DreamHack will start 2014 with a bang in the beautiful city of Gothenburg where we visit Gothenburg Concert Hall, home of The National Orchestra of Sweden, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. DreamHack will host a StarCraft II showmatch in the main hall where over 1200 people can be seated. In the match, we’ll see the DreamHack Open Champion Young Seo ‘TaeJa’ Yun from Team Liquid face off versus one of Swedens absolute top players, Marcus ‘ThorZaIN’ Eklöf from Team EG who is the ESPORTSM Champion from 2011/2012 and DreamHack Open Winner from the stop in Stockholm 2012. The show match features a prize pool of $5,000.
NaNiwa was invited first instead of ThorZaIN, but he declined:
DreamHack Gothenburg will host a variety of other events as well. Check the official post for more details.
On January 11 2014 05:24 AmuseD wrote: Naniwa.... Why dont you accept these type of invites....
He declined in favour of Nations Wars - to play for his (especially Swedish) fans. Then this happened. http://www.tv6.se/blog/naniwa/nationwar (English, no worries)
I'd love to see Thorzain pull a huge upset (it would certainly be a hell of a lot more entertaining), but this should be one-sided.
Also, this is why the EG-TL partnership was so bad. Not only were both teams thoroughly embarrassed in Proleague, it also destroyed the EG-TL rivalry. An EG vs. TL showmatch would have brought in so much hype and excitement back in 2011 and 2012, but not anymore. Dead rivalry
On January 11 2014 05:42 Bagration wrote: I'd love to see Thorzain pull a huge upset (it would certainly be a hell of a lot more entertaining), but this should be one-sided.
Also, this is why the EG-TL partnership was so bad. Not only were both teams thoroughly embarrassed in Proleague, it also destroyed the EG-TL rivalry. An EG vs. TL showmatch would have brought in so much hype and excitement back in 2011 and 2012, but not anymore. Dead rivalry
Yeah it's too bad. It used to be pretty exciting to see EG vs TL back in early sc2 but now it's just not the same. Even before the teams combined though I feel like the rivalry was already on life support. Liquid's Koreans just made it seem too one sided but at least there was still something there.
It's like a what year is it meme. Unless Taeja is so jetlagged he goes blind there is no way Thorzain takes a game off him.. I'm sorry but what the hell people.
On January 11 2014 05:42 Bagration wrote: Also, this is why the EG-TL partnership was so bad. Not only were both teams thoroughly embarrassed in Proleague, it also destroyed the EG-TL rivalry. An EG vs. TL showmatch would have brought in so much hype and excitement back in 2011 and 2012, but not anymore. Dead rivalry
I feel like it's Acer and Liquid now. Both teams are full of either skilled (Acer) or prominent (Liquid) foreign zergs and are partly carried by a monstrous Korean Terran, as well as a secondary, but still highly-regarded Korean.
I remmber taeja vs thorzain was an awesome match see back in 2012. but this is 2014 and taeja is in beast mode these days. Thorzain aint even at the same level. ez money for taeja
Give him some creds, he's already occupied.. representing the Swedish National Team in the Nationwar :-)
Nice for Thorzain getting in the spotlight once again, former DH winner etc. (even though maybe not the most exciting match-up due to his current shape and vs other Swedish top players) Will cheer for him :-)
On January 11 2014 06:51 rpddropshot wrote: I don't understand this..
dreamhack's doing a show match and since they've traditionally been a foreign event it makes sense for them to have at least 1 foreigner in the showmatch. Naniwa turned it down so the next choice was Thorzain which makes a lot of sense considering it's a swedish event
On January 11 2014 05:24 AmuseD wrote: Naniwa.... Why dont you accept these type of invites....
He declined in favour of Nations Wars - to play for his (especially Swedish) fans. Then this happened. http://www.tv6.se/blog/naniwa/nationwar (English, no worries)
I started reading this link and about 4 sentences in my eyes glazed over and I lost all interest (not only in the article but in NaNiwa too, at least for a good while). Why are so many of the best foreigners so... obnoxious? Sad that awesome, fun, friendly foreigners like Grubby, DIMAGA, White-Ra, TLO, etc are no longer in the spotlight very much.
I think Taeja should have to play Maximusblack and Combatex (both playing Zerg) at the same time on one of those training maps with the rocks that prevent you from attacking too early. That be more fun.
Thorzain's wost matchup is TvT no? TeaJa is god of TvT and practically every matchup so it's not guna be close. They could've gotten a little weaker opponent for ThorZain at least...
On January 11 2014 07:07 BronzeKnee wrote: I think Taeja should have to play Maximusblack and Combatex (both playing Zerg) at the same time on one of those training maps with the rocks that prevent you from attacking too early. That be more fun.
Ya something fun and goofy would be a lot more entertaining then some heavily lopsided showmatch between a mid-teir foreigner and probably the best Korean Terran in the world right now... just my opinion though. I'm not expecting a surprising result but hey, i've been wrong before.
On January 11 2014 07:30 ArtistenSc2 wrote: I'm in it for sc2, meaning I want to see the best level of games... sadly those really nice players are not good enough atm
Nanis game is soo sharp, gotta love that as a viewer and deep fan of strategy and there's a wider spin to this so read up first plz, no blame to Nani.
And he is actually much more relaxed since a while back, and it really does show, also in his games, staying sharp and relaxed is best combo ;-) and even if many times is a rough truth teller in an outspoken way, he really dares to be open and honest, which is refreshing. Plus his social skills are increasing steadily, maturing and staying on top.
Should have invited HerO instead of Naniwa anyways. Yes, right HerO is always a better player than someone with good micro and nice all-ins. That is assuming they did not invite HerO anyways (also, Naniwa never won DH, did he :D?).
On January 11 2014 05:42 Bagration wrote: I'd love to see Thorzain pull a huge upset (it would certainly be a hell of a lot more entertaining), but this should be one-sided.
Also, this is why the EG-TL partnership was so bad. Not only were both teams thoroughly embarrassed in Proleague, it also destroyed the EG-TL rivalry. An EG vs. TL showmatch would have brought in so much hype and excitement back in 2011 and 2012, but not anymore. Dead rivalry
Yeah it's too bad. It used to be pretty exciting to see EG vs TL back in early sc2 but now it's just not the same. Even before the teams combined though I feel like the rivalry was already on life support. Liquid's Koreans just made it seem too one sided but at least there was still something there.
On January 11 2014 07:30 ArtistenSc2 wrote: I'm in it for sc2, meaning I want to see the best level of games... sadly those really nice players are not good enough atm
Nanis game is soo sharp, gotta love that as a viewer and deep fan of strategy and there's a wider spin to this so read up first plz, no blame to Nani.
And he is actually much more relaxed since a while back, and it really does show, also in his games, staying sharp and relaxed is best combo ;-) and even if many times is a rough truth teller in an outspoken way, he really dares to be open and honest, which is refreshing. Plus his social skills are increasing steadily, maturing and staying on top.
Should have invited HerO instead of Naniwa anyways. Yes, right HerO is always a better player than someone with good micro and nice all-ins. That is assuming they did not invite HerO anyways (also, Naniwa never won DH, did he :D?).
Not won a DH, no, but he's the Swedish Champion of the domestic cup which means that he indeed is a champion in the context of Greykarn's tweet.
On January 11 2014 07:33 ArtistenSc2 wrote: they want a Swedish player...
After all the shit Jangbi was put through, I say we adopt him as an honorary Swede and get him back to SC2. Then he can replace Nani as king in the north and we'll have a nice person who is also good to root for.
Why wouldnt they open with thorzain against another swedish player? I cant see why this is supposed to be entertaining, we all pretty much know whats going to happen
I think the only way for Thorzain to take a map off of Taeja is if Taeja just derps around with an x-Marine hitsquad in the first 6-8 minutes and randomly dies. Probably gonna be an ugly series. How times change...
Taeja cannt cross the middle of the map with any unit except observers and probes until Thorzane has either 1 Thor or launches a nuke or attacks a building with anything.
With that rul maybe we'd see a 200/200 Ghost army and the whole supply of them launching a nuke at the same time lol
so one of the best gamers in the world play vs a semi inactive gamer ... sounds ... like a rape vs naniwa would been intresting but sry thorzain in his current form is not better then any guy they would take from street very very sad but sry he isnt fulltime
Kinda weird for them to go through with this Show match. It makes sense if you have Naniwa vs Taeja because the skill gap is closer, but Naniwa declined. If the next best thing is a foreign Terran who hasn't be relevant in months vs Taeja then maybe you should give up on the idea of the show match. The skill gap between the two is huge and is very unlikely to produce entertaining games unless Taeja doesn't try to win. Very confusing decision by dreamhack.
i predict that this will be closer than most people are thinking. also it kind of makes sense to do this cause both players have been talking about retiring from sc2 lately.
I usually do support all the DH decision but this time i can't. sorry DH but wasting 6000 dollars on Taeja-Thorzain is not worth it. not at all.
Maybe a Taeja-rain/innovation/naniwa/scarlett (whatev ) but not thorzain....anything but thorzain... Nothing against the person but as a player he does not deserve a 6000 dollars showmatch right now (also it will be a rolfstomp, not a good promotion for dh )
It's definitely going to be an upset if Thorzain is to somehow win and take out Taeja in a BoX format.
Gotta feel bad for Naniwa to be getting shit thrown at him even though he turned down a potential 5K to play for his swedish fans, who are the same people disappointed in him for not playing in this Dreamhack showmatch. Controversy follows him yet again. lol
I do understand Naniwa, I try to go through the interviews to get the information needed to make my own standpoint in the drama that surrounds him. Most often he is making (from my view) correct decisions from his part and I do continue to support him. Hell, he is one great player. *Edit spellcheck
So the best overall player of last year vs a semi retired Thorzain? I don't really care that Nani declined I just don't see why Taeja was then the second choice if they wanted this to be competitive.
On January 13 2014 11:57 Krogan wrote: So the best overall player of last year vs a semi retired Thorzain? I don't really care that Nani declined I just don't see why Taeja was then the second choice if they wanted this to be competitive.
pretty sure taeja was invited along with naniwa originally. Thorzain replaced Naniwa because he's swedish and dreamhack is a swedish ran event. makes snese they'd want a local in it. so Thorzain replaced naniwa not Taeja.
On January 13 2014 12:47 Kevin_Sorbo wrote: wow this is basically silver leaguer vs GM material. Hope Taeja does some crazy fun stuff like nuking his dancing bc army...
Weird showmatch. TvT isn't even popular. The match should be Taeja vs HerO or Taeja vs Life. Would be more interesting and more epic! I don't know why Dreamhack Open is now only 1 game and not a real tournament. Did I miss something or is this just 1 Game this weekend and then there will be another Dreamhack in the future?
On January 25 2014 03:37 JtoK wrote: Weird showmatch. TvT isn't even popular. The match should be Taeja vs HerO or Taeja vs Life. Would be more interesting and more epic! I don't know why Dreamhack Open is now only 1 game and not a real tournament. Did I miss something or is this just 1 Game this weekend and then there will be another Dreamhack in the future?
It's just a showmatch to act as an introduction for the tournament that is to come (and to have an awkward prize ceremony).
I haven't watched much Starcraft 2 in the past few years, but didn't Thorzain win TSL? Wasn't he one of the very best foreigners able to compete with the Koreans? Does he suck now or something?
On January 25 2014 04:17 Headshot wrote: I haven't watched much Starcraft 2 in the past few years, but didn't Thorzain win TSL? Wasn't he one of the very best foreigners able to compete with the Koreans? Does he suck now or something?
He's in school/university right now and havent been performing for quite a while, but I see him able to take a map tonight.
On January 25 2014 04:17 Headshot wrote: I haven't watched much Starcraft 2 in the past few years, but didn't Thorzain win TSL? Wasn't he one of the very best foreigners able to compete with the Koreans? Does he suck now or something?
On January 25 2014 04:17 Headshot wrote: I haven't watched much Starcraft 2 in the past few years, but didn't Thorzain win TSL? Wasn't he one of the very best foreigners able to compete with the Koreans? Does he suck now or something?
He hasn't been playing fulltime for a good while, and he never was as good as Taeja.
On January 25 2014 04:17 Headshot wrote: I haven't watched much Starcraft 2 in the past few years, but didn't Thorzain win TSL? Wasn't he one of the very best foreigners able to compete with the Koreans? Does he suck now or something?
Yes and he also won DH Stockholm 2012, but he hasn't been at the top level for a while now, and he's studying now as well so not playing fulltime.
On January 13 2014 11:57 Krogan wrote: So the best overall player of last year vs a semi retired Thorzain? I don't really care that Nani declined I just don't see why Taeja was then the second choice if they wanted this to be competitive.
Wut, you can't be the best without a korean title. I see your point tho, he sure was good!
On January 13 2014 11:57 Krogan wrote: So the best overall player of last year vs a semi retired Thorzain? I don't really care that Nani declined I just don't see why Taeja was then the second choice if they wanted this to be competitive.
Wut, you can't be the best without a korean title. I see your point tho, he sure was good!
Yeah, i dont think we need to discuss here who is the best player.
Still agree though, i think two more evenly matched players would be the best
On January 13 2014 11:57 Krogan wrote: So the best overall player of last year vs a semi retired Thorzain? I don't really care that Nani declined I just don't see why Taeja was then the second choice if they wanted this to be competitive.
They wanted the DH Winter champion vs the E-Sport SM champion.
On January 25 2014 04:39 Larkin wrote: What is the point of this? Why send a part time foreigner against one of the best Koreans? It's just gonna be a sweep. Hardly good entertainment.
swedish event wanted a swedish player for the swedish audience
On January 25 2014 04:39 Larkin wrote: What is the point of this? Why send a part time foreigner against one of the best Koreans? It's just gonna be a sweep. Hardly good entertainment.
swedish event wanted a swedish player for the swedish audience
On January 25 2014 04:39 Larkin wrote: What is the point of this? Why send a part time foreigner against one of the best Koreans? It's just gonna be a sweep. Hardly good entertainment.
swedish event wanted a swedish player for the swedish audience
...so Taeja?
DH wanted Taeja vs Naniwa, but Nani declined it, as twitter said in first post...
On January 11 2014 05:52 renaissanceMAN wrote: Hm, this will be an interesting game! I doubt it'll be as one-sided as everybody is predicting.
Eh.. even if Thorzain by the off chance been training TvT like a mad man, who would he practice against that comes even close to Taeja's level? But I hope I am wrong
On January 25 2014 04:53 LimeNade wrote: Arguably one of the best Terrans in the world vs a part time soso foreign Terran............... I love Thorzain but man this has got to be humiliating
I'd also take the public beating for 1000 bucks. He has nothing to lose.
On January 25 2014 04:53 LimeNade wrote: Arguably one of the best Terrans in the world vs a part time soso foreign Terran............... I love Thorzain but man this has got to be humiliating
On January 25 2014 04:53 LimeNade wrote: Arguably one of the best Terrans in the world vs a part time soso foreign Terran............... I love Thorzain but man this has got to be humiliating
I'd also take the public beating for 1000 bucks. He has nothing to lose.
Yea I mean since it's his home turf so it would've been nice to see a good series with Thorzain vs another foreigner at least.
On January 25 2014 04:53 LimeNade wrote: Arguably one of the best Terrans in the world vs a part time soso foreign Terran............... I love Thorzain but man this has got to be humiliating
I'd also take the public beating for 1000 bucks. He has nothing to lose.
Yea I mean since it's his home turf so it would've been nice to see a good series with Thorzain vs another foreigner at least.
On January 25 2014 04:39 Larkin wrote: What is the point of this? Why send a part time foreigner against one of the best Koreans? It's just gonna be a sweep. Hardly good entertainment.
swedish event wanted a swedish player for the swedish audience
...so Taeja?
DH wanted Taeja vs Naniwa, but Nani declined it, as twitter said in first post...
On January 25 2014 05:11 stormtemplar wrote: Taeja gifted thorzain that game, but Thorzain proved that Taeja can't just dick around and win, which is something at least.
How nice. Get to play in a $5k showmatch and the only qualification is you can't lose to absolute troll builds.
On January 25 2014 05:11 stormtemplar wrote: Taeja gifted thorzain that game, but Thorzain proved that Taeja can't just dick around and win, which is something at least.
How nice. Get to play in a $5k showmatch and the only qualification is you can't lose to absolute troll builds.
Thorzain is a champion mateyo Even more relevant, a DH champion
On January 25 2014 05:26 [SXG]Phantom wrote: lol what a joke, I'm losing all respect i had for taeja
why? he was 30 army supply behind and it wasn't a troll build..
obviously because he didn't crush thorzain
He was down 30 supply and being sieged, was about to lose his third base, and ThorZaIN had a third mining np, and had all his t's crossed and i's dotted. There was no coming back from that.
On January 25 2014 05:26 [SXG]Phantom wrote: lol what a joke, I'm losing all respect i had for taeja
why? he was 30 army supply behind and it wasn't a troll build..
obviously because he didn't crush thorzain
He was down 30 supply and being sieged, was about to lose his third base, and ThorZaIN had a third mining np, and had all his t's crossed and i's dotted. There was no coming back from that.
No no I was answering the question "Why are you losing all respect you had for TaeJa" sarcastically
On January 25 2014 05:26 [SXG]Phantom wrote: lol what a joke, I'm losing all respect i had for taeja
why? he was 30 army supply behind and it wasn't a troll build..
obviously because he didn't crush thorzain
He was down 30 supply and being sieged, was about to lose his third base, and ThorZaIN had a third mining np, and had all his t's crossed and i's dotted. There was no coming back from that.
i still think he could have hold andpull a Taeja but whatever, go Tfunk!
On January 25 2014 05:31 Province wrote: I wish they got a better caster to partner with Apollo for this.
Maddelisk is quite cool in my opinion, its all preference
Overly biased for my liking, as much as I love Thorzain
It's a showmatch as a kick-off for the DH year which is a swedish event and it specifically put a swede up against one of the best players in the world, it's all good fun bias which I wasn't annoyed by at all. She doesn't cast this biased for regular tournaments.
Lol what if Taeja wasn't sure what the star was for and he just thought they were forfeiting the next dreamhack cause they thought he would win anyway. Cool trophy through I like the OSL nod!
On January 25 2014 05:44 Sjokola wrote: This is not the level of English I'm used to from a Dreamhack host. Could have been better.
I doubt they would fly in InControl or something for a little showmatch.
Yeah, but I would guess there are more hosts in Sweden. And at least a few with better English. Swedish people are quite good at foreign languages. Does any one know who that guy was?
On January 25 2014 05:44 Sjokola wrote: This is not the level of English I'm used to from a Dreamhack host. Could have been better.
I doubt they would fly in InControl or something for a little showmatch.
Yeah, but I would guess there are more hosts in Sweden. And at least a few with better English. Swedish people are quite good at foreign languages. Does any one know who that guy was?
I always find this weird as well with hosts that feel a little uncomfortable. There aren't that many e-sport hosting jobs tho so guess it's a bit hard to find really good hosts. This guy is hosting the swedish championships where Maddelisk is casting as well, and it's all in swedish.
EPT
TaeJa’ Yun from Team Liquid face off versus one of Swedens absolute top players, Marcus ‘
NaNiwa was invited first instead of ThorZaIN, but he declined:
Taeja is GM in all 3 races 
