The implications of Acer's barely believable acquisition of INnoVation

by Fionn

Even with all the clues, blatant hints, and evidence pointing to just one answer, you really didn't believe it, did you? Acer.INnoVation?

I mean, who could blame you? The idea that the ace player of the reigning Proleague champions, the champion of the first season of WCS, and the #1~3 player on the planet (depending on who you ask) would move to a foreign team seems absurd. Maybe, just maybe, you would have thought the infamously wealthy Evil Geniuses could make it happen, given their history of major transactions. But no, INnoVation will not be wearing another blue shirt.

Instead it was team Acer—a team that quietly built itself from a mid-tier foreigner team into an elite StarCraft 2 organization over a year—that pulled off the biggest coup in StarCraft 2 history. Two straight years of Team Liquid and Evil Geniuses playing transfer market chess, making moves to acquire one championship caliber piece after the other, have been interrupted by Acer kicking down the door and flipping over the table.

There had been other signings that briefly distracted fans from the EG-TL's domination of the foreign scene,such as SK's acquisition of MC or Mousesports swooping in to pick up the Duran brothers. While those moves failed to change the status quo, Acer's blockbuster signing of INnoVation has made them the third giant of the foreign scene, both inside and outside Korea.


Even before signing INnoVation, Acer had already made several steps toward becoming a serious player in the foreign scene. Their acquisition of the up-and-coming Scarlett in June of 2012 proved to be a great investment indeed, with the camera-shy Canadian going from being the 2012 champion of the Americas to becoming one of the top two foreigners in the entire post-Stephano world of 2013. Compared to EG's signing of Suppy or Liquid's signing of Snute at around the same time, it only takes a glance to see that Acer has come out the best so far.

Building upon their acquisition of Scarlett, Acer turned its eye toward Korea by signing the former multiple-time GSL champion, MMA, and two-time GSTL winning coach Cella in November of 2012. While the signings were overshadowed by the SlayerS drama and MMA's poor form at the time, it was an opportunistic move that foreshadowed Acer's willingness to spend big should a desirable Korean player come out on the market.

The MMA signing might not be working out quite as well as the one with Scarlett, but he has certainly improved since joining Acer and looks to be on the right track. He may never recover his 2011 form again, but he was still the final Terran standing during a WCS Europe season that was dominated by Protoss, and he was able to make the WCS Season Finals. With a large foreign fan base from his championship days in 2011 and what looks to be a regular spot in the WCS Europe title picture, Acer can be happy with MMA even if he's not the super-ace they hoped he might be. Of course, that's not even an issue anymore.


So, about that INnoVation signing.

A lot of people are screaming "WHY, INNOVATION!? WHY? WHY WOULD YOU LEAVE KESPA FOR A FOREIGN TEAM!?"

But in the present state of the StarCraft 2 scene, the real question is why wouldn't INnoVation leave KeSPA?

With STX Soul disbanding, the 'normal' path Innovation could have taken was to be posted (auctioned) to the other KeSPA teams alongside his teammates, worked out a contract with the highest bidder, and continue his career with some minor changes in scenery. Despite the rumored budgetary cuts on KeSPA teams INnoVation would still command a high salary as the ace player of a championship team, probably higher than what Acer could have offered him in guaranteed salary.

But if you think about it carefully, Acer offers more value to INnoVation even if they don't match KeSPA wages.

Remember that time INnoVation won the Korean qualifier for IEM Shanghai, earned himself a fully paid trip to China, and then couldn't go because his team was playing Proleague that weekend? Revival ended up winning that tournament, taking home the first place prize of $10,000. Revival. I'm going to leave it to you to imagine what would have happened if INnoVation played Revival.

With his move to Acer, he can and will more than likely compete in as many foreign tournaments as possible. If you look at the kind of prize money players like TaeJa, HerO, or even PuMa have made by being on well-backed foreign teams, you can tell that being on a top player on a foreign team is just as lucrative as being a KeSPA star.

"Oh, Dreamhack this weekend? I've always wanted a giant, star-shaped, glass trophy. There's a few thousand bucks for winning RSL? And I can play it entirely online, sitting at home? Thanks, here's my bank information."

Also, you can't underestimate the value of WCS region flexibility. While Innovation is virtually assured a place at this year's Blizzcon finals after his great performances in WCS Season 1, he already had a taste of how hard it is to stay on top of the scene after in a 0 - 4 upset against Maru this season's WCS KR semi-finals. While his pride and skill level might warrant him picking Korea again in the 2014 season of WCS, it's never too soon to start thinking about what if's.

What if he has an extremely unlucky run next season and finds himself in Code A/Challenger League to start 2014? What if leaving the KeSPA environment is a detriment to his skill (more on that below) and he discovers that he's less dominant a player? He can't just let the that $20,000 Premier League first place prize go. With Acer opening up a team house in Germany, he could go over, chill with MMA and Cella, and play in the weakest WCS Europe region. And if he wanted to play in WCS America instead for whatever reason, I'm sure Acer would have no problem sending him for the live portion of the tournament.

And finally, instead of living in a strict, Proleague-centered system that limits his options, he can now live a free lifestyle that lets him practice and compete as he chooses. Like most Korean pros, INnoVation declined to talk about the financial incentives, but he did make it very explicit that the free practice environment of the Axiom-Acer house played a big part in his decision. INnoVation said that his skill level improved the most when STX Soul switched to a less strict training environment, and he can expect the same at the Axiom-Acer house. However, you never really know how a player will adapt to a specific environment, until you see it play out.


Two years ago, you could have made the argument that Innovation was making a gigantic mistake. Back then, GSL was holding almost a dozen tournaments a year, with $50,000 going to the winner. Now, if you win WCS Korea—the toughest out of the three regions—you make the same amount of money as the person who won WCS America or Europe. Back then, American tournaments like IPL and MLG were willing to lavish top Koreans with flights and hotels to have them at their events. Now, only a select few Koreans on foreign teams have the privilege of competing in international tournaments.

While this is a great move for both Acer and Innovation, Innovation must still deliver. Unlike Jaedong or MC, Innovation is not a player that gets by on personality or legacy. His 'niche,' so to speak, is being the best player in the world. If his aura of being an unstoppable, unfeeling, killing-machine is dispelled, he becomes generic Korean Terran #251. Wherever he plays in 2014, Innovation is a player that needs to win tournaments to be interesting.

However this plays out in the end, Acer will have made itself known to the rest of the world. Not just to Evil Geniuses and Team Liquid for butting into their two-man game, but to the proud organization known as KeSPA that must now live with the fact that their best players are more than happy to leave them. With contracts ending and players considering their future, KeSPA must seriously rethink their position in the SC2 world.

Writer: Fionn.
Photos: Team Acer, Silverfire
Editors: CosmicSpiral, monk, and Waxangel.