The legendary Chinese esports competition StarsWar, returns to StarCraft 2 after a decade (the OG Chinese SC2 viewers know!), bringing StarCraft 2 competition back to an offline venue for the first time since 2019!
Format
8 player single elimination. Player roster determined by 3 regional play-ins. Play-ins roster determined by regional open qualifiers. Main event is played offline in Xi'An, China.
Asian Play-in: March 15-17, 8 players from two Asian qualifiers. EU/AM Play-in: March 19-20 and 22-24, 8 players from two EU/AM qualifiers, double elimination. Korean Play-in: March 26-27 and 29-31, 8 players from two KR qualifiers, double elimination.
Players
Invited: Oliveira Winner of Asian Play-in: TBD Top 3 of EU/AM Play-in: TBD Top 3 of KR Play-in: TBD
It be an interesting experience for those who are not a Chinese Citizen to travel for the event offline.... Hopefully the organizer give you some sort of phone so you can use wechat pay as a foreigner, lol. Otherwise you'll feel really stuck. Most shops and places don't have POS machine, meaning your credit cards won't work, they don't accept cash either. xD
8 Asia, 16 EU/AM, 16 KR is a bit wow though. We could get the whole KR scene almost, and a good chunk of the other regions too which is cool.
I find the Bo7s and Bo9s interesting. Do most pros prefer the longer series? I wonder if it's tiring to them to play too many games. Maybe if it was like a WC event with a ton of money, but for a premiere and below Bo5 and Bo7 seems like a lot of SC2 to play (1-2 hour matches with intense focus).
On February 28 2024 23:21 Yoshi Kirishima wrote: Wow not a bad prize pool!
8 Asia, 16 EU/AM, 16 KR is a bit wow though. We could get the whole KR scene almost, and a good chunk of the other regions too which is cool.
I find the Bo7s and Bo9s interesting. Do most pros prefer the longer series? I wonder if it's tiring to them to play too many games. Maybe if it was like a WC event with a ton of money, but for a premiere and below Bo5 and Bo7 seems like a lot of SC2 to play (1-2 hour matches with intense focus).
Considering this is an offline-event with Single Elimination, it kind of makes sense. Four players will come to this event and only play one singular series.
Also all the major telecom services have temporary sim cards on sale for pretty cheap. Last time I checked they have sims that work for up to a month for like ￥100, with plenty of data in the plan.
Alipay and Wechat Pay now support foreign credit cards (just not top-up). It's actually quite a bit more foreigner-friendly than previous years.
use it in China and you will see if it actually works, as far as I know, you can add foreign credit card on file, but once you are on the ground in China, none of it will actually be able to use for any Chinese merchant or app services.
On March 01 2024 22:41 digmouse wrote: Also all the major telecom services have temporary sim cards on sale for pretty cheap. Last time I checked they have sims that work for up to a month for like ￥100, with plenty of data in the plan.
None of this is a issue, internet connection or tele service isn't the issue, is the payment method.
On March 01 2024 22:41 digmouse wrote: Also all the major telecom services have temporary sim cards on sale for pretty cheap. Last time I checked they have sims that work for up to a month for like ￥100, with plenty of data in the plan.
idk why anyone would play this. set up like a premier tournament with all bo7 and bo5s with a whole loser bracket just to win a few hundred bucks and play another full end to end tournament to win 10k. probably would have a better hourly rate if you just looked on the sidewalk for coins.
On March 14 2024 14:23 luxon wrote: idk why anyone would play this. set up like a premier tournament with all bo7 and bo5s with a whole loser bracket just to win a few hundred bucks and play another full end to end tournament to win 10k. probably would have a better hourly rate if you just looked on the sidewalk for coins.
As far as I'm concerned it's still way better than that split. Esp when prize money are still down until a big investor splashes money into the wider ecosystem.
On March 14 2024 14:23 luxon wrote: idk why anyone would play this. set up like a premier tournament with all bo7 and bo5s with a whole loser bracket just to win a few hundred bucks and play another full end to end tournament to win 10k. probably would have a better hourly rate if you just looked on the sidewalk for coins.
Folks are playing weeklies for a winner takes all pot that amounts to pocket change. I’m sure they’ll be fine
On March 14 2024 14:23 luxon wrote: idk why anyone would play this. set up like a premier tournament with all bo7 and bo5s with a whole loser bracket just to win a few hundred bucks and play another full end to end tournament to win 10k. probably would have a better hourly rate if you just looked on the sidewalk for coins.
Folks are playing weeklies for a winner takes all pot that amounts to pocket change. I’m sure they’ll be fine
The question I would ask myself would more be why NA did not have dedicated slots but got mixed with EU instead.
On March 14 2024 14:23 luxon wrote: idk why anyone would play this. set up like a premier tournament with all bo7 and bo5s with a whole loser bracket just to win a few hundred bucks and play another full end to end tournament to win 10k. probably would have a better hourly rate if you just looked on the sidewalk for coins.
Folks are playing weeklies for a winner takes all pot that amounts to pocket change. I’m sure they’ll be fine
The question I would ask myself would more be why NA did not have dedicated slots but got mixed with EU instead.
Shrinking of the NA scene + it's cheaper to fly Euro players (who are more likely to win as no NA player qualified but also the start time of the qualifiers were atrocious for NA players) to China maybe?
This tournament will definetly miss quite a bit of punch - no Serral, no Clem, no Dark. Maru, Solar and Reynor are (for now) the three players to beat, if they all can qualify. Definetly interesting though that (except for Dark) Korea brought its entire might to the qualifier, while Europeans seem to be a bit reserved about it (no Heromarine either for example). Has probably just to do with the traveling time I guess, but could also be about the money-infusion this tournament might bring
On March 14 2024 14:23 luxon wrote: idk why anyone would play this. set up like a premier tournament with all bo7 and bo5s with a whole loser bracket just to win a few hundred bucks and play another full end to end tournament to win 10k. probably would have a better hourly rate if you just looked on the sidewalk for coins.
Folks are playing weeklies for a winner takes all pot that amounts to pocket change. I’m sure they’ll be fine
Yes because weeklies have Bo5s and Bo7s and a complete loser bracket played over five days with an open qualifier played over two days. That's the same thing.
On March 15 2024 03:18 Balnazza wrote: Definetly interesting though that (except for Dark) Korea brought its entire might to the qualifier, while Europeans seem to be a bit reserved about it (no Heromarine either for example).
Probably for the exact reason I said above. Koreans have no income from sc2, tournaments or teams or streaming. (Top) europeans have all three.
On March 14 2024 14:23 luxon wrote: idk why anyone would play this. set up like a premier tournament with all bo7 and bo5s with a whole loser bracket just to win a few hundred bucks and play another full end to end tournament to win 10k. probably would have a better hourly rate if you just looked on the sidewalk for coins.
Folks are playing weeklies for a winner takes all pot that amounts to pocket change. I’m sure they’ll be fine
Yes because weeklies have Bo5s and Bo7s and a complete loser bracket played over five days with an open qualifier played over two days. That's the same thing.
On March 15 2024 03:18 Balnazza wrote: Definetly interesting though that (except for Dark) Korea brought its entire might to the qualifier, while Europeans seem to be a bit reserved about it (no Heromarine either for example).
Probably for the exact reason I said above. Koreans have no income from sc2, tournaments or teams or streaming. (Top) europeans have all three.
Ah, it’s played offline I see, my failure in reading the OP there.
Yeah that quite prolonged format does feel a bit rough with that in mind.
On March 14 2024 14:23 luxon wrote: idk why anyone would play this. set up like a premier tournament with all bo7 and bo5s with a whole loser bracket just to win a few hundred bucks and play another full end to end tournament to win 10k. probably would have a better hourly rate if you just looked on the sidewalk for coins.
What If you consider this as a vocation to China, with no need to worry about visa and transportation/accommodation issues？At least we're pretty sure Reynor would like to go∶）
On March 15 2024 03:18 Balnazza wrote: This tournament will definetly miss quite a bit of punch - no Serral, no Clem, no Dark. Maru, Solar and Reynor are (for now) the three players to beat, if they all can qualify. Definetly interesting though that (except for Dark) Korea brought its entire might to the qualifier, while Europeans seem to be a bit reserved about it (no Heromarine either for example). Has probably just to do with the traveling time I guess, but could also be about the money-infusion this tournament might bring
Don't know about the rest but Serral is going to the military in ~2 weeks. So even if played and won the qualifier, I doubt he could travel there. Or to maybe reword this: Apparently there are travel days for him to use but I guess he rather use them for Dallas and Riyadh
On March 14 2024 14:23 luxon wrote: idk why anyone would play this. set up like a premier tournament with all bo7 and bo5s with a whole loser bracket just to win a few hundred bucks and play another full end to end tournament to win 10k. probably would have a better hourly rate if you just looked on the sidewalk for coins.
What If you consider this as a vocation to China, with no need to worry about visa and transportation/accommodation issues？At least we're pretty sure Reynor would like to go∶）
Reynor is like a happy boy would go anywhere he prefers :D
On March 14 2024 14:23 luxon wrote: idk why anyone would play this. set up like a premier tournament with all bo7 and bo5s with a whole loser bracket just to win a few hundred bucks and play another full end to end tournament to win 10k. probably would have a better hourly rate if you just looked on the sidewalk for coins.
What If you consider this as a vocation to China, with no need to worry about visa and transportation/accommodation issues？At least we're pretty sure Reynor would like to go∶）
The prize pool is good enough that the total number of games does not seem that problematic, esp if the qualifiers still have some money (same cannot be said for EPT if things stay roughly similar to last season)
Serral has a legitimate and explicit excuse to not go, some of the others, not so much.
Esp the replacement EU slot was wide open, yet not a lotta players tried ...
On March 01 2024 22:41 digmouse wrote: Also all the major telecom services have temporary sim cards on sale for pretty cheap. Last time I checked they have sims that work for up to a month for like ￥100, with plenty of data in the plan.
BTW I just noticed that now scboy.cc allows registering with foreign phone numbers (it was not an option before). But when I clicked "发送验证码", it said "发送成功" but I didn't receive anything. I tried using format +1***, 1***, 001***, but the results are all the same, "发送成功" but nothing was received. Is there any successful example that a foreign phone number receives the verification message? What's the format? Or is it not functioning for foreign numbers?
On March 23 2024 22:33 Nakajin wrote: Reynor failed to qualify for StarsWar11 despite both Serral and Clem's absence, it's been a rough 2024 for him.
Wild how many top Zerg are getting stopped by Protoss recently. Reynor got knocked out of Katowice by Showtime/herO (and Maru), Starwar by Showtime/Skillous. Dark got eliminated from code S by Classic/Stats and Solar got eliminated by herO. Some of this might be due to top Z slumping, but PvZ looks like it's in really health shape atm. Build variety is okay too, at least after the first few oracles.
Wow some crazy results, is this tournament going to be all TvP? Can't remember the last time there was a tournament where TvP was the most prevalent matchup.
Would be kinda cool if Maru also does not qualify. Feels like then this would truely be a tournament without any clear favorite, all bets are off kind of scenario
On March 23 2024 22:33 Nakajin wrote: Reynor failed to qualify for StarsWar11 despite both Serral and Clem's absence, it's been a rough 2024 for him.
Wild how many top Zerg are getting stopped by Protoss recently. Reynor got knocked out of Katowice by Showtime/herO (and Maru), Starwar by Showtime/Skillous. Dark got eliminated from code S by Classic/Stats and Solar got eliminated by herO. Some of this might be due to top Z slumping, but PvZ looks like it's in really health shape atm. Build variety is okay too, at least after the first few oracles.
Tbf Solar also lost to ryung and herO said he (solar) is taking a chill approach rn so not too unexpected. I agree tho that PvZ has looked alot better recently.
Gratz to Showtime for winning the qualifier. Dude has been just on the edge of breaking into those S-Tier caliber players so often but never managed to take that final push, so I'm honestly impressed that he still has the dedication to produce the results and plays he does in recent times. Hope he can bring that form over to the Regionals!
On March 01 2024 22:41 digmouse wrote: Also all the major telecom services have temporary sim cards on sale for pretty cheap. Last time I checked they have sims that work for up to a month for like ￥100, with plenty of data in the plan.
Not sure, that will need someone from scboy or someone knows them to explain. I don't have XiaoSe's wechat anymore he is "toxic milk", I am scared to have him on my contact list, hahaha. Honestly, just a meme about him having the power to jinx any random things.
Now jokes aside, I don't think scboy forum has big enough influence to have the government put down some rules to regulate it, but it's possible the messaging service provider they use has no ability to send that stuff to foreign numbers.
BTW I just noticed that now scboy.cc allows registering with foreign phone numbers (it was not an option before). But when I clicked "发送验证码", it said "发送成功" but I didn't receive anything. I tried using format +1***, 1***, 001***, but the results are all the same, "发送成功" but nothing was received. Is there any successful example that a foreign phone number receives the verification message? What's the format? Or is it not functioning for foreign numbers?
It's also possible scboy don't want to take any liability having foreign users registered on their site to say stuff the government don't want to hear and see. To get themselves in trouble, which is totally reasonable things to do.
On April 02 2024 04:47 Balnazza wrote: Not a single Zerg in the tournament...when was the last time in such a tournament that one race wasn't present at all?
This probably is the first one in a hot minute. Not that surprised no zergs made it through the korean quals given that dark didn't even play. Super surprised that even though neither serral or clem played, reynor still didn't make it through the euro-american quals
On April 02 2024 04:47 Balnazza wrote: Not a single Zerg in the tournament...when was the last time in such a tournament that one race wasn't present at all?
On April 02 2024 04:47 Balnazza wrote: Not a single Zerg in the tournament...when was the last time in such a tournament that one race wasn't present at all?
Of course it isn't saying much, it is more of a fun occurance. But there could be a world where this becomes somewhat of the new normal, considering that Reynor and Solar are both not doing great right now and Dark is on the verge of military service. There is Serral and then there is a big pile of nothing until Shin or Elazer come along.
On April 02 2024 04:47 Balnazza wrote: Not a single Zerg in the tournament...when was the last time in such a tournament that one race wasn't present at all?
Of course it isn't saying much, it is more of a fun occurance. But there could be a world where this becomes somewhat of the new normal, considering that Reynor and Solar are both not doing great right now and Dark is on the verge of military service. There is Serral and then there is a big pile of nothing until Shin or Elazer come along.
On April 02 2024 04:47 Balnazza wrote: Not a single Zerg in the tournament...when was the last time in such a tournament that one race wasn't present at all?
Of course it isn't saying much, it is more of a fun occurance. But there could be a world where this becomes somewhat of the new normal, considering that Reynor and Solar are both not doing great right now and Dark is on the verge of military service. There is Serral and then there is a big pile of nothing until Shin or Elazer come along.
Serral is also on the verge of military service.
Big difference between the two though. Of course it remains to be seen how much it affects Serral, but atleast he will definetly be able to still compete, while Dark will effectively be gone.
Quite honestly I wish Firefly have a breakout performance on home turf. :D He's been around for so long and has much less chance to play international offline tournaments.
Aside from that I just hope there are less PvP and TvT to watch, LOL.
Who's gonna take the W here? Guys, predictions and reasons? :D
On April 02 2024 04:47 Balnazza wrote: Not a single Zerg in the tournament...when was the last time in such a tournament that one race wasn't present at all?
Of course it isn't saying much, it is more of a fun occurance. But there could be a world where this becomes somewhat of the new normal, considering that Reynor and Solar are both not doing great right now and Dark is on the verge of military service. There is Serral and then there is a big pile of nothing until Shin or Elazer come along.
Well where the F is Elazer doing right now? He should've really qualified for this event.
He used to buy bunch of keyboard from XiaoSe(Co-owner of Scboy) and resell them in Poland I heard, haha. It's his perfect chance to restock some for free, LOL.
On April 02 2024 04:47 Balnazza wrote: Not a single Zerg in the tournament...when was the last time in such a tournament that one race wasn't present at all?
Of course it isn't saying much, it is more of a fun occurance. But there could be a world where this becomes somewhat of the new normal, considering that Reynor and Solar are both not doing great right now and Dark is on the verge of military service. There is Serral and then there is a big pile of nothing until Shin or Elazer come along.
herO said solar didnt practise as hard recently so i'm not too concerned about him, reynor is just reynor he will bounce back. Also where lambo in your list if you are listing elazer and shin (lambo didnt try here so yea another good eu zerg that is missing). Also rogue is returning to fill the hole dark is leaving behind
EPT
![[image loading]](https://i.imgur.com/sAJhxJ8.png)
StarsWar 11
Oliveira
