Clarity Academy Recruitment Tournament Details

Hello everyone,
Before I get into the staff picks I would just like to thank the majority of you all who have been so active, supportive, and communicative over the last month with regards to the Academy and Clarity as an organization. It has really been a pleasure getting to know some of you, even if only a little bit, while this recruitment process has gone on. I truly hope that each and everyone one of you may find success in your futures inside and out of Starcraft 2.

Additionally I would like to reinforce the point I made in Friday’s email about those of you who do not make the Recruitment Finals, or the final roster: Please stick around with us, and remain active. I will do my utmost to keep you all included in any way that I can down the road with Clarity or the Academy. That might be offering you participation in practice, events, etc. It is my hope that those of you who do not make the final roster this time around will continue to work towards a spot on the roster in the future.

Once our website is relaunched we will be creating a community type team and it is our intention to build prospective academy players from that team. I think we have a great initial start to that team in many of you who have been around the last month.


Now, on to staff picks. As I said in the last email there were many factors which went into deciding who would get the final staff picks. It was not an easy decision to make. As you can probably figure out yourselves these picks reflect four players who had consistent, and relatively high placement results in all of the tournaments they entered. Additionally I will say these four players showed me quality communication and participation from week to week outside of the tournaments themselves. These were not clear cut choices for me, and there were a couple of very close runner-ups and other notable players. Unfortunately when looking at everything together these four sat out on top.

The four staff picks are:
1. (Z) HoneyBear
2. (Z) Saikou
3. (P) ColdFlames
4. (Z) TBo

This means we will have 6 Zerg, 6 Terran, and 4 Protoss in the final tournament.

I have decided (after asking some of you for input) on including those of you who did NOT fail to make an impression me in some form or another. The order of the names below are not organized, they are just in order as I pulled them from an existing document when looking over tournament results, KOTH participation/results, and your involvement in the skype chat, etc. You all are the people I hope to continue to see around, working towards a future slot on the roster.

“Runner Ups:”
KiFire
Keenan Cooper

Notable Mentions: In no particular order, seriously. These are all listed based on different key traits. Some close results, some overall commitment, communication, etc (what I listed in Friday’s email).

TrainerRedNA
AspireWarreN
Treisk
LiLSighKoh
Padre
VaPox
Ynot
MrNiceGuy
LeafBlower
Hurricane
Graphix
Bop
Sherklok
Telperion
Gypsy
Pato

I am sure I may have overlooked a few names (even after triple checking my spreadsheets while writing this) so I apologize if that is the case. Unfortunately one man can only do so much. If you feel that you were overlooked, please skype me about it and I will give you any and all honest feedback on what I saw from you over the last month and where I can think you can improve. Not to mention I will let you know if you were overlooked and I think you were also worthy of note.


Recruitment Finals:
1. Brackets: http://challonge.com/CGARF1
2. Please let me know your schedule this weekend. Currently TBo has a problem with Saturday (finals) So we may have to break this into two days like the last couple of weekends.
3.Please update me on any name changes going into the finals.
4. I am looking to get this featured tonight. Do you think 2 streams for the finals is overkill? Generally I think it is, but I have more than a couple casters wanting to cover this thing.


That is all for now guys. Again thank you all for your hard work and dedication over the last month. It has been a pleasure! Good luck to those of you in the finals this next weekend. Please get back to me ASAP with your availability!


Cheers,
Mike ‘winteR’ Ortlani

Starting Maps:
Round 1: Daybreak
Round 2: Akilon Wastes
Round 3: Cloud Kingdom

Map Pool: Same as it's been:
1. Akilon Wastes
2. Bel'Shir Vestige
3. Daybreak
4. Neo Planet S
5. Newkirk Precinct
6. Cloud Kingdom LE
7. Whirlwind LE

Map Rules:
1. The existing rules will carry over from the qualifier tournaments.
2. Each match will be a BO3 in the pool play, and the 8 man bracket.
3. Each player (loser) will get 1 map veto per match.
4. The starting maps for pool play may not be veto'd.

1. Please let me know if you have a schedule conflict for this time. I know WCS qualifiers start this day for NA, but they should be earlier in the day. I couldn't find a time posted anywhere for when they start. I assume we'll know this friday the 12th.
2. The starting maps will be posted with the bracket Thursday night of next week. They will be similar to the qualifiers: Ro. 1 - Daybreak. Ro. 2 - Akilon. Ro. 3 - Cloud. Ro. 4 - Bel'Shire. Etc
3. The 1st placers from their groups will be seeded into the winner's bracket of the finals (double elimination). If you win 1 match in the winner's bracket, you make top 4. If you lose your first match, you drop to loser's bracket and have 1 more shot.
4. The 2nd placers from their groups will be seeded into the loser's bracket of the finals (single elimination). If you lose your first match, you are out. If you win your first match and can win your second match, you will make top 4.
5. The players who make top 4 GUARANTEE themselves a roster slot into the Academy.
6. The final 4 slots will be filled by staff picks which will be made from the remaining 12 players who made it into the "Recruitment Finals." (The pool play, and the 8 man bracket)