ICCup Ratings

05 Dec 2012 @ 10:41 CET

The ICCup Event Ranking

 

Foreign Brood War always had a number of really strong players we looked up to, players that provided us with a lot of good games, replays and VODs. Our ladder was built around the idea to train among the best, improve one's skill and to determine who had the material to shine.

However, neither the ICCup Ladder or the FISH ranking display the 'true' skill. In training you might not always find the best opponents, you might do silly strategies to blow off steam,  lose a lot of points, because you have a bad day — all sources of statistical bias. Some players even play differently, better or worse, in tense situations, high class tournaments or leagues.

This is the reason that we, the ICCup staff, decided to create an additional Event Ranking for exactly these occastions: A ranking that evaluates a player's record in events, stuff that happens outside the ladder and can otherwise only hardly be observed.

 

   

Rankings: 15th January 2013

 
 NamePlaceWinsLoses%Points
ArgentinaSziky#Zerg11303280.251491
SpaineOnzErG #Zerg22128571.381448
BulgariaTechnicS #Zerg31245170.861415
PolandtrutaCz #Zerg41246167.031378
Russian FederationTama #Protoss5552271.431351
GermanydOTY #Protoss6291369.051340
FinlandNapoleon#Random7552073,331309
GermanyBakuryu #Zerg81547866.381306
Canadadsaqwe #Protoss91065765.031304
ItalyAlfio#Protoss10572867.051279
 
 

Full Rankings — 12th December 2012

*Bonyth with less than 30 games

Scan, kolll, Pro7ect, Bibiane, Napoleon and dOTY removed for inactivity

 

Past Rankings

---+--- January — December 2012 ---+---
   

Rankings: 13th December 2012

 
 NamePlaceWinsLoses%Points
SpaineOnzErG#Zerg11546769.681432
BulgariaTechnicS #Zerg2904069.231376
ArgentinaSziky #Zerg31093277.311375
Russian FederationTama #Protoss4552271.431351
PolandtrutaCz #Zerg5814464.801302
USAMichael #Zerg6883869.841294
PolandBonyth#Protoss71045465,821297
Argentinaskzlime #Terran8462366.671249
CanadaDraW #Protoss9622868.891236
Russian FederationDewalt#Protoss91307463.731236
 
 

Full Rankings — 12th December 2012

*Bonyth with less than 30 games

Scan, kolll, Pro7ect, Bibiane, Napoleon and dOTY removed for inactivity

   

Rankings: December 2012

 
 NamePlaceWinsLoses%Points
Scan #Terran11052183,331516
ArgentinaSziky #Zerg21082978,831430
SpaineOnzErG #Zerg31326168,391424
BulgariaTechnicS #Zerg4713169,611395
GermanydOTY #Protoss5251169,441344
USAMichael #Zerg6783270,901318
BulgariaTerror#Terran71045465,821297
CanadaBibiane #Terran8291369,051282
Argentinaskzlime #Terran9401868,971262
FinlandNapoleon #Random10391769,641239
Russian FederationTama #Protoss11452168,181237
CanadaDraW #Protoss12622868,891236
Russian FederationDewalt #Protoss131247163,591217
Russian FederationPro7ect* #Terran14442960,271216
PolandtrutaCz #Zerg15643962,141214
ItalyAlfio #Protoss16482565,751212
#flags_dlg.kzgargoyle#Terran17532567,951206
GermanyBakuryu#Zerg181075167,721204
Russian FederationBiggus#Terran19191163,331196
Croatiadsaqwe #Protoss20724860,001195
 
 

Full Ranking for January — December 2012

*Player(s) in italic are inactive/retired, read explanation at the bottom

 

About the Event Ranking

 

The ICCup Event Ranking is based on the Elo number, just like the FISH Server uses for their ladder. This system works a bit different to what we use for our 1on1 and 2on2 ladders: Every player still wins and loses points, but the amount of won/lost points depends on the opponent's skill level. This way, a player with a high amount of points only gains few more if he was to defeat a player with only an average amount of points.

This system however needs a player to have more than 30 games, before he reaches that limit his 'true' skill isn't really safe — different weighting factors make sure they lose and win more points than usual in this phase. Our database now has more than 400 users with a total amount of 7500 games being recorded, but only less than 100 made it into our final sheet. Only a few more players with a game number close to 30 were added, mainly because they either finished in good positions in bigger tournaments or are very known names in the foreign scene.

We recorded the follwing events:

  • Defiler Tournaments
  • Altitude Nation Wars
  • Gambit Cup
  • ISL 3
  • SBWI Nation Wars
  • sas Tournaments

All these events had to be played after January 1st 2012. The ranking was last updated on the 5th of December 2012. For the future we plan to include the Division A of ICCup Clan League, more Defiler tournaments, but also any future events that are a) open to every nation (unlike e.g. Netwars Cups, Russian KOTH) and b) do not have restrictions to the player pool (e.g. DRTL, C KOTH).

 

Initial Problems

 

The variation at the start of our recording phase was quite high, which means that a few players were either overrated or underrated. The most important part of our data comes from defiler.ru, which is the reason why a lot of supposedly 'unknown' players can move up and down in the ranking relatively fast, depending on their finishes. The data collecting process showed that 'one time only' winners (e.g. Idegel) will drop very soon again. However, the top two players, Scan and Sziky, are most likely underrated, the gap between places 1 and 2 should be bigger. In almost all events both had to face each other and could only win relatively few points, due to their opponents not being correctly ranked. We estimate that they will, given that they continue to perform so strong, sooner or later regain a higher rating.

The biggest problem were the vast number of smurfs in the Defiler Tournaments or poorly covered events like Gambit Cup. Therefore an unknown amount players might have made it twice or more often into our data base. With the help of our admin commands we circumvented this as best as we could and hence kept the resulting bias at a minimum. Player's might now have more total games than can be tracked on the respective pages (defiler.ru, liquipedia), but we can assure you, they played this much under fake names. However, these names are not going to be released by the staff, we respect the player's decision to remain anonymous; only their most known account will be displayed in our Event Ranking.

Another problem was caused by a few high class players going back into inactivity, returning from inactivity or retiring completely. The only player to retire in the mid of the process was reps)Pro7ect — hence, his name is in italics. If a player doesn't play for more than two months or at least in one out of fifteen events (depending on how much was organized in that time frame) he will be dropped out of the official ranking, but his points will not be changed. We thought about implementing a punishment term for inactive players (e.g. -50 points / month without games) but let go of this idea. Mainly because there are not too many events going on.

 

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Who is Who

07 Nov 2012 @ 15:00 CET

 

Our ladder was created to enable any user to practise with the best players out there. Over time we had the honour to even welcome a few pro gamers — even Nal_rA stomped his victims during his famous Oldboy Show. However, ever since the StarCraft II Beta our scene dwindeled and the number of active users was getting smaller. But when a door closes, another one opens: we have new faces in the international scene. This article is still growing and we try to expand it over time — check the sub headers to find what interests you the most!

 

Individual players can be found in our 1on1 ladder. Users you find below usually finish in the better places in tournaments more often or are known to show strong play in clan wars.

 

Finland#Zerg/ #TerranNapoleon aka. Lossilohi

Spain#ZergeOnzErG

Russian Federation#TerranLargo

Germany#ZergBakuryu

Canada#ProtossDraW

Argentina#TerranSkzlime 

Poland#ZergtrutaCz

Russian Federation#RandomDefi (new)



Team players are often forgotten, even though they are an important part of our community. These users usually achieve blue and green ranks, sometimes even better, in our 2on2 ladder. Almost all of them face the problem to only have little opportunity to show that team play also takes skill, as only few tournaments are hosted. We tried to get a bit more information...

 

 Chile#ZergBabo

Argentina#ZergViciado

Finland#RandomPiraya


Community Figures is our newest addition to the who-is-who article. You'll find more and exclusive information about casters, organizers, editors and clan leaders in here. These people contribute a lot and help to keep our scene alive.

 

USAPucca aka. ICCup.Fitz

Germanychrisolo

Germany2pacalypse (new)

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Nation Wars

18 Jul 2011 @ 20:05 CET

General Idea

The idea behind Nation Wars is pretty simple: we create a league for teams that feature the best players of their country. The complete design is very similar to the one of  ordinary Clan War Ladder: each team chooses their own leader and plays against the other teams. The main difference is, that the teams do not follow a totally fixed schedule.

Unlike Clan League, in which each team plays exactly one war per play week, Nation Wars allows more active teams to play up to three wars per play week. The minimum of wars is set to one per week. Any country is free to choose if they want to mass wars or. This way a more active team with „lower“ skill (relatively speaking) may gather more points than a highly skilled but less active team. Hopefully an ideal mix between activity and skill makes sure that each country scores the points they deserve.

Currently the first season of iCCup Nation War is held; remember that we use it as test phase to make stronger rulings and lay better foundations for the future. The test season will end with the current ladder season; only seven weeks will be played.

In the next season (starting in September) the season will have twelve play weeks. In the first ten weeks teams can play their usual wars. After this the best four or eight ranked teams (depending on total number of teams) will be invited to a play-off, similar to Clan League play offs. Those play offs will take the last two weeks.

The Mode

Every war between two countries/teams will be played as an overall Best of Five. At first three 1on1s and one 2on2 are played. Those sets are called initial matches. If one team wins three out of those four initial matches the war is over already – as they won the Best of Five by defnition. If both teams are tied a fourth 1on1 will be played; this Ace Match decides who will win overall. Every single set (1on1s, 2on2, Ace Match) will be played as a Best of Three. One player can only play in one of the initial 1on1s or the 2on2. After that a player maybe chosen again to play the Ace Match.

The Ace Match should introduce a little more strategic depth to the draw making. The Ace player may decide which team gets a lot more important points. We may see a new era of „snipers“ that bring down the best players...

The Scoring

Remember: the initial four matches have to be played in any scenario. Only four wins in them will give you the price for an all-kill: seven points. A less active team may still rank higher with good results; in the same way a very active team can gain points, even when they lose most wars with a 2-3. Full Walk Overs (team doesn't show at all) will count as 4-0 win (+7 pts) for the complaining team.

Team Officers

Any team has to have at least one «officer»: their team leader. It is up to the leader and the players who they name as «trusted» members (same as in Clan League). All officers tell the iCCup administration how many matches they want to play in the upcoming week, and when the best time for the clan war is. Additionally, it is up to him/her to add and remove players for his country. How he/she chooses them is entirely up to him/her. But: any leader of a country has to be chosen by their respective community. If the iCCup Administration is informed that the leader of a country is extremly biased and doesn't really reflect its communities opinion meassures will be taken.

Schedules

Every week each country will have to participate in at least one war. The week starts on mondays and end on sundays. As mentioned before: the team officers post times they like to play, with the limit of wars they can play each week. After that the administrators will schedule the next week and inform every trusted member and leader about their next opponents.

There are countries that have enough players, but not an official team yet. That's not too bad, since registration for new countries remains open until week five. That means, if a country wants to enter the running season, they have to post their first suggestions about when and how often they play in the report thread until Wednesday of Week 4. Any team that registers has to have at least six players in their line up.

If you're interested in joining iCCup Nation Wars write a PM to iCCup.Paladin.



For suggestion, discussion, predictions and more check out the Nation Tournaments Forum. Feel free to use either our Questions thread or open threads on your own!

 

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Starcraft II Website

20 Sep 2009 @ 23:12 CET

StarCraft II continues the epic saga of the Protoss, Terran, and Zerg. These three distinct and powerful races will clash once again in the fast-paced real-time strategy sequel to the legendary original, StarCraft. Legions of veteran, upgraded, and brand-new unit types will do battle across the galaxy, as each faction struggles for survival.

 

Above mewould be the first epic paragraph that can be read on one of the most extraordinary websites known to the gaming community. With its lush graphics, great introductory video simulation, customized skin, images and much more, www.starcraft2.com is one of the most elaborate works to be found.

 

I am here to talk about the positives and negatives of the website that many have fallen in love with. The positives and the negatives all have different ranges (Meaning there can be more positives then negatives or vice versa.) but by looking at the site and searching through it carefully, I have come up with a good detailed information about the Pros and the Cons of the website.

 

Pros

 

Like I stated in the previous paragraph, the website looks amazing. The details of the website are profound and look appealing. The dark texture mixed with the Starcraft logos, characters, themes, and much more really bring us into the Starcraft World from a small computer screen.

 

The features of the site are definitely another plus! Each of the features gives a clear statement, demonstrations, images, and more to really give us a feel on what Starcraft 2 will really be like.

 

The Features

 

To start off will be the races. Each of them are categorized by their initial name: Terran, Protoss, and Zerg. Click any one of these brings you into their world. And when I mean brings you into their world, I truly mean it. Each of the units can be seen and clicked upon to get a storyline of the units and on how the units work, attack, their weaknesses, their strengths, ect. What really impressed me the most would have to be the animation and sound that was implemented into the animation. You actually hear the weapons, voice characterization, death animations, and almost anything that you can remember from the previous versions of Starcraft.

 

http://www.starcraft2.com/features/terran/

 

http://www.starcraft2.com/features/terran/marine.xml

 

http://www.starcraft2.com/features/terran/battlecruiser.xml (Video/Sound)

 

Another part of the site that was most impressive would be their library of artwork. There are many to choose from which is also a thumbs up.

 

When viewing their images, you can see the detail and work that truly goes into making the units, landscapes, buildings, regions, worlds, and so much more. Some are quite breathtaking and really make you observe them for minutes at a time. The detail in the artwork is just breathtaking. It really makes you ask yourself, whether or not, these images are real. But don't take my word for it. Just look for yourself.


http://www.starcraft2.com/artwork.xml

 

Now everyone loves and is anticipating the release of Starcraft 2 soon but we all know we will have to wait until it is ready. But why not get a good look at the game before it comes out? That is quite possible with the screen shots that Starcraft2.com has to offer for the average gamer.

 

The screen shots are great. I really have no complaints on them whatsoever. They even have them screen shotted before the beta had even begun which gives you the retrospect on how the game slowly, but surely, grew into one of the most epic games imaginable.

 

http://www.starcraft2.com/screenshots.xml

 

Cons

 

Now everyone knows that if something has more negative aspects towards anything, it should be completely avoided. Well, this isn't the case with Starcraft2.com but there are some negatives that I just could not avoid telling to the gamers on iCCup.com. It just wouldn't be right if I didn't tell anyone.

 

I just mentioned in the «Pros» section on how the races were greatly appreciated and one of the best features on the site. Well, I might've erased a little detail in that. The races are great. I mean, I cannot lie, I am really excited to play them all. But they are not completely up to date with the current installments.

 

The one thing that really did not impress me at all was the Zerg Section. It has not been updated in months since its installment. It has had the same three units, Mutalisk, Hyrdalisk, and Baneling,for months without any updates on the new units. The newer units that have been seen countless times in videos have not been added to list. I would love to see them added to see the true story and nature behind them.

 

Another small thing would be the Download Section. It has some nice features but not really anything impressive. A few custom wallpapers and mobile applications and that is about it. I really think there could be a lot more added. The other sections which revolve around art have a lot more added then the download section and most of the other section offer a lot more also. (Such as the artwork section) A few more additions of wallpapers, mobile applications, videos, programs and other necessities for the average gamer's need would be a nice addition.

 

Other small things would be links not opening correctly a few times, pages loading slower then other pages, and the introduction might take longer for some older PC's due to the graphics used.

 

Conclusion

 

So there you have it folks. My, small, grading of one of the most acclaimed gaming sites for one of the most popular strategy game of all time. For everything else that I have not listed that can be found onto the site, you will have to just go give it a look yourself.

 

I hope it will help you when you are looking through this amazing site. If you wish to voice your opinion on the site also, please do. I cannot catch everything and maybe you disagree with me on certain points.

 

Thanks for reading.

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Gas Debation

20 Sep 2009 @ 04:27 CET

Introduction

 

When you first glance at three workers harvesting Vespene gas from the relevant building it seems that there is absolutely no room for more. Therefore, some players took it for granted that this is the optimal amount required for gas collection. However, would using 4 workers increase productivity from one extractor? Even among the best StarCraft players there was uncertainty as to what the ideal worker saturation was on gas.

 

An experiment was required to find the optimal number of workers needed for the most efficient gas production and identify any dependence on the location or speed of the worker.

 

 

Method

 

A map was specifically designed that sets a timer for 60 seconds early in the game and ends the game after that set time. The basis for the experiment was the map Dire Straits, and it included a Hatchery and Extractor located in the usual places for this map and the usual 4 drones spawned at the same distance from the extractor.

 

Test 1: "3 workers on gas"

Once the game started, all 4 drones were selected by double-clicking and sent to the extractor. Immediately thereafter, one of the workers was removed to leave only 3 mining gas.

 

Test 2: "4 workers on gas"

Once the game started, all 4 drones were selected by a double-click and sent to the extractor.

 

These tests were then repeated several times in different map locations. A similar setup was used to test both Terran and Protoss as well. An alternative test using 5 workers was performed but quickly abandoned as it became clear that it yielded the same results as using 4 workers.

 

 

 

Results

 

Zerg

After repeated trials the outcome was esentially always similar. After 1 minute of collecting gas with 3 drones, 176 gas was accrued. 4 workers, however, yielded 200 gas.

 

One minute of gas harvesting.

3 Drones4 Drones
176 gas200 gas

 

Terran

The experiment was performed twice with the Terran, both at 7 o'clock and 5 o'clock, but the results were the same (as was the case with Zerg) so no other locations were analysed. For 1 minute of gas production from 3 workers 192 gas was harvested. The time of the experiment was increased from 1 to 2 minutes to further dissect the differences between 3 and 4 worker gas production. After 2 minutes 392 gas was provided by 3 workers while 4 workers brought 408 gas.

 

One minute of gas harvesting.

3 SCVs4 SCVs
192200

 

Protoss

Protoss was experimented with 4 times with 3 probes in the bottom left base, and the results were as follows: 168 and 176 gas in 1 minute. And from 4 probes at the bottom location: 192 gas. The experiment was repeated at the 5 o'clock location and surprisingly the 3 probes constantly accrued 160 gas after 1 minute, while 4 workers gave 192!

 

One minute of gas harvesting.

3 Probes4 Probes
160, 168 or 176200

 

Conclusion

 

In all cases, 4 workers collecting gas for 1 minute extracted more gas than 3. It appears that the probes idle in the assimilator a little longer than drones or SCVs as their less dependable results indicate, and in addition the orientation of the assimilator relative to the nexus may make a difference. The main thing that can be taken from this article is that four workers indeed collect gas faster than three!

 

Original translation (in Russian)

Russian FederationSaK

Editting

AustraliaiCCup.deL (ENG)

Russian FederationiCCup.Rp (RUS)

Translation (in English)

AustraliaiCCup.deL

UkraineiCCup.YelloAnt

AustraliaGoogle Translator

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StarCraft in 2008: A to Z

02 Jan 2009 @ 17:58 CET

Auto-mining 

 One of the most heated and discussed topic in 2008 was the automining feature that came with StarCraft 2. Hardcore original StarCraft fans playing the game competitively felt it would destroy the macro aspect of the game, while the remaining bunch saw it as something good; now you can focus on micromanagement a lot more.

Automining along with multiple building selection was what the StarCraft 2 haters held as their main reasons for wanting to stick with the original.

However, when speaking to progamers and foreign top star players who actually played the game before they crafted themselves an opinion, they felt that there is already so much happening on screen for StarCraft 2, so dealing with base mining like in StarCraft 1 would be too much.

GosuGamers asked StarCraft 2 Lead Producer Chris Sigaty about a possible 'classic mode' for the upcoming blockbuster, and got the answer that they had indeed thought about it but they came to the conclusion that they should not. «We do not want StarCraft 2 to totally replace the original, which adding a 'classic mode' would do,» said Chris Sigaty.

Automining or not, StarCraft 2 will surely be on autobuy for each and every Blizzard enthusiast.


Bubble burst

2008 was the first year we saw a Korean progaming league reach out to the international market. GOMTV Star Invitational marked the launch of the successful English shoutcast of well-known community profile Nick «Tasteless» Plott. GOMTV later on gave Nick a co-host in the form of Susan «lilsusie» Kim. With her fluency in Korean the language bubble could pop and give the non-Korean fans a glimpse in the eSports phenomenon.

Much thanks to dedicated YouTube uploaders the Korean proleagues could be seen by everyone, regardless if you knew how to set up DaumTV or TVAnts. The YouTube sensation also brought up new commentators, like Moletrap and Diggity from SC2GG. The common crowd could now watch all the matches from Korea with English commentary.

2008 was the year the language bubble burst. Never has it been so easy to follow the Korean progaming scene.


Comeback
All fans love a comeback. While we are still waiting for Lim Yo «Boxer» Hwan to make his real comeback after showcasing in AirForce ACE, we got to see two players who had their prime in 2005 do a comeback — one better than the other.

JulyZerg, who had not entered the winners stand for three years, zergling rushed his way back to the trophies and his fans' hearts in 2008's 2008 OnGameNet Starleague. Performing a 5-pool in game one against BeSt, the God of War said that a best of five series was not about skill, but your mind. A 3-0 victory in his first Starleague final for over three years made sure JulyZerg became the second player next to NaDa to obtain the Golden Mouse by winning three Starleague titles.

JulyZerg's switch from MBCGame Hero to STX SouL helped him to become a better player, as he feels he has no pressure whatsoever from the management.

«JulyZerg stood against that tide with a resilient face and clenched fist.» Check out » Jon «Sp1ralArch1tect» Benn's lengthy article on JulyZerg's comeback.

...Another comeback that did not go so well as the nostalgic fans hoped for, was when » iloveoov returned to the proleagues as a playing coach.

Becoming the first ever to do so, SK Telecom T1's iloveoov entered the ProLeague against Woongjin Stars's ZerO. The activity and shape was not there for the former dimonator, who saw both him and his team go down by the hands of the new Woongjin Stars.

The non-Korean scene also saw a set of temporary comebacks, much thanks to the TeamLiquid Starleague. Former heroes as Nazgul, Smuft and Eriador all came back to life to try and qualify for the playoffs. While they showed dedication on the ladder, none of them reached the playoffs. Only Legionnaire was what might be called a successful comeback, despite being unable to qualify through Round of 32 after losses against GOsia and MIStrZZZ.

And we might as well mention IefNaij's comeback in the TeamLiquid Starleague finals against Draco. Going 0-2 to 3-2 in such a stressed position over 5,000 dollars is quite a feat.

 

DreamHack

We could have put «DreamprO» here, nickname thought out by Mazor after seeing HayprO winning his second consecutive DreamHack title this summer. Slaying two MeetYourMakers But DreamHack is much more than that. Not only is it one of Sweden's biggest youth festivals, not just the world's largest computer festival; it stands as a classic StarCraft event for the «foreign» scene.

We could also have put D as in Dedication, as 2181 StarCraft fans were furious enough to sign a name collection when the DreamHack administration removed their beloved game. A reply from the festival general (it sounds better in Swedish) David Garpenst?hl in the comments at a website said that because of this name collection they would seriously consider StarCraft back as one of the games. And as the next edition of one of DreamHack's side events — DreamHack Skellefte? — kicks off, StarCraft is back where it belongs.

 

Emigration

Not since the time of Guillaume «Grrr...» Patry, Bertrand «ElkY» Grospeieller and Daniel «Rekrul» Schreiber has the StarCraft Korean scene been so packed with foreigners, making a living off the scene in one way or the other.

Nick «Tasteless» Plott and Susian «lilsusie» Kim are shoutcasters for GOMTV, while the two Americans top gamers Greg «IdrA» Fields and Tyler «NonY» Wasieleski are each in a professional gaming team. If four was not enough, we also have the SCForAll.com crew duo Artosis and PuertoRican currently residing in Korea giving us coverage focusing on our American heroes.

 

Floor scrubbing

A reoccurring joke in the foreign scene saw the light of day when Greg «IdrA» Fields gave out his eSTRO schedule, where he said he scrubbed the floors of the eSTRO house. Doing daily chores like that may seem natural to the regular people, but some characters in the foreign scene saw this as a way of throwing hate on IdrA and later on NonY. «All they're good for is scrubbing floors,» and add to that a couple of LOLs and smileys.

Scrubbing floors or not, they are the ones in Korea, chasing their professional gamer dream, showing loads of hours of dedication and improvement while the 'haters' think that scrubbing floors is some slave work that the American aspiring progamers are there for.

Nonetheless, the photoshopped picture of Tyler «NonY» Wasieleski holding a mop and a bucket was quite humorous.

 

GG yo

There comes a time when stars stop shining, and in 2008 we saw some of the most consistent stars if not quit then drastically reduce their number of appearances.

Krzysztof «Draco» Nalepka, former member of [pG], MeetYourMakers and Korean progaming team OGN Sparkyz, was despite his second place in TeamLiquid Starleague and his undefeated streak in WCG Poland «retired». While it's no new feat that top non-Korean players say they are retired, but still enter tournaments with scarce practice on the hunt for prize money, it felt like a real 'gg yo' moment when Draco failed to qualify for the playoffs after his tough group in WCG.

Despite losing to Stork and Legend, Draco showed great sense of play in his group stage matches. » Against Stork, Draco gave us a thrilling game, where reavers and dragoons played the main role. Losing hard in the end, nothing can take away » Draco's awesomeness in TeamLiquid Starleague, one game away from winning it over IefNaij in the finals.

Nick «Testie» Perentesis made a short comeback in 2008 for TeamLiquid StarLeague, which caught the attention of many. He qualified for the Round of 48, but dropped out only a couple of days prior to the event. Disrespectful, felt many, but entering a tournament unmotivated putting the hopes up for the mass might show of even more lack of respect. Instead, Testie was replaced and has not been seen in any StarCraft event since then.

GG yo we also say to Face To Face, the Hungarian team who has been on the scene for a handful of years. Also, it looks like MicroGamerZ is singing on the last verse. Let's hope not, so instead we'll grant them a GL HF.

 

Hackers

In April 2008, » a new way of finding hackers was revealed to the public.

A guy called Flag in cooperation with the five biggest StarCraft community sites found a way to spot a hacker in BWChart. Most known hacker programs remove the recording of selections on units which are not your own.

Numerous known faces in the StarCraft world was busted, such as Sensei, Push, Localhost, eXeCuToR, Killah, TT1, TroNiC, HayprO and Spades.

Since then, the witch hunt has decreased, since each and every event is more or less played with Anti-Hack Launcher. Some players have rebuilt their trust like HayprO who claimed to only have used the the program Oblivion with in-built hack for observing purposes.

 

 

iCCup

Until Blizzard builds something similar to the WarCraft 3 ladder and improves it a hundred times, there will be nothing that can match the Russian project that is iCCup.

With over 17,000 players this season alone, iCCup remains as the most successful StarCraft ladder and gateway this year.

 

 

Jian Fei, god of the Reaver

When Jian «IefNaij» Fei, shortened JF, won this year's most prestigious non-Korean event TeamLiquid Starleague, he did so with two reavers and a shuttle. Compared to Korea's IntoTheRainbow of their similar success with the reaver, IefNaij showcased a sublime micromanagement with his armor covered worm friends throughout the tournament.

IefNaij himself is modest, though. "If you compare my micro to the amateur Koreans, I am just a norm. Nothing special, really" he said moments after his Starleague win.

Another reaver micro that comes to mind is the one » BackHo showed in the semi finals of GomTV Avaratec-Intel Classic. Not too pretty dropping the reaver in a mine field which causes you to lose the map advantage.

 

Krotch dancing

Who says computer geeks can't be sexy? Not the fans of FireBatHero at least. Known for his exceptional ceremonies after winning a game on Korean television, it was predicted that should he win in the ShinHan Bank ProLeague 2008 final, he would do something very exceptional. And indeed he did.

Shirt, pants, shoes off, some krotch dancing and in to the ocean, throw a bowl of rice on your opponent's booth, hand out candy to the crowd. Some more krotch dancing.

Don't believe it? See for yourself.

 

Loser

«If you win that silver, it's like:
'Congratulations! You… almost won. Of all the losers, you came in first of that group. You're the number one… loser. No one lost… ahead of you.'»

— Jerry Seinfeld

Despite his win in the Incruit OnGameNet Starleague, Song Byung «Stork» Goo must be considered the number one… loser. Four silver medals in 2008, including the World Cyber Games Grand Finals, must really sting. The World Cyber Games especially, since he was the reigning champion from last year. However, with one gold medal, a ProLeague title with his team Samsung KHAN as well as a first place in the current KeSPA ranking, Stork probably can hold his tears when it's night time.

 

Masked

It is in moments like these that we are reminded of that progamers are also human beings. During a ProLeague game, MBCGame Hero's Bisu came out with a face mask because he had the chicken pox. His fans was intrigued by the mask, jokingly comparing him to Shredder from Turtles or a ninja.

Luckily Bisu wasn't feeling as bad as » Silent_Control did in a game against Dongrae, where he fainted right before the game.

Being on television you could also end up like » Jae Wook «Lucifer» Noh from MeetYourMakers. He wasn't sick or anything, the chair is simply imbalanced. Nerf please. Drum roll and cymbal.

 

Neverlands

Not since 2004 had the Netherlands sent a player to World Cyber Games. Along with the Scandinavian countries, the Dutch had for four years had to sit out of the festivities. But in 2008 the Dutch WCG organization granted StarCraft a spot. The Dutch legacy cemented in by Nazgul, Strafe, ret and Twisted was to be carried on by ret.

ret was paired against the likes of Bruce and Jaedong in his group which proved too tough a task for the Netherlander. At least we got to see him play on stage against Jaedong.

 

Oparyshev

Eugin «Strelok» Oparyshev has been MeetYourMakers' main gunner ever since he signed with the Devils in January. Over the year he has taken scalps as the ASUS Spring, numerous Hauppage Cups, but most of all he will be remembered for his bronze medal in the World Cyber Games.

He lost to Luxury in the semi final, but came back strong and was able to destroy LoveTT in dominating fashion, 2-0. Aside from a $3,000 USD check he entered the foreign WCG StarCraft hall of fame, grabbing the eighth StarCraft bronze medal in history.

Here, go watch » a very entertaining interview with one of the most characteristic players in the non-Korean StarCraft, right after his bronze medal.

 

Protoss

Six out of Korea's ten highest KeSPA ranked players uses the Protoss race. Same goes for the foreigners' ranking.

Protoss players swept eight of sixteen Top 2 positions in the Korean progaming leagues, and in the non-Korean scene the Protoss dominated as well in the shape of IefNaij, Draco, White-Ra and NonY.

2008 was absolutely the year of the Protoss. Looking at the second season of GOMTV Avaretec Intel Classic, we find five Protoss players left coming in to the quarter finals, compared to Terran's three and Zerg's zero.

 

Quadruple quitters

Four of the most influential profiles in the Korean scene called it quit. Somehow.

Nal_rA hung up his mouse after feeling not up to par due to his poor results. Being unable to perform the way he wanted to, the two-time StarLeague champion (one MSL and one OSL) switched gears and continued as a game commentator for the TV channel MBCGame.

Let us remember him as the innovative player he was, with » this hallucination/recall move.

We also saw Garimto quit — again. But for real this time. A failed comeback was what 2007 was for the two-time OnGameNet StarLeague champion Garimto. His only » TV appearance after his comeback was in the ProLeague against free, as he never managed to qualify for the ODT nor Survivor.

Here's another trip down memory lane; from 2002. » Garimto plays ElkY in OnGameNet StarLeague.

Daniel «SuperDaniel» Lee, eSTRO profile, announced in June that he was to step down as eSTRO head coach and instead focus on IEG owned SCForAll.com. Daniel Lee was the one who signed Grrrr, and later on formed Hexatron DreamTeam along with ElkY, Legionnaire and Rekrul. Daniel Lee is one of the main reasons why there's still white boys in the Korean scene.


The fourth on the list of a quitter is Lim Yo Hwan, more known to you as BoxeR. To the fans' joy, the veteran Terran player quit his finished military service in December, and is now set to start his comeback in SK Telecom T1.

«Kick off your boots
And let your hair down
Givin' me the feelin' that you might want to mess around»

— Hawg Wild

 

Rush kekeke

Nothing beats the feeling of a well performed rush. » dongfeng on TeamLiquid did quite a nice one, a 4 probe rush.

Download » the replay and enjoy the rush, kekeke?

 

 

 

StarCraft 2

Even though StarCraft 2 was announced in 2007, this year has been nothing but a loooong wait for the game to come out.

We've received » lengthy hands-on reports, artwork, screenshots, we found out that » it will be a trilogy and tons and tons of more. Did you miss it, by any chance? You couldn't have.

 

Telling a little white lie...

In the Ukrainian customs control, White-Ra told the personnel him, Strelok and HoT were professional ping pong players on their way to attend a tournament in China.

«The truth is sometimes harder to believe, especially when you try to convince someone you are a pro-gamer set to play in a tournament,» writes myMYM's Cassandra.



Ursadon

The bear-like creature normally walking the lands of Braxis has had a name change. The cute little bear is now known as Pandabear guy, after being featured in » Nick «Tasteless» Plott's commentaries. Nick got so sad when Pandabear guy died.

To listen to the commentaries in action where the Pandabear guy is around, hop over to » GOMTV.net.



Victory

There were a lot of victors in 2008. Stork, Luxury, IefNaij, Samsung KHAN, fOrGG and of course Bisu. Who could forget that » epic make-out session after taking down JangBi in the ClubDay MSL finals?

Pose for the camera, have them snap some photos. But god, get a room, Mr. Trophy and Mr. Bisu.

 

 

What's up with 1.16?

The criticism sure wasn't nice on Blizzard when 1.16 was released. Mattias «Lord_of_Chaos» Ylander » sums it up quite well in his blog entry.

 

 

 

 

Xxx

The victory of Samsung Khan in ShinHan Bank ProLeague will be remembered as one of the funniest. Because of the ceremonies. » Check out TT and JiHyun's victory over Zeus and Yellow… Rated X, of course.

 

 

 

 

Yellow's happy face

When the » first pictures of Yellow in his military suit came out, his face wasn't exactly in true HWAITING spirit.

 

 

 

 

 

Zerg where?

When the Round of 16 made its way in the GOMTV Avaretec Intel Classic Season 2, there was only one Zerg player: HoeJJa. 2008 was not a very good year, not counting JaeDong. Counting with JaeDong, Zerg had four Top 2 placements in the individual leagues. Without him only one; JulyZerg's win in Incruit OSL.

 

 

 

 

 

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