[L'sTLCMAT] Group, Bracket, and Propaganda Discusn

After a grueling Round of 32, we know how our last group stage players. With only the strongest of the strong--as well as a few surprising darkhorses---left in the competition, everyone is going to have to vote if they want their favorite community member to make it out alive. So many big names went down in the Round of 32 that it would be crazy to list them. I'd basically list everyone. Instead let's talk about those that survived.

Big favorites Shellshock, opterown, Waxangel and Hot_Bid went through without a hitch. They dominated their groups and look to have momentum behind them to at least make it to the knockout rounds. Their first picks however, may prove to be difficult. GameHeart, TheBB, and shiroiusagi have shown time and again that post count and forum power mean nothing when you have the resume, twitter followers, and adorable pictures to back you up. Our top seeds have looked untouchable so far, but this will prove to be their sternest test. BisuDagger was the only player specifically picked in the first round, and his SKT T1 and Bisu fan backing should worry opterown more than past opponents.

monk and R1CH round out Group A in what might be the group of Death. Shellbot's 53k posts still look commanding, but monk has been becoming an even more popular player with his success in Hearthstone. Still, it's hard to consider them big favorites over the man who made observing games so much better (GameHeart), and the guy who made this all possible (R1CH).

In Group B we have Waxangel, Torenhire, Nazgul and TheBB. While it does look like another difficult group for TheBB, he has beaten Nazgul handily before, and might favor himself over Torenhire with the power of Aligulac. Naz, who struggled in the Round of 32, has looked surprisingly weak for the boss of TL. Torenhire has had some difficulties advancing as well. It looks good for both Waxangel and TheBB, but don't expect a walkover.

For Group C, we have two calendar staff facing off in the first match. opterown and BisuDagger may have the same icon, but each are famous for different things. While opty is known for managing LR threads in SC2 and Dota2, BisuDagger is more popular with BW old timers. In the other match, we have Die4Ever vs Plexa, a match I have no prediction for. Plexa is a popular and well known red, but can be considered a jack of all trades. Die4Ever should get the SC2 vote, but Plexa has a waffle icon.

Lastly we have Group D. Hot_Bid has so far afkwon his way to this round, but will it be enough? Other community members have put in time and effort to try and win your votes. Is Hot_Bid really going to win on reputation alone? Well, his first match should be a close one, as shiroiusagi's adorable drawings have pulled her through rounds time and again. As the most well liked art staff, she definitely has what it takes to cause another upset. The other match is the face off of the 3 letter acronyms, KAG vs KBB.

It's the last group stage. It's all knockouts after this, so group positioning will be important. Good luck!

Here we go! Round of 32 begins in a few hours.

After a long and difficult group selections, we now have the 8 groups of 4 that will vie for a place in the final group stages. Without a doubt, every single group we have now would have been considered a Group of Death in the Ro64, and it is as difficult as ever to predict who's going to make it out.

The first person to get picked was CosmicSpiral, Shellbot using some Shellbot-y algorithm to somehow determine that he was his weakest possible opponent. According to the #1 Seed in the tournament, he's picking Mvp style so expect him to continue to try and get straight forward groups as he powers on through the tournament. He'll have to get past either BLinD-RawR or KAG in the winner's match however, and neither opponent will be a walkover.

A surprise for some, super-mod KadaverBB ended up being picked last, as an autopick, by Sayle. Whether or not this is a stroke of luck or impending doom, only time will tell. Sayle had previously knocked out Seeker in the Winner's Match in the Round of 64, and he looks good value to make it through this set of opponents as well. The winner of their match will face either Heyoka or Die4Ever for advancement.

Other enticing groups include Group B, The Red Group, which includes Plexa, SirJolt and R1CH. Serejai finds himself lumped with these guys after Plexa boldly selected everyone's worst enemy. Group F is another red-filled set of contestants as Waxangel, TheEmulator and 2Pacalypse- somehow all find themselves together, mostly due to autopicks. shiroiusagi rounds out that group, and after knocking out Seeker in Ro64, will give these reds a run for their money.

Group D is another Group of Death contender, as early favorite opterown decided to lay the smack talk down on anti-Prime fan Dodgin. As two of the most popular players--just look at their post counts--in the tournament, this will definitely be one of the Initial Matches to watch. Tournament organizer and writer lichter was dragged into it by Dodgin, who had wanted to make an "LR group of fiery death", but instead of picking another LR regular, lichter decided to drag fellow writer monk into this already contested group.

Mystery man baller finds himself in Group E, autopicked by Chill. A group made entirely up of autopicks, Torenhire and BisuDagger also find themselves in the group. Only BisuDagger came in first in the Ro64, where he also faced Chill. Could this be a fortunate group for Bisu's #1 fan?

The last two groups, C and G, contain the 2 favorites of the competition, in Hot_Bid and Nazgul respectively. They've so far only needed their reputation in receiving afkwins, but will their lack of participation begin to haunt them? Hot_Bid will have to get past GameHeart, then stuchiu and itsjustatank to proceed to the Ro16. Naz on the other hand will have to knock down darkhorse TheBB, as well as The_Templar or disciple after that. The_Templar may prove to be difficult opposition as he seems determined to advance, even calling me out on never talking about him in detail. He does LRs man what more do you want?! Will TL's voting populace demand more than just name recognition to continue on the tournament, or will their extreme popularity be enough to earn the title of TL's Most Awesome?

Whoa! First group stage is over!

And what an unpredictable round it was!

Several highly ranked contestants were eliminated, the highest of which include NeoIllusions (8), KwarK (10), Fionn (11), TheYango (12), and Seeker (13). The elimination of Fionn and Seeker are particularly surprising, as the former was a beloved writer before jumping ship to LoL, and the latter the community's most respected translator. Fionn might have suffered from his traitorous ways, but Seeker's ouster against shiroiusagi can be put down to a difficult group, which also included powerhouse Sayle. Seeker must be considered the biggest victim so far of the Group of Death, and we'll certainly miss his presence.

Rekrul vs baller was also one of the most anticipated final matches, but it looks like the legend of baller rolls on for now. This leaves us with ZERO Korean flags left in the tournament. Finally, an SC2 tournament where foreigners rule.

To add even more drama to the final day of the round of 64, there was also an Overtime Poll between Teoita and CosmicSpiral. Their initial face off ended in a tie, but CosmicSpiral quickly leaped ahead in the overtime round and held on to win 10-9.

This leaves us with our Top 32 and the start of Group Selections. Will we see another Group of Death? One including Waxangel, Sayle, R1CH and darkhorse TheBB is certainly a possibility. No matter how the groups pan out, it's clear that no one is safe and you're going to have to keep voting and propagandizing for your favorite TL Community Member if you want him to be crowned Most Awesome.

And we have our first winners! and losers I guess

OMG! People got eliminated! Even though it sucks to get eliminated in the first round, going up against some of the most popular TL denizens is pretty tough. We saw some really big names go down early, including reds such as fusefuse and salle. Even popular writers Olli and Christelle could not get past the first round, such was the level of awesomeness in this tournament. Their articles this year were some of the most loved and enjoyed by the community, yet someone had to be eliminated. Big contributors Dakota_Fanning, SinCitta, blade5555, and others also went down in the Round of 64 as last in their group.

While we big adieu to some great guys, others flew right by the first group stage looking strong. The reds all crushed their groups, and are joined by other big contributors like opterown, KBB and stuchiu in group selections. Somehow, Serejai also made it, mysteriously receiving a 40 vote swing in the final 30 minutes.

The biggest win of the round has to go to TheBB, whose Aligulac must be the most widely used SC2 information site aside from TL. As the lowest seed in his group, TheBB simply let his mathy brain do the talking. He's one name to look out for in the future.

The biggest upset, on the other hand, might be the fact that everyone's favorite translator, Seeker, has yet to advance! Facing Sayle in what might have been the biggest clash so far in the tournament, Seeker was unable to use his Korean flag to dominate his opposition. He's still an odds on favorite to win his final match, but in any other group you would have expected him to be in the Ro32 already.

So, even though 16 people have already been cut from the tourny, there's still a long way to go before we crown the Most Awesome Dude on TL.

ROUND OF 64 INITIAL MATCHES ARE DONE! And what a first day it was!

***Warning, spoilers you dummy!

Several contestants staked their claim of being tournament favorites, posting dominant wins in their first matches. Waxy, Fionn, opterown, Dodgin and Shellbot all had greater than 80% of the popular vote, crushing through to the winner's match. We're going to have to keep an eye on these guys as the tournament progresses. Can anyone knock out these early favorites? Or will they somehow pick each other in Group Selections?!?!

The first round of voting was also not without drama, as Serejai vs KwarK came down to a SINGLE VOTE ending in what many consider a massive upset. There was some controversy when it was discovered that it was possible to vote using the same user using different IP addresses, with Serejai admitting to the crime. However, it is impossible to determine just how many votes were cast for either person using duplicate users, so the results stand. Better go ask R1CH about this, TL polls are apparently not infallible!

There were other close matches, including lichter vs Torenhire, 2Pac vs kollin, and Torte vs fusefuse all ending with less than 5 votes separating the two. Torenhire in particular will have to step it up if he wishes to face Serejai in future rounds for their anticipated deathmatch. SC2John and Teoita also had their face off postponed for now, as the former dropped to the Loser's Match while the latter scraped by to face opterown. SC2John will have to get past writer CosmicSpiral if he wants to face Teoita, who is not favored against the mighty opterown.

The Round of 64 continues as we get on with the Winner's and Loser's Matches! Don't forget to check this thread for updates, recaps, previews, interviews, and other stuff!

The rest of the results can be seen in the tournament thread.

Whoa! So many Groups of Death!

Our first group looks easy to predict, with Shellshock a dominant first seed. But kollin despite being underage and sort of disappeared is also a popular guy, while Christelle must be considered one of the more underrated contestants. He might not post, but when he does, it's.. probably an article. 2Pacalypse- rounds out Group A--will his BroodWar brethren come to vote for him?

Next we have the pretty boy group, with Maxim's Gamer Girl Contestant Hot_Bid, Epoxide and his apparently luxurious hair, Pandemona the football king, and GameHeart and his beautiful Obs thingy battling it out to see who's the most attractive.

Group C is another difficult to predict bunch, with 3 older timers Plexa, Rekrul, and baller facing off against Zerg wunderkind blade55555. Will experience trump youth? Will being an admin count more than being a troll? Or will blade55555's contributions to saving Zergs from tears emerge victorious?

EXCEPT DUE TO TIE BREAKERS, Plexa is actually ahead of Hot_Bid, and switches places with him. He got 30 more posts, plus he got mad at me. At least we get Hot_Bid vs baller now, mirite? Also no way am I rewriting that preview so now everyone knows about my totally arbitrary tiebreakers

Man writing previews for so many groups is HARD

So yeah, D. opterown might be a rarer sight now, but he is supposedly in medschool looking for a cure for SC2 or something. CosmicSpiral likes Life so totally don't vote for him. Teoita is a mod, so I dunno if that's a good thing or a bad thing. But he's also Italian! Yeah I dunno if that's good or bad either. Rounding out this set is SC2John, a beloved strategy forum guy.

Group E now, wow we're more than 1/4 way! Chill, come on man who doesn't like Chill. Then there's BisuDagger, who likes to post pictures of Bisu. He'll probably flood this thread with Bisu, and I'd be disappointed if he doesn't. So if you like Bisu, he's the guy for you! They face off against NovemberstOrm, the hero of WCS AM, and Dakota_Fanning, who might not be as cute as Elle Fanning, but he made sc2gears so it's aight.

Group F features Holy Waxangel, 2 TL writers in Zealously and itsjustatank, and SinCitta, Lord of ATC LR OPs. Who the heck do I vote here? Probably waxy or else he might take away my pen. :o

Group G includes Nazgul, whose icon scares the heck out of me, like I think I'm going to get banned just looking at it, Emulator, and, for some reason, ninazerg and kiett. WHOA. zaMNal knows who he's voting for.

Next we have H, where we've got NeoIllusions, honestly I've got nothing on him, stuchiu, who everyone loves, The_Templar, who might be schizophrenic, and Conti, every streamer's favorite guy.

Another strong group is Group I, with two well liked writers in Heyoka and monk. salle and juicyjames, with their behind the scenes but oh-so-important contributions, will hope to bump off their more famous opponents.

OK we're a little more than half way there, UGH

Group J has KwarK, and if you've ever been in an argument, good chance it was against KwarK. disciple's in this too, and who doesn't love an island sunset? Wintex, everyone's favorite Bomber fanatic rounds out this group. Oh yeah there's Serejai, who got here by bribing people with HS Beta Keys. I guess you can vote for him if you like beta keys?

Our next group is somewhat of a mystery. Fionn heads the group, but he's migrated to LoL and lost his passion, even for Polt. R1CH is in here too, and if you don't know who R1CH is well then gtfo. SirJolt, who has the classiest name on TL, is here too, as well as strategy guy vaderseven. Not the most famous and contemporary names, but big contributors too. We might have a dark horse in here.

And now, Group L, which includes lichter, which was totally not on purpose. I promise! There's also Yango, Torenhire, and Grovbolle. They contribute stuff, yeah. But Lichter, man!

Back to some objectivity with M. Seeker is in here, and if not for him every Korean would be Faceless. DarkLordOlli, aka Lois, might be TL's biggest HerO fan. He stalks him a lot. He also beat my baneling busts so he is totally uncool. WAIT WHAT SAYLE IS HERE TOO? If you followed BW and Proleague during its latter years, then you will still remember Sayle's voice with fondness. Come back sayle T_T. Artist extraordinaire shiroiusagi, is in this group too, and this might just be our Group of Death.

Group N will definitely be tightly contested, with #1 Canadian Dodgin, KT Fanboy and King of MS Paint BLinD-RawR, strategy man TheDwf, and somewhatnotaspammer lolfail9001.

In our penultimate group, we have KristofferAG, who wants nothing more than to be famous, Torte de Lini, who works for shady underground secret organization Clauf, fusefuse who does liquipedia stuff sorry I don't know, and TheBB, Boy Genius of Aligulac.

AND FINALLY, in our last group, we have KadaverBB. If you've ever been banned, good chance it was KBB. There's also Asha`, who plays Dota2 now . They'll go up against wo1fwood, our very last qualifier, and Die4Ever, the brilliant mind behind the Blizzcon qualification predictor thread.

And there you have it folks. Our Round of 64 groups! No fucking way I'm previous Ro32 btw. >.>

Time to make a case for yourselves guys!