks~~
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On December 02 2011 11:21 Fionn wrote:
This is going to end up like the bonjwa-discussions.
Bisu, Jangbi, Stork, Free and Kal are all shaking their heads at this thread. Nice write-up, though.
You include Pretty and goojila but forget Best!?!??!
At least Best can win games!
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why do you put there korean on the foreigners?
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The funniest thing is that he only counts results over a 2 month period in foreign tournaments. I mean, who cares about GSL right? Only has koreans, what a joke tournament!
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Actually, it's just that it was much harder to account for differences in TLPD across both databases with some players having played in one but not the other. I decided to pull only the stats from the international DB.
I should have mentioned that, though. My bad guys.
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EPT
