Our school, South Colchester Academy, has around 700 students over six grades (7 through 12). We managed to find 7 people for our team, so about 1% of the students at our school play StarCraft II.
These will likely be posted on Sundays. Our matches are at 00:00 GMT (+00:00) on Saturdays. We hope to give a strong showing and improve ourselves as players.
Jared is in Gold league.
Interview with the team:
The interview is transcribed below, if you do not wish to watch the video. The video was created and filmed by Aiden.
The glow surrounding the players is their favourite colour. I made the pictures.
Mackenzie "akbarthetrap" Wright (1:35)
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What got you into StarCraft II?
-Well, all my friends started playing StarCraft so I figured I might as well just join them for fun.
Why did you choose your name?
-Well, StarWars is like my childhood. I grew up watching StarWars all the time, and akbarthetrap seems fitting.
Why did you choose your race?
-Well, I started out as Terran which is kinda cause I played the story, but since I found out one of my friends was Terran I kinda chose Protoss as something different.
Who is your favourite player?
-KiwiKaki's my favourite player, because he incorporates the mothership into his gameplay so much for cloaking and recall reasons.
How do you think we will do this year?
-I don't know, I haven't really seen the competition, but I think based on the team we will do pretty good.
Alex "Erzz" Comeau (2:37)
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All right Alex, so what got you into StarCraft II?
-I used to play WoW, then on Battle.net it said "Coming Soon: StarCraft II!". So I went on YouTube and looked up some videos of it in the beta, found Husky's channel, saw IdrA vs WhiteRa and was just hooked from there.
So why did you choose your name?
-Like I said, I played WoW, and in WoW I played a Hunter as my first character. I wanted a cool name, so I went to Google Translate, English to German, typed in a bunch of stuff like "Fire", since I was a Hunter I eventually got to "archer", which was E-R-Z, but that was taken, so I just added another Z and it just stuck from there.
Why did you choose your race?
-Originally I was Protoss cause I liked the lasers, then I was Zerg because I liked IdrA's play, and now I'm Terran because I think TvT is the mirror match-up that requires the most skill.
Who is your favourite player?
-EGIdrA
How do you think you guys will do this year?
-We're probably gonna lose our first match, but I think we can win the rest.
Braden "AverageAsian" Cruz (3:48)
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What got you into StarCraft II, Braden?
-Peer pressure. All my friends started playing it, and I felt lonely.
Why did you choose your name?
-I chose my name because I'm average, and I'm half Asian. Average Asian?
Why did you choose your race?
-I chose my race because Protoss are just so boss because they've got all this cool technology and it looks awesome.
Who is your favourite player?
-HuK. I. Love. HuK.
How do you think you guys will do this year?
-Well, I know I'm just average, but I think we'll be able to pull something out of this because Alex, Aiden Schenkels, and Cody Locke are so good.
Aiden "Adeeen" Schenkels (4:44)
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So Aiden, what got you into StarCraft II?
-Well, basically the same as Braden. Nik told me what an awesome game it was because he got it, because he used to play WoW. When I looked at the trailers on the StarCraft II Release Site, it just looked friggin amazing.
Why did you choose your name?
-Well, my name is Aiden, so it kinda just started off as a typo I made, pretty big typo when you think of it, took out the I and added two extra Es. But then I just kinda rolled with it. Because I'm awesome.
Why did you choose your race?
-Protoss are sick nerd ballers with lots of lasers and shit.
Who is your favourite player?
-Favourite player? That's a hard one... Well... HuK's really awesome, great personality, plus he's from Canada, we're from Canada too, way up here in the big dark north. Him and probably White-Ra, because of his special tactics.
How do you think you guys are gonna do this year?
-Well, I think that our first match up will be a little bit tough due to all the Masters league players on their team. I think though if we put in a some hard work and some practice, we can pull something out of the hat, win a couple matches, and we're definitely gonna beat CEC. (Rivalry between our schools)
Jared "AverageFeds" Schenkels aka "Feds" (6:36)
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All right Jared, what got you into StarCraft II?
-Well, I'm a long time RTS player. I've played Age of Mythology, Command and Conquer series, Age of Empires, so StarCraft seemed to be a natural transition, and StarCraft II was a major game, big fan community around it, Reddit, TeamLiquid, all that. My brother, him and a bunch of other friends had it too, so I thought I might as well try it out.
Why did you choose your name?
-My name... Well, we've started a small little clan called Average, and Feds was just a transition. That's been a gamertag I've had for a long time, had it during all my other RTS games, Age of Mythology, all that type of stuff. So it just came to be, I guess.
Why did you choose your race?
-I chose the Zerg race mainly because I liked their macro mechanic and I liked the style of units they had. Many units, quantity over quality. And, who doesn't like little aliens running around?
Who's your favourite player?
-My favourite player would have to be SlayerSMMA. I know, I'm a Zerg player, but MMA's Terran is crazy. His micro, his drops, him never forgetting to drop a MULE, he's just got such, such good skills. His APM's off the roof, all his drops going on... he's a crazy player.
How do you think you guys are gonna do this year?
-This year, being our starting year, it might... We're expecting some success from our players, but not all our players. We're going to be going against some high league players, some Master leagues, some Ddiamonds, it's gonna depend on how well we practice, and our timings and upgrades and stuff.
Cody "WreakingBall" Locke (8:55)
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So Cody, what got you into StarCraft II?
-Friends from school.
Why did you choose your name?
-Cause I smash people.
Why did you choose your race?
-Cause Terran's da best.
Who's your favourite player?
-IdrA, cause he's rude.
How do you think you guys will do this year?
-Pretty bad.
Pretty bad?
-Yeah.
Nikolaus "AveragePanda" Werenka (9:27)
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What got you into StarCraft II?
-Well, I was playing World of WarCraft a lot, and I decided to try out it out because it was a new Blizzard game, and everybody likes new stuff.
Why did you choose your name?
-Well, back when I was like 9, I was playing a game called Corum (?), and my friend said I was adorable, like a panda, so as a joke I named my character Panda. Then kind of as another joke, my friend was AverageAsian, so I switched over to AveragePanda just to joke around with him.
Why did you choose your race?
-Terran OP bro.
Who is your favourite player?
-Probably PuMa, he's sick, sick.
How do you think we will do?
-I don't know. It's definitely going to come down to our Ace and Cody Locke*cough*.
All right, well that is Nik's interview.
-Cocaine's a hell of a drug.
That's our team. Our first game was yesterday night. Our players don't seem too confident, but we'll see how it went.
South Colchester Academy vs Auburn Drive High School
ADHS casted the games, you can find the VODs at twitch.tv/auburnhsl
Game 1: [PvP] Adeeen(Blue) vs TROGG(Pink) on MLG Metalopolis
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Replay: http://drop.sc/67838
Adeeen opened up with a 4 gate robo.
TROGG opened up with a 1 gate robo, transitioning into 3 gate robo.
Adeeen starts off with a push into TROGG's natural at about 8:45. Adeeen has 6 stalkers, 5 zealots against the 5 stalkers, 6 zealots, 2 immortals of TROGG. TROGG easily holds and starts making his way across the map.
Adeeen repels TROGG's counter attack, as TROGG expands behind his push.
TROGG manages to warp in 3 zealots into Adeeen's base while Adeeen's army is away, and kills 20 probes and a stalker.
TROGG pushes while taking the gold for the win.
Adeeen's comment on the game: "Had a good time."
Adeeen opened up with a 4 gate robo.
TROGG opened up with a 1 gate robo, transitioning into 3 gate robo.
Adeeen starts off with a push into TROGG's natural at about 8:45. Adeeen has 6 stalkers, 5 zealots against the 5 stalkers, 6 zealots, 2 immortals of TROGG. TROGG easily holds and starts making his way across the map.
Adeeen repels TROGG's counter attack, as TROGG expands behind his push.
TROGG manages to warp in 3 zealots into Adeeen's base while Adeeen's army is away, and kills 20 probes and a stalker.
TROGG pushes while taking the gold for the win.
Adeeen's comment on the game: "Had a good time."
Game 2: [TvT] Erzz(Green) vs Bundo(Blue) on MLG iCCup Testbug
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Replay: http://drop.sc/67836
Erzz opened up with a 3 Reaper Rush.
Bundo opened up with a 1/1/1.
Bundo's scout attacked one of Erzz's mining workers, and a misclick resulted in all of Erzz's SCVs attacking Bundo's SCV.
Erzz's reaper harrassment managed to kill 2 marines.
Bundo sends a medivac loaded with marines into Erzz's base and elevators up his hellions. Erzz has to pull SCVs to deal with it.
Just as the drop is being taken care of, Bundo flies a banshee in. Bundo drops two manner MULEs.
The drop is finally cleaned up, with Bundo having taken an expansion in the meantime.Bundo pushes with some marines and tanks for the win. Bundo drops a manner MULE and Erzz leaves at 13:37.
Erzz's comment on the game: "That was embarrassing..."
Erzz opened up with a 3 Reaper Rush.
Bundo opened up with a 1/1/1.
Bundo's scout attacked one of Erzz's mining workers, and a misclick resulted in all of Erzz's SCVs attacking Bundo's SCV.
Erzz's reaper harrassment managed to kill 2 marines.
Bundo sends a medivac loaded with marines into Erzz's base and elevators up his hellions. Erzz has to pull SCVs to deal with it.
Just as the drop is being taken care of, Bundo flies a banshee in. Bundo drops two manner MULEs.
The drop is finally cleaned up, with Bundo having taken an expansion in the meantime.Bundo pushes with some marines and tanks for the win. Bundo drops a manner MULE and Erzz leaves at 13:37.
Erzz's comment on the game: "That was embarrassing..."
Game 3: [TZvTZ] AveragePanda(Pink) and AverageFeds(Purple) vs NightStar(Blue) and AMP(Yellow) on Ruins of Tarsonis
+ Show Spoiler +
Replay: http://drop.sc/67837
Average Panda opened up with a pure marine build, getting many Barracks. Average Feds teched quickly to roaches.
Meanwhile, AMP did a gas pool opening to get some quick banelings as NightStar worked towards marine hellion. AMP poked with his initial 4 zerglings, and killed two marines and an SCV.
AMP managed to hide 2 zerglings in a corner, and morphed them into banelings. They exploded in AveragePanda's mineral line, killing a few SCVs.
NightStar and AMP push out and manage to catch a few marines, but AverageFeds's seven roaches shoos them away.
AveragePanda and AverageFeds counter push with some roaches and marines, but the push is held without too much damage being dealt.
NightStar and AMP do a counterpush of their own, but retreat when they see AverageFeds's roaches.
NightStar's army heads home, while AMP's lings destroy the destructible debris at the back of AverageFeds's base. AMP morphs a few banelings and kills some drones, then finishes the rest with his lings.
Meanwhile, a banshee manages to get a few kills in AveragePanda's mineral line.
AveragePanda and AverageFeds push, but their armies attack separately and get destroyed.
NightStar and AMP counterpush for the win. AveragePanda leaves just as it is arriving, and AverageFeds leaves about a minute afterwards without saying anything.
AveragePanda's comment on the game: "We sucked less than expected."
AverageFed's comment on the game: "I try to be like irda" [sic]
Average Panda opened up with a pure marine build, getting many Barracks. Average Feds teched quickly to roaches.
Meanwhile, AMP did a gas pool opening to get some quick banelings as NightStar worked towards marine hellion. AMP poked with his initial 4 zerglings, and killed two marines and an SCV.
AMP managed to hide 2 zerglings in a corner, and morphed them into banelings. They exploded in AveragePanda's mineral line, killing a few SCVs.
NightStar and AMP push out and manage to catch a few marines, but AverageFeds's seven roaches shoos them away.
AveragePanda and AverageFeds counter push with some roaches and marines, but the push is held without too much damage being dealt.
NightStar and AMP do a counterpush of their own, but retreat when they see AverageFeds's roaches.
NightStar's army heads home, while AMP's lings destroy the destructible debris at the back of AverageFeds's base. AMP morphs a few banelings and kills some drones, then finishes the rest with his lings.
Meanwhile, a banshee manages to get a few kills in AveragePanda's mineral line.
AveragePanda and AverageFeds push, but their armies attack separately and get destroyed.
NightStar and AMP counterpush for the win. AveragePanda leaves just as it is arriving, and AverageFeds leaves about a minute afterwards without saying anything.
AveragePanda's comment on the game: "We sucked less than expected."
AverageFed's comment on the game: "I try to be like irda" [sic]
The predictions in our interviews were correct. We fell to Auburn Drive High School, but are now more determined to win the rest. Feel free to post below what you thought of this blog. Any constructive criticism on how I can make these better, or on how our players could improve, is appreciated. If there's anything you'd like to see in later blogs, such as pre- or post-game interviews, updates on how our practice is going, specific questions for players, feel free to post those too. Thanks!