In what is another clear sign of Red Bull's support for eSports, the company has revealed the creation of a new tournament called Red Bull Training Grounds. 8 players from around the world are invited to Red Bull's NA headquarters in Santa Monica, California to compete for $5000 in prize money:
In addition, the website promises that they will show viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the professionals' strategies (what this entails is somewhat ambiguous but positive in nature). More updates will be posted on their official Twitter link as well as their associate editor's.
some interesting choices. Deservedly so, but I wonder what their thought process was when they chose kane/puck over something a little more hype like HuK/IdrA or something. looks cool, hope they keep the support up.
Perfect player pool. Two decent Koreans (not counting select who lives in the US) and a great European (not counting Demu for the same reason) and slew of great NA players.
On June 14 2013 07:50 NrG.NeverExpo wrote: some interesting choices. Deservedly so, but I wonder what their thought process was when they chose kane/puck over something a little more hype like HuK/IdrA or something. looks cool, hope they keep the support up.
On June 14 2013 07:50 NrG.NeverExpo wrote: some interesting choices. Deservedly so, but I wonder what their thought process was when they chose kane/puck over something a little more hype like HuK/IdrA or something. looks cool, hope they keep the support up.
I guess it's nice, but it's during Homestory Cup, so viewers will already be saturated with most likely more interesting and more fun content.
It's a cool idea, but I honestly would have expected something bigger from a company like Red Bull and I feel like the concept of these training LANs kinda got stale already after they did it the second time, and 5k$ and these players aren't exactly guaranteeing you the eyeballs of every hardcore SC2 fan.
A bit sad that Grubby seemingly chose this over HSC.
On June 14 2013 07:52 Dodgin wrote: I would have liked to see Bomber over sound/golden, oh well. Seems like a pretty decent lineup for NA fans overall.
I would love it myself, but I think this builds the StarTale team overall way more outside of KR and makes for more even competition.
On June 14 2013 07:50 NrG.NeverExpo wrote: some interesting choices. Deservedly so, but I wonder what their thought process was when they chose kane/puck over something a little more hype like HuK/IdrA or something. looks cool, hope they keep the support up.
On June 14 2013 07:50 NrG.NeverExpo wrote: some interesting choices. Deservedly so, but I wonder what their thought process was when they chose kane/puck over something a little more hype like HuK/IdrA or something. looks cool, hope they keep the support up.
It seems that you missed that IdrA has retired from pro-gaming and will not compete in any SC2 tournaments for now.
On June 14 2013 08:07 GenghisKhan wrote: This is Demuslim's chance to shine! Brilliant!
I wonder if they will let him shout out Monster if he wins, heh.
Edit: The link in the OP leads to an empty webpage. None of the twitters have mentioned this event. Even redbull's esports page doesn't have a story on this.(or I can't find it...)
On June 14 2013 08:10 Enel wrote: No Korean is gonna watch this. Two invites wasted on random koreans nobody gives a fuck about. Next time: Bigger Korean names or sum foreigners.
"Two invites wasted on random koreans" Redbull sponsors Startle, two Koreans are from Startale. Not random, and the player choice is great as there are no players that over shadow any other player too much in skill or popularity.
Congrats to redbull for investing in sc2.Hope they keep it up.Also the choice to promote good foreign players is laudable.I will buy their energy drink of theirs and combine it with good whiskey next time i have a party.
On June 14 2013 08:23 tshi wrote: Idra should be in there : (
Also, how is demuslims EG shirt/ Monster affiliation going to work out at the REDBULL place?
Its a tournament. So what if it is conflicting sponsors with a players team. MLG is sponsored by NOS and Dr. Pepper, does that mean no EG player should be allowed to play there?
ROOT? Aw, come on, couldn't you ask people like White-Ra, Dimaga and such? True Fan Favorites which make us hate that not everybody can win? Demuslim is the obvious heart favourite here, well and select. Great Event, not so very great lineup.
P.S. This post reflects my personal views and is in no way meant to harm or insult
I like how they are not picking just top Koreans but I do like how they include some of the Koreans also demu is boss man can't wait for him to take the gold
whats the point of hosting a 'training ground' with a bunch of people renowned for their casual attitude to improvement and training? if they want to just throw some money at the NA scene thats fine, but id like to see something called a training ground reward people who actually like to train.
I like how there giving a shot to the "lesser" pro's. Not seeing these guys arn't good, they def are but there Americas best talent, i look forward to this! :D
On June 14 2013 07:50 NrG.NeverExpo wrote: some interesting choices. Deservedly so, but I wonder what their thought process was when they chose kane/puck over something a little more hype like HuK/IdrA or something. looks cool, hope they keep the support up.
idra? you realise hes kind of quit playing competitively
On June 14 2013 08:29 Vanimar wrote: ROOT? Aw, come on, couldn't you ask people like White-Ra, Dimaga and such? True Fan Favorites which make us hate that not everybody can win? Demuslim is the obvious heart favourite here, well and select. Great Event, not so very great lineup.
P.S. This post reflects my personal views and is in no way meant to harm or insult
Given the prize-pool, travel costs might be a huge factor in this tournament. If they are trying to stay below 10k total (including travel), to avoid requiring a Blizzard license, picking NA-based players + ST players makes sense.
lol select being up there is funny. I mean, i don't have anything against the guy at all. But let's be real about where he's at with the game right now o_O
On June 14 2013 08:59 Lumi wrote: lol select being up there is funny. I mean, i don't have anything against the guy at all. But let's be real about where he's at with the game right now o_O
He was invited based on popularity, he streamed today and got 7000 viewers, very few sc2 personal player streams can get those numbers. Grubby is one of the few who can, and he's the only EU based player going.
If you go by most popular personal streams they have 3 of the biggest names, Demuslim Select and Grubby, they're really only missing Idra(not a player anymore) and Stephano.
this made me feel much better for buying a whole box of red bull from a paraguayan chick, then :D (I mean, buying in Brazil is 2x the price and this box was not taxed, that's why I was feeling a bit bad about it)
Woohoo go SeleCT! He's still a bit behind the other players at this point I feel but hopefully he can compete pretty well. Give him a couple more months and he'd win a tourney like this.
Great grouping of players here. Relevant NA talent (although not all ROOT would be nice), Koreans that won't necessarily dominate the entire thing but still known, and some fan favs.
And I swear if I see another person ask why a tournament didn't/doesn't invite idra to compete, I just might do something to compromise my TL account.
I'm glad SeleCT is back in action, but I really fear that he's going to get crapped all over in this tournament until he gets back into form. I could see anyone from Grubby/Golden/Demuslim winning this.
On June 14 2013 10:43 Kitai wrote: I'm glad SeleCT is back in action, but I really fear that he's going to get crapped all over in this tournament until he gets back into form. I could see anyone from Grubby/Golden/Demuslim winning this.
You're underestimating select son. He's probably at demuslim level right now.
On June 14 2013 10:43 Kitai wrote: I'm glad SeleCT is back in action, but I really fear that he's going to get crapped all over in this tournament until he gets back into form. I could see anyone from Grubby/Golden/Demuslim winning this.
You're underestimating select son. He's probably at demuslim level right now.
Ummm no. How about he qualifies for WCS first and then gets into premier league.
On June 14 2013 10:43 Kitai wrote: I'm glad SeleCT is back in action, but I really fear that he's going to get crapped all over in this tournament until he gets back into form. I could see anyone from Grubby/Golden/Demuslim winning this.
You're underestimating select son. He's probably at demuslim level right now.
Ummm no. How about he qualifies for WCS first and then gets into premier league.
This is awesome, I like that it's not only the highest tier of players as well thats participating. Battlegrounds for me is sounds more like the guys thats good but not there yet and this is their place to shine.
On June 14 2013 10:43 Kitai wrote: I'm glad SeleCT is back in action, but I really fear that he's going to get crapped all over in this tournament until he gets back into form. I could see anyone from Grubby/Golden/Demuslim winning this.
You're underestimating select son. He's probably at demuslim level right now.
Really Doubt it. Demuslim is looking pretty sharp at the moment. But he will get there soon.
I'm pretty psyched about this actually. Not only are they hosting an awesome tourny but they are also my favorite energy drink! I'm really pulling for Select here, I want to see him back in some spotlight. The behind the scenes should be pretty cool too, i'm hoping it shows what it's like to run a tournament like this and maybe a bit of insight into what it's like to be a pro gamer.
I've alway been impressed with Red Bull's work with eSports. I'm very happy with the players that have been selected, a good mix of players from NA and a good mix of overall solid EU/KR players.
I like Root, but I feel like three is too many. People will probably try and read into this, but I think a rising player like helloKitty would be better than PuCK.
On June 14 2013 13:15 Rainman5419 wrote: I like Root, but I feel like three is too many. People will probably try and read into this, but I think a rising player like helloKitty would be better than PuCK.
Why? This is not a team event, so why should we take the number of people from a single team into consideration? Root has some of the best and most popular NA talent so it seems only logical that they should be well-represented.
I look forward to this. I don't care that the prize pool is a bit small either. In the end the prize pool is not for the viewers, it is to attract players. They could give out $40k and the show would still look the same to me. I think NA players are pretty happy with a tournament where a $2k+ reward is a real possibility.
On June 14 2013 07:50 NrG.NeverExpo wrote: some interesting choices. Deservedly so, but I wonder what their thought process was when they chose kane/puck over something a little more hype like HuK/IdrA or something. looks cool, hope they keep the support up.
I wouldn't call HuK a hyped player anymore, and IdrA doesn't play professionally or competitively anymore.
I'd rather see new NA players who are starting to make a new for themselves (ie Kane/Puck) instead of 'staples' who haven't performed well in over 6 months...
On June 14 2013 08:30 Srontgorrth wrote: is this going to be open to spectators? because i live very close to santa monica and would love to go to this..
This is what I want to find out! I haven't been to a live SC match since a Blizzcon years ago. I think it was the first one after SC2 came out and Nestea played in a showmatch. It was really fun. I'm going to MLG Anaheim too so it would be fun to have two weekends in a row of live starcraft since those matches.
Not the most impressive lineup, but it still sounds like a really cool concept. Looking forward to exactly what they mean by "behind-the-scenes" look on the strategies of the players.
The 2 Koreans are too weak imo. Grubby, Select and Demuslim are excellent choices, they are gonna get a lot of people watching and excited. The Americans are ok too. Still, would have liked to see a Liquid player.
I'm not a fan of Red Bull, and I don't understand why people hype them so much. Red Bull pushes their athletes to the limit, which is sometime the death.
Sheth would have been great for something like this, wish his health issues were sorted out by now. But I'm glad that ROOT is sending a force over, they can really use the opportunity to wrangle some more sponsors.
So June is the new November i guess? For god sake, do we really need to squeeze everything into one month again? Ill try to watch some vods of this but probably wont see a damn thing from this tournament.
On June 14 2013 07:50 NrG.NeverExpo wrote: some interesting choices. Deservedly so, but I wonder what their thought process was when they chose kane/puck over something a little more hype like HuK/IdrA or something. looks cool, hope they keep the support up.
This kind of tournament is always lurking and waiting for the right time to burrow out and baneling-splash us with a good amount of players! I love that Grubby's in the tournament too :D GLHF to all of them.
What is Select's level right now? I heard he got back into GM but is he still competitive with top of NA at least? or is he just going to get rolled by everyone
Can't wait to see if he can pull out a puzzle,it should be hard but i believe in him for quick adaptation. Otherwise my head says Sound,this guy is a monster.
Btw you guys seem to overrate demu too much i think...
wtf is select doing there? guess its just a PR stunt as hes getting a lot of attention but still nonetheless doesnt deserve it. Even at the height of his skill he couldnt topple top players and i think other players deserve invites such as suppy, naniwa, stephano, dimaga, polt, etc (doubt they invite any koreans based in korea due to cost to get there alone would make winning it bearly cover the cost)
On June 15 2013 04:10 brieN wrote: wtf is select doing there? guess its just a PR stunt as hes getting a lot of attention but still nonetheless doesnt deserve it. Even at the height of his skill he couldnt topple top players and i think other players deserve invites such as suppy, naniwa, stephano, dimaga, polt, etc (doubt they invite any koreans based in korea due to cost to get there alone would make winning it bearly cover the cost)
wat?
If you watch last year's... this isn't an event where you gather the 8 biggest names you can think of and have them do battle in a small, personal tournament... it's the -training grounds-. You take great players and personalities (people that people will watch!) and you have them practice against each other / focus on specific holes in their play.
You don't have to look far into this thread to see that a) Select is a fan favorite and b) there might still be some holes in his play. He's -exactly- what the event is about, I'd be amazed if he wasn't invited.
(Though you're right... Suppy would fit into this perfectly. Demuslim seems more out of place than Suppy would :D)
EPT
![[image loading]](http://image.redbull.com/rbcom/010/2013-06-13/1331596665473_2/0010/1/1200/800/2/red-bull-training-grounds-8-competitors.jpg)
Kane
PuCK
DeMusliM
Red Bull LAN 1
