[GOM] Woah?! Where'd this come from...

Plexa

Aotearoa39261 Posts

June 20 2008 15:25 GMT

Banner made by pachi the Omnipotent

What's this you say? A new league? No good friends this is a league that has been going on for some time but has been largely neglected by TL for a number of reasons like TSL. However, in an effort to rectify the situation we've bashed our heads together and come up with some of the highlights of this magnificent tournament thus far, some things to look forward to and how the Ro16 bracket is shaping up (and the rest of the results). But first up for those unfortunate souls who have no idea what this tournament is we'll outline what exactly this is.

The GomTV TG Sambo-Intel Classic is the follow up tournament by Gretech to the GomTV Star Invitational. Because of the immense success of the GSI, Gretech decided to go ahead and create another tournament to capitalize on the untapped foreign market. In doing so they are bringing the foreign community closer to Korea; but this would not be possible without one man - Nick "Tasteless" Plott. Tasteless returns as the commentator of choice for the tournament and has done an excellent job thus far.

So upon deciding to create a new, longer, tournament Gretech decided the best option would be to hold a classic 128 man single elimination tournament. Everything was going great for Gretech until KeSPA refused to officially sanction the tournament which resulted in 5 of the Starcraft teams chose not to participate. This left the tournament with 7 teams, namely;

The tournament then decided on using the current KeSPA Proleague 1v1 maps as a map pool as this reduced the stress on the players participating. Thus, if you didn't already know, the maps in this tournament are;

Andromeda	Blue Storm	Colosseum
Katrina SE	Othello	Wuthering Heights

So where are we up to in this tournament? Well we're getting to the interesting part of the tournament. We're up to the Round of 16 which means four full rounds have already been played. While that sounds like a small number; thats over 200 individual games. This tournament hasn't been without its stories and drama either and so we present to you the highlights of the tournament thus far!

Yellow's rise and fall

If nothing else, this tournament has been a vessel to show us a whole bunch of new school players and how awesomely they are playing. In fact, the vast majority of stories thus far in the tournament are about awesome moves by slick new players. This however, is not the glorification of the new wave. This is the emergence of the phoenix from the ashes and the return of YellOw to competitive 1v1 play.

YellOw's play in the tournament was inspiring for all the nostalgic fans out there. The epitome of his brilliance was without doubt his proxy hatch against Free (VOD here). He executed this build with absolute mastery by tricky Free into turtling then proxying in a location which also gave him gas. Aside from this game, Yellow put on some heartening results (2-1 aSam, 2-0 zergjooa, 2-1 free) but was unfortunately stopped in the Ro32 by Odin 0-2. Despite this setback, YellOw looks poised to make somewhat of an impact during the next offline preliminaries!

Shuttles miraculous run

Shuttle is perhaps better known as YoonJoong to some, while he has also gone by the alias of boradori. Shuttle has been impressive throughout this tournament showcasing a micro intensive style with a strong macro to boot. He first caught the eye of people a while back when he defeated Stork (when Stork was still good). Since then we've been keeping an eye on him, waiting for him to make his move. He almost managed to do it in the MSL, but was just stopped at the last hurdle (i.e. he ran into Flash). But in this tournament, he is showcasing brilliance in every game.

Just ask Goosey, the resident Shuttle fanatic about how brilliant his play is. He's already blogged twice about this exciting new gamer (1|2) and spread the word of Shuttle to the masses. Of all his games so far, Shuttle's most monumental series has been against XellOs - the perfect Terran (Game 1, Game 2). He first dazzled Xellos with a brilliant goon/dt build which cracked his defense then in the second game, he humiliates XellOs by stopping his push with a reaver (after losing his goons). Without this tournament we would still be deprived of this wonderful addition to progaming.

Tossgirl wins a televised game

Tossgirl has long been the premier female starcraft gamer, and in years gone by she has managed to score a numebr of upset wins (e.g. Tossgirl defeating YellOw at WCG). However, in recent times, the skill level has risen so dramatically high that she has been struggling something terrible. But by the looks of recent events - things just may be starting to turn around for her. First of all in the offline preliminaries she managed to win a game instead of being eliminated 0-2, which is always a good step.

However, in this tournament Tossgirl took it that extra step further. She won her first game in the tournament against effOrt! (VOD here) Sadly this didn't mean much as effort won the next two sets to advance to the next round. But what is surprising is that he went on to defeat GGplay (2-1) before losing out to the Lecaf powerhouse ForGG 1-2. Thus it is safe to say that effort is no scrub. Although to your average gamer winning just one set in a series means nothing, for Tossgirl it is a sign of hope. Perhaps one day, we will see her win a bo3; from there the possibilities are endless~

Juni's proxy nydus... against Flash!

Before this tournament, this was all Juni was known for

We've all heard of proxy nyduses being used in the past, typically in long ZvZ's (rare) or 2v2's on Chariots of Fire (also rare). However, when a young player steps up to the mark against the strongest gamer of today and proxy hatcheries and nyduses - you know that player must have balls of steel. Going into the deciding game of the series, scores leveled at 1-1; Juni did just that. Although he eventually lost the match, this move is without doubt one of the pimpest moves all year.

Juni will no longer be remembered as "TT's 2v2 partner" but will now be immortalized as that guy who proxy nydused Flash in the GomTV Classic. You can watch the sexiness of Juni here.

Ganzi's incredible harass

With Hanbit currently in a huge slump, with only free being able to post semi-consistent results, any sign of bright new talent coming from their team is welcomed with open arms. Ganzi is providing us with some of the most entertaining TvP since Nada showed us how to harass with Vultures. His sick multitasking ability has allowed him to develop a harass intensive style while maintaining a strong macro. Indeed, this has propelled him into the Ro16 where we eagerly await what he will do next.

Ganzi's unique style is best shown in his series vs Much, ironically in a game that he lost. Despite being completely caught off guard by Much's carriers, Ganzi harassed greater than Nada himself could in multiple locations simultaneously, and became responsible for the murder of dozens of probes (VOD Here). Despite losing that game (game 2) he was still able to steamroll Much 2-1 and advance onto the latter stages of the tournament. This promising young Terran is one to keep your eye on in the future.

The Black Death returns thanks to Hades

Hades, otherwise known as by.great, is one of the most creative and refreshing zergs to hit the scene since Kwanro. Coming from myself, one of the largest Kwanro fans on this site, that's a big deal. His play on all counts is simply wonderful to watch. But when you're a newcomer, and you're set to play Mind - one of the strongest Terrans in existence right now - you gotta be shaking in your boots.

Hades, however, found the a way to defeat the WeMade Terran by calling on the Black Death. Through consummate use of plague, he demolished his adversary. And you know when a Terran is destroyed when he loses about 10 vessels to one mutalisk

! (VOD Here) Indeed, Hades did not stop there, and finished off Mind 2-0; winning a number a fans while doing so. Sadly, he was stopped by Violet in the following round, and thus was denied entry into the Ro16. Despite this, we have seen a glimpse of a brilliant Zerg in the making and i will be keeping a close eye on Hades in the future.

Dominance of Lecaf

From left to right, Lomo, BackHo, Jaedong, ForGG, Anytime

I don't know what they're putting in the water over at the Lecaf house, but it can't be legal. No matter where you look right now - Lecaf is dominating. The emergence of Lomo, BackHo and ForGG have bolstered the almost faltering lineup of Lecaf and have pushed them back to the number 1 spot in Proleague. These guys are simply running amok in this tournament - raping players left right and center. Let's take Lomo vs Hwasin; Lomo dominated Hwasin 2-0 in games that made Hwasin look like a lost little puppy. Take Kal vs Backho, where BackHo did Kal up the BackHo and made him go home crying 2-0. ForGG is looking to be an unstoppable beast in both this tournament and MSL. While Anytime and Jaedong are always forces to be reckoned with.

With this influx of successful Lecaf players, I have to think that this would not have happened if MBC/SKT/OGN had turned up. Although, that just probably the bitter anti-Lecaf fan inside me talking

. The truth is, anyone facing someone from Lecaf at the moment should be very very afraid. They are looking the strongest they've ever looked, and thats saying something seeing as they won last seasons proleague. The chances are, one of these fice players will win this tournament, and theres a strong possibility of an all Lecaf final.

So what's next in this stellar tournament? Well, after two months of Sundays, and after four rounds, the player pool has been finally whittled down to the top 16. The top 16 players for the TG-Intel Classic are:

Anytime	BackHo	Flash	fOrGG
GanZi	Iris	Jaedong	JangBi
Lomo	LuCifer	Memory	oDin
sAviOr	Stork	Violet	YoonJoong

For a full list of results thus far check out Pachi's amazing results and standings thread.

This Sunday the Round of 16 kicks off with a stellar lineup of players. The following games will be played this Sunday, 06/22, at 18:00 KST:

sAviOr vs

Violet vs

Jaedong vs (P)

Lomo vs

The following Sunday, 29/06, at the same time we have the other half of the bracket. The games to be played are;

BackHo vs

Stork vs

Flash vs

Anytime vs (T)

Each series will be a Bo3 on Andromeda, Othello, then Blue Storm if needed.

Some things to look forward to in the Ro16:

Lee Young Ho vs Lee Young Ho! Flash takes on Lucifer for the battle of Lee Young Ho's
Savior runs into the new Lecaf powerhouse ForGG - will this be the end of Saviors comeback?
Rematch from the 2007 Seoul e-Sports festival final; JangBi vs Jaedong
For the fifth time, Stork and Iris clash heads in a major tournament

As always, you can watch using GomTV and if you are still unsure, head over to the official website, http://www.gomtv.net/classic/ for all the assistance you could dream of.

So far this tournament has been neglected by the majority of users here on TL. And well, due to the obscure timing of the event its understandable. However, as this tournament kicks into high gear with the Round of 16, you will want to be making that extra effort to watch these games. There is so much talent in the top 16 and a variety of style and stories. Who knows, we could see Savior come back and win this tournament. We could see Ganzi showcase some art multitasking and shame Backho. There are so many exciting possibilities that you would be mad to miss this event.

So come along on Sunday night and lend some support to our man Tasteless and enjoy some premium starcraft... in english!

Plexa

Thanks to Bockit,G.s)NarutO and Aesop for their help with this post ~<3

Puosu

6984 Posts

June 20 2008 15:29 GMT

You have Savior as protoss in the top 16 players chart thingy.

Nice work though, maybe they'll get more watchers now.

FaCE_1

Canada6166 Posts

June 20 2008 15:29 GMT

wow, that is awsome !! :D

Thx a lot

Lecaf is just owning everything

(ps.. ppl will tell you that in the image, savior is a P

)

Plexa

Aotearoa39261 Posts

June 20 2008 15:30 GMT

oops thanks guys

fixed

Superiorwolf

United States5509 Posts

June 20 2008 15:35 GMT

Great writeup, it's great to finally have something on the tg sambo averac tournament. BTW in the picture it says sAviOr is Protoss? Thanks for the writeup!

edit: ninja'd

ThatGuy

Canada695 Posts

June 20 2008 15:35 GMT

I find it hilarious that "Tossgirl wins a game!" is a highlight.

Thanks for the write-up

mrdx

Vietnam1555 Posts

June 20 2008 15:39 GMT

OMG THANK YOU PLEXA! I was almost making a thread complaining about the serious lack of coverage of GSI from TL - which I thought was very unfair.

Plexa

Aotearoa39261 Posts

June 20 2008 15:42 GMT

On June 21 2008 00:35 ThatGuy wrote:
I find it hilarious that "Tossgirl wins a game!" is a highlight.

Thanks for the write-up

of course its a highlight! i estimate that 50% of tl.neters are tossgirl fans, in fact judging by the poll this figure could be higher!

mrdx

Vietnam1555 Posts

June 20 2008 15:47 GMT

Have just read the thread, I'm somewhat more hyped now

Thanks again Plexa!

Also TossGirl of course deserved a highlight, even without the win!!

Emptyness

Bulgaria1016 Posts

June 20 2008 15:49 GMT

#10

Thank you very much, Plexa, for this great article, as I am one of the mentioned

unfortunate souls who have no idea what this tournament is

And damn, I will try to catch up with this tournament since it's already Ro16.
Cheering for Flash of course

fusionsdf

Canada15390 Posts

June 20 2008 15:50 GMT

#11

savior made the round of 16! thats story worthy :D

DragoonPK

3259 Posts

June 20 2008 15:56 GMT

#12

Savior please at least make some good matches come out of you while playing ForGG!!!

RoC)Ninjah

United States238 Posts

June 20 2008 15:56 GMT

#13

w00t! tossgirl!

in all seriousness I hope savior and flash duke it out in an epic best of 5 which involves savior proxy 10 hatcheries in flash's main

I can dream, can't i? o________o

Descent

1244 Posts

June 20 2008 15:56 GMT

#14

Yaaaar, the Classic could use some more attention~ <3 Nice post, thanks for the update. x3

NarutO

Germany18839 Posts

June 20 2008 15:57 GMT

#15

Great read. Awesome article. Not much more to add. I'm speechless.

ZergZoul

Mexico408 Posts

June 20 2008 15:57 GMT

#16

By Ro8 this is gonna be "Lecaf Classic"

PePe QuiCoSE

Argentina1204 Posts

June 20 2008 15:59 GMT

#17

nice and thanks! i have seen very few pro games lately, and felt that i was missing what was going on on GomTV

dyodyo

Philippines578 Posts

June 20 2008 16:00 GMT

#18

Awesome writeup.

Go sAviOr!!! Bash those noobs and regain your confidence!

Is there a bracket for this? I want to know who will savior go up against after defeating forGG! (Yup, Im an optimist)

Edit:

On June 21 2008 00:42 Plexa wrote:

Show nested quote +

of course its a highlight! i estimate that 50% of tl.neters are tossgirl fans, in fact judging by the poll this figure could be higher!

Of course its a highlight! Who doesn't want to see tossgirl win?

Swap

Sweden144 Posts

June 20 2008 16:05 GMT

#19

Good to see some news about this, I've been thinking its kind of bad of the community to almost forget about the league that Tasteless is putting so much effort on.

Keep these news coming!

SuperJongMan

Jamaica11586 Posts

June 20 2008 16:10 GMT

#20

Now this stuff is getting exciting.
A great mix of old and new.

Obv, Savior Anytime Jaedong are the players ill be following closest,

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