Iron Squid : It's back!

The squid is grown up and so is its tournament. Iron Squid comes back with a bigger tournament to amaze StarCraft II fans from around the world. It will not be 20 but 32 of the world’s elite players that will compete for the Iron Squid title. In addition to the 24 invited players, 8 will earn their spot through our four qualifiers.

The final four will be invited to Paris to play the finals in a prestigious venue that will be revealed later on.

The format of the main tournament:

There will be 8 groups of 4, played GSL style. Top 2 of each group will be seeded in the final bracket. Ro16 and Ro8 will be played online, the finals will be played in Paris in a venue yet to be revealed.

Prize Pool

Champion : $ 12,500

2nd : $ 6,250

3rd : $ 3,750

4th : $ 2,500

5th - 8th : $ 500

Want to be the new Symbol? Register now in the Iron Squid qualifiers, and try to get a slot to challenge the best players in the world.

There will be four qualifiers, the two players getting into the finals will win their slot in the main tournament and the winner of each qualifier wins $ 500. Registrations will open soon.

October 13th, KR only qualifier

Played on the KR server, open only to the players living in Asia or SEA.

October 14th, EU only qualifier

Played on the EU server, open only to the players living in Europe.

October 20th, NA only qualifier

Played on the NA server, open only to the players living in America (Latin America included).

October 21th, Open qualifier

Played on the NA server, open to players from everywhere.

The fanstastic four return



The fanstastic four return

The first four players invited are no strangers to the Iron Squid fans as they are the four who enlightened le Grand Rex during their journey to Paris.

Moon Sung Won, “ SlayerS`MMA”

The champion is back to defend his title. Crowned (or masked actually) in front of an audience that was totally under his charm, MMA conquered Paris. The Terran did what he does best, playing spectacularly showing some master class TvZ. Since he left Paris with the championship in the pocket, MMA went through rough times especially went his mentor left for SKT. The one who used to be called BoxeR’s heir found the strength in him to come back and is highly motivated about being back for the second chapter of the Iron Squid. MMA declined several invitations to foreign tournaments as he wanted to practice but he accepted to be in the Iron Squid with the firm intention to remain the only champion.

Kang Dong Hyun, “TSL Symbol”

First chapter’s breakout talent, Symbol is now a well established Zerg on the world’s scene. He traveled a lot since he came to Paris and also made a name for himself in Korea, where he is now one of the best GSL Zergs as he just secured a spot in the top 8 for twice in a row. Since he was revealed during the Iron Squid, Symbol has a special relationship with the tournament and the French fans. Even though he confirmed he is an amazing player, he has yet to win a major title. Maybe being back in Paris will inspire him.

Lim Jae Duck, “LG-IM NesTea”

One of the greatest players in StarCraft II history, NesTea has won a total of three GSL titles. Since the format was different from the other international tournaments where he gets tired because of the long days, Iron Squid chapter I was meant to be his first title out f Korea. But it eluded him and he ended up in the third place. NesTea has not been doing so well lately, and Iron Squid could be the opportunity for him to show the world that he is still one of the best in the business.

Han Lee Seok, “FnaticRC.aLive”

Even though he ended up in the fourth place, aLive really fought well during the finals. Each series was very tense and he lost 3-2 twice, on that day aLive was missing this “je ne sais quoi” that turns the game in your favor and makes the crowd go wild. Since May, aLive kept is discreet and hard working style but did not confirm his IPL4 performance. aLive has been given a rough time in GSL lately and Iron Squid might just be the breath of fresh air he needs to find his groove back.

Ilyes Satouri, “EG.StephanoRC”

No grudge or hard feelings, Iron Squid only wants the best players in the tournament and as – arguably – the best foreigner in the business, Stephano is very welcome in Iron Squid. Leave all the stories behind, Stephano is ready and will be a contender in Iron Squid 2. The Zerg is on a very hot streak as he recently won the 3rd season of NASL and the WCS Europe. Stephano loves playing in front of a crowd cheering for him, over 3,000 fans in Paris should do the trick.

Mihaylo Hayda, “Empire.Kas”

The first chapter Iron Squid did miss the beast from the East, Iron Squid II will not. Kas has been around forever, since the beta he remains one of the best contenders in every tournament he enters. Even when the non Korean Terrans are struggling, Kas somehow manages to be a threat to his opponents. The Ukrainian knows how to put the necessary volume of practice to be in his best shape before a tournament. Although he has been complaining about TvZ on his twitter lately, he has plenty of time to fix it before the matches start.

Marcus Eklöf, “EG.ThorZaIN.RC”

Another great foreign Terran joins Iron Squid II and in ThorZaIN’s case, it is a comeback. A lot of things have changed for ThorZaIN since his first participation in the tournament. He won a DreamHack tournament, and he signed with EG stating it was an offer he could not refuse. The Swede also tried his luck in GSL Code S where he did fairly well with very little time to prepare. Few weeks ago, the King in the North was beaten on his own soil and did not qualify for WCS World, Iron Squid is definitely a great shot to make up for it.

Kim Hammar, “Quantic.SaSe”

A Swede is followed by another one as SaSe is the first Protoss invited into Iron Squid II. SaSe has been training in Korea for months and his practice has been paying off lately, his performances have risen up as he was for instance the best foreigner in the MLG Spring championship beating the likes of Stephano and Leenock. The Protoss came really close to be the first foreigner to qualify for the GSL Code A but was stopped in semi-finals. In Iron Squid II SaSe will be looking for his first win in a major event, but the path will be tough.

Two Koreans are back and they are joined by two newcomers.

Kim Dong Hwan, "AZUBU.viOLet"

The fate of Korean players trying their luck in the foreign countries is not always rewarded with success, but for viOLet it was. The Zerg has scored several big performances topped with a win in a MLG Arena event, and has proved he was marketable enough to get his personal sponsorship. As a player that reached Code S, he could have surfed his wave to take the foreign money, but viOLet really improved his game since he left Korea. He was good enough to get a Code S seed usually given only to foreigners. It is now time for the Zerg to show how good he is in the Iron Squid.

Lee Dong Nyoung, "FXO.Leenock"

Invited to the first Iron Squid, Leenock had a very tough group but certainly did not do as good as he expected. Fortunately for him, he is still one of the best Zergs around. Leenock is on a heater lately as he conquered his second MLG title and managed to reach the Ro8 of the GSL Code S. He is back in shape, the skill level that brought him all the way to the GSL finals last November. It is no surprise to see such a player coming back for Iron Squid II and he will want to capitalize on his momentum to reach the finals and a first trip to Europe.

Lee Jung Hoon, "MarineKingPrime"

MarineKing was doing fairly well in Iron Squid, ending first in his group and then… Symbol. MKP got taken by surprise and annihilated by Symbol, this series was the first step of a rivalry in which battles were fought all around the world. 2012 has not been that nice to the Terran, having him struggle to get through the first rounds of GSL Code S, but he is back. MKP reduced his travelling time to practice more and reached the Ro8 of the Code S right away. He is now confident enough to enter Iron squid II where he will be trying to achieve his triple crown with a European title.

Won Lee Sak, "StarTale.PartinG"

It has been said that Iron Squid I was lacking Protoss players, luckily enough, Korea has seen the rise of several outstanding disciples of Aiur these last months. The rise of the Protoss was led by an infernal duo coming from StarTale, PartinG and Squirtle. PartinG was at some point nearly unbeatable in PvT, but got carried away by is cocky personality. The Protoss is a showman and one of the best of his race as he just demonstrated by manhandling Prime with a stunning all kill in IPTL. PartinG has rarely shown up in international events, and Iron Squid is his first opportunity to go to Europe and show his ceremonies to an overheated crowd.

Arthur Bloch, "Acer.Nerchio"

Nerchio has always been among Europe’s finest. He was good enough to be invited in Iron Squid I and came close to get out of the deadly group D. This summer, the Polish has shown that he was also able to beat Koreans and had what it takes to win offline events. Home Story Cup, DreamHack and IEM Cologne, Nerchio remained consistent the whole summer and confirmed his reputation of top foreigner. Now that he knows he can defeat Korean, he has more confidence for this Iron Squid

Sasha Hostyn, "Acer.Scarlett"

The mysterious Canadian has been one of the biggest stories of this year. Scarlett picks the tournaments she enters very carefully but does well in every event she plays. Breakout player of the IPL, she proved she was no fluke by winning WCS Canada and WCS North America. Scarlett is the second WCS Continental champion to join Iron Squid II and she is as ready as it gets to fight with the big boys in Iron Squid II.

Grzegorz Komincz, "Mouz.MaNa"

Way too used to silver, MaNa has broken his European Kong curse by winning DreamHack Summer. Building on his momentum he managed to get into Code S through the Up & downs but was pretty unlucky with the draw, ending up in one of the toughest group ever. Even though he was eliminated from GSL he did learn a lot during his travel and it is an over trained Protoss that come back for Iron Squid II. Remember that he defeated MMA, the future champion, in the group stage of Iron Squid I, his expectations should be even higher this time.

Pedro Moreno Duran, "Karont3 LucifroN"

The “Spanish armada” has been one of the hottest topics lately. The two brothers competing together at the highest level is one of the good stories of StarCraft. As one of the best Terrans out of Korea, Lucifron the eldest of the two, joins Iron Squid II. The Spanish was one of the best players on WarCraft III and transitioned very well his skills on StarCraft II even if his studies prevent him to practice as much as he would like to. Lucifron often peaks at the end of the summer, and this year he will have to extend his practice period as he will compete in both the WCS World and Iron Squid II.

Iron Squid's fans wanted more Protoss? Tonight three of them are announced together with the best player in th StarCraft II history.



Jang Hyun Woo, "Creator.Prime"

Of all the Protoss players that have emerged lately, Creator is youngest and maybe the most
promising one. He will enter the Iron Squid as both the TSL 4 and WCS Korea champion, no small
feats. Smart and innovative, Creator plays sharply in every match up. Even if had success in brackets format,
he is yet to shine in a GSL format tournament. Iron Squid will be the first international event he
enters that proposes such a format. Needless to say that the Korean will be eager to show he can win
in every format and even in front of a wild crowd.

Jeong Jong Hyeon, "LG-IM.Mvp"

They said he was done, that he could not overcome his injury, his answer? He quietly won a 4 th GSL
title even though people gave his opponents favorite for each round. In the first Iron Squid, Mvp was
eliminated at the round average, the king not going through the group stage was quite a shock to
everybody. The other competitors better worry, it is not Mvp’s habit not to win something he runs
for. Even though he has won nearly everything, the Iron Squid trophy is one worth addition to his
huge collection, something he is definitely after.

Jung Min Soo, "SlayerS`Genius"

Winner of the first Blizzcon on SC II and finalist of the first GSL in 2012, Genius rarely shows up in
international events. This is a shame for people not watching enough GSL as he is one of the most
entertaining players to watch. When he left team MvP to join SlayerS, he insisted on the idea of
participating in more international events. Iron Squid will be the first event that could bring him to
Paris if he does what he does best, crushing the soul of his opponents.


Ahn Sang Won, "LG-IM.Seed"

Over 500 days people have been waiting for him, there he is. Seed is the one that brought to Aiur
the GSL title people have been craving for. After he was noticed in team league over a year ago, it
took a while for the Korean to rise as one of the best Protoss if not the best. Seed also offered to LG-
IM its 8th title, making it the only team to have a GSL title in each race. The Protoss now lures on an
international title and as he scheduled conflicted, preventing him to go to Cologne, Iron Squid might
bring him in Europe for the first time. In that case, he won’t just come to see Paris.

Last but not least, four more great players join the tournament.



Yoon Young Suh, "Liquid.Taeja"

Players have been on hot streaks all along the StarCraft II history, but Taeja’s heater can hardly be matched. For
2 months he has been killing everybody in every tournament, carrying Team Liquid in the IPL TAC 3 grand
final were he pulled a first all kill against LG-IM before losing a map to Seed. Taeja was not just winning, he
was crushing the competition, playing brilliantly and showing some amazing skills in every match-up. His
spectacular plays with both great macro and outstanding control – at least top 3 – will be a real asset to compete
in his first Iron Squid and qualifying for the finals in Paris would be a nice way to end up 2012 the “year of
Liquid”

Song Hyeon Deok, "Liquid.HerO"

Even though his results have been shadowed by Taeja’s amazing run, HerO has been doing really well lately.
He finally established himself as a Code S regular and even reached the round of 4 where he was eliminated by
Squirtle. The Protoss scored his main accomplishments during his time overseas. HerO is a NASL finalist and a
DreamHack champion. The arrival of Taeja on the team was good for him as he was a little less in the spotlights
and it removed some pressure of his shoulders. In Iron Squid, it will be all lights on him as fans will really be
expecting him to do well in a GSL format tournament.

Jang Min Chul, "SK.MC"

In the first Iron Squid and in many tournaments at that time, MC was the last Protoss hope to win it all. Sadly for
him, aLive defeated him in the round of 8. The boss toss is back but this time the competition to be the best of
his race will be tougher. MC does not want to be the best Protoss, he wants to be the best to remain the President.
His title has been discussed recently since it has been a while since he won a major title. He came close when
reaching the finals of the last GSL and is still in the run to be an OSL champion, but no trophy yet. MC is
craving for more titles and would definitively be thriving in front of Paris’ audience.

Park Soo Ho, "MvP.DongRaeGu"

DongRaeGu was maybe the main big name missing in Iron Squid I, be sure he will not be absent of Iron Squid
II. The Zerg is one of the most accomplished players in the world. He won a GSL, a MLG, the IEM New-York
and is also known for being part of the astonishing finals of the Blizzard cup that he barely lost to MMA. DRG
has been through tough times since he won his GSL title against his teammate Genius, but he remains a great
Zerg and a real contender to be in the four players coming to Paris. Look out for him, Iron Squid might be his
way to complete the Korea-America-Europe triple crown.