Dreamhack Valencia

The 1^st Dreamhack invitational is still one of my favorite tournaments conducted so far in the competitive Starcraft II scene. While the finals were a heartbreak, White-Ra was up 2-0 against MC but loses the next three games to 4 Gates and Proxy Zealots, the whole tourney delivered in entertainment and production. The 2^nd installment looks to be as of high-quality, with a list of invitees of all champions. Not only are though the top players in the scene right now, there are actually quite of few storylines between some of the participants. Such as:

Thorzain vs Huk- they just played each other in the Evil Geniuses Master’s Cup Series, with it going to a tense 3^rd game on Shakuras Plateau. The map was split, and Thorzain showed such great army control that teared apart Huk’s late game plan. Can Huk get his revenge in Spain?

Rain vs Naniwa- Rain nuked Naniwa at the 9 minute mark during MLG Raleigh, I pretty sure Naniwa will not let that happy again.

Huk vs Idra (Worse enemies now best friends)

Hero vs Thorzain (Slayers trained Thorzain versus the protoss hope)

And what I am looking forward to the most, and my personal prediction for the finals is DRG vs Hero. Hero eliminated the beastly zerg from Code A qualifiers couple months ago, but DRG got his revenge in the GSTL when he 3 killed OGS (Who are struggling in that league despite their numerous Code-S level players). Their next encounter was at MLG Raleigh, where they played in the Losers Championship Bracket in an extended series, and DRG had a 2-0 lead from pool play. Hero fought valiantly back, but the Zerg from MVP edged him out in a game 7, and advanced in the tournament far enough to secure 3^rd place and a Code S spot. Hero, who is known as Mini-Bisu because his PvZ is deadly just like the legendary protoss from Brood War, is looking for redemption for his debut in Raleigh. Liquid’s newest recruit is amazing, but I think DRG will take the whole shebang, ending out Hero in a close 3-2 series in the finals.

The tournament starts later today!

GSL July Lessons

Farewell to Code-S July: Lessons Learned

By: Fionn

from TeamLiquid.net

Another GSL is over and what a surprise, it ended in a 4-0 stomping. Luckily for us, the games were good, but it marks the third straight final where one player couldn't win a single game. Now, with the tournament behind us, it's time to look back on the things that we've learned from this GSL:

1. First and foremost, Nestea is the best player in the world.
2. Code-S is becoming a really even competition. All of the "upsets" this season weren't so much about the underdogs getting lucky; it's just that the gap between the underdogs and favorites has closed significantly. Except Nestea, he's still 500x better than everyone.
3. If you pick Clide into your group expecting to beat him, you'll end up getting knocked down to Code A while he makes it out of the group stages.
   
4. Immediately after getting out of the group and looking great doing it, Clide will then fall apart and never make the quarterfinals.
   
5. Wolf and qxc are the best Code A tandem GOM has put together so far. Many houses have been burned in their wake.
   
6. MarineKing can not only get 2nd place in countless GSL's, but he also can go 0-2 in the Round of 32 as well.
   
7. Putting makeup on kids who play video games for a living wasn't the greatest idea in the world.
   
8. It doesn't matter if he never wins a GSL title, Nada will always be a champion to me.
   
9. Real ESPORTS fans care.
   
10. sC's decision to pick MVP first in his group can be summed up in one word: oops
    
11. Optimus is beatable in TvP, just don't fall for his tricks.
    
12. It doesn't matter if Huk is Korean, American or Canadian. All I know is that he's a really good Starcraft 2 player.
    
13. Foreign pro-gamers clearly don't watch enough GSL, as their horrifying deaths to unexpected blue-flame hellions at MLG shows.
    
14. Foreign fans clearly don't watch enough GSL, as their surprise at the horrifying deaths of foreign pro-gamers at the hands of blue-flame hellions at MLG shows.
    
15. Despite all the gloom and doom at MLG, Sheth, Jinro, and Huk showed that success is not TOO far away.
    
16. Zenio can't actually win a match when he's half asleep.
    
17. If you bribe your player with a puppy as a reward, he will more than likely make the semifinals of a GSL.
    
18. It doesn't matter how long a PvP series is. In the end, 90% of the games will come down to 4gate.
    
19. Leenock is still the unluckiest player in the entire universe.
    
20. Puzzle has a bright future ahead of himself and will be a force to be reckoned with in the upcoming Code S season.
    
21. HongUn has a guardian angel following him around.
    
22. Any time Artosis starts saying you're the best at something, and your name isn't Nestea, you will more than likely get eliminated right after.
    
23. It doesn't matter how much you hype up a GSL final because it will always end up 0-4 or being a terrible series. It is known.
    
24. While sC looks foolish for picking MVP with his first choice and getting knocked back to Code A, Losira looks like a genius for picking MarineKing, beating him, and ending up in the finals.
    
25. Did I mention that Nestea is the best player in the world?

Huk

I should be sleeping but instead I'm half doing work and half watching the Homestory Cup 3.
I just saw Naniwa defeat Huk 3-2. This is LiquidHuk after his loss while watching the replay of the match. In a final match of a PvP he went Dark Templars which failed miserably as Naniwa did a Robotics Bay build and left his observer at his ramp with his units. Don't have much sympathy for Huk as he crushed miserably my favorite player July in the Summer Dreamhack 2011 earlier this month. Although I can always admire and recognize the skill of even players I don't like or care about, part of the enjoyment of esports is the pettiness automatically hating all who are against those you want to win.

I wish I could watch the next rounds as Huk goes up against oGsMC, but I'm getting sleepy and I'm supposed to wake up early tomorrow and work out.