SC2SEA.com - Starcraft 2 SEA eSports Community Site

January went by in a breeze. 2013 has kicked off quite pleasantly. I've kept to my resolutions, had a calendar going tracking all the events and ended up entering 8 tournaments & 1 clanwar over the month. That's more events in 1 month than the whole Q4 of 2012 for me.


1st month complete
Results wise, I'm happy with my current progress. I feel I'm a bit ahead of where I thought I was. Throughout the tournaments I've been taking games off players that I felt were way out of my league. Tournament results were also better than I expected, hitting RO16 in multiple events when I actually feel my skill level is more towards the RO64-RO32 area.

I've gained a lot of confidence over the month. Learned quite a bit about my good/bad habits, and just starting to scrape the surface on mastering the art of BO3s. I've played a lot less games then I expected myself to, but I can safely say I haven't been slacking. A couple of eSports projects took time away from training, but if it's something eSports that's taking away game-time I tend to feel less guilty.

Will be riding this wave into the new month, with a lot more training time. Heading back to the home town at the end of the month where I'll have access to imba internet. Planning to stream and use that time to explore content creation as I'll have no downtime fiddling around uploads/downloads, but more details on that as the date gets closer.


Heart of the Swarm
I don't know which I'm more excited about. The amazing new HotS trailer, or the fact that the new trailer has seemed to re-ignite the fires of many many SC2 enthusiasts that lost their flame over the years.

February marks the month that I start the switch over to HotS. I've already started the switch, playing a few games yesterday. I've been using pure WoL strategies to see how they fare against all the new HotS stuff. So far WoL strategies still work like a charm, but perhaps it's because I'm still climbing the ladder. I'm pretty stubborn when it comes to strategies, so my game plan for now is to use all WoL strategies, and if they don't work I'll tweak accordingly rather than learning/experimenting something completely new.

With SEACL#3 (SEA Clan League #3) going on there's no way to make a complete switch to HotS, so the plan is to be purely on WoL when I'm playing that week, and switch around 50/50 when I have the week off.


Fall of the Giants
Way too many eSports teams, organizations shut down/downsized in January. Seems like many of them completely over-extended and are paying the price. IMO a lot of them executed a short term plan, where in eSports a long term plan is the key to survival. I've also heard and seen a lot of new teams/organizations forming. If I could offer my 2 cents, there would be 2 simple points.

Starting a new team/organization planning long term:
1. Dedication/commitment > Skill in recruitment.
Whether you're recruiting players, casters, or managers etc. you want to look for dedication. A truly dedicated person has high potential to match or even rise above those that are currently higher skilled then them given time. eSports is still young, there are still many in the development of their art. Believe in them, give them a chance. Forever bronze is a myth, I've been down that road.

What hurts new teams the most is inactivity, change of interest, shift in passion. Recruitment based on dedication lowers those risks as commitment keeps wheels turning no matter the pace. As long as the wheels are turning, you are moving forward.

2. Don't spend money.
Starting a team is about organization, scheduling, management, promotion. With today's internet age, everything you truly need can be found free. There are open-source versions of Photoshop. There is open office for our document needs. Websites are free, with hundreds of free templates for you to choose from. Logos can be found legally free. Social media is free. Streaming is free. Build your team money-free. Exhaust all your free options before considering spending.

There are 3 reasons to start spending money:
a) You have another successful business fully backing it up.
b) There is a clear ROI in the spending.
c) You enjoy gambling, roll the dice.

It's painful to see new teams dump money to start a new team, then evaporate into thin air a couple of months later.


It's deep into the night! Till next time~


yogurt loving burned spy,
Reere.


ps. present if you stuck through that wall of text