Sound unfortunately couldn't make it to the #IEM, @followgrubby will replace him. This means 5P+Nerchi. This also means Elfi wins the group.
Today, via the posts made between Violet and Sound on twitter it was announced that Sound will not be attending the IEM WC event in Germany, which starts tomorrow.
I have been waiting for confirmation of the attendance of our players, first learning that Fruitdealer would not attend and now Sound.
On behalf of StarTale, I would like to thank everyone for the support they have shown StarTale and the kind words we see daily from the fans.We are sorry that our players will not be present at the event and hope we can visit our fans outside of Korea in the future. The IEM WC is going to be a world class event, with last years event being incredibly special to us with Ace and Squirtle taking 1st and 3rd respectively.
I would also like to apologise to IEM for having this come out one day before the event and hope we do not cause too much disruption to the schedule. I know the Korean coaches were looking for ways to send Sound but it did not seem possible.
It has been up in the air for sometime and has now gone public about the attendance for our players, I tried to get an answer as soon as possible but this was a very last minute decision and one I respect from the other members of StarTale.
We are deeply sorry about the situation we have caused, we tried to find ways around it but by the end of it we were still unable to send Sound due to the costs.
* Directly from me (JBanks) - I appreciate peoples views and concerns on this matter but there is only so much someone in my position can do. I have to go with what is said by the Korean coaches and work with them, they tried very hard to find a solution but the final attempt failed and this is our current outcome, once again, sorry to everyone who we let down. In ST I work on simply trying to engage with the fans outside of Korea, marketing, working with our sponsors and looking after players during their trips in Europe, hopefully we can bring some ST players to Europe again soon*
Pretty big blow to the scene imo that we have top class players canceling at the last minute unless the tournament pays for accomodations. IMO kinda disresepctful by the Korean players to accept invites to tournaments without trying to book travel months in advance... I guess due to the randomness of GSL schedule. Unfortunate, though - something will definitely have to change.
as much as tournament organizers get called out for mistakes so should teams and players, cancelling participation one day before the event without good reason is just unacceptable
I realize that you're providing second-hand information, but it is embarrassing to delay announcing not being able to send your player to a tournament due to the cost until a day before the tournament begins. It is extremely inconsiderate of the tournament organizer and rather amateurish by the team not to plan ahead.
Really? One day before the event? How can a team not know it earlier? Doesn't sound (lol) very professional! Feel sorry for the player and for IEM. They have to deal with this.
iem suffers fom "massive" drops and is it just bad lack or something else? I hope it is really bad luck that so many players have decided to decline their invitation.
On March 05 2012 23:48 Tsubbi wrote: as much as tournament organizers get called out for mistakes so should teams and players, cancelling participation one day before the event without good reason is just unacceptable
This is why I asked if it's an open letter. JBanks seems to have said that he has been in talks with Carmac which wasn't a straight answer but once can infer that ESL has known this was a possibility for quite some time.
How unfortunate...Pokebunny is totally right, something needs to change with these situations but at the same time GSL is so random you never know when you will have to play months in advance if you accept an invitation.
Maybe there is some local talent to fill in? Enough players in Europe that can hup in a plane. Koreans should try to avoid this in the future though, seems like every time that they have to make sure the VISA/Flight/Accommodation is taken care for something goes wrong.
Really feeling bad for IEM, this was gonna be an awesome tournament, and I'm sure it still will be, but that's 4 of the original players who aren't going now... Granted Ret's cancellation was due to health reasons, one still sorta is disappointed...
On March 05 2012 23:50 archonOOid wrote: iem suffers fom "massive" drops and is it just bad lack or something else? I hope it is really bad luck that so many players have decided to decline their invitation.
It had to been expected. Players were automatically qualified due to their IEM performance. Its not like in other tournaments were players have to confirm an invitation. There had to be scheduling issues and other stuff.
Maybe the ST team decided that he'd be more useful in the GSTL on satuday when StarTaleQuantic faces Prime again? He does seem like one of their better players, and they made it to the RO6 after all so there's not too long of a way to go before the finals, and Prime did beat StarTale convincingly in the IPL TAC and Prime all-killed them in the KSL. I'm personally cheering for Prime in the match-up, but it would be a shame if StarTale lost to Prime a 3rd time in such a short while. Some of the players such as DRG have been seeming pretty enthusiastic about GSTL finals taking place in Vegas.
But to be honest. I think it would be much more valuable for ST to send Sound to the IEM than keeping him in Korea for the GSTL. Sound is by far no regular GSTL player for ST and they have a deep enough lineup to find a substitution for him. But IEM would be a chance for him and the team, to get some worldwide audience. I really can't understand this decision. (especially since Parting was send to MLG with ST having an important GSTL match against IM and with Parting being actually their strongest player!)
Terribly unfortunate and unprofessional. Think about other players that could attend in his place if he said he couldn't attend before? This is something that occurs regulary with ESL(among others) and it's certainly not good. This is something esports-teams must work much more with, isn't this one of the managements big assignements, one would think they could handle it ...
On March 05 2012 23:48 Tsubbi wrote: as much as tournament organizers get called out for mistakes so should teams and players, cancelling participation one day before the event without good reason is just unacceptable
Maybe there is a good reason but they are not allowed to say, ever thought of that?
Unacceptable, if you don't have budget for this you should announce at least 3-5 days before event, so they can find a GOSU instead of him, now in just 1 day , finding GOSU probability drops and some just PRO will participate probably. Sorry but you don't have any respect for non-korea events.
On March 05 2012 23:59 TeeTS wrote: But to be honest. I think it would be much more valuable for ST to send Sound to the IEM than keeping him in Korea for the GSTL. Sound is by far no regular GSTL player for ST and they have a deep enough lineup to find a substitution for him. But IEM would be a chance for him and the team, to get some worldwide audience. I really can't understand this decision. (especially since Parting was send to MLG with ST having an important GSTL match against IM and with Parting being actually their strongest player!)
I guess you dont know that IM played without Nestea and MVP , the real losers because of the MLG were team IM not Startale. As for Star player , Ace and Bomber are very good on team leagues so they didnt really need parting . I understand this decision , but releasing a statement so late is bad for bizz
On March 06 2012 00:14 Sleeep wrote: Unacceptable, if you don't have budget for this you should announce at least 3-5 days before event, so they can find a GOSU instead of him, now in just 1 day , finding GOSU probability drops and some just PRO will participate probably. Sorry but you don't have any respect for non-korea events.
On March 06 2012 00:05 DerKiLLa wrote: I hope GoOdy or Grubby will get his Spot ...
As much as I'd love to see Goody and Grubby, neither of them have attended any IEM event this season, right? So they don't have any points and many other people will probably be considered before them. Although the reason why White-Ra replaced Ret was that he would be at the IEM anyways, so who knows.
Pretty damn stupid this wasn't communicated to IEM earlier and I can't believe StarTale can't find the cash to send a player to an event when they've had two months since Sound qualified to find the cash and their player will be recieving at least $600 even if he'd lost every game.
Poor, poor, poor, POOR by StarTale and I feel very sorry for Sound.
On March 05 2012 23:48 Tsubbi wrote: as much as tournament organizers get called out for mistakes so should teams and players, cancelling participation one day before the event without good reason is just unacceptable
Maybe there is a good reason but they are not allowed to say, ever thought of that?
On March 05 2012 23:48 Tsubbi wrote: as much as tournament organizers get called out for mistakes so should teams and players, cancelling participation one day before the event without good reason is just unacceptable
Maybe there is a good reason but they are not allowed to say, ever thought of that?
Well, over the last year there was barely any tournament which didn't suffer from players canceling their participation on short notice.
On March 06 2012 00:02 Quakie wrote: Terribly unfortunate and unprofessional. Think about other players that could attend in his place if he said he couldn't attend before? This is something that occurs regulary with ESL(among others) and it's certainly not good. This is something esports-teams must work much more with, isn't this one of the managements big assignements, one would think they could handle it ...
The point here is not to blame the management, they obviously had prepared to send the player; it is quite obvious that some funds that they may have been allocated are no longer available due to reasons that we do not know. People should think about it a little deeper before they castrate management. Think for a second, who provides funding for players to attend events?
On March 05 2012 23:48 Tsubbi wrote: as much as tournament organizers get called out for mistakes so should teams and players, cancelling participation one day before the event without good reason is just unacceptable
Maybe there is a good reason but they are not allowed to say, ever thought of that?
Well, over the last year there was barely any tournament which didn't suffer from players canceling their participation on short notice.
Think about who pays for players to go to tournaments and then do the maths.
On March 05 2012 23:48 Tsubbi wrote: as much as tournament organizers get called out for mistakes so should teams and players, cancelling participation one day before the event without good reason is just unacceptable
This is why I asked if it's an open letter. JBanks seems to have said that he has been in talks with Carmac which wasn't a straight answer but once can infer that ESL has known this was a possibility for quite some time.
Carmac was unaware of it, you can read it on twitter.
@SaintSnorlax @mbCARMAC I have had it confirmed, Sound will not attend. Will skype you Carmac - I can only apologise on behalf of ST 2:37 PM - 5 Mar 12 via web
He told him he would skype him like one/two hours ago, that's not being informed for quite some time, unfortunately.
Plane tickets are rather expensive. Although, I feel like ST has known about this for quite some time because they would book player flights as far in advance as possible to save money.
On March 05 2012 23:44 Pokebunny wrote: Pretty big blow to the scene imo that we have top class players canceling at the last minute unless the tournament pays for accomodations. IMO kinda disresepctful by the Korean players to accept invites to tournaments without trying to book travel months in advance... I guess due to the randomness of GSL schedule. Unfortunate, though - something will definitely have to change.
Neither sound nor fruitdealer are in the gsl anymore, so whatever the reason is that they have accepted the invite and cannot participate now, it is definitely not because of the gsl.
On March 06 2012 00:05 Kreb wrote:Dont know how, but if there was a way to prevent that from happening all the time it would be great.
Seriously? You don't know how? It's not like there was a tournament in New York recently, which paid for players travel/accomodation? And it was PPV for that reason? And it was given shit from people? So newsflash, they paid for players travel and players were able to play. IEM didn't and what a surprise - players are not able to come because their teams don't have money.
On March 06 2012 00:02 Quakie wrote: Terribly unfortunate and unprofessional. Think about other players that could attend in his place if he said he couldn't attend before? This is something that occurs regulary with ESL(among others) and it's certainly not good. This is something esports-teams must work much more with, isn't this one of the managements big assignements, one would think they could handle it ...
The point here is not to blame the management, they obviously had prepared to send the player; it is quite obvious that some funds that they may have been allocated are no longer available due to reasons that we do not know. People should think about it a little deeper before they castrate management. Think for a second, who provides funding for players to attend events?
That's abit alarming too, if their finances is so unstable so that they don't know if they can afford him going until a few days(or a day?) before. I hope ESL can get a bit assurances in the future whether the Koreans actually can go or not.
On March 05 2012 23:44 Pokebunny wrote: Pretty big blow to the scene imo that we have top class players canceling at the last minute unless the tournament pays for accomodations. IMO kinda disresepctful by the Korean players to accept invites to tournaments without trying to book travel months in advance... I guess due to the randomness of GSL schedule. Unfortunate, though - something will definitely have to change.
Neither sound nor fruitdealer are in the gsl anymore, so whatever the reason is that they have accepted the invite and cannot participate now, it is definitely not because of the gsl.
Technically that's wrong. Code A qualifers are this weekend, it would be very tough to make it back for a Code A hopeful like Sound (who's already missed one shot iirc by going to hsc4) if not outright impossible. Doubt that would be a reason for such a late cancellation though.
FD is just a LoL player now so his absence isn't surprising (and was known for much longer)
On March 05 2012 23:48 Tsubbi wrote: as much as tournament organizers get called out for mistakes so should teams and players, cancelling participation one day before the event without good reason is just unacceptable
This is why I asked if it's an open letter. JBanks seems to have said that he has been in talks with Carmac which wasn't a straight answer but once can infer that ESL has known this was a possibility for quite some time.
Carmac was unaware of it, you can read it on twitter.
@SaintSnorlax @mbCARMAC I have had it confirmed, Sound will not attend. Will skype you Carmac - I can only apologise on behalf of ST 2:37 PM - 5 Mar 12 via web
He told him he would skype him like one/two hours ago, that's not being informed for quite some time, unfortunately.
Actually, I have been speaking with Carmac since last week regarding the StarTale players. Awaiting confirmation from Korea.
Tournaments should be making contracts. If a player cannot attend the players/team should give at minimum 1 weeks notice. After that a penalty of some sort should be imposed.
On March 05 2012 23:48 Tsubbi wrote: as much as tournament organizers get called out for mistakes so should teams and players, cancelling participation one day before the event without good reason is just unacceptable
This is why I asked if it's an open letter. JBanks seems to have said that he has been in talks with Carmac which wasn't a straight answer but once can infer that ESL has known this was a possibility for quite some time.
Carmac was unaware of it, you can read it on twitter.
@SaintSnorlax @mbCARMAC I have had it confirmed, Sound will not attend. Will skype you Carmac - I can only apologise on behalf of ST 2:37 PM - 5 Mar 12 via web
He told him he would skype him like one/two hours ago, that's not being informed for quite some time, unfortunately.
Actually, I have been speaking with Carmac since last week regarding the StarTale players. Awaiting confirmation from Korea.
RotterdaM08 (Kevin van der Kooi) Sound unfortunately couldn't make it to the #IEM, @followgrubby will replace him. This means 5P+Nerchi. This also means Elfi wins the group.
On March 06 2012 00:39 Ketch wrote: Rotterdam just tweeted that Grubby will replace Sound!
wtf, clearly not a Bitter follower...
Ahaha... I was like why are you upset about that... went looking for MrBitter tweets and such, was typing this reply, and then I saw your name! ... I'll add you too if you don't tweet the same things as Rotterdam all the time
You think? Has ST ever used Sound in any of the GSTL games? Grubby/Bestyqt/Tarson would be the most logical replacements if they were to consider them.
* Directly from me (JBanks) - I appreciate peoples views and concerns on this matter but there is only so much someone in my position can do. I have to go with what is said by the Korean coaches and work with them, they tried very hard to find a solution but the final attempt failed and this is our current outcome, once again, sorry to everyone who we let down. In ST I work on simply trying to engage with the fans outside of Korea, marketing, working with our sponsors and looking after players during their trips in Europe, hopefully we can bring some ST players to Europe again soon*
Nice response, hopefully people will realise who is actually at blame here.
I hope he will be replaced by Stephano! He is next on the list together with - Australia mOOnGLaDe 20 - South Korea RevivaL 20 - South Korea TOP 20 - Canada TT1 20 - South Korea MarineKing 20 - France Stephano 20 - Ukraine White-Ra 20 - Sweden NaNiwa 20 - South Korea HerO 20 - Russia Pomi 20 - United Kingdom DeMusliM 20 - Russia sLivko 20
Since he is from French he could make it there in one day =). DeMusliM and Naniwa is possible too.
On March 06 2012 01:04 fcgog wrote: why did stephano not go he has 5 more points then grubby
He plays in a 5,000$ showmatch in the US on the 10th.
And I think he's playing white-ra in that showmatch, who ironically will be at IEM on the 10th, in the group where Stephano could have been replacing Sound.
On March 06 2012 01:04 fcgog wrote: why did stephano not go he has 5 more points then grubby
He plays in a 5,000$ showmatch in the US on the 10th.
As does White-Ra who already filled in for Ret during this tournament. I really have no idea why White-Ra agreed to participate when he knows he can't play in the knock out stages should he advance from his group. By this same token I have no idea why IEM invited him to play.
On March 06 2012 01:04 fcgog wrote: why did stephano not go he has 5 more points then grubby
He plays in a 5,000$ showmatch in the US on the 10th.
As does White-Ra who already filled in for Ret during this tournament. I really have no idea why White-Ra agreed to participate when he knows he can't play in the knock out stages should he advance from his group. By this same token I have no idea why IEM invited him to play.
Why shouldnt he find enough time to play the showmatch from Hanover? Stephano also could play from there. The showmatch would be even better both sitting side by side :O
On March 06 2012 01:15 Rannasha wrote: Relatively unknown Korean out, well-known and well-liked foreigner in. IEM is better off now IMO.
That's nice, forget the fact that this poor kid is Code B and the only money he's ever won as a pro-gamer was from the event he played in to qualify for the IEM World Championships.
On March 06 2012 01:04 fcgog wrote: why did stephano not go he has 5 more points then grubby
He plays in a 5,000$ showmatch in the US on the 10th.
As does White-Ra who already filled in for Ret during this tournament. I really have no idea why White-Ra agreed to participate when he knows he can't play in the knock out stages should he advance from his group. By this same token I have no idea why IEM invited him to play.
Why shouldnt he find enough time to play the showmatch from Hanover? Stephano also could play from there. The showmatch would be even better both sitting side by side :O
I think IPL would rather they are sitting side by side at SXSW as is the intention when you organise a $5,000 showmatch.
White-Ra could basically lose every game he plays this week and still collect $1,600.
On March 06 2012 01:04 fcgog wrote: why did stephano not go he has 5 more points then grubby
He plays in a 5,000$ showmatch in the US on the 10th.
As does White-Ra who already filled in for Ret during this tournament. I really have no idea why White-Ra agreed to participate when he knows he can't play in the knock out stages should he advance from his group. By this same token I have no idea why IEM invited him to play.
Why shouldnt he find enough time to play the showmatch from Hanover? Stephano also could play from there. The showmatch would be even better both sitting side by side :O
The point of the showmatch was to be a live exhibition at SXSW I believe. If both players are in Hannover at IEM, that kinda defeats the purpose.
On March 06 2012 01:04 fcgog wrote: why did stephano not go he has 5 more points then grubby
He plays in a 5,000$ showmatch in the US on the 10th.
As does White-Ra who already filled in for Ret during this tournament. I really have no idea why White-Ra agreed to participate when he knows he can't play in the knock out stages should he advance from his group. By this same token I have no idea why IEM invited him to play.
Why shouldnt he find enough time to play the showmatch from Hanover? Stephano also could play from there. The showmatch would be even better both sitting side by side :O
The point of the showmatch was to be a live exhibition at SXSW I believe. If both players are in Hannover at IEM, that kinda defeats the purpose.
Still IEM > Showmatch and some foreigner has to stop Koreans from winning another IEM.
On March 06 2012 01:15 Rannasha wrote: Relatively unknown Korean out, well-known and well-liked foreigner in. IEM is better off now IMO.
That's nice, forget the fact that this poor kid is Code B and the only money he's ever won as a pro-gamer was from the event he played in to qualify for the IEM World Championships. .
Que? I don't think you know Grubby, do your research if you're going to flame someone.
On March 06 2012 01:15 Rannasha wrote: Relatively unknown Korean out, well-known and well-liked foreigner in. IEM is better off now IMO.
That's nice, forget the fact that this poor kid is Code B and the only money he's ever won as a pro-gamer was from the event he played in to qualify for the IEM World Championships. .
Que? I don't think you know Grubby, do your research if you're going to flame someone.
On March 06 2012 01:15 Rannasha wrote: Relatively unknown Korean out, well-known and well-liked foreigner in. IEM is better off now IMO.
That's nice, forget the fact that this poor kid is Code B and the only money he's ever won as a pro-gamer was from the event he played in to qualify for the IEM World Championships. .
Que? I don't think you know Grubby, do your research if you're going to flame someone.
He's referring to Sound, and that it's not nice saying that it's good that Sound was denied the chance to participate in this tournament.
On March 06 2012 01:15 Rannasha wrote: Relatively unknown Korean out, well-known and well-liked foreigner in. IEM is better off now IMO.
That's nice, forget the fact that this poor kid is Code B and the only money he's ever won as a pro-gamer was from the event he played in to qualify for the IEM World Championships. .
Que? I don't think you know Grubby, do your research if you're going to flame someone.
On March 06 2012 01:15 Rannasha wrote: Relatively unknown Korean out, well-known and well-liked foreigner in. IEM is better off now IMO.
That's nice, forget the fact that this poor kid is Code B and the only money he's ever won as a pro-gamer was from the event he played in to qualify for the IEM World Championships. .
Que? I don't think you know Grubby, do your research if you're going to flame someone.
So what exactly is ST getting out of their partnership with Quantic, if they can't even afford to send a player to a tournament once every few months??
On March 05 2012 23:44 Pokebunny wrote: Pretty big blow to the scene imo that we have top class players canceling at the last minute unless the tournament pays for accomodations. IMO kinda disresepctful by the Korean players to accept invites to tournaments without trying to book travel months in advance... I guess due to the randomness of GSL schedule. Unfortunate, though - something will definitely have to change.
Neither sound nor fruitdealer are in the gsl anymore, so whatever the reason is that they have accepted the invite and cannot participate now, it is definitely not because of the gsl.
Right, but how would Sound have known that a few months ago? GSL schedules and qualifiers seem to be very last minute.
Well, quite frankly I am glad to see Grubby entered into this tournament. No offense Sound, but this guy is a legend! Racial diversity does take an even further hit though...
Still I feel like this tournament is loosing great players by the day. Might end up being 3 koreans dominating foreigners if it continues at this rate.
Wow Gratz Grubby!! on his stream yesterday he said he was going to commentate the group stages on his stream. According to early IEM history Grubby should win the tourney! ..... And with mass reapers.
On March 06 2012 01:53 Chefquina wrote: Grubby of team Grubby, winner of Grubby Invitational hosted by Grubby? Colour me excited!
I heard he was also the runner up, 5th place and surprisingly lost in the group phase in the Grubby Invitational.
"It was one of the best tournaments of my life", said an excited Grubby who just won against Grubby, while a disappointed Grubby left the tournament after the group phase.
Omg, what a pvp group :/ Still excited to see Grubby at a huge offline tournament with a crowd again. He always shows his best performances at these events!
On March 05 2012 23:50 KiNGxXx wrote: Really? One day before the event? How can a team not know it earlier? Doesn't sound (lol) very professional! Feel sorry for the player and for IEM. They have to deal with this.
Yeah I feel the same. Really sad that so many Koreans had to cancel
On March 06 2012 02:23 rtsAlaran wrote: WTF? IEM organization is going crazy this time O_O
those last VERY LAST minute replaces omg... Grubby on twitter:
Carmac called me that I could replace Sound in IEM. Saw last train leaves soon, had only an hour to shower and pack. Finally in train now
Would you have prefered that nobody would come to replace him and the place would have been empty?
I thinke he was complementing IEM, because all replacements this far are amazing and they react so fast.
THIS! And not only the organization but also the players: 2days ago SeleCT+DarkForce yesteday White-Ra (who is in Hannover anyway - lucky for him - unlucky for his sponsor) and today Grubby VERY VERY last minute...
bottom line: for me as a fanboy of all 4 added players AWESOME!
On March 06 2012 02:23 rtsAlaran wrote: WTF? IEM organization is going crazy this time O_O
those last VERY LAST minute replaces omg... Grubby on twitter:
Carmac called me that I could replace Sound in IEM. Saw last train leaves soon, had only an hour to shower and pack. Finally in train now
Would you have prefered that nobody would come to replace him and the place would have been empty?
I thinke he was complementing IEM, because all replacements this far are amazing and they react so fast.
THIS! And not only the organization but also the players: 2days ago SeleCT+DarkForce yesteday White-Ra (who is in Hannover anyway - lucky for him - unlucky for his sponsor) and today Grubby VERY VERY last minute...
bottom line: for me as a fanboy of all 4 added players AWESOME!
Oh, alright, nevermind then Gonna be an awesome event!
Really a shame, Sound was actually one of my pics for the finals T_T I think he's been showing up and dominating recently in foreigners/team leagues, it would have been great to see him play. Best of luck to Grubby though!
These the same Koreans that harped on about professional standards with Probegate etc...
...However can't help but feel that the finanical side of sending Koreans to European tournaments is made very problematic by the poor prize pool distribution. Far too top heavy at the moment. Should be big enough at the bottom end to at least cover expenses (inc travelling) current situation not sustainable.
On a practical level, Grubby is cool and sound isn't MMA.
On March 06 2012 03:20 greenknight999 wrote: Very unprofessional from Startale.
These the same Koreans that harped on about professional standards with Probegate etc...
...However can't help but feel that the finanical side of sending Koreans to European tournaments is made very problematic by the poor prize pool distribution. Far too top heavy at the moment. Should be big enough at the bottom end to at least cover expenses (inc travelling) current situation not sustainable.
On a practical level, Grubby is cool and sound isn't MMA.
Prize pool wasn't announced yesterday. Regardless of the prize pool the criticism here is that Startale waited so long to pull out. Its still unclear why, so maybe it was something serious? =\
Seems Stephano is not a boss like White-ra who can make both events
Anyway it seems like White-ra found a great way to participate in IEM events. Just show up, someone will cancel and voila you are in a tournament. Happened in Kiev also But it is always nice to see him.
On March 06 2012 03:20 greenknight999 wrote: Very unprofessional from Startale.
These the same Koreans that harped on about professional standards with Probegate etc...
...However can't help but feel that the finanical side of sending Koreans to European tournaments is made very problematic by the poor prize pool distribution. Far too top heavy at the moment. Should be big enough at the bottom end to at least cover expenses (inc travelling) current situation not sustainable.
On a practical level, Grubby is cool and sound isn't MMA.
I don´t think the prize pool is to top heavy. IEM gives money to everyone, whereas Dreamhack/MLG/Assembly only reward a top4/8 finish. The only leagues with a more even prize pool are IPL, GSL and NASL.
We are deeply sorry about the situation we have caused, we tried to find ways around it but by the end of it we were still unable to send Sound due to the costs.
You must be joking.... Everyone attending gets at least 600$, placing 12th of 24, which seems quite possible for sound would bring that up to 1000$.
Flying from Seoul to Hanover (and back) is about 1000-1200$, booking bit earlier might reduce that. Sound qualified at HSC4 I guess, it was this year, but also not exactly yesterday. Let's say he stays a week, (maybe longer than he actually would, dunno) that would make another 600$ maybe. Player Catering is included at IEM events afaik, breakfast at the hotel, so it can't possibly cost more than 2000$ for him to go there, minus 600$ guaranteed prize money is 1400$. Probably less since I rounded up a lot, and he'd probably not finish that poorly. If you can't find that sort of money to send your player to an event with one of the highest prize pools out there, then you might want to reconsider calling yourself a professional team. Are there no sponsors present at cebit that might be interested in paying the flight for him in exchange for him playing some showmatches at their booth? (Just my first thought because there are many sponsors that have their pros making showmatches to attract a crowd and I don't think there is any major IT company that does not attend cebit). There should be ways, I guess ST just didn't start trying in time... announcing it on the day before the event at least makes it look a bit like they tried to improvise something at the very last second.
I want to make clear that I am not trying to offend ST, but I just can't believe that the costs are really the crucial point here.
It's a prize pool that can be compared to GSL on the line, especially if you consider the money you earned during the Global Challenge or HSC which you had to attend and place well in the money to earn enough points for WC qualification. So you might very well make more money during an IEM season than during a GSL, especially if you consider the ridiculous level of competition in Korea. So the expected value of playing IEM should be higher than playing GSL, a risk neutral player would probably make a bank loan and partially cover his own travel if his team can't support him enough... Or change to a foreign team - rumor has it that actually has happened before ;-)
On March 05 2012 23:44 Pokebunny wrote: Pretty big blow to the scene imo that we have top class players canceling at the last minute unless the tournament pays for accomodations. IMO kinda disresepctful by the Korean players to accept invites to tournaments without trying to book travel months in advance... I guess due to the randomness of GSL schedule. Unfortunate, though - something will definitely have to change.
The Korean teams don't have much sponsorship money, certainly not as much as foreign teams, so they can't afford to send as many people abroad.
Seems Stephano is not a boss like White-ra who can make both events
Anyway it seems like White-ra found a great way to participate in IEM events. Just show up, someone will cancel and voila you are in a tournament. Happened in Kiev also But it is always nice to see him.
sorry, are you kidding, or did whitera really not know he was replacing him until he showed up (presumably as a spectator)?
I'm sorry to hear that he won't make it . That said I think it would have been better to anounce it before hand. I get that you worked hard to try to get him to IEM. But you should put a deadline atleast a week or two earlier to inform both IEM and the fans. These last minutes dropouts are the worst way to dropout in my opinion.
Was Rotterdam really saying that elfi would win his group? Last I checked MC was in his group so not sure how elfi even has a chance in hell lol. Also I dont even see him making it out of group:
MC Grubby Hasu/whitera
thats how the group will unfold so Rotterdam please stop saying all these falsehoods about Elfi winning the group
awww i like sound playing, but cool replacement with grubby, tournament gets better and better each day. Don't think its a big issue, if the esl allows it ..., but it atleast falls into bad manner. Thanks for the information, really nice.
On March 06 2012 02:40 xsnac wrote: code s players still comming no worry will be great show im sure !!
gogo
SlayerS_MMA SK.MC coL.Killer
hwiting!!!!!!
when will people realise that having two players that are objectively clearly superior to the entire rest of the field does not make for "a great show". pretty sure most of us wouldn't watch march madness if they invited the bulls and heat
On March 06 2012 04:03 Catatonic wrote: Was Rotterdam really saying that elfi would win his group? Last I checked MC was in his group so not sure how elfi even has a chance in hell lol. Also I dont even see him making it out of group:
MC Grubby Hasu/whitera
thats how the group will unfold so Rotterdam please stop saying all these falsehoods about Elfi winning the group
Though sad to hear that sound wont be making it
Go read the TL group stage preview, Elfi has some sick PvP / general upset skills. I agree it's not likely that he will beat MC, but it wouldn't be the biggest upset if it happens.
Seems Stephano is not a boss like White-ra who can make both events
Anyway it seems like White-ra found a great way to participate in IEM events. Just show up, someone will cancel and voila you are in a tournament. Happened in Kiev also But it is always nice to see him.
sorry, are you kidding, or did whitera really not know he was replacing him until he showed up (presumably as a spectator)?
White-ra is in Hannover to represent his sponsors TtEsports and Asrock at their booths and do PR stuff. I am pretty sure he did not know he is going to play in the tournament. In Kiev he was supposed to cast on the Russian stream, but he replaced I think dKiller at the last moment also.
EDIT: He also has a showmatch with Stephano on 10th in Texas so I have no idea how he wants to make it But considering his group he probably will not make it out of the group with all the PvP action.
On March 06 2012 04:03 Catatonic wrote: Was Rotterdam really saying that elfi would win his group? Last I checked MC was in his group so not sure how elfi even has a chance in hell lol. Also I dont even see him making it out of group:
MC Grubby Hasu/whitera
thats how the group will unfold so Rotterdam please stop saying all these falsehoods about Elfi winning the group
Though sad to hear that sound wont be making it
Because elfi has ridiculous PvP, maybe best in Europe and PvP was always pretty even between Korea and Europe (compared to other matchups except ZvZ).
On March 06 2012 04:03 Catatonic wrote: Was Rotterdam really saying that elfi would win his group? Last I checked MC was in his group so not sure how elfi even has a chance in hell lol. Also I dont even see him making it out of group:
MC Grubby Hasu/whitera
thats how the group will unfold so Rotterdam please stop saying all these falsehoods about Elfi winning the group
Though sad to hear that sound wont be making it
Can you also comment on this? :D
MrBitter: Nerchio to win IEM. #zergbias #foreignerbias #IDONTCARENERCHIOFIGHTING!
On March 06 2012 04:03 Catatonic wrote: Was Rotterdam really saying that elfi would win his group? Last I checked MC was in his group so not sure how elfi even has a chance in hell lol. Also I dont even see him making it out of group:
MC Grubby Hasu/whitera
thats how the group will unfold so Rotterdam please stop saying all these falsehoods about Elfi winning the group
Though sad to hear that sound wont be making it
Elfi actually has a good chance at taking his group. The only person in his group that rivals him in PvP is MC, so if Nerchio flunks out I expect an MC & Elfi top 2. Grubby has some decent PvP but it's just not on the same level as MC & Elfi.
On March 06 2012 04:03 Catatonic wrote: Was Rotterdam really saying that elfi would win his group? Last I checked MC was in his group so not sure how elfi even has a chance in hell lol. Also I dont even see him making it out of group:
MC Grubby Hasu/whitera
thats how the group will unfold so Rotterdam please stop saying all these falsehoods about Elfi winning the group
Though sad to hear that sound wont be making it
Can you also comment on this? :D
MrBitter: Nerchio to win IEM. #zergbias #foreignerbias #IDONTCARENERCHIOFIGHTING!
Haha, I remember bitter said that same thing about nerchio at home story and then MC proceeded to make nerchio look like a bronzie. I expect the same thing to happen here.
On March 06 2012 04:03 Catatonic wrote: Was Rotterdam really saying that elfi would win his group? Last I checked MC was in his group so not sure how elfi even has a chance in hell lol. Also I dont even see him making it out of group:
MC Grubby Hasu/whitera
thats how the group will unfold so Rotterdam please stop saying all these falsehoods about Elfi winning the group
Though sad to hear that sound wont be making it
He said this because Elfi has some ridiculous PvP skills.
Oh well. Was looking forward to Sound playing in Germany again. His rematch against MC was one of the games I wasn't going to miss. IEM still full of great players, no biggy will wait to see him in the GSL now.
On March 05 2012 23:44 Pokebunny wrote: Pretty big blow to the scene imo that we have top class players canceling at the last minute unless the tournament pays for accomodations. IMO kinda disresepctful by the Korean players to accept invites to tournaments without trying to book travel months in advance... I guess due to the randomness of GSL schedule. Unfortunate, though - something will definitely have to change.
The Korean teams don't have much sponsorship money, certainly not as much as foreign teams, so they can't afford to send as many people abroad.
I see sending Sound as in investment, even if his team can't send him he should send himself. He's one of the strongest players at the tournament and very likely to make enough prize money to come out of the event in profit.
I have a feeling the GSTL is partly a reason for the pull out, the finals in Vegas ups the ante for the remaining teams and Sound is probably the 2nd best Terran on Startale, so they might need him against Prime.
On March 05 2012 23:44 Pokebunny wrote: Pretty big blow to the scene imo that we have top class players canceling at the last minute unless the tournament pays for accomodations. IMO kinda disresepctful by the Korean players to accept invites to tournaments without trying to book travel months in advance... I guess due to the randomness of GSL schedule. Unfortunate, though - something will definitely have to change.
The Korean teams don't have much sponsorship money, certainly not as much as foreign teams, so they can't afford to send as many people abroad.
I see sending Sound as in investment, even if his team can't send him he should send himself. He's one of the strongest players at the tournament and very likely to make enough prize money to come out of the event in profit.
I have a feeling the GSTL is partly a reason for the pull out, the finals in Vegas ups the ante for the remaining teams and Sound is probably the 2nd best Terran on Startale, so they might need him against Prime.
edit: Its also great news for Elfi.
You really over-estimate Sound. Yeah he is korean but he is only an average korean. He would be favorite to get out of his group but not go very far after that.
Every 1000 years, in a tournament of global scale, there will assemble the world's best protoss to unite in a single group of gore and bloodshed, to find their chosen one. And out of it will arise... the super protoss!
On March 06 2012 06:44 onedayclose wrote: Would be interesting to see if indeed Fruitdealer and Sound enter GSL Code A qualifiers. That would explain why they decided to skip this tournament.
Also, are either of these players on the GSTL roster?
Sound is not a regular GSTL player, but they may use him and I am quite sure that he will participate in the qualifiers. So will HuK, Naniwa, Jinro, SaSe, MorrOw etc hopefully. They are in korea after all...
Happy that Grubby is able to replace; however, I am worried he will have poor results due to the fact that he probably hasn't been practicing for the event.
On March 05 2012 23:59 TeeTS wrote: But to be honest. I think it would be much more valuable for ST to send Sound to the IEM than keeping him in Korea for the GSTL. Sound is by far no regular GSTL player for ST and they have a deep enough lineup to find a substitution for him. But IEM would be a chance for him and the team, to get some worldwide audience. I really can't understand this decision. (especially since Parting was send to MLG with ST having an important GSTL match against IM and with Parting being actually their strongest player!)
Main difference. Parting had a fully paid trip to NYC. IEM? Not the case.
I feel bad for Sound. The guy has no accomplishments outside of his silver at HSC and this was a huge opportunity for him to get his name out there. It definitely surprises me that Startale of all teams isn't able to afford to send a player to IEM considering they are supposedly one of the more financially well off Korean teams. I mean they have arguably the nicest teamhouse in Korea and even a LoL team, yet they can't afford a couple grand to send Sound to Hanvoer?
EPT
Gonna be an awesome event!
