• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 21:47
CEST 03:47
KST 10:47
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL22] Ro16 Preview: Rough Waters8[ASL22] Ro24 Preview: Siren's Call8[ASL22] Ro24 Preview: Summer's End9Serral wins HomeStory Cup 2915Serral wins Maestros of the Game 244
Community News
Official StarCraft website teases new content ahead of BlizzCon?101Stellar Fest TWO the Moon (Dec 16-20)9Weekly Cups (August 24-30): Patches' balance mod takes over3New 3v3 BGH Ladder (and more) on ShieldBattery!46Weekly Cups (August 17-23): Zerg dominate the week6
StarCraft 2
General
Nexon wins bid to develop StarCraft IP content, distribute Overwatch mobile game Balance hotfix patch 5.0.16b (July 16) SC4ALL: II Winner Will Earn a Spot at HSC 30! Weekly Cups (August 24-30): Patches' balance mod takes over September World Ranking: herO leads, Serral climbs
Tourneys
2026 GSTL Announcement Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament Stellar Fest TWO the Moon (Dec 16-20) IntoTheTV X SOOP SC2 League : Weekly & Monthly SC2 INu's Battles#20 [BO.9]
Strategy
[G] Having the right mentality to improve
Custom Maps
Nexus Wars 2021 GUIDE [M] (2) Industrial Park
External Content
Mutation # 542 The Ascended Mutation # 541 Binary Choice The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 540 Dodge This
Brood War
General
Official StarCraft website teases new content ahead of BlizzCon? New 3v3 BGH Ladder (and more) on ShieldBattery! ASL22 General Discussion BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ Pros React To: Calm's Big Brain Play Vs Mini
Tourneys
[ASL22] Ro16 Group A [ASL22] Ro24 Group F [Megathread] Daily Proleagues Brood War in Budapest ! WORTEX 2026 BW Finals
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Odyssey Mineral Stack Saturation Replay Review Process - What do you do? Game Theory for Starcraft
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread Diablo IV EVE Corporation [Maplestory Hardcore] Let's Play~!! General RTS Discussion Thread
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
[TL LoL EUW IHs] Teemo shall perish TSM pausing esports and CLG Dead
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Power Rank TL Mafia Community Thread NeO.D_StephenKing vs This Guy From 1 Million Dance
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine UK Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Artificial Intelligence Thread
Fan Clubs
MarineLorD Fan Club The Creator Fan Club The ShoWTimE Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! Anime Discussion Thread
Sports
Football (Soccer) Thread TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 MLB/Baseball 2023 NBA General Discussion
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List Northern Ireland Global Starcraft
Blogs
F* the Children and Get Off …
TrAiDoS
Dreaming of BW patches (mod…
c3rberUs
Regacy Esports: The Bh…
regacyesports
LOCKPICKING NOOB
LUCKY_NOOB
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 6142 users

Pros React: WCS 2015 and Region Lock - Page 3

Forum Index > SC2 General
285 CommentsPost a Reply
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 13 14 15 Next All
NOTICE: Blizzard has not officially announced any information on visa criteria, and some players are operating under unconfirmed assumptions.
geokilla
Profile Joined May 2011
Canada8255 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-09-09 21:24:38
September 09 2014 21:23 GMT
#41
Taeja and Polt retiring will be very sad... Can't Taeja delay his military service? Or is he doing it for his wrists?

On September 10 2014 05:51 Waxangel wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 10 2014 05:48 GranC wrote:
VortiX doesn´t play for mousesports anymore :D


I've been playing only hearthstone lately, give me a break

Passionstone.
Squat
Profile Joined September 2013
Sweden7978 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-09-09 21:26:48
September 09 2014 21:24 GMT
#42
On September 10 2014 06:16 Boucot wrote:
I was hoping that TaeJa would reconsider his retirement thing, I'm disappointed. I mean, he's only 19 years old. And we'll lose Polt and Bomber next year too because of the military, that's sad.

His wrists will never recover as long as he plays as much as he has to, in order to be relevant at the pro level. It could easily become chronic. Retirement is the only sensible option at this point. I said in late 2013 that Taeja might have a year left in him, I feel pretty confident about that prediction still.
"Digital. They have digital. What is digital?" - Donald J Trump
Grumbels
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
Netherlands7032 Posts
September 09 2014 21:27 GMT
#43
On September 10 2014 06:17 brickrd wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 10 2014 06:09 Grumbels wrote:
I don't believe Catz when he says that the difference between Koreans and foreigners is small. Haven't we gone over this argument often enough? The foreign scene largely consists of people that play part-time. Every single Korean pro is favored against every single foreigner with like five exceptions.

thats exactly what hes saying tho? you cant go into progaming as easily as a NA starcraft player compared to KR, its just a different world and a different culture

i see people mocking NA pros as being lazy or stupid or deserving scorn because they dont want to commit to 16hr/day practice and learning to speak korean. i dont think its a bad thing that WCS AM/EU could potentially become more inviting for people who want to compete among the best in their regions but don't want to have to tank their social and academic lives to do so. as long as blizzard makes appropriate changes with regard to WCS points and prizemoney i think its good for fans

That's fine, but it's known as college sports, not professional sports.
Well, now I tell you, I never seen good come o' goodness yet. Him as strikes first is my fancy; dead men don't bite; them's my views--amen, so be it.
BakedButters
Profile Joined November 2011
United States748 Posts
September 09 2014 21:32 GMT
#44
I don't think you guys really can tell who's playing if you yourself are observing the replay in the SC2 game client. It's the casters, especially Tastosis, who are so good at hyping up the hardest tournament on earth (which it is), and so they always praise the GSL players and their plays. If someone were to give you a random game from the previous WCS randomly from AM, EU, KR region, I doubt you will be able to tell what region it's from.
Snute <3 Bomber <3 Parting <3 Life <3
kaykoose
Profile Joined February 2014
United States2302 Posts
September 09 2014 21:32 GMT
#45
Jeez. No Taeja and Polt in '15 I guess....
Die4Ever
Profile Joined August 2010
United States17744 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-09-09 21:36:31
September 09 2014 21:35 GMT
#46
On September 10 2014 06:32 BakedButters wrote:
I don't think you guys really can tell who's playing if you yourself are observing the replay in the SC2 game client. It's the casters, especially Tastosis, who are so good at hyping up the hardest tournament on earth (which it is), and so they always praise the GSL players and their plays. If someone were to give you a random game from the previous WCS randomly from AM, EU, KR region, I doubt you will be able to tell what region it's from.

I think if shown a random game with names hidden yea it'd be so hard to tell (could just be Flash on a bad day or Neeb on a good day?), but overall across the span of many games (like a whole WCS AM season vs a whole GSL season) the difference would be very noticeable.
"Expert" mods4ever.com
stuchiu
Profile Blog Joined June 2010
Fiddler's Green42661 Posts
September 09 2014 21:37 GMT
#47
On September 10 2014 05:23 FrostedMiniWheats wrote:
Show nested quote +
Taeja

Don't you think that the North American scene needs to grow in order for the long term health of SC2?

There aren't even many NA pros to save.


Ouch


Taeja giving 0 fucks. My god if he was like this all the time he'd be idra.
Moderator
AWalker9
Profile Blog Joined August 2013
United Kingdom7229 Posts
September 09 2014 21:38 GMT
#48
On September 10 2014 06:37 stuchiu wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 10 2014 05:23 FrostedMiniWheats wrote:
Taeja

Don't you think that the North American scene needs to grow in order for the long term health of SC2?

There aren't even many NA pros to save.


Ouch


Taeja giving 0 fucks. My god if he was like this all the time he'd be idra.


Taeja should go full BM for his last few months in Starcraft it'd be glorious
soOjwa has returned to smite all that stand in his way
Grumbels
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
Netherlands7032 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-09-09 22:03:17
September 09 2014 21:39 GMT
#49
On September 10 2014 06:35 Die4Ever wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 10 2014 06:32 BakedButters wrote:
I don't think you guys really can tell who's playing if you yourself are observing the replay in the SC2 game client. It's the casters, especially Tastosis, who are so good at hyping up the hardest tournament on earth (which it is), and so they always praise the GSL players and their plays. If someone were to give you a random game from the previous WCS randomly from AM, EU, KR region, I doubt you will be able to tell what region it's from.

I think if shown a random game with names hidden yea it'd be so hard to tell (could just be Flash on a bad day or Neeb on a good day?), but overall across the span of many games (like a whole WCS AM season vs a whole GSL season) the difference would be very noticeable.

Or MC/Polt/Violet/First/Yoda/Stardust/Jjakji/Bomber/Oz/Alicia/San etc. With all the Koreans there is no way to tell, but I dare anyone to watch the Kas vs Vortix games from WCS EU Ro32 and tell me it can be mistaken for tip top Korean play.

Also, WCS EU having subpar play(ers) is why I'm not interested in it despite it having better time zones for me than GSL, which I do catch whenever I can. Or rather, it's not just that the players aren't as good, it's that the games are often barely relevant to anything because they're played by people that don't take progaming seriously. I don't mind watching TLO or Snute (well, outside of swarm hosts) play because they practice a lot, but there are enough pros in even the WCS EU premier league that just coast and practice only enough to stay in premier.
Well, now I tell you, I never seen good come o' goodness yet. Him as strikes first is my fancy; dead men don't bite; them's my views--amen, so be it.
Hider
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Denmark9447 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-09-09 21:45:05
September 09 2014 21:40 GMT
#50
On September 10 2014 06:01 Nebuchad wrote:
Catz: "I call bullcrap on people whose argument is "I want to see the best game of SC2 possible and I can tell the difference between top foreign play and Korean play" because I'm almost certain they can't."

This is a dishonest way to state this, because the top foreigner players are already getting screen time in the current system. The people we will get to see more as a result of the change is people who are a level below that, and yeah I can certainly see the difference between those people and average koreans (or even top foreigners).


Catz has really no idea what he is talking about. On top of what you already mentioned, it's not even the point that people can't tell the difference. But rather what people wanna see is the players whom they perceive to be the best player. For instance, I am interested in watching boxing matches between the two best players in the world, but I could not care less about the two best players in Austria (or w/e random country) battle it out even if I cannot tell the difference (because I don't understand boxing).

The exact same concept applies here, and I think eveyrone is completely missing the implications for what would occur if all koreans went back to Korea: The effect is more people like Livezerg, Miniraiser, Hanfy, Slivko, Gunfungbda, Hope, Blysk and Bails (those are the foreigners that according to Aligulac could replace the Koreans)
Viewer numbers are going to drop significant in the group stages if games with those players replace JJaki, MMA, Polt, Violet, Taeja and San.

Overall, EU can handle this better than NA (viewership wise) because it has a higher level of players, but NA viewer numbers will take a significant hit backwards if fewer Koreans stay in the region.

Rifkin on Remax mentioned that "who's the best European" had better viewership number than "thebigone", however that's pretty obvious. The bigone consisted of 90% of koreans that we already saw in NA/EU + 1-2 "medicore" Kespa players/Supernova.

That's not comparable at all to what happens in WCS EU/WCS NA, where koreans are still in the minority. If these visa requirements came as a result of 25+/32 players in the region being Koreans it would be understandable, however, that's not the case here. Rather I believe we have an approprirate mix of Koreans agaisnt the best foreigners which makes it pretty interesting to watch and follow.
brickrd
Profile Blog Joined March 2014
United States4894 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-09-09 21:51:40
September 09 2014 21:43 GMT
#51
On September 10 2014 06:27 Grumbels wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 10 2014 06:17 brickrd wrote:
On September 10 2014 06:09 Grumbels wrote:
I don't believe Catz when he says that the difference between Koreans and foreigners is small. Haven't we gone over this argument often enough? The foreign scene largely consists of people that play part-time. Every single Korean pro is favored against every single foreigner with like five exceptions.

thats exactly what hes saying tho? you cant go into progaming as easily as a NA starcraft player compared to KR, its just a different world and a different culture

i see people mocking NA pros as being lazy or stupid or deserving scorn because they dont want to commit to 16hr/day practice and learning to speak korean. i dont think its a bad thing that WCS AM/EU could potentially become more inviting for people who want to compete among the best in their regions but don't want to have to tank their social and academic lives to do so. as long as blizzard makes appropriate changes with regard to WCS points and prizemoney i think its good for fans

That's fine, but it's known as college sports, not professional sports.

? the more appropriate analogue would be minor league sports, which are professional... if youre on a team and making money for it youre pro by definition o_O (edit: well i guess the definition is if its your primary source of income and you live off it, otherwise youre "semipro"? but thats semantics) dunno bout where youre from but in the usa and canada people go to see alternate league/minor league sports all the time as a cheaper and more relaxed alternative

are you going to tell me the barber down the street isnt a professional because hes not styling celebrities hair for $500 a pop?
TL+ Member
Heyoka
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
Katowice25012 Posts
September 09 2014 21:45 GMT
#52
I agree with Scarlett's assessment.
@RealHeyoka | ESL / DreamHack StarCraft Lead
TheDougler
Profile Joined April 2010
Canada8320 Posts
September 09 2014 21:47 GMT
#53
That is so fucking "Taeja" of him to have an epic interview response for the first time ever just months before retiring. (Before Innovation Taeja was the guy people bugged about boring interviews.") Good for him tho, and thanks TL for the content.
I root for Euro Zergs, NA Protoss* and Korean Terrans. (Any North American who has beat a Korean Pro as Protoss counts as NA Toss)
SFDuality
Profile Joined December 2012
United States1318 Posts
September 09 2014 21:52 GMT
#54
Taeja laying down the smack. What a time for him to retire, too. Fans want to see him in GSL, Code S players want to play him in GSL, Blizzard implements a region lock that basically forces him to play in GSL, and he fucking retires.

Love those miscellaneous answers.
Circumstance
Profile Blog Joined March 2014
United States11403 Posts
September 09 2014 22:01 GMT
#55
On September 10 2014 06:45 Heyoka wrote:
I agree with Scarlett's assessment.


While it was logical, I still think Harstem's contribution was important to push the dialogue forward.
The world is better when every background has a chance.
Ace Frehley
Profile Joined December 2012
2030 Posts
September 09 2014 22:02 GMT
#56
Would like to hear the opinions of the koreans who are mid-tier even in wcs am (the top ones could compete in gsl, I guess)
They must be massively pissed
...
Zealously
Profile Blog Joined October 2011
East Gorteau22261 Posts
September 09 2014 22:04 GMT
#57
On September 10 2014 05:50 sharkie wrote:
pretty much no pro cried about the "horrible" region lock ^^


This might be because very few of the players interviewed are going to be hurt by this change. Do you think Kane, TLO or Bunny will be upset? Do you think soO will care about four more players he can stomp all over in GSL? Of course not.
AdministratorBreak the chains
Dodgin
Profile Blog Joined July 2011
Canada39254 Posts
September 09 2014 22:07 GMT
#58
Taeja retirement confirmed D:

funny that soO's opinion as the best GSL player this year is that GSL isn't that much harder than WCS AM or EU, well maybe he's just saying that for the fans D:
tshi
Profile Joined September 2012
United States2495 Posts
September 09 2014 22:08 GMT
#59
What does this mean for Avilo?
scrub - inexperienced player with relatively little skill and excessive arrogance
Zealously
Profile Blog Joined October 2011
East Gorteau22261 Posts
September 09 2014 22:09 GMT
#60
On September 10 2014 07:08 tshi wrote:
What does this mean for Avilo?


He might make Challenger next year
AdministratorBreak the chains
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 13 14 15 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 8h 13m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
ProTech147
RuFF_SC2 91
JuggernautJason66
StarCraft: Brood War
Rain 2386
GuemChi 1868
Dota 2
monkeys_forever447
NeuroSwarm142
LuMiX1
Counter-Strike
summit1g13851
minikerr266
taco 150
Super Smash Bros
hungrybox548
Other Games
C9.Mang0325
Day[9].tv319
Maynarde96
XaKoH 80
[ Show 12 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Berry_CruncH363
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• RayReign 16
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• masondota22138
Other Games
• Day9tv319
Upcoming Events
Afreeca Starleague
8h 13m
Leta vs ggaemo
Jaedong vs Queen
GSL
9h 13m
PiGosaur Cup
22h 13m
Kung Fu Cup
1d 9h
Replay Cast
1d 22h
The PondCast
2 days
KCM Race Survival
2 days
Escore
3 days
IntoTheTV X SOOP
3 days
CranKy Ducklings
4 days
[ Show More ]
Sparkling Tuna Cup
5 days
Shopify Rebellion Sundays
5 days
Spirit vs Mixu
Clem vs TBD
RSL Revival
5 days
Replay Cast
5 days
Afreeca Starleague
6 days
WardiTV Weekly
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-09-02
PiG Sty Festival 8.0
Big Dog Cup 2026 Div 1

Ongoing

KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 3
K-JUNGMAN
ASL Season 22
Super Anchor Qualifying S3
CSL 2026 AUTUMN (S22)
Acropolis #5
Acropolis #5 - TRS
RSL Revival: Season 6
Calamity Invitational
FISSURE Playground #3
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S3: King of Kings
Acropolis #5 - GSA
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Acropolis #5 - GSB
Acropolis #5 - GSC
SC4ALL II: Brood War
HSC XXX
Stellar Fest 2: Lunar Cup
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
RSL Offline Finals
Stake Ranked Episode 6
BLAST Rivals Fall 2026
IEM Beijing 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 5
PGL Masters Bucharest 2026
1win Private Club #2
Thunderpick World Champ. '26
ESL Pro League Season 24
Stake Ranked Episode 4
1win Private Club #1
Logitech G Play Connect 2026
SL StarSeries Fall 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.