Intel® Extreme Masters will join forces with the Korean eSports Association (KeSPA) to host the StarCraft® II Proleague outside of Korea for the first time in history. ESL, the world’s largest esports company, will produce the event for IEM Shanghai as KeSPA brings the top Korean players to compete in a best of seven Grand Final for Round 3 of the Proleague.
"We are excited to work with ESL to bring Proleague to China Joy,” said Secretary General of KeSPA, Man Soo Cho. “It will be a historic event and we hope the top Korean teams will be able to put on some great matches for such a passionate audience."
“KeSPA has been a part of the StarCraft esports scene in Korea for more than ten years,” said Michal Blicharz, head of IEM. “We are extremely honored that they have chosen IEM Shanghai to host their first event ever outside of Korea. I expect we will see some intense competition in the Grand Finals.”
This historic match will take place on July 31 at the Intel Extreme Masters tournament stage inside the ChinaJoy trade show, located in the Shanghai New International Expo Center.
This will be pretty sick! Maybe KeSPA players will play in IEM as well?
I am just hoping nothing goes wrong here, Chinese lans cause chaos but with ESL at the helm all should run smoothly i hope. Hoping for a good Jin Air victory in China
Hm, I was kind of looking forward to seeing what the live turnout was going to be like in Korea, since we have seen a bit of growth in Korean SC2. I guess you go where more viewers are. Cool, though.
I don't understand this move. This is gonna piss off the Korean fans who enjoyed the possibility off watching their most prestigious event live. Are the Koreans so uninterested in Proleague that Kespa brought the Grand Finals to China for a bigger audience?
This is obviously great news for China and for IEM, and for international fans who expect a better production. But it worries me because I can't see why Kespa would let go of something so traditional to them.
I don't understand why people are excited about this. It is not a global event, they are playing the final of proleague in the same location as a foreign event...
For me, this is very rude for Korean players and korean viewers Korean players are flying to IEM but they can't play in the tournament Korean viewers won't be able to attend the final of proleague (I don't know how Visa work there but usually it takes a long time to be able to go to china so I think there will be 0 korean viewers there)
On July 01 2016 00:26 FireCake wrote: I don't understand why people are excited about this. It is not a global event, they are playing the final of proleague in the same location as a foreign event...
For me, this is very rude for Korean players and korean viewers Korean players are flying to IEM but they can't play in the tournament Korean viewers won't be able to attend the final of proleague (I don't know how Visa work there but usually it takes a long time to be able to go to china so I think there will be 0 korean viewers there)
On July 01 2016 00:26 FireCake wrote: I don't understand why people are excited about this. It is not a global event, they are playing the final of proleague in the same location as a foreign event...
For me, this is very rude for Korean players and korean viewers Korean players are flying to IEM but they can't play in the tournament Korean viewers won't be able to attend the final of proleague (I don't know how Visa work there but usually it takes a long time to be able to go to china so I think there will be 0 korean viewers there)
Sadly I have to agree with this. It just seems so wrong that Korean players can't compete at IEM despite being there for Proleague.
If this is good for KeSPA and the chinese scene, okay, but I am not super hyped. Overall it does not change anything for me.
I just want a global event before BlizzCon.
On June 30 2016 23:22 geokilla wrote: Maybe KeSPA players will play in IEM as well?
No, that's what makes this so weird. All the players have been announced and it's a standard region locked WCS event.
Really hard for me to judge if it's good or bad. Quite surprising and confusing. Doesn't change much for fans outside of Korea and China (unless they change schedule). Must feel bad for Korean fans and people who planned a trip to Korea though since it was announced so late.
On July 01 2016 00:56 Silvana wrote: nvm I'm so stupid I didn't read the "Round 3" part and was thinking I was going to miss the big event. Phew!
Forget everything I said previously, I'm sure Korean fans can live without a regular round finals and there's no reason to worry.
Exactly, I wanted to correct you ... And if this is rude towards somebody, then only towards the foreigners ... as nobody will care about them and their bracket, when the people can see the actually best players in the world playing ... It is like when NHL is playing some matches in Japan or Europe ...
1. It means, that IEM is not completely uninterested in SC2, as it seemed during the announcement of WCS2016 ("we need to subsidy IEM and DHs so that they keep SC2 in their program, and it will be foreigners only - otherwise SC2 might disappear from their program completely"). And here, from their own will, IEM brings to one of their venues the highest level of SC2. As they are not allowed to bring the best players into the event itself (well, not IEM's fault), they found a way, how to do it and not break the WCS2016 rules.
2. I strongly hope, the viewership numbers will explode. And if IEM sees that the main event with foreigners and their mix of good performances and terrible mistakes brings 20k viewers, while the highest level at the Proleague finals brings 40k viewers, they could start to plan 2017 events with SC2 in the traditional way and eventually bring us a row of global events (even without any WCS points).
3. When I was watching Proleague in the past, somehow I was disappointed that the viewership numbers were lower than e.g. GSL. Some people probably watch tournaments only, or GSL only, and are not interested in a weekly competition ... But now, even the people, who will watch this one tournament, will see, how great Proleague is and the numbers for the regular weekly matches in the future will grow. If this is a success, then the probability that there will be Proleague also in 2017 will increase.
4. Foreign fans (well, OK Chinese fans) will see the highest level SC2, Korean players will attend at least one event abroad ... I see a nice promotion for SC2 abroad in it, like when NHL plays some matches in Japan or Europe, to promote Ice Hockey.
5. Foreign players (e.g. FireCake) can see the real stars, about whom they dream every night :-), they can "breathe the same air", maybe even touch Maru's mouse, I am sure, this will be unforgettable for them :-)
Damn I saw Apollos announcement of an announcement last night and thought for sure we were finally getting a Global Event. This is really disappointing. A match that was going to happen anyway is just taking place at IEM, but they still won't be allowed to play in the actual tournament.
On July 01 2016 04:22 SetGuitarsToKill wrote: Damn I saw Apollos announcement of an announcement last night and thought for sure we were finally getting a Global Event. This is really disappointing. A match that was going to happen anyway is just taking place at IEM, but they still won't be allowed to play in the actual tournament.
And then he posted on Reddit saying something to the effect of "How DARE you be disappointed by our worthless announcement? You must not appreciate us or the work we do at all."
On July 01 2016 04:22 SetGuitarsToKill wrote: Damn I saw Apollos announcement of an announcement last night and thought for sure we were finally getting a Global Event. This is really disappointing. A match that was going to happen anyway is just taking place at IEM, but they still won't be allowed to play in the actual tournament.
And then he posted on Reddit saying something to the effect of "How DARE you be disappointed by our worthless announcement? You must not appreciate us or the work we do at all."
I've seen him more than once go on a thread and pick someone's shitty comment, but then he never addresses the well written critics or the ones that reply calling him out or asking relevant questions. What a stupid attitude.
On July 01 2016 04:22 SetGuitarsToKill wrote: Damn I saw Apollos announcement of an announcement last night and thought for sure we were finally getting a Global Event. This is really disappointing. A match that was going to happen anyway is just taking place at IEM, but they still won't be allowed to play in the actual tournament.
And then he posted on Reddit saying something to the effect of "How DARE you be disappointed by our worthless announcement? You must not appreciate us or the work we do at all."
Now, now, let's be precise.
Apollo: you (as a whole) really have to start being more grateful for the work that is being done for sc2. A lot of people are working very hard for the community.
That said, it's not like I expected something else but comments like this don't really help the situation and they only provoked some really angry replies. (I have to say there were some really constructive ones as well, but they will probably get buried and unnoticed)
As for the comment itself, it bothers me because I always try to appreciate people who work for the scene but current system just doesn't feel right. And suddenly moving finals of Korean event to another country doesn't feel right either. They could announce it earlier at the very least, for people who wanted to see it live.
On July 01 2016 04:22 SetGuitarsToKill wrote: Damn I saw Apollos announcement of an announcement last night and thought for sure we were finally getting a Global Event. This is really disappointing. A match that was going to happen anyway is just taking place at IEM, but they still won't be allowed to play in the actual tournament.
And then he posted on Reddit saying something to the effect of "How DARE you be disappointed by our worthless announcement? You must not appreciate us or the work we do at all."
Apollo: you (as a whole) really have to start being more grateful for the work that is being done for sc2. A lot of people are working very hard for the community.
That said, it's not like I expected something else but comments like this don't really help the situation and they only provoked some really angry replies. (I have to say there were some really constructive ones as well, but they will probably get buried and unnoticed)
As for the comment itself, it bothers me because I always try to appreciate people who work for the scene but current system just doesn't feel right. And suddenly moving finals of Korean event to another country doesn't feel right either. They could announce it earlier at the very least, for people who wanted to see it live.
I agree. Honestly it just seems like a dick move to fly players out to an event that any one of them would have a chance of winning and then make them watch. I hope that it's cool for the Chinese crowd though. They're the real winners here.
On July 01 2016 04:22 SetGuitarsToKill wrote: Damn I saw Apollos announcement of an announcement last night and thought for sure we were finally getting a Global Event. This is really disappointing. A match that was going to happen anyway is just taking place at IEM, but they still won't be allowed to play in the actual tournament.
And then he posted on Reddit saying something to the effect of "How DARE you be disappointed by our worthless announcement? You must not appreciate us or the work we do at all."
Apollo: you (as a whole) really have to start being more grateful for the work that is being done for sc2. A lot of people are working very hard for the community.
I mean come on, in this particular instance, what is there to be grateful about? It's not like this means we are getting more content. Just that the content we would have gotten anyway will be presented slightly differently.
I mean maybe this helps spread awareness about Proleague and increase long-term viewership and thus benefit us in the long run, but since the season is already nearly over by the time this happens, I wouldn't count on it. Short-term there aren't that many fans who benefit from this I think.
Although I generally don't pay as much attention to what Apollo says anymore ever since he claimed that "The Korean scene is healthy as fuck" right after the plans for WCS 2016 were announced (you know, where they cut an entire season of competition) and when KeSPA was still working on getting Proleague together.
On July 01 2016 04:22 SetGuitarsToKill wrote: Damn I saw Apollos announcement of an announcement last night and thought for sure we were finally getting a Global Event. This is really disappointing. A match that was going to happen anyway is just taking place at IEM, but they still won't be allowed to play in the actual tournament.
And then he posted on Reddit saying something to the effect of "How DARE you be disappointed by our worthless announcement? You must not appreciate us or the work we do at all."
Now, now, let's be precise.
Apollo: you (as a whole) really have to start being more grateful for the work that is being done for sc2. A lot of people are working very hard for the community.
I mean come on, in this particular instance, what is there to be grateful about? It's not like this means we are getting more content. Just that the content we would have gotten anyway will be presented slightly differently.
I mean maybe this helps spread awareness about Proleague and increase long-term viewership and thus benefit us in the long run, but since the season is already nearly over by the time this happens, I wouldn't count on it. Short-term there aren't that many fans who benefit from this I think.
Although I generally don't pay as much attention to what Apollo says anymore ever since he claimed that "The Korean scene is healthy as fuck" right after the plans for WCS 2016 were announced (you know, where they cut an entire season of competition).
Idealistic part of me says that this is great for this reason - Korean fans will watch WCS and WCS fans will watch Proleague! But my reality feel says that community seems divided enough (or watching both anyway) that it doesn't matter all that much. But well, we'll see.
On July 01 2016 04:22 SetGuitarsToKill wrote: Damn I saw Apollos announcement of an announcement last night and thought for sure we were finally getting a Global Event. This is really disappointing. A match that was going to happen anyway is just taking place at IEM, but they still won't be allowed to play in the actual tournament.
And then he posted on Reddit saying something to the effect of "How DARE you be disappointed by our worthless announcement? You must not appreciate us or the work we do at all."
Now, now, let's be precise.
Apollo: you (as a whole) really have to start being more grateful for the work that is being done for sc2. A lot of people are working very hard for the community.
I mean come on, in this particular instance, what is there to be grateful about? It's not like this means we are getting more content. Just that the content we would have gotten anyway will be presented slightly differently.
I mean maybe this helps spread awareness about Proleague and increase long-term viewership and thus benefit us in the long run, but since the season is already nearly over by the time this happens, I wouldn't count on it. Short-term there aren't that many fans who benefit from this I think.
Although I generally don't pay as much attention to what Apollo says anymore ever since he claimed that "The Korean scene is healthy as fuck" right after the plans for WCS 2016 were announced (you know, where they cut an entire season of competition).
Idealistic part of me says that this is great for this reason - Korean fans will watch WCS and WCS fans will watch Proleague! But my reality feel says that community seems divided enough (or watching both anyway) that it doesn't matter all that much. But well, we'll see.
The idealism is great and all, but the round 3 finals is one of the very last days of Proleague this year. If this was the round 1 finals it'd be amazing. With this it's kinda late to go fishing for a consistently bigger audience.
While I still think will be cool, especially if there is a big audience and they get into it, I'm rapidly losing faith in any IEM global events actually happening. Which makes me sad as IEM was always my favorite tourneys to watch Snute and Co fight the Koreans.
Hopefully it'll be KT vs Jin air for the best possible games.
On July 01 2016 04:22 SetGuitarsToKill wrote: Damn I saw Apollos announcement of an announcement last night and thought for sure we were finally getting a Global Event. This is really disappointing. A match that was going to happen anyway is just taking place at IEM, but they still won't be allowed to play in the actual tournament.
And then he posted on Reddit saying something to the effect of "How DARE you be disappointed by our worthless announcement? You must not appreciate us or the work we do at all."
Now, now, let's be precise.
Apollo: you (as a whole) really have to start being more grateful for the work that is being done for sc2. A lot of people are working very hard for the community.
I mean come on, in this particular instance, what is there to be grateful about? It's not like this means we are getting more content. Just that the content we would have gotten anyway will be presented slightly differently.
I mean maybe this helps spread awareness about Proleague and increase long-term viewership and thus benefit us in the long run, but since the season is already nearly over by the time this happens, I wouldn't count on it. Short-term there aren't that many fans who benefit from this I think.
Although I generally don't pay as much attention to what Apollo says anymore ever since he claimed that "The Korean scene is healthy as fuck" right after the plans for WCS 2016 were announced (you know, where they cut an entire season of competition).
Idealistic part of me says that this is great for this reason - Korean fans will watch WCS and WCS fans will watch Proleague! But my reality feel says that community seems divided enough (or watching both anyway) that it doesn't matter all that much. But well, we'll see.
The idealism is great and all, but the round 3 finals is one of the very last days of Proleague this year. If this was the round 1 finals it'd be amazing. With this it's kinda late to go fishing for a consistently bigger audience.
No. Having season 3 finals and then immediately after it the Grand finals takes away the uniqueness ... having the "small finals" in some other country and after it the big event at home, seems to be quite good.
Its cool that kespa is doing stuff to reach out to the Chinese audience. I hope this isn't the "Global Event" that Kim Phan says Blizz has been "Working on" because this really isn't one. I think its safe to believe that the whole WCS global thing is a sham tbh
Its nice and all and I appreciate the work put in it by everyone involved. Cant help but feel a tad disappointed though. Was hoping for a Global Event announcement.
I guess it is fair to assume the first global even this year will be Blizzcon itself. Doubt we are getting anything now.
Do you know, what would be great? To let them play some rounds of Proleague in other countries ... one season of Proleague circus in Europe ...
They would all fly to Europe for the two months, rent a huge bus, for all the teams and support stuff and go in it each week to another country, live there in hotel, and play the one round there. Next week they would travel with the bus to another country, stay there and play another round ...
That would be something much better to raise fan support for SC2 than banning Koreans from tournaments!
By the way: if there is not a single global event before BlizzCon, could the smart person, who designed and approved the system, where any organizer of a global event must have a prize pool of at least 50k, by which they actually cancelled the interest of any such organizer ... could that person be fired, please?
This is a cool idea, especially, if as someone noted above, that there will be an analysis desk of the Proleague games. Be good to see JinAir take another Round finals. It will hopefully also help stimulate an already growing Chinese scene (thanks to GPL). It is a fantastic idea and we should praise it for what it is.
However, on a somewhat tangential note, the way the "upper echelons" connected with IEM and Blizzard have acted towards the community, in its general call for global events, and more Korean inclusiveness has been disappointing to say the least. Treating our complaints like noise, not worth bothering to reply to effectively.
It will be interesting to see player list of Shanghai, I don't believe qualifiers for most regions have been done yet. The finals of the Spring Circuit (Nerchio vs. Showtime) were pretty entertaining, and if we got a finals like that again it would be great. However I do believe that most of the audience wants to see whether Nerchio, Showtime, Neeb, Harstem (assuming they all qualify) and other really good foreign players have the capability to beat Code S Koreans. Contrary to popular belief, I don't think an audience wants to see a Round of 16 Korean players, rather we want to see foreigners vs. Koreans, but in a way that it feels meaningful to have those contests.
If we had a narrative of those players actually beating Code S koreans on the "road to Blizzcon" then the storylines of Blizzcon would be so much more epic, and meaningful and would take their place in the history of Starcraft 2. Unfortuntaly as it stands we'll get Polt, and 7 WCS Circuit players* having not tested their mettle against Zest, Dark and whom else qualifies through Code S and SSL and seeindg^; and I suspect we may see 3-0's all over the place.
*Based on current standings Polt, Showtime, Nerchio, Violet, Hydra, Neeb, Elazer and Snute would qualify
^Based on current standings Dark, Zest, Stats, TY, Solar, Patience, Cure and Dear would qualify.
On July 01 2016 04:22 SetGuitarsToKill wrote: Damn I saw Apollos announcement of an announcement last night and thought for sure we were finally getting a Global Event. This is really disappointing. A match that was going to happen anyway is just taking place at IEM, but they still won't be allowed to play in the actual tournament.
And then he posted on Reddit saying something to the effect of "How DARE you be disappointed by our worthless announcement? You must not appreciate us or the work we do at all."
I've seen him more than once go on a thread and pick someone's shitty comment, but then he never addresses the well written critics or the ones that reply calling him out or asking relevant questions. What a stupid attitude.
That sounds just like TB, maybe it's a British thing?
Anyway, this is nice for Chinese fans at least. Hopefully there will be a show team match as an extra for people who can't attend the event
"Hey I got a great idea. Let's fly the KeSPA Koreans out to our Welfare Circus Series event to play the only thing they can play in and watch the tournament we banned them from so foreigners could get free moniez"
Fuck IEM and fuck anyone who thinks this is a good idea
On July 01 2016 09:04 Phil0s0pher wrote: However, on a somewhat tangential note, the way the "upper echelons" connected with IEM and Blizzard have acted towards the community, in its general call for global events, and more Korean inclusiveness has been disappointing to say the least. Treating our complaints like noise, not worth bothering to reply to effectively.
Yeah, that's what bothers me the most, ignoring the complaints or even acting arrogant towards people of different opinion. I got very disappointed in some people I used to like because of the way they treat the community when people are unhappy with the system. I can understand that you can't really criticize your employer too much but in the same time accept that not everyone will be happy with it.
On July 01 2016 09:04 Phil0s0pher wrote: However, on a somewhat tangential note, the way the "upper echelons" connected with IEM and Blizzard have acted towards the community, in its general call for global events, and more Korean inclusiveness has been disappointing to say the least. Treating our complaints like noise, not worth bothering to reply to effectively.
Yeah, that's what bothers me the most, ignoring the complaints or even acting arrogant towards people of different opinion. I got very disappointed in some people I used to like because of the way they treat the community when people are unhappy with the system. I can understand that you can't really criticize your employer too much but in the same time accept that not everyone will be happy with it.
Fully agree with you two here. I'd expect said people to address my concerns and explain why they think I'm wrong, not tell me to STFU and "be grateful for what we've got".
Back to the OP, this is great for the Chinese fans. And certainly speaks wonders about how the scene is growing over there. I hope the players put a hell of a show for them!
It's great for the Chinese audience but in the grand scheme of things, it does not change much for us viewers. Both events were going to happen anyway and we still are missing any global event when it is already July. If there is no showmatch, I would even say that it is a missed opportunity.
I don't understand the way the casters and some players publicly express their frustration and arrogance. I just don't get how one cannot understand why it is a rather very disappointing and shallow announcement for parts of the community.
On July 01 2016 07:55 Diabolique wrote: Do you know, what would be great? To let them play some rounds of Proleague in other countries ... one season of Proleague circus in Europe ...
They would all fly to Europe for the two months, rent a huge bus, for all the teams and support stuff and go in it each week to another country, live there in hotel, and play the one round there. Next week they would travel with the bus to another country, stay there and play another round ...
That would be something much better to raise fan support for SC2 than banning Koreans from tournaments!
By the way: if there is not a single global event before BlizzCon, could the smart person, who designed and approved the system, where any organizer of a global event must have a prize pool of at least 50k, by which they actually cancelled the interest of any such organizer ... could that person be fired, please?
Uh, what about players who have GSL/SSL? They can't just fly back and forth, you know. I agree the idea sounds kinda cool but with Korean leagues going on at the same time as Proleague it seems impossible.
On July 01 2016 00:26 FireCake wrote: I don't understand why people are excited about this. It is not a global event, they are playing the final of proleague in the same location as a foreign event...
For me, this is very rude for Korean players and korean viewers Korean players are flying to IEM but they can't play in the tournament Korean viewers won't be able to attend the final of proleague (I don't know how Visa work there but usually it takes a long time to be able to go to china so I think there will be 0 korean viewers there)
It's just the round finals not grand finals (and i'll be in shanghai on the 31st) but yea I agree X_X
On July 01 2016 00:26 FireCake wrote: I don't understand why people are excited about this. It is not a global event, they are playing the final of proleague in the same location as a foreign event...
For me, this is very rude for Korean players and korean viewers Korean players are flying to IEM but they can't play in the tournament Korean viewers won't be able to attend the final of proleague (I don't know how Visa work there but usually it takes a long time to be able to go to china so I think there will be 0 korean viewers there)
It's just the round finals not grand finals (and i'll be in shanghai on the 31st) but yea I agree X_X
Wait really? It's the all-kill finals? Huh... Why would they fly out all the way to IEM Shanghai just for the Round 3 finals? -.-;;
On July 01 2016 00:26 FireCake wrote: I don't understand why people are excited about this. It is not a global event, they are playing the final of proleague in the same location as a foreign event...
For me, this is very rude for Korean players and korean viewers Korean players are flying to IEM but they can't play in the tournament Korean viewers won't be able to attend the final of proleague (I don't know how Visa work there but usually it takes a long time to be able to go to china so I think there will be 0 korean viewers there)
It's just the round finals not grand finals (and i'll be in shanghai on the 31st) but yea I agree X_X
Wait really? It's the all-kill finals? Huh... Why would they fly out all the way to IEM Shanghai just for the Round 3 finals? -.-;;
It will be funny if it will be actually just a crushing all-kill
On July 01 2016 00:26 FireCake wrote: I don't understand why people are excited about this. It is not a global event, they are playing the final of proleague in the same location as a foreign event...
For me, this is very rude for Korean players and korean viewers Korean players are flying to IEM but they can't play in the tournament Korean viewers won't be able to attend the final of proleague (I don't know how Visa work there but usually it takes a long time to be able to go to china so I think there will be 0 korean viewers there)
It's just the round finals not grand finals (and i'll be in shanghai on the 31st) but yea I agree X_X
Wait really? It's the all-kill finals? Huh... Why would they fly out all the way to IEM Shanghai just for the Round 3 finals? -.-;;
Just to tease us, putting foreigners and koreans in the same place then NOT having them play.
On July 01 2016 00:26 FireCake wrote: I don't understand why people are excited about this. It is not a global event, they are playing the final of proleague in the same location as a foreign event...
For me, this is very rude for Korean players and korean viewers Korean players are flying to IEM but they can't play in the tournament Korean viewers won't be able to attend the final of proleague (I don't know how Visa work there but usually it takes a long time to be able to go to china so I think there will be 0 korean viewers there)
It's just the round finals not grand finals (and i'll be in shanghai on the 31st) but yea I agree X_X
Wait really? It's the all-kill finals? Huh... Why would they fly out all the way to IEM Shanghai just for the Round 3 finals? -.-;;
Well, the mixed it up a bit ... they wrote the "Round 3 finals" (so the all kill finals), but they called them "GRAND" :-) probably to get more attention in China. So 2 victories of sOs, 1 victory of Stats and 2 victories of Maru :-)
I do not think, they would move the real GRAND FINALS away from Korea, the fans, families and all the publicity. And here, having the round 3 finals a few weeks before the GRAND FINALS, the round 3 finals somehow lose the "greatness" ... so it is a good idea to move them to China, call them "GRAND", do some SC2 promotion, and then move back home for the real GRAND FINALS.
On July 01 2016 00:26 FireCake wrote: I don't understand why people are excited about this. It is not a global event, they are playing the final of proleague in the same location as a foreign event...
For me, this is very rude for Korean players and korean viewers Korean players are flying to IEM but they can't play in the tournament Korean viewers won't be able to attend the final of proleague (I don't know how Visa work there but usually it takes a long time to be able to go to china so I think there will be 0 korean viewers there)
It's just the round finals not grand finals (and i'll be in shanghai on the 31st) but yea I agree X_X
Wait really? It's the all-kill finals? Huh... Why would they fly out all the way to IEM Shanghai just for the Round 3 finals? -.-;;
So the Koreans can watch the thing they're banned from competing in up close. Duh
On July 01 2016 00:26 FireCake wrote: I don't understand why people are excited about this. It is not a global event, they are playing the final of proleague in the same location as a foreign event...
For me, this is very rude for Korean players and korean viewers Korean players are flying to IEM but they can't play in the tournament Korean viewers won't be able to attend the final of proleague (I don't know how Visa work there but usually it takes a long time to be able to go to china so I think there will be 0 korean viewers there)
It's just the round finals not grand finals (and i'll be in shanghai on the 31st) but yea I agree X_X
Wait really? It's the all-kill finals? Huh... Why would they fly out all the way to IEM Shanghai just for the Round 3 finals? -.-;;
So the Koreans can watch the thing they're banned from competing in up close. Duh
The kicker's gonna be when a foreigner asks a korean for a build to use in the IEM finals. Straight up comedy gold
On July 01 2016 07:55 Diabolique wrote: Do you know, what would be great? To let them play some rounds of Proleague in other countries ... one season of Proleague circus in Europe ...
They would all fly to Europe for the two months, rent a huge bus, for all the teams and support stuff and go in it each week to another country, live there in hotel, and play the one round there. Next week they would travel with the bus to another country, stay there and play another round ...
That would be something much better to raise fan support for SC2 than banning Koreans from tournaments!
By the way: if there is not a single global event before BlizzCon, could the smart person, who designed and approved the system, where any organizer of a global event must have a prize pool of at least 50k, by which they actually cancelled the interest of any such organizer ... could that person be fired, please?
I mean it would be cool and all. But it's probably about as likely as me suddenly becoming good at SC2 and winning multiple GSL's.
EPT![[image loading]](http://cdn2.esl.tv/uploads/pics/kespa2.png)
