Grand Finals - Live Blog

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Don't forget to check http://twitter.com/#!/teamliquidlive for backstage updates from TeamLiquidPro's tree.hugger as well.
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Much, much later: Sorry we had to cut off the live blogging. We were busy rushing the stage.



12:18 PM: HerO continues to build momentum, crushing Puma with proxy pylons, zealots and stalkers.

12:05 PM: HerO takes game three in short order with some gorgeous phoenix play.

11:55 PM: HerO takes game two in utterly convincing fashion.
Hero rising?


11:39 PM: Puma takes game one, flanked with marauders and hit him hard at home. HerO showed off some warp prism/colossus micro before GGing, but it wasn't enough.

11:32 PM: So much voting that Dreamhack's fan rating system broke? Sounds good

11:30 PM: Puma's pulse is 108 for the final, compared to the 80(ish) he was at when he played the semifinal. Interesting stuff. HerO's pulse, by comparison, is down significantly in the opening.

11:24 PM: HerO and Puma arrive to rapturous applause, crowd wild and high-fives all the way up to the stage. Phenomenal response.

11:00 PM: SC2 final is coming up, HerO vs Puma! Quake final was superb, excellent games and great manner from Cypher.

9:48 PM: HerO beats Ret one last time to solidify a meeting with Puma in the finals.

9:19 PM: HerO manages to pull it up to 2-1.

9:00 PM: Ret draws level with HerO and the crowd shows just how much they love him

8:44 PM: HerO's heartrate seems to hover constantly between 140 and 150bpm... he is a beautiful hummingbird.

8:40 PM: HerO's stalker count is spiraling out of control, his blink micro keeping them alive in situations where they otherwise wouldn't. It's beginning to look a little overwhelming.

8:39 PM: Ret transitions into Spire and manages to save his newest expansion, but roaming phoenix's give HerO strong control and help him eliminate the hydra army.

8:34 PM: Ret successfully deflects HerO with hydras, keeping HerO's air away with clever movement.

8:34 PM HerO fast-expands and opts for the double stargate, Ret moving towards hydralisk as quickly as possible. Losing queens early.

7:45 PM: So apparently it's your fault if your hardware fails in pro Street Fighter, and you have to forfeit your game. Someone just dropped a round in the SF4 finals because of a hardware problem. Not that much in Starcraft II ESPORTS makes sense, but I guess we're ahead of the curve?


7:35 PM: Well, looks like 90% of the crowd is here for Starcraft II. After the Nightend vs Puma match ended, practically everybody filtered out to go to the bathroom, get food, etc. I feel bad for the Street Fighter players and casters who are now performing in front of a nearly empty stadium. Well, here's some crowd shots from when people were actually here.




7:21 PM: Here's where I get to nitpick about the accuracy of translations! Just kidding, the DH interpreter is pretty good ^^;


7:14 PM: Puma must be 89 - 2 in tournament games using 1/1/1 vs Protoss. And those two losses are probably to MaNa or something. By the way, you can spam support votes at http://dreamhack.tv/ every 12 seconds or so.


6:55 PM: Biggest crowd reaction of the night for NightEnd's game two win, but still not at super loud levels yet compared to other events. Cool note: NightEnd accidentally alt-tabbed out during the game.


6:18 PM: SirJolt points out how damn fascinating the heartbeat counters are. NightEnd was at fast-jog 120 bpm to begin, while Puma was at a leisurely 80.


6:15 PM: Arena looks about 80~85% full as we go into the first game. There are a lot of seats at a 90 degree angle to the screen (that are obviously not being given to anyone) that make the entire venue look emptier than it is though.


6:01 PM: Couch talk is cute, but come on, let's get to the games! Nightend and Puma in their booths:




5:49 PM: Apparently they moved the opening ceremonies onto the Quake stream so all the SC ppl missed it? Lame! To begin there was a countdown, then there was a guy in a legit, full-blown marine suit walking out to announce "Hell, it's about time!" which received a lot of cheers, after which there was a lot of laughing about his inability to actually walk around. TotalBiscuit and some COD guy I'm not familiar with (sorry) MC'd the player intro. Not much discernible crowd reaction difference for each of the four players.


5:40 PM: DreamArena is about half full right now. People are slowly filing in and getting into their seats. I wonder how this being a three-category final will turn out. Are the Quake and SF4 people going to arrive in time for SC2, and will they stay after their finals end?


5:35 PM: Look like it's about to start. Enjoy some more backstage shots in the meanwhile!




5:17 PM: TeamLiquid's grnp ran backstage and got the following predictions from players and casters:

MrBitter: Puma and Ret win semi-finals. Ret wins in a close final.
TotalBiscuit: Puma beats Nightend 3-1. Hero beats Ret 3-2. Puma wins final 4-2.
Apollo: Puma beats Nightend 3-1. Hero beats Ret 3-2. Puma wins final 4-2.
Day9: Puma beats Nightend 3-0. Hero beats Ret 3-1. Hero wins final 4-3.
Artosis: Puma beats Nightend 3-1. Hero beats Ret 3-1. Hero wins final 4-2.
Tasteless: Puma beats Nightend 3-1. Hero beats Ret 3-2. Finals is 4-3, either way.
Idra: Puma beats Nightend 3-1. Hero beats Ret 3-1. Puma wins final 4-2.
Sheth: Puma beats Nightend 3-0. Hero beats Ret 3-0. Hero win final 4-3.
TLO: Puma beats Nightend 3-0. Hero beats Ret 3-2. Hero wins final 4-2.

Overall: 9/9 picked Puma to beat Nightend. 8/9 Picked HerO to beat Ret. Three picked Puma, four picked Hero, one picked Ret to win the grand finals.


4:47 PM: Got in the press box at the DreamArena and set up shop. Internet and power plugs for press with a great view of the stage? How awesome! *hint hint MLG*