Hello everyone, and welcome to the April edition of the SC2 Scene News. This time I'll be touching on a number of topics, including some follow-up's to last month's article. So if you've missed anything over the past month, now's the time to catch up!
So last month I reported on the sad departure of Jeffrey 'SjoW' Brusi from his home in Team Dignitas...
Well despair no longer, for on March 27th SjoW returned to his former team, and signed on for another wonderful year of SC2.
SjoW was quoted saying;
Quote:
"Im happy to announce that I'm playing for Team Dignitas again."
I'm sure many people are glad to see that SjoW is back on a team again, and wish him luck in all the coming year.
March 30th, 2012 - eSports Federation is Formed. (KR)
A number of prominant Korean teams have banded together to form the eSports Federation. Including; Startale, IM, Prime, MVP, oGs, NSHoseo, FXO, TSL and ZeNEX. The aim of this new organisation is to secure rights for the teams and players that have helped to build the scene so far, and to promote eSports outside of Korea.
This comes after SC:BroodWar organisation, KeSPA declared interest in joining the action, and having representative teams participate in other leagues.
KeSPA in the past have been known for a very Black or White perspective on the scene, issuing ultimatums to teams before they can participate in leagues.
Some people will argue that more oversight will prevent scandalous issues of player trading from occurring, and generally keep the scene a fair and fun place to be. However there is some concern over whether eSports Federation will just become another KeSPA.
April 5th, 2012 - Blizzard announces SC2 World Championship Series (USA)
April 5th, Blizzard Entertainment, the makers of this fine game have announced the first ever SC2 World Championship Series. Taking place later this year, as the culmination of over 30 events world wide, to identify a true Global champion.
Starting at the national level with open tournaments, meaning anyone and everyone can have a chance at proving they are the next global champion! After this will be a National Championship, where the top contenders will have a chance to play in the Continental Final events for a spot in the World Championship. Sounds easy huh?
The championship will be split into several regions. North America, South America, Asia, Europe, and Oceania.
Romanian Protoss player Silviu "NightEnD" Lazar from Team Fnatic has jumped ship and headed for Korea as part of his preparation for DreamHack Summer!
After opening their Korean Team House Fnatic have been wanting to send their players there for some time. Currently the house is occupied by the Fnatic League of Legends Team, whom NightEnD will be joining along with his fellow Fnatic team-mates.
NightEnD will be spending 2 months at the Korean house, training and living in that famous Korean style.
NightEnD said;
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I'm very happy that I know finaly I will be able to have the practice I need to be ready for DreamHack Summer, which will be my next event. I promise for my viewers and fans that I will stream almost daily for the time I will stay in Korea, which will be 2 months.
NightEnD is best known for his incredible performance in the Teamspeak TL Open, destroying MorroW and earning a name for himself at the same time. He went on to play in the 2011 Pokerstrategy.com TSL3, where he was beaten by BoxeR after some unfortunate map controversy.
April 16th, 2012 - BoxeR forfeits Code A match, old injuries to blame (KR)
On April 16th thisisgame.com announced that Lim "BoxeR" Yo Hwan would be taking a short break from professional gaming, and subsequently be forfeiting his code A match against ZeNEXLine.
It appears that BoxeR's old shoulder injury (note: not his wrist this time?) has been acting up, and he is unable to keep up on the medication. He will be undergoing rehabilitation for his shoulder and hopes to return to pro-gaming as soon as possible.
BoxeR was noted saying that his decision to focus on his health and recovery in no way means or eludes to his imminent retirement. He wanted to assure his fans that he would be back showing them awesome games in no time.
18yr Old Canadian Zerg Sasha "Scarlett" Hostyn, who recently won 2 Iron Lady Championship's, and qualified for IPL4 beating Terious, DdoRo, and DeMusliM, has been picked up by Team Eclypsia.
Scarlett has attracted an incredible following recently, with over 400,000 views of her fan page in a mere 10 days. Doubling that of BoxeR in far less time.
Scarlett comments;
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I talked to several teams after IPL. I chose Eclypsia because I really like the direction the team is heading in and felt very comfortable talking to the managers. Also they are giving me very good opportunities to help me pursue Starcraft 2 full-time, and even the chance to practice in Korea in the not too distant future.
April 19th, 2012 - MLG & DreamHack join forces! (USA)
MLG and DreamHack have announced a collaboration in an effort to promote further league coordination.
With so many tournaments being played all around the world, and only a limited number of players something like this was bound to happen eventually. The top player from DreamHack’s EIZO Open will qualify into MLG’s Spring Arena #2, taking place May 18-20 in New York City. The winner will receive all their flights, and accommodation with a chance to score a spot in the MLG Spring Championship.
This huge step forward is hopefully only the first of many partnerships between major TO's.
Team Meet Your Makers has announced a new partnership with Korean Team MVP. The sub-team MYM.MVP will have a roster like this;
Soon Ho 'DongRaeGu' Park
Jung 'Genius' Min Soo
Daniel 'XlorD' Spenst
Joong Hyuk 'Dream' Cho
Won Hyung 'Tails' Kim
amongst many others.
This comes after the coL.MVP partnership was ended citing conflicting sponsor products as the reason for the split. The team will make their first offline appearance under the new tag of MYM.MVP at the DreamHack Eizo Open on April 21st and 22nd, 2012.
April 21st, 2012 - Blizzard partners with MLG for Championship Series (USA)
MLG excitedly announces that the USA Nationals (as part of the Championship Series) will be held at the MLG Spring Championship in June. 64 participants will be invited through a combination of qualifiers and the ladder to compete in a best-of-3 games, double elimination tournament for $15k in prizes.
Additionally the USA Finals will be held during the Summer Championship in August. This major partnership helps to ensure that the World Championship Series announced earlier by Blizzard has the best support and can deliver the highest quality games for us, the spectators.
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