Congratulations, denizens of esports! Another year of StarCraft 2 has passed, and we've survived with our lives and dignity (mostly) intact. Now, it's time to get some well earned rest ahead of next year's campaign.
But what's this? You want more StarCraft 2 still?
Well, KeSPA's Proleague is scheduled to begin against around the 29th of December, so there's always that. However, for those of you who can't stand to go even a week without the spectacle of professional StarCraft, I'm sure we can dig up a few entertaining viewing options...
Time and Date: December 13 - ??? Notable Players:Suppy, San, TRUE, Sen, and a bunch of Taiwanese players you haven't heard of. Prize Pool: 440,000 TWD total, 100,000 TWD for first place. Casters: No idea.
The TeSL is also a league that's been in progress for some time now, featuring all of Taiwan's best + a trio of foreign invaders. Stealing money from foreigners is pretty much the birthright of the two Koreans in San and TRUE, but they're also joined by Suppy who wanted to try his hand out at crashing local scenes. Hey, if you can't beat the Koreans... might as well join 'em.
Time and Date: December 21 - 22. Notable Players:Curious, Jaedong, Polt, ForGG, Stephano, and more. Prize Pool: 6,000 € total, 3,000 € first place. Casters: Llewellys and YogO (French), Nathanias(?)
Millenium returns with the third installment in their sorta-like-homestorycup tournament, where eight players are invited to their house in Marseille. So far only Koreans are on the invite/qualified list, but I'd say there's an 80% chance that they blatantly tease Stephano's participation before officially announcing it the day before the tournament now that the aforementioned has actually happened I have no jokes left.
NaNiwa vs. Scarlett 12 Bitcoin Showmatch
Time and Date: December 21. Notable Players:NaNiwa and Scarlett. Prize Pool: 12 bitcoins, approximately $8,000+, or god knows, maybe it will be $5,000,000 tomorrow Casters: TotalBiscuit, ????
Shadowy backers from the Bitcoin illuminati have pitched in to finally answer this question: Scarlett vs. NaNiwa, who's better?
They've picked a good time as well, with Scarlett and NaNiwa both playing rather well at the moment and neither of them really looking like they have a decisive edge on the other. Some may say Scarlett's weakness to Protoss all-ins puts her at a disadvantage, but considering how good a fight she put up against NaNiwa's Korean twin in sOs, it could be a very close match!
Time and Date: To be announced. Notable Players: Squirtle, San, ForGG's spiteful ghost. Prize Pool: $7,500 total, $4,000 for first place. Casters: Llewellys and YogO (French), Bitterdam (English).
The Dailymotion Cup has been a fantastically interesting tournament, full of the kind of upsets you expect in an online setting. San, the one true god of the qualifer/online tournament, lived up to his reputation by defeating players like Jaedong, MMA, and INnoVation on his road to the finals. In a similar vein, Squirtle showed off some serious online skills by taking out Jaedong and ForGG in his run.
Unfortunately it all ends in a PvP, which means we can't really recommend this to a general audience in good conscience. But at least it has TaeJa's official endorsement, as he implores all true [SanFan]'s to tune in.
Suppy has arranged a match to the death between the USA and its northerly neighbors. Real Canadians would be busy playing hockey on a frozen lake, but I guess HuK and crew are acceptable as alternative national representatives.
Time and Date: To be announced. Notable Players:StarDust, San, TAiLS, GoOdy, Strelok, ShowTime, Tefel, Bly, HeRoMaRinE, ShowTime and many more Prize Pool: $20,000 total, $10,000 for first place. Casters: HomerJ, yet to be determined English casters?
The ESET Masters is a series of online tournament that's been going on for quite a while, slowly building up to a year end Grand Final. All the best online cup performers will be gathered to see which one of them can bring their A-game in a live setting, where both the pressure and prize money are many times greater. Basically, San's tournament to throw.
Time and Date: Americas Qulifiers: Dec 15 and onward. Asian Qualifiers: To be announced. Notable Players: Everyone you can imagine. Prize Pool: Paid trips to the IEM Sao Paulo main event in January. Casters: ESL studio crew: probably Apollo, Kaelaris, and ToD.
"Why isn't KeSPA player X or Y playing at IEM?"
Well, it's because they got their asses kicked in the qualifiers. IEM qualifiers are about as brutal as they come, and the players that come out are guaranteed to be the cream of the crop in Korea. That's not to say it always translates to a good performance at the live event (after all, IEM is often a qualifier winner's first or second overseas event), but the competition in the qualifiers is always extremely high level. Also, there's no better way to build up hipster-fan cred than to watch qualifiers and find out who's old and busted, and who's the new hotness.
Some Organization's Hastily Announced Year End Special Event
Time and Date: Monday, Dec 09 5:15pm GMT (GMT+00:00) Notable Players:sC, HasuObs, StarDust, Arthur, VortiX, NaNiwa, Nerchio, MC Prize Pool: 160,000 SEK total, 80,000 SEK for first. Casters: Nathanias and Semmler from the GD studio.
This online-only tournament has been in progress since all the way back in September and features a whopping 80,000 SEK ($12,000 or so) first place prize. That's a sum greater than any regular IEM or DreamHack event, or the ASUS ROG tournament that Jaedong just won. Even if the tournament didn't earn Liquipedia's prestigious "Premier Tournament" seal of approval, I'm pretty sure the winner won't give a damn when he goes to the bank to cash the check.
Time and Date: December 12 - 14. Notable Players:iNcontroL, Axslav, DIMAGA, and the dregs of Bronze League. Prize Pool: None, but a bunch of money goes to charity. Casters: iNcontrol, Axslav, DIMAGA, Seguer.
Tis the season to help other people! Rumble in the Bronze is back with another charity tournament to raise money for Child's Play.
Time and Date: December 14-15, begins on 15:00 GMT (+00:00) on the 14th. Notable Teams: Team Acer, Team Liquid, Western Wolves, Axiom Esports (full player rosters for each team have yet to be announced). Prize Pool: $20,000 total, $10,000 for first place. Casters: Nathanias, Khaldor, Harstem, Grubby.
The second season of the Acer TeamStory Cup comes to a conclusion with Acer, Liquid, Western Wolves, and Axiom Esports zeroing in on Take's flat in Germany.
On the face of it, it does seem like it will end up being a matter of "which Korean can all-kill the most?" with players such as INnoVation, TaeJa, and Check in the mix, but you can't leave out the possibility of some of the foreigners getting hot as well. Scarlett has been playing amazing as of late, and we all know that TLO is basically just the Western version of Life.
Time and Date: December 15, begins on 13:00 GMT (+00:00). Notable Players:Socke, ShowTime, HeRoMaRinE, HasuObs Prize Pool: 5,250 € total, 3,000 € for first place. Casters: Might have been Socke and HasuObs but they're still in the tournament.
If you like German players, I guess you could watch this tournament.
Lake Charles Scion Thanksgiving Open - (Liquipedia)
Time and Date: December 14. Notable Players: Basically everyone from North America sans Scarlett. Prize Pool: $5,000 total, $2,000 for first place. Casters: Mr.Bitter, Rotterdam, IdrA, EonShiKeno.
The "Thanksgiving" Open was originally scheduled for November, but it had to be delayed for all the various reasons anything in esports is delayed. In any case, sixteen American/Canadian/Taiwanese players will make their way to Louisiana for a live event. Check it out if you like American players, or want to hear IdrA cast games of his former peers.
On December 09 2013 09:48 digmouse wrote: I thought sC retired?
yea. yea he did. ... or maybe this was his last tournament I think?
like a month or two ago he said he was retiring after Fragbie Masters. Since it's been so long I'm not sure If we'll see him playing super serious trying to end on a high note or if he'll do a Hongun esque 'I don't want to be here anymore' and just all ins all day. I hoe it's the former because I really think he has a good chance to win it assuming he kept playing.
About Dailymotion Cup and Numericable M-House Cup 3, the french casters are Llewellys and YoGo, with Bitterdam as the english cast for DM Cup and (most likely) Nathanias for Numericable Cup.
The finals of DM Cup won't be played before the 15th December because San has to wait four days in Germany without a PC before to go back to Taiwan (iirc) and then play his TeSL matches.
On December 09 2013 09:52 Hadronsbecrazy wrote: you forgot Proleague which start in late December correct?
you forgot read article correct?
I lol'd.
Thanks for the write-up Wax, I was actually looking around a lot for possible tournaments and had only heard of a couple of these. Gotta keep that SC watching alive through the new year!
On December 09 2013 10:47 Boucot wrote: About Dailymotion Cup and Numericable M-House Cup 3, the french casters are Llewellys and YoGo, with Bitterdam as the english cast for DM Cup and (most likely) Nathanias for Numericable Cup.
The finals of DM Cup won't be played before the 15th December because San has to wait four days in Germany without a PC before to go back to Taiwan (iirc) and then play his TeSL matches.
cool, thanks
doesn't that make bitterdam cnoflict with the lake scion tournament tho?
On December 09 2013 10:47 Boucot wrote: About Dailymotion Cup and Numericable M-House Cup 3, the french casters are Llewellys and YoGo, with Bitterdam as the english cast for DM Cup and (most likely) Nathanias for Numericable Cup.
The finals of DM Cup won't be played before the 15th December because San has to wait four days in Germany without a PC before to go back to Taiwan (iirc) and then play his TeSL matches.
cool, thanks
doesn't that make bitterdam cnoflict with the lake scion tournament tho?
Well I said "not before Dec 15" so theorically it can still be after. The date has not been decided yet but yeah if they do it on Dec 15, they'll probably have to replace the english casters (or say "fuck off" to the international audience to keep up France's reputation).
well theres still some NBA, Champions League (is it on break?) and Mosconi Cup for me not to mention some HIMYM, Revenge, Boardwalk Empire & Masters of Sex
Ive been waiting for the first Bitcoin tournament purse for a while. Those 12 Bitcoins are worth about $10k right now, but I would bet that they'll be up at $12-15k by the time the Naniwa plays Scarlett.
On December 09 2013 14:06 VisonKai wrote: Definitely watching scarlett vs naniwa.
Would also like that Numericable M-House tournament if Life qualifies or is invited like Harem predicted. That would be pretty sweet.
Life is probably not he 4th invited player. He registered to the first qualifier but said before it began that he didn't have any PC to play it. He will try to qualify on December 10th
It's not 2013 but Awesome Games Done Quick will be happening after the start of the new year, easy thing to keep lots of people busy since its a 24/7 stream for a whole week.
The EPS is a special one for German players, because since Winter 2011, no Terran has ever managed to reach the finals. Can Heromarine make it? Or can Hasuobs win his third season in a row and thus all EPS tournaments in 2013?
How can it be that the finals of the ESET masters are not yet announced? :o I mean, if it really takes place in the Magnus Hall in Hamburg, they should've already reserved the venue, right?
Anyways, really looking forward to it, I hope it gets a good english caster. :D
On December 09 2013 19:19 JustPassingBy wrote: The EPS is a special one for German players, because since Winter 2011, no Terran has ever managed to reach the finals. Can Heromarine make it? Or can Hasuobs win his third season in a row and thus all EPS tournaments in 2013?
In general, the ESL Pro Series 2013 Winter has been P-favored: PvT 34–24 (58.62%) PvZ 32–23 (58.18%) TvZ 9–4 (69.23%)
On December 09 2013 13:30 spancho wrote: Ive been waiting for the first Bitcoin tournament purse for a while. Those 12 Bitcoins are worth about $10k right now, but I would bet that they'll be up at $12-15k by the time the Naniwa plays Scarlett.
They were worth $12k last week, and $4k a month ago. If you really wanted to bet they would be worth $12-$15k by the time they play, you would buy some Bitcoins and make money from the rise.
On December 09 2013 23:18 Greendotz wrote: Since when did Suppy enter the TeSL? That's news to me, also I thought Sase was in this league, did he fall out?
SaSe was a foreign invite so he only got to play season 1 despite him getting top 2. I think he needs to be on a taiwanese team or so to be able to qualify for the league like San did.
Tbh I didn't expect Stephano to be participating in Numericable Cup, even less as a caster. Given the level of the competition and the fact that he doesn't like to cast (at least it was the fact in the past, seems like things have changed as he seemed to like it at HSC). But it's a really nice surprise and I hope he'll be in the same group as Polt. Please Lwl. :D
On December 10 2013 02:17 Boucot wrote: Tbh I didn't expect Stephano to be participating in Numericable Cup, even less as a caster. Given the level of the competition and the fact that he doesn't like to cast (at least it was the fact in the past, seems like things have changed as he seemed to like it at HSC). But it's a really nice surprise and I hope he'll be in the same group as Polt. Please Lwl. :D
On December 10 2013 02:17 Boucot wrote: Tbh I didn't expect Stephano to be participating in Numericable Cup, even less as a caster. Given the level of the competition and the fact that he doesn't like to cast (at least it was the fact in the past, seems like things have changed as he seemed to like it at HSC). But it's a really nice surprise and I hope he'll be in the same group as Polt. Please Lwl. :D
You are a real angel Wax, great article yet again. I'm suprised how much badass shit there is still coming our way, just as I thought the scene was on a quiet off-season!
Thanks for the article, with a blizzard incoming it is the perfect content guide. IEM qualifiers remind me of ESV Korean Weekly. Stacked player list, quality games rivaling GSL and PL, yet no one watches/watched it. There was no downtime and obnoxious shout-casting. Just smart, insightful analysis and good observing.
Content these days is so filled with fluff that the downtime is twice as long as the content... if the player pools were bit stronger I would much rather watch M-house or Dailymotion than any other premiere tournaments.
On December 10 2013 07:25 Megapenthes wrote: So excited for Scarlett vs Naniwa, and the one with Polt, Jaedong and Stephano. How did a non major tournament get all of those!?
Numericable Millhouse cup are considered Major tournament by Liquipedia 4 internationals qualifiers, played offline and ~10.000$ prize pool
This article only shows me that there are frequently these smaller (by comparison) events going on that seem to just get swept under the rug. I probably wouldn’t had known about the Lake Charles Scion Thanksgiving Open if I hadn’t read this article. I had no idea IEF happened until I heard about Xenocider’s victory. Yes, we all love PL, GSL, WCS, but it would be cool to see a few more articles like this every once in a while. Keeps things fresh.
Another one you should add is... Retro Map Championship December 14th RO32-RO8 starts at 3:00pm EST December 15th Semifinals and Finals starts at 3:00pm EST Casted by NanMan and Muataran observing by Kuren Couple confirmed players GuitarcheesesWsBailsJimRiSiNgMorroWRunAKiFirE
On December 10 2013 17:00 BirdKiller wrote: Unfortnately, probably the biggest event listed, IEM Sao Paulo is scheduled to be in "early February 2014".
The event listed is qualifiers for IEM Sao Paulo, not the actual event.
Svenska e-sportcupen - Grand Final(Detailed info) Time and Date: December 14 Notable Players:NaNiwa, Zanster, MorroW, Bischu. Prize Pool: 200 000 SEK, 130 000 SEK for first place. Casters: MrBadExample, ViPro.
EPT
Suppy, 
San, 
Polt, 
USA vs. 
Canada Deathmatch - (More info)
