Hello everyone! IGN Pro League will be hosting an event at South by Southwest or SXSW in Austin, Texas this year! We will be part of the Interactive portion of the event at ScreenBurn. ScreenBurn is the name of their video game culture exhibition, and you can read more about it here: http://sxsw.com/interactive/screenburn/arcade ScreenBurn is free and open to the public on March 9th - 11th so please come and join us for an awesome time!
What is IPL doing there? Well, we are going to have a huge, LIVE showmatch right in the middle of everything, featuring two of your favorite players. The top two players in the poll in this very thread will be flown out to Austin, Texas by us to play in a live best of 9 showmatch for $5,000 worth of prizes. First place will receive $4,000, and second place will receive $1,000. Hopefully that's enough on the line for just one series that the winning players will put on one heck of a show.
Now to meet your nominees from all over the world:
16 players from 7 countries are vying for your votes so that they can fly to Texas and play in this massive showmatch! Who will the fan favorites be?
Head over to http://esports.ign.com/sc2/sxsw and place your votes (Two per person! Pick your favorites!) before midnight Pacific Standard Time on Monday, January 16th! That's when the voting ends. Our two players with the most votes at that time will be flown in to take part in an unforgettable live showmatch! Please leave any questions, comments, and discussion here, as we'll all be reading and eagerly watching as the poll progresses!
Also, don't forget to remind them about promoting this poll! If you really want to see your favorite player, they will need to tell their stream viewers and fans about it!
Just as an FYI / Disclaimer: IEM World Championships in Germany are the same weekend as South by Southwest. If our poll winners decide to attend that event, we will go down the list by votes received until we have two players that can attend.
Right now, the players on our poll that are conflicted right now are EG.IdrA, coLMVP.DongRaeGu, and EG.PuMa. It will be up to the players and their teams to decide which event they will attend, so just keep that in mind as the voting continues!
Update! The poll is now closed, and our winners are actually both former IGN Pro League tournament champions! White-Ra and Mill.Stephano will be battling it out live in Austin on March 9th and 10th!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyzxYxwFLmk
Stay up to date with IPL 4 Qualifiers, IPL TV, IPL Fight Club, and IPL Team Arena by checking our Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Twitch.TV!
I voted Idra/MKP, which I'm pretty sure they'll win as it's the most popular foreigner against the most populer korean on that list, in a non-mirror match. Second would probably be Huk/DRG.
Huge fan of WhiteRa, MKP, and HerO, HuK, but I won't vote for them since their performance haven't exactly been ideal and that I'd rather watch a game of pure top level performance.
hate to say this, but Leenock and DRG are the only high level players in this entire list.....would be nice to have MMA, MC or MVP, or even Fin on this list, but meh.. Xmas already passed.
I can't fathom why ppl would vote for Idra.. skill level wise, he's less than stellar, and he's not even gonna stay in code S in 2 days time. Mark my words.
In terms of all the zerg players available in the pool, he's not even top 3.... Ideally, you would want 2 highest level players of different races, but from this pool, this isn't possible. That is, if you picked Leenock or DRG, for zerg, there's no other player comparable to them who plays a different race. The matches would be so one-sided that it's not even fun to watch. Simple as that. Although a ZvZ matchup isn't exactly the most entertaining match up, I really would rather watch this than some lower level TvZ or TvP...etc.
People are voting like idiots. Realistically, in an IdrA vs. MKP showmatch, MKP would probably just proxy rax to set IdrA on tilt and guarantee shitty games.
IPL, why are you so awesome? Secondly, where are you getting all of this money? IPL has done so much for competitive SC2 in North America, I just wanted to thank you so much.
Probably Puma-Hero for me.
Edit: It seems that Idra and MKP are the frontrunners in this race. That would be definitely cool to see a high-level TvZ like that.
There's so many great players and matchups I'd love to see at an event like this. In the end, I voted for TvZ and picked Idra and MKP to fit the slots.
As long as the two players are of comparable skill, so that it will not turn into a 5-0 or 5-1 stomp, and the players are different races so a mirror matchup is avoided, I will be content.
If both players are very high skill level (Code S calibre) and have huge personalities, then I will be delighted.
Ugh, anyone but HuK please T_T, Take said it well: HuK is turning into a "diva".
I voted for MKP/IdrA, but I'd be content with several players winning the poll (Keen, WhiteRa, DRG, Leenock).
The reason why I want MKP vs IdrA is that both players deserve it AND IdrA said in an interview that MKP is overrated (that was the only Korean he listed as overrated).
Yeh voted white-ra too, i think deserves the love more than others on the list (c'mon, white-ra, he cares!). There are stronger players on the list for sure, but this is a show match.. Anywho I dont see him beating Idra and Huk by the way the polls look. (also im very biased towards ra)
Also i love the content ipl is putting out, but 5k is too much for one showmatch you can put 8 players in a single elim online tournament and split it, that would be much better imo, more money for more peopel
I wanted to vote TLO too they both play the most interesting games!
Edit: Sorry but I expect Idra vs Huk to suck balls as a show match, even though they are both great. Showmatches are supposed to be good AND entertaining... Idra's games are about as entertaining as watching larvae slither around.
I totally called this at ACL. I said it would totally make sense to have live starcraft at a major music festival type thing. It's a little different because of how sxsw works, but this is close enough for me :D
On January 10 2012 13:02 omgimonfire15 wrote: I hope people realize this match i meant to entertain, and who is a better entertainer then whitera? Dongraegu also seemed awesome on TL attack.
KiWiKaKi vs White-ra probably would be the funnest game to watch 2 very entertaining/crazy players
On January 10 2012 13:02 omgimonfire15 wrote: I hope people realize this match i meant to entertain, and who is a better entertainer then whitera? Dongraegu also seemed awesome on TL attack.
KiWiKaKi vs White-ra probably would be the funnest game to watch 2 very entertaining/crazy players
I was thinking of voting that way, but PvP probably isn't what you want for a showmatch, especially when there are people watching SC2 for the first time. Seeing 2 different races is more interesting
Please not IdrA vs. HuK. IdrA vs. MKP is far more interesting. Please, Korea vs. the world far more interesting. Make MKP travel across the world for this, please!
Foreigner v Korean or NA v EU/KR would be ideal. If it was a USA player v a Korean, random people watching at SXSW would have someone to root for even if they've never watched SC2 before, which would get the spectators more involved and more likely to watch more. Also, the players shouldn't be on the same team (Idra/Huk for example), or random spectators will think it's just a casual match instead of a real competitive match. Help promote eSports.
Ok, honestly, that isn't even fair IPL. Everyone knows they're by far the fan favorites.
Unless the plane tickets cost is an issue, get the top 4 flown in, and have a 4 man tourney so we can get a couple other awesome people like DRG or MKP.
On January 10 2012 13:21 ThaZenith wrote: Ok, honestly, that isn't even fair IPL. Everyone knows they're by far the fan favorites.
Unless the plane tickets cost is an issue, get the top 4 flown in, and have a 4 man tourney so we can get a couple other awesome people like DRG or MKP.
gonna have to second this idea. tbh i wouldnt even be surprised if this happened and the non-idra/huk votes (whoever they may be from that list) managed to still take 1st and 2nd.
edit: and make it like a group stage tourney, not a bracket.
I don't see why ANYONE would want to see HuK over White-Ra. Approximately equal PvZ skill level except white-ra has the more exciting style, and it wouldn't be a teamkill.
Should not allow two players from the same team to win this. They could easily split the pot if they wanted to and we would get crap games. Not saying they will, but IPL should take the precaution. There is a difference between two players from the same team earning their way through a bracket to the finals, and two players from the same team playing in a cash show match.
On January 10 2012 13:45 ampson wrote: I don't see why ANYONE would want to see HuK over White-Ra. Approximately equal PvZ skill level except white-ra has the more exciting style, and it wouldn't be a teamkill.
what does team kill have to do with this at all? it's a showmatch and you cant see why anyone would want to see Huk over Whitera. seriously... your joking right
On January 10 2012 13:49 Bagi wrote: All I have to say about the results is that EG has done a beautiful job marketing their players.
I can't wrap my head around what exactly makes these two guys the most deserving, but eh... Monkey see monkey do?
There were a ton of fan boys for Idra and Huk before they ever stepped foot in EG. In fact that's one of the main reason why they were acquired in the first place. Good results and an already established fan base to tap into.
Holy shit. First SXSW does a sick metal line up (or at least they did for the last 2 years) and now they're teaming up with IPL to deliver what looks to be an Idra vs Huk showmatch?? Haters are about to know what's up. This is so fucking cool, I wish I could go
On January 10 2012 13:59 Enhancer_ wrote: All you people saying you don't want HuK vs IdrA will watch the shit out of HuK vs IdrA.
Anything that isn't a mirror match is cool with me.
What? I rarely even tune in to IPL matches because I don't like their casters. The only time I watch is if there is actually a really, really good match-up. Idra vs Huk is not one of those match-ups.
Edit: To clarify my standing: I do like catspajamas and doa. However, painuser and hdstarcraft are unbearable.
On January 10 2012 13:59 Enhancer_ wrote: All you people saying you don't want HuK vs IdrA will watch the shit out of HuK vs IdrA.
Anything that isn't a mirror match is cool with me.
What? I rarely even tune in to IPL matches because I don't like their casters. The only time I watch is if there is actually a really, really good match-up. Idra vs Huk is not one of those match-ups.
everything you just said is a troll right........ there no way your serious and if you are your straight up wrong and IPL does nothing but put out amazing content with very decent casters
On January 10 2012 13:52 Fionn wrote: Idra vs. Huk has already won. Casual viewers probably don't even know what a Keen or Taeja is.
I lol'd, so true.
there's enough korean exposure in big tourneys/GSL so I think people want to see fan-favorites. IdrA is a guaranteed win, easily the most popular SC2 player. The only question is who would be most entertaining vs him? Probably not Keen although I am a HUGE fan so I'd be happy with that; Taeja vs IdrA just had a showmatch. IdrA vs HuK could be done at a showmatch in Korea so flying out two people who live together to showmatch 12 hours away seems pointless.
On January 10 2012 13:59 Feijichang wrote: I'm more interested in high level play than an old rivalry between two mid-low Korean level foreign players. But we're fucked already.
Sorry Keen
mid-low level korean foreign players... that doesn't even make sense, lol korean foreign players. even still idra is code S and Huk just got knocked out of code S because of travelling so much and missing practice so much hardly mid-low level korean foreigners
On January 10 2012 14:13 Vei wrote: IdrA vs HuK could be done at a showmatch in Korea so flying out two people who live together to showmatch 12 hours away seems pointless.
Prettttttty much.
There's going to be like zero drama when they play. Kinda boring :/
lol although i KNEW there would be tons of more entertaining match-ups I just voted HuK vs. IdrA coz i'd love to watch their pre- and post- game interviews and possibly trolling/trash talking each other before/after/in games. IPL if you're watching please make a lot of interview/analysis stuff to fully reap their potentials.
A little bit of advice to IPL staff:
1. as already said, make a decent amount of pre-/post-game interviews. IdrA has been famous (or should I say notorious?) for his outspoken-ness. I think almost all the fans would LOVE to hear what he will say before and after the game. HuK's should be very fun, too.
2. please let them fully demonstrate what it means by 'show match'. let fancy stuff like 200/200 clashes happen, like ultra/broodlords/infestors vs. colossus/archon/mothership battle out in your stage.
3. let them trash talk in game. the MLG game where HuK teased IdrA after the hallucination was EPIC and will be remembered for a long time. It will be very beneficial to your ads if one or several games from your league reach that level.
4. let famous casters cast, e.g. Day9 & Wheat or Bitterdam, better still, let 2GD do the interview (if it's okay to fly him to the US)
On January 10 2012 14:26 mcgriffin wrote: lol although i KNEW there would be tons of more entertaining match-ups I just voted HuK vs. IdrA coz i'd love to watch their pre- and post- game interviews and possibly trolling/trash talking each other before/after/in games. IPL if you're watching please make a lot of interview/analysis stuff to fully reap their potentials.
A little bit of advice to IPL staff:
1. as already said, make a decent amount of pre-/post-game interviews. IdrA has been famous (or should I say notorious?) for his outspoken-ness. I think almost all the fans would LOVE to hear what he will say before and after the game. HuK's should be very fun, too.
2. please let them fully demonstrate what it means by 'show match'. let fancy stuff like 200/200 clashes happen, like ultra/broodlords/infestors vs. colossus/archon/mothership battle out in your stage.
3. let them trash talk in game. the MLG game where HuK teased IdrA after the hallucination was EPIC and will be remembered for a long time. It will be very beneficial to your ads if one or several games from your league reach that level.
4. let famous casters cast, e.g. Day9 & Wheat or Bitterdam, better still, let 2GD do the interview (if it's okay to fly him to the US)
just my 2 cents
You kidding? They are practically sucking each other's dicks best friends now that they are on the same team. There is 0 trash talking between them now.
i dont think people get it... the matches wont be that good if its HuK v Idra... they live together and they have been twitting " how fun it would be to play eachother ". which translates to... free 2500 dollar pay day to each of them... it would be so much better to see a deserving player come like white ra or Teaja...
or if you want to vote for idra pick another protoss or MKP that will stomp him then you can have your cry interview... because vs huk it wont happen.
On January 10 2012 13:59 Enhancer_ wrote: All you people saying you don't want HuK vs IdrA will watch the shit out of HuK vs IdrA.
Id watch it if there were no decent streams going on at the time, but it certainly be the lowest on my priority list. It's an old rivalry thats no longer relevant. HuK v X or IdrA v X i would totally watch, but the two of them in a showmatch is just cliche and boring. itd be like hosting some random movie festival and only showing movies in the top 10 of imdbs top 200 user voted movies.
On January 10 2012 14:26 mcgriffin wrote: lol although i KNEW there would be tons of more entertaining match-ups I just voted HuK vs. IdrA coz i'd love to watch their pre- and post- game interviews and possibly trolling/trash talking each other before/after/in games. IPL if you're watching please make a lot of interview/analysis stuff to fully reap their potentials.
A little bit of advice to IPL staff:
1. as already said, make a decent amount of pre-/post-game interviews. IdrA has been famous (or should I say notorious?) for his outspoken-ness. I think almost all the fans would LOVE to hear what he will say before and after the game. HuK's should be very fun, too.
2. please let them fully demonstrate what it means by 'show match'. let fancy stuff like 200/200 clashes happen, like ultra/broodlords/infestors vs. colossus/archon/mothership battle out in your stage.
3. let them trash talk in game. the MLG game where HuK teased IdrA after the hallucination was EPIC and will be remembered for a long time. It will be very beneficial to your ads if one or several games from your league reach that level.
4. let famous casters cast, e.g. Day9 & Wheat or Bitterdam, better still, let 2GD do the interview (if it's okay to fly him to the US)
just my 2 cents
You kidding? They are practically sucking each other's dicks best friends now that they are on the same team. There is 0 trash talking between them now.
if you watch one of the interviews of IdrA recently he basically still trash talked HuK('s play style). Also haven't you seen HuK's 'friend?' tease towards IdrA in Asus ROG invitational? These are all after HuK joined EG so I believe there's still a big rivalry between the two, and there's still big potential of drama between them.
On January 10 2012 14:26 mcgriffin wrote: lol although i KNEW there would be tons of more entertaining match-ups I just voted HuK vs. IdrA coz i'd love to watch their pre- and post- game interviews and possibly trolling/trash talking each other before/after/in games. IPL if you're watching please make a lot of interview/analysis stuff to fully reap their potentials.
just my 2 cents
Yeah, it's gonna be REALLY interesting to watch them "troll" each other. "Hey IdrA I'm going to make some hallucinated void rays <3<3<3,3<3,,3,3,3,3,3," everyone on stream spams LOL for 5 minutes straight. Good showmatch.
On January 10 2012 14:32 royal.cze wrote: i dont think people get it... the matches wont be that good if its HuK v Idra... they live together and they have been twitting " how fun it would be to play eachother ". which translates to... free 2500 dollar pay day to each of them... it would be so much better to see a deserving player come like white ra or Teaja...
or if you want to vote for idra pick another protoss or MKP that will stomp him then you can have your cry interview... because vs huk it wont happen.
MKP will probably cheese the hell out of IdrA who will then tilt and pregrackulate out of the game, which is not so fun for the fans to watch.
On January 10 2012 14:26 mcgriffin wrote: lol although i KNEW there would be tons of more entertaining match-ups I just voted HuK vs. IdrA coz i'd love to watch their pre- and post- game interviews and possibly trolling/trash talking each other before/after/in games. IPL if you're watching please make a lot of interview/analysis stuff to fully reap their potentials.
just my 2 cents
Yeah, it's gonna be REALLY interesting to watch them "troll" each other. "Hey IdrA I'm going to make some hallucinated void rays <3<3<3,3<3,,3,3,3,3,3," everyone on stream spams LOL for 5 minutes straight. Good showmatch.
On January 10 2012 14:32 royal.cze wrote: i dont think people get it... the matches wont be that good if its HuK v Idra... they live together and they have been twitting " how fun it would be to play eachother ". which translates to... free 2500 dollar pay day to each of them... it would be so much better to see a deserving player come like white ra or Teaja...
or if you want to vote for idra pick another protoss or MKP that will stomp him then you can have your cry interview... because vs huk it wont happen.
MKP will probably cheese the hell out of IdrA who will then tilt and prematurely gg, which is not so fun for the fans to watch.
Please change "for the fans" to "for me", because that's definitely not the way I feel.
On January 10 2012 13:02 omgimonfire15 wrote: I hope people realize this match i meant to entertain, and who is a better entertainer then whitera? Dongraegu also seemed awesome on TL attack.
KiWiKaKi vs White-ra probably would be the funnest game to watch 2 very entertaining/crazy players
That sounds pretty awesome too. Even though PvP is a bit bland for my tastes, those two would probably whip up some kind of hallucination/darktemplar into carrier/mothership play. And the warp prisms...
On January 10 2012 14:36 dekarp wrote: Yeah, it's gonna be REALLY interesting to watch them "troll" each other. "Hey IdrA I'm going to make some hallucinated void rays <3<3<3,3<3,,3,3,3,3,3," everyone on stream spams LOL for 5 minutes straight. Good showmatch.
Can't wait to read dat chat and watch dat game.
Staged drama/pandering to the audience isn't as fun as real drama (see MVP/Nestea finals).
It doesn't make any sense to me to have 2 players from the same team as nominees, free money to the team either way, and it could easily be rigged by the players as well.
HuK vs. MKP or IdrA vs. MKP, one Korean, one foreigner. Please, bring a Korean so they can travel across the world. It's a much less likelier chance, especially for someone like me who lives here in Austin, TX, I would really like to get a chance to meet MarineKing. This poll is far from over, as long as we can get some exposure on Reddit, MarineKing will get a boost from that. The Reddit community has not spoken.
Of course people will tune in, even if it's IdrA vs. HuK because of the circumstances of the event, but please vote for MarineKing, as he is the only close chance of us having a Korean vs. foreigner. IdrA and HuK tweeted, asking for votes and they wanted to play each other. I like them, and it's awesome that they're interested in coming to SxSW, but it just won't be as exciting! Give MarineKing the votes, bring him to Austin, TX!
On January 10 2012 15:46 Seraphone wrote: Someone should organise the anyone but Idra vs Huk brigade into unifying our votes to vote for one other candidate.
This. I imagine a lot of people vote for one or the other and then a korean (I voted Idra vs. MKP for example), IPL should just say one player per team.
On January 10 2012 14:36 Chrian wrote: Voted for Thorzain vs DRG, and was extremely sad to see what the poll is currently looking like
me too, i wanna see a rematch of that valencia finals. Im glad a lot of others think idra huk would be pretty boring, but unfortunately it cant really be changed now I almost feel like I could get excited for any other combination besides idra/huk, I really dont care about that overplayed storyline anymore
On January 10 2012 15:46 Seraphone wrote: Someone should organise the anyone but Idra vs Huk brigade into unifying our votes to vote for one other candidate.
We need to consolodate our votes and FIGHT AGAINST THE EG MACHINE.
On January 10 2012 15:46 Seraphone wrote: Someone should organise the anyone but Idra vs Huk brigade into unifying our votes to vote for one other candidate.
We need to consolodate our votes and FIGHT AGAINST THE EG MACHINE.
On January 10 2012 14:32 royal.cze wrote: i dont think people get it... the matches wont be that good if its HuK v Idra... they live together and they have been twitting " how fun it would be to play eachother ". which translates to... free 2500 dollar pay day to each of them... it would be so much better to see a deserving player come like white ra or Teaja...
or if you want to vote for idra pick another protoss or MKP that will stomp him then you can have your cry interview... because vs huk it wont happen.
MKP will probably cheese the hell out of IdrA who will then tilt and pregrackulate out of the game, which is not so fun for the fans to watch.
Hey now, nothing is more fun than seeing Idra lose to cheese.
On January 10 2012 15:46 Seraphone wrote: Someone should organise the anyone but Idra vs Huk brigade into unifying our votes to vote for one other candidate.
We need to consolodate our votes and FIGHT AGAINST THE EG MACHINE.
On January 10 2012 15:46 Seraphone wrote: Someone should organise the anyone but Idra vs Huk brigade into unifying our votes to vote for one other candidate.
We need to consolodate our votes and FIGHT AGAINST THE EG MACHINE.
Damnit... this is SUCH a fantastic idea it would be kind of aweful if it ends up being Idra vs HuK. I mean. Korean vs Foriegner just has SOOOO much more thrill to it.
I voted MKP and HuK (I guess I'm a hippocrit).
I'd also love to see WhiteRa or Leenock or DRG or Hero tho.
On January 10 2012 15:46 Seraphone wrote: Someone should organise the anyone but Idra vs Huk brigade into unifying our votes to vote for one other candidate.
We need to consolodate our votes and FIGHT AGAINST THE EG MACHINE.
On January 10 2012 15:46 Seraphone wrote: Someone should organise the anyone but Idra vs Huk brigade into unifying our votes to vote for one other candidate.
We need to consolodate our votes and FIGHT AGAINST THE EG MACHINE.
On January 10 2012 15:46 Seraphone wrote: Someone should organise the anyone but Idra vs Huk brigade into unifying our votes to vote for one other candidate.
We need to consolodate our votes and FIGHT AGAINST THE EG MACHINE.
On January 10 2012 15:46 Seraphone wrote: Someone should organise the anyone but Idra vs Huk brigade into unifying our votes to vote for one other candidate.
We need to consolodate our votes and FIGHT AGAINST THE EG MACHINE.
This is cool but I think they did it wrong, especially considering they put in the two most popular foreigners.
It should be a showmatch between the top 4, this way we could see the two top foreigners (Huk and Idra, obvious winners) against two top koreans (eg. marineking and DRG, or something).
On January 10 2012 16:05 Joshy.IGN wrote: You can't really argue with the votes. Get your favorite players to lobby like these guys are! There's still a week left for the poll!
meh, it's not going to help. the vote is basically sealed. maybe MKP can get ahead somehow but it's pretty much idra/huk/mkp
On January 10 2012 15:46 Seraphone wrote: Someone should organise the anyone but Idra vs Huk brigade into unifying our votes to vote for one other candidate.
We need to consolodate our votes and FIGHT AGAINST THE EG MACHINE.
On January 10 2012 15:46 Seraphone wrote: Someone should organise the anyone but Idra vs Huk brigade into unifying our votes to vote for one other candidate.
We need to consolodate our votes and FIGHT AGAINST THE EG MACHINE.
On January 10 2012 15:46 Seraphone wrote: Someone should organise the anyone but Idra vs Huk brigade into unifying our votes to vote for one other candidate.
We need to consolodate our votes and FIGHT AGAINST THE EG MACHINE.
On January 10 2012 15:46 Seraphone wrote: Someone should organise the anyone but Idra vs Huk brigade into unifying our votes to vote for one other candidate.
We need to consolodate our votes and FIGHT AGAINST THE EG MACHINE.
On January 10 2012 15:46 Seraphone wrote: Someone should organise the anyone but Idra vs Huk brigade into unifying our votes to vote for one other candidate.
We need to consolodate our votes and FIGHT AGAINST THE EG MACHINE.
All of the players have at LEAST 5% (MKP 10%, HerO 6%, DRG 5%, WhiteRa 5%).
Please vote for either MKP or your favorite player T_T. Dividing our votes is meaningless when EG is abusing twitter.
yea abusing twitter ! jessica tweeted taeja like 6 times by now. i want to play this showmatch but if every1 hates it then i will gladly step down.
Don't give in HuK. This is just like when Reddit freaks out about content. If the majority want to see Idra vs HuK then so be it. Stepping down is giving into the minority of voters, the very vocal minority.
On January 10 2012 15:46 Seraphone wrote: Someone should organise the anyone but Idra vs Huk brigade into unifying our votes to vote for one other candidate.
We need to consolodate our votes and FIGHT AGAINST THE EG MACHINE.
All of the players have at LEAST 5% (MKP 10%, HerO 6%, DRG 5%, WhiteRa 5%).
Please vote for either MKP or your favorite player T_T. Dividing our votes is meaningless when EG is abusing twitter.
yea abusing twitter ! jessica tweeted taeja like 6 times by now. i want to play this showmatch but if every1 hates it then i will gladly step down.
speaking for myself at least, i dont have a problem with either you or idra being in this. but a showmatch between the two of you i just find, frankly, not as appealing as you or idra vs anyone else. hell i can get behind you v taeja.
On January 10 2012 15:46 Seraphone wrote: Someone should organise the anyone but Idra vs Huk brigade into unifying our votes to vote for one other candidate.
We need to consolodate our votes and FIGHT AGAINST THE EG MACHINE.
All of the players have at LEAST 5% (MKP 10%, HerO 6%, DRG 5%, WhiteRa 5%).
Please vote for either MKP or your favorite player T_T. Dividing our votes is meaningless when EG is abusing twitter.
yea abusing twitter ! jessica tweeted taeja like 6 times by now. i want to play this showmatch but if every1 hates it then i will gladly step down.
speaking for myself at least, i dont have a problem with either you or idra being in this. but a showmatch between the two of you i just find, frankly, not as appealing as you or idra vs anyone else. hell i can get behind you v taeja.
Agree with this.
Huk vs DRG, Huk vs Leenock, MKP vs Idra will all do fine. Just not Huk vs Idra especially as it's both players worst matchup.
I voted DRG vs. Thorzain; love PvZ and a rematch from the Dreahhack Invitational would be nice. Looks like this poll is deceided though, unless TB steps in (3 days late) again
On January 10 2012 15:46 Seraphone wrote: Someone should organise the anyone but Idra vs Huk brigade into unifying our votes to vote for one other candidate.
We need to consolodate our votes and FIGHT AGAINST THE EG MACHINE.
All of the players have at LEAST 5% (MKP 10%, HerO 6%, DRG 5%, WhiteRa 5%).
Please vote for either MKP or your favorite player T_T. Dividing our votes is meaningless when EG is abusing twitter.
yea abusing twitter ! jessica tweeted taeja like 6 times by now. i want to play this showmatch but if every1 hates it then i will gladly step down.
speaking for myself at least, i dont have a problem with either you or idra being in this. but a showmatch between the two of you i just find, frankly, not as appealing as you or idra vs anyone else. hell i can get behind you v taeja.
Basically this.
I will support Idra only if he promises not to go roach/hydra.
I don't actually have problem with EG using social networking to rally people, but I do find people complaining about the EGMachine, don't people know its Idra who is likely to play?
On January 10 2012 15:46 Seraphone wrote: Someone should organise the anyone but Idra vs Huk brigade into unifying our votes to vote for one other candidate.
We need to consolodate our votes and FIGHT AGAINST THE EG MACHINE.
All of the players have at LEAST 5% (MKP 10%, HerO 6%, DRG 5%, WhiteRa 5%).
Please vote for either MKP or your favorite player T_T. Dividing our votes is meaningless when EG is abusing twitter.
yea abusing twitter ! jessica tweeted taeja like 6 times by now. i want to play this showmatch but if every1 hates it then i will gladly step down.
Don't take it the wrong way, a lot of people voted for you or Idra, but there seems to be a fair amount who don't want to see you vs. Idra, you guys are teammates after all.
Huk vs Idra isn't a particular attractive matchup these days, since they're on the same team and the rivalry is effectively dead. But it's nobody's fault since they're just popular players and you can't knock them for that.
But I wonder if IPL can make an adjustment to make it a better matchup. Take the top 4 vote-getters and do two bo5 showmatches. You can then mix and match to get the most desirable combination. Top 4 right now is Huk, Idra, MKP, and Hero. So in that case, you can matchup:
Idra vs Hero bo5 Huk vs MKP bo5
Winners get $1500. Losers get $500. That brings the purse down to $4000 which would offset some of the additional travel expenses. This way IPL showcases the top two Americans along with the next most popular players (most likely MKP and then either Hero/DRG/White-ra).
Drg vs Mkp would be cool, i don't understand why everyone wants to watch Idra vs Huk it may be good to but Best Zerg vs One of the Best Terran's in the world would be better.
HuK vs. IdrA... Wouldn't be as fun to see them play anymore, with them being good friends and on the same team. Well, I can always hope for SaSe or ThorZaIN...
Hero Vs Idra please! I would love to see his protoss multitasking vs Idra's solid macro and defense. Would be an epic best of 9 and totally worth tuning in for. Also, I'm in Austin and really wanna meet Hero! ^^
Idra and Huk are both cool but seeing them play against eachother in a show match is kind of redundant. Take one of them and put them against a Korean instead would be much cooler!!
When sase is "in the zone" I can't think of anyone I would rather watch.
edit Doubt that many vote Idra AND huk since I can't imagine that's a showmatch many want to see. I assume it's because so many vote idra + x and huk + x..
I'd love to watch Idra or Huk vs most other players in the poll but would be kind of sad if we end up getting idra vs huk since I don't think I'll even watch that personally.
Wish the 16 players was the bracket that would compete. For a single showmatch this seems like complete overkill, sure it's cool, but in no way worth it for a single bo9 against two players, especially when it will be two we see ALL the freaking time.
C'est la vie, no hate on IGN, they are amazing, but hopefully they won't do this again.
On January 10 2012 19:20 Naniwa wrote: me vs nestea lets go
Even the I assume rare people that vote both huk and idra would probably prefer actually watching you vs nestea instead of the "super interesting" huk vs idra it we'll get.
Too bad you two didn't give us that option but the way the poll it set up and because of idras and huks popularity we'd end up with idra vs huk anyway even if none of the voters wanted to see them play each other.
Someone needs to figure out a way to hype huk vs idra.
I voted for Sase and Stephano. Sase deserves more exposure, he's working really hard and is one of the best foreigner protoss. Stephano/Thorzain was a close call for me, but I voted for Steph so he can make more money and maybe play SC2 longer^^
Why even make a poll. Every1 knows it's gonna be huk and idra cuz they have the most fanboys. Pretty useless. You might aswell send EG the 5k and huk and idra will play a showmatch from the Slayers house. Saves every1 a lot of effort
TvZ simply provides the best matchups, so that's how I'm basing my vote. There might be some players whom I like more, but I want the best/most interesting matchup, not simply the 2 players I like the most.
Sorry, but isn't it kinda stupid to fly people from korea just for one showmatch. What if it finishes super fast ? I hope you have more prepared for this live event.
I hope this thing doesn't catch on, letting public vote on things like this is a recipe for disaster. There's no way an underdog or lesser known player gets exposure through this showmatch and teammates playing each other usually produces worse games due to them either knowing each other too well and deviating into less practiced styles or playing out by the book.
Are people really wishing for an IdrA-Huk rematch? A Bo9 PvZ really doesn't get me excited, especially with players who seem to dislike the matchup so much.
I would rather see a good TvZ, DRG, leenock, IdrA, Stephano sheth against Puma, Taeja, MKP or thorzain.
On January 10 2012 23:16 Jakkerr wrote: Why even make a poll. Every1 knows it's gonna be huk and idra cuz they have the most fanboys. Pretty useless. You might aswell send EG the 5k and huk and idra will play a showmatch from the Slayers house. Saves every1 a lot of effort
Yeah pretty much xD. I think only MC could get more votes because of his rivalry with Idra.
I'm looking at it from the point of view more in the growth of SC2, not as much "the match I want to see most personally." Obviously Idra and Huk isn't the most exciting match you could get with all these players. At the least MKP v. Idra would be more entertaining, or DRG v. MKP etc.
But this is a big event that has a lot of other aspects to it, not just an SC2 or Blizzard event so it is a great chance to pull new fans to the sport. To be honest, if you march 2 Koreans on stage and they play a game people that know nothing about SC2 aren't going to be more impressed than watching 2 Americans play the game that might pull more fans in, allow for easier fan interaction(interviews after the match, etc.) We as the more "hardcore" sc2 fans would know that this isn't the highest level show match, but the casual at the event won't know the difference and I think the Huk v. Idra match featuring 2 players from NA just has better mass appeal for an event that isn't specifically targeting gamers.
On January 11 2012 01:43 cyclone25 wrote: Stephano vs Leenock, we need to see who is the best zerg in the world.
What does a leenock vs Stephano showmatch have to do with that?...
^ NesTea fanboy detected :D
Sorry but NesTea is out of shape in the past months. He has like under 50% win rate vs T and P recently.
Actually I don't like Nestea at all. Just saying that even if Stephano was in the race for best zerg(he isn't) that a ZvZ showmatch wouldn't decide it anyway.
Huk vs Idra.. don't let the looks of it decive you people!. A second big cup of ice-cream after a 7 course dinner, may let you think that you are a few spoons away from heaven but it's not true!. You will be in for a huge stomach ache and far than worst... you wont even be able to finish the Ice-cream.
With that many great players on the list, I hope there will be a Idra/Huk vs X (MKP vs Idra would really make me scream like a 10 years old girl XD).
Regarless of the final showmatch, BIG PROPS for you IPL!!. Love the stuff you guys are doing in the Starcraft scene <3 <3
On January 11 2012 01:48 FLuE wrote: I'm looking at it from the point of view more in the growth of SC2, not as much "the match I want to see most personally." Obviously Idra and Huk isn't the most exciting match you could get with all these players. At the least MKP v. Idra would be more entertaining, or DRG v. MKP etc.
But this is a big event that has a lot of other aspects to it, not just an SC2 or Blizzard event so it is a great chance to pull new fans to the sport. To be honest, if you march 2 Koreans on stage and they play a game people that know nothing about SC2 aren't going to be more impressed than watching 2 Americans play the game that might pull more fans in, allow for easier fan interaction(interviews after the match, etc.) We as the more "hardcore" sc2 fans would know that this isn't the highest level show match, but the casual at the event won't know the difference and I think the Huk v. Idra match featuring 2 players from NA just has better mass appeal for an event that isn't specifically targeting gamers.
I agree. There will be a lot of people there who will not have had any experience with competitive SC2, and while Huk-Idra might not be the best matchup, both are charismatic players that can communicate well to the audience. While DRG, Taeja or MKP are arguably higher skilled, Huk and Idra are also both GSL players, both with Code S experience. It may not be an ideal showmatch pairing, but they are a great pair to help expand SC2 to new viewers, which is major reason why IPL is putting the money and effort into this showmatch.
Not the best match-up in my opinion, but I think I would be for the best. Besides, they do have the most votes anyways.
On January 11 2012 02:53 Egyptian_Head wrote: Idra vs MKP would be amazing.
I don't really like IdrA, because if he loses 1-2 sets, he usually gives up. Also Huk - IdrA isn't interesting because they're team mates.
I think Stephano - Huk will be a really interesting match. Stephano said in a interview (I think it was MLG?), that he wants to play Huk because it's a easy win. I think there's a small rivalry between them, Huk never won against Stephano.
On January 11 2012 02:57 TensaiSakuragi wrote: Man this is so boring. IdrA vs HuK has no tension anymore. It's like watching a sparring match. HerO vs PuMa is the biggest rivalry atm.
On January 11 2012 02:53 Egyptian_Head wrote: Idra vs MKP would be amazing.
I don't really like IdrA, because if he loses 1-2 sets, he usually gives up. Also Huk - IdrA isn't interesting because they're team mates.
I think Stephano - Huk will be a really interesting match. Stephano said in a interview (I think it was MLG?), that he wants to play Huk because it's a easy win. I think there's a small rivalry between them, Huk never won against Stephano.
You are right about Idra he does do that which could ruin it, but both players playing there best and it it is my dream match.I like huk and I like Idra, but I dont want them to face each other.
On January 10 2012 20:32 JayJay_90 wrote: I voted for Sase and Stephano. Sase deserves more exposure, he's working really hard and is one of the best foreigner protoss. Stephano/Thorzain was a close call for me, but I voted for Steph so he can make more money and maybe play SC2 longer^^
THE best foreign protoss ;D
voted SaSe/Hero.
edit: they would be a horrible matchup, but I voted for individuals I want to see. I'm so over HuK-Idra now that they are both EG.
The poll should have been about the specific match up, like Idra vs taeja, Puma vs Hero, etc. and not like this. People want Idra to play and Huk to play, but maybe not Idra vs Huk.
Well it was quite obvious that it will be idra vs huk. Anyways voted for sase saw he has only couple % realy sad, wanted to see how good he got in korea
Just as an FYI / Disclaimer: IEM World Championships in Germany are the same weekend as South by Southwest. If our poll winners decide to attend that event, we will go down the list by votes received until we have two players that can attend.
Right now, the players on our poll that are conflicted right now are EG.IdrA, coLMVP.DongRaeGu, and EG.PuMa. It will be up to the players and their teams to decide which event they will attend, so just keep that in mind as the voting continues!
On January 11 2012 04:47 IGNProLeague wrote: Just as an FYI / Disclaimer: IEM World Championships in Germany are the same weekend as South by Southwest. If our poll winners decide to attend that event, we will go down the list by votes received until we have two players that can attend.
Right now, the players on our poll that are conflicted right now are EG.IdrA, coLMVP.DongRaeGu, and EG.PuMa. It will be up to the players and their teams to decide which event they will attend, so just keep that in mind as the voting continues!
Interesting development. So if they all decline, the matchup would be Huk-Stephano if I am not mistaken.
On January 11 2012 02:57 TensaiSakuragi wrote: Man this is so boring. IdrA vs HuK has no tension anymore. It's like watching a sparring match. HerO vs PuMa is the biggest rivalry atm.
On January 11 2012 07:24 RinconH wrote: "Fan invitational"... is that another way to say "Idra vs. Huk"?
It does seem that they still have the most fans at the moment. =P They're also the only ones besides TaeJa and Stephano that have promoted this poll! Tell your favorite players to talk about it on Twitter or on their streams and the votes will change drastically!
I'm sorry but HuK vs IdrA would be very lameee. As much as I think a fight between them would be sick, flying out two people who LIVE together to have a showmatch is incredibly inefficient.
On January 11 2012 09:03 Xova wrote: Thorzain PLEASE! I live in Dallas will definitely drive down to Austin for this!
Living in northern CA sucks. CA gets a ton of events, but ANY event that is hosted in California is hosted in socal in the LA/Anaheim area.
LE SIGH I know my hometown of Sacramento is too much to ask for, but how about some love for the bay area!? eh IPL.Joshy? =P
The bay area is really beautiful but it does not make sense to host an event in this area because hosting an event in SoCal will always draw more people.
Please close the poll now, we can't have a better match than IdrA vs Stephano. USA vs Europe, two candidates for the best foreigner player! Also biggest zerg rivalry :D
On a second thought, I doubt IdrA can win vs Stephano. Huk - Stephano will be a better match.
1. IdrA (Will likely attend IEM World Finals and may not be able to participate) 2. Stephano 3. WhiteRa 4. HuK
The voting still has until Monday at midnight, plenty of time for the polls to change, as we saw with Stephano overtaking MKP, WhiteRa, and now HuK. Keep telling your friends and asking your favorite players to promote this so they can go! =D
Really wish they'd just let the people who're most likely going to be at SXSW vote... Like the people in Texas, so they get the chance to see their favorites... -sigh-
On January 12 2012 05:59 IGNProLeague wrote: Update: WhiteRa and Stephano now both have more votes than IdrA or HuK! It's all about the players and teams promoting themselves, it seems!
DRG vs. Hero Hero vs. Puma Whitera vs. Idra (Though I guess this could happen still) MKP vs. Anyone
I would say HuK vs. Idra also but I remember the last time they played a showmatch it was kinda lackluster. Leenock also deserves a match but I don't see a player to properly pair him with.
On January 12 2012 09:32 HyperLethality wrote: Really wish they'd just let the people who're most likely going to be at SXSW vote... Like the people in Texas, so they get the chance to see their favorites... -sigh-
This line of thought it not only just flat out greedy, it also just doesn't make one iota of sense. Just going to do it in bullet-point fashion.
-So people watching online have to bend to the will of SXSW attendees? Are not the people watching there in "spirit?" So if some event in Europe was going to do the same thing with an awesome list of players to vote for, but the local polls are voting for, i dunno, say BitByBit and LiveForever, you'd be totally cool with throwing away the online poll for the local one just so they can see their favorites? (Granted I recognize the example is an extreme, merely using it to prove a point).
-From a business sense, it's completely illogical. They're going to get more viewers by using an online poll that encompasses the entirety of the SC2 community (that was aware of the poll and that voted at least) to pick their contenders. As much as I'm sure they want actual attendees, they also are going to want the international online viewership just as much (and in my own completely uninformed opinion, I'd wager even more so, but I don't feel like getting into that since as I said, it's uninformed).
-This increase in online viewership has a correlated effect of also potentially increasing the attendees at the live event as well. ex: "Eh, I live 5 hours away, I kind of care, but holy shit, I can't freaking miss White-Ra v Stephano!"
-Another example: I live in northern California, about 1 hour from Oregon. If Painuser and Spanishiwa (or insert whatever progamer from the area ... I recognize Painuser is pretty much just a caster now, I just don't know of any pro/popular players in the area) were going to do a showmatch down in the bay area (4.5 hours from me), I wouldn't go despite me enjoying both persons. I sure as hell would go if it was almost anybody on IPL's poll. I know the counter-argument to this example is that IPL and SXSW don't even come close to being able to create the scenario I described, but my rebuttal to that is - exactly - . That is an amazing list of players and you still wouldn't be excited for it if the players you voted for didn't win? (putting the whole HuK v IdrA debate aside).
Whitera always fun to watch! I think Idra, DRG and Puma would rather go to IEM, i THINK..just cause they do well there and it's more well known. Better just vote for Whitera since he's already out of IEM.
On January 12 2012 09:32 HyperLethality wrote: Really wish they'd just let the people who're most likely going to be at SXSW vote... Like the people in Texas, so they get the chance to see their favorites... -sigh-
This line of thought it not only just flat out greedy, it also just doesn't make one iota of sense. Just going to do it in bullet-point fashion.
-So people watching online have to bend to the will of SXSW attendees? Are not the people watching there in "spirit?" So if some event in Europe was going to do the same thing with an awesome list of players to vote for, but the local polls are voting for, i dunno, say BitByBit and LiveForever, you'd be totally cool with throwing away the online poll for the local one just so they can see their favorites? (Granted I recognize the example is an extreme, merely using it to prove a point).
-From a business sense, it's completely illogical. They're going to get more viewers by using an online poll that encompasses the entirety of the SC2 community (that was aware of the poll and that voted at least) to pick their contenders. As much as I'm sure they want actual attendees, they also are going to want the international online viewership just as much (and in my own completely uninformed opinion, I'd wager even more so, but I don't feel like getting into that since as I said, it's uninformed).
-This increase in online viewership has a correlated effect of also potentially increasing the attendees at the live event as well. ex: "Eh, I live 5 hours away, I kind of care, but holy shit, I can't freaking miss White-Ra v Stephano!"
-Another example: I live in northern California, about 1 hour from Oregon. If Painuser and Spanishiwa (or insert whatever progamer from the area ... I recognize Painuser is pretty much just a caster now, I just don't know of any pro/popular players in the area) were going to do a showmatch down in the bay area (4.5 hours from me), I wouldn't go despite me enjoying both persons. I sure as hell would go if it was almost anybody on IPL's poll. I know the counter-argument to this example is that IPL and SXSW don't even come close to being able to create the scenario I described, but my rebuttal to that is - exactly - . That is an amazing list of players and you still wouldn't be excited for it if the players you voted for didn't win? (putting the whole HuK v IdrA debate aside).
The same could be said though, that online viewers wouldn't be excited to watch it if the players they voted for didn't win? It just means more to the people who are going to be there because they actually have a chance of meeting these players in person. I'm sure they would still get a very good amount of views from people around the world via the internet, however they're choosing SXSW for a reason, I very much believe their exposure and catering to the fans there, and in Austin, TX is a slight bit more important than the online viewers.
As for the "I live five hours away arguement", that's why I said "People in Texas". People can watch any player play online at almost anytime, but meeting these players can be a once in a lifetime opportunity. And this is the first time an event of this scale has been held here in Austin, so it's a huge deal to the locals there too.
On January 12 2012 18:26 AnonymousXV wrote: How the hell did stephano and white ra crawl to the top, Idra and Huk were dominating yesterday!?! I call poll fixing!!
He told his stream too vote for him. Which every1 is allowed to do :p
On January 12 2012 18:26 AnonymousXV wrote: How the hell did stephano and white ra crawl to the top, Idra and Huk were dominating yesterday!?! I call poll fixing!!
On January 11 2012 07:24 RinconH wrote: "Fan invitational"... is that another way to say "Idra vs. Huk"?
It does seem that they still have the most fans at the moment. =P They're also the only ones besides TaeJa and Stephano that have promoted this poll! Tell your favorite players to talk about it on Twitter or on their streams and the votes will change drastically!
They may simply not be the only one to have promoted the poll anymore...
Or maybe, the amount of votes they got was just a huge burst due to the fact they promoted themselves.
On January 13 2012 08:25 PlainShane wrote: Can't wait to see this live! I hope I am not working that day... and I hope this is a free part of SXSW; no badge required.
Only a few more days left to vote, and it looks like Stephano vs. WhiteRa is just an inevitability at this point unless fans get their favorite players to promote, promote, promote!
On January 12 2012 18:26 AnonymousXV wrote: How the hell did stephano and white ra crawl to the top, Idra and Huk were dominating yesterday!?! I call poll fixing!!
He told his stream too vote for him. Which every1 is allowed to do :p
Actually on Whitera's FB page, it's mostly his FANS that are promoting this poll. I myself have posted this link and suggested WRa. Even if Whitera and Stephano promoted this themselves (which Stephano also did on his Twitter), I don't see anything wrong with it because it's still up to the people to decide after they see the choices. I love WRa but he's not quite a real Toss that can get in anyone's head.=) Thanks IPL for letting the community vote. Let the people be heard.
On January 12 2012 18:26 AnonymousXV wrote: How the hell did stephano and white ra crawl to the top, Idra and Huk were dominating yesterday!?! I call poll fixing!!
Alright folks, voting for this poll ends in just 14 hours! This is your last chance to vote and the last chance for players to promote themselves! As it stands, WhiteRa and Stephano are far in the lead of the other pros! http://esports.ign.com/sc2/sxsw
Sweet, looks like poll is closed and White-Ra + Stephano won! Didn't wanna post earlier due to the tiny chance that someone might decide to promote himself and take the lead. Should be an entertaining show-match, rooting for Ra though! Hopefully I can make it Austin
The poll is officially closed now, and the rankings for the top 5 are:
1. WhiteRa 2. Stephano 3. IdrA 4. HuK 5. MarineKingPrime
We will now formally invite both WhiteRa and Stephano to come play in this $5,000 showmatch, and if either of them must decline then we will go down the list until we have two competitors that are willing and able to compete in Austin, TX on the weekend of March 9th-12th! Congratulations to our winners!
White-Ra and Stephano are ready to rock in Austin, Texas in just a couple of months! Here's a promo video we put together to help everyone get excited! =D
On January 21 2012 06:38 IGNProLeague wrote: White-Ra and Stephano are ready to rock in Austin, Texas in just a couple of months! Here's a promo video we put together to help everyone get excited! =D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyzxYxwFLmk
Wow, the winner of IPL2 vs the winner of IPL3. Cool. This is going to be awesome, hopefully it will be a close series, with Whitera winning in the end.
On March 05 2012 23:30 MVTaylor wrote: So, how is this going to work since White-Ra is competing in IEM World Championship which last from tomorrow until Saturday?
(If he is not eliminated in the IEM group stages he will have to forfeit from one of the tournaments)
This is a very good question, considering Stephano declined to take a replacement spot at IEM in order to make this event.
On March 06 2012 01:31 Naniwa wrote: sigh, wish i woudlve gotten invited against stephano.. would be nice with a vacation and 5000$
Well, if you wanted that you should have asked IPL to put you in the voting list when it was voting time. I just checked some of your post history and its A+ trolling
Checking in from the venue... It is pretty awesome here and I look forward to seeing fans come and enjoy the event! Will try to get pictures as it gets finalized!