Table of Contents:

0:00-5:55 – Introductions
5:55 – 38:18 – Diablo II Retrospective
38:18 – 1:06:54 – Diablo III Beta Impressions / Discussion
106:54 – 1:14:44 – Open Discussion and Wrap Up

The matches begin on Tuesday with DRG (Z) against the Virus (T). Since falling into Code A, DRG has been nearly unstoppable. The only weakness he’s shown in past matches is against Terran, where his win-rate is only 62.38% (TLPD). Of course, this percentage would be impressive on any other player. Virus has proven to be a Code S level player when at his best. Unfortunately, his best isn’t what we always see, and his worst match-up is against Zerg.

Prediction: DongRaeGue 2-0 Virus

The next match-up is between former Code S players BBoongBBoong and last season’s runner-up, Genius. Neither of these players are major competitors at foreign tournaments (at least not since Genius won at Blizzcon two years ago), but both have had a measure of success in the Korean scene. It’s notable that BBoongBBoong and Genius have already played this season in the group stage and Genius took the match two games to one, making the series difficult to predict. Genius, however, has proven to be a far more consistent player throughout the GSL competitions.

Prediction: Genius 2-0 BBoongBBoong

Jjakji is another former GSL Champion fighting through Code A and Symbol is another incredible Korean player prepared to steal Code S from him. The story has been told many times throughout this season. There is a Code S level player fighting to retain that position and a hungry Code B or Code A player is salivating for the opportunity to move through the bracket to secure their own. Symbol will be a tough opponent for this reason. He hasn’t had much experience in GSL, having only participated in GSTL and making a name for himself in online tournaments. He thinks he’s ready to take a Code S position, but Jjakji will prove him wrong.

Prediction: Jjakji 2-1 Symbol

The aLive v. Leenock match will be one of the more competitive in this group. In the international scene, aLive has proven he is a player to be feared by winning the IPL 4. Leenock is an impressive Zerg player and has been a contender for GSL Champion on a few occasions. Both of these players are extremely young and didn’t play Brood War professionally. Their TvZ and ZvT statistics are comparable so I expect these games to be fairly close even if a player cheeses or goes for early timing attacks.

Prediction: aLive 2-1 Leenock

The next four matches are all ZvT (except for one TvT). GuMiho and July will be a fun match to watch. Both of these players have been at Code S level at some point in their careers. That said, July has a better chance to secure a Code S spot. One may say he has not been playing well, but the match with Leenock was not a good indication of his full potential. GuMiho just hasn’t played as many matches against Zerg players in a tournament setting lately. Most of his GSL matches have been against Terran and Protoss. ZvT is historically July’s best matchup.

Prediciton: July 2-1 GuMiho

Bomber versus Sniper is an easier match to predict. Bomber simply has too much tournament experience to allow Sniper to continue. Sniper has been in Code A since last year sitting their comfortably but has never shown an ability to rise to the occasion and defeat a player on the level of Bomber. Everyone expects MarineKing to roll over YugiOh and I can’t disagree. MarineKing would arguably still be in Code S if he hadn’t been playing on almost zero sleep in his last match. He’s been too good lately to not make Code S again for next season.

Prediction: Bomber 2-0 Sniper

TheStC is another player that participates in many online tournaments (his TLPD record is longer than one might think). His reputation as a strong Terran extends all the way back to the beta. GhostKing, formerly known as Byun, is a reasonably strong Terran player with a strong history in Code A. He’s got very strong macro and I would love to see him succeed, but I think TheStC is going to take it with some tactical trickery.

Prediction: TheStC 2-0 GhostKing

Thursday’s headliner may be MC v. GanZI, but the first is Keen v. MMA may be even more entertaining. That said, after MMA’s win over aLive at Iron Squid, I don’t believe there’s any way for Keen to win. MMA showed that if it comes to a marine-tank composition battle, he will win. Keen has to be creative and innovative in the match-up in order to take it. He will get outplayed if he attempts to win by conventional means.

Prediction: MMA 2-0 Keen

Creator has become a formidable player on the Korean scene in the last five months. His macro is devastatingly efficient and Maru’s worst matchup is his TvP. Creator could take this quite easily if Maru comes into the match unprepared. Maru will have to find some way to interrupt his opponent’s macro, but I don’t see that happening.

Prediction: Creator 2-0 Maru

In the next match-up, it’s not a stretch to say out-right that MC will defeat GanZi. Granted, they are both Code S level players, but MC’s play style dominates the more conservative GanZi’s. If MC continues his trend of solid play, it’s going to be academic.

Prediction: MC 2-0 GanZi

FOrGG and Happy is another tight match. Happy has a decent GSL win ratio at 57.8%, but his TvT is not up to par with fOrGG. That skill discrepancy will be a setback that will be very difficult for him to overcome.

Prediction: fOrGG 2-1 Happy

Everyone we expect to be in Code S next season will be. MMA, MarineKing, and DongRaeGue should no doubt be able to secure their spot. Others such as ForGG, GuMiho, and Symbol will be fighting for it. There are no guarantees for most of these matches. They are all incredibly competitive players and many have already had a Code S career before, but only the winners will advance.

I’ve said before that PvP is hard to predict, and this group is going to be filled with them. First is MC, the two time GSL champion and, of course, champion of many fans’ hearts. Whether he’s casting at Homestory Cup or dancing after a victory at MLG, his antics make him a leading fan favorite. It doesn’t hurt that he’s also a sick player. While he made his name developing fierce timing attacks for every matchup, he is more than capable of playing a long macro game. His PvP stats are outstanding (in GSL he has won over 80% of the sets he’s played). On name alone he is the favorite to win this group. His strength in that specific matchup only adds to the likelihood.

… or it should. In nearly any other group with this many Protoss players, it would. But against Oz and Squirtle, MC’s performance in PvP doesn’t seem quite so strong. Oz boasts a slightly higher win percentage, and Squirtle has literally never lost a televised PvP. Yes, that’s right, his win percentage stands at 100% in GSL sets. Now, he hasn’t been around since the very beginning like MC, but that is not a number that is easy to look past.

In a group so full of excellent Protoss powerhouses, it can be easy to overlook the Terran Maru. He is also fairly fresh to the GSL (largely due to his young age). He is only 14 (Korean), the youngest player to have played in the the league (sorry, Leenock). You wouldn’t know it from his play, though . He has climbed up all the way through Code A, and now has a shot at advancing into the round of 8 and securing his Code S status for next season. He’ll have his work cut out for him with these opponents, but it’s worth noting that none of them have particularly good PvT. Also, Maru only needs to concern himself with one match-up, where as the others have both PvP and PvT to worry about. These advantages may go a long way towards affecting the outcome of this group.

Predictions

*note, all sets after 2 are based on predictions.

Set 1: MC vs. Maru

While MC’s career numbers in PvT aren’t great, he has been around for a long time. There have been many Terran nerfs, Protoss buffs, and metagame shifts in that time. With today’s incarnation of the match-up, and Maru’s incredible inexperience compared to MC, the Protoss is the clear favorite to take this one. Maru’s only hope is an over-reliance on timings from MC.

MC 2-0 over Maru

Set 2: Oz vs. Squirtle

Two of the best PvP players in the world. While Squirtle has been perfect in the matchup, he hasn’t had the number of games that Oz has. I’m just hoping for some games that make it past 1 base. Either way, we’re all in for a very exciting series.

Squirtle 2-1 over Oz

Set 3: MC vs. Squirtle

Once again! Two of the best PvP players in the world. My prediction will run in the same direction although I would consider MC a greater threat to Squirtle than Oz. Even still I think Squirtle will take it.

Squirtle 2-1 over MC

Set 4: Oz vs. Maru

Last season, Oz lost in the round of 16 due almost completely to his choking against MMA. In the time since then he has improved his confidence and I believe this will lead to greater success in a match-up that he understands as well as the best PvT players. As long as Oz can keep himself together he will send Maru down to Code A.

Oz over Maru 2-1

Set 5: MC vs. Oz

Another epic PvP. MC’s control will help him edge out victories in faster games while Oz’ management gives him an advantage in longer matches. In the end, I think MC will be able to push himself past Oz with his brutal early game efficiency.

MC 2-1 over Oz

Squirtle and MC will advance to the round of 8

Maru and Oz will fall down to Code A

During the brief break from the GSL, Starcraft fans were treated to the second of MLG’s new arenas. Considering that this group contains 2 of the 8 players invited to that tournament, the results are worth into account. Just one week ago this group would easily have been handed to Parting. His failure to even place in the top six at MLG, however,  is cause for concern. His play did not seem up to his usual ability, and many fans are left to wonder what got in his way. Artosis even theorized that he was saving himself for the GSL, trying not to reveal his builds and style for the upcoming games. While PvT is easily his best matchup – he is, in fact the best PvT player in the world according to his GSL history – he only managed to take 1 series against 3 different Terran players over the weekend. It is also worth noting that he has never fared well against MarineKing (including at this MLG Arena). The one exception was in the GSTL, and that game ended up being replayed due to an infamous drop thanks to Battle.net’s lack of LAN.

Furthering the risk to Parting’s GSL life, TheSTC has a fantastic record against Protoss. While he can’t claim MarineKing’s stats, he was won nearly 2/3 of his games televised TvPs. Likewise, Liquid’s newest member TaeJa has similarly superb stats. These three Terran would be near the top of a list of players any Protoss would want to avoid. The ultimate question for viewers will be: is Parting slumping? Did he have a bad weekend that he can leave behind him or was it something deeper? Or, perhaps as Artosis theorized, was he just avoiding revealing his plans in the PvT matchup for the larger purse that the GSL offers? Only time will tell, but that won’t stop this previewer from trying to offer predictions.

Predictions

*note, all sets after 2 are based on predictions.

Set 1: Parting vs. TheSTC

Despite my ominous introduction, I find myself unable to go against the grain. I can’t see Parting losing to a non-MarineKing Terran in the GSL. Whether it was a slump or a stylistic choice that led to his poor performance, I think the Parting that we see in less than 24 hours will be the one we’re used to. He will put TheSTC away without much fanfare.

Parting 2-0 over TheSTC

Set 2: MarineKing vs. TaeJa

While preparing to write this article I discovered something that surprised me. MarineKing, currently considered by many to be the best player in the world, has barely adequate TvT in his GSL history. This is particular surprising given that the GSL is the tournament where many people have been made or destroyed by their ability to play TvT. As viewers know, MarineKing has been a consistent player for the past few months. His overall winrate, however, stands at only a 50% in the match-up. TaeJa and TheSTC, on the other hand, are sitting pretty above 65%. As strongly as this weighs on any predictions for the upcoming group, the details of his performance must be equally strong. A closer look reveals that MarineKing has won every televised TvT he has played so far in 2012. He has clearly improved his TvT play. Most importantly, I am a huge MarineKing fan since he first split his marines against Kyrix on Shakuras Plateau and have decided I will never bet against him. Pardon the bias. He’ll drop a game, but take the series.

MarineKing 2-1 over TaeJa

Set 3: Parting vs. MarineKing

Here’s the match-up everyone is begging for. For my prediction I’m again going to refer to last weekend’s MLG Arena, as I believe it is a sure sign of what’s to come. MarineKing very simply has Parting’s number. Be it a slumping Parting or a Parting playing at his best, MarineKing’s TvP style will continue to get the best of him for the foreseeable future. Parting should hope they don’t meet in a higher rounds of the GSL, because this is where his PvT ability slams into a wall.

MarineKing 2-1 over Parting

Set 4 TheSTC vs. TaeJa

Two truly stellar TvT players. I’m going to base this prediction on recent success. While TaeJa has been hot and cold in the last few months, TheSTC has been literally untouchable for the entirety of 2012. What’s surprisingly fun about this match-up is the variety of viable styles. These two are capable of defensive meching as well as aggressive bio. I think this will be a lot of fun, but ultimately TheSTC will pull it out.

TheSTC 2-1 over TaeJa

Set 5 Parting vs. TheSTC

A rematch of the first set. TheSTC is too good of a player to fall down directly but I don’t believe Parting will drop a set in PvT to anyone but MarineKing. I’d love to be surprised (if only to see exactly how it’s done by someone without MarineKing’s particular abilities), but I don’t expect it to happen here.

Parting 2-1 over TheSTC

MarineKing and Parting advance to the round of 8

TheSTC and TaeJa fall to Code A

Historically (and I use that term loosely), the NASL has been treated as the proverbial runt of the litter for both players and viewers. This week we saw another Stephano forfeit, which is too bad seeing as Stephano vs Puma could’ve been the match of week . There was also THIS little tiff:

…discussing the forfeit of Ganzi due to his double booking, choosing to attend MLG Spring over his NASL match against Rain (another high level match everyone was looking forward to). With its long form format, we’ll have to see how big of a problem these sorts of scheduling conflicts become for the NASL. MLG, of course, has plenty of history scheduling over smaller events (particularly in Europe).

The NASL has, however, been growing its clout by officially backing save-enabled maps as a solution for Battle.net disconnects. This move, if nothing else, should ratchet up the respect from both the community AND the players. Blizzard has, of course, outright dismissed these maps as hacks and doesn’t seem have any intent on budging. Still, bravo for NASL for being willing to not only inform its viewers of this solution, but also lend support to solving some of the technical issues marring the scene.

There were some pretty good matches this week, as well as some silly ones. The hour long base trade into base switch into triple army trade between Dimaga and HerO gave me traumatic ToD vs Happy flashbacks from Dreamhack last year. But Slayers Ryung vs iSCrazyMoving game 1 on Ohana deserves the honor of this week’s…

Game of the Week

Ryung opens with two port cloaked banshee, which catches CrazyMoving totally off guard. Due to some shockingly poor targeting, the surprise attack’s damage is minimal. CrazyMoving sees no tanks and wisely elects to respond with aggressive two base muta/ling/bling. The following attack looks scary for Ryung, but it loses steam before too much damage is done to the Terran’s natural. Ryung is left with a mineral line full of 1 hp SCVs, much to the frustration of his Zerg opponent.

After the dust settles, Ryung is on 3 bases and CrazyMoving has just started his 3rd, a tough spot for any Zerg. CrazyMoving uses his more mobile force to pull Ryung back and forth, threatening with lings at the natural and attacking the third with Mutas. Ryung eventually gets caught with his tanks in the open. CrazyMoving sees the opportunity and attacks. The result is a 3 base Zerg vs 2 base Terran.

Ryung, getting closer to mining out, masses up his well upgraded army and moves out to put the pressure back onto Zerg. CrazyMoving make a few key micro mistakes and is indecisive about his banelings, causing him fall way behind in the resources lost. He fights on for a while with some excellent Muta control, but the push is too strong. His fourth is history as the Terran army rolls onward. CrazyMoving sees that attacking into the push is impossible and goes for a counter attack. Ryung, however, is too well fortified at home. CrazyMoving is forced to tap out with a GG.

CrazyMoving was in a very good spot following his attack at Ryung’s third, and his muta ball was a real force with 2 attack upgraded. What allowed Ryung to create the unstoppable push was his flawless upgrading. By the time the push came, Ryung’s marines and tanks were so strong that no amount of under-upgraded lings/bane could engage barring a massive mistake in control. CrazyMoving’s tech simply wasn’t where it needed to be.

Predictions for this week!

Division 1
Cloud vs TT1 2-0
Stephano (should he play) vs Brat_OK 2-0
Puma vs Hwangsin 2-0
Zenio vs Haypro 2-0

Division 2
Hasuobs vs Darkforce 2-0
Sjow vs Diamga 2-1
HerO vs CrazyMoving 2-1
Ryung vs Nony 2-0

Division 3
Strelok vs Axslav 2-1
MaNa vs TLO 2-1
Sen vs Rain 2-1
Ganzi vs HuK 2-1

Division 4
Catz vs CrunCher 2-1
Ret vs Lowley 2-0
aLive vs Thorzain 2-1 (Most anticipated match!)
Alicia vs IdrA 2-1

Division 5
MC vs Targa 2-0
White-Ra vs Jinro 2-1
Polt vs MorroW 2-0
Puzzle vs qxc 2-0

Superior

This is a darker, edgier superhero mini-series written by the colorful and often outspoken Mark Millar. The artist is one of my favorites, Leinil Yu. It’s the story of a young, handicapped teenager who is given the powers of Superman (Superior=Superman, get it?!) by a small, astronaut monkey demon. Yeah, that’s right.

What works about this series is Millar’s edgy writing. Like Kick-Ass, Superior featured occasionally over the top, R-rated language, and is refreshing when compared to typical mainstream comics. Leinil Yu’s absolutely stunning artwork boldly compliments Millar’s writing. The teenage characters of the book feel real and react to the crazy things around them in a way that you might expect teenagers to authentically react. However, the series is marred by seemingly random releases for each issue. The seven issue series started back in October of 2010 and only wrapped up this past month. All things considered though, good stuff.

The Avengers

Yeah, The Avengers… you may not have noticed, but this is one superhero team that’s experiencing a little bit of a popularity surge right now. It’s damn-near impossible to avoid them. That said, I don’t really think I can do a post about 2012 without saying something about these books. Currently, there are roughly 6 dozen different Avengers teams each consisting of about every character in the Marvel universe (at least that’s what it seems like to me). Seriously though, you’ve got The Avengers, The New Avengers, The Mighty Avengers, Secret Avengers, The Ultimate Avengers, The New Ultimate Avengers, Avengers Academy, and the recently added Avengers Assemble, which conveniently consists of the exact team from the upcoming movie. Oh, and I almost forgot the latest Marvel super event, ‘Avengers VS X-Men’ (because we’ve never seen the Avengers fight the X-Men before).

Lately, I’ve been keeping it simple and have been reading The Avengers and The New Avengers, both written by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by Daniel Acuna and Mike Deodato Jr. respectively. The arc leading up to the Avengers vs X-Men has been a little bit of a retread of Dark Avengers involving Norman Osborn assembling his own super-powered team to defeat and replace the Avengers lead by Steve Rogers. The writing was pretty good, the stories held my interest, and there were some fun moments. Then again, it all felt too similar to Dark Avengers. It was a story that I think both Bendis and Deodato nailed the first time, so there wasn’t any good reason to revisit the idea. Since my excitement for the movie is in full swing, however, I’m going to stick with those two titles and see how the next major arc plays out.

Batman

This is the big one for me. I have consistently picked each issue up the week (and sometimes the day) of release. This is the first Batman I’ve read in a long time that doesn’t feel weighed down by huge story arcs involving not just Batman, but his entire team of costumed ‘bat-staff’. It’s the way it should be, Batman and Batman alone out there pounding the pavement of Gotham with his partners essentially just stopping by the batcave to say “hello.” The post-‘New 52’ rebooted Batman also has excellent villains. The Court of Owls is a criminal organization that is firmly rooted in the history of Gotham City. Even though we’ve never seen them before, they feel like they belong in Batman’s greatest rogues gallery. The Talon, a grounded, realistic, well-designed, very equal physical adversary to Batman, does the heavy lifting for The Court. His presence has made for some pretty amazing fight scenes and dialogue exchanges.

In terms of the writing, Scott Snyder is on his game. He clearly knows these characters, and places Batman in situations that we aren’t totally sure he’s going to make it out of. In the art department, Greg Capullo is giving us the Batman that we both deserve and need right now (did you get that one?!). He brings a very refreshing kinetic energy to the character’s universe that I think has been severely lacking in the last few years.

On the opposite side of Harvey Dent’s lucky coin, some of the later issues are getting a little out there. I’ll keep this spoiler-free and all, but I’ll say that Scott Snyder is beginning to get into more supernatural territory. Other than that, it’s been a really good read and better than a lot of the other stuff that’s out there, Batman or not. With seven issues out, four remain in the Snyder/Capullo run. At this point it’s unknown if Scott Snyder will be staying on as writer after issue eleven, but Greg Capullo has said that he will be moving on after this arc concludes. Bummer.

Overall, 2012 is shaping up to be a pretty good year for comics. Even though there is a fair amount of trial and error that goes into finding a good title to stick with month after month, the prospects are looking good. Each time I go into my local comic shop, I’m finding more and more that I want to check out. So here’s hoping to an increasingly larger percentage of my paycheck going to good comics.  Keep readin’ friends!

After the excitement of having a foreigner in Group A, this group looks a bit more familiar. At the head of the pack is MVP, perhaps the most iconic star of the GSL. He has won the championship three times and is no doubt hungry for his next victory. What is most amazing about his play is he can’t be described in any simple terms. He has consistent macro and impressive micro, but neither of these adequately encapsulate his unique ability. Tastosis often describe him as having the best builds for all situations, a statement I can’t disagree with. Above all others, he is the player that must be watched to be understood. He always seems prepared beyond his opponents and I don’t expect this group to be any exception.

Next is July (formerly JulyZerg), one of the most unpredictable players in the GSL. DoA, a former GSL caster, once described July as having a specific second in any given game where he decides it is time to attack. From that moment on, he doesn’t stop until either he or his opponent has GG’d. Now, there’s more to this methodology than typical aggressive all ins, which is where the nuance of July’s play comes in. He is capable of playing any style, including some incredibly beautiful long games. It is this versatility and his well established talent (he was a Golden Mouse winner in Starcraft: Brood War) that makes the “July Second” as powerful (and effective) as it is. Of all the information one can discover within a Starcraft 2 game, it is still nearly impossible to read exactly what is going on in the mind of the opponent. July may decide at any moment, even one his opponent least suspects, that it is time to bring down the hammer.

HeRo is an all around solid Protoss player. What impresses me most is the steady rate of his rise in GSL. He earned his way into Code A, and battled over several seasons to make his way into Code S. He achieved this on the back of respectable PvT and strong PvZ. His weakest match-up appears to be PvP, which fortunately won’t affect his performance in this group. While he is well known for his success in foreign tournaments (including a 1st place finish at Dreamhack Winter 2011) and position on Team Liquid, he doesn’t seem to be the standout talent next to his three opponents. However, given his strengths against T and Z, he has a chance to advance.

The second Zerg in this group, not to mention the final remaining Zerg in Code S Season 2, is the ever dangerous Leenock. While he has been a quality player for some time, he really made a name for himself last year by winning MLG Providence and placing 2nd in GSL November (losing to Jjakji in 6 games). I consider him to be one of the scariest ZvT players in the game, as he regularly hits hive before 15 in-game minutes and executes brood lord/infestor/queen pushes like no one else. While his ZvP isn’t quite as strong, he has had great success in ZvZ throughout his time in the GSL. Though he is among the youngest active players in the league, he plays like he’s seen it all before. That confidence gives him a great deal of strength.

Predictions

*note, all sets after 2 are based on predictions.

Set 1: MVP vs. July

For all of the mystery surrounding July’s play, MVP’s game sense will be enough to carry him through easily. Whether it’s an early bust, a mid game timing, or a drawn out macro game, I think he is a stronger player than July and will turn almost any situation into a win.

MVP 2-0 over July

Set 2: HeRo vs. Leenock

While HeRo’s numbers in the GSL aren’t particularly strong, he is considered a quality PvZ player. Even if he is above average, ZvP has been Leenock’s weakness since he broke into the GSL. This should be a fun match-up, but in the end I believe HeRo will take it.

HeRo 2-1 over Leenock

Set 3: MVP vs. HeRo

Based on MVP’s performance in his 2nd and 3rd best of 3 in the round of 32, he is playing up to his old ability. That being the case, it will take something special from HeRo to prevent him from walking into the round of 8. Barring that, MVP will take this series.

MVP 2-1 over HeRo

Set 4: July vs. Leenock

One of the simplest predictions a person can come across in the GSL. Leenock has dominant ZvZ and July’s is absolutely atrocious. This is a cut and dry situation. Of course, anything is possible, but any prediction but a straightforward win from Leenock is wishful thinking.

Leenock 2-0 over July

Set 5: HeRo vs. Leenock

I consider Leenock the better long-term player, and given that this would be the second set between them, it is conceivable that he would get it together to take the series. However, I find myself strangely compelled to go with the straightforward numbers and predict another win for HeRo. It will be very very close, though. I don’t expect Leenock will leave anything on the table in trying to reach the round of 8.

HeRo 2-1 over Leenock

MVP and HeRo advance to the round of 8, dropping Leenock, July, and all Zerg hope down to Code A.

Now for the games. I’m going to be honest, these aren’t Code S matches, guys. It’s kind of hard to switch from witnessing the revolutionary “Marineking landing his factory to separate his foe’s natural and 3rd” at MLG to “Hey, baneling drops are kinda neat.” If this first week is any indication, the NASL still values quantity just a bit more than quality. Of course, that doesn’t mean they weren’t entertaining games.

The main theme of this last week seemed to be in ZvP: Zerg getting way far ahead after deflecting whatever 2-base Protoss aggression came their way, but then not being able to hold onto their lead. Many games ended with a 2-3 base Protoss deathball push and the 4-5 base Zerg being paralyzed by a better controlled army composition. Game one of LiquidNonY vs. aTnDarkforce is the perfect example of this (ditto LiquidTLO vs iSAxslav). Darkforce and TLO were certainly not alone. Notably, Tt eSPORTS’s White-Ra tried to mix it up by going to 3 bases against LiquidSheth by the 6 minute mark. It sure raised some eyebrows, but the opening came out a little wonky and not quite fleshed out yet. There were also match-ups like TT1 vs Stephano, which was as close as it sounds.

There were a few upsets, but the only one that caught everyone’s attention was FXOStrelok’s 2-0 over EGHuk. While the result is stunning, I wouldn’t read too much into it, seeing as EGHuk has GSL on his mind. Preparing for a Korean style Terran is a whole different ballgame as compared to FXOStrelok’s macro-intensive approach.

With so many ZvPs, I thought I’d go over the main theme once again in this week’s…

Game of the Week

The game of the week is mousesport’s Morrow vs. SlayersPuzzle, game 3. It started off normal as can be, 3 bases for Zerg, 2 bases for Protoss.  In these circumstances, the Protoss has duty to do real damage before the drone count gets out of control. Puzzle opts to go a step further and throws down a Stargate to execute an off-time 4gate plus voidray all-in. Morrow is able to hold it off despite a force-fielded ramp, and losing his then-building lair. When all is said and done, Morrow quickly remakes his main hatch and looks to be in great shape going into the midgame.

Morrow unprepared for the air play at first

However, Morrow overreacts, perhaps worried that the lost of a hatch has set him farther behind than was true. He builds a Nydus and prepares for an all-in of his own. Despite his misread, the maneuver puts Morrow into a favorable base-race situation after Puzzle  pushes with his army while Morrow able to destroy his economy from behind with a sneaky nydus outside the would-be third of Puzzle. Morrow is able to scrape a few resources here and there after the mains start to fall. Puzzle fights on for an impressively long time, but is forced to GG out after his zero income army loses steam, solidifying the upset in favor of Morrow.

Hydra charge, tally ho!

The true key to Morrow’s victory was that Hydras were the correct answer to everything Puzzle had. Puzzle critically lost two of his first three Colossi due to a bad engagement on creep, and was never given time to built the count he needed to take on a hydra-heavy army as it literally chewed through his immortals and stalkers.

Predictions for this Week!

Division 1
Zenio vs Hwangsin 2-0
Puma vs Stephano 2-1
Brat_OK vs TT1 2-0
Cloud vs Nightend 2-1

Division 2
Ryung vs Crazymoving 2-1
Hero vs Dimaga 2-0
Sjow vs Hasuobs 2-1
Darkforce vs Demuslim 2-1

Division 3
Sen vs TLO 2-0
Ganzi vs Rain 2-0
Mana vs Axslav 2-1
Strelok vs Vibe 2-1

Division 4
Alicia vs aLive 2-1
Thorzain vs Ret 2-1
Lowely vs Catz 2-1
Cruncher vs Select 2-0

Division 5
Puzzle vs Polt 2-1
Morrow vs Jinro 2-0
White-Ra vs MC 2-0
Targa vs Sheth 2-0

What a treat to open up the Ro16 for Season 2. For most of the foreign GSL audience, the current “Foreign Hope” in Korea, Quantic Gaming’s NaNiwa, makes Group A extremely interesting. I admit to being a doubter of non-Koreans in the GSL, especially of NaNiwa. Until recently he hasn’t found much success in GOM’s studio. However, his recent victories against Puzzle and Ryung have proven him a force to be reckoned with, even in Korea. He is the lead story in this group, no doubt, and must be given strong consideration as a prospect for the round of 8.

NaNiwa isn’t this group’s only story, though. MVP’s Genius, runner up to last season’s winner DongRaeGu, should not be forgotten. He’s an example of yet another Protoss that I feel more confident in knowing he doesn’t have to concern himself with playing against any Zergs (an advantage shared by 3/4 of remaining Code S players). Genius is a personal favorite and a feared player since the beta days. Despite being relatively “oldschool”, he had his greatest GSL success just last season. He is the clear favorite to move on from this group with his strong PvP and straightforward but dominating PvT.

While Genius’s recent success is worth noting, so is his single televised loss to a Terran in the last 2 months, and the only Terran besides MarineKing to take him down in the GSL since last October. That Terran is SuperNoVa, who defeated Genius in one set in the ro32. While SuperNoVa was knocked out of last season in the ro16 by Oz and Puzzle, he does have a strong record against Protoss overall, and specifically seems to be a thorn in the paw of Genius’s PvT.

Virus, the least voted for player to advance from his ro32 group, rounds out Group A. He isn’t particularly well known, but that’s hardly damning when you play Terran in the GSL. His lack of star power may be based on the fact that he plays a strong macro style that eventually overwhelms his opponents. He doesn’t have the micro-flair of a MarineKing or Mvp. In this group, though, even his solid play may not be enough. His three opponents are equally strong in a long game, Genius in particular.

Predictions

*note, all sets after 2 are based on predictions.

Set 1: Genius vs. NaNiwa

This might be the hardest set to predict. Both players have excellent PvP, and it’s such a volatile match-up that that it’s almost like a dice roll. It’s also worth noting that while NaNiwa won a PvP to get through the ro32, it was against Puzzle, who is weak in the match-up. It was also close. I am going to take Genius’ multitasking over NaNiwa’s consistency here, but I don’t think it will be a rollover.

Genius 2 -1 over NaNiwa

Set 2: SuperNoVa vs. Virus

These two met once way back in November and Virus took the series. However given the time between then and now and Virus’ overall weak TvT (sub 50%) I feel confident in SuperNoVa’s ability to take this series cleanly.

SuperNoVa 2-0 over Virus

Set 3: Genius vs. SuperNoVa

For all of Genius’ success, his style of PvT seems susceptible to SuperNoVa’s approach to the match-up. As hard as it is to predict a loss for Genius after his stellar performance last season, I think SuperNoVa will pull this one out in a brutal series.

SuperNoVa 2-1 over Genius

Set 4: NaNiwa vs. Virus

This is where it gets scary for our foreign hope. I normally would say that Protoss has an advantage in the type of long game that Virus tends towards, but that is Virus bread and butter for a reason. I might be letting my heart dictate this choice, but I think that when all is said and done the apparent improvements in NaNiwa’s play will help him to prevail over the strong macro Terran.

NaNiwa 2-1 over Virus

Set 5: Genius vs. NaNiwa

And so we come to a rematch of the first set. My hope is that NaNiwa will be able to adapt his solid PvP to Genius’ stylistic approach and turn the tides in the later series. However my feeling is that Genius’ straight up ability will be enough to trump NaNiwa, but once again it won’t be without a battle.

Genius 2-1 over NaNiwa

SuperNova and Genius advance to the ro8 and NaNiwa falls to Code A along with Virus.

Protip: BBQ’ed Geth are still considered vegan. Omnomnom.

Until M. Night Shyamalan…

Honestly, how hard is it to make a movie based on a great story with relatable characters and an awesome fan base? Shyamalan and co took some spectacular source material and adapted it into a 6% on Rotten Tomatoes. That movie is so mind-numbingly awful that it won Razzies in Worst Picture, Worst Screenplay and Most Eye-Gouging Use of 3D. They couldn’t even pronounce the main character’s name correctly, for Pete’s sake. But it’s not the fiasco of a film that I’m writing about; it’s the franchise I fell in love with… and not in that guilty-pleasure-80’s-TMNT-marathon-watching kind of way.

It all started long ago, when the four nations of Earth, Air, Water and Fire lived together in harmony. Each nation had benders: individuals who had learned the art of manipulating the signature element of their land. Binding the countries together was the Avatar, master of all four elements and the moderator between humanity and the spirit realm. The Avatar fought for harmony between these realms and the equality of all people. Then, suddenly and without warning, the Avatar vanished. The fire nation used this opportunity to attack its neighbors, waging a devastating war to conquer the entire world. After a century, the Avatar, a boy named Aang, is rediscovered by two young siblings of the water tribe and hope returns to the world. Aang must master all of the elements and become the leader he was foretold to be.

Pretty damn cool, right? This premise was first brought to us by co-creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. Mike and Bryan are a real power duo, working hard to produce a cohesive world and a story with incredible depth and character development. During its run time, the show was met with rave reviews (well beyond its 6-11 year old demographic) and developed an avid fan base. The Last Airbender wrapped in 2008 with a finale that left me aching to find out more.

That’s why I am thrilled to hear about what looks to be a legitimate addition to the story. On Saturday, April 14th, a new chapter of the saga, The Legend of Korra, makes its debut on Nickelodeon. The show is expected to run two seasons (26 episodes). Mike and Bryan are reportedly doing most of the writing in order to keep a consistent and tight storyline (aka, not another Shyamalan atrocity).

Skipping 70 years and two generations from where we left off, there is a new Avatar. Korra, a young woman from the Southern Water Tribe, has already mastered water, fire, and earth-bending.  The series begins with Tenzin, Aang’s now well aged son (who is voiced by J.K. Simmons, no less), teaching Korra the difficult task of bending air. She looks to be quite a bit older than Aang was when he began his journey. I suspect this is a nod to the fact that the target audience for the first series has aged a bit.  I’m hoping that this allows Mike and Bryan to investigate deeper issues and darker themes. In The Last Airbender, we saw characters blossoming with ingenuity in the face of adversity;  but we also witnessed deception, brain-washing and betrayal. I’m hoping that boundaries continue to be pushed in Korra.

It’s also clear we’re in a very different aesthetic place from the ruins of the assault in “Sozin’s Comet”. The story kicks off in a new steampunk metropolis called “Republic City” created by Aang and Zuko, filled with benders and non-benders from many different nations. I suspect, of course, that things aren’t as peaceful as they appear on the surface. Many nations have been subject to the fire nation’s brutality for generations. Old habits die hard and, even though time has passed, I’m sure it’s tough for people to completely set aside prejudices. I mean, one nation wiped out an entire population of people and almost took over the world. I’m anticipating a few rebel benders still clinging to the idea that their race/nation/bending style is supreme, and I highly doubt that the hatred for fire-bending has subsided.

In the first episode, there’s also growing anti-bending sentiment amongst non-benders. I’m expecting this to be the fuel for the unrest brewing in Republic City. This movement is led by Amon, a master of a chi-blocking technique that renders benders unable to manipulate their signature element. I’m guessing it’s a more sophisticated version of Ty Lee’s pressure point block we saw in The Last Airbender. Expect some intense battles between the martial arts of bending and non-bending. I’m also hoping we get to see some new and visually stimulating bending techniques.

Finally, I’m thrilled to see another strong female role model come out of the Airbender series. If Korra is half as smart as Katara or just a third as much of a BAMF as Toph, she’s sure to be an awesome character. Even though she’s sure to be fiesty, don’t expect Korra to go it alone: I’m sure she’ll have an earth, fire and air bender in her core team, as well as room for a non-bender to join their ranks.

I’m looking forward to finding out what has happened to the world in the last two generations and to see the children and products of the characters I loved the first time around. We know Aang and Katara had kids together, Republic City was created, and Toph developed and taught the previously impossible metal-bending ability. I’m also eager to see if the series finally answers some long debated issues: was Aang really the last Air Nomad? Can anyone learn to bend an element or only people from certain cultures? Is it a genetic thing, a spiritual activity, or a learned art? Are there any more flying bison?

I’m not sure what you’ll be doing, but you can bet I’ll be tuning in to Nickelodeon to catch the start of this series on April 14^th.  If you’re up for an adventure and a guaranteed great story, I suggest you do the same.

Like many things in life, my Sunday at PAX did not start according to plan. After three and a half magnificent hours of sleep, I awoke early to ensure that I made it in to the State of the Game panel at 10:30am. I should preface this by stating that last year’s Saturday night SOTG panel filled up an hour and forty-five minutes before it actually started. In my 2011 naivete, I thought I would be perfectly fine getting in line an hour and a half early, so I missed it. I was determined not to let that happen again.

I hopped on the train around 8:30am, only to realize after making it a single stop that I’d forgotten my Sunday pass at home. I exited the train and elected to run the ~1 mile back to my apartment, where I grabbed the pass, drank some water, and repeated the process. Upon arriving at the silver line stop for the convention center, my pass decided it would be an opportune time to fall off its lanyard. Fortunately, a very friendly passerby pointed it out on the ground to me, and I was able to recover it before entering the BCEC and beginning my final day at PAX East.

Of course, this year’s SOTG panel did not remotely fill up, perhaps a byproduct of it being early in the morning on Easter Sunday. Day9 also was unfortunately too sick to travel, and did not make it to Boston. As a result, we had JP, Artosis, InControl, and several special guests including DJWheat and another Twitch guy, along with a writer for GiantBomb and a rep from MadCatz. The energy level was understandably low, both for the panel and the audience. InControl, to his credit, powered the turbine for the hour. His sense of humor was not diminished despite the general lack of energy in the room. Artosis remained largely silent until the Q&A portion. DJWheat was fiery and indignant about the LAN issue after the previous evening’s IPL debacle. The panel also decided to broaden its usual focus on SC2 exclusively, and discussed a number of larger eSports issues. Occasionally, these discussions degenerated into repeated mentions of the Brazzers sponsorship debacle, but at least that was funny.

All in all, it was just barely worth it to drag myself out of bed. Hopefully next year they find a happy medium between Saturday night and Sunday morning scheduling.

After SOTG wrapped up, I made my way down to the SC2 tournament in the PC freeplay area. Last year’s tourney was a logistical nightmare involving substantial delays, numerous no-shows, and Battle.net issues galore. This year things were much tighter, with a significantly smaller player pool (64) and a more efficient match-timing system. As I waited for my name to be called, I noticed PokeBunny hanging out not too far away. He’d won last years tournament and looked poised to do it again. I had a quick chat with him and a few of the surrounding players, then they began calling out our round 1 match-ups.

I made the significant mistake of not bringing a keyboard and mouse, and as a result had to take quite some time to adjust to the setup that was given to me. I’m a bit of a cheap traditionalist when it comes to my gaming, so I just use the most inexpensive keyboard and mouse setup from Microsoft that I can find ($10 total!). As a result, “Gaming gear” tends to kind of freak me out. Once I’d acclimated to the neon blue LEDs all over everything, I began my ZvZ matchup against my opponent. I was able to quickly take a lead by forcing a cancel on his early attempt at an expansion while expanding myself, but he managed to put together some very solid macro as we entered the midgame. I made the somewhat classic mistake of trying to follow up my lead with massive roach aggression, which he was able to hold off while regaining a macro edge. When he counter pushed, I just barely didn’t have enough. A well fought game overall, but sadly a loss that knocked me out in round 1.

Despite being a little down, PAX has a way of making your quickly forget any disappointment. I met up with some friends and we made out way to the “From Pixels to Props: Creating Realistic Gaming Replicas” panel. This panel featured Harrison Krix, Zander Brandt, Bill Doran , Matt Munson, and was moderated (with authoritah!) by Kelly Jean. Harrison, Zander, Bill, and Matt all look to be pretty effing badass prop designers. They carried us through a rapid-fire PowerPoint featuring tons of tools and materials I’d never heard of. Apparently, 1/3 of them will kill you if you breath their dust. These guys are not fooling around.

After that it was back to the Expo hall. Sunday is the best day to hunt for free stuff, as many companies HAVE to get rid of it before packing up and heading home. I also got a chance to check out a few cool titles from smaller studios. In particular, Antichamber really caught my eye. It’s a psychedelic first-person exploration game where the world bends and twists based on your perception. I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not as convoluted as it sounds.

Instead of attending some of the final events, I opted to go out for an early dinner with some of the Penny Arcade forum folks. In a strange way, this seemed a more appropriate conclusion to PAX than anything else. The event is, in the end, about bringing people from all over the place together based on shared interests. I sat at a table with several people I’d met IRL only the previous day and we had conversations as if we’d done it dozens of times before. The shared experience of participating in a hobby can forge immediate, potent bonds. Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins have no doubt met hundreds of people at PAX throughout the years that they now regularly talk to and play games with. The PAX volunteer enforcers also express a strong, almost familial sense of community.

If you’ve even a passing interest in gaming, whether it be digital, tangible, or simply imaginary, then you absolutely must attend.

When I did finally drag my sorry carcass to back to the BCEC, I hit the expo hall for some more in depth snooping. I wandered through the booths of Penny Arcade merch, companion cube plushies (which were $20), and Geek Chic furnishings.

Saturdays, for me, are traditionally about the table top games. As much as I love wandering virtual worlds, the tangible nature of a game with a board or a deck of cards holds a special appeal. It’s like turning the page in an old tome and feeling the paper crinkle ever so slightly between your fingers. PAX recognizes this, and reserves a massive section of the building strictly for games that require less technical hardware. Despite not actually buying anything, I was able to entertain myself for nearly ninety minutes just by browsing the seemingly endless maze of peddlers.

There were games featuring custom miniatures, giant, hand-made castles, big boards, small boards, six-sided dice, twenty sided dice, one hundred sided dice, cards of various shapes and sizes, and more. There was artwork that was ludicrously childish and magnificently realistic.  I saw every version of Munchkin you could possibly imagine. I also learned that every game that’s survived long enough to have expansions is virtually guaranteed to have at least one (and possibly even two) Cthulhu or Lovecraft-inspired variants. Seriously, if the guy were alive today he’d be making an absolute fortune off the unusual obsession board gamers seem to have with his work. Even the latest Penny Arcade TCG is called “Rumble in R’lyeh” for goodness sake.

Once I was browsed out, a few friends and I sat down in the tabletop freeplay area to commence a game of Gloom. I’d never played it before, but found it to be deliciously macabre and fun. Each player receives five family member cards. Your objective is to create the worst possible circumstances for your own family and systemically kill them off in order to earn points based on their postmortem status. All the while, you attempt to make things as rosy as possible for your opponents respective relatives. It’s a backwards sort of game where the best way to play is to come at everyone sideways. The sort of out of the box thinking required to be successful, particularly in a group game, is right up my alley. After we wrapped up Gloom, we played a few quick games of Zombie Fluxx before exiting the area to meet up with some more Penny Arcade forum folks for dinner.

After dining on Pizza and participating in several highly irregular conversations, I returned to the convention center and met up with some friends to check out the screening of the fan-made Fallout movie/series Nuka Break. This impressively crafted, low budget indie series was produced by the talented folks at Wayside Creations with the non-commercial blessings of Bethesda. It follows the golden rule of solid video game to film adaptations: Never take yourself too seriously, but take yourself just seriously enough. The series follows the humorous adventures of Nuka Cola addict Twig (played by co-creator/writer Zack Finfrock), a ghoul named Ben (Aaron Giles), and a tough as nails former slave named Scarlett (Tybee Diskin). Wayside is known for its prior series detailing how to create semi-professional effects with shoestring budgets. This prowess shows in the series, which looks remarkably good considering they managed to pull it off with only around $45k. You can check out the whole thing at their YouTube channel. Keep an eye out for season 2 fundraising efforts as well.

The screening, despite suffering from some minor technical difficulties, was a blast. Afterwards, we enjoyed a generally informative and occasionally awkward Q&A session. Of course, it wouldn’t be PAX without a few cringe-worthy questions, but hey, that’s part of the fun.

That about wraps it up for Saturday. I should probably go to bed. Tomorrow, in addition to being Easter, is also Starcraft Sunday. I need to be up bright and early to get in line for State of the Game.

Despite this being my third year of PAX East attendance, I’m always struck by just how many people show up to this thing. To put it in perspective, the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center is approximately half a million square feet. In the twelve hours I spent there yesterday, there was not a single moment where I found myself with an abundance of personal space. The “Nerd Mecca” analogy is not hyperbole.

The event also brings all kinds of great characters to the city of Boston. As I hopped on the silver line bus at South Station with a few friends, we found ourselves standing next to a particularly impressive looking Auron from Final Fantasy X. He’d even gone so far as to appropriately tie up his arm. The closer we got to our destination the more N7 paraphernalia seemed to sprout up amongst various clumps of people. We saw Scorpion, Altair, and even some Minecraft Creepers. Had we been equipped with proper beverages, we could have created some spectacular drinking games.

Of course, it wouldn’t be PAX without a strong sense of confusion upon arrival. We got to the center at around 9am and were met with a massive wall of people wandering in seemingly aimless directions. We immediately joined the end of what we perceived to be the largest, most meaningful looking line. I asked a nearby enforcer where we were heading, “To get lanyards and swag bags… and get in to the expo hall, I think.” While myself and my cohorts were interested in obtaining our free loot, we also desperately wanted to make it into the 10:30am keynote, aka “Storytime with Jordan Mechner”. We decided to play it risky, and waited out the first massive line to get our free prizes before making a mad dash through the expo hall to the other end of the center in order to hop in to another massive line. Our swag, by the way, consisted of the typical Magic: The Gathering cards, a free copy of Rift (which I believe is pay to play, oh the irony…), a few other pamphlets, and some kind of origami crab creature… Fortunately, our hustling paid off, and we were able to get seats near the rear of the main theater before the keynote began.

Jordan Mechner is the original developer of the classics Karateka and Prince of Persia. Despite being in his late 40′s, he has a sort of wide-eyed appreciation for discovery much more typical of a person in their 20′s. He is unapologetically soft-spoken, and did not deliver the somewhat expected self-centric nerd pep talk more commonly associated with such keynotes. Instead, he told us his story, no more, no less. It was a fascinating story that can be adequately summed up with this simple message, “Why even attempt to plan things?” Mechner’s life was all about riding the river instead of swimming against the current. From his days in college creating a tragically unpublished game called “Death Bounce” on his Apple 2, through writing a screenplay for Jerry Bruckheimer’s on screen adaptation of Prince of Persia, any time he tried to place himself on a path, it never mattered as much to him as rashly following his emotions. Not that his heart always lead him in the proper directions. He spent several years and nearly all of his money developing a game called The Last Express in the late 90′s, which was ultimately a massive commercial failure. Still, he had no regrets. He would rather lose it all working on what he loved than risk not giving it a try. This is the mark of a true artist.

As Mechner’s quiet, dignified session came to a close, we remained in the theater for the first Q&A session with the minds behind Penny Arcade, Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins. In stark contrast to Mechner, the two took the stage to ironic gangster rap, and were immediately asked the question “How often do you two touch penises?” Now THAT is the PAX I’ve come to know so well. Mike and Jerry are fantastic human beings. They stand on the stage and respond to just about anything and everything you could possibly imagine. Audience members dish out tragic, heartfelt stories, pranks and tricks, and general questions about life, the universe, and everything. You laugh, you cry, but most of all you have a really good time with a bunch of really wacky people. I’d say that attending at least one of these daily Q&A sessions is absolutely essential if you’re going to the event.

As the session ended, we found ourselves wading through a massive crowd of people funneling towards a nearby escalator to access the rest of the center. While there was a wider staircase available, people weren’t allowed to use it. When traffic finally allowed me to merge onto the narrow pathway of the moving staircase, I was surprised to find Mike Krahulik standing directly behind me. There was no security detail, no private elevator, no red carpet. He just sat on the escalator chatting with everyone about how silly it was that they refused to let people walk down the stairs. It hit me, then, that Mike and Jerry don’t try to preside over PAX, they’re attendees, just like everyone else. In fact, I think they prefer it that way. It’s much more fun.

Having the advantage of knowing our way around Boston, my friends and I were able to avoid the exorbitantly priced convention center food ($7 for a slice of pizza, oof) and instead went elsewhere for lunch. Upon returning, we checked out the classic console freeplay area. I grabbed a copy of TMNT 4: Turtles in Time for the SNES and sat down with a friend for a few minutes of Turtle Power. A few other friends scored a copy of Zombies at my Neighbors and childhood was briefly relived.

We then made our way back to the expo hall for a closer look around. The hall is a massive hub of overstimulating bright lights. As you work your way around it, you being to realized a method to its madness. Some areas emphasize computer hardware, others focus on indie titles, while lager sections are dedicated to the bigger studios. We saw large exhibits on Borderlands 2, Tribes: Ascend, and Aliens: Colonial Marines. Each one felt like a strong companion piece to its predecessors, emphasizing perhaps the all too safe rule of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” I then separated from my group and made my way over to the Kingston HyperX booth, where EG’s InControl was playing Starcraft 2 against members of the crowd while Artosis commentated. There I met with a colorful crew from the Penny Arcade Forums Starcraft 2 community. One of them was apparently an old drinking buddy of Artosis, and we all took a group photo with him.

I then met back up with my group of friends and we made our way to the Naga theater to check out the Extra Credits Q&A panel. Now, I must confess that I went into this panel with absolutely no idea what Extra Credits was (GASP!). Turns out, it’s an absolutely fantastic web series about the complex nature of the modern gaming environment. It is the brainchild of game designer James Portnow, animator Daniel Floyd, and artist Allison Theus. Unfortunately, James was the only one who was actually able to make it to PAX. Fortunately, despite being dead on his feet tired, he was able to improvise a panel of gaming personalities from the audience including employees from PopCap, Minecraft, and other successful-yet-smaller game publishers. The whole event was interesting, but perhaps a bit TOO much of an indie-lovefest. There were numerous questions about the failure of modern AAA titles, which perhaps over-emphasized a lack of quality amongst larger titles. Don’t get me wrong, I’m as disappointed with the Mass Effect 3 ending as anyone, but I still appreciate the game as an impressive piece of work.

After that, it was time to check out the classic arcade, a wonderful free-to-play area featuring boxes from the 80′s. I played the original 2 player variant of Mario, some great old racing games, and enjoyed the crowd’s enthusiasm for the nostalgia immensely.

After leaving the arcade, it was determined that it was time to go home, rest, and recharge. PAX East 2012 was off to a strong start.

The following videos are referenced in the cast:

Justin Wong vs Diago Umehara at EVO 2004
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pS5peqApgUA

GSL Code S Match Example (skip to 4 min in)
http://www.gomtv.net/2012gsls2/vod/6711

Once upon a deadline fast approaching, screenplay ideas I am poaching

Over many quaint Criterion Collections of forgotten lore

But then I remembered a place to look, a long forgot and gory book

It’s filled with liars and with crooks; with princes, murderers and whores,

The adaptation will be breezy, gaining the rights will be easy

I’ll adapt From Hell by Alan Moore

With my agent, the idea I’m broaching, apparently the thought’s encroaching

Someone else has made this movie before

I’ve never seen it at the movies, theater-goers are quite choosy

Even when it’s late and boozy. Alright I said, I’ll look some more,

But Johnny Depp we should use for sure

With the ladies he’ll be quite a score.

Or what of a book by Washington Irving, there’s a story much deserving,

Of a retelling never done this way before

Make the lead a detective, though he won’t be too effective

A crime is his directive since the original tale’s a snore

Get Tim Burton, I implore, a director Goth kids all adore,

And he’ll do great with the décor.

My assistant checks: that’s been done too! What’s next?

I wonder as I raid my nearest liquor store.

As I’m praising my bottler, I remember Lloyd Dobler.

John Cusack’s career has gotten to be a bore

Goth him up, you can’t ignore a look he’s never done before

With pale makeup in every pore.

We’ve got the cast, I need a subject, something easy to direct,

And to save money we’ll shoot offshore.

What about Edgar Allen Poe? There’s a subject that’s obscure,

Something about a crow, but no one knows for sure.

Plenty of material to explore, Why so literal I implore!

Let’s take his life and fill it up with gore!

I wrote it, now it’s bought, Poe fans are all distraught,

It’s the loose adaptations they abhor.

His life was very full, there was plenty of material to pull,

“Why a script with so much bull?” Those die-hards all will roar.

“I don’t care,” I tell them all, it’s not you I speak for,

But my wallet empty, nevermore.

I was not one of those people. In fact, I rebelled against the books, hard. If you ask me why now, I couldn’t tell you. I just know that at the time, a book that popular annoyed me so much that I wanted nothing to do with it. Maybe it was sheer nerd snobbiness, or maybe it was ignorance. Regardless, I didn’t pick up a single Harry Potter book until the summer after I graduated college in 2007. Yes, that’s a full 10 years after the first book was published, and after half the movies were out. It was at that point, right before the release of the final book, that I decided it was time to “jump on the bandwagon” and see what all the fuss was about. I borrowed Sorcerer’s Stone from a friend and dug in. 

It didn’t take long for me to realize what I’d been missing. Despite having seen some of the movies, I had no idea just how epic and groundbreaking the series really was. I devoured the first 3 books in a matter of days, and quickly moved on to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Here I slowed down a bit, and if you’ve read the book, you may be able to guess why. To put it bluntly, shit gets real.

Up until that point, things have been serious but somehow manageable for Harry. Despite his age, he’s handled everything pretty well. Then things take a very dark turn. Harry has already escaped death numerous times, only to get thrown into this competition that he’s not technically allowed to participate in. This turn of events culminates with him having to watch one of his classmates die (intense!) and the witnessing of his sworn enemy’s rebirth. To top it off, when he tries to tell people the guy is back, nobody believes him.

After struggling through Goblet of Fire, I somehow managed not to lose my momentum completely. I pushed on to Order of the Phoenix. From there I was able to take up my previous speed-reading and finished off the rest of the series. I already knew some of what was going to happen (an unfortunate consequence of being late to the game), but it didn’t deter me from feeling sad when bad things happened to good wizards. You would think my precognition would have prepared me to deal with the more tragic occurrences, but in retrospect, it probably made things worse. I read along in dread, knowing at any second something bad was going to happen, no matter how badly I didn’t want it to.

As soon I was done with Deathly Hallows, it struck me that I had a condition known to those in the Potter-verse as “Post-Potter Depression”. I realized how much I had grown attached to not just Harry, but the entire wizarding world. After resisting for so long, I had become a full-blown Potter-head. I have to admit it surprised me. I had totally given in, and I was just fine with that. I’m still waiting for my Hogwarts acceptance letter.

Having had a recently acquired English Literature degree, these books were unlike anything I had to read for any of my classes. Perhaps that helped me get so sucked in. I was no longer in the world of required reading (even though I did enjoy many of the things I was required to read) and instead found joy in more personal motivation. Even though it’s obviously not material that you would expect to read (unless it was for an awesome class about wizards, of which I had none), I found it to be just as deep and meaningful as a lot of the highly regarded work I read as part of my course material.

If you were to ask me, I would not designate them as merely “kids books”. I think many adults who read the books can’t even begin to imagine having to go through the things Harry and his friends had to deal with, all while trying to grow up and be normal (wizarding) teenagers. Younger readers might even be a bit shocked by the violence and overall darkness that slowly creeps into the series over time.

There is more to Harry Potter than meets the eye. Seeing the movies was a good start, but it didn’t begin to encompass the full spectrum of the books. The books transport you to a different realm, which fully engulfs you. Isn’t that basically the definition of a good book? It has to send you to somewhere “other” and away from your own current reality, in a way that draws you in and makes you never want to leave.

It’s going to sound cheesy, but Harry is, in my mind, the quintessential hero. He is young, troubled, self-effacing, loyal, and good. He is faced with unimaginable hardships. Through all of that, he never once loses sight of what is important, and that’s how Harry Potter stole my heart.

Welp, Thunderbolts is over.

Last week at Wondercon, Marvel announced that this summer, Thunderbolts, a title that has weathered success in fits and starts for 15 years, would be retitled, recast, and, for all intents and purposes, rebooted as a new Avengers title. Comics and Hollywood have learned a lot of PR vocabulary from each other recently, so allow me to borrow some industry terms that really apply here: Thunderbolts is cancelled. Axed. Shelved. Shit-canned. It will not be picked up for another season. 

Most people won’t notice. Developed by Kurt Busiek and artist Mark Bagley, the series initially made a huge splash when, at the end of the first issue, the new team of do-gooders is revealed to be a familiar cast of disguised super villains (led by baddie Baron Zemo) conspiring to get into the nation’s good graces. It sounds almost trite now, but this was 1997. A full decade after Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns… and Marvel is chiefly known for pumping profits with frustrating crossover schedules and killing off love interests. So Thunderbolts was fresh. It was innovative. For Marvel, it was over-achieving. And a hit.

“…And we totally promise to definitely not take over the world!”

But beyond it’s initial twist, lightning was hard to keep in the bottle. Served up under a tagline best sarcastically cackled (“Justice, like lightning…”), Busiek’s stories about villains accidentally discovering their capacity for good were fantastic reads quickly overshadowed by name Marvel books. Even when Warren Ellis shook up the cast in 2006 with Green Goblin, Venom, and Bullseye, it remained a “minor” Marvel title; one you’d seldom see an print ad for. Its logo you couldn’t find on a T-shirt. Its stories never spun into a feature film.

And that’s a shame, because in a post Disney/Robert Downey Jr. world, Marvel’s priorities have shifted. Gone are the days it was making ballsy decisions with its books. They’re making films now, ruthlessly protecting their properties, and making sure their flagship characters have “Mickey Mouse” levels of visibility. All of this hides behind a glut of homogenized titles, a monthly heap that kept Thunderbolts on its fringes for the entirety of the book’s run.

Thunderbolts‘ anonymity was a double edged sword. There’s no denying that reliance on second and third tier characters hurt its popularity, but the fact that the flew under the radar gave it the freedom to be loud and weird. After the team was recently dispatched to Iraq and is attacked by zombies under an Islamic curse, I remember thinking “if this were Avengers, they (and the publishers) would look like complete colonialist douches.” But the Thunderbolts didn’t. The title’s premise and lack of public attention afforded it to be edgy, dark, and grimy – a welcome reprieve from their increasingly polished cousins.

Yes, we ARE the good guys. And no, I’m not kidding.

“Rebooting” Thunderbolts isn’t a completely unreasonable idea – editors have been dispelling cancellation rumors since before the series hit its third year. But all past shake-ups have sprouted organically from the book’s premise. Conspiracy became scandal, scandal became hiding, hiding became capture, capture, servitude. Only once has the title been completely overhauled, ditching the cast in favor of tales of an underground fighting circuit (…what?!). That only lasted six issues before Marvel realized what readers were thinking: “Sweet Jesus, this is terrible.”

So, while there is a chance we’ll see the Thunderbolts reunited again, Marvel’s plan remains frustratingly transparent. The replacing title will only retain Luke Cage, Avenger character and johnny-come-lately to the Thunderbolts world. The new reforming villains are recent stars of New Avengers. And, I’m don’t know if you’ve heard, but there’s this Hollywood motion picture coming out called… The Avengers. Maybe it’s cynical to assume Marvel is simply trying to capitalize on an 8 billionth product with “Avengers” slapped on it, but the company isn’t exactly being coy. They don’t have to be.

INTRODUCING THE ALL NEW, ALL DIFFERENT THUND– wait, what the hell?

In a bit of irony, the series replacing Thunderbolts, Dark Avengers, is a vague spin-off of a seminal Marvel series from 2009 that was an extension of the Thunderbolts concept. Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato’s Dark Avengers, when not being a surprisingly deft allegory for the Bush Administration (seriously), was about the deception of branding – how putting a criminal in a hero’s costume could still garner trust and celebration; the ease of benefiting from audience pandering by dressing anything up in recognized packaging. In the “Marvel Universe,” this was lofty, rare territory. In the real universe, you’d be stupid not to expect it… even from your local comic stand.

And here we are.

So, so long Songbird, Mach-V, Moonstone, Fixer, and Atlas. Later Bullseye, Venom, Penance, and Swordsman. Peace out Satana, Juggernaut, and Ghost. We’ll miss your scrappiness, your audacity, your gleefully imperfect surveying of that blurry line separating right and wrong.

Here’s hoping your return to the page is swift. Like lightning.

Read about where it all started, of course: The King Must Die by Mary Renault. The Hunger Games is a post-apocalyptic look at the classic Theseus story; Mary Renault’s version is the real deal. Most people know Theseus (if they know him at all) as “that guy in the labyrinth with the minotaur” (or the protagonist of last year’s ill begotten Immortals movie), but his story has a lot more chapters than that. See if you can play “spot the Hunger Games inspiration.”

The classical myth goes like this: Theseus finds a sword under a stone which was placed there after his conception by Aegis, king of Athens, as proof that he is the father. Theseus travels to Athens to claim his birthright, uniting the disparate regions of Greece along the way. Once he gets to Athens he finds out that the city owes tribute to Crete every year, 14 youths, 7 boys and 7 girls, to go into the labyrinth and be killed by the Minotaur. Theseus volunteers, intending to defeat the Minotaur and end the yearly tribute. He befriends Ariadne, Cretan princess, who gives him rope so he can find his way out of the labyrinth once he has killed the monster. He does so and flees, Ariadne in tow, but then he forgets her on an island. He also forgets to change the sails of his ship from black to white, indicating his success, and his father, assuming Theseus has failed, throws himself off a cliff. Of course, this leaves the throne conveniently open for Theseus to become king, fall in love with an Amazonian woman, have a son with her, watch her get killed, and then marry Ariadne’s sister who tries to seduce Theseus’ son with disastrous results.

That’s the mythical version of the story, and it’s important to know because it will illuminate just how much work Mary Renault does in The King Must Die. Much of classical history is lost, we’re lucky to still have third-hand Roman versions of Greek history. The myths are even worse – allegorical tales of a very different culture that came before science or even writing had developed. Renault weaves the connective tissue between the disjointed pieces of Greek myth and shows more realistic beginnings that led to fantastical ends in mythology’s bizarre game of cosmic telephone. Did Theseus actually turn into an absent-minded idiot who forgets his girlfriend on the beach or does he have his own reasons for what he does? Did a half-bull, half man creature actually exist, hidden away deep in a labyrinth? Or is that the bastardization of what really happened: the Athenian tribute was actually sent as contestants in a dangerous but not always deadly sport of bull-jumping? Renault thinks so, and she has archaeology on her side. She’s said that she wants people to look back at her books a realize that she was right. She writes with such confidence that you never doubt it.

Those are just two examples of the many mythological elements that are explained away with ease. Renault researched exhaustively but for all that, she never breaks a sweat. There won’t be any pauses for civics lessons or jarring definitions but don’t worry, those new to Greek culture won’t be left behind. It should make a seamless transition for Hunger Games fans who are going through withdrawal. There are plenty of connections outside of the obvious volunteering as tribute to battle to the death for sport. Just sub out muttations for a minotaur, an arena for a bull-pit, and Peeta’s puppy-eyes for Theseus impregnating ladies all up and down the Greek coast. The book gets pretty steamy without being too explicit, so it’s teen friendly but not juvenile. When the Greek tributes are all fighting one enemy instead of each other they have much more time to hook up.

The King Must Die is the first book about Theseus. It’s not a long book, but there’s a second, Bull From the Sea, about his life after the labyrinth. Combined they may last you until Catching Fire explodes into theaters. Moreover, Renault was a prolific writer, so there’s plenty of other quality historical fiction floating around. She has the guts to put words in the mouths of Alexander the Great, Aristotle, and Socrates and make it sound believable, no small task. It’s compelling reading material, enough to patch up the Katniss and Peeta sized hole in your heart, at least for a while.

The last major MLG event resulted in Leenock’s ascent from the open bracket to the champion’s pedestal, proving that MLG’s year-long seeding process was ultimately compromised by the Korean variables.

This year, MLG has mixed up the formula, using a controversial pay-per-view “Arena” event to help generate its initial batch of groups. This event pulled together 32 top players from all over the world and pit them against each other. When the dust cleared, MarineKing emerged touting a well deserved top seed and a $10,000 check. Columbus, however, presents far more dangerous obstacles. With Leenock and NesTea out due to GSTL and injury respectively, predicting the top finishers just became a lot more hazy.

Pool Play

Let’s begin with some group assessment. The placements in each group determine important byes in the Championship bracket, so a lot is on the line right from the start:

Group A

Players: MarineKing, GanZi, MC, Sase + 2 open bracket seeds

Are you kidding me? Poor Sase, holy crap. The Swedish Protoss was seeded into this group after Leenock and NesTea had to withdraw, and frankly may have enjoyed more psychological success in the open bracket. I don’t think he’s got a shot against such top tier competition. MarineKing has been on an absolute tear since he all killed Team HoSeo in the GSTL. His victory at the Winter Arena finally hoisted the perennial runner up into the champion’s circle. His creative use of his factory to block army movements mid-battle deserves historic recognition. In fact, any time I see that from now on I will simply say “Wow, that guy got MKPed,” or “He sure MKPed him with that factory.”

GanZi will have something to prove after his recent departure from SlayerS. He’s certainly established that he has what it takes to go toe to toe with the best, frequently battling through close series with your Mvp’s and your MMA’s. All out victories have been in short supply, however. If his free agency serves as a chip on his shoulder, he could be more dangerous than ever.

Speaking of dangerous, I don’t think I can say much about MC that hasn’t already been said. I guess it’s worth noting that his PvT, thanks to a series of tournament matches against PuMa, has improved markedly in the past three months. It will no doubt help tremendously in this group.

Group B

Players: DongRaeGu, DeMusliM, NaNiwa, HayprO + 2 open bracket seeds

HayprO surprised everyone at Providence, fighting his way to 7th place with impressive wins. The question is, does besting NesTea mean he has the chops to face recent GSL champ DRG and NaNiwa in competitive play? Probably not, but here’s hoping. DeMusliM is the groups’ second underdog, typically underperforming at large events but often displaying great prowess in smaller bursts. He’s been working very hard at the EG house, and obviously managed to qualify for pool play at a very tough Arena event. Still, I don’t think he’s ready for this group’s top tier.

DRG is floating on cloud 9(J?). After besting his teammate in the GSL finals, his worst enemy is probably himself. GSL champs have a history of falling off the gravy train for a while after earning their victories. If he’s overconfident, he could find himself with a much longer road to the finals than his usually stellar multitasking would merit. NaNiwa certainly won’t hesitate to knock the top 3 Zerg off his high horse if he’s given the opportunity. While he’s not necessarily a crowd favorite, the solemn Swede’s reputation for lack of sympathy is unparalleled. He’s a nerd devouring machine.

Group C

Players: HuK, viOLet, Ret, Socke  + 2 open bracket seeds

Group C is a little less cruel and a lot more nebulous. HuK hasn’t had much success since his stellar Code S runs last year. Despite placing third in the Arena, his path was notably less difficult than many of the other top finishers. Still, credit where credit is due, he beat Oz and Socke in impressive displays of PvP skill. He’ll need more than PvP against viOLet and Ret. While he managed to best Ret 2-1 when they battled in NYC, I’m not so certain it’s a feat he’ll repeat with ease. The Dutch Zerg has quietly been having a very good 2012, racking up wins at smaller invitationals left and right.

ViOLet’s situation is similar. He’s slowly but surely been climbing the professional ladder, racking up little wins here and there throughout the past several months. He’s yet to translate them into a title quite as dramatic as an MLG, but I’m pretty convinced he hasn’t plateaued. He beat SuperNoVa in February, and this group will give him every opportunity to continue his crescendo.

That leaves Socke, who’s kind of like the grizzled old veteran (yes, I know he’s only 25, but his SC2 career is longer than most) in the band of younger, more plucky children. He probably doesn’t have the speed or strength to keep up, but there’s always the possibility of a well orchestrated moment of wily awesomeness. I don’t think he can best his competition, but I will be rooting for him nonetheless.

Group D

Players: Oz, PartinG, Grubby, TheStC  + 2 open bracket seeds

Yikes, that’s a lot of PvP. Grubby, despite being a fan favorite, is going to be in some serious trouble against the Code S caliber play of Oz and PartinG. I hate to say it but they’re both just on a different plane. PvP is the second most unforgiving matchup (surpassed only by ZvZ). If Grubby manages to beat even one of them I will be tremendously impressed.

TheStC was a regular bulldozer back in the beta, but has had a relatively uneventful career since then, often staying out of the spotlight. Of course, that makes him a bit of a dark horse, but let’s not get carried away. I think Oz and PartinG will easily take this group, and the battle for third and fourth place will be much more fascinating.

The Open Bracket

Despite the new qualification format, it should not be lost that the winner at Providence came through the open bracket. There are some fearsome players in there, most notably Stephano. The french (or is it American?) Zerg is surpassed perhaps only by DongRaeGu in his ability to dispatch Protoss opponents. His play seamlessly molds safety and aggression, relying on intense periods of macro in very specific windows followed by onslaughts of units. If anyone is from the open bracket is going to have a good showing, it’s him.

Let’s not forget his competition, though. Sheth, LosirA, Mvp, and, yes, IdrA to name a few. The Arena seeding is more accurate than last year’s debacle, but I still don’t think it counts for much. Of course, that’s part of the excitement. I have little idea who will dominate, who will fall, and who will surprise us all.

And that’s exactly how I like it.

And then there were none.

Welcome back for the 6th and final week of Talking the Walk, season 2 part 2. We’ve had some good times together: Rick and Shane beatin’ the hell out each other. Lori being awful. Carl being awful. Dale being awful… and then instantly missing him when cow-eating walker got him (then briefly entertaining the idea of zombie-cow). Ah, it’s all a warm blur now…

But before we pop the champagne, there’s still still one more episode to recount: Last night’s “Beside the Dying Fire”, picking up just as Rick and Carl finally killed Shane and a swarm of walkers descended on the farm. So don’t hang up those shotguns, scythes, and crossbows just yet – there’s still some slayin’ to do. 

The first half hour of “Beside the Dying Fire” is just what I, and I’m assuming many, many fans, hoped it would be: a balls-to-the-wall, fist-pumping, gun poppin’ zombie action sequence. Carl’s inquiry as to why his dad had to kill Shane is cut short by a walker flash mob, one that is briefly quelled when Rick and Carl lure most of them into the barn and set it ablaze. It’s a nice little father-son teamwork moment, a “Bring Your Kid to Zombie Attack Day” success. Meanwhile, the other survivors notice the swarm just as Lori notices for the umpteenth time her unsupervised child is missing. It’s time to flee the farm…

…or is it? What about Rick? Carl? Shane? Then the guns come out – and in a big way.

The walker attack on Hershel’s farm is probably the finest zombie sequence the series has produced. Lit by just the moon and the burning barn, it’s a hectic, scary, melee. The Walking Dead too often presents one walker at a time, which is rarely threatening or frightening, but the farm attack is a reminder how scary they can be in big numbers. The chaos quickly cleaves the group: Maggie and Glenn drive away in a truck, Daryl is able to get Carol on his chopper, Lori is ripped away from her search for Carl and gets in a car with T-Dog, and Rick saves Hershel and gets the old man and Carl in another truck. One of Hershel’s daughters bites it, as does “Jimmy” the farm hand who barely spoke, and Andrea… Andrea gets left behind. The farm is left in flaming, zombie-infested ruins. I’m seldom struck by Walking Dead camera work and editing, but we’re talking motion picture quality work here. Well done.

Queasy rider.

The group’s situation was exciting. Rick makes it back to the highway, only to have Carl rebel (for missing Lori) and Hershel drop some amazing lines of dialogue. (“Jesus Christ promised the resurrection of the dead. Guess I just always figured he had something a little different in mind.”) Do they wait for survivors? Risk going back? Are we breaking up the band!? Just when you think the show might go all Fellowship on us, the rest of the survivors catch up with Rick in a neat little parade of battered, blood-splattered vehicles. Hugs and recaps are shared, and it’s decided the farm is lost – time to move on. When Andrea is brought up, Rick deems her fate to the wind. Given he was considering leaving his wife behind just minutes before, I believe him.

But Andrea is no push-over. She escapes the farm on her own and is pursued by walkers in the woods. She’s worn down by their numbers, a lack of ammo, and I’m guessing, calories, and falls to the forest floor. When Andrea’s attacking walker is suddenly decapitated, she looks up and sees one the most evocative images I’ve ever seen in the show: A cloaked, samurai sword-wielding woman (woman?) who is towing two armless (and obedient?) walkers. YES! A THOUSAND TIMES YES! I’m not sure what this character is, or if it was even in the comic series, but her sudden appearance is a reminder that we are dealing with the medium and, two-years in, an injection of some comic-inspired imagery is more than welcome. -girly scream-

Rick decides the company should camp out on the road, but can’t dodge (barely related) questions anymore: Randall didn’t have bites… how was he infected? Rick drops the bomb: via the crazy CDC doc (remember he whispered something to Rick?), everyone’s infected, the virus is latent. The gang’s shocked, but Rick brings up a valid point: who cares? They still gotta survive. He leaves the group feeling betrayed and privately confesses to Lori that he and Carl killed Shane. Even when Rick explains that Shane orchestrated Randall’s escape to kill Rick… she gets all pissed, violently shaking Rick off.

Hey, Lori – it’s official: we all hate you. It’s because of you that Shane went off the deep end again and Carl was wandering around in the middle of the night. So screw you, lady. You are the most hated woman on television, and during a year where Kardashian programs are legion, that’s no small feat. Let me be the first to voice the hope season 3 has some zombie incisors with your name on them.

Shane felt very present in “Beside the Dying Fire,” but in a surprising vessel: Rick. It was Rick who was ready to leave the others at the highway, who convinced the group to abandon Andrea, and when the group confronts him about lying to them about the virus, he finally snaps. “I killed my best friend for you damn people!” Rick’s explosion at the group was a long time coming. They’ve all relied on Rick for a long time, and while he hasn’t always been successful, he’s always tried to please everyone (the reason his success has been fleeting in the first place). Shane was never concerned with winning popularity contests and now neither is Rick: “This isn’t a democracy!” As the group stare at him in shock by firelight… the camera pans upward revealing a well-protected prison not far off. It’s a wonderful work of imagery and association by the show. As the hierarchy of the group shifts, at what point do group members become captive… and more pressingly – you’d imagine whoever is running a prison full of survivors probably has a pretty big jump on Rick’s new non-democratic policy. Just a guess.

Alright. Let’s rest here and practice our goosestepping.

As satisfying as the episode was, it also put us in an awkward position. Rick has been an unpopular leader all season, especially in contrast to Shane, who frequently seemed reasonable. But Rick is pushed into making the hard, firm, no-BS decisions we’ve always wanted him to make via stress, desperation, and trauma… and not any heroic inclination. It makes sense: seeing what people do when pushed to their limit is what this show is all about. But despite any frustrations, we’ve always adored Rick as the good guy. The harder edge, heavier foot is welcome, but it’s oddly sad to see him get to this point in this way. We know where Shane Street goes. As we head towards season 3, ten and two, Rick. Ten and two.

Now that The Walking Dead has resolved it’s major Rick vs. Shane story line, everyone is wondering who’s going to be in the “apocalyptic asshole” hot seat, and by “everyone” I mean “people who don’t use the Internet.” News broke weeks ago that AMC had already cast someone to play The Governor as their season 3 villain. I’m not that familiar with The Walking Dead comics, but word on the street is that they don’t get really good until the Governor shows up. I’m starting to wonder if they’ve already planted seeds for him: who’s leading that ruthless band of survivors Randall came from? Who piloted the helicopter that herded all the walkers the Hershel’s farm? Who’s running the prison? If the writers know what they’re doing, these things will be connected.

But you know what I want to know?

Where the fuck is Mearle? Daryl’s older brother was a huge deal back in season 1 and now that Daryl’s hard-boiled, squirrel-frying exterior has been pierced and he’s a valued, emotionally embedded part of the group, time is ripe for one-handed Mearle to show his face and exact revenge on the man who left him to rot: Rick. More Mearle means more Daryl. The series could use both things.

While we’re talking characters, now that the cast has thinned out, the series would do well to give a few characters more screen time: my vote is for Andrea. She might be my favorite character, someone who has transformed during the show, but has been emotionally resilient enough protect a recognizable, admirable core. And c’mon guys, we need more T-Dog. You’re playing the token black-guy thing way under parody or self awareness. Give this guy more to do.

AND THAT IS IT, PEOPLE! It’s a been a thrilling, frustrating ride. In season 2, part 2, The Walking Dead proved itself still far from perfect, but you have to appreciate the things that it did well. It’s characters are still magnetic, their relationships still in the forefront. The show is still capable of being scary, graphic, and surprising. And for all it’s incessant wheel-spinning, no one can deny the payoffs were always huge and worth waiting for. I’ve enjoyed S2P2 more than other seasons and I’m pumped for more. The deaths of Sophie, Dale, and Shane bring a brand new life to the show – let’s hope that second life is free of a stiff gait, graying complexion, and bleeding, festering holes in the plot. I think it’s possible.

Thanks for reading, guys. Until the Fall, when once again, we get our walk on.

Any author who chooses to tackle a setting or culture very different from their own is open for criticism. That seems to go double for an American talking about the Middle East. An overly critical author will bring forth howls of racism, jingoism, or Islamaphobia. An author who highlights the beauty in Islam winds up accused of Orientialism, as if just writing about Islamic characters is equal to European imperialists taking a hookah and harem holiday in the Orient.

This is a first-world problem and doesn’t mean that the plight of Craig Thompson, author of new graphic novel Habibi, is comparable to those of a Syrian refugee. He chose to write a novel (or rather a tome) about Islamic girl Dodola and her friendship with Zam, a young slave. In it he does his best to walk the middle ground between reverence and criticism.

The art is gorgeous, with numerous splash pages featuring Islamic calligraphy and poetry. The whole book has a timeless and dreamlike quality. Modern machinery will be on one page, sultans’ palaces on the next, and boats rise up out of the desert. It is, in part, an exploration of religion, not just Islam but Christianity and their many similarities. The art is epic enough to match the celestial themes.

Inside the fantastic facade, however, is a grimmer “reality.” The heroine Dodola trades sex for food and money. Her friend Zam is so traumatized when he finds out he elects to become a eunuch. The above quotes are there because this is Thompson’s reality, not necessarily reflective of actual day-to-day life. Genital mutilation and slavery are real problems, but when there isn’t a single female character that isn’t a slave or a concubine, and there isn’t a single male that isn’t obsessed with sex (usually with Dodola), Thompson’s gaze lies too heavy for comfort.

Is this portrayal of sexuality, both female and male, another case of east clashing with west? Maybe, the culture differences probably don’t help, but that’s not the entire problem. Thompson’s previous work, Blankets, suffers from the same idealization. It’s an autobiographical graphic novel about his first love so some allowances should be made for rose-tinted glasses, but when Raina, the object of Craig’s obsessive love, is stylistically compared to an angel from heaven it’s like the great philosopher Romany Malco says, he’s “putting the pussy on a pedestal.”

This is an issue across cultures, with Islamic Dodola and Zam and (very) Christian Raina and Craig (the character):

• The only time Craig masturbates at the age of seventeen (!!!) is to a letter from Raina. Afterwards, he severs all ties with her he burns everything she even sent him, ending any chance of reliquary idolization.

• Craig and his brother get in a fight, pee all over each other, and are tossed into the shower by their irate mother. Zam has his genitals removed completely.

• When Craig and Raina finally engage in some good, old fashioned, teenaged dry-humping, it’s pictured as a true meeting of souls, their bodies twining across a full page illustration. Mutilated Zam pleasures Dodola with his breath and their own brand of intimacy.

Thompson’s villainization of actual penetration is hard not to notice. It’s doesn’t seem to arise from Oriental objectivism or white-man’s self flagellation. More likely, it’s a case of personal bias or even trauma. So, yay for him? Congratulations, you’re not racist, you just have a lot of sexual hangups.

Of course, Thompson isn’t necessarily unaware of this bias, and writing these books may be his admission (or even his catharsis). That one-time masturbation session in Blankets ends with a Craig climaxing across a piece of paper, a fitting metaphor for the entire novel of self-exploration. If it indeed helps him exorcise his demons, Thompson should, by all means, keep writing books. They certainly look beautiful.

The $60 price tag is a bit daunting, but given the 13 year gap since Diablo II, I doubt most gamers will hesitate. Now I just have to decide between a barb, a monk, a wizard, a witch doctor, or a demon hunter. First world gaming problems…

Welcome back, lumbering, bloodthirsty fanboys and girls to Talking the Walk! Can you believe it’s been five weeks already? It seems like it was only yesterday we were cursing the CDC, wondering where Sophie was, and still had no drop date for new Mad Men. But this is now! For weeks, The Walking Dead has floundered with episodes that had one or two major payoffs, but still tread water for 40 or 50 minutes at a time. It’s a relief to report that last night, the penultimate episode of  Season 2, Part 2 “Better Angels,” fine tuned the series’ recent recipe and baked us up some nearly-perfect, blood-gurgling goodness. HUZZAH! So grab your crossbows and over-sized sheriff hats and let’s do this thing!

Dale! We hardly knew ye! The gang says their heartfelt goodbyes to their moral-compass. Rick now wants to run the group with the warm and fuzzy sentiment Dale always approached everything with. You know, not to protect anyone or nothing, just to honor the old guy. Glenn and Anderea also share a pretty nice moment of mourning while fixing up Dale’s camper, but the oddest bit of bereavement came with the can of whoop ass Daryl, T-Dog, Shane, and Andrea open on some walkers, Office Space style.

Hell, yeah! Tell your zombie friends, zombie!

After the funeral stuff, it’s decided the group needs to get indoors, and Hershel welcomes them into the house. While the gang starts lifting boxes and swinging hammers, Rick reveals that they are indeed going to march their prisoner, Randall, way the hell out and cut him loose. Shane hems and haws, but Rick finally decided it’s the Rick Show and that’s that. Hershel warns Rick about Shane, but Rick is convinced Shane is past his wife-boinking, wrench-throwing ways and will fall in line with the group. You get the feeling Rick is trying to convince himself, though, especially when he chooses Daryl as his wing man for the Randall thing. Wasted opportunity for a torrid Bromance triangle there, Walking Dead.

But it’s impossible to neatly sweep Shane into a corner, especially when he’s embedded so deeply in the hearts of Rick’s family. Shane’s always been Carl’s “cool uncle,” so it’s no surprise when he goes to Shane to turn over the stolen gun and admit that he failed to kill the zombie that slaughtered Dale. But the real blow comes when Lori confronts Shane to apologize for pitting he and Rick against each other, saying she owes him everything for saving her and Carl when the fallout started and even confesses that she doesn’t know whose baby she’s carrying. Shane is understandably flabbergasted and the next time we see him, he’s in the dark, mouth breathing and smashing his own face into a tree because -oh yeah- he’s batshit crazy. Remember that?  Nice one, Lori.

So with Shane squarely back into rubber room territory, Rick needs his boyscout sash back. Now that he’s firmly waving the Dale flag, he gets it. After realizing Carl probably shouldn’t be going to Shane for stuff, he has a heart-to-heart with his son. It’s a sober little piece of television parenting, with Rick admitting “I’m tired, son.” So, stop being a bratty wuss, Carl. Also: What the hell? Keep the gun.

…Okay, maybe not such good parenting.

“But Ima need that hat back.”

Shit really hits the fan when, nose broken, Shane comes to group saying Randall has stolen a gun and escaped. Out goes Rick, Shane, Daryl, and Glenn to go hunt him down. Little does anyone suspect that Shane actually killed Randall is orchestrating the whole thing… except us. We know it. Because they showed it earlier in the episode. …I get the impression that Walking Dead writers aren’t sharp poker players.

But the night hunt in the woods is tense, measured, and scary. When Glenn and Daryl come across a zombie Randall, axe him, and see that he hasn’t been bit, Daryl points out that his neck is broken… and that he died of that before becoming walkified. Perhaps you missed Daryl’s recurring role as a forensic scientist on CSI: Bumblefuck.

Cut to: Shane leading Rick up a gently sloping hill under glistening moonlight, the jig just about to be up. Rick realizes the sham and that Shane means to kill him.

THIS IS IT, PEOPLE!

Shane reams Rick out: You’re not as good as man as me! Your wife’s sad and not boned enough! Your son’s a swirly waiting to happen! The gloves are OFF! Rick almost loses it, seeing the Shane really means to replace Rick in every role in the group, but holds his Ghandi stance. The funny thing is Shane is right on all counts: Lori is a broken woman. Carl is confused. And Rick has bobbled both the Sophie and Randall situations. But the funnier thing is that Shane’s a raving lunatic. He couldn’t lead, father, or husband himself out of a paper bag. He’s gone, has been for a while. And Rick knows it. While surrendering his gun to Shane, Rick shanks him and, in a bloody, tearful rage, puts down his best frenemy.

Shane, the intermittently resourceful and heartbroken asshole. Season 1 – Season 2. R.I.P.

And so Shane is dead. Rightfully, finally, satisfyingly bucket-kicked.

Props, Walking Dead. After some might close botch-jobs, you finally brought to close the driving conflict of your first two years. It was hard not to like Shane and John Bernthal’s electric performance. Shane was a villain whose motivations were fueled by desperation and heartbreak, and that’s a winning combo. Plus, his death is not frittered away, but speaks to a continuing moral dilemma of the show: Shane believed that in a hopeless world, to be ruthless was to be good, but is brought down when Rick finally embraces the realization that to remain good, you must sometimes be ruthless. We look forward to seeing how Rick will carry this. Thanks, Shane! We already miss you.

…But, wait!

Just after the murder, Rick finds Carl just strollin’ by, dead of night, gun in tow (LORI, WTF). Seemingly upset at his father’s bloody crime, raises his gun at Rick. Little does anyone know that he actually is aiming for zombie Shane as he sneaks up on Rick… except us. Because the show edited a bunch of cheesy, jarring zombie shots over a close up of Shane’s big dead face (again, the writers and the not good at poker thing). Carl’s headshot to zombie Shane echoes all over the woods, where dozens of walkers hear it and begin to descend on the farm… CUT TO BLACK.

But whoa whoa whoa, not so fast Walking Dead. What’s the deal here? Both Randall and Shane become zombies despite not getting bit… and come to think of it, Rick noticed that the two zombies security guards from two episodes ago didn’t look bit either. What– what is happening? Is the virus mutating? Shit, son! Has the zombie game done changed!? What does this mean for our farm full of survivors? We’ll find out in our final hour of season 2!

See you in seven!

That was August last year and there’s been plenty of times for trailer editors to take the same five scenes that don’t have spoilers and edit them into multitudes of trailers to be released each month. But we can learn something about the adaptation from these brief glimpses, let’s take a look at this trailer.

Morning Mood by Edvard Grieg plays as Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) runs through District 12, which doesn’t look too shabby… for 1880. For a town in the future it appears to be severely lacking in hoverboards or, yanno, plumbing. Sure has a lot of electric fences though. Anyway. Katniss and Gale lounge around when they should be hunting and providing for their families. We see that Katniss is steallar at shooting at rocks (we even get a smile out of her) when a hovercraft appears in the sky. You know what this means? Katniss isn’t just going to talk about the readheaded, soon-to-be-Avox girl getting taken, we get to see it happen.  Because why give up a perfect opportunity to showcase the horors these children are put through? It’s unclear if this will still be a flashback or it’ll be one of the first things we see but it’s a major event those chose to show rather than tell.

They might not have been hunting but Liam Hemsworth is super at catching flies. Of course, that’s a screengrab of him looking his most unfortunate. Public opinion is against poor Liam as Gale but he really doesn’t have a lot to do in this movie except sit around and look mournful. Maybe a few insert shots of him flaring his nostrils while there are makeouts in a cave, who knows. I don’t know a lot about his acting abilities (I just watched the bit of the Thor trailer where his brother is shirtless, does that count?) but maybe he can get himself a coach between now and when the Catching Fire cameras role.

We cut to the reaping day and see that all the money District 12 had budgeted on city planning or showers went to hi-def screens that show just how much makeup they’ve caked on to Effie’s face. Which is a nice touch, since the Capitol people trancend gaudy and move into grotesque and made Elizabeth Banks look 45 years old.

Welcome welcome to another year at Hogwarts.

She explains the premise to everyone while Katniss and Gale share some longing looks and Prim gets more and more panicked. Flashback! To Katniss telling Prim there’s no way she’ll get picked. Cut to! Prim getting picked. Of course, that’s only after Effie delays the inevitable, swirling her hand around the fishbowl full of names and making it really obvious why everyone hates her. Just pick a name already!

Then there’s the moment where Katniss volunteers and Jennifer Lawrence proves she’s absolutely going to kill it in this role because she goes from this…

…to this.

Even the Peacekeeper is like “…dude.”

Peeta is also chosen as an afterthought and in no time they’re on a train to the Capitol. (Gale talks some more since this is pretty much all the screen-time he’s going to get.) It’s unclear if they’re going to play up how no one bothered to volunteer for Peeta or if it was unnecessary since Josh Hutcherson is making some awesome kicked puppy faces already.

There’s a beautifying montage that hopefully lasts as long in the movie as it does in the trailer. (Unless you can do it better than Miss Congeniality, don’t bother.) A quick glimpse of Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickman before a longer glimpse of Donald Sutherland going evil for President Snow, who’s getting a little extra buildup in this movie before he goes to hang out with Gale in the “Waiting [for Catching Fire] Room.”

Then we get ANOTHER montage for their Games training, which will hopefully also be breif. It’s our first trailer-look at Haymitch who seems to have found his way to a shower in The Capitol. Yeah, the hair is unfortunate but he doesn’t look nearly as desheveled as he could be. Is the drunken stumbling being played down for the sake of The Children? Because I’m pretty sure The Children have all read this book already.

Anyway, Katniss shows what we already know, that she’s ace with a bow and arrow, not just in the verdant woods with a rock that blends in to the background but also in a well-lit firing range and a stationary target. But there’s Wes Bentley with Seneca Crane’s fancy beard art, making a shocked face that hints that a roast pig missing an apple is around there somewhere.

Looks like the movie will find time for Peeta and Katniss’ midnight rooftop rendezvous where he’s earnest and she’s keeping her emotions tucked in. Then in no time, it’s time to go to the arena. But among these quick shots of Cinna helping Katniss suit up there are some hints that the movie is going to go places the books couldn’t. The first-person voice of the books doesn’t have room to show what’s happening throughout Panem while the Hunger Games are televised. The movie isn’t so restricted. We get to see Gale brooding and Prim worrying about her sister and the people of District 11 (probably) react to Katniss when Rue’s… done something wonderful, I’m sure.

Now, this is where the movie, and any well-loved book adaptation, can get into trouble. Fandom tends to be divided between those who want strict accuracy and those who are more interested in tone. Ask a die-hard Harry Potter fan which movie is their favorite and you’ll know which side they land on. Some fans love the first two movies: they looked bland and felt uninspired but you could read the book along with the movie and not miss your favorite scene. And some fans love the third, chopping scenes left and right but the entire tone felt much more magical.

Hunger Games adaptation debates are going to happen, with noisy pockets of the internet both praising and damming it no matter how the movie turns out. It’s inevitable. While it does look like it’ll be showing even more than the books did, they aren’t changes, just logical additions that come with a change in format. The book is restricted by choice because Suzanne Collins chose a first-person narrator. The movie doesn’t have to be (or rather simply can’t be) so hemmed in. Of course the spectators reacted to what they were seeing, why not show it? Those quick cutaways are going to drive the mood of the film and also ease the incredible tension of a lengthy arena battle royale.

Speaking of… Katniss and the other tributes rise into a field, an ominous voice counts down to one, I pee my pants, and all hell breaks loose.

Thresh! (probably)

Foxface (probably) in the far right, getting the hell out of dodge

Katniss, doing the opposite. Look out behind you!

Holy crap.

So it looks like this movie’s going to be a good time. In just two and a half minutes we see some promising good performances, a nice look to the different Districts, some exciting things the books don’t have an opportunity to show,  and… I’m sorry, were those notes over the title Rue’s mockingjay song? Yeah, this is going to be appropriately creepy. Well done movie, well done.

SPOILERS yo!

Welcome back to Talking the Walk: WEEK FOUR! After week three’s made-you-look faux climax between Shane and Rick, I wasn’t sure what to expect from last night’s “Judge, Jury, Executioner.” Not in the nail-biting sort of sense, but in more of a “Hey, Walking Dead, our bus here is sleepily drifting into the breakdown lane and we’ve already had too many bathroom breaks,” sort of way. Last night’s episode let us know that for at least 15 minutes, The Walking Dead is, in fact, capable of having both hands on the wheel. 

Unsurprisingly, those 15 minutes occurred at the very end of “Judge, Jury, Executioner,” leaving us with three quarters of an episode’s worth of Olympic class wheel-spinning. Randall, the survivor from the bar standoff, caves under Daryl’s interrogation techniques (“Good Cop”/”Hunting Knife Cop”) and reveals that he had no allegiance to the murdering and rapin’ crew that shot at Rick and co. back the bar. Fearing that Randall could still lead those guys back to the farm, the group agrees to kill Randall. Oh, except one person: Our favorite, wise, old budinski, Dale. It’s easy to like so many of the Walking Dead characters, Dale included… but also like many of the characters, Dale’s been one note for so long that no matter how great the performance, it’s likely to produce yawns. So forgive me, Dale, for checking my email and playing “Words with Friends” while you made the rounds, trying to drum up support for the “let’s not kill random dudes” bill.

The other star of the show was young Carl, who, as it turns out… is kind of an asshole. He sneaks into the barn where Randall is being held, tells a grieving Carol that that believing in Heaven is for booger brains, and steals one of Daryl’s guns to prod a trapped walker in the woods. WTF, kid? Lori was eager to dole out chores last episode – perhaps she should bump “knowing where my 10 year old son is during a zombie fallout” closer to the top of her own to-do list.

Parental Guidance Suggested.

Spare minutes were packed with the usual odds and ends. Hershel finally accepts Glen as a suitable… suitor for his daughter Maggie, even gives him a pocket watch. Seems premature, Hershel, but whatever, it’s the apocalypse. Rick mulls over the killing of Randall with Lori (THRILLING), while Shane makes a Survivor-like alliance proposition to Andrea for stealing leadership from Rick.

Oh, Shane. If only it was as easy as going down early during a tiki torch maze race.

And then there were the 15 minutes! The whole group finally gathers to decide Randall’s fate and poor old Dale hasn’t convinced even one single soul to back him against the execution. Jeffrey DeMunn, who plays Dale, puts a five star effort into every episode (and is great in other roles… check him in Hollywoodland) and is fantastic in this scene, even with repetitive material. Dale’s always been able to reach down and pull hope out of the other characters during the group’s darkest hours. Here, though, he realizes he’s hit the the wall, he’s lost their ear, and he’s devastated. It gave me pause. “Man! This guy’s really acting his ass off right now!” I thought. “What a great showcase scene for DeMunn!” I thought. “I wonder why this is happening now?” I thought. Stupid me. STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!

Later that night, some of the episode’s seemingly tedious details come tragically together like a slow motion car crash. Rick, Shane, and Daryl are finally ready to punch Randall’s ticket… just as Carl wanders in to watch (Dammit, Lori!). It pauses Rick and, surprise surprise, he doesn’t go through with it.

Meanwhile, despondent and wandering on his lonesome, Dale comes across one of Hershel’s missing cattle gutted open and still mooing (raise your hand if you jumped off your couch and yelled “Zombie Cow!?”)… only to get ambushed by the same walker Carl left alive in the woods (DAMMIT, LORI!). The company comes to the rescue… but it’s too late, Dale is mortally wounded and once again they have to put down one of their own. It’s as heart wrenching as a show about zombies can get, the entire company in tears as they watch kindly old grandpa of their troupe die a horrible death, the man they realize was right.

Dammit, Walking Dead! I thought I didn’t care anymore! Even Shane was upset. EVEN SHANE! -sobs into pillow-

“Dale: Season 1 – Season 2. There was no personal business he feared to butt into. RIP.”

Word on the street was that this week, AMC accidentally spoiled a major season 2 death (WAIT, only click this link if you’re comfortable with the spoiler). For those of us (me included) who have avoided it, the question now remains… was Dale that death? Or is there another? I have my theories, but we’ll see.

I’m going to leave it at that folks… the emotions, the tears, they’re still flowing. A lot to process over the next week. BUT HEAR ME, RICK: your endless flip-floppery does not go unnoticed! Shane’s campaign for leadership now, more than ever, has traction. Time to step it up. You only got two more hours of bloody, roaring, imperfect television to do so.

See you in seven!

Rob is an accomplished screenwriter and has worked in the industry for several years. He blogs about film at his website, “Heroes are Boring”.

Then DRG did it again. He just up and decided to win three games in a row like it wasn’t no thang. He truly is a top 3 Zerg.

As wrong as I was about DRG, though, I take heart in just how right I was about Genius. Alive was straight up outplayed by the strategically superior Protoss. As the season of team MVP draws to a conclusion, a PvZ final looms on the horizon. The question is, will it be worth remembering? 

It shouldn’t be forgotten that Genius absolutely handed DRG his proverbial Zerg hat during group play. Of course, a Round of 32 Bo3 is an entirely different ballgame from a B07 finals. DRG will have the opportunity to practice extensively for a specific matchup against a specific opponent. His established history of endurance-based comeback wins also can’t hurt. Genius, for better or worse, has crushed all of his recent competition so quickly that we haven’t seen his capabilities when it comes to a prolonged series. If DRG survives the initial onslaught, he may fare better as the series moves in to its later games.

He is, after all, SC2′s very own comeback kid.

It’s not just about who wins, though. This series is an opportunity for some much needed evolution in the PvZ meta-game, in which professional-level openers have become disappointingly one-dimensional. The give and take relationship that all Zergs have with the FFE has become unfortunately tiresome, as have the collection of ways in which casters have figured out how to deal with 6-8 minutes of in-game downtime created by a turtling Protoss vs a macro-heavy Zerg. Genius is a cerebral player, DRG is an innovative Zerg. Let’s see something new. Just the other day team IM’s Seed managed to three gate expo not once, but TWICE against Leenock. Obviously a three gate expo isn’t the most exciting build in the world, but at least it was something different.

The fact that these two finalists are teammates also greatly increases the potential for non-standard play. They know each other, they practice with each other, they’ve probably already begun hatching some devious plot to trick each other. That is what excites me most about the series. I want a recreation of the moment where NesTea crawler rushed AnyPro. Something that will make Artosis say “Uhhh, I guess we’re going to learn together guys… OH MY GOD!” The GSL has had its fair share of great games recently, but it hasn’t had a moment of pure strategic innovation like that in quite a while. When all the marbles are on the line, these two definitely have the potential to surprise us.

So when these two clash this Saturday, I will watch hoping for a finals that doesn’t simply rehash the round of 32. I want a game of Starcraft jiujitsu where Genius lives up to his name. I predict that Genius wins 4-2, and that he dominates early but DRG makes a series of it a few games in.

Forgive me for being late with Week 3 of Talking the Walk. I had obligations to watch the Oscars, and that… was an ordeal. Billy Crystal. Meryl Streep. Christopher Plummer. Silent movies. All night the Academy was raising figurative corpses of its own,  youknowwhatI’msayin’? -waits for high five-

But it’ a shame that a big event like this overshadowed “18 Miles Out,” which, for most the most part, was a climatic season 2 episode. Rick vs. Shane finally came to a head… not quite in the way I had hoped. Rick and Shane drive a hooded and bound Randall (the Philly survivor Rick, Glen, and Hershel saved last episode) away from the farm to find a safe place to snuff him out. But at a crossroads (OH, SUBTLE), Rick pauses to clear the air with Shane, revealing that he knows not only about Otis’ murder at the school, but about Shane’s affair with Lori. Rick puts his foot down, staking his territory around Lori and Carl, and, to his credit, Shane takes responsibility, cites the circumstances, and all around observes the proper dude-bro code. 

Things get lest fist-bumpy once Rick and Shane reach an abandoned school when Randall reveals that he knows Maggie (Did I hear this wrong… how does this make sense?). It’s enough for Rick to pause, but guess who’s ready to punch the poor guy’s ticket right then and there? #FUCKYEAHSHANE

When he suggests that Rick can’t be “a good guy” anymore and survive and that he’s not the right one to lead the group, it comes to blows. A lot of them.

One of these days, Alice…

As much testosterone was hosing down the Rick/Shane plot, back at the farm, things were decidedly more “Real Housewives of the Zombie Apocalypse”. Lori discovers that Beth (one of Hershel’s daughters) is bed-ridden, despondent, and suicidal. Explaining to Maggie, Beth’s argument sounds a lot like Andrea’s from the end of season 1: “the world’s gone to hell, I wanna decide how I’m clocking out”. When Andrea sympathizes, she has it out with Lori, who, get this, wants Andrea to help cook and clean more.

Oh no, she dit-int!

Andrea zings back, calling Lori a spoiled floozy, undermines her and Maggie’s protection of Beth, and I watched REAL carefully to make sure no one was holding a Cosmo.

Back to rock’em, sock’em broheims. The ruckus attracts a flock of walkers and Shane gets cornered. Collecting Randall, Rick is about to leave Shane behind and right when you think The Walking Dead is really going to shock you… Rick turns back and saves Shane. And, pouting, back to the farm they go.

Hey, Walking Dead! WTF?

We’ve been building to this moment from THE SECOND EPISODE and you go and throw a safety net under it? Yeah, I want to be unsure of what happens the next episode… but not because you keep retreating to stasis. What should have been a boiling point for Rick and Shane is now, at best, “round one,” and at worst, a bonding moment. This is on top of the fact that both Rick and Lori are falling out favor with us. Has anyone, ever, even liked Lori?

And despite Rick’s bad-ass “no man left behind” moment, he comes off as a complete wet noodle, hypocrit jackass in light of a more and more reasonable counter argument from Shane. Oh, you’ll do anything for your wife and kid, would ya? I think I remember you mentioning this every episode of this television series. Rick needs some new talking points fast, because the moral dilemma that usually makes the show so great and thoughtful is tipping increasingly towards a sane-looking dark side.

“Now, let’s wait a second here and hear this fella out.”

I didn’t hate “18 Miles Out.” In fact, for a big, broad episode full of brawling, head-stabbing, and suicide attempts, there were surprisingly effective nuances. Leaving the door open for Beth to hurt herself was a fresh look at Andrea, a character who, despite all her screen time, is frequently lost in the shuffle.  Shane’s vision of the lone walker in the field was oddly both eerie and sad, and the two dead guard zombies that remind Rick of his early bond with Shane late in the episode is one of the cleverest moments to come out of the writers’ room.

But keep your eyes on the big picture, people. You’ve been building on this one thread for two years now and all signs are pointing to you wrapping it up in the next few episodes. Now would be the wrong time to lose your stomach for bloodshed.

See you in seven.

Rob is an accomplished screenwriter and has worked in the industry for several years. He blogs about film at his website, “Heroes are Boring”.

The three easy ones:

District 12 is explicitly in Appalachia, they mine coal, and are (incorrectly) considered hicks. It has to be West Virginia.

The citizens of District 11 work on farms, it’s warm year-round, and they’re a one-day train ride from District 12. They’re in Georgia; because of course a majority of the black characters in The Hunger Games are from a Georgia cotton plantation, and that’s not weird at ALL.

District 13 got obliterated so it has to be New York City (it always is).

Educated guesses:

The Capitol is Las Vegas. Now, at one point the book says the Capitol was built “in” the Rocky Mountains but later our hero, Katniss Everdeen, takes a train “through” the mountains so The Capitol isn’t necessarily nestled within the peaks. Look at the facts: the citizens wear gaudy outfits and are addicted to spectacle, they have no natural resources, and need lots of space to build huge death-trap arenas every year.

It’s Vegas. Besides, how did they manage to televise everything that happens throughout acres of forest without learning a thing or two from the hidden cameras in casinos?

District 2, however, has to be in the mountains, with their army base The Nut encased in a mountain. Since they’re closely allied with The Capitol let’s say they are actually in the Rockies. It must be Denver and The Nut is Mile High Stadium.

Those are the only Districts with actual geographic hints. But we can guess based on the resident’s occupations or names:

District 4 is known for fishing… so it has to be Kansas right?

Just kidding. But they still could be located anywhere on any coast? Yes, except that names are important in this series. The Capitol citizens all have Roman names (Cinna, Caesar, Claudius). The people from District 12 have names that come from nature (Katniss, Primrose, Gale). The two District 4 names we know are Finnick Odair and Annie, very celtic names. Irish fishermen? Get your lobstah in Boston.

District 3 produces electronics… so with nothing more to go on than that, I deem it to be in Silicon Valley, California, home to Apple and a million tech startups. Using a similar lack of evidence, District 6 has to center around Detroit, Michigan since it’s the Hunger Games district known for transportation (and junkies).

That’s it for hints within the book. Districts 1, 5, 7, 8, 9, and 10 all produce items that are not region specific (luxury items, power, lumber, textiles, grain, and livestock, respectively). If “power” means oil then District 5 is probably Texas and the Gulf Coast but electric power can come from anywhere. The largest cattle ranch in the country is in Florida but there are smaller farms all across the country so District 9 could be anywhere.

What do you think, reader? Any guesses?

And we roll on to week two of Season 2, Part 2 of The Walking Dead! This has spoilers.

Last week’s episode was basically a summary of Part 1 of the season, leaving my recap a recap of a recap (BRAHHHHMMMM). But it ended strong with Lori flipping her car on the interstate in search of Rick, who was busy being pinned down with Glen and Hershel in an abandoned pub after the killing of two aggressive Jersey-sounding survivors from Philly. OH! Fugetaboutit! Gabagool! Racial epithet!

The first half hour of “Triggerfinger” might be some of the finest minutes of the series thus far. It opens with Lori awakening from her car crash, pinned inside the vehicle in the middle of nowhere in the dead of night. Scary enough, right? Nay! Zombies are also trying to push themselves through the mangled car frame, jagged glass peeling back their rotting, bloody skin. NOW YOU”RE SPEAKING MY BLOODTHIRSTY NERD LANGUAGE, AMC!

*HITS INHALER* 

Just last week I bemoaned the series’ lack of imagination concerning zombie sequences and this week answered in spades. I’m sorry I ever doubted you, Hit Zombie Cable Series! Forgive me.

And then there’s Rick, Glen, and Hershel’s pub situation. Turns out the dead Philly guys had a bunch of jittery friends who happen to be armed. Rick, Patron Saint of dealing with unreasonable assholes, tries, in vain, to reason with them, only to evoke gunfire. He, Glen, and Hershel return fire, attracting walkers. They end up making the tough decision to flee with a young, impaled guy who was just shooting at them. I know, I know. Thank God, a 17th cast member.

Mr. Cobain, Mr. Hutchence, and Ms. Winehouse… Ima have to ask you to step back.

The standoff at the pub is great, white-knuckled scariness. The “conflict with other survivors” element of zombie stories has only been brought to the forefront in the last decade or so, probably starting with 28 Days Later, in which a squad of soldiers become the main antagonists. It’s a concept The Walking Dead has dallied with before. There’s ol’ Mearle Dixon, running around somewhere minus one hand, or the CDC professor who was super ” ” and tried to murder everyone. Last night’s pub shootout was Walking Dead‘s most successful attempt at the concept to date, making the enemy survivors faceless, nervous, and believable foils to Rick and company. If someone had killed any of our crew, would Rick and the gang act any different? Maybe, maybe not, but the series continues to prove that zombies are a fantastic side dish to a healthy serving of moral quandary.

Is it just me, or did last night’s episode resolve itself really quick? I’m not going to lie, I was ready for a few episodes of Rick negotiating his way out of the bar and Lori wandering alone through the woods. I’m fine with moving on, but how does a series spend seven hours of television looking for a little girl and then neatly sweep aside two stickier, scarier situations in thirty minutes? It’s another weird call for a series that’s already become known for making them – we’ll see how it plays out.

“Sorry about murdering your friends and everything, but we got about 8 minutes to wrap this up.”

The rest of “Triggerfinger” backed off into usual dramatic territory. Lori returns to the farm safe and sound and young Carl learns that his mom is pregnant. An awesome “birds and the bees and the zombies” talk could have ensued, but instead there had to be more static between Glen and Hershel’s daughter. Man, getting laid during a society-ending apocalypse sure is terribly complicated, huh Glen?

But Shane remains the issue at hand. Once again, he privately professes his love for Lori, who now suspects that he could be a murderer, and maybe even lied about Rick’s condition at the start of series to get in her pants. Yeah, it’s about time someone said it, but it only reminds us what a stand-up dude Shane used to be. The sitch gets more awkward when Lori reveals to Shane that Rick knows about her and Shane’s affair. I can only imagine the tense “I know that you know that I know that you know” stand-off we’re in for when Rick and Shane finally butt heads.

Let’s be fair: Shane did loose his marbles at the end of the first half of this season (Jesus, AMC, just air full seasons), but for the last two episodes, Shane’s worst offenses are refusing to shake hands with the old men – he’s been grumpy, but not a dangerous maniac. Rick can’t even deny the fact that if Shane is a murderer, Rick has now murdered too – both men doing it for the good of Lori and Carl. Writers: You’re doing it right. Shades of gray are the way to go. I don’t know want to know what corner I want to be in.

Better alert the music department, though; those high tension violas at mere mention of Shane’s name in the final shot seem to imply he’s cackling in a thunderstorm somewhere, curling his handlebar mustache.

See you in seven.

Rob is an accomplished screenwriter and has worked in the industry for several years. He blogs about film at his website, “Heroes are Boring”.

People, people, people. The Walking fucking Dead.

This should go without saying, but here there be spoilers:

Season 2, part 2 is finally here and debuted last night to what I will assume are pretty impressive numbers. It seems like only yesterday that Rick and crew had been taken in by farmer Hershel Greene during their search for little Sophia, only to find out ol’ Hershel had a soft spot for walkers, keeping a barn full of them right on his property. Both Carl and Daryl got clipped by friendly fire, Andrea got busy with Shane, Glen got busy with the farmer’s daughter, a preggers Lori finally told Rick about her and Shane, Shane lost his ever-loving shit, and the crew finally found Sophia a member of Hershel’s quarantine, leaving Rick to gun her down. -phew- Lordy! Did I miss anything? Oh yeah, Dale kept his nose firmly planted in everyone else’s business and T-Dog definitely said some black guy stuff.

There. All caught up. 

The group’s time on the farm was a largely a zero sum game and while one can appreciate the emotional gravity of Sophie’s appearance in episode 7, a lot of fans felt the reveal was more shell game than plot twist. This is the weird line that Walking Dead, um… walks. Is it zombie pulp masquerading as nuanced cable series, or a nuanced cable series garnished with animated corpses? In the case of the latter, zombie fans, always willing to watch bit-player survivors dodge zombies for tangible goals (guns, food, the high ground, etc.), are more than willing to turn up their noses at Walking Dead‘s lofty, and often flawed, narrative execution. Would S2P2 speak to these frustrations, re-rack the chambers and get guns blazin’ and brains splatterin’?

Last night’s “Nebraska” answered with a rousing “MAYBE!” For forty minutes, the group dealt with the aftermath of the barn incident, which is appropriate – it was a big deal. The issue is that everything about this aftermath served as an introduction rather than any forward movement for the characters. Rick is guilty, Shane is angry, Dale is wary, Carol (Sophie’s mom) is sad, the rounds are made. Example: when Shane fetches the truck and sees Dale watching him, I rooted for a handshake, hoping the two guys can put their tense forest moment from episode 7 behind them. Instead, the dialogue recaps that moment, reminding us (and informing new viewers?) of their stand-off. Same with Glen and Hershel’s daughter, Maggie (is Glen staying or going?). AND Lori and Rick’s discussion on child rearing during a zombie fallout (what kind of world are we bringing life into?).

Being right all the time: hard work.

It’s all good… but familiar. It’s a mistake the show often makes: getting larger ideas right and details wrong. Remember how the CDC lab didn’t work out in Season 1? Of course it wasn’t going to work out, but it shouldn’t have not worked out in such a goofy way. In the case of “Nebraska,” yes, there should be a character-focused regrouping after the barn incident, but not to welcome new viewers to the fold. Jesus, AMC, you aired episodes all day to do that.

But then there was the last 15 min or so. “Nebraska” finally drove into new territory, and in the case of Lori, flipped the car over on the interstate. But that’s a plot line the show is comfortable leaving for later, the real centerpiece is Rick’s confrontation of Hershel at the bar. Out to drown his sorrows and admit his hopelessness, Hershel drinks for free in an abandoned watering hole (which, you gotta admit, is a pretty sweet perk of a zombie apocalypse).

Anyway, Rick reasserts his leadership and convinces Hershel to return to the farm… just as two new survivors arrive. From Philadelphia, the two guys open with some pretty friendly “howyoudoin’”s and “irregardless”s, but quickly voice interests in visiting the farm. Rick doesn’t like these guys. Hershel doesn’t. Even Glen is tense. And when push comes to shove, Rick puts his fast draw to work and kills them both. It was, undoubtedly, the “OH SHIT!” TV moment of the week (Although, I heard Skrillex and Chris Brown won Grammys last night. That seems to call for some cursing, too).

Less vacant staring, more Johnny Walker.

It’s sudden, harsh, shocking violence, something The Walking Dead hasn’t depicted in a while, if at all. Zombie-killing is fun and visceral, but it’s hard to ignore how much obligatory its become, exhibit A being Andrea’s scythe moment at the top of the episode. Zombie kills have become humdrum, but when a human bites it, that’s still powerful.

Previews showed that the Philly guys will have lasting consequences, but I was more curious about the line “Nebraska” drew between Rick and Shane. We’re all expecting a rivalry between Rick and Shane for leadership of the group, but “Nebraska” flips the script: It’s Shane who has a tender, understanding moment with Carol and Rick who resorts to being cold-blooded. For two guys who have been steady, polar-opposite courses, “Nebraska” hints that both men are capable of middle ground. Shane’s loosening hinges almost single-handedly fueled season 2 and it’d be a colossal misstep for the series to balk on Rick vs Shane, but if last night’s reversal only further complicates the issue, I think we’re in for some gnarly showdowns.

Next week: Will Lori’s pregnancy be affected by her car crash? Will Rick get pinned down by gunfire at the bar? Will Daryl deal out some more sweet crossbow kills? Good to you have you back, Walking Dead, warts, lesions, rigor mortis, and all. See you in seven.

Rob is an accomplished screenwriter and has worked in the industry for several years. He blogs about film at his website, “Heroes are Boring”.

These are hard times for the swarm…

This is only one of many upcoming content initiatives. Keep an eye out!

In my days playing WoW (admittedly quite long ago) there was a commonly shared thought amongst my inner circle of gaming buddies: “This would be so great if it had a single player component.”

Obviously we weren’t referring to a straight 1-1 conversion, where large, empty plains populated by various beasts with repetitive AI would pose serious monotony without a multiplayer population. What we were yearning for was a fast paced, open world action/adventure RPG with massive emphasis on character customization and an enthralling setting. Something less ambitious and a little lighter than, say, an Elder Scrolls game, but larger and more open than your standard Fable.

Enter Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, a game that finds the proper balance between detailed character construction and whacking the living crap out of faeries with various blunt, sharp, or magical items. The game comes out tomorrow, so I thought I’d give the demo a whirl with three very important questions at the very front of my mind.

Why should I care about this game?

First and foremost, it’s rooted in the widely beloved world of Forgotten Realms author R. A. Salvatore, creator of the cult hero Drizzt Do’Urden. If that’s not enough, Todd McFarlane and Ken Rolston are major contributors in art and design respectively. These are some pretty badass dudes when it comes to sword and spell fantasy. That was enough to convince me to download the 2+ gig demo.

It’s also a noteworthy in its implementation of open-endedness. Today’s highly polished entries into the genre, particularly from Bioware, have emphasized plot influence over character development. Your decisions are more about defining your character’s morality or attitude than your character’s abilities. There are class selections, sure, and even some item discrepancies. Once you choose a path, however, it’s largely linear. Bethesda games allow for more diversity, but are less rooted in traditional RPG math, as it were.

Kingdoms seems to place ability, attribute, and equipment customization above all. During the demo, I got to try every variety of basic weapon, various spell types, and specific attribute configurations that didn’t feel permanent. It was a similar sensation to constructing a role-playing character on paper with an eraser handily available. The game’s destiny system also supplements traditional class choices, allowing characters to create their own personal jack of any or all trades.  As for plot influence, I was given a relatively standard array of dialogue choices during character interactions, but was left largely with the silent protagonist vibe. It’s a lot less about what I say and a lot more about how I choose to brutally massacre that giant spider over there.

Is it fun?

Initially I was a bit intimidated by the breadth of the skill trees. I feel like you have to read for several minutes before you can really gain a proper understanding of how the character development works in the long term. Mousing over the various posibilities felt a bit onerous, and more casual players may be scared away by that particular aspect. What will win them back, however, is the combat system. Good lordy is it smooth.

If you’ve played WoW, you know that attacking computer controlled enemies isn’t the most visceral experience. Most MMO’s are a bit divorced from their own combat, utilizing targeted auto attacks and specific unmissable abilities. It’s refreshing, therefore, when a game that feels so much like an MMO allows me to take specific action to trigger an individual attack. Stringing together combinations only amplifies this satisfaction. I didn’t do 18hp of damage to that faerie, I hit that faerie right in its smug, faerie FACE.

Once I hurdled the initial learning curve of ability development, I found myself having a hell of a good time with the game.

Is it worth $60?

Absolutely not.

I’m sorry, I really am. I know I’ve spent the last several paragraphs describing what sounds like a pretty kickass RPG, but it just does not have the level of polish required to justify the highest cost available in today’s gaming market. That exclusive territory is reserved for your Skyrims or your Diablo III’s.

The graphics, while occasionally striking, feel a little dated and derivative. As excited as I was about the involvement of Todd McFarlane, the overall aesthetic bears a disappointing similarity to Blizzard’s previous work. That said, it’s by no means an ugly game, it just doesn’t establish anything distinct or remarkable. It’s adequate, nothing more and nothing less. The same can be said for the plotline, which is introduced in an opening cinematic complete with a cackling villain. There’s a long, elaborate backstory for the setting, but the in game dialogue embraces established archetypes instead of trying to push anything forward. Nothing to write home about.

What we do have is an absolutely phenominal $30-40 game. There’s a charm to the game’s universe, and it feels like exactly the type of thing that’s fun for thirty minutes or six hours at a time. I may not be picking it up on launch day, but I will be picking it up the second it goes on sale.

The round of 32 included several fantastic games. In Group B, Leenock and Fin put on an extremely creative show in their first match; in Group C, Lucky put on a fantastic display of the power of Zerg air units on Bel’Shir Beach in his final Bo3 with MVP; and in Group F, Genius and sC showed us what happens when two evenly matched players reach the extreme late game of TvP.

It also showed us that some of the players were not quite ready to compete amongst the best. Sad to say it, but IdrA looked shaky. He was uncharacteristically unable to capitalize on a lead during one match against Lucky. Whatever the cause of his erratic play, he must overcome it in Code A. EG’s latest acquisition JYP also seemed outmatched. I can’t really blame him, though, as he was in a group of three studs from team MVP.

He also wasn’t alone in his difficulty. To put it in perspective, 7 of 8 new Code S players were knocked out of their groups, PartinG being the only exception.

Now that the round of 32 has ended, the remaining 16 players must prepare for a far more difficult group stage starting Wednesday, Feb 1st.

Group A

The Players: Mvp, GuMiho, Curious, aLive

The Story: There are a lot of intriguing things about this group. It’s a regular circle of aLive has beaten Curious who’s beaten GuMiho who’s shown he can hang in there with talented Terrans (Bomber comes to mind). The clear favorite is Mvp, but if history has shown that he’s susceptible to bouts of bad play. It’s interesting enough alone to see if he’ll maintain his reputation as the world’s premiere Terran.

As for the other three, Curious entered Code S last year with a chip on his shoulder. He’d massacred his way through Code A (smashing opponents including GuMiho) only to get knocked out in the round of 32 by Marine King and aLive. Now that he’s returned, he may have the most to prove. Then again, aLive is currently without a team, and may want to strut his stuff to potential buyers following his exit from TSL. GuMiho is definitely the weak link here, but upsets are possible.

Mvp
Curious
aLive
GuMiho

Group B

The Players: MMA, Oz, Puzzle, SuperNoVa

The Story: MMA has a bone to pick with Oz. The two met head on in the Ro8 in GSL November and Oz barely pulled out the win. A rematch between the two holds epic promise. Oz is coming in off a third place finish in Code S, but may fall victim to the dreaded “Runner up” curse (a common thread amongst some of the GSL’s finest players). Puzzle may have the PvP skills to overcome the crafty Oz, but he will be trying to overcome his history of being knocked out of Code S by strong Terrans. He’ll have his hands full with MMA and SuperNoVa, two of the best. After a recent drop to Code A, SuperNoVa will have a lot to prove, but a recent victory over MC shows he can handle a top Protoss (or two).

I’m on the fence about Oz, but I think this will be the group of the Terrans.

MMA
SuperNoVa
Oz
Puzzle

Group C

The Players: MC, GanZi, Jjakji, PartinG

The Story: It’s been a long climb for MC. After becoming the first and only champion ever to be demoted to Code B, the Kratos Protoss has adapted his timing-based play to be even more precise and deadly. He found his way back into Code S in November, making full use of the MLG/GSL partnership. After falling to Code A once more, he redeemed himself after defeating Bomber. His recent victory at Home Story Cup may not have involved top opposition, but it came with casual ease, like it was a forgone conclusion. Now that he’s exclusively representing SK, he has the extra motivation to prove that leaving oGs wasn’t a mistake.

He’ll have his hands full with reigning champion Jjakji, GanZi, and a surprisingly potent PartinG. While Jjakji has shown no signs that he’s deteriorated from last season, GanZi managed to defeat him handily in the Ro32. On the other hand, GanZi has a history of playing gatekeeper, of being “almost there” but never there. Then there’s PartinG. Raise your hand if you thought PartinG would go 2-0 in his group? No hands up? That’s what I thought. This guy probably feels like a million bucks, and could harness his momentum in the coming matches.

MC
PartinG (UPSET ALERT!)
GanZi
Jjakji

Group D

The Players: NesTea, DongRaeGu, MarineKing, Genius

The Story: “D” certainly stands for “Death” in this round of 16. Holy moly, two of the best Zergs? The perennial runner up? That guy who won BlizzCon that one time? Yikes. NesTea doesn’t need much of an introduction. He’s the winningest Zerg in the history of the game. DRG has a metric ton of hype surrounding him, but is as of yet an unproven commodity in the individual leagues. I honestly don’t agree with the constant assertion that he’s one of the top 3 Zergs in the world, but I will certainly grant him top 10. MKP is still trying to prove he can actually win a GSL. Someday he may, but with a group like this it won’t be today.

Which leaves us with Genius… Outside of last season, Genius has never dropped out of Code S. When he did finally fall to Code A, what did he do? He immediately went mass phoenix into carrier/mothership and WON. That’s the kind of awesome dude we’re dealing with. I hope he manages to surprise everyone this year, and I think he can do it.

NesTea
Genius
MarineKing
DongRaeGu

Might as well be honest, the 2011 MLG long-form point system never really worked. The occasional appearance of high level Koreans was directly at odds with it, and the seeding at Providence was wildly inaccurate as a result.

So what does a season consist of? According to their announcement (and a followup comment from Sundance), there will be several online (as in no live audience) “Arena” events, each prefaced by regional qualifiers for Europe, North America, and Korea/Taiwan respectively. The first arena will be held in New York City from Feb 24-26 and consist of 32 players (the top 8 qualifiers from each region plus the top 8 from Providence). The qualifiers will occur over three weekends in early February.

In addition to a more than modest prize pool (first place gets $10K), a high ranking finish at an Arena event nets a better seed in the seasonal championships. The seasonal championships, from what I gather, will be formatted similarly to the MLG events we came to know and love during 2011. The first of such events, dubbed the Winter Championships, will be held in Columbus, OH from March 23-25.

Given that this is an initial batch of information, it is yet to be determined how a season with multiple Arena events will factor in to Championship seeding. We’re also still waiting on concrete prize pool and format information on the Winter Championships. Still, the initial information is pretty exciting. Given MLG’s willingness to cover travel expenses for players at their Arena events, I can’t see this new format not working in their favor. As a viewer, I look forward to an increased frequency of SC2 content. Qualifiers, Arenas, and Championships are all fun to watch in their own separate, yet viable ways.

Reducing the total live-audience events to four per year should also allow the organization to more effectively deal with logistics. I expect the quality of those seasonal championships to be markedly improved compared to last year’s events. Here’s to hoping MLG’s 2012 can match, or even exceed 2011.

Leenock was a solid favorite, returning from the West with a shiny new MLG Championship trophy. Jjakji was the underdog. The guy whose only exploit was all-killing FXO in the GSTL back in July. The expected narrative had written itself. Leenock would crush him in unceremonious fashion, heft his trophy, hug his mom, and be the richest self-made 16 year old on that half of the globe.

Was I ever in for a surprise.

The games were fascinating, mostly because the players were fascinating. Instead of competing mechanically, they opted to play a more direct mental game. Games were not decided by one dimensional questions like who maxed out faster, who expanding when, or even who chose the right build. Instead it was a matter of understanding the actions that would nullify or exploit the specific decisions of the opponent. Jjakji and Leenock could’ve been competing in checkers, or hide and seek, or well, anything. The result still would’ve been a fascinating look at two equally creative psyches.

The following is a summation of my thoughts on the series, detailing what made this such a special match up and why things turned out the way they did.

Tal’Darim Altar

This, to me, was the game of the series. You’ll have to bear with me, I’m about to do some prolonged gushing.

Day9 mentioned something interesting on the last episode of State of the Game. He talked about self-expression through Starcraft, the ability for players to distinguish themselves through play style. The viewing community at large could benefit from this brand of eSports auteurism. No one wants to see the same marine tank push over and over again. They want players who push boundaries, who have character. They want July to “flip the switch,” or NesTea to crawler push a forge FE because he has “a thousand IQ!”

Tal’Darim Altar has the most necessary factor for allowing players to define themselves: size. It’s a big enough map that you can play it in any number of ways. Both Jjakji and Leenock took advantage of that fact.

Jjakji, for instance, rapidly took a hidden third. Not just any hidden third, a behind the minerals hidden third. This technique preys specifically on high level thinking. A good player will not scout all the way to the mineral line, instead opting to stop with the command center’s typical placement barely on the edge of their visual range. This maximizes the efficiency of the scouting player’s unit movements, but leaves a considerable blind spot. One which Leenock fell victim to. He ultimately did not discover until it was nearly mined out. The position of the CC obviously reduces mining efficiency, but the overall utility of the hidden base made it extremely worthwhile.

Thus begs the question, how on earth did Leenock make this into a close game despite his economic disadvantage? The answer lies in the unique way he established a cost effective army: the double spire combined with burrowed banelings. On a large map, mobility is often more important that outright power. Knowing this, Leenock correctly determined that rapidly upgrading his Mutalisks would be extremely advantageous. Using his more-than-typically powerful Muta ball, he unleashed a death by a thousand needles strategy that used small counters to deflect larger aggression.

Likewise, large maps mean lots of space to hide deadly burrowed baneling traps. Everywhere Leenock went he left a baneling or three in the ground, a tactic he utilized throughout the series and deserves to be classified as a distinctly Leenock maneuver. Even during battles, he’d burrow a tiny contingent of banelings in opportune locations for later use. Jjakji was very careful about scanning, but nobody is perfect. A few solid hits kept his marine count low and his confidence diminished. This allowed Leenock to even the playing field despite his relative lack of resources.

So why did Jjakji eventually win? While Leenock made some small tactical blunders (the accidental baneling explosion comes to mind), the larger answer lies in Leenock’s late game philosophy.

Given double spire upgrades, conventional wisdom suggests that Brood Lords, along with a complimentary ground army including some Infestors, were a logical late game decision. It was this conventional wisdom that bit Leenock in this ass.

For a long time, this death ball created what felt like an insurmountable situation for Terran opponents. More recently, Terran pros have been utilizing the raw power of late game Ghosts to absolutely decimate Zerg’s larger, more expensive T3 units. A pack of 12 snipers can rip a Brood Lord or Ultra-based army to shreds, and save up enough energy to do it all over again if the Zerg doesn’t opt for a tech switch.

Brood Lords are also slow, really REALLY slow. By this point Leenock’s bases are copious and spread apart. In order to defend them from the multi-pronged devastation of 3/3 marine drops, he needs speed. His emphasis on Brood Lords also caused him to forgo, either by intention or omission, the all important adrenal glads upgrade until the game was nearly over. By sacrificing his mobility advantage, he gave Jjakji free reign to harass, and eventually destroy his outer expansions.

Jjaki’s economic situation wasn’t much more favorable, as Leenock’s leftover mid game Muta pack had effectively contained him to a single mining base. With the two on even footing, the cost effective manner in which Ghosts handle Brood Lords and Infestors in direct combat became the keystone that led Jjakji to victory. The final clash involving a massive aerial Zerg army dive bombing into a fearsome Terran composition of Marines, Ghosts, Vikings, and Thors was epic spectacle, but the Terran coming out on top was a forgone conclusion once the first snipes were fired. Leenock should’ve stuck with agility instead of opting for strength.

Crossfire

This was a more straightforward game. At face value, one could simply state that Jjakji won with a devastating early timing push. That assessment doesn’t do justice to the one major factor that led to the success of that timing: Jjakji’s ability to control Leenock’s behavior.

This was achieved through the judicious way in which Jjakji denied scouting. It started with the very intentional deployment of two marines to hunt down and destroy Leenock’s scouting Overlord, an action that Jjakji performed throughout the series with nearly precognitive efficiency.  While he didn’t manage to kill the OL this game, he did force Leenock to place it into a completely innocuous location. He then used reactor hellions to deny map vision and influence early production behavior. Leenock saw some hellions, which is about the most standard thing you can expect to see in a TvZ. Jjakji then utilized Crossfire’s narrow corridors and watchtowers to eliminate any further drone or ling scouting.

Jjakji’s success was causing Leenock to be moderately conservative when he needed to be extremely conservative. While Leenock had planted two crawlers and had the beginnings of a wall, he began building literally seven drones as Jjakji moved out with a fearsome 1-base Terran force. At that point it’s a forgone conclusion. A Zerg simply does not have the larva to produce the necessary defensive units to stop a force that big on a map that small.

Daybreak

Daybreak was Leenock’s first opportunity to play a clean game, by which I mean Jjakji didn’t opt for an all in or any hidden base shenanigans. It was also exemplary of why I feel that Leenock actually has better mechanics than Jjakji. His macro, micro, and multitasking capabilities were just ever so slightly superior throughout the match.

For example, Jjakji’s early tactics were intentionally agile and conspicuously devoid of Siege Tanks. He uses a force of Marines, Medivacs, and Hellions to attack Leenock’s third while simultaneously dropping his main. This is a difficult thing for a Zerg to handle, and standard practice involves shutting it down through establishing a Muta presence. Leenock, however, is able to handily deflect Jjakji’s multiple assaults while delaying his spire, opting instead to focus on fast upgrades. This takes an extremely sound player who understands the value of flanking. Leenock manages to out-maneuver Jjakji and comes out of the situation with a tremendous economic advantage.

Leenock uses this advantage to rapidly tech, opting to head straight for the Greater Spire while maintaining his strong lead with highly upgraded Speedling/Baneling swarm and a small contingent of Infestors. With this force, he prioritizes keeping Jjakji’s already low Tank count down, even if it means some sacrifices. This essential action prevents Jjakji from establishing any safe havens on the map, allowing Leenock to expertly force him into a series of unfavorable trades. If you’re a Zerg, and you’re ahead in tech and econ, you can afford to trade your expendable fourth base for a Terran’s much more essential third base. Leenock keeps Jjakji from establishing an effective economy by rolling over any efforts to establish bases with a massive swarm, then cleaning up subsequent counterattacks.

When the first wave of Brood Lords pops, Jjakji is able to take them out. However, it quickly becomes clear that Leenock, with 3x the income, has forced him into an unwinnable situation. The beautiful baneling landmines are just garnish for what was a forgone conclusion.

Bel’Shir Beach

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Zerg beat a Terran in a base race scenario during a pro match. It’s just not supposed to happen. They can lift their buildings for goodness sake!

Jjakji opts for a 2-port Banshee build. He deviates from the norm, however, by throwing down an early Command Center at 21 supply and producing an initial batch of Hellions. This decision has mixed results. On the one hand, it delays the banshee aggression considerably. On the other hand, it simultaneously produces complacency in the opponent while making transitions more stable.  Leenock, either by intention or pure luck, happens to go for an early Spire. This nullifies the banshee aggression completely, prompting Tastetosis to incorrectly assert that Jjakji is in massive trouble. To the contrary, his early economic maneuvers ended up mitigating his disadvantage considerably. He has a decent economy, and his infrastructure isn’t game-endingly horrible.

Of course, his situation is still disadvantageous. He’s just able to make a game of it.

One such disadvantage involves the over-abundance of Medivacs he produces. Jjakji is never quite able to replace his air production with ground army infrastructure. This hurts him tremendously in many of the later game battles. He ends up with too many supporting units and way too little DPS.

Leenock is also able to take advantage of Jjakji’s temporary weakness to expand rapidly. This grants him the economic advantage necessary to sink into his more comfortable play style from the Daybreak game.

Leenock is ultimately able to win the game through a series of devestatingly potent counter attacks, most of which destroy orbital commands. This is essential, because he follows up every counterattack with a new spread of his trademark baneling land mines.

When the final base trading begins, Jjakji is not able to scan. He does manage to squeeze out a Raven before his main crumbles, but Leenock is able to take it out in a subsequent hit and run battle. The result is Jjakji slowly moving around the map using blind siege tanks shells to clear out any traps. Any SC player knows this isn’t an ideal situation. This slow pacing allows Leenock to re-establish a base and produce more units.

Leenock slowly picks away at the edges of Jjakji’s army before finally moving in and crushing it. Perhaps he’s a bit over-cautious in doing so, but it does guarantee him the win.

Dual Site & Calm Before the Storm

At this point, Leenock begins to crumble. On Dual Site, he botches his micro, failing to defend an early push through sloppy army control. On Calm Before the Storm, he botches his macro. He’s floating around 1,700 minerals for the last third of the game or so.

Maybe it’s because he’s young, maybe it’s because he’s tired, or maybe it’s because he’s satisfied with the insane amount of money he’s already made in just two weeks time.Whatever the case, Jjakji earned his victory through an impressive string of strategic decisions.

The real victor, though? Gotta be the GSL and GOMtv. They finally put on a final that justifies calling themselves the biggest, best tournament in all of Starcraft 2. It’s also a victory for the game, as it’s one of the first high profile examples of a series that was truly decided by strategy and not mechanical prowess. Jjakji didn’t out-mass or out-maneuver Leenock, he out-thought Leenock.

This sort of creative conflict signifies a massive step in pro-level SC2. Leenock vs Jjakji should, if nothing else, be remembered as a milestone.

All images in this article belong to GOMtv and the GSL.

Way back in the Fall of 2010, a plucky, unassuming forum user over at Penny Arcade named “JoeK” was struggling mighty to escape the impoverished trenches of the Starcraft II Bronze league. Despite the ridicule one would assume this status would evoke, Joe’s efforts were instead embraced as endearing by his more accomplished forum buddies. One day, almost by accident, the SC2 forum thread stumbled upon an idea. What if Joe, along with equally bronze cohort “HLPRMNKY”, were to headline a show match?

Last year’s Rumble in the Bronze Trailer 

As is law on internet forums, the idea quickly snowballed. What if it were to benefit a good cause? Who could we get to cast it? What about putting together a higher level undercard? Soon enough, the small community had set up a donation page for Penny Arcade’s “Child’s Play” charity, which provides free games to sick children in hospitals across the globe. They then reached out to none other than EG’s Geoff “InControl” Robinson, who quickly agreed to lend his unapologetic voice to the event.

Thus the first Rumble in the Bronze was born. Thanks to an outpouring of support (not to mention a very active thread on Team Liquid and a blurb from PC Gamer), the event successfully raised over $3,300.

A lot has changed in the past year. Joe, for instance, has reached the opulence of the Silver League. His heart, however, is still made of Bronze. He and a number of other members of the forum community have decided to bring the event back for a second go. On Saturday, December 10th at 5pm EST, the second annual Rumble in the Bronze will begin. This time, everything will be bigger, badder, BRONZER.

InControl has agreed to return, promising more relentless mockery. He will be coasting with former TCL caster and Penny Arcade forum regular Seguer. ESports’ most prolific beauty pageant star Anna Prosser has also agreed to make an appearance as a player, setting the stage for what may be the most awkward casting we may ever see from Geoff. The organizers have also reached out to some of the folks at vVv Gaming and ONoG, who have expressed interest in participating.

Despite the star power, the core of the event will still be the Bronze players. This time, the crew has opened up the field, sweeping across the internet and recruiting a number of low level Starcraft enthusiasts. Game after game, cheese after cheese, this group of miscreants will provide the backdrop for what is sure to be an event full of epic laughs, indecisive micro, and cannon antics.

A few of the final details are still TBD, but if you love SC2 and giving free games to sick kids, mark your calendar. I will update this article the moment more information becomes available.

In the meantime, check out the following links:

Follow Rumble in the Bronze on Twitter 

Rumble in the Bronze on Facebook

Rumble in the Bronze Team Liquid Thread

An Excellent Article from Arctic Nova

Official Rumble in the Bronze Site (DONATE HERE)

 
Photo taken from InControl’s Facebook page.

A former caster for the NASL and a regular on the State of the Game podcast, InControl is never one to censor himself. He’s also one of the most enthusiastic eSports spokesmen in the community. As a mid-20′s Starcraft fan who coincidentally enjoys metal and is also named “Jeff”, I’ve always wanted a chance to interview him. This past week I got my wish.

While most of us know you, let’s begin by introducing you to those who may be new to the scene. Tell us a little about yourself, and how you found your way into the world of professional StarCraft.

My name is Geoff “iNcontroL” Robinson I am 26 years old and I have been playing SC since the very beginning. I became a pro when Evil Geniuses wanted to sign a BW team to cultivate an SC2 squad. This was several years ago!

What’s it like being a member of EG? Is your schedule regimented by the team, or do the players mostly self-manage?

Players mostly self-manage but the end goal of that training is to appease the team and be productive for yourself. So we set a pretty rigorous schedule for ourselves and keep each other honest about upholding that standard of training. Being on EG is a huge honor but it’s also a responsibility. We are the leading eSports team and not doing well is not acceptable. For me that means some added pressure but I’d rather have pressure to do great than no pressure at all.

You’ve done a lot of work with several major eSports outlets. With the massive influx of new viewers, do you think the business models these organizations adhere to are becoming more consistent and viable for the long haul? What, if anything, do you think may change next year?

I think the business model as it pertains to eSports is yet to be determined… Well, at least a successful one. This community and the greater industry is a conundrum to the heads of companies trying to find a place for themselves in here. I have worked with several organizations on a consulting level and tried to help them and to a certain degree it’s worked with some. For others the style of work necessary has proven to be too much and they have fled. I will say this… When some company gets it right there is a lot of money and loyalty to be made. SC2 fans are very good about supporting who and what they believe in, but they are intelligent consumers. They will read up on a product, they will listen to the word on the street and they will respect their findings.

Now for some gameplay: With Wings of Liberty approaching 18 months old, do you feel like this iteration of Starcraft 2 has matured from a professional standpoint? Or is the meta-game still in flux?

I am extremely happy with the game. You can go back to the beta or before the beta and hear some of my comments about how I thought the skill ceiling would be low, the various mbs, automine etc. kind of stuff was going to make it too simple but I am pleased to be sitting here to the contrary! The game has a high skill ceiling and is fun while being difficult. I think the game has a long way to go but in the positive direction and that’s a damn fine thing to say.

As a pro-gamer, are new expansions like Heart of the Swarm exciting? Or do they represent a frustrating jump in practice time?

Neither to be honest… Mostly it makes me apprehensive. Will it be good? Bad? Are we going to have states of extreme imbalance again? All those things are possible and even likely! That is not a good thing for a person that plays/coaches this game for a living. It means “new life”, but do we need that? I think SC2 is the kind of game that can go on for years with patches. An expansion is fine but a planned expansion every 1.5 years is kinda much in my humble opinion. That said it is happening whether I want it to or not, so lets hope it’s for the best!

Without giving too much away to your future opponents, what do you feel like your biggest weakness is? How do you try to overcome it?

My biggest weakness is probably my tendency to take risks when I play important matches. My mental game at the moment is very weak and needs continual work. I often jump out of builds or psyche myself out of matches versus good opponents and I never used to do that. Overcoming it is and has been a long path of working on my mental game, trying different perspectives/attitudes, reading self-help books and working with my team to build my confidence. So far the results are not there but I feel good and want to get better so all is in place for excellence.

I notice you’re doing another Rumble in the Bronze event with the guys over at the Penny Arcade forum (great group). The Starcraft 2 community seems to have a propensity for charity. Do you find yourself participating in gaming-related charity events often? Tell us a little about them.

Often? I wouldn’t say so. I am extremely busy and finding time to do other SC2 projects can get troublesome. That said if a charity approaches me that seems really awesome I find ways to get involved. These guys are extremely professional (check their vids!) and they are dedicated. I am honored to ride their coat tails and take some credit, lol. Hopefully the turn-out will be great and we can raise some money for this awesome cause.

Metalcore, Melodic Death, Heavy Metal, Hardcore, or all of the above?

I am mostly a metalcore kinda guy. I like some of the other stuff but mostly my music falls in that category. I prefer melodic vocals with some screaming and huge breakdowns.

With MLG Providence complete, what’s next for you? Any big events on the horizon (or announcements of announcements)?

Haha, well I will be going to Homestory Cup in Germany which is a dream come true. My first trip to EU ever and what an event to go for? They do an amazing job and I can’t wait. Additionally I have a few online events with big prizes that I will be attending. After those it’s the tourney circuit again. December is really the only month we take off. I also may be heading to Korea to do some training and other things

Where can people find you?

Well thanks for asking! My twitter is EGiNcontroL, my stream is iNcontroLTV and search for “iNcontroL” on facebook to like my fan page there!

Any closing words for all the fans out there?

Just a big thank you. We are coming up on the end of the year and while this year has been a struggle for me in tourneys, it has been a gargantuan pleasure to work with my fans and the community. Honestly, this can’t sound like anything but a cliche but it’s nothing like that… I am hugely blessed and I appreciate everyone who makes my life so charmed. THANK YOU ALL!

No no, Geoff, thank you.

“Yo, Matt Smith, Ima let you finish, but Tennant was the best Doctor of all space and time! OF ALL SPACE AND TIME!”

Okay, so maybe Kanye wouldn’t be the best choice to play everyone’s favorite Time Lord (no, he totally still is), but a report that Doctor Who would be getting a big Hollywood blockbuster reboot treatment last month is still way more intriguing than fans are willing to admit. Yeah, yeah, I get it: it’s a celebrated series with beloved characters and a certain charm all that, fine, great… but there would be some definite advantages to throwing some Weinstein-sized cash at The Doctor. Set your tricked-out Tardises(es?) for “awesome”:

More Violence!

Wait, wait, wait– hear me out on this one, guys. I get that the Doctor is supposed to abhor fisticuffs and defeat his enemies with intelligence and scarves and tea or whatever, but to deny the fact that the series has become distinctly action and thriller oriented is to deny how Doctor Who even rebounded in the first place. So let’s stop beating around the bush and crank it up a bit, shall we?  I’m not saying we gotta get all Michael Bay up in this piece, but when we’re supposed to fear for a guy that’s being chased around by statues and talking trashcans, I don’t know, maybe a few good ol’ fashioned explosions and high speed chases courtesy of the US of A will get a few more nails in the audience bitten. Couldn’t hurt.

Better Budget

The BBC has been chasing American quality production since its inception. Granted, they’ve closed a lot of the gap in recent years, but still looks pretty funny to us blokes across the pond. I can’t be the only one who wouldn’t mind getting a convincing look at so many of the Doctor Who monsters, or even the Time War. I know that many will argue that BBC budget restrictions have kept the show inventive and cute; but if the series is moving towards bigger and slicker anyway (and it is, see below), let’s just get the concept across the finish line. More money doesn’t mean you have to change the style. Besides, the Daleks make roombas look like sentient beings – it’s about time someone had pockets deep enough to fix that.

What a difference a  few decades trip in the Tardis makes.

Back-Breaking Back Story

Here’s a fun drinking game: During an episode of Doctor Who, ask some fans what the hell is going on (you’ll probably need to anyway) and chug a beer until you actually understand (or you’re totally out of beers). The latter parenthetical is likely to come first.

I’m not against a story being a dense, cumulative experience, but Doctor Who is a hard pool to jump into. Television graveyards are littered with great concepts that required comprehensive viewing to really “get” (Arrested Development and Carnivàle come to mind). Preparing Doctor Who for a brand new audience could free new plots from the gobbledygook of nearly five decades of retained content and let the real stars of the series shine: the characters. As it stands now, it doesn’t matter if it’s Rose, Martha, Amy, or who the hell ever else is riding the Tardis, the Doctor’s real “plus one” has always been exposition (and she’s not even that hot).

Accountability (for once)

I defy you to name a series more shaped by budget than Doctor Who.  Think about it: A main character that be played by anyone. A magical penlight that can do anything. Hoards of invisible enemies. And a sci-fi concept that allows writers to bullshit their way out of every corner. That’s not even me bitching, that’s from series architect Steven Moffat:

“A television series which embraces both the ideas of parallel universes and the concept of changing time can’t have a continuity error – it’s impossible for Doctor Who to get it wrong, because we can just say ‘he changed time – it’s a time ripple from the Time War.’”

Thanks, Wikipedia!

So, let’s get real here – Doctor Who is, admittedly, a show without consequences. Do I think average, American Joe Schmoe who enjoys the occasional sci-fi flick could love The Doctor? Yes. Would they put up with all the false death, multiverse, invented loophole jerking around current fans put up with on a weekly basis? Hell no. And they shouldn’t. More eyes on the screen and hearts invested means Doctor Who might actually have to play by the rules a little bit… and that’d be a good thing. Otherwise, what the hell is the theme of this show, anyway? That no matter what any of us ever does, none of it ever really means anything? Well, fuck. Guess this UNICEF donation can wait, then. -hits Play All, hums theme song-

“You called about the clogged toilet?”

Just Do Both?

Consider this: if Hollywood execs officially green lit a Doctor Who movie tomorrow, it’d still take a few years to actually make. So why does it have to be either BBC continuity OR an all-American reboot? Could it be both? If Moffat and crew knew of the impending film, couldn’t they be involved to help set it up just in time for a new actor to portray the Doctor?

I’m just spitballing here, but it’s an idea. Giving a brand new 12th or 13th Doctor a Hollywood debut would allow diehard fans and newcomers alike to welcome and get to know the newest Doctor. And couldn’t a darker, grittier Time Lord tie-in directly with the Doctor running out of his thirteen lives? Hell, he could even be American!

Okay, okay, okay, he doesn’t have to be American… But I’m sure Kanye can learn a spot on British accent.

Rob blogs about film at his website, “Heroes are Boring”. He is an accomplished screenwriter and has worked in the industry for several years. He is currently raising funds for a short film project that he’s written. Please contribute here.

The momentum they have going in to season 2 will be tremendous.

I was going to write a typical, dull recap article. One which highlighted Leenock’s spectacular 34-4 run, or HayprO’s surprising top 8 finish, or the unexpected success of Vile’s Illusion or Reign’s Artist. I may have also mentioned Destiny’s disappointing loses, or Major’s new tournament moniker, or Gatored’s impressive victory vs Ganzi. Then it occurred to me that everyone else is going to cover all of that, so why not have some fun instead?

Thus it is without further adieu that I present Gosu.com’s MLG Providence Awards. A collection of highly coveted honors earned by only the most deserving competitors.

The “So Close it Hurts” Award

And the Winner is… Nikoras

Nikoras, oh Nikoras, how close you were to upsetting Puzzle on the main stage. Your innovative sentry use had djWheat near tears. You have the mind of a true Protoss, and a deep understanding of the micro race. Someday, perhaps with enough practice, your hands may keep up.

Honorable Mention: Slush, for his near victory against NesTea in game one.

The “All Bark” Award

And the Winner is… Dong Rae Gu

Before the winner’s bracket finals, DRG dismissed his Swedish teammate with a smirk on his face that would embarrass the snidest of trolls. Naniwa returned the insult by staring at him with his cold, dead eyes. What ensued was a ravaging the likes of which I haven’t seen since Portugal faced North Korea in the world cup. Don’t get me wrong, DRG is a fantastic player. He should’ve just known better. When Naniwa plays angry it’s like something out of one of Werner Herzog’s more nihilistic diatribes.

The “It Happens to a lot of Guys” Award

And the Winner is… IdrA

I play Zerg; so like any who plays this race, I have a certain admiration for IdrA. His deep understanding of macro and mechanics make me wonder why Blizzard hasn’t renamed some ultra level of computer difficulty after him. But damn it, Greg, it’s really hard to root for you when you simply refuse to acknowledge the possibility that you aren’t playing against yourself. Other players can make macro mistakes. You being down a few drones and lings, while disadvatageous, does not mean the game is over. Leenock could’ve messed up. He could’ve run 12 lings into a baneling, he could’ve blown up his own hatchery with siege tanks, his extra lings could’ve been hallucinations. Are these things unlikely? Sure. But you don’t know unless you play it out.

The “That Couldn’t Possibly Wor-OH MY GOD!” Award

And the Winner is… Hero’s Archon Toilet

Liquid’s Hero is a true Protoss. He understands that his race is not about perfect macro or flawless resource allocation. They’re about crazy freakin’ abilities and having the finger dexterity to use them.  When Ret popped a dozen or so Brood Lords and began slowly marching across the map with a stampede of supporting units, most players would’ve probably laid back and accepted the inevitable. Not so for Hero, for he had produced the mother of all Protoss units. With a flash of his hand and a flick of his wrist, he sucked Ret’s army into a deadly trap with his powerful Archons. Upon release from the vortex, the once fearsome Zerg army was vaporized in seconds. GG.

Honorable Mention: Leenock, for going Sky Zerg after rushing Hive vs MVP. How do you like them apples?

The “I Should’ve been Third” Award

And the Winner is… HuK

HuK placed 5th, yet his two loses were to the eventual winner and eventual runner up. It doesn’t seem like that big a deal until you note that third place would’ve doubled his prize money. I don’t have much else to say aside from that’s a bummer.

The “Most Bittersweet Joke” Award

And the Winner is… Rob Simpson

“Yo momma ship is so fat, we couldn’t fit her in the expansion.” Ha ha ha,

Honorable Mention: Artosis, for “Anything is Protossable!” It should be noted that the winning joke invalidates this one. 

The “I Shouldn’t be Alive” Award

And the Winner is… Leenock

No, I’m not talking about the fact that he won the tournament. I’m talking about his game 1 comeback vs BoxeR. He lost his hatchery to early 2 rax pressure and BoxeR threw up a third right around when he was just re-establishing his natural. I literally tweeted “If Leenock wins this game I will eat my own shoe.” Guess I better start boiling some water…

Honorable Mention: HayprO, for fighting his way to a 7th place finish. Well done, sir.

and finally, because I have to…

The “Cutest Cheeks” Award

And the Winner is… LosirA

Honorable Mention: Leenock

Did I leave any out? Post your own awards below.

It’s amazing how a good book can relieve the tension…

This friday the big dance begins. MLG’s season ending Providence event marks the moment where all of those rank and qualifier points finally translate into an enviable prize pool. While Halo, Call of Duty, and League of Legends have had remarkable seasons in their own right, nothing has expanded MLG’s audience more than Starcraft 2. The introduction of Korean talent and the myriad efforts at community outreach have paid dividends. Marketing maneuvers like acquiring JP McDaniel and his wildly popular State of the Game podcast, recruiting exceptionally popular casters, and producing regular original web content have created a potent hype machine that spells out a singular message:

If you’re an eSports fan, you can’t afford miss this. 

That said, MLG is a convoluted beast. Understanding its layers can prove dicey. Here are a few pieces of important information to help streamline your viewing experience.

How does this freaking format work?

Here’s the simple version: The top 16 players based on rank point earnings from the regular season will be seeded directly into the championship rounds, while ~ 254 more attempt to battle their way through a brutal open bracket. The top 16 open qualifiers will then be seeded into the championship rounds as well, leaving us with 32 players. The championship rounds are divided up into a winners’ and losers’ bracket, with 20 players starting in the winners’ and 12 starting in the losers’ respectively. As such, the top 20 seeds will have two chances to win, while the bottom 12 are one and done. The tournament then plays out from there in standard double elimination format.

You can find the longer, more detailed version here.

Season seeding doesn’t mean much

What do you mean seeding is irrelevant? Aren’t the players with the top point values the best?

Not so this year. The international nature of the Starcraft pro scene has created a pretty complex seeding situation. While IdrA has the most rank points, and therefore the top seed, he’s also in the luxurious position of having attended every MLG event. Korean players like Bomber, MMA, DRG, MC, and BoxeR have all broken the top 16 after making only two regular season appearances. The numbers are a lie, these guys are the real favorites.

Meanwhile, the open bracket is going to feature some absolute juggernauts. From Korea, we’ve got names like MVP, LosirA, MarineKing, and Ganzi, any of whom could easily finish in the top 10. Western fan favorites of the open bracket like Tyler, InControl, Destiny, and  Sheth are going to have a tough time dealing with that gauntlet.

With only the top 8 players receiving prize pool money, it’s quite possible we’ll see a lot of Koreans leaving Providence slightly richer. Shorter roads for IdrA, HuK, and NaNiwa may be an advantage, but it’s smaller one than it seems.

What’s on the line?

With a prize pool ~8 times larger than the regular season events, competition at Providence will have extra weight. The top 41 finishers will also receive rank points good for next season.

• 1st place – $50,000 and 1,800 rank points
• 2nd place – $25,000 and 1,500 rank points
• 3rd place – $15,000 and 1,350 rank points
• 4th place – $10,500 and 1,200 rank points
• 5th place – $7,500 and 1,050 rank points
• 6th place – $5,250 and 975 rank points
• 7th place – $3,750 and 900 rank points
• 8th place – $3,000 and 825 rank points

Who are some noteworthy underdogs?

InControl is probably the king of the underdogs. He comes into Providence seeded 17th, just barely missing the championship bracket. He’s been on a shallow streak, with frankly lackluster performances at Orlando and in the NASL season 2. He has shown sparks of elite play in the past, though. His access to the expertise of his teammates gives him unique potential. He’s got something to prove and nothing to lose, a dangerous combination.

Slush is probably the biggest surprise of the seed chart. He enters Providence with the 6th highest rank points from the regular season. As discussed above, however, rank points don’t mean much this year. Slush hasn’t placed remarkably highly since Columbus. With his reputation for hyper aggressive all ins, he could be considered more of a gate keeper than a contender. That said, he’s got a short path to the money. His ruthless, cunning style may net him enough wins to get there if his opponents underestimate him.

I don’t know if it’s fair for me to call SeleCT an underdog. After all, he recently gave IdrA a run for his money in Finland. Seeded 11th, he’s probably got the surest shot of any of the non-favorites to make the top 8. His drop heavy style is infamous, but lately he’s also learned to play a more frustrating economic style. It could pay off this weekend, keep an eye on him.

TriMaster impressed everyone by forcing his way through a particularly competitive open bracket at MLG Raleigh. A relative no name at the time, he defeated Jinro and KawaiiRice to earn a much envied spot in pool play. He went on to knock both HayPro and IdrA out of the loser’s bracket championship rounds before finally biting the dust against HuK. An impressive run. The logical portion of my brain doesn’t expect him to make the top 8, but that portion didn’t expect him to beat IdrA at Raleigh, either.

Where can I get more information?

• MLG Providence SC2 Event Sub-section
• Team Liquid MLG Providence Coverage
• SC Reddit MLG Survivor’s Guide

MLG Providence begins Friday, November 18th. I will be updating this post with more information throughout the week. 

It also gave us the greatest console war of all time.

In 1991, Nintendo introduced American gamers to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). After successfully launching its Japanese counterpart, the Super Famicom, the previous year, Nintendo’s push across the ocean came with massive fanfare. Its launch library was a select group of franchises, a trend that continues with Nintendo consoles to this day. Super Mario Brothers, F-Zero, Pilotwings, and later Zelda: A Link to the Past were the console’s bread and butter. These games were refinements, following the same paradigm of “if it ain’t broke, apply polish” that later made developers like Blizzard Entertainment so successful. As the decade pushed on, the SNES would establish the essential traits of the classic RPG, allowing the Square Enix (then Squaresoft) juggernaut to bloom.

Meanwhile, an upstart arcade manufacturer called SEGA was struggling to find its own footing in the console market. After releasing the Mega Drive 16 bit system under the new moniker “Genesis” in the US in late 1989, SEGA found difficulty in establishing traction. Its brand, while recognized for arcade action hits, didn’t resonate with young consumers the way Nintendo did. While titles like Altered Beast contained amply addictive gameplay, there was no prevailing attitude, no character, no heart. That all changed in 1991, when a little blue speed demon tore into living rooms across the country. Finally, SEGA had an answer to Nintendo’s appealing mascot: their own counter-Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog.

The bitter fight than ensued was epic. Do you remember the magazine covers? The Mortal Kombat controversies? The endless zany peripherals like the Super Scope and Game Genie? If you think 360 and PS3 fans have a hate boner for each other, you have no idea. It’s amazing how vehement 10-12 year olds could be during the era of Seattle grunge rock.

While the SNES may have eked it out in the long term sales figures, Genesis enjoyed bursts of popularity where it held a substantial lead in the market share. ultimately the victor was the greater gaming population. Competition helped bring out the best in the industry. SEGA’s partnerships with third party developers forced Ninendo to loosen its previously dogmatic proprietary release process. Publishers like Capcom and Acclaim found themselves in a new age of freedom, where the family friendly censors of Nintendo were pushed aside for the almighty dollar. Suddenly fighting games could be played on the SNES with blood turned on, much to the approval of arcade fans.

Direct graphical comparisons also helped pioneer 3D technology into existence. Remember the hype behind the original StarFox and its “Super FX” chip? I played the living crap out of it at every game store in the mall. Despite not being thrilled with the gameplay, I knew it was a stepping stone for much greater forays into the third dimension. As well received as it was, StarFox was an expensive risk. Were it not for the Genesis version of Atari’s Steel Talons, which utilized similar technology, I doubt the game would’ve seen the light of day for several more years. Nintendo effectively HAD to approve a hardware add-on, or risk falling by the wayside.

Ultimately, SEGA chose to advance its hardware more rapidly. By 1995, they were marketing a selection of five different add ons and consoles, including the 32-bit Saturn. The result was a flare out of Genesis titles years before the SNES finally ran out of steam in late 1997. Despite both companies ceasing all 16-bit console production before the onset of the millenium, fans still maintain large libraries ROMs for use on fan created emulators. This labor of love (and dubious legality) is a statement of devotion that Nintendo and SEGA should feel truly proud of. Many games from the era were ported into the 32-bit generation, and to this day top titles are held in almost legendary regard.

As an SNES kid, I still have fond memories of playing Earthbound and Chrono Trigger into the wee hours in the morning. But then, on special occasions my parents would let me rent a Genesis from our local Blockbuster. I couldn’t believe the games I got to sample, and I may miss those weekends most of all…

But when your production design for Ares, the god of war, destroyer of cities, son of Zeus whose chariot was “yoked with Fear and Terror”, looks like this:

You’re damn well asking for it. My god(s) what a silly hat.

Immortals is billed as an oil-slicked action adventure epic where divinely inspired men must fight against the ancient titan Mickey Rourke for their future/mortality/destiny, or something. You’d think this dash of determinism in Greek mythology ironic, but hey, going his own way never hurt Odysseus.

Directed by Tarsem Singh, the movie (or 3D experience, if you will) derives its stylish cinematography from 300, with which it shares producers Gianni Nunnari and Mark Canton. Emphasizing slow-motion spectacle and the hyper-est of hyper reality, it looks to follow the mise en scene de Zack Snyder. If there’s one thing I get less excited about than Zack Snyder, it’s work that wants to be Zack Snyder.

Our hero is the demi-god Theseus (Henry Cavill), a revenge-driven peasant chosen by the gods to defeat King Hyperion (Rourke). From the looks of it, he assembles a plucky band of followers including reformed Blade antagonist Stephen Dorff and a silky skinned oracle named Phaedra (Freida Pinto). Phaedra should provide a suitable romantic interest for our protagonist when he’s not hucking spears or flexing menacingly. I would be impressed, though, if that relationship had one tenth of the convoluted complexity of the mythical Phaedra and Theseus. Grecian spoiler alert: she falls in love with his son and hangs herself, a route I doubt they’ll take in the movie… Sorry, 3D experience.

Our antagonist, King Hyperion, seeks to destroy the world of man and Olympian gods by obtaining the Epirus Bow, ironically forged by Ares (probably in the fires of mount Doom). By some ancient, ambiguous creed, the gods may not directly involve themselves in stopping him, thus preventing their own demise (which makes sense if you really think about it and also happen to be really stupid).

This is unusual, given that the following trailer…

…involves what looks like an awfully large amount of gods fighting and stuff. Either the gods are much more directly involved that the synopsis would suggest, or that the rest of the movie is so lame it’s better left completely out of all promotional materials.

The Olympian art direction looks pretty lousy; partially because these gods unusually young and lithe, and partially because their costumes make them look like side characters from a 90′s episode of the Power Rangers. They don’t project the appropriate aura of authority, and look more like “teenagers with attitudes.” Like 300, our Greeks also look unusually Anglo. I suppose that’s to be expected when you pick a Welshman named Luke Evans to play Zeus.

If I were a betting man, I’d place the Immortals Rotten Tomatoes score (which is unestablished as of this writing) solidly in the 30′s by the end of the week. Its style may win over a few fans, but legitimate substance would be more shocking that a Luke Evans thunderbolt to the chest.

Immortals hit US theaters Friday, November 11th.

The ASUS ROG Stars Invite is a 10,000 dollar live tourney being held in Helsinki, Finland on November 4th and 5th. Invitees include some of the best players outside of Korea, and English casting will be provided by TotalBiscuit and dAppolo.

With an 8 player lineup and no losers’ bracket, the stakes are high. Underdogs haven a shot at the big upset, and no one can get too comfortable. The event’s diversity in nationality, play style, and personality also represent the full spectrum of the Starcraft 2 pro. You have everything from the lovable White-Ra to the ruthlessly polarizing Idra to the unknown hometown hero Efli. These brackets should yield some great matches.

Here’s a breakdown of the participants:

IdrA

Boy was October a scary month to face the Gracken. IdrA is NOT someone you want to let jump out to an early series lead. He’s coming into the ASUS ROG Stars Invite after a first place finish at IEM Guangzhou and a very impressive fourth at MLG Orlando. IdrA has seems to have found his stride, refraining from the premature GG’s that dogged him in the past. Hell, he may even have developed a sense of humor. I highly recommend watching his Kingston commercial for an Idra-sized smirk. I would bet a large sum of money that we’ll be seeing him in the finals if he continues this caliber of play. A first place finish here before heading off to Korea would be monumental.

HuK

Isn’t it great that we were able to see HuK play as if he hasn’t been living his life on an airplane? Between the recent patch and his training in Korea, HuK has become something of a monster. His first place finish at MLG Orlando was not only was a delight to all foreigner fans, but also a statement that there’s something behind all this ‘top 3 control’ talk. HuK will  go far in this tournament, but I would not bet on him to win it all. At MLG Orlando, his success was in large part due to his new school PvP (only HerO seemed to stand a chance against it). With the only other Protoss players being Elfi and White-Ra, both of whom are already underdogs, HuK will have prove that his other match-ups are just as deadly. EG’s latest partnership with Slayers has given him more than a suitable stable of opponents to sharpen his skills. We’ll have to see if it’s enough.

SjoW

SjoW is kind of like Starcraft 2′s gatekeeper. He’s the player that no one wants to play, yet no one completely fears. In previous MLGs, SjoW always managed to come out in the 8-32nd place range. While playing in a ‘slower’ apm range (somewhere between 70-90), SjoW counts on clever decision making and crisis management to get enemies out of their comfort zone. He gets them to play his game. At MLG Raleigh, SjoW was able to frustrate IdrA and give Bomber a much tougher time than anyone expected. He was even able to earn praise from the champion, calling his TvT “S class”. SjoW has been pretty quiet as of late (perhaps he’s due?). I feel like SjoW will do decently, but I expect a fairly early exit given IdrA as his Ro8 opponent. Be sure to tune into the Sweden vs. Finland showmatch featuring him and Elfi for some world cup style fun.

SeleCT

SeleCT has taken the time over past few months to really hone in and push himself to play more. The effects of that training really bore fruit with his placement over Sheth at Blizzcon. He was able to put up a good fight against MVP and played some pretty impressive games overall. SeleCT’s high APM infantry drop style gives him an advantage against opponents who would try high-risk plays that leave large vulnerabilities. I think this places him as the favorite over his first opponent, Dimaga. SeleCT may be able to a make deep run into this tournament due to his stellar TvP, where his master infantry and medivac control are universally feared. With a 100% chance of facing a Protoss in the second round, SeleCT may be able to make it all the way to finals should he best Dimaga. The story to watch is to whether his training at the FXO house in Korea has given him the tools to jump from “that one player with the high APM” to “that one player who will pick apart anyone.”

Elfi

Elfi is the biggest unknown in this tournament, but his outing at IEM Guangzhou was beastly. He would push and prod his opponents right when they were at their weakest to achieve a slow, methodical win. He will be playing in his home country of Finland, which should provide him with an extra spark. Elfi will be trying to prove that his play in China was for real, and not just some fluke. That said, he has an unfortunate initial match-up against HuK, the current king of PvP. This might just be too tall and order. However, an upset would shock the scene and may cause a few team big name teams to start sniffing.

Dimaga

Dimaga has been quiet since his impressive appearance in the GSL. He’s participated in a medley of smaller European events, all of which he’s placed highly in and none of which he’s outright dominated. His initial match-up against SeleCT should be fascinating, revealing a lot about the skill development of each player in the past few months. He has a history of success with ASUS events, and this is a tremendous opportunity for him to score some victories over very legitimate competition. That said, I don’t think he has the consistency to defeat opponents of the calibur of IdrA, HuK, or White-Ra (who recently defeated him at a smaller event sponsored by Sennheiser). Look for Dimaga to make a showing, but not blow anyone away.

Ret

On paper, Ret is the best Zerg ever. You watch footage of him spreading creep like some sort of perverse demigod and can’t help but assume he’s the greatest player on this half of the world. Then, somewhat randomly, he’ll just absolutely get roflstomped and leave you scratching your head. Inconsistency aside, even on a good day he’ll have his hands full with White-Ra as a Ro8 opponent. He’s done well in a number of tournaments of this scope this year. Despite that, I’m going to be conservative and say he makes an early exit. Of course, one can never be too sure with Ret.

White-Ra

White-Ra thrives in small invitationals (particularly when cast by TotalBiscuit). Sure, he hasn’t enjoyed large scale success or won over too many top tier players; but he beat MC with a warp prism. That’s just baller. Win White Ra hope I he does.

Let’s be honest here. The Patriots’ offense is totally IMBA.

Animal Man Cover by Travel Foreman

Animal Man’s change in direction from a classic hero story to a darker horror comic is welcomed. Lead story writer Jeff Lemire and lead artist Travel Foreman have re-envisioned the character with depth and sincerity. The reason their Animal Man reboot is so successful boils down to three major points:

Its not a reboot that expects you to know everything 

The intro interview sets up the world nicely. Our hero’s hopes, dreams and outlook on life are laid bare with clarity. There are no spinoffs of Animal Man either, mitigating a problem with some of the other franchises embedded in DC’s 52. The first issue of Batman, for instance, expects the reader to know who Red Robin, Robin, and Nightwing are in order to understand the story. Not so with Animal Man. A newbie reader doesn’t have to worry about other characters, backstories, or the deep universal ties between everyone.

The conflict is deep and varied 

Most superhero comics focus on two core types of conflict to explore: superhero vs society or superhero vs supervillian. The conflict laid out in the first two issues of Animal Man goes well beyond the norm, creating very tense and engrossing reading. There is conflict between mutant and society, husband and wife, classic good and evil, and perhaps most notably man and himself. Each decision or action Animal Man makes has a heavy impact on two or more of these which makes the development deeper and the story more interesting.

The art direction pulls no punches 

While things blowing up and acrobatics are cool, comic books’ stylized nature often diminishes the results of violence. Animal Man corrects this in a fairly simple way:

Gore.

The artists use gore and disturbing imagery add gravity that is not over-the-top, but makes the situation seem more dangerous and the outcomes of actions more severe. Travel Foreman also does not fear getting surrealistic or metaphysical in his rendering of the scenes. Using heavy shading, the black and white dream sequences only colorize the gore and the grotesque. This stark contrast works beautifully. Buddy and Maxine walking through the map of veins not only expatiates the central conflict, but also does a great job of explaining the powers of Animal Man while cementing the connection between father and daughter. The costumes and the artistry may not be ultra detailed or full of spectacle, but its distinctiveness allows the story to breathe and grow. The art and the story work together instead of jockeying for attention.

But there’s one percieved hurdle that Starcraft has yet to overcome: Television.

It’s not an uncommon dream amongst eSports enthusiasts. The idea of turning on SportsCenter and seeing a NesTea baneling land mine make the top 10 plays is pretty damn appealing. It’s a sort of final step towards validation; like looking at your football-only friends and saying “See?”

Like most things, however, the dream is very different from the reality. As I’ve given the subject more thought, I’ve come to the more thorough conclusion that Starcraft is best served away from the idiot box. Here are the reasons why:

#1. Expansion of Dispassionate, Moneyed Interests

In order for large scale eSports to be successful, it has to be treated with the efficiency and occasional apathetic ruthlessness of a business. Nobody can really deny that. Money has a place, and sometimes that place will be in direct conflict with the more idealistic interests of the community. However, online broadcasting allows for unique opportunities regarding independence and control. A single organization can run its entire streaming process, controlling the integrity of the experience from start to finish.

Television does not work this way. A network broadcast comes with its own host of showrunners, executives, and directors all of whom are likely divorced from the eSports community. For them, an eSports broadcast would be a job, not a passion. Their decisions would be based on stipulation and not actual understanding — a high budget environment that lacks authenticity. This is my theory behind the reason televised gaming has flopped in the past. The online broadcasts of today have a “for fans by fans” niche appeal that would likely evaporate the moment a TV executive got in the mix.

There’s also the matter of vested interest. MLG CEO Sundance DiGiovanni may be a businessman before a gamer, but the filter between him and the community is extremely thin. He’s forced to understand us, and has made a tremendous effort at community outreach. He has to. His entire business is dependent on capturing our attention. TV networks, on the other hand, would likely view this whole “eSports thing” as little more than an experiment. If it fails, no big deal, they’ve still got other programming. The collateral damage to the community would be a far worse setback. If it succeeds, great, more sponsor money.

Even doing something as simple as putting MLG on TV would still result in a pollution of dispassionate moneyed interests. I like MLG fine the way it is.

#2. Restrictive Viewing

If football is any indication, broadcast television still has a large issue with the idea of simultaneous webcasts. ESports are a global phenomena and the internet is the closest thing we have to a global medium. It’s why I can watch the GSL live from the other side of the world (albeit at sometimes 4am). A TV network would have to invest heavily in replicating the quality of its televised material on any sort of stream. There have been successful attempts at this in the past, particularly during college basketball’s March Madness. However, those events could still rely on high televised viewership to justify their existence on TV in the first place.

ESports, on the other hand, would likely pit any online simulcast directly against a TV broadcast. Let’s face it, us nerds would probably PREFER to watch it online. Offering web viewing would result in a drop of TV ratings, creating a sort of medium paradox. A network probably wants to establish an audience in its core comfort zone before branching out, and that means a more geographically restrictive viewing experience.

Let’s also not forget the cable company restrictions. If an event were on ESPN2, we wouldn’t (legally) be seeing it if our cable package didn’t include the network. Even if they did offer it up online, you just know there would be a cable company log in.

#3. The Forefront of a New Medium

Western eSports is still new. It deserves a medium at the forefront of innovation.

Television is a passive, one way viewing experience. Online broadcasting allows the audience to interact in ways that simply weren’t imagined ten years ago. Stream chats, live blogs, and social integration allow people all over the world to share in a communal viewing experience. Are these tools perfect yet? No, not even close. They’re still evolving, though. The video below may in some small way represent the future of how we watch live events:

Online broadcasting also allows for a dynamism not seen in Televised space. Most major events are offering multiple streams, creating a versatile viewing experience not possible with only a single channel. Likewise tools like Teevox give us the ability to experience multiple broadcasts through a single interface not at all common in living room-based viewing.

ESports is not just benefiting from online broadcasting, it’s pushing online broadcasting to new limits. This symbiotic relationship is helping change the way people view the capabilities of the Internet.

I would hate for it to change.

This friday marks the debut of Grimm, NBC’s new entry into the ever popular genre of fairy tale detectives trapped in contemporary Portland.

The show’s premise involves the historic bloodline of the brothers Grimm, which allows normal humans to see beyond the fog of reality and reveal the true nature of the fantastical creatures that walk among us. “The stories are real,” if you will. These creatures have their own histories, politics, and often unpleasant criminal ambitions.

Grimm has been marketed heavily as a byproduct of the producers of Buffy and Angel. This is primarily a result of the involvement of David Greenwalt, who worked with Whedon starting in the third season of Buffy. He later co-created Angel, acting as showrunner for its first three seasons (i.e. the period largely before it became convoluted with long, melodramatic story arcs). This is good news for Grimm, which is likely to adhere to a monster of the week formula for the majority of its initial episodes. Other executive producers include Jim Kouf (co-creator), Sean Hayes, and Todd Milliner.

The cast is fronted by David Giuntoli as Detective Nick Burkhardt, who discovers he’s “one of the last Grimms”. The rest of the ensamble is made up largely of fresh faces. This is another potential win for Grimm, allowing the opportunity to establish characters without worrying about typecasting or per-conceived notions. That said, the characters thus far appear archetypal. Our hero is a doe eyed, upstanding individual just waiting for destiny to be thrust upon him. His partners include a tough yet skeptical fellow detective and a wise-cracking wolf guy. The love of his life (at least initially) must at all costs be protected from the truth of what he is; creating the inevitable tension between occupation and love. His aunt, who manages to tell his juuuuuust enough before conveniently slipping in to a coma, is mysterious and knowledgeable. I can’t help but think I’ve seen all of these before in one form or another.

Initial reviews have been mixed, and I can see why. The production is tailored almost exclusively to genre fans, and the initial footage from the pilot relies a bit more on general exposition than it should. That isn’t to say that Grimm doesn’t have potential, though. The characters have room to grow, and if their development gets the attention it deserves the show could transcend its niche. For now, I’d take a look at the extended preview, it will definitely give you a good indication if this is your type of show.

I myself am going to give it a chance. If nothing else, it may help sate my inherent desire for at least an hour a week of monster hunting. Expect a more in depth review after a few episodes have aired.

You can catch Grimm starting Friday, October 28th at 9pm EST on NBC. Check your local listings.

Full press release after the jump.

San Francisco, CA – October 26, 2011 –TwitchTV, the world’s largest video game broadcasting community, today launched a fully-featured iPhone application for the optimum in mobile eSports engagement. The iOS app is designed to bring the full TwitchTV experience to the iPhone with complete support for browsing and viewing all TwitchTV streams in high-definition, as well as a fully-featured chat experience.

“This has been one of the most frequently requested items since we launched,” said Emmett Shear, CEO of TwitchTV. “Our community is truly native to the mobile environment. They switch back and forth from Web to mobile and back again, not seeming to recognize boundaries. So it’s very important to bring them a TwitchTV experience that does the same.”

This iPhone application has several key features including the ability to view all of TwitchTV’s streaming content in high definition in full landscape mode. For ease of use, it boasts extremely robust search functionality, including the ability to browse by game or featured offerings. It also allows users to follow their favorite channels directly from the video stream, as well as the ability to view a list of live broadcasts from the channels they follow.  In addition, users can chat with their friends on the video stream via a fully-featured in-app chat.

TwitchTV launched in early June 2011 and has since experienced strong growth, surpassing 10 million monthly unique viewers in the month of September. TwitchTV’s strategic partnerships with gaming leagues, teams and tournaments have contributed to its 10 percent month over month growth. In addition to the iPhone application, TwitchTV plans to launch native applications for iPad, as well as Android devices including phones and tablets.

TwitchTV recently had its best week ever driven by new partnerships with premier eSports leagues, teams and tournaments. Between October 10-16, 2011, the site received massive traffic:

• Weekly Unique Viewers: 4,214,057
• Total Hours Watched: 6,737,250
• Total Hours Watched per Unique Viewer: 1.6
• Peak Concurrent Viewers on all Gaming Content: 165,250
• Peak Concurrent Viewers on a Single Stream: 125,862
• Weekly Unique Chatters: 309,220

This year, I found myself gravitating toward some old favorites and some fresh material. The following six choices possess a medley of strong cinematography, good characters, strong themes, and chilling moments.

The Descent (2005)

The Descent is a film by British writer/director Neil Marshall loosely (and I do mean loosely) based on the Jeff Long novel of the same name.  Any basic description of this movie reeks of cliche; a group of hot women venture into a cave only to be met by grisly creatures caught somewhere in the evolutionary spectrum between humans and bats. Typical schlock, right? Wrong.

Marshall manages to circumvent negative expectations by placing specific emphasis on development of his female characters. He makes them feel like actual people; a feat that feels almost revolutionary in this particular sub-genre. He takes it a step further by creating a genuine, subtle tension between them that may actually be more frightening than the creatures themselves. Finally, he gives them the adequate chops to feel like actual outdoor-enthusiasts. Far from being hapless victims, they are tough as nails, perhaps having more to fear from each other than the dangers of the cave.

Let the Right One in (2008)

Swedish Director Tomas Alfredson’s Let the Right One in is less a horror story and more a sort of inverse fairy tale. Oskar, a bullied young boy, finds his life is changed forever when he befriends his new neighbor, a peculiar, androgynous adolescent named Eli. Things are, of course, not all they seem.

The concept was unique enough to prompt an immediate America remake, but the film also shines in its cinematography. Every shot beautifully captures the desolate, post-industrial landscape of a blue collar Scandinavian winter. The opening sequence, an eerily beautiful abyss of gently billowing snow, sets the mood beautifully.While I don’t speak enough Swedish to evaluate the acting with complete certainly, I will say that the children who make up the backbone of the movie were talented enough to maintain this mood.

Hell, even the trailer radiates a certain sense of stark beauty.

I shouldn’t get too caught up in the aesthetics, though. There are a few scenes of cringe-worthy, gruesome horror. As adorable as puppy love is, decapitation is still decapitation. Watch the movie if you want to understand what I mean.

1408 (2007)

The Stephen King inspired 1408 is not so much a horror movie as a movie that happens to have some horror in it. John Cusack plays Mike Enslin, a cynical paranormal writer who specializes in throwing himself into famously haunted locations and documenting the banality of his experiences. When he receives a minimalistic letter informing him to stay the hell away from room 1408 at New York’s Dolphin hotel, he reacts as basic human psychology would dictate.

Samuel L. Jackson soon informs us that 1408 is “an evil fucking room.” This is a simple, accurate description. The room knows all of your darkest secrets, all of your past failings, all of your insecurities; and it’s just the type of jerk to torment you with them endlessly. The movie’s brand of psychological torture is successful because Enslin is an interesting enough character to create some stirring situations. Cusack’s performance, which wades exquisitely from skepticism to shock to weakness to resolve, is outstanding. He, not the room, is the center of the story. While the overall experience may feel mild to true horror enthusiasts, it’s a good, solid movie with some genuinely fascinating and unnerving moments.

Silent Hill (2006)

Okay okay, so there isn’t a storied history of great game-based cinema. Paul Anderson tries sometimes, but generally the joys of the gaming medium get lost in translation. Silent Hill, however, has some merit. The plot is merely serviceable. A desperate mother rushes to an abandoned West Virginia town that appears to be the source of nightmarish psychological torment of her adopted daughter. Fair enough.

Really, though, it’s the production value that got it on this list. The creature design, makeup, special effects, and incredible work of several dozen dancers push this out of B-movie territory. Director Chistophe Gans also applies a consistent philosophy in the art direction. It emphasizes grotesque over gross out, and roots its mise en scene in classic aesthetic values. Still frames have an oil painting quality to them, and the clever mixture of 35mm and HD digital footage creates a stark difference between the scenes associated with reality and the hellish nightmare that creeps over the town.

Seriously, watch this:

There was blood, sweat, and tears placed into creating the horrific illusion of a town gone literally to hell. I’m a sucker for artists who work hard, and the effort that these performers apply to their craft more than make up for the shortcomings of the script.

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

“Well, Clarice – have the lambs stopped screaming?”

I don’t think I need to write too much about the plot of this classic, so I’ll keep it short. Budding FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) tracks a murderous killer with the aid of the incarcerated maniac Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins).

Hopkins embodies one of the most memorable characters in film history. His monotonous tone, unnerving observations, and self-deifying confidence make him unquestionably the star of the show. Excluding all that, though, still leaves you with a more than adequate crime thriller. Ted Levine’s disturbing portrayal of Buffalo Bill, while oft overshadowed by Hopkins, is exemplary in its own right. Foster’s Starling also goes beyond a mere Socratic foil for Lecter, exhibiting development akin to a perverse coming of age story. It’s a great movie. There isn’t much else to say.

The Devil’s Advocate (1997)

There’s a joke to be made about Keanu Reeves’s attempt a southern accent being the scariest part of this movie, there really is. Honestly, though, it’s not that bad. The majority of the cast does a decent job of bringing to life a concept we’ve all considered at one point or another: that somewhere in Manhattan, Satan is building an army of blood sucking lawyers while drinking champagne in his penthouse office full of overpriced sculptures and endless pools.

It’s Al Pacino’s performance as rabid corporatist and devil-incarnate John Milton that carries the film. He’s got a threatening subtlety highlighted by a shit eating grin that would make even the most nihilistic investment banker nervous. His interest in small time lawyer Kevin Lomax (Reeves) and his wife Mary Ann (Charlize Theron) begins with a seemingly innocuous invitation to work a case in New York, and eventually boils into a sinister corruption that goes beyond the boundary of mortal ethics.

While it’s perhaps more intriguing that scary, there are a few moments of sheer terror. Most of them involves the systemic physiological torture of Mary Ann. While Kevin is all too ignorant of the demonic waters into which he wades, she experiences their twisted nature first hand.

Despite a nearly two and a half hour run time, the movie maintained my full attention. You really do sympathize for Mary Ann, and ultimately hope that Kevin makes the right decision.

We’ve overhauled the site completely to include new focus areas, covering movies, books, tv, comics, technology, and gaming in all forms. We’ve got some new writers on board who are toiling away on pieces to fill these new sections. We’re also going to be doing quite a bit of reviewing over the next few weeks, taking a look at everything from Arkham City to Boardwalk Empire to Neal Stephenson’s REAMDE and back again.

Take a look around, and be sure to follow us on Twitter for article announcements (and occasionally witty conversation).

Do you remember when…

• 5 Rax Reaper was viable and effective TvZ?
• 2 Pylons could block the bottom of the freakin’ ramp?
• A 2-gate rush was arguably OP?
• Neural Parasite didn’t have a timer?
• Concussive shell didn’t require an upgrade?
• You could build a Barracks before a Supply Depot?
• Infestors could cast Frenzy?
• Lost Temple, Steppes of War, Kulas Ravine, Blistering Sands, and Jungle Basin were still in the map pool?
• TLO was that unheard of random player?
• Roaches were 1 supply?
• Upgraded Siege tanks could 1-shot lings with splash damage?
• You could hide nukes inside certain texture graphics, like Pylons or Nexus?
• IdrA played in Code S?
• Korean Zergs would open 1-base?
• Warp gate took only 60 seconds to research?
• The 7 Roach rush was commonplace?
• No one knew how to magic box a Thor?
• SCVs had 60 HP?
• Overseers could cast Infested Terran?
• A Nexus had only 750 shields and health?
• You could blink during a fungal growth?
• Roaches had 3 range?
• Repairing SCVs had no attack priority?
• You could speed up mining with a series of queued commands?
• Mass Void Rays were nigh unstoppable?
• Medivacs were faster?
• Zergs couldn’t stop a Marauder/Hellion rush?
• The GSL was largely Marine/SCV all ins?
• Phoenixes were considered uncommon?
• 4 gates ruled the ladder?
• Fast hatches were considered dangerous?
• FruitDealer was the best of the best?
• Husky went skydiving?
• Day9 played Tastless in HDH?

What do you remember? Post a comment.

There’s been a roster change for the NASL grand finals event next weekend. Unfortunately, Strelok was unable to obtain a proper VISA in time, and is therefore ineligible to compete in the US-based event. The NASL attempted multiple avenues to expedite the process, including contacting both Blizzard and the local Congressional Rep in Ontario, CA; but in the end it simply was not meant to be. TSL’s aLive, who managed second place in the Open Tournament, will be taking his seed. Full details from the NASL after the jump:

It is with heavy hearts that we announce today that unfortunately, Strelok was unable to receive a VISA in time to attend the NASL Grand Finals. We have been trying valiantly, along with Strelok for several weeks to get him a VISA faster so he could attend the event. We tried Blizzard and other big corporations to see if they could pressure the embassy to take action faster, we had a letter sent from an Ontario, CA congressman to the embassy on behalf of Strelok. Today however, we were informed that Strelok was unable to change the date of his appointment and can’t get a VISA in time to attend.

Due to this we needed a player to replace Strelok. Our Open Tournament runner up (TSL_aLive) was the first choice. After contacting their team manager, we confirmed aLive’s participation in the NASL Grand Finals, and are happy to announce that he will be attending!

It is with heavy hearts that we announce today that unfortunately, Strelok was unable to receive a VISA in time to attend the NASL Grand Finals. We have been trying valiantly, along with Strelok for several weeks to get him a VISA faster so he could attend the event. We tried Blizzard and other big corporations to see if they could pressure the embassy to take action faster, we had a letter sent from an Ontario, CA congressman to the embassy on behalf of Strelok. Today however, we were informed that Strelok was unable to change the date of his appointment and can’t get a VISA in time to attend.

Due to this we needed a player to replace Strelok. Our Open Tournament runner up (TSL_aLive) was the first choice. After contacting their team manager, we confirmed aLive’s participation in the NASL Grand Finals, and are happy to announce that he will be attending!

The first NASL Grand Final is nearly upon us! Despite the somewhat tumultuous first season, there are some great match-ups. I, for one, look forward to watching each and every game. What’s more, the field is a rather evenly distributed mix of Americans, Koreans, and Europeans. Typically, tournaments tend to be either heavily Korean with a dash of foreigners (GSL) or vice versa (MLG). The long winded season format has, if nothing else, yielded a diverse group of sixteen excellent players.

The finals will take place in Ontario, CA, and feature casting from InControl, Gretorp, Day9, Tasteless, and Artosis. A lineup like that may justify the pre-season hype the organization managed to generate. You can find more information about the event here and a bracket screenshot (with an incorrect date for the event) here.

Let’s get the predictions started!‬

Oh boy, it’s a bummer that only one of these guys gets to win this match because both have a huge chance of winning it all this year. That said, it is simply impossible for me to pick against Boxer. Even though he hasn’t steamrolled his way to great placing recently (while MC has), Boxer has had time to really get used to his opponents (he was 8-1 during the season). The bravado of his legend leads me to believe he clearly has the tools to beat anyone, even if it is the deadly MC. It will be a great game no matter what, as both player’s best match-ups during the season were TvP and PvT respectively.

This too will be a close match, with both player doing similarly well during the course of the season and both doing well against each other’s races. Look for SelecT’s early gameplay to dictate the course of the match. The battle may come down to White-Ra’s ability keep his composure, stick his game plan, and execute while holding off SelecT’s typically aggressive harassment. I like SelecT to be able to keep his White-Ra on his back-foot and overwhelm with bases in the mid-late game

First off, DarkForce’s run to get here has been a story of grit and under-doggery. He proved many people wrong with his ability to pull out wins when they mattered most. That being said, I cannot see him beating Strelok, who has only dropped one Bo3 this entire season. I see Strelok shutting down the map and countering that large marco play that DarkForce relies on so much with serious harassment and aggression.

EDIT: Strelok has been replaced by TSL_aLive.

Both of these players are extremely malleable in their gameplay and it will be very interesting to see who will dictate the style and the speed of the match. They had good seasons, so both will be eager to make it to the later rounds. However, despite knocking IdrA out during the playoffs, Zenio’s ZvZ was only at 50% during the regular season while Sen hovered up at 80%. Knowing that both players will be preparing feverishly for this match up, I wouldn’t count Zenio out, but I give Sen the edge.

Should this be a playoff about momentum and the regular season carrying over, then Moon has this game pretty solidly. While both players are great, look for Moon’s superior macro to come into play in the mid-late game to run away with the game. HasuObs’s best chance is to end the game quickly with strong sentry play and micro finesse, but a WC3 legend like Moon is no stranger to micro. I see Moon taking this series.

Now this is going to be another great match! Both players were bit weak in their ZvZ during the season, but against each other that will come out in a wash. July may be a legend, but Morrow is no spring chicken. He’s played well in more than his fair share of tournaments to keep things interesting. That said, I look for July to take this series, placing him back on top with his other teammates of Star Tale. This will be one of the closest match-ups in the first round, with MorroW hoping to defeat “The God of War” before the late game.

Both players are coming off similar seasons and both players should be confident in their ability to take this game . However, Squirtle definitely has more “big stage” experience than Sheth, despite his recent GSL play. Both players are capable of winning, but I think Squritle will be more comfortable sticking to a game plan. In a match-up this close, one mistake is all it takes.

Ah, the open tournament: The player than comes out of it could be one of the fiercest in the whole playoff or some fodder for the #1 seed to advance. Either way, this “16 seed” could make for a tougher match than a 15 seed would be for one major reason. The #1 seed is pretty much flying blind as to the style and tendencies of the other player. Lee Ho-Joon (TSL’s PuMa) had a path to the tournament didn’t include any big names, so it is difficult to gauge his skill level aside from his few GSTL games. Ret will have to stick to his plan and control the pace of the game. He should take the win if his NASL season is any indicator, but because his style of play is so dependent on forecasting his opponent’s tactics, ineffective scouting or a wrong guess could land him in trouble. The chance of an upset is possible. In a way, the #1 seed is kind of a disadvantage. It’s like, “Here Ret, play against this TSL guy, you’ve earned it.”

Since we were children we’ve been reassured time and time again (by gravity, our emotions, our parents, etc.) that anything that goes up must come down. It’s a law that was established at the dawn of time, and what this means is the currently booming e-sports industry surrounding Starcraft 2 will certainly fall at some point. Though what is uncertain is when and how. We may not be able to prevent its eventual downfall, but we can make sure it has a long and vibrant life.

It’s quite astounding how much and how fast the Starcraft 2 e-sports industry has grown in under a year. It’s got me thinking about how sustainable this all is. This is the first part to a series of articles dubbed Sustainable Development. Through these articles I will discuss the many aspects of the Starcraft 2 e-sports industry that play key roles in its development and sustainability. Sustainable development requires a harmonious interaction between Social, Environmental and Economical factors. Each part to this series will look into an aspect of each of these factors. We will first look at the industry structure of SC2 e-sports, as understanding this will be paramount in grasping the direction of these articles.

Industry structure is the organisation and interrelationship of different functions, forms, activities and components within an industry. Luckily for the Starcraft 2 an entire e-sports industry was establish well before its time, and with the decline of Warcraft 3, there was much space for Starcraft 2 to take up residency. Since we are always (unknowingly) engulfed by structure and naturally move through its pathways, it’s easy to forget or become oblivious existence. Industry structures are complex and difficult to explain, and the Starcraft 2 e-sports industry is no different, so I’ve put together this diagram:

This model is quite self-explanatory. Blizzard and investors are at the top of the hierarchy but their functions are quite different. One provides the human capital (aka the players), while the other provides the monetary capital, respectively. Keep in mind this model is heavily simplified – there are many nodes and connections left out of this model. The health of the industry is dependent on the flow of capital this structure.

Since our entire industry is based off of a product, as the producer, Blizzard is responsible for providing us the medium for this industry. However in this structure, Blizzard’s main purpose is producing a game that is attractive enough draw in the human capital, or player base. The other greater power in this structure is the investors. Investors become interested in the industry because they see it as a good medium to drive their products. They offer sponsorship and funding for popular organisations such as teams and tournaments, who are able to sheds good light on them and promote their products. Because e-sport is an entertainment industry, it is not able to produce capital goods, so our dependency on investors is huge.

Referring back to the diagram, you will see that the two sides begin to interact with each other as the green nodes branch into the purple nodes. In fact, the purple nodes only exist because of the interaction of both the Blizzard and investor branches exists. If you were to remove either of the branches, the other branch will remain, however the purple nodes will disappear, along with what they branch into. If we were to remove the investor branch, pro players would simply be ‘talented players’, there would be no tournaments to cast and nothing to spectate. Of course could argue that we would just watch the talented players duke it out and just cast those games. That’s fine but that doesn’t model an industry, that would simply be a community. This relationship between the human capital and monetary capital is critical in the existence of this industry.

The strength of the industry depends on the flow of capital within these two branches respectively. Imagine the tightening of monetary capital from the investor side. Its effects won’t crash the industry, instead it would effect the salaries of the pro players, the number of tournaments and prize money, and media production, among others. What if the flow of players decreased, the supply of labour in the industry would decrease – less raising players, less viewership, etc. Changes in the capital flow can prompt restructuring and new limits within different areas of the structure.

It’s important to have a constant flow of capital but it’s equally important for it to be balanced. An imbalance could cause a regression spiral, where neither side can trust each other. Investors lose interest or confidence in the market if the human capital cannot keep up, or there’s not enough money in the market to make a living so players look elsewhere. The intake of new players doesn’t necessarily have to be constant, it’s their presence in the purple nodes that make the difference.

At present, both these branches are booming, giving rise to the industry at an exponential rate. As long as Blizzard continues to address balance issues and maintain its services, the left branch should be able to hold. This in turn will attract the necessary investment capital to support the pro scene. This emphasis here is the relationship between the two branches, and that balance here is one of the keys to sustainability.

The list of armored future troopers is long and hits nearly every sci-fi touchstone in every form of media. Video games include Fallout, Halo, and Starcraft. Tabletop games include War Machine and Warhammer 40k. Movies include Star Wars and Avatar. Really, the two most notable exceptions seem to be Star Trek and Firefly, but even these series have roots in folk story arcs.

But why does the overlap exist between the vastly different universes of sci-fi and fantasy? Are followers of both canons cut from the same cloth?

First let’s begin with the storytelling structure commonly known as “The hero’s journey”. This is the structure in which most heroic tales of old were created, and was strictly followed by Tolkin in writing the prolific Lord of the Rings. While a whole college level course could be taught on the subject, the basic structure is this:

• Would-be hero is called to action (Frodo learns of the incoming threat from Gandalf , Luke finds R2D2 and C-3PO)
• Would-be hero denies the call to heroism (Frodo first wishing to stay in the Shire, )
• A powerful, guiding mentor leads would-be hero on path to meet destiny following a tragic call to action (Gandalf convincing that the Shire is threatened by evil, Obi-Wan mentors Luke about the ways of the Jedi after his aunt and uncle are killed)
• The now-hero trains and gains a group of allies (Frodo is aided by Aragorn and receives Sting, Luke gains the services of Han Solo and Chewy*brrrrgggghhhh*. He also trains aboard Falcon to become a Jedi.)
• The hero deifies the mentor and then finds themselves trapped in ‘the belly of the beast’. (Frodo puts on the ring and is trapped by the Ring Wraiths, Luke attempts to save Leia and finds himself trapped in the trash compactor)

…and so on and so forth. There are other elements, such as divine intervention and a female coming in a time of need and a secondary refusal of ‘the quest’, but that’s for another time. The point is that the two biggest pillars of popular Sci-fi and popular Fantasy are actually the same general story.

It’s no bold claim to say that the genres are neighbors, the two live side-by-side clearly. Warcraft and Starcraft are compliments, as well Warhammer Fantasy battles and Warhammer 40k. What I claim is that the two universes acutally have more diversity within themselves rather than against each other. Star Trek weaves in a lot more surrealist elements, nearly becoming Twilight Zone episodes in come cases while A Song of Ice and Fire throws off the idea of purely good verses evil and places flaws in our ‘heros’ and relatability in our ‘villains’. Instead of splitting Lord of Rings and Star Wars and then using those as our flagpoles, we should be putting them together. The statement “Star Wars is Lord of Rings in space” is far more accurate than “A Song of Ice and Fire is Lord of the Rings where the characters get horny”.

I’m here to point just HOW expensive it is to play the games that we love so much (and maybe help you choose which one becomes your next hobby). I have dabbled in Axis and Allies, Starcraft II, Magic: the Gathering, and Warhammer 40k, each one for at least a year. Individually, they serve as representatives of each of the four elements of nerd gaming; board games, video games, card games, and tabletop games respectively. They will be graded three components: Start-up cost, maintenance cost, and usage value (cost per hour of enjoyment + replay value).

DISCLAIMER: Seeing as ‘fun’ is highly subjective, I try to avoid addressing how MUCH ‘fun’ a game is. Rather, I look to how long will this game hold my attention for its cost.

Axis and Allies is a WWII themed war board game released by Wizards of the Coast. It’s basically is a roided-out version of Risk (weren’t you tired of the horse and cannon not being special?). Battles are interesting, with over 10 unique models and special rules aplenty. Each player must carefully weight their unit production, logistics, and army strength to achieve global domination.

Start-up Cost

There are many versions of this game, but for the standard world edition you’re looking at spending about $65. The game can play up to 5 people, but more often than not, you’ll be playing in groups of 2 or 3. Because so many can enjoy the game at the purchase of one board, the value per person is one of the best for the depth and complexity of the game. However laying down so much up front can be daunting if you are trying to get others to start and thus must buy the game by yourself.
Rating: B-

Maintenance Cost

The cost of upgrading the Axis and Allies hobby can be a chore. The initial board game can be played many, many times over (I’ve been playing the same set up for 5 years now). However, each new edition of the region specific boards, such as Axis and Allies: Pacific or Axis and Allies: D-Day, can cost you another 60 bucks. A step up to the anniversary or collector’s editions can be $120, and the limited releases get up to a whopping $800! The insanely high replay value of the bare minimum game, however, makes these upgrades strictly voluntary. You can easily have fun without them, but it’s a slippery slope.
Rating: B-

Usage Value

When it comes to usage value, Axis and Allies shines. A game of Axis and Allies played with full comprehension of the rules can easily be 4+ hours. A full board of 5 people enjoying the game all at once means that in one game 20+ enjoyment hours are realized. Likewise, should each player split the cost of the board, it’s only $12 expense, or about the price of a movie ticket. Multiple playing sessions can compound the overall cost/benefit ratio. However, the immediate replay value of the game is the lowest of all games listed here; no one wants to play back to back games if each one is THAT long. That said, I found that the game can be safely played once a week without too much tiring or lost of interest.

Rating: A-

Starcraft II is the second installment in the Starcraft series from Blizzard Entertainment. With a solid single player and the best RTS multiplayer around, Starcraft II is nearly a must-buy for computer gamers (and IS a must-buy for RTS fans). The games requires split-second decision making, intense multitasking, as well as foresight and long term objectives.

Start-up Cost

Ahh video games, one of last bastions of decent up-front costs when it comes to nerdy hobbies. While the game may cost up to a pretty hefty $60, that’s all you’ll need (initially). No dice, card covers, or boxes required. The one thing that is holding back a high rating in this regard is, of course, hardware. A fairly decent computer is required to enjoy the game without frustrating crashes or hacky gameplay. Blizzard, however, tends to go out of their way to establish graphical settings that lower-end users can take advantage of. Seeing as most nerds keep their computers in decent shape, the game should be widely accessible without mandating an upgrade.
Rating: B+

Maintenance Cost

Starcraft II is a great game right out of the box (or direct download). Patches are free, as is the full multiplayer experience. Only more competitive players see the need to buy a better mouse or to get a gaming keyboard and any of the other extras that MMO players may invest in. Such players may also opt for professional coaching, but the majority of the players are content without such bonuses. The only time in which you may feel cheated is when the expansions come out (or next episodes or whatever) and costs you JUST AS MUCH (or close to it) as the first full game. The expansions will be pretty much mandatory, seeing as all of your friends will buy them and want to play with you online. An additional campaign and a few new units for each race may be a good deal for the SCII fans who’ve bought the games as they’ve come out, but a newbie just starting may not want to shell out $40-60 per installment. This, coupled with the potential for higher end spending if you become more competitive, knocked down the maintenance cost rating a few pegs. There are also spectating fees for popular eSports events like the GSL on GOMtv, but these tend to not be too overwhelming.
Rating: B

Usage Value

A typical online Starcraft game goes on for somewhere between 15 and 25 minutes. The campaign is also relatively short and sometimes feels a bit like a prolonged tutorial to get the player used the units and their uses. In a vacuum, each game isn’t particularly valuable. However, Starcraft II is insanely re-playable. A player could play 5 games everyday and feel no drag or loss of interest (in fact, many play far more than 5 a day and love each game like it was their first). Brood War came out over a decade ago and STILL has a following. Spectating professional SC2 can be a source of great enjoyment as well. After all, it’s practically the national sport of South Korea. Not many video games can say that.

Rating: A+

Magic the Gathering is a card game first introduced in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast in which two or more players face off against each other with self-constructed decks. Unlike Starcraft II or Axis and Allies, much of the strategy takes place before the game. Once a match begins, seeing the hours of strategizing and planning during desk construction pay off can be great fun.

Start-Up Cost

Each cycle (see:edition) of Magic the Gathering comes with a set of mildly competitive decks that put the player on the right track to playing with purpose and good strategy. The best part is that you can just drive down to your local dork store and get one for $12-15, and that’s all you need to start playing. The rules are simple enough (by comparison) that a friend who knows how to play can teach you in 20 minutes. The starter decks that come with the rulebooks and player mats are not really necessary should you have that one friend and buying the cycle decks can put you in good position to play anyone.
Rating: A

Maintenance Cost

Magic the Gathering is subject to a horrible curse that befalls most games that are updated frequently: Power Creep. With each new cycle, the cards get better and better, meaning that the deck you bought two years ago is now totally outclassed by the newer, incoming cards. Also, the cycle decks will need boosting to stay competitive. Cards are very cheap, and you can pretty much get any card you want for under $5 (competitive, not collecting), however the costs of keeping up are still there. Magic the Gathering has done better than most games when confronting power creep (I’m looking at you, Yu-Gi-Oh). Each cycle adds a handful of new rules the keep the game interesting. However, these rules often overpower any card that is not from the latest cycle, forcing the player to update his/her deck to adapt or fall out of competitive status. Case in point: Equal cost infect vs. any non-infect geared deck is a slaughter 99% of the time.
Rating: C

Usage Value

Magic the Gathering games are fairly short, lasting between 5 and 15 minutes for veteran players. Like Starcraft, Magic the Gathering is also wildly re-playable. Playing 5 games a day with a friend or group of friend can easily become a fun way to hang out or chat. Of all the games listed here, Magic the Gathering is the easiest to pick up or to convince others to pick up due to it’s low cost and time commitment. Just buying the cycle deck, one play over 100 games with it and still being using it.
Rating: A

Warhammer 40K (by Games Workshop) is a sci-fi tabletop game in which the player collects, models, and paints an army of various miniatures before letting them loose in a battle for the future of the galaxy. The game requires not only the mind of a great general, but also the hands of a surgeon and the eye of an artist. in a way, it goes far beyond the previously mentioned games in that each piece on the table is the labor of love of its owner. Some players even construct unique names and back stories for their favorite pieces.

Start-Up Cost

Warhammer 40K is expensive. Really. Expensive. To play a 500pt game (the smallest competitive size) one spends about $150. Include brushes, paints, glue, primer, dice, and a rulebook, you’re already up to around $250. There is a ‘starter fix’ that has two playable armies for $120 that is an absolute steal (also includes easy-to-model miniatures), but this works against the greatest thing Warhammer 40K has going for it: the diversity of the armies. There are about a dozen to pick from. This diversity, however, spawns another problem: the costs of the armies is extremely varied. One player may pay $150 for his/her bare minimum army, while another who likes a more swarm based army could pay as much as $300. This doesn’t even cover the cost of terrain or the carrying cases one might need to get the most out of their figures.
Rating: D+

Maintenance Cost

The power creep in Warhammer 40K is some of the worst I’ve seen in an gaming. An army’s competitiveness is directly correlated to how recently they have had their codex (army specific rulebook) updated. When one buys a 40K army, one must keep in mind that one day their army will be obsolete.  The response to this is either A) come to peace with it and have fun playing their army for fun and laugh when they get blown off the table, or B) buy a full army every time a new one is released. While painting and modeling may be a pain for some, most who have played for a while come to enjoy it immensely. Re-painting chipping paint and fading colors is a fun time to try a new army theme. The real killer, though, is the cost of up-scaling after getting your basic troops. A tank will cost you $60, and a squad of specialty units (e.g the cool ones) will run you at least $45. A maxed out army at 3000pts will almost always be over $500. Some get to $750 and above. Games Workshop also has a nasty habit of raising prices every summer.
Rating: D

Usage Value

Thankfully, Warhammers 40K is very very fun, and the rulebook has over 30 different missions. One could play Warhammer 40K for years and still never play the same type of mission twice. With its internet savvy following, many more missions with special homebrew campaigns and rules are widely available. A Warhammer 40K army could be played for years at a time and still feel fresh at the start of each match. Matches typically last 1-3 hours depending on the size of the armies and the familiarity of players with the rules. That being said, the overall monetary cost is simply too high. By comparison, one could play Magic the Gathering for decades, keeping up with power creep, at the cost of just one Warhammer 40K army. The modeling and painting are great fun and the tabletop battles are the most fun I’ve had in both glorious victory and hilarious defeat. However, the costs still cannot be comparatively justified in dollar amounts even if one was to play for 20 years.
Rating: C-

Feel free to challenge anything in this article or post your own insight in the comments. For the curious, I currently have 12 Magic the Gathering decks, a mono-blue wizard deck being my favorite, my Warhammer 40K armies are Sisters of Battle, Necrons and Chaos Daemons, and my best Axis and Allies power is Japan. I play Terran.

EDIT: Due to abundant spam, commenting on this article has been temporarily locked.

Casting is a complicated job. It requires the capacity to think on your feet, adapt to an audience, and speak quickly and clearly (mouth micro, if you will). What’s more is that Starcraft’s unique nature creates an environment where audiences are particularly varied (and picky) in terms of what they want to hear. Some are looking for pure excitement; others want education; many want a mix of both. To get some insight into the world of casting, we came up with eight questions and reached out to CatsPajamas, Diggity, Seguer, and TotalBiscuit, all of whom graciously agreed to share their thoughts.

CatsPajamas is a self-made caster/streamer who’s done work for the IPL. Diggity got his start in the Brood War days and has recently done casting work for the NASL. Seguer is a regular in the Penny Arcade forums SC2 community, and has cast for the Taiwan Clan League (TCL) and SEA Intel Extreme Masters (ESL) alongside Kelly Milkies and FXO’s mOOnGLaDe. TotalBiscuit has a metric ton of original gaming and casting programs and has done work for the IPL, NASL, Dreamhack, and more. You can find all of their respective links at the bottom of the article.

Table of Contents

• Let’s start with some history. When did you start casting? What made you decide to take the initial dive?
• Do you feel your casting style has evolved since you began? If so, how?
• Do you find yourself changing the way you cast based on venue? For instance, what changes when you’re casting on a personal stream versus a larger scale tournament or show match.
• Do you feel you appeal more to any specific niche of the Starcraft community, based on skill level or any other factor?
• When you watch other casters, as a fan or otherwise, what do you look for in their performance?
• What is your opinion on co-casting? Are there any specific types of caster you feel you work well with? Are there any you think you’d clash with?
• What’s the most fun game or event you’ve ever cast?
• As eSports broadcasting continues to grow, where do you see casting heading in the future? Will it become more exclusive to major events, or stay informal on the net?
• Where can we find more of you and your work? (Caster Links)

Let’s start with some history. When did you start casting? What made you decide to take the initial dive?

CatsPajamas:

I initially played a bunch of SC2 after it’s launch. Playing led me to sites like Team Liquid and /r/starcraft, naturally, where I started to become acquainted with the works of people like the great Day[9], Trump (<3 your instructional videos), and other casters and streamers. Eventually, I started watching WAY more than I was playing. My playing dropped to about an hour a day, but I was watching 5-10 hours of streams a day. Naturally, I became a spectator and a fan of the large events. However, I noticed that there were a lot of people that were very knowledgeable about SC2 casting, but not many of those people approached casting from a pro-sports play-by-play style. I thought that I could provide that. So, I fired up a stream around the end of October of last year, and just started casting mass replays. For the first few months, I was only casting to 5-10 people, but the numbers steadily grew and I was asked to do larger and larger tournaments.

Diggity:

I started casting late 2007. In the early days there was a Youtube caster named Klazart casting professional Brood War matches occasionally. Shortly after the OSL finals between Iris and GGplay he announced his intentions to retire. Moletrap and I decided to start casting in order to fill in what we perceived to be a huge gap in the community.

Seguer:

I started late last year/early this year casting the Penny Arcade forum community tournament, or CSL (Curvy Star League), hosted by Simon. After watching a few of the SEA casters (and various other casters of course) I figured hey, casting’s not that hard (it may not be hard, but it is time consuming!)

Totalbiscuit:

My casting background is tied into my radio background. I started online broadcasting 11 years ago and moved into university and local radio later on. Casting is something I transitioned into doing as part of my time with WoW Radio, I did some commentary for The WoW Trading Card Game, The Spoils Trading Card Game as well as the game Savage 2 and an entry into the WoW Arena Shoutcasting Contest 2009, where I won the grand prize. I started Starcraft 2 commentary when the beta began. Commentary was a natural transition from the gaming podcasts I was doing at the time, I felt like branching out and my success in the WoW Shoutcasting contest inspired me to give SC2 commentary a try.

Do you feel your casting style has evolved since you began? If so, how?

CatsPajamas:

I do. Mostly that’s grown with game knowledge. I’ve seen/cast several thousand games. Now, I’ve never done overt analysis in my casts, but I try to blend and create conversation with analysis casters. That has gotten much easier the more I’ve learned about the game. And now I have players like PainUser saying my analysis is pretty damn good, so I’d say the hard work has paid off.

Diggity:

I feel like my casting style is always evolving. When I started I tried to cast with as little emotion as possible. I found that when I got excited my brain would speed up and my mouth wouldn’t be able to keep up.

Eventually I built up speed and then began working on more casting mechanics (such as avoiding saying “uhhh” or repeating something I said a few seconds ago). At that point I began to copy Klazart’s style of commentary which I believe originates from UK Soccer announcers.

Since then I have tried incorporating a variety of elements from different styles of casting. Most recently I experimented with a style that involves more long pauses in order to create tension (something that Totalbiscuit utilizes in his casting). At large its still a work in progress.

Seguer:

I originally started as a very play-by-play caster, castings things as I saw them. Recently in my casting of the TCL (Taiwan Clan League), I’ve started talking more about the strategy and potential options each player has at any given moment. When not solo casting, of course, it depends on which role I have at the time.

Totalbiscuit:

It’s not so much evolved as it has been refined. I learned what my strengths were and how to play to them as well as my weaknesses and how to minimize them as much as possible. The most important thing was, from the very start of SC2, I knew I was going to do play-by-play and focus purely on providing a sportcast style, which was not being done by anyone at the start of the beta and is still not all that common at the moment, with a large number of analytical colour commentators in the community and very few people with any actual broadcast background, be it amateur or otherwise.

Do you find yourself changing the way you cast based on venue? For instance, what changes when you’re casting on a personal stream versus a larger scale tournament or show match.

CatsPajamas:

To a degree, yes. When I cast a large tournament, I always seek out an analysis caster and kind of go into serious business mode. I always strive to present a very professional cast. When I’m doing a side project or just casting on my channel, though, I’ll often just sit back and joke with chat, have a good time, things like that.

Diggity:

I generally change my casting style based on two factors. The first is the audience. If I know a newer crowd will be listening to a particular cast, I will tend to dumb down the terminology and amp up the energy. If it’s a smaller, hardcore crowd I tend to do the exact opposite.

The second factor is who I am representing. If it is just a Youtube cast I will pretty much cast based on my currently mood and energy level. If I am for a group like NASL I will try to be as professional as humanly possible. I remember being at one event put on by a legitimate business; initially I took on a professional role, but I quickly realized after talking between matches that the sponsor was looking for something more off the cuff.

Seguer:

I definitely tend to be more professional when casting the TCL as opposed to casting some of the Penny Arcade stuff – as a community, Penny Arcade is pretty laid back and we can joke around a bit more; but because there are sponsors etc for the TCL, I try to keep the audience chatter limited to the downtime between games.

Totalbiscuit:

Not especially, consistency is more important. Obviously my casting is different from my streaming, which is just my laddering, but in general I want people to know what it is they will get whenever they tune in to one of my casts. That said with a live crowd, the performance is often amped up, just because the ambiance and the environment is so awesome, it’s difficult not to feel more excited.

Do you feel you appeal more to any specific niche of the Starcraft community, based on skill level or any other factor?

CatsPajamas:

I’m really not sure. It would be interesting to be selectively omniscient and see what types of viewers prefer my casting. My honest, real goal is to prove that play-by-play casters can be serious SC2 fans as well. I watch hours of matches per week. I’m an honest to god fan of the game.

Diggity:

I think niche appeal is highly dependent on personality.

I actually feel like running off on a tangent about niches here so I just will. Right now I would categorize the viewer base into 4 major crowds. The first crowd contains the viewers that just want to spectate. I would characterize this crowd as young and looking for energy. If I were to take a wild stab at the demographic I would put it in the range of Jr-High School to early college. This crowd really keys in on high energy action so they naturally gravitate towards players like TLO, Kiwikaki and Huk and enjoy the high energy casting of guys like Totalbiscuit and Husky. They dabble into day9 but more so during large events like IEM, Dreamhack or MLG. This is probably the largest fan base.

Then there are the players. Generally these guys are more interested in watching to improve their game than watching for raw entertainment. If you aren’t divulging high level knowledge they are quick to get bored and ladder instead of watching the cast. They tend to follow guys like IdrA and SeleCT and favor casters like Day9, PsyStarcraft and MrBitter.

IdrA is actually the perfect caster for this audience as he can layout extremely in depth knowledge at a rapid pace. Day9 is currently the largest figure in this community in my opinion. I think the audience is fickle, but if you get on their good side they are infinitely gracious and enthusiastic about Starcraft and eSports.

Then there is the GomTV crowd. I think they are still in it for the entertainment but they don’t need the high energy drive of a Husky or TotalBiscuit. They prefer a laid back feel and casts filled with jokes and non sequiturs with game commentary smattered in the mix of it all. They want casters that they feel they could sit and have a beer with. Tasteless and Artosis are masters of this style. I would say this audience is mostly peopled with people in their mid to late college years.

I think my favorite audience is the 4chan audience. I realize I have zero appeal to them whatsoever but I enjoy observing the antics from afar. This audience is extremely diverse but centered around the wild “spirit of the internet”. They live for the lulz (drama) and will actively foster it in a joking manner. Destiny is by far the best caster (well really a live streamer) in this region.

As for myself, I feel like I fall between the cracks at the moment. I don’t know that my personality is really lent for mass appeal.

Generally I try to treat the game itself and the players with as much respect as possible. As a result I come off as “professional”. My casts end up being lower energy than a Husky and TotalBiscuit but with higher information content, but not as high as a Day9 and thus I don’t appeal to the improving player crowd. I assume I appeal to the working man but I guess I am somewhat blind towards characterizing my own viewership as I try not to treat any of them like a statistic.

Seguer:

I probably lean more towards the lower-league players, as I am only a Diamond player myself. I don’t quite have the experience and knowledge of the game that a masters or grandmasters player is able to lend to a cast, so I talk more about potential options. I generally feel more at home casting Protoss players (as a Protoss player myself), and can talk about their options a bit more definitively.

Totalbiscuit:

My casting has a following from a surprising number of demographics. I created the SHOUTcraft brand to be an entry-level gateway drug to non/new players, but in reality while it is certainly enjoyed by a great many of those, it’s also extremely popular amongst pros, who have frequently told me how much they enjoy it. The reasoning that is most commonly given is that pros don’t want analysis because they are almost always better and know more than the casters, they want exciting hype which is why they prefer my play-by-play.

When you watch other casters, as a fan or otherwise, what do you look for in their performance?

CatsPajamas:

Mostly how genuine they are. If I see someone forcing analysis that really doesn’t have any business doing such, it makes me cringe. Also, when people think that play-by-play is simply getting loud on a microphone, it makes me a sad panda. What I like is genuine enthusiasm and a caster that tries to develop their style rather than emulate others.

Diggity:

I definitely enjoy listening to other experienced casters. Generally I try to pick out elements of their specific style and compare it to my own as to improve my style overall.

Seguer:

Accuracy and clarity are pretty important for me and I try to do that on my own casts. There are the flavour casters which definitely have their place as they make watching more enjoyable, but as a player in my own right, learning more about the intricacies of the game (accuracy) in an easy to understand manner (clarity) is what I look for.

Totalbiscuit:

The ability to speak, which I’m told is kind of important for casting! I don’t watch SC2 for in depth analysis, I watch it for entertainment value. Give me that hype and I’m happy. I dislike seeing great moments that are clearly not appreciated and the casters deadpan the entire way through. I am easily bored, what can I say?

What is your opinion on co-casting? Are there any specific types of caster you feel you work well with? Are there any you think you’d clash with?

CatsPajamas:

I love co-casting. I VASTLY prefer it to solo casting. I believe that I work best with analysis casters that I can create a conversation with. I see a lot of play-by-play guys just ask questions of the pro players they cast with, like “Oh, gas first. What does that mean?”  That’s not conversational. Let’s say a Terran went gas first. I would make a comment like, “Gas first. This could indicate fastest possible hellions or a quick transition to banshees.” That doesn’t prompt the analysis caster to say any one specific thing, but lets them explore the topic based on the knowledge they may have of the players or matchup. So, to finish the question, I imagine I’d clash with a pure play-by-play caster.

Diggity:

I definitely enjoy co-casting. I feel like a bit of a black box as far as dual casting. I can be inserted into any cast, do my thing and let them do theirs. I definitely prefer dual casting with Moletrap but that is simply because we have known each other for such a long period of time. I have a feeling I would clash with Totalbiscuit as my impression is that he only wishes to cast with high energy commentators. It takes a lot of energy to maintain that sort of composure. I am sure it would be even harder with a even keeled caster like myself.

Seguer:

Co-casting makes a cast more than twice as good. If the casters have chemistry (the two best examples of course are Artosis and Tasteless) they can bounce off each other and get some of the “flavour” in the casting without losing too much in terms of game knowledge. I tend to work well with casters who are similar to myself, trying to cast professionally with a good understanding of what’s happening. Unfortunately this means I’d probably clash with the flavour casters, as I don’t have enough analytical knowledge myself to interject with

Totalbiscuit:

I’ve co-cast with several analytical casters before and it’s worked very well. Apollo for instance is my co-caster of choice, he brings a lot of knowledge of the pro-scene as well as his personal SC2 skills to the fray and is the perfect analytical co-caster to compliment my play-by-play style. I tend to believe in the strict separation of roles used in broadcast sports for the last few decades and don’t believe we should reinvent the wheel in that regard. As a result I will actively avoid co-casting with another play-by-play commentator (I did it once with Khaldor and it wasn’t so much a cast as a talkshow. People loved it and we both had a great time but it’s not something I would do for major tournaments). I would clash with any caster who has an alpha personality and wants to take over the play-by-play, we’d have to have a very serious discussion about role-definition before we started.

What’s the most fun game or event you’ve ever cast?

CatsPajamas:

Ha, I had a great time casting with my friend DoA at the St. Louis Midwest Championship a few months back. There was a certain Kencorp vs Hunger match that was excellent. And the recent IPL games have been stellar.

Diggity:

I think the most entertaining game I cast was Nony (Tyler) v Melon during a scforall show match back when I was a complete and utter neophyte in the Brood War days. The match was part of a series where players from Excello were taking on players from the Korean team eStro. Melon was crushing through the entire line up until he hit Nony on blue storm. Nony managed to pull out a victory that came down to fights over the last few resources on the map.

Yankee league from that era also holds a special place in my heart. It was a lot of fun playing and interacting with the clans then.

Seguer:

Fun? Definitely the CSLL, or Curvy Star League Lite. This is a version of the CSL that is limited to lower leagued players, so I can relax a bit more during casting. They also pull out the strangest strategies which you’d only see at that level – and sometimes they work! Seeing them work is often times baffling, but always interesting and fun.

Totalbiscuit:

While they’re not the biggest tournaments, the iSeries always has the loudest and most enthusiastic crowds, plus it’s my hometurf.

As eSports broadcasting continues to grow, where do you see casting heading in the future? Will it become more exclusive to major events, or stay informal on the net?

CatsPajamas:

I think eSports will stay on the web, but quickly become more professional as more money is invested. I think in the past that companies have tried way too hard to push eSports into media that aren’t good fits for it, like cable TV. But, I think that web based viewing is outpacing traditional media in growth and that, while eSports may always just stay on the web, it will rival the viewership of traditional media programs in the future.

Diggity (Note: Diggity took a more personal route with his answer):

I think I am at a wall in my casting career. I am married, I work full time encoding video at DivX and I am terrible at self promotion. For awhile I thought that I might be able to break through and hit full time status via Youtube at some stage, however I don’t have the time to dedicate to produce the mass of raw continuous content necessary nor do I have the mass appeal as described previously. I tend to feel like casting is a young man’s game. It’s good for the college or grad student with few obligations who can throw caution to the wind.

As far as casting the occasional major event, I can cast but it requires spending limited paid time off from my job or driving around on Saturdays so I have to pick and choose. It seems like fate also enjoys punching me in the face when it comes to this as well. For example I was briefly approached to cast an MLG but it just so happened I was getting married.

As far as a regular casting position goes (should one arise), I would have a hard time uprooting my wife. I know she would be willing to follow me across the country for a casting position, but I think she would be miserable at the same time.

So I am sort of stuck. I have a billion ideas in my head and a ton of things I would love to cast but absolutely zero time or energy to do it. In the meantime I try to churn out at least a commentary a night on weekdays (and fail miserably most weeks) and I live stream whatever I am playing to relax at the end of the day before I sleep.

Seguer:

I think we’ll start seeing a class of caster that is more formal and exclusive to major events, but that they will have their roots in the informal casting of local tournaments, catching a break here and there before they get the popularity and experience to move up. With the current expansion, I can definitely seeing this happening sooner rather than later – the current juggernauts of casting can’t be everywhere at once

Totalbiscuit:

It will expand in both directions, which can only be good for the scene. I would predict that more regular casting teams will be setup rather than just Tastosis and as a result we’ll get better casting overall. Solo-casting is never optimal.

Where can we find more of you and your work?

CatsPajamas

Facebook
IPL
Twitter
WellPlayed
Youtube

Diggity

Justin.tv
Twitter
Youtube

Seguer

Justin.tv
Twitter

Totalbiscuit

CynicalBrit.com
Justin.tv
Twitter
Youtube

A lot can happen in a year…

Steven Bonnell II (aka “Destiny”) has recently been at the heart of fascinating and surprisingly civil debate about the language and ethics of Starcraft II streamers. His brash, self-confident personality and unforgiving sense of humor have make him one of the most popular players to date, and likewise placed him in the center of a maelstrom of community attention. Strangely ignored, however, has been his recent game play. His boundary pushing hasn’t been limited merely to the confines of political correctness.

As I’ve watched his stream, I’ve noticed an evolving game philosophy that has slowly manifest itself amongst his coaching sessions and ladder play. Primarily focusing on infestors, he’s taken what was central SC dogma, the accepted creed that Zerg units are designed to be numerous and anything but cost-effective, and flipped it on its head.

On June 10, I saw him play against a Terran on scrap station (skip to 37:30 in the above video). The Terran opened with a mix of reaper and hellion harassment followed by delayed banshees, effectively kneecapping Destiny to 2 bases with very delayed saturation. Throughout the game, Destiny struggled mightily in an overall futile effort to maintain an even base count. The Terran ended up almost consistently up a base, frequently thwarting Destiny’s attempts to secure a fourth. And yet somehow, some way, Destiny held his own in confrontations. He actually ended up winning the game, doing so through a combination of mass speedling, mass infestor, and brood lords.

Using this unit combination, he made a gigantic stopgap around the map’s single Xel’Naga watchtower. The infestors shielded the brood lords while the brood lords sheltered the infestors. The speedlings gave him the mobility to combat drop play. The result was one of the most cost effective defensive strategies against a Terran I’ve ever seen. He literally starved him out, despite consistently mining fewer resources. The Terran flailed about, trying almost anything he could think of (including battlecruisers), but by the time he realized that ghost play would’ve been his best option, it was too late.

Destiny has utilized similar tactics versus Protoss:

The above game (cast by none other than H to the usky Husky) is obviously of the more playful variety, but I want to highlight a very specific portion. Around 10 minutes into the above video, Minigun begins to take a substantial supply lead. Any Zerg player knows that the absolute LAST thing you want versus a Protoss player is to be down in supply in the mid-game. Around 14:30, Husky points out that the players are on even bases (with Minigun slightly ahead), yet another situation which considered traditionally disadvantageous for Zerg.

Yet Destiny wins the following battles convincingly with expert usage of mass infestor. Infested terrans bolster the ranks while neural parasite completely nullifies the Protoss heavy hitters. The remainder of Destiny’s army servers as a shield for his neuraling casters, easily deflecting the stalkers that would love to snipe the fragile units. Fungal is used to nullify blink.

Of course, anyone who’s tried to use infestors in this way knows that it isn’t easy. During a recently streamed coaching session, Destiny tried to teach a player how to defeat Terran mech with mass roach + infestor. The player had considerable trouble properly controlling his army. For the final game of their coaching session, Destiny took over and made it look supremely easy. He spread out his roaches in a concave, engaged the Terran mech ball in the middle of the map, and timed his neurals so perfectly that the opponent GG’d on the spot.

This level of micro and game-sense is hard to obtain. In fact, I dare say no current player is as effective with infestors in large battles as Destiny. As time goes on, though, more and more Zergs are going to get better and better at keeping their infestors alive. Their regenerating energy yields the potential for nearly endless damage, and they are supremely effective at offense, defense, and harassment.

What’s more is that this fairly unique playstyle is being disseminated throughout the net on one of the most watched streams in SCII. Pretty soon Ghosts won’t just be for fighting Protoss any more, and feedback may become essential vs Zerg. When more skilled infestor-play starts becoming mainstream, people will view the race in an entirely new way.

Thanks for breaking the meta game, Destiny, and keep on building those bro-festors, broaches, and bro-lords.

I recently caught an excellent GSL Super Tournament match between the ever threatening TSL_aLive and the undeservingly Code B LeenockfOu. Alive opens with some scary looking 2rax aggression which Leenock thwarts with expert composure. From there, they game normalizes to your every day marine/tank vs muta/ling/bane. Leenock, however, utilizes a few subtle curve balls that differentiate him from your typical Zerg. Chief among these, he elected to research +1 flyer armor for his mutalisks very quickly instead of the more standard +1 attack.

Leenock’s choice was more than a snap decision. It factored in to the long term army composition and resource distribution he’d determined would be most effective against what he felt he’d be facing. This got me thinking about the various factors that contribute to deciding when to upgrade what and why. Knowledge of these factors isn’t quite as foundational as say, understanding good macro, but it can provide the slight edge you need against an otherwise equally skilled opponent.

Which upgrades are most important for me, and when should I get them?

Answering the above question is far more complex that it initially seems. It depends largely on the answer to a series of smaller questions, and weighing their overall importance against one and other.

What units will I be building?

On a supremely basic level, knowing which upgrades are most effective for which units feels like it should be simple. Units with higher attack speed or double attacks, for instance, reap the benefit of an attack upgrade considerably more than units for focused on slower burst damage. It’s a percentage yield of DPS.

Let’s do some math. A marine has an initial damage of 6 and fires at a rate of .86 seconds, making its initial DPS roughly 6.97 ((6 * 100)/86). The +1 upgrade raises that damage from 6 to 7 (an increase of ~16.67%), changing DPS to roughly 8.14. That’s a pretty substantial jump for just 100 min and 100 gas. Of course, the % yields decrease from 1 to 2 and 2 to 3, as is the case for all units.

Forgetting about bonuses against armored, let’s compare that to the slower, heavier marauder. Marauders do an initial 10 dmg and fire at rate of once per 1.5 seconds, making their initial DPS a mere 6.67. Their +1 wep bonus yields a mere 10% bonus, increasing their DPS to 7.34.

Based on this, it’s apparent that unit compositions with higher attack speed and lower initial damage will gain far more benefit from upgrading attack quickly than their more burst-damage oriented counterparts. In a vacuum, if you know you’re going to be building lots of Marines, Hydras, Phoenixes, Zealots, Zerglings, etc. then you want to consider upgrading attack first and fast.

Of course, things in SC2 are often far from that simple. A multitude of situational factors can modify that seemingly straightforward rule. The next questions will address some of those.

What units will my opponent be building?

Let’s say your opponent is Terran and you scout 4 freshly build barracks, each equipped with a reactor. You know he/she is about to run a metric ton of marines down your throat. As effective as the attack upgrades discussed above are, armor upgrades cancel them out just as well. Likewise, Marines have a considerably low amount of health and a propensity to clump, making them more subsceptable to large, bursting AoE damage (siege tanks, fungals, storms, or banelings) instead of lower level potshots (zerglings or other marines). This is compounded by the presence of medivacs, which are far less effective against large explosive damage and far more effective at mitigating consistent damage over time.

As such, upgrading armor against marines is almost guaranteed to yield more of a benefit than attack. Each point of armor is initially a ~16.67% reduction in overall marine DPS, and even if the marines are at +3 it’s still a reduction of over 10%. This is the logic that likely lead to Leenock’s decision vs Alive.

Of course, there are also situations where what your opponent is producing should prompt you to quickly grab the +1 attack. For instance, large quantities of zerglings. Many units are built specifically so that an initial attack upgrade is absolutely devastating against lings, primarily the zealot and the roach.

A zealot has an attack damage of (2x)8 every 1.2 seconds, while a roach has an attack damage of 16 every 2 seconds. Initially, it takes 3 full attacks (48 damage) for each of these units to kill 0/0 zerglings (35 total hp), which takes a zealot 3.6 seconds and a roach a full 6 seconds. Grabbing the +1 attack upgrade allows zealots and roaches to kill lings in 2 attacks (36 damage each), effectively improving their combat efficiency by a whopping 33%. Keeping these units 1 ahead of zerglings in upgrades yields one of the bigger advantages you can obtain in the game.The reverse is true for the Zerg player, keeping your armor ahead of your opponent’s attack upgrades is downright essential if you want to effectively use lings against roaches or zealots.

Here are a few other useful tidbits on upgrade matchups:

• +1 armor on roaches vs immortals will make it take 4 shots instead of 3 to kill them (a ~33.34% increase in survivability)
• +1 armor on a queen vs harassing phoenixes will make it take 30 shots to kill instead of 22 (a ~36.36% increase in survivability)
• +1 attack on roaches will kill 0/0 siege tanks in 10 shots instead of 11 (~9.1% more efficient)
• +1 attack on stalkers will kill 0/0 mutalisks in 12 shots instead of 13 (~7.69% more efficient). Thanks to the Reddit-member who pointed out that Zerg regen kicks in immediately, meaning my initial numbers were slightly off.
• +1 attack on stalkers will kill 0/0 roaches in 11 shots instead of 12 (~8.34% more efficient)

If anyone else discovers any other good ones, please feel free to post them in the comments.

This final question is a bit more abstract, but is perhaps the most important of all:

What is my play-style? (or how do I want to win?)

There are plenty of different ways to play SC2: active vs passive, harassment vs deathball, offensive vs defensive, all in vs macro, etc. Each one of these styles can be enhanced by specific usage of upgrades. For example, let’s say you like to drop and drop a lot, doing quick damage and withdrawing before your opponent can suitably crush your hit squad. In that case, attack upgrades are your best friend. You want to kill off important tech structures and workers as quickly as humanly possible and, ideally, not do much of any direct fighting until you’ve already won yourself a substantial advantage.

Conversely, let’s say you are a passive macro player who likes to slowly take the map while building up a larger and larger force. You may want to focus more on armor to give your units maximum lasting power until you’ve reached critical mass. Then you throw in a quick +1 attack before you roll your opponent with a maxed army.

The overall point is that while a lot of what’s outlined in questions 1 and 2 seems clear cut, your personal play style and overall game plan creates a grey area which may influence your upgrading priorities. Before you do the math, make sure the math will WORK given what you want to accomplish. A pack of attack upgraded roaches may be great against zerglings, but it isn’t going to benefit you much if your opponent is using their lings in a series of small hit and runs and your roaches can’t keep up. You have to know you’re going to play in such a way that FORCES your opponent to submit to your better upgrades. That’s what a “plus one timing push” is all about.

But wait, there’s more!

Breaking down the full extent of how upgrades affect a given game scenario is a pretty epic process. There are a number of factors, including shields, bonus damage, AoE, etc. which I didn’t even begin to touch upon but are all valid and important. Please take the time to consider them when you start looking at ways in which your play could be enhanced by upgrade prioritization and optimization. If you discover anything I haven’t been able to touch upon, I do encourage you to post a comment.

EDIT: A Redditor pointed me to this great TL thread as an additional resource.

This is how I felt watching MLG this weekend.

Get ready E-sports fans, because you are in for a treat.  MLG Columbus starts streaming live today at 5PM EST with newly expanded stream bandwidth. Fans that tuned in to MLG Dallas may remember some of the traffic issues that resulted in down time during the broadcasts, but higher capacity infrastructure should eliminate that threat this time around.  MLG co-founder Sundance DiGiovanni has promised fans a smooth viewing experience, as well as HD quality up to 720p.

As if that weren’t enough, there are going to be some huge firsts this time around!

MLG’s new GSL partnership is about to pay its first dividends. They’ve brought in some of the top Korean players, as well as the top Korean broadcasters (well the top Korean English broadcasters…).

We have oGs_MC (replacing ST_Bomber), SlayerS_MMA, FOX.Moon, IM_LosirA, and ST_July (winner of CSN’s Clash of the Houses) making appearances.  With the exception of July, each of the Koreans will be seeded 17-20.

One of the more anticipated match ups is in the very first round of group play. MC, the dominant but slumping Protoss world champion, and IdrA, the controversial Zerg animal, will face off in what I’m sure will be a great clash of styles. MC tends to favor risky, aggressive plays that have net him several crushing victories; while IdrA tends towards more precise, calculated macro play.

I’d give the edge to MC here, he may be in a slight slump (I’d call it more a lull), but he has the advantage of coming in as a replacement for Bomber(T). Idra hasn’t been practicing his ZvP as much as a matchup with MC would normally entail. Their group C also includes SeleCT, Ret, and Tyler, making it indisputably the group of death for Columbus.

KiWiKaKi, a crafty Canadian Protoss pro, is in a group with MMA, the double expanding Terran GSL player. As Tasteless put it, whenever someone takes one base on MMA, he makes two more. How will the MLG Dallas second place finisher fare against a Code S player?  Will the Korea > the rest of the world formula be turned on its head?

IM_LosirA’s group has top 8 MLG Dallas finishers iNcontrol (P) and TLO (T). I can’t say who’ll come out on top there, but I CAN say I would hate to be Haypro or Machine (the other members of that group).

Last of all we cannot dismiss MLG Dallas winner NaNiwa. In the past, NaNi was known for his occasionally improper conduct and one-base, cheesy play. More recently, though, he’s branched out, showing that he can play a mean standard game and becoming far more professional in his conduct.  He has also mentioned a desire to play in Korea, and is probably chomping at the bit to try his hand against Moon. He should easily top his group.

No one can be sure what will happen, but the matchups are looking pretty incredible. I’m more excited than a group of Banes in a cluster of Marines… Oh and did I mention Tastosis?  Yea, MLG landed the most dangerous casting archon in pro gaming. We may even see a 3 templar morph as Day9 will also be in attendance… dare I say Daystetosis?

Get stimmed up nerds and tune in at 5:00pm EST for some fun filled rounds of Zerg roasting, marine exploding, and… Toss fading out into blue mist animation?

It’s gonna be a blast!

While he does not give us an exact reason, he does imply that there is an issue with the Grand Master league that needs to be addressed before normal ladder movements can resume. For my money I’d bet it has to do with the drop-hack kefuffle from a few weeks ago. The full quote is after the jump:

Due to an issue with the Grandmaster league we’ve temporarily locked league reassignments. This means that all ranked games are correctly awarding (and subtracting) points, all changes to player’s internal matchmaking rating continue to be made, but the ability to be promoted/demoted to a different league is temporarily on-hold. When this lock is released, the next win will process the correct standing and any league reassignments will be carried out as they would have.

We currently have a hotfix for the Grandmaster issue in testing, and expect it to be implemented very soon. Once the fix is in and verified the lock will be removed and league standings will continue as normal. We’ll make another announcement at that time.

It’s important to note, again, that your games played now continue to count toward your standing and a possible league reassignment.

The long and harrowing road of the TLS3 has now drawn to a close. 32 players entered, the best of the best from around the world. Now 1 reigns above them all. The live finals took place on May 15 in NYC with casters Day[9] and Chill. The two finalists were Dignitas.NaNiwa and ThorZaIN, playing for his new team Mouz. Fans voted before and during for which player they thought would take home the victory. Even for those whose favorite player didn’t win, this was an incredibly exciting series, unquestionably living up to the standards of the TSL.

Dignitas.NaNiwa Vs. Prae.ThorZaIN: Battle Reports

Game 1: TSL3 Metalopolis

Spawn:
mouz.ThorZaIN – 6 o’clock position
Dignitas.NaNiwa – 12 o’clock position

Both players open standard on what is considered one of the most standard maps. ThorZaIN gets a marauder following his marine and NaNiwa getting a stalker followed by a very fast expand. ThorZaIN opts for tech and a bunker as NaNiwa gets his economy underway. NaNiwa adds a second gateway followed by a robotics facility and then immediately grabs a robotics bay, looking to quickly add colossus to his army composition. ThorZaIN conversely gets banshees as well as tanks with siege; planning no doubt for a strong one base timing.

NaNiwa scouts around as a banshee pokes into his base and manages to discover the existence of tanks in ThorZaIN’s composition. ThorZaIN responds by salvaging his bunker and moving out with a large number of scvs in tow. NaNiwa’s 2 colossus and small gateway army wait patiently as ThorZaIN constructs bunkers immediately outside of Naniwa’s expo. Knowing that ThorZaIN is on one base with a dozen scvs pulled, NaNiwa stays back even as his expansion nexus falls. After popping a second colossus and several zealots, NaNiwa finally attempts to clear the bunkers, tanks, marines, and banshees containing him. However, ThorZaIN is able to hold his position while taking his natural expansion back home and NaNiwa pulls back. ThorZaIN finds himself behind in army size but has an incredible position and army to handle what NaNiwa has stuck up his ramp.

NaNiwa attempts to bust out of his base again, this time with an immortal leading his army. He shatters the bunker and tank line leaving ThorZaIN with a single out of position tank, a handful of marines, and a banshee. NaNiwa knows he is too far behind in economy to have a chance at winning with anything but a strong all-in counter attack so he pulls his probes and throws his army into the front of ThorZaIN’s base. ThorZaIN pulls scvs and holds off the last ditch attack by NaNiwa to take the first game.

Game 2: TSL3 GSL Crevasse

Spawn:
mouz.ThorZaIN – 4 o’clock position
Dignitas.NaNiwa – 10 o’clock position

NaNiwa takes advantage of the map’s safe natural expansion and builds a nexus first. ThorZaIN follows suit and puts down a command center before any unit producing structures. ThorZaIN stays off of gas, adding on two fast barracks while NaNiwa gets his cybernetics core off of one gate while producing zealots. NaNiwa chrono boosts warpgates as he adds two extra gates while ThorZaIN adds a third barracks and protects his front with a bunker. Both players begin to tech around the same point with a factory from ThorZaIN and a robotics facility from NaNiwa. ThorZaIN begins researching stim from the only add-on he has while also starting a starport. NaNiwa adds a robots bay for that fast colossus as well as double forge for fast upgrades. ThorZaIN begins to tech towards siege tanks while continuing to add bio upgrades. Even as colossus begin to pop, NaNiwa adds on a twilight counsel. The reasoning for this choice is quickly revealed with a chrono boosted zealot charge upgrade. NaNiwa also chooses to cancel the upgrades that had started in his fast forges as he scouts a marine tank push headed towards his base.

ThorZaIN sets up a contain, far less aggressive than in the previous game, and begins to construct an orbital command at his third. As speed finishes NaNiwa attempts to break the contain but is pushed back strongly. NaNiwa is behind in food with only 3 colossus and 5 zealots in his army; but his composition is well designed to deal with the contain. NaNiwa attempts to bust out yet again and only barely fails, following up immediately with a smaller but successful push with a wave of reinforcements. As ThorZaIN’s units are destroyed NaNiwa immediately restarts his forge upgrades.

NaNiwa harasses ThorZaIN while taking a third of his own. As ThorZaIN researches the armor upgrade for his bio he adds on a second starport while producing Vikings from the first. NaNiwa adds on blink for his stalkers as ThorZaIN adds hellions with blue flame. NaNiwa takes advantage of blink immediately, walking up the back of ThorZaIN’s base with his colossus and blinking up with his stalkers. As ThorZaIN gets ripped apart in the back of his base due to his immobile tank and bunker defense, he manages to do some damage to NaNiwa with a marine drop. NaNiwa certainly gets the better of the exchange, coming out one base ahead and with a food lead. ThorZaIN attempts to move out while constructing a 4^th command center but NaNiwa catches him completely out of position and wipes out ThorZaIN’s army in dominant fashion, forcing a GG.

Game 3: TSL3 Shakuras Plateau

Spawn:
mouz.ThorZaIN – 1 o’clock position
Dignitas.NaNiwa – 7 o’clock position

Both players choose standard openings, not opting for super high economy due to the wider ramp to the natural on this map. ThorZaIN gets a marine followed by a marauder after pulling his scvs off gas, then grabs a command center. NaNiwa expands just slightly later after getting a stalker out of his gateway. ThorZaIN blocks his ramp with his second barracks and a bunker as he begins stim research while adding an engineering bay. NaNiwa adds a second gateway and gets a robotics facility. ThorZain gets an early attack upgrade for his bio units from that fast engineering bay, then begins to tech with a factory. NaNiwa continues his trend with a fast robotics bay yet again. He adds on 2 more gateways as he begins to research thermal lance for his colossus. As NaNiwa’s first colossus is halfway through production, ThorZaIN’s starport completes with a reactor and begins producing medivacs.

NaNiwa throws up a third nexus while ThorZaIN continues his bio upgrades with level 1 armor and adds on an armory. As NaNiwa’s third nears completion he begins charge for his zealots and adds 2 forges along with a templar archives. ThorZaIN begins constructing his third command center while getting 2/2 for his bio, but NaNiwa doesn’t fall far behind as he’s starting his 1/1 ground upgrades, adding in immortals to waste ThorZaIN’s 4 at a time Viking production. He finishes storm research for his templar. ThorZaIN pokes and harasses NaNiwa’s third. NaNiwa adds 7 gateways to keep up production with his three base economy. ThorZaIN finally secures his third, morphing a planetary fortress, and adds ghosts into his composition while switching his starport production back to medivacs.

NaNiwa move out with a strong immortal templar composition with several storms at the ready. The ghosts of ThorZaIN do their best to land EMPs but NaNiwa keeps his templar separated and manages to take out ThorZaIN’s entire bio army. While stuck outside of ThorZaIN’s base, NaNiwa moves down to the planetary fortress 3^rd of ThorZaIN and uses immortals and forcefields to wipe it out very quickly. In the mean time he also takes his own 4^th and builds his army up to max. ThorZaIN desperately attempts a counter drop as NaNiwa pushes into a recently completed expansion of ThorZaIN. Even though some damage is done in NaNiwa’s main, the storms, zealots, archons, and immortals of NaNiwa prove too much for ThorZaIN to hold off and he is forced to GG.

Game 4: TSL3 GSL Terminus RE

Spawn:
mouz.ThorZaIN – 9 o’clock position
Dignitas.NaNiwa – 6 o’clock position

NaNiwa is on the verge of gaining a strong series lead. ThorZaIN takes no early gas and drops a command center on 16 food. NaNiwa chooses to add a second gas, not playing into the macro style of the map. As ThorZaIN attempts to gain the economic advantage, NaNiwa’s techs toward blink stalkers. ThorZaIN adds barracks and begins stim research as NaNiwa adds on gateways up to a total of 4.

ThorZaIN’s front consists only of a bunker and a few extra marines while he adds barracks and begins to tech with a factory.  ThorZaIN knows something is coming after scouting the lack of an expansion nexus for NaNiwa and begins a second bunker at his front. NaNiwa plants a pylon directly outside of ThorZaIN’s front and attempts to slip past and blink up ThorZaIN’s main ramp to gain sight for warp ins, but ThorZaIN pops a supply depot just in time to block the stalker’s path. NaNiwa continues to press, moving around the natural of ThorZaIN and forcing many scvs to be pulled. ThorZaIN manage to get a tank out but it is quickly sniped. Though two tanks are added to his army and mass repair goes down on the bunker at the front, NaNiwa’s 4 gate production and incredible blink stalker micro allows him to do severe damage to ThorZaIN’s economy and army. Under constant pressure, ThorZaIN finally completes siege research, but sieging his tanks proves to be a fatal mistake as he has no army to protect them from the blink stalkers. After NaNiwa wipes out his remaining tank on the high ground ThorZaIN submits with the fast GG.

Game 5: Xel’Naga Caverns

Spawn:
mouz.ThorZaIN - 7 o’clock position
Dignitas.NaNiwa - 1 o’clock position

ThorZaIN finds himself with his back up against the wall, down 3-1 in this best of 7 finals. NaNiwa has just one victory between him and the TSL3 title. Both players open standard, knowing that the natural can be difficult to hold with a low number of units. ThorZaIN executes some very important early trickery, canceling a second barracks after it is scouted by NaNiwa, opting instead to add a factory. NaNiwa builds 4 warpgates once again. NaNiwa, however, is in the dark as to ThorZaIN’s tech, most likely expecting a 2 rax expand. ThorZaIN begins to construct a bunker at his front and adds on a starport. As a probe attempts to put a pylon down directly outside of ThorZaIN’s ramp, marines are pulled around the edges to deny it, though they are ultimately unable to stop the second pylon. SCVs are pulled to repel zealots warped on the high ground and the 4 gate all in is stomped.

ThorZaIN finds himself ahead after defending the all in. What’s more he’s sneaked a scouting scv into NaNiwa’s base. The scv sees a robotics facility being thrown down as well as an expansion nexus in NaNiwa’s natural. ThorZaIN pushes out with tanks, marines, and banshees as siege research reaches halfway. NaNiwa scouts the push with his small stalker immortal army and pulls back, denying bunkers at his front but losing the nexus after siege finishes. The sieged tanks allow ThorZaIN to entrench, completing bunkers down NaNiwa’s ramp. NaNiwa attempts some fancy play with a hidden probe dropping a pylon in ThorZaIN’s natural. He builds a warp prism and starts elevator lifting out of his base behind ThorZaIN’s contain, but ThorZaIN spots it and manages to hold his ground. NaNiwa, out of position and stuck out of his base, decides to throw his army at ThorZaIN’s front only to hit a bunker, tanks, and marines. As NaNiwa is repelled ThorZaIN moves up the Protoss ramp and ends the game.

Game 6: TSL3 GSL Crossfire SE

Spawn:
mouz.ThorZaIN – top position
Dignitas.NaNiwa – bottom position

Just like the last map, a wide natural offers little protection for fast expansions, and so again both players open in standard fashion, barracks and gas for the Terran and a gateway and assimilator for the Protoss. ThorZaIN adds a second barracks while being probe scouted but this time does not cancel, instead adding a reactor to his first barracks. NaNiwa adds on a second gas as well as a stargate in the southern point of his base. ThorZaIN drops a relatively early second command center while producing a marine and marauder army. NaNiwa puts his stargate to use, chrono boosting phoenixes and scouting ThorZaIN’s base. After some light harass NaNiwa adds a second gateway and a nexus, ceasing phoenix production after encountering a number of marines. As the nexus constructs, NaNiwa adds on 2 more gateways and continues to scout with the phoenix. ThorZaIN begins stim research while dropping turrets in his mineral lines to protect from phoenix harass.

ThorZaIN adds on 3 refineries and begins his tech as well as the bio attack upgrade. NaNiwa adds another 2 gateways reaching 6 total, a clear signifier of a timing attack. In order to remain safe while teching, ThorZaIN adds a second bunker at his natural and begins a wall with a supply depot. NaNiwa takes a supply advantage with his 6 gate and decides to attack into ThorZaIN’s front. NaNiwa hits just as bio level 1 attack and combat shield complete. With stim already done, this makes for an unlucky timing for his army. ThorZaIN is forced to pull scvs but manages to hold off the first wave of the attack. Before NaNiwa pushes in again, 2 medivacs pop for ThorZaIN allowing him to negate force fields on his ramp and also offering healing for his stimmed marines and marauders. NaNiwa pushes again and drops several force fields; but with pulled scvs and a bunker ThorZaIN once again holds his front, even pushing back to the proxy pylon dropped by NaNiwa and taking a huge 25 food lead. ThorZaIN takes advantage of his lead by dropping a 3^rd command center as ghosts begin to pop and bio armor level 1 completes. NaNiwa attempts to macro up, chrono boosting probes and adding on double forge to try and keep up in upgrades. NaNiwa even adds on a twilight council to research zealot charge, but ThorZaIN arrives at his natural with two strong emps and a superior army long before it completes. The destruction of NaNiwa’s expansion nexus compels him to GG, taking the series to a decisive 7^th game.

Game 7: TSL3 GSL Tal’Darim Altar

Spawn:
mouz.ThorZaIN – 5 o’clock position
Dignitas.NaNiwa - 8 o’clock position

NaNiwa has now completely lost his advantage and is in a dead heat with ThorZaIN. One pivotal game will decide the champion. There is no better map for such an epic final game than Tal’Darim Altar, with its extreme focus on macro play and tendency toward dramatic Protoss vs. Terran games. ThorZaIN makes the early decision to get gas after his barracks, perhaps fearful of the early aggression that has met him in the last 3 games. ThorZaIN produces a reaper to get an early scout of NaNiwa’s base, then pulls his scvs out of gas in order to speed up his expansion. Immediately after dropping his second command center ThorZaIN adds a second barracks as NaNiwa gets his nexus down after a single gateway. ThorZaIN’s reaper arrives and manages to pick off a sentry and a probe before being taken out by a stalker. ThorZaIN begins to research stim and NaNiwa works on 2 gateways and a robotics facility.

Both players tech further with ThorZaIN getting a factory and NaNiwa going back to what worked for him early in the series with a fast robotics bay. ThorZaIN’s starport is slightly delayed as he opts for a fast bio attack upgrade and a hellion to scout around the map and poke NaNiwa’s front. ThorZaIN scouts the first colossus just as thermal lance reaches its halfway point. His combat shield at about three quarters complete. Even after scouting the colossus, ThorZaIN starts with medivac production before Vikings and begins a fast ghost academy. NaNiwa moves out when his second colossus comes out and takes a positional advantage, harassing ThorZaIN’s natural mineral line from the low ground with the range of thermal lance. ThorZaIN adds a second starport as his Vikings and ghosts spawn. While the Vikings attempt to push back the colossus,  ThorZaIN takes more economic damage. NaNiwa responds to his own success by cutting probe production. However, even with scvs pulled and under pressure, ThorZaIN lands an excellent EMP on NaNiwa’s army, giving him hope to break the contain. The two armies dance a bit more with ThorZaIN’s economy in dire position. He’s at a 30 food disadvantage, but he critically manages to EMP NaNiwa’s army once again. NaNiwa dedicates himself fully to units, hoping to end the game right here. He begins a push at ThorZain’s front. Another huge EMP lands as ThorZaIN pulls his scvs. With a strong Viking count, ThorZaIN repels the attack and emerges with a slight food advantage. NaNiwa’s reinforcements are forced to retreat with colossus falling in the process.

The aggression ceases in both directions as ThorZaIN scouts to find NaNiwa with no 3^rd base. Both players are roughly even on economy as well as army size but ThorZaIN has map control with his army in between both bases holding a xel’naga tower. With a lull in the action both players begin to construct their third base. As the 3rds complete, NaNiwa once again has a 30 food advantage. He moves out and meets ThorZaIN’s army in the middle of the map. Unfortunately for him, ThorZaIN once again lands incredible EMPs allowing him to come out of the engagement with only a 3 food deficit. ThorZaIN is finally able to add on 2 more barracks bringing him to 5 against NaNiwa’s 10 warp gates. ThorZaIN has completed an attack and armor upgrade for his bio, and also opts to begin a 4^th as he pokes into NaNiwa’s 3^rd. ThorZain catches NaNiwa out of position and manages to pick off the 3^rd nexus with a stim attack. He once again is behind, though, this time by 20 food. The Terran army gets trapped moving out from the protoss 3^rd, and both armies dance back and forth with a number of scans being dropped by ThorZaIN to scout out NaNiwa’s movements. With ThorZaIN down only ten food and yet again dropping clutch EMPs, the two armies collide in the middle. ThorZaIN’s marine, marauder, viking army overwhelms the forces of NaNiwa and begin to walk towards NaNiwa’s base. Broken, with no economic future in sight, NaNiwa taps out, giving ThorZaIN the GG and the ultimate victory in this incredible 2 month tournament.

And so it was…

When a tournament starts, there’s excitement on a lot of levels. Whether you’re cheering on a favorite player, hoping for exciting play, or begging for some dramatic upsets, we all have elements we look for to satisfy whatever it is that keeps us watching. Never before in a tournament have I seen one player encompass so many of these elements in a single tournament. The path that mouz.ThorZaIN has walked in this TSL3 surpasses what any Starcraft 2 winner has faced to date. He had to beat TSL_FruitDealer, the unforgettable winner of the very first GSL in Korea. He then dismantled TLAF-Liquid’Tyler – winner of the last TSL – in 2 games with an extraordinary TvP style. Despite his already impressive play, no one was predicting what happened next. With an absolutely unbelievable performance across 5 games, he overcame oGs.MC. MC is a two time GSL winner and considered by many to be the best Protoss player in Starcraft 2, and ThorZaIN stepped past him with flair and brilliance. Yet people still doubted ThorZaIN. Even I predicted Empire.Kas, considered one of the best European players, would take their semifinal series.

I was wrong.

ThorZaIN battled in a brutal, but ultimately quick TvT; arguably emerging as the best Terran in Europe. ThorZaIN then entered the finals against the monstrous dignitas.NaNiwa, a player with a ludicrous 35 ‘best of’ series win streak. After taking the first game, ThorZaIN fell quickly down 3-1, with every ounce of pressure from the last 2 months landing right on his shoulders. But he buckled down, he played to his strengths, and simply refused to die. With defense after defense, clutch control, and spot on decision making, he turned the series around and took the victory in 7 games. He and he alone is the victor of TSL3, and he earned it.

Congratulations to mouz.ThorZaIN for your victory in TSL3

Congratulations to dignitas.NaNiwa for your second place finish

Congratulations to Empire.Kas for your victory in the 3^rd/4^th place match and automatic seeding into the next TSL tournament

And thank you to Team Liquid and all of its players and administrators for putting on an incredible tournament. It featured top players from all over the world and top notch production value.

The TSL3 is over, but it will not soon be forgotten.

As popular as the GSL is, it’s still a young, evolving league with a format that has received its fair share of complaints about accessibility. The climb into Code S is a long trudge, and once you’re there it’s incredibly easy to find yourself hanging on by the proverbial thread. Just look at IMmvp, who went from champion to Code A in a single season; or the ever innovative former Code S player LeenockfOu, who was knocked out of Code A altogether by a completely new face in GSL May. Now it looks like Code S players can breathe easier, if only slightly.

Starting this Summer, the Code S and Up/Down match formats will be reconfigured. Group stages will now only force the last place member of each individual group into the Up/Down matches. Likewise, the Code A winner (along with MLG champion) will be directly placed into Code S. The Up/Down matches will remove the seeding format of seasons past in favor of evenly dispersed 5-player groups. The first and second place finishers from each group will advance to Code S. This eliminates the favoritism given to Code A and 3rd place Code S players, instead allowing each player an equal opportunity to shine.

In other good news, it looks like the GSTL format is starting to catch on. As such, the GSL has decided to expand its scope with a larger, longer format and regular broadcasts every Thursday and Friday.

Here are the full details from GOM (click the link to see a visual of the new schedule):

Code S Group League Match Format Change

- Pre-existing GOMTV League Format -> Dual Tournament Format
- Group stage games will always have 5 sets and the last game will be the deciding game for 2^nd and 3^rd Place.
- From each group, 3^rd Place will stay in Code S and 4^th Place will go through Up and Down Match.
- 1^st and 2^nd Place from each Group will advance to Ro16

Code A Morning Time Broadcast

- For the 5 days of the first week, Code A games will be broadcasted at 1:10 PM.
- Starting from the second week, Code A game will only be broadcasted at 7:10 PM.

Up & Down Match Format Change

- Code A Winner will automatically advance to Code S without going through Up & Down Match
- MLG Winner will receive a GSL Code S seed for the following month. (Even if the winner is a Korean player, the seed will be provided). If the winner turns down the Code S seed or is already a Code S player then the runner-up will be given the seed.
- Code S 4^th Place Players (8) + Code A Top 7 = 15 players
- Players will be divided into 3 groups of 5.
- One group per day will be broadcasted. Each group’s 1^st and 2^nd Place will advance to Code S.

GSTL 2 Group Full League

- Every Thursday and Friday, GSTL 2 Group Full League will be held.
- The current 10 SC2 pro teams will be divided into 2 groups of 5.
- Each team will go through a full league and top 3 teams from each group will advance to the playoff (20 matches / twice a week = will be broadcasted for 10 weeks).
- Playoff will be played with the following format: Group A 1^st Place vs. (Group B 2^nd Place vs. Group A 3^rd Place) / Group B 1^st Place vs. (Group B 3^rd Place vs. Group A 2^nd Place)

How appropriate, then, that LiquidTLO (aka TheLittleOne aka “Everyone’s favorite German”) will be streaming all day on Sunday, May 22 for the global charity, Doctors Without Borders. Full TL press release after the jump.

You want to spend all day watching Starcraft. You also want to make even a small contribution to society. This weekend, the two don’t have to be mutually exclusive. On Sunday the 22nd of May 2011, starting from 10am, our very own Dario “TLO” Wünsch will stream his play for as long as possible with the goal of streaming a minimum of 24 hours. What’s more, this marathon Starcraft 2 run will be in benefit of Doctors Without Borders, an awesome charity that provides independent, impartial assistance in many of the world’s worst affected areas.

On a daily basis, they help people who are affected by armed conflict, epidemics, malnutrition, exclusion from health care, or natural disasters and this weekend, you’ll be able to contribute in a little way towards their efforts. “Helping an organisation like doctors without borders seemed fitting to me,” says Dario. “They do incredible work and I want to see if we can have gaming benefit them in some way.”

Starting on Sunday morning, Dario will stream throughout the day and aim to go on until 10am on Monday. During this time, he will ladder, play custom games and you’ll have a chance to follow him on stream and maybe even join him in game. “My goal is to reach 24 hours as that will be a personal milestone for me as well,” says TLO. “I’ll keep going for as long as I can though, and I’d really value your support along the way.”

So how is this going to work? TLO will have ads running on his stream, and all revenue made during this period will be donated directly to Doctors Without Borders. All you have to do is spread the word.

Tell your parents, friends and significant other. Tell the mailman. Canvas your dorms. IM everyone. Facebook and tweet away. Ask that girl/boy you’ve had your eye on for ages to come join you on Sunday to watch Starcraft and support Doctors Without Borders while you’re at it.

Finally, stock up and food on drink and be here on Sunday as Dario downs energy bars and gets ready to dish out pwnage for a cause. No matter where you are in the world, this event will be live this weekend at a time that’s good for you. Be sure you tune in.

http://www.teamliquid.net/video/streams/Liquid`TLO

And to think that Hydralisk worked so hard to break the glass ceiling…

The guys at Gom recently published a news post informing SC2 fans everywhere that the GSL would be partnering with the widely successful American eSports outlet Major League Gaming. The ultimate goal is simple, prevent a situation where the two leagues are competing for top caliber international talent and the audience building benefits it provides. Top players from each league would earn spots in the other. Full details from the press release after the jump.

Pro Circuit Players Competing in the GSL

At MLG Columbus, the Top 3 non-Korean finishers will each be placed into GSL Code A.
At every 2011 Pro Circuit Live Competition after MLG Columbus, GSL placement will occur as follows:

- Code S status will be awarded to the highest placing player, within the Top 3, regardless of country of origin, who does not already have Code S status.
- Code S status will not be awarded if all of the players placing 1st-3rd already have Code S Status.
- Code A status will be awarded to the next three highest placing non-Korean players.
- If Code S status is awarded to a Korean player, or not awarded at all, Code A status also will be awarded to the 4th highest placing non-Korean player.

All travel and accomodation expenses for these players will be provided by the GSL.

GSL Pro Players Competing on the MLG Pro Circuit

- MLG will invite four Korean pro players to each Pro Circuit Live Competition.
- These players will be placed directly into the Championship Pools, one into each Pool.
- Their placement in the Pools will be determined by their GSL rank.
- All travel and accomodation expenses for these players will be provided by MLG.
- For MLG Columbus, we will also be inviting a player from the CSN tournament, currently in progress. This player will be seeded into the Open Bracket, and their travel and accomodation expenses will be covered by CSN.

The system sounds promising. The first four Koreans to enjoy this partnership are ST_Bomber, IM.Losira, SlayerS_MMA, and FOXMoon. This sort of spillover is likely a welcome site for many fans, and will enrich worldwide competition by allowing greater diversity of playstyle, perspective, and talent to compete on large scale stages. Players will probably enjoy it as well, as it may ease some of the painstaking decisions they have to make regarding where and when it is most fiscally viable to compete.

I can’t wait to see the types of matches it yields.

I’m rather disappointed that this article did very little to substantiate it’s claims, but allow me to try and provide a counterpoint anyway.

IdrA is not a good caster. He does not have the training to be a good caster, he is too quiet, he is frequently monotone, he stumbles in his speech, he has no flow to speak of, he lacks the ability to express passion and emotion. He is however, an analyst of exceptional skill and calibre, easily one of the best in the business. He should be lauded for this however the distinction must be made there.

This is how sportscasting works 101 – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Play_by_play

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_commentator

IdrA is a colour-commentator. He fits all the criteria, he is analytical, he is there to provide background and extensive game knowledge, based on experience as a current/ex-player. He is there to fill in time when the play-by-play commentator is not talking and as a knowledgeable resource to back up the play-by-play commentator, who is more often than not, not a professional player/coach/ex-player, but a professional broadcaster.

Of the listed commentators in the IPL, there was 1 colour commentator (Painuser) and 4 play-by-play commentators (HD, DJWheat, Catspyjamas and myself). This was in itself a problem and is not the correct setup, something that all the casters have acknowledged publically and are doing their utmost to resolve (to the point where Apollo may be moving in with me temporarily if we are chosen to cast IPL 2, doing all my assigned matchs with in-studio co-commentary).

Now onto the main point of this article, the idea of ‘telling it like it is’. This is fairly ironic in itself, since casters frequently get criticised for doing such shallow things as telling people what’s going on. Half the time it seems some hardcore viewers have an Inception mindset “WE HAVE TO GO DEEPER!”, demanding almost precognitive casting and metaphysical insight. Lasers may also be involved.

It is not the play-by-play casters job to tell you when a game is over, it is the play-by-play casters job to heighten tension, provoke emotion and increase the viewer’s excitement. You cannot do that by calling a game before it ends. The climax of a game should be the GG, regardless of whether or not it’s blatantly too late. You call a GG 10 minutes before it actually happens, even if it’s absolutely the right call, then you stop engaging a good portion of your viewers, specifically the majority of the viewerbase, the casuals who are there for entertainment. In-depth analysis in sports is generally done post-game, not mid-game. There is definitely space for analysis, plenty of it, but drowning a viewer in 10 mins of in-depth analysis of how Player A fucked up while the game is still going on in the background, will turn off the casual viewer.

I should also point out that it is not dishonest to avoid calling game over before it actually happens. You can without question explain that the situation is very bad for Player A with a wide variety of colourful synonyms and language. However, let us consider the viewing demographic.

Your average master’s league player, hell even high diamond, is definitely analytical enough and knowledgeable enough to see when it’s over. He does not need to be told that it’s over. He will not learn anything from being told that it’s over. I refer to this sentence at the end of the article

“Don’t be afraid to tell us when a game is over, or when players aren’t playing like they deserve our attention. Do so, and your audience will only gain a better understanding of the game.”

Hardcore players will not learn anything from this. Casual players more often than not, don’t WANT to learn anything from this. Different kinds of people watch SC2 for different reasons. SC2 has a substantial viewerbase that doesn’t even own the game for god’s sake, what do you think they tune in for? It certainly isn’t to learn how to play better, they don’t play at all. No, they tune in to watch one of the most, if not the most exciting eSport in the world and they expect it to be presented as such. It is impossible to get excited about a game that ended 10 minutes ago, when you’ve just had the fact rubbed in your face by the casting team. It is possible, if you are a skilled play-by-play caster, to keep the tension up, particularly when there are more casual, less knowledgeable viewers watching. You do not have to lie to them, but you don’t have to tell them it’s done 10 minutes before the GG either. By all means, have the analyst explain why Player A is in such a bad situation and the decisions that lead him up to this point (although I really think some of that should be saved for post-game commentary, a’la sports), but as far as I’m concerned, calling an early GG is a mortal casting sin and should be avoided at all costs.

Just my two pence folks. It’s a nice opinion piece but it lacks perspective on what casting actually is, as well as being from an obviously niche viewpoint which, while it should be catered to without question, is not the only way to look at things, nor even the majority view.

Or if you don’t prefer to read:

This week, the ever talented IdrA is guest casting NASL group play alongside an alternating Gretorp and InControl. I must admit I haven’t been following the league as closely as I’d like, but the group-play model seems content to favor quantity over quality. I doubt anyone aside from Gretorp has actually seen every game. That said, unlike what often feels like the rest of the internet, I’ve been an NASL apologist from the start. They’re an evolving league that is slowly but surely adapting to the height of community production standards and expectations.

Despite my outlook, the mighty Gracken does give them something that they, and other fledgeling leagues like the IPL, have been missing: blunt honesty.

Sincerity is an important factor in forging a good cast, and part of sincerity is acknowledging when things are going badly. Not all games are epic; some games are just awful. Strategies may be one dimensional, players may mismicro into a giant goose egg, or painstaking stalemates may result in yawn-worthy breaks in the action.

When such games occur, Gretorp and InControl occasionally shy away from pointing out the obvious. I can’t say I blame them, the last thing any new league wants is a reputation for producing lackluster games.  A lot of the more famous YouTube casters suffer from this issue as well. I remember watching Husky eagerly describing a pivotal defensive hold when the economics of the situation so clearly favored the aggressor that the game was already over. IPL casters like HD/Painuser, while good about letting us know when a player has likely lost in advance, also could benefit from being perhaps more critical of the players in unfavorable positions. The audience can learn as much from highlighting macro/micro mistakes as good, solid, or spectacular play.

Last night, though, IdrA was not afraid to tell the truth when he needed to. I pretty distinctly remember him saying “Rainbow should leave this game” as Moon threw wave after wave of roaches his way. Likewise, his persona was cleaned up for broadcast standards, but he didn’t change it so much that we lost sight of the fact that we were listening to a human being with legitimate opinions instead of a polished shell. InControl’s casting guise, for instance, displays the sort institutional demeanor that likely made him very good at college debate. That’s a side of him we don’t often see on more frank outlets like State of the Game.

IdrA was mostly himself, straightforward, unapologetic, and often completely correct in his analysis. Take the following example from IdrA’s stream (recording courtesy of YouTube user Swarmcast), for instance. IdrA will not shy away from labeling lackluster play for what it is.

You can watch more of IdrA’s stream commentary here.

A spade a spade indeed.

Critical sincerity is also an important factor in making Tastetosis so good at what they do. Remember the early San games? He got ripped apart, both in game and verbally. How about LegalMind? BitByBit? Etc? Tastless and Artosis are not afraid to bust the collective chops of underwhelming players on air. They will also be the first to say, “that game wasn’t very good, sorry guys” when it needs to be said. This helps considerably in establishing the legitimacy of their excitement when they DO see good games (like last weekend’s amazing series between NesTea and sC).

Hopefully IdrA will continue to be his frank self and casters around the net will take notes. Don’t be afraid to tell us when a game is over, or when players aren’t playing like they deserve our attention. Do so, and your audience will only gain a better understanding of the game.

NOTE: This article has been edited after further research revealed the statements initially made about HD and Painuser’s IPL casting were inaccurate. Sorry HD.

Click here to view TotalBiscuit’s response.

The patch has evolved quite a bit from its initial PTR announcement, particularly for Protoss. Archons have been given a range boost, and the more lore-appropriate classification of “massive”. This should make them more viable in PvT, where marauders had all but completely nullified them. The warp gate/gateway timing mechanic change did not make the final cut. Blizzard opted instead to lengthen the initial research time and maintain the pylon nerf, hopefully increasing the defendability of 4gates in PvP (not to mention other sneaky warp in tactics). Sentries can also now be produced faster, which may have implications in both PvP and the other matchups.

Ghosts, Thors, Infestors, and some defensive structures have also been tweaked. Full patch notes after the jump.

General

The default hotkey to toggle in-game music on/off has been reverted to its hotkey prior to Patch 1.3.0. The hotkey to display APM in the observer stat panel has been changed as a result.

Balance

Protoss

Archon
-Now a massive unit.
-Range increased from 2 to 3.

Cybernetics Core
- Research Warp Gate time increased from 140 to 160.

Gateway
- Sentry train time decreased from 42 to 37.
- Warp Gate unit train times remain unchanged.

Pylon power radius has been decreased from 7.5 to 6.5.

Terran

Bunker
- Salvage resource return reduced from 100% to 75%.

Ghost
- Cost changed from 150/150 to 200/100.

Thor
- Thor now has 200 max energy, and starts with 50 energy.
- 250mm Strike Cannons now cost 150 energy to use (cooldown removed).

Zerg

Infestor
- Speed decreased from 2.5 to 2.25.

Spore Crawler
- Root time decreased from 12 to 6.

Bug Fixes

Fixed an issue where Ghosts could not quickly EMP the same location.
Fixed an issue that allowed players to stack air units when issuing a queued stop command before the units reached the end of their patrol point.
Fixed an issue where unplugging your USB headset while another player was talking to you could cause a crash.
Fixed an issue where the APM statistic could be artificially increased.
Fixed an issue where 3D unit portraits were not animating smoothly at slow game speeds.
Fixed an issue where, when viewing a replay, no text message was displayed when a player left a game.
The Taiwanese hotkey to display/hide the game UI while in Observer mode now works correctly.

The net recently exploded with buzz about the release of the Diablo 3 beta, substantiated mostly by this post from Blizzard poster Bashiok on the Battle.net forums. People should keep their pants on, though, as his careful wording indicates that this is not an official announcement.

The following is the exact quote:

“The 3rd quarter reference in the earning’s call today was a calendar quarter, meaning that we’re aiming to launch the Diablo III beta between July 1st and September 30th. Keep in mind that it’s our current goal, and of course that can change as development continues.”

Note the final sentence, particularly the phrase “…that can change as development continues“. While it’s fantastic to know that Blizzard’s current goal for beta launch is so soon, I advise you to take it the way I take a slice of fresh squeezed lime: with a grain of salt. The company has an all too rich history of changing deadlines to accommodate their strenuous development standards. I’d wait to get excited until Blizzard’s website breaks the news.

Husky disagrees:

For this edition of Fightin’ Words, we’ll be looking at the series between MYM.Mondragon and coL.Cruncher in the TSL3 Ro16, specifically Game 1.

Let’s imagine that you, casual Starcraft player, are Mondragon. You scout what you suspect is a tech build and feel that you are safe to pull off a 3 hatchery opening. Further scouting confirms your tech build suspicions, and close by air positions suggest it is a stargate. You hold off the initial void ray harassment with your queens, pretty standard.

but then, around the 8 minute mark, this happens:

So, shit, you completely underestimated the timing push.  Do you a) say GG and forcefully connect your fist to the monitor, b) write an inflamed post about void rays on your favorite video game forum, or c) breathe, and think to yourself ‘what do I do from here?’.

So because you are not, in fact, Mondragon, you are completely unprepared for the void ray push and feel like you’ve lost right here.  Your opponent has air dominance and better tech and is about to break you down.

But Mondragon is thinking something a little different: What did he sacrifice in order to get to this position? Where is he weak? Can I turn this seemingly dire position for me into a dire position for him?

By responding with mass roach, he takes advantage of the opponent’s weakness.  CrunCher may have higher tech and air dominance, but he can’t do anything with it if constrained to his base with the threat of constant roach attacks.

Instead of responding to your opponent via army composition (by say, frantically trying to hold off the void rays with queens/hydras/spores) you respond via pressure, using the strength of your build against your opponent. So instead of the outcome of this situation being ‘My opponent beat me with unexpectedly strong air push’; it has become ‘I beat my opponent because I responded to his air push with counter-pressure of my own’.

That’s what makes this game so amazing.

So, the next time you feel that you are in a completely unwinnable situation, remember to calm down, think about your options and, in the words of Professor Day9 (and Tim Allen): “‘Never Give Up, Never Surrender.”

With all the talk of recent European players’ performance, particularly how they stack up against Korean competition, I doubt anyone could have predicted the Ro4 we’ll be watching come this weekend. While not all of the results of the Ro8 were surprising, at least one stands out as an incredible upset.

It began with a battle between Mill. Adelscott (P) and Empire.Kas (T), which Kas swept in 4 games.

Then we saw what was likely the biggest upset in TSL’s brief but robust history. Prae.Thorzain (T) overcame oGs.MC (P), one of the most feared players in Starcraft 2’s history, in a phenomenal 3-2 series. The use of the word “upset” isn’t meant to take anything away from Thorzain, an accomplished player in his own right. MC is just so good that any victory over him must be viewed as an upset.

The next day began with a PvP between coL.CrunCher and dignitas.Naniwa. Naniwa continued his trend of impressive play and took the series.

The final bout was between SlayerS_BoxeR(T), who has enjoyed a resurgence of sorts in the last month, and mouz.HasuObs (P). HasuObs put any Korean hopes to rest with a clean sweep, bringing us to the unexpected all Euro semis.

Four incredible players remain, two Terran and two Protoss, ready to duke it out in two mirror matches for a chance at the finals.

Upcoming Match: Thorzain vs. Kas

Recently Kas was defeated 4-0 by MC at the Copenhagen games; an interesting fact given Thorzain had to go through MC to get to Kas in the TSL3. TvT is no TvP, however, and as impressive as beating MC is, it doesn’t guarantee success against a competent Terran opponent. What we do know about these players recent TvTs is that Kas had what it took to take oGs.NaDa out of the running. He swept their best of five series. This is no small feat as NaDa is regarded as one of the best players of all time, and certainly the most consistent (his APM remains among the highest of any player despite the length of his career).

While we can’t take any TvT specific data from TSL3 for Thorzain, his defeats of TSL_Fruitdealer, Liquid’Tyler, and oGs.MC are nothing to write off. We are talking about the winner of GSL season 1, the winner of TSL2, and the winner of 2 GSL titles, respectively. Anyone who can not only compete on the same level as these players but also take them out (some in dominating fashion) deserves respect (and fear).

Gosu.com prediction: Kas wins 4-2 over Thorzain. Even factoring in Thorzain’s absolutely incredible play vP and vZ, I don’t believe he has what it takes to knock down Kas’ TvT. Though I must emphasize how incredibly well Thorzain played against oGs.MC in their series (seriously, this is THE one to watch thus far), I think Kas will be thanking Thorzain for eliminating oGs.MC as he takes his seat in the finals.

Upcoming Match: mouz.HasuObs vs dignitas.NaNiwa

Once again we have a mirror matchup, and once again we can look to a previous round for a strong showing from these players.

In the opening round, HasuObs defeated Liquid’Huk 2-1. Huk is a premier Protoss player, currently competing in GSL Code S and training in Korea. As volatile a matchup as PvP is, such a victory yields some certainty of HasuObs’s abilities. In the second round he faced the extreme challenge of battling his teammate, mouz.Morrow, known for some pretty incredible Zerg play. Morrow performed quite well, but was ultimately defeated 3-2. After these two stressful rounds, HasuObs found himself up against the legend himself, the Emperor Lim Yo-Hwan, BoxeR. Despite the pressure, HasuObs managed to 3-0 BoxeR for a spot in the semis.

NaNiwa’s path, for my money, has been a little less challenging. He faced Liquid’Ret (Z) in the opening round, winning 2-1. He then defeated ESC.GoOdy (T) in 4 games, 3-1. Neither of these, however, are as consequential as his round of 8 showing against coL.CrunCher. That PvP series went to 5 games, showing truly dynamic play from both sides. The victory ultimately went to NaNiwa, earning him a place in the final 4.

Gosu.com prediction: NaNiwa wins 4-3. This is a very difficult decision in a very difficult matchup, but I have to give the edge to Naniwa. Both players have had victories over notable Protoss players in the TSL3, but the play from NaNiwa recently (both in TSL3 and outside) has impressed me more than HasuObs’s. If you need evidence check out his round of 8 PvP, specifically the final game. It showcases NaNiwa’s incredible control in 4gate battles (which, until the patch comes out, is likely to make up a majority of these matches).

TSL3 showcases some of the best players in the entire world along with top notch casters and really beautiful production. I can’t wait to see who takes the crown, and whether our predictions prove right or wrong, the finals should be fantastic.

You can find out more about the TSL here.

Seriously now, is there a dude chilling in the missile turret?

In SC1, we can look at the wire frame and see that there is clearly a dude chilling there.  However in SC2 it’s considerably more ambiguous.

Is the dude still there?  Did Terran technology improve to allow auto-targeting rather than manual targeting?

I mean it’s pretty well established that being a Terran in pretty much any capacity would suck, with the exception of maybe the battlecruiser captain. Think about it, you’re just a regular Joe and you’re constantly fighting the super advanced Protoss and the freakin’ Zerg.

Is the dude still in there?

For what it’s worth, you can kinda see his knees I think.  It’s dark, but I think you can barely make out the outlines of a space suit. I imagine dude feels pretty nauseous from all of that spinning. Frankly, I’d rather be this guy:

A true baller.

How much would it suck to be a missile turret operator? Would it suck more or less than being, say, an SCV?  What do you guys think?

MLG Metalopolis
MLG Shakuras Plateau
MLG Shattered Temple
MLG Tal’darim Altar
MLG Testbug
MLG Typhon Peaks
MLG Xel’Naga Caverns

The maps include a smattering of small updates (You can read the full details here). Most notably, MLG Shakuras now reflects the Blizzard version (no more destructible rocks) and as a result is no longer restricted to cross spawns. The changes to MLG Testbug appear to address some prior complaints about the map, hopefully making it more viable for high level competative play. The removal of Crossfire and Scrap Station appears to indicate greater emphasis on macro games. All in all, a solid pool.

You can view reaction/discussion at Team Liquid here.

This weekend’s Steam sale is all about the sword, axe, bow, and shield cult classic Mount & Blade. For those not in the know, M&B is a sandbox army building sim/RPG in which you roam around the war-torn world of Calradia, building your reputation with nobles, ladies, and kings while developing your character and army. Your ultimate goal, aside from “whatever you want”, is to dominate every village, town, and castle in the five (six in the Wardband expansion) known kingdoms.

While very strong in concept, the title is low budget. There are tons of different ways things to do, but taken in a vacuum every individual aspect lacks a certain depth. Character interaction, for instance, is repetitive and lacks the rich immersion of traditional RPGs. Amy command, while fun, is generally broken down into simplistic formations followed by “CHARGE!” or “HOLD!”. Individual combat is straightforward and adequate, nothing more.  These shortcomings, however, are overcome by a dedicated and diligent fan base. M&B has one of the most robust mod communities I’ve ever seen, and the game lends itself fantastically to fan manipulation. People have created worlds resembling everything from dark-age Europe to Star Wars, yielding nigh endless replayability. Fans have also implemented numerous graphic and gameplay enhancements, like the essential battle sizer, which allows players with better hardware to increase the size of battles to truly epic proportions.

That said, the basic mechanics of vanilla are more than enough for many fans. The combined experience of the lesser parts provides the type of gratification only achievable by standing firm against a cavalry charge, hefting your two handed axe to take down the first rider. Castle siege and defense  scenarios are also incredibly fun; charging up the walls with your hardened Nord Huscarls at your back is supremely satisfying. The game is also incredibly unforgiving, creating a real sense of accomplishment when you slay your foes and expand your fiefdom.

Mount & Blade’s true carrot on the stick, however, is developing your army after every battle. Your soldiers gain experience, prompting them to upgrade periodically like units in a tech tree. This mechanic creates a type of addictive gameplay similar to the “just one more turn” syndrome of the Civilization series. Every victorious battle makes you and your army just a little stronger, bringing you closer to your long term goal. You also can recruit individual character companions, each with skills the benefit the entire party and distinct personalities that separate them from the rest of your largely generic AI horde. These characters level in a manner similar to your main avatar, with customizable skill points and equipment.

The Warbard expansion also introduced multiplayer to the game. This feature is great for those who enjoy the battle and combat mechanics on an individual level, but it lacks the true meat of the single player. You cannot develop an army, fiefdom, or kingdom, only a character. Still, it’s a great way to kill some time. Warband also enhanced vanilla with updated combat and many new kingdom building features, making it essential for any M&B fan.

With the latest installment in the burgeoning franchise, With Fire and Sword, coming out on May 3, Steam’s deal is more than timely. This single player overhaul focuses on 17th century Europe, adding firearms to vanilla for the first time. At an impressively fickle $20, these three games are worth more than their weight in denars.

It’s not often that a paper like the Times delves into gaming, so it came as a bit of a pleasant surprise when I discovered this article, published yesterday, from game enthusiast Seth Schiesel. He’d had to distinct pleasure of navigating through Blizzard’s well fortified California labyrinth to get an hour long play session of Diablo III. The article, in true Times fashion, is less about the game itself and more about the psychology of the player. Schiesel assures us, however, that the hour which he spent playing was perhaps the fastest hour of his life, certainly a promising sign.

His main focus is split between analysis of the appeal of the game and the intricacies of constructing a virtual economy. He discusses the gameplay using the metaphor of a slot machine. You perform a series of simple actions (clicking) for randomized, rarely unique rewards and loot. These repetitive actions induce pleasing visual and auditory stimulae in the form of colorful spells and sound effects, which mirror the lights and graphics pasted on slot machines. I think it’s a highly appropriate analogy save for one factor. It ignores the competitive element of character building.

A slot machine does not have a progression. You sit and attempt to reap the rewards of repeated level pulls, but you are not constructing a virtual representation of your effort. A Diablo character often involves a heavy dose of ego investment. You are thrown into a world of epic perils, and you want to create a superior method by which you can overcome and dominate such a world. The game is, in essence, a puzzle. Your skill trees, fed by leveling, and your equipment, fed by this random reward system, serve as the tools by which you solve it. Transforming a bland shell of a level 1 class into a cleverly built unstoppable wrecking machine that’s the envy of your friends and random players alike is perhaps the most delicious carrot that any game developer could hope to tie to the end of a stick.

Aside from that, the article’s take on the trade system is interesting. I definitely recommend giving it a read.

Now if only the folks at Blizzard had been good enough to leak a release date… Alas, we remain in the dark. I’d give it a solid six months after they start up the beta. Given that they haven’t even announced THAT yet, I think we’ll be waiting until at least 2012. Perhaps it will coincide with the supposed end of the Mayan calendar… It would be rather appropriate, no?

Balance

PROTOSS

Archons are now a massive unit.

Pylon power radius has been decreased from 7.5 to 6.5.

Cybernetics Core
- Research Warp Gate time increased from 140 to 180.

Gateway
- Sentry train time decreased from 42 to 37.
- Stalker train time decreased from 42 to 37.
- Zealot train time decreased from 38 to 33.
- Warp Gate unit train times remain unchanged.

TERRAN

Ghost
- Cost changed from 150/150 to 200/100.

Bunker
- Salvage resource return reduced from 100% to 75%.

ZERG

Spore Crawler
- Root time decreased from 12 to 6.

Bug Fixes

Fixed a bug where Ghosts could not quickly EMP the same location.

Fixed a bug where players were still able to stack flying units on top of each other.

Skill Development: Capitalizing on Air Superiority.

Air superiority gives the player many benefits:
1) The ability to harass, to do economic damage against the opponent
2) A large degree of map control
3) The threat of harassment
4) A time window of safety against attack

The mutalisk is one of the best air superiority units.

The threat of harassment refers to the anti-air measures that the opponent must take in order to feel safe.  This includes the building of static defenses, the positioning of his army, the micro management and attention devoted to the threat, and the units he builds in order to counter your air force.  In some cases, a player may over commit to anti-air units and structures, investing in too many corruptors, vikings, phoenixes, turrets, spores, etc. This can be used to your benefit through appropriate tech switches, exploiting the strategic box you’ve backed your opponent into. The all too famous late game Brood Lord into Ultra switch is a great example.

In turn, this threat of harassment provides you, the player, a small time window of relative safety in which you can expand your economy and macro ahead.  The opponent will likely be too preoccupied dealing with your harassment to mount any major counter-attacks.

What else can air superiority do for you?

In TvT, it can provide you with an artillery advantage. Deployed siege tanks have longer range than their own vision.  Controlling the air with vikings will allow superior spotting for your siege tanks, which will outrange your opponent’s if he does not scan or spot in some other way.

Air superiority can also  provide an opportunity to safely tech into heavier air, in the form of battlecruisers, carriers, and broodlords. These powerful units can induce panic in your opponent, who may have not taken the threat of air superiority seriously enough.  In turn, these heavier air units could provide the key to ensuring your victory.

A tech transition to carriers can help seal a victory.

All in all, air superiority is an important tool in any high level player’s arsenal.  Capitalize upon it if the circumstances allow, and your win rate will be rewarded.

Here There be SPOILERS

Game time!

Group C

HongUnPrime.WE vs ZeNEXKyrix (Terminus RE)

Spawning locations:
HongUn – 6 o’clock
Kyrix – 9 o’clock

Openers:
HongUn – Nexus first into forge
Kyrix – Speed first into expand

Recap: Kyrix scouts HongUn’s opener and takes a super fast third. Both players macro for several minutes, with little action aside from scouting. Kyrix builds up a large army of roaches and HongUn opts for stalkers, researching blink and +1 attack while taking a third. The two engage in the middle of the map. Kyrix has the numbers advantage and forces HongUn to retreat to his natural, where he uses his building placement and force fields to combat the larger roach army. Kyrix takes out a forge while it’s researching an essential +1 attack upgrade. He reinforces with lings and more roaches, but continues to be pinned among the buildings and force fields at the natural.

Kyrix pulls back and regroups, taking out the debris to gain access to HongUn’s third. He continues to attack, alternating between the third and natural with roaches and lings. HongUn slowly crumbles to the pressure, unable to get a critical mass of colossi. The third falls and Kyrix takes out HongUn’s Cybernetics Core. HongUn GGs as Kyrix takes a 4th.

The Lesson: 3 base Zerg Macro, when left unchecked, remains superior to Protoss FE

IMLosirA vs MVPGenius (Xel’Naga Fortress)

Spawning locations:
LosirA – 11 o’clock
Genius – 3 o’clock

Openers:
LosirA – Speed first into expand
Genius – Gateway/Core wall in with 2 gas

Recap: Genius goes 3 gate expand while LosirA scouts around the map with speedlings. LosirA builds ~7 spine crawlers at his natural, which Genius scouts with a hallucinated phoenix. LosirA hides an infestation pit in a random corner of the map while faking hydra tech. Genius somehow accidentally scouts it with another hallucination. LosirA macros up a ling/infestor force which he uses to poke and prod at the natural. Genius counters with a stalker/colossus army by pushing out into the middle of the map with cannons and taking a third. LosirA morphs a TON of banelings and tries to very fancily neural the colossi, fungal the stalkers, and hit them with the banelings. It sort of works but the neural runs out on the colossi and LosirA doesn’t have the energy to keep it going. Genius manages to push LosirA back with some remaining stalkers and his 5 relatively unharmed colossi. It’s now 3 base to 3 base.

Artosis keeps commenting that LosirA’s strat is amazing but I completely disagree. Genius marcos up more stalkers and easily takes out LosirA’s third. LosirA counters beautifully with a baneling drop that takes out a ton of probes at Genius’s natural. It’s not enough, though, as Genius pushes into LosirA’s natural with a ton of Colossi and stalkers. LosirA again neurals the colossi and uses his speedling/baneling army to take out a ton of stalkers. The neural runs out though and LosirA has nothing left except a few infestors with no energy. Genius starts pushing the natural with his colossi and a small reinforcing group of stalkers and LosirA GGs.

The Lesson: Infestors vs Protoss are overhyped, they don’t have infinite energy.

IMLosirA vs ZeNEXKyrix (Metalopolis)

Spawning locations:
LosirA – 9 o’clock
Kyrix – 3 o’clock

Openers:
LosirA – 16 hatch
Kyrix – 8 pool

Recap: You may think these openers speak for themselves, at least I did. Kyrix pulls his drones and rushes with his initial six lings, producing two more sets as followup. He arrives when LosirA’s pool is only 20% done. LosirA immediately cancels the hatch at his natural and proceeds to buy time with his vastly superior drone count. Kyrix is winning the fight, but appears indecisive as LosirA runs some of his remaining drones away, allowing the pool to finish. The canceled hatch provides him with a huge pool of minerals and he manages to build up a large quantity of zerglings which Kyrix simply cannot handle, despite attempts to surround the eggs. LosirA cleans up the rush and Kyrix GGs. Interesting game.

The Lesson: Slow lings can be distracted, just don’t panic.

HongUnPrime.WE vs MVPGenius (Terminus RE)

Spawning locations:
HongUn – 9 o’clock
Genius – 6 o’clock

Openers:
HongUn – 3 gate 2 gas
Genius – 4 gate

Recap: Tasteless and Artosis serenade us with cute stories about girlfriends and family members while the two Protosses prepare for the inevitable early confrontation. HongUn tries desperately to stop Genius’s 4 gate, but gets a sentry out just slightly too late. It’s simple math from there as Genius works his way into the base with his superior production, HongUn GGs before he can get another warp gate going. HongUn is eliminated from group play. Genius advances to the Ro16.

The Lesson: 4 gates are still better than 3.

IMLosirA vs ZeNEXKyrix (Crevasse)

Spawning locations:
LosirA – top right
Kyrix – top left

Openers:
LosirA – 15 hatch
Kyrix – 8 pool

Recap: Kyrix tries the exact same all-in. Artosis comments that he’d like to see him throw down a spine crawler in LosirA’s base and I agree. He elects to go for more lings instead. LosirA catches wind of the all-in a bit earlier, canceling his hatch and throwing down a pool. Kyrix targets the pool but LosirA attacks his units with the drones. Kyrix attacks the drones, allowing the pool to finish. LosirA immediately begins production of 6 lings. Kyrix wins the fight against the drones, which withdraw, allowing him to finish off the pool. He doesn’t have enough left, however, to handle the broodlings and zerglings as they spawn. He loses just about everything and, despite taking out the pool, is forced to GG.

The Lesson: If at first you don’t succeed, it’s not always a good idea to try again.

Final Records

MVPGenius – 2-0
IMLosirA – 2-1
ZeNEXKyrix – 1-2
HongUnPrime.WE – 0-2

Group D

oGsNaDa vs MarineKingPrime.WE (TalDarim Altar)

Spawning locations:
Nada – bottom left
MKP – top left

Openers:
Nada – 1 rax tech lab into reaper
MKP – Maka rax!

Recap: MKP uses his maka rax opener to pressure the hell out of Nada, who barely holds on by pulling SCVs and ninja-ing up more production buildings. Both players have gone for early CCs but MKP is the only one able to take advantage, gaining a huge early supply lead. The game finally normalizes when Nada gets his first tank out, forcing the early pressure to end. Nada tries to drop his way back into the game while turtling up with tanks and turrets, a plan that yields some small success. MKP, however, is taking a far away expansion in the upper right, a move that’s highly conducive to his more mobile army of marines, marauders, and medivacs.

MKP roams around the perimeter of Nada’s base for a while, looking for moments of weakness. Nada takes out the rocks for his third and MKP charges up into his nat. Nada’s defenses are strong, though, and he gets the better end of the engagement, forcing MKP to retreat. Supply counts have evened out considerably as Nada gets his third up and running. Both players take 4ths and max out.

Nada moves out and the two engage briefly in the middle. Nada’s army is superior, though, and forces MKP back. MKP has yet to take advantage of his more mobile force. MKP continues to directly engage Nada and continues to get beaten back by his tanks. He is, however, simultaneously expanding throughout the map while Nada has only taken a 4th. MKP finally does manage to flank Nada and takes out a sizable chunk of his army, but he gets pincered by Nada’s reinforcements. It looks like MKP is trying to play like a Zerg, trading armies and remaxing quicker with cheaper, better production while taking the map.

Nada, however, seems to understand this and immediately pushes towards the heart of MKP’s production. He takes out his initial natural and begins slowly sieging his way toward the main. MKP continues to take the right side of the map and starts rebuilding his production facilities. Nada throws down several CCs in the bottom right of the map.

MKP decides to base trade and abandons his main, loading up into medivacs. Both players have bases all over the map and Nada has a strong supply lead. He moves into MKP’s main and takes it out while MKP’s infantry hit him all over the place with drops and stim harassment. It’s not enough though as Nada has PFs and left a substantial defense force in his main. Nada maxes as MKP tries desperately to rebuild his infrastructure in the top right of the map. Nada pushes out and MKP simply doesn’t have enough to stop him. MKP GGs. Great game by Nada.

The Lesson: If you go for a mobile army, use your mobility.

oGsZenio vs SlayerS_Alicia (Xel’Naga Fortress)

Spawning locations:
Zenio – 11 o’clock
Alicia – 3 o’clock

Openers:
Zenio – Speed first into expand
Alicia – Gateway/Core wall into 3 gate expand

Recap: Zenio goes for a hidden third in the bottom left of the map while Alicia techs to stargate. Alicia uses a small air force of a VR and two phoenixes to scout around and poke Zenio’s base. He does not find the third and Zenio comfortably takes a macro lead. Alicia finally finds the third with a few phoenixes and immediately moves out to the middle of the map with a mixed gateway force. Zenio engages and gets his roaches picked apart by forcefields. He retreats and regroups.

Alicia starts a third near the middle of the map and sends his stalkers down to take out Zenio’s third. Zenio has, however, begun making a hatch at a location closer to his natural and elects to counterattack with a roach/hydra force. In a bizarre turn of events, Alicia pulls back from Zenio’s hidden base, leaving only three stalkers, Zenio pokes the front of Alicia’s nat with lings and realizes it’s too fortified. Both players pull back and timidly engage each other in the middle, but neither ends up losing a base. Alicia is now up to three bases and has colossus pumping while Zenio establishes his 4th after fending off the three stalkers. Wacky.

Alicia builds up a nasty stalker/colossus ball and the two players attack each other’s expansions. Alicia sends a small pack of zealots down to Zenio’s third, which take it out. Zenio, however, takes out Alicia’s third, forcing him to retreat before he finishes off Zenio’s 4th. Zenio maneuvers around the middle of the map, taking some damage from the colossus and buying some time to get out some corrupters. The two finally engage in an epic battle in the middle as Alicia uses a small pack of units to take out Zenio’s 4th. Zenio does take out all the colossus, but can’t finish off the stalkers and GGs.

The Lesson: Well placed force fields can make up for an early macro deficiency.

oGsNaDa vs oGsZenio (Xel’Naga Caverns)

Spawning locations:
Nada – bottom
Zenio – top

Openers:
Nada – proxy rax (at the base on the left of the map) into CC
Zenio – speed first into expand

Recap: Nada’s proxy is scouted by an overlord, who spots an SCV leaving the left area of the map. He produces a single marine and begins floating it back to his main. He uses the marine to kill the scouting overlord. Artosis and Tasteless comment that this may have been intention. If it was this shows just how well these two oGs teammates know each other. Nada techs to blue flame hellions as both players macro up. Nada pushes out with a pack of hellions and marines but Zenio is fortified up with a spine crawler and a small ling/bane/roach army, forcing a retreat. Nada switches to siege tech while Zenio takes a third on the right side of the map.

Zenio takes the gold as well, which Nada scouts with his hellions. Nada macros up an absolutely terrifying army of thors, tanks, hellions, and marines off two bases and begins pushing for the gold. Zenio expertly delays him by threatening counter attacks with his significantly smaller but more mobile force of speedlings and banelings. Nada appears indecisive but Zenio, for some reason decides to attack into his push and gets obliterated. He has, however, build up a decent clump of roaches near his gold. It’s not enough though as Nada pushes into the gold with his still very scary mech heavy army. Zenio elects to counterattack but Nada is well fortified at his natural.

Nada pulls back and takes out the gold rocks. He uses a small marine/tank force to take out Zenio’s 3rd, but Zenio is double expanding again and has teched to mutas, which he’s using to take out stragglers in Nada’s army. Nada moves a CC to his gold and attacks Zenio’s new gold base, taking it out. Zenio takes a substantial army and counterattacks through the back hallway to Nada’s natural, doing a top of damage but not taking out the CC, which is barely saved by SCV repair and Nada’s returning army.

Nada’s oh so late 3rd is paying dividends for Zenio, who has a substantial supply lead. Zenio continues to poke between the gold and the natural using the hallway, taking advantage of Nada’s lack of mobility while throwing down more hatches. Great play. Nada turtles up and the two engage mid map in a relatively even trade (which favors Zenio due to efficient reinforcing). Nada remacros and the two engage again, with Zenio coming out on top but unable to push through the PF at the gold. Nada remacros desperately.

Nada drops one hatch with several marines while attacking another with a small ground force. He manages to get one with the ground force but his drop is cleaned up. It’s now 4 base to 3 with both players controlling the gold and Zenio remaining nearly 40 supply ahead. Nada again attempts to push the gold, and Zenio uses the opportunity to counter, instantly taking out Nada’s gold with banelings and hitting the natural with speedlings through the back hallway. Nada does manage to take out Zenio’s gold.

Nada floats his main CC to his gold and continues to push, attacking Zenio’s base to the left of his natural. Zenio tries to counter the new gold but Nada has left a pack of marines and tanks to defend it. Zenio loses his expansion. Tense game. Zenio tries to distance mine the gold but Nada’s army moves in. Zenio doesn’t have enough to stop it despite some late infestor tech, and GGs to the slow push towards his natural. Zenio is eliminated from group play, Nada advances.

The Lesson: Counter attacks can get you right back into a game, but they can backfire just as easily.

SlayerS_Alicia vs MarineKingPrime.WE (Xel’Naga Caverns)

Spawning locations:
Alicia – bottom
MKP – top

Openers:
Alicia – Proxy stargate
MKP – 4 barracks into CC

Recap: Alicia’s proxy is scouted, prompting MKP to go heavy heavy marine production. Alicia produces a VR and tries, unsuccessfully, to poke around MKP’s base. He backs off and macros up a stalker/sentry force, which he uses to pressure MKP’s natural after taking an expansion of his own. MKP gets sliced and diced during numerous confrontations by amazing forcefield play. Though no single engagement is decisive, Alicia comes out more and more ahead with every small fight.

Alicia forces a huge fight at MKP’s natural, which he appears to dominate initially but turns into an even trade after his sentries run out of energy and stim finishes for MKP. MKP did have to pull some SCVs, however, giving Alicia a solid edge. For a few moments Alicia appears to consider a 7 warp gate all in, but he instead retreats to nurture his economic advantage.

Alicia takes a third and continues to macro and upgrade. MKP builds up a large marauder heavy force and pushes down toward the third. They two maneuver indecisively around each other and Alicia finally attacks with terrible positioning. MKP exploits it and gets the better end of the battle. He’s forced to retreat by reinforcing gateway units, however, and Alicia’s third does go up.

MKP floats his main CC to the gold while Alicia starts producing high templars. MKP begins pumping ghosts to counter this. Alicia scouts the gold and pushes out with a gateway/HT army. A tense battle ensues involving EMP, storms, archons, and a ton of marauders. MKP does manage to hold the first wave and Alicia pulls back. He’s not done yet, though, and pushes in again after producing a few more rounds of units. MKP tries valiantly to hold with his marauders but eventually buckles under the pressure. He GGs as Alicia moves on to his natural. MKP is eliminated from group play, Alicia advances.

The Lesson: Constant pressure is a viable Protoss strategy in PvT, forcefields aren’t just for defense in the early game.

Seeding matches

MKP expertly micros a gold base marine rush against Zenio on Metalopolis. His splitting against the defensive banelings proves again why he’s the king of the marines. He takes the game.

Alicia DT rushes Nada on Metal, who manages to hold on and turns it into a longer TvP. Alicia eventually beats him in the economy game, forcing him to GG when it’s 4 bases to 2.

Final Records

SlayerS_Alicia – 3-0
oGsNaDa – 2-1
MarineKingPrime.WE – 1-2
oGsZenio – 0-3

My name is iowa. What are my credentials? Well, I have none. I’m an unemployed college graduate parents’ basement dwelling nerd who is a mediocre player to boot.

Skill Development: Recognizing Critical Mass.

Most players have experienced the frustrating moment in which they throw their small force of x amount of Zerglings at the opponent’s much larger force, only to watch the poor mutts be torn up before even reaching melee distance. We’re going to try to curb that impulsive behavior from now on.

In SC2, some situations are winner-take-all. In such battles, one player will win and win big, while the other will lose badly and decisively. Not all battles will result in equal losses for both players, even if both armies are of equal supply and resource value. Recognizing such critical mass opportunities will help you immensely in moving up the ladder.

A simple example (let’s avoid fancy micro):

How many Zerglings will you need to overtake this force and break this small contain?

6 Marines + 2 Medivacs, let’s start with 10 Zerglings.

With 10 Zerglings, the Terran wins decisively, losing almost nothing. When the Zerg player chooses to engage this force with his army, (s)he is literally giving away these Zerglings and, therefore, giving away resources.

Let’s see how 15 Zeglings fare.

The Zerglings win big.

With 15 Zerglings, the Terran force is completely destroyed, leaving the Terran base open to counter attack because of Zerg’s ability to rapidly reproduce an army. In this situation, the critical mass of Zerglings is 15. After 15, your victory becomes considerably more decisive. Thus critical mass is a very important idea in the TvZ matchup.

The point is illustrated, albeit poorly, in this graph:

The graph shows the importance of Marginal Utility (as well as why you should never ask an economics major to draw a picture). The marginal utility of 1 Zergling is nothing because it does not even get to attack. The marginal utility of 5 Zerglings is a little more because they do some damage to the infantry, which is then quickly healed by the Medivacs. With 15 Zerglings, the critical mass is reached and the victory is suddenly decisive.

“Deathballs” in TvP (Gateway units + Colossus vs Terran infantry supported by Medivacs) are more likely to result in roughly equal losses for both parties, though through micro they can be made into critical mass wins. Mech pushes from a Terran are more likely to result in critical mass situations.

How can we better apply and flesh out this idea? What other situations highlight the importance of these two concepts? Post your thoughts.

Special thanks to Seguer and Dhalphir for the help with the screens.