Clarity Gaming Bi-Weekly Wrap-Up #3

While most businesses and organizations took some time off during the the past few weeks, we at Clarity Gaming have been hard at work on a number of projects and are excited to be able to announce them to you now. From the Clarity team, we would like to thank you for your continuous support since our launch; without our fans and friends standing alongside us we wouldn’t be where we are. Additionally, if you have yet to read about the establishment of the Clarity Gaming Training Facility earlier this week, you can do so here



First and foremost let me preface this by expressing how proud we are of Brian “ cSaroVati” Zhao, not just for the exceptional results he earned this past weekend but for ALL of the hard work and discipline he’s shown. In fact, Brian was slated to be featured in this Bi-Weekly Wrapup regardless as we’ve recently promoted him to the position of “Captain” of our Starcraft 2 team.

Since he joined the Clarity Family, he has become a close friend to every one of us, exhibiting not only great leadership skills but an ability to lead by example. Despite being a full-time university student in one of the most-time intensive majors, Brian consistently spends his time practicing with his teammates and crafting some of the most creative Protoss builds to come out of North America. Congratulations Brian, we couldn’t be happier to call you Clarity!



Starting the weekend traveling eight hours through a snow storm that unfortunately forced fellow teammate cEngyn to remain home, Brian rose early to begin his first of four events he’d be undertaking in the next 48 hours. The King of the Prairies was a unique tournament, hosted and organized at the community level in Regina, Saskatechawan which featured an impressive lineup of some of Canada’s best. Long heralded as the strongest Protoss in Edmonton, SaroVati rose to the challenge to expand his dominance to the rest of Canada.



Protoss, Terran and Zerg from all over the US’s northern neighbor tested their mettle against Brian but in the end, nobody was able to withstand the diverse builds and unorthodox play of SaroVati. In the most impressive run I’ve seen in quite some time, SaroVati did not drop a single map until the Semi-Finals and ended up finishing with a 13-1 combined series score. Taking home the gold secured him a seed into an 8-man tournament the following day which will be broadcasted on Access TV in Canada which we’ll be following live on Twitter to bring you the action as it happens. Clarity Gaming would like to personally thank the sponsors of the King of the Prairies event for giving SaroVati a chance to succeed. They are; VividArts Graphic Design, The Matrix Gaming Center, SaskGamers, Triumph eSports, and the Saskatoon Barcraft Association.



The culmination of the three month long Alienware Arena finally arrived! Four Clarity players (cEngyn, cSaroVati, cSiphonn and cShew) managed to make it to the playoffs of the Pro-Am Challenge, a testament to the long hours of hard work and tireless practice each undertook in preparation. Unfortunately, Siphonn and Engyn were forced to meet in the Ro8 meaning that only one could advance. Engyn managed to pull off the bittersweet victory and advance while Shew would end up going down against Its Gosu’s dde in a valiant effort just one game shy of obtaining a seed to the invite-only tournament.



Although not necessarily ideal, SaroVati had to compete in the Alienware Pro-Am Challenge against the likes of CatZ, qxc and ViBE while also competing in the previously discussed King of the Prairies LAN. Despite these drawbacks, we were confident and expected to see great things from both of Clarity’s Canadian Brians. While unfortunately cEngyn would fall to ROOT Gaming Player and WCS US Champion ViBe in the Round of 8, cSaroVati managed to make the best of his difficult situation and despite hopping from series to series in two different tournaments, made it through the North American Championships, taking down ROOTCatZ, coLQXC and taking revenge on ROOTViBe for his teammate.



Overall, Brian played absolutely astoundingly this weekend, and we hope he can take this success and momentum forward in 2013 as a strong leader for the team!



While Team Captain cSaroVati was tearing it up online, and locally in Canada, cJookTo and cYong made the short trip to LocalBattles' 8th installment of the Power Overwhelming LAN. Making the ride with them was Gage "coL.Sasquatch" DuBose.



Despite being a "Local" LAN, the field at Power Overwhelming is always packed with fierce competition, including Pyre, GoSu.Pokebunny, and iSMike.



Regardless, the carpool trio managed to snag all of the Top 3 finishes, with Clarity's JookTo besting his teammate Yong 2-0 in the Winner's Final and then 3-1 again in the Grand Finals!



Clarity understands how hard it is to stay relevant in today’s esports environment. In a market saturated with quality content, it can often be difficult to differentiate between the wide variety of offerings. Any event that’s featured on TeamLiquid or hopes to captivate an audience’s attention must be able to provide professional, consistent casting and commentators by two individuals whose passion and knowledge show through in their analysis and play by play. After vetting a number of potential candidates, two up and coming casters in particular caught our eye and, after working multiple smaller events for us, we are pleased to say we’re ready to invest in their future and success.



The first new addition to the Clarity Media Staff comes to us from Buffalo, New York. Shane “Wyrd” Olivieri has casted for events such as IPL5 and the ISTL Season 3 MVP Tournament in addition to finishing in the top 4 of the IPL Caster Search that recently concluded. Wyrd brings a clear and intelligent approach to every game he commentates and we are excited to see him in action representing the Clarity banner! Be sure to look out for the upcoming showmatches and events which Wyrd will be broadcasting for your entertainment soon.



The second addition to our Media Staff hails from Adelaide, Australia. Gerred “LaughingMan” Lennon has long been a staple in the community down under, having previously worked for Quantic Gaming and casted numerous events such as: The CSL Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund Showmatches, IPL Caster Challenge, AHGL, Build to Win, and more. Gerred is a high masters player across three servers; the experience he brings to the table is clearly displayed in his commentary. In addition, we are happy to announce that LaughingMan will finally be making his long awaited trip to the United States where he will be residing in the Clarity Gaming Training Facility alongside the players and casting in-house events and productions.



The final addition to the Clarity Gaming casting team broadcasts live every week from Daly City, California in the good ol’ US of A. Having been a part of the former Quantic Gaming alongside Gerred, Nour “PrOmise” Moussa is one of the most dedicated and passionate commentators you’ll ever watch. Through his unique balance of game knowledge and excitement, PrOmise finished top 8 in the IPL Caster Search and brings quality content each and every week in the form of the well-received “Top 200 HotS KotH” which will be continuing in the future under the Clarity brand. He’s worked for the Honor Cup, CSN, ESEA, CSL and the RSL. We can’t wait to see what else Nour has in store for us!


Please join us in welcoming Nour, Gerred and Shane to the family!

You can follow Shane “cWyrd” Olivieri at:
Twitter - @cWyrdCast
Twitch - Wyrd's Channel
YouTube - Wyrd's YouTube

You can follow Gerred “cLaughingMan” Lennon at:
Twitter - @LaughingManSC2
Twitch - LaughingMan's Channel
YouTube - LaughingMan's YouTube

You can follow Nour “cPrOmise” Moussa at:
Twitter - @ClarityPrOmise
Twitch - PrOmise's Channel
YouTube - PrOmise's YouTube

Please stay tuned this week for the announcement of a new line of weekly content and shows brought to you by the Clarity Gaming Media Staff! We’re working hard to bring you quality production and we hope you’re looking forward to tuning in as much as we are!



Intel Extreme Masters: Katowice

Participants: cJookTo, cSiphonn
Date: Friday, January 18th through Sunday, January 20th
Time: 6:00 AM EST
Event Website



After gaining entry through the American qualifier, cJookTo and cSiphonn will be competing at IEM Katowice in Poland for a chance at a top prize of $6,500. The stiff competition is in the running for a total of $29,000 in cash prizes.

While the last two spots in cJookTo’s group won't be determined until the Open Bracket is played at the event, Group C is already looking like a tough road, aTnSocke, Acer.Nerchio, and LG-IM.YoDa will be the initial competition for cJookTo prior to the final spots in his group being filled by players from the open bracket. cJookTo will need to place in the top three in his group to advance and must place first in his group if he hopes to fly directly into the quarterfinals.

Meanwhile, cSiphonn has been seeding into Group B (replacing dKiLLeR). Being the only American representative at the tournament puts a lot of pressure on his shoulders, especially against opponents like K3.LucifroN, Acer.Bly, and SKT1.PartinG. Like the other groups, Siphonn will also have to square off against the two Open Bracket players seeded into his group as well.

Be sure to watch the astounding matches that are sure to take place and please cheer on our men!



To keep a closer eye on our players in the future, as well as to receive immediate updates to exclusive content from our players during, before, and after events check out all our social media platforms below!

Website: ClarityGaming.com
Twitter: @Clarity_Gaming
Facebook: Facebook.com/ClarityGaming
Twitch: Twitch.TV/Clarity_Gaming
Youtube: YouTube.com/ClarityGamingSC2

If you haven't joined the Clarity Family already, we hope you'll do so now to stay with us through 2013!