I've finally reached a point where I am going to have to decide what exactly I want to do in StarCraft. I am giving myself this new year to really nail things down in terms of which direction I want to go.
This year has been a bit of a quiet one for me. I am very slowly becoming more active here in SC2SEA I will admit but it takes me ages to warm up into a social 'gathering'. And now here I am. Starting to become a bit more vocal and building a rep.
I just hope that rep is a good one Streaming / Casting
I started streaming this year which is a fairly decent feat for me considering:
And that is my internet at is BEST. (It particularly drives me nuts because the NBN Co dug up half our town to deliver the NBN in all its glory to six houses. Yes six. Not even the people that they dug past to deliver the NBN to those houses have it available)
You guys really must not let me go on a tangent like that :P
So I have casted a few clan wars this year. Made a brief experiment with casting BSG games on my YouTube channel - an experiment made brief due to the fact that I ran out of replays to cast.
I would really like to do more casting this year. Whether it is live streaming clan wars / showmatches / tournaments or more YouTube videos.
Quite a few people have said that they enjoy my casting. Some have even complimented my voice "sexy" and "cool cat" being my favourites. Tournaments and Clan Wars
Much to my everlasting shame I have not taken part in many tournaments this year. It was not so much that I didn't want to... it was more along the lines of being afraid of embarassing myself or my clan.
I also feel somewhat guilty for AxS and now ETL. I am currently on a perfect record in clan wars. Shame they are all losses.
I attended my first ever LAN in Adelaide organised by the legends at Ecko Esports. For quite some time I was embarassed by my performance in that tournament. Granted I was not expecting to win or be a finalist but I expected at least ONE win. If I play my best StarCraft I am more than capable of defeating anyone mid-diamond and below. I'll put down my shoddy performance to tourney nerves, I just hope when the next one comes along that I don't embarass myself again.
A highlight of my year in tournaments was in GPD #101 where I defeated Reaper/ThreeSixNine to advance to the Ro8. It was an example of a game where I did everything more or less perfect. All the timings were hit/beaten and my attack when it came ended it right there.
Its a source of neverending frustration that I seem not to be able to repeat that performance.
So What's Coming for SC2SEA's Balimaar The Bass Fish in 2015?
Yep! I am going for diamond league this year. I hope it won't take me all year but with LotV coming around the corner it just might
In order to achieve this goal I will be taking the game a lot more seriously and increasing my #dedication factor.
LOL Balimaar is ETL's Derp. How is he going to do that??? Lel.
Guys at ETL would know I have started experimenting with a schedule. I'm working out the final kinks in it so that I can be sure of getting a decent amount of practice each day.
I will also be looking at coaching seriously as well and I'll finally be taking a back seat from my own coaching. I've had quite a BSG academy of sorts for a while, but with the last of my students finally getting into and most in or even I can finally rest. It is time for me to be a little selfish. Being in Gold league myself is very nice. Looking at the percentages and seeing that youre in the top 50% in the world at something is quite a nice feeling (for me anyway). But I KNOW I am capable of better.
So I will be looking for regular sessions with a Protoss coach.
I am also in the process of joining a group jakatak is putting together. It is pretty hardcore practice if what I have read so far is actually followed through with.
Okay that is playing the game. What about casting?
Good question!
Firstly I want to step up the level of play I am casting. The plan for this needs some more work but once that is done I can get things moving along.
You guys can help me by sending me replays of your best games to Balimaar@hotmail.com
After a sufficient amount of practice I will be pushing to become the regular caster of a regular tournament. Whether it is here on SC2SEA or elsewhere (ofc SEA will always be my first choice!)
But what about YOUR tournaments?
I'd love to host them myself more regularly but I need to save money :P Them $100 prize pools might not seem much to some but considering the bills I have to pay it takes some time to pile up that cash.
As it is I will be looking at hosting 2 in the next 6 months. The first one being the 3rd Bass Fish Open and the second being the Bass Fish Cup.
Thank you to SC2SEA, AxS and ETL for making 2014 a great year filled with new friendships and an Arch Nemesis (HE KNOWS WHO HE IS <_< )
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