[Navi]

I'm proud to officially announce Team Iris - The all New Zealand Starcraft2 team. Iris and its members have already participated in SEA/NZ events such as the SEA Clan league, The NZ Cup and other LAN events here in NZ.

We are most fortunate to receive backing by one of NZ's most prominent ISP's TelstraClear, and hope that we can continue to grow relationships with current and potential sponsors as we aim to make our move in the 2012 Starcraft2 scene.

Despite a small tight lineup, we hope that you will keep can eye out on what Iris can bring in 2012 and thank those who continue to watch and support us.

Please enjoy an introduction to the team for those who may not know our members already:

___________________________________________

Name: Matthew Tapurau
Handle: Navi
Location: Wellington, NZ
Race: Zerg

Being a major figurehead in Starcraft2 related e-sports in NZ, I've been involved with shoutcasting, as well as administration and organisation of SEA/NZ events, as well as offered consultation with other organisers on how to run their events here in NZ. One of my current major commitments in life is the managing and facilitation of Iris. From players, media and sponsors, I'm constantly working to help create a serious pro gaming team here in NZ. I'm very excited to see where Iris will go this year and if its going to be anything like what we've been through already (SEACL, 1st Team House in NZ) then its gonna be one hell of a ride!

Interesting fact - Navi's in house team name = 'Charity Zerg' due to the amount of stuff he does for free (e.g. Organisational work, aiding Iris players, giving free ladder points/drones/queens)

___________________________________________

Name: Hamish Parker
Handle: Kowi
Location: Wellington, NZ
Race: Protoss

One of the players that needs no introduction, Hamish is an extremely talented Protoss player in Starcraft2. Previously a Wc3 pro in Srs, he's been around the e-sports scene for a long time and participated in major events. Currently studying film at Victoria University, Hamish currently resides in the team house and after reaching #1 NA GM previously, it will be interesting to see how far Hamish can go from being inactive due to unfortunate circumstances. He is also personally sponsored by Tt!

Interesting fact - Kowi is a DJ with his gear set up at the team house. His music tastes revolve around Drum and Bass.

___________________________________________

Name: Ben Macdonald
Handle: Crimson
Location: Wellington, NZ
Race: Zerg

Previously residing in Palmerston North, Ben is another member to make the commitment to the Iris venture. A mechanically strong Zerg player, Ben currently spends a huge amount of time laddering up as well as participating in as many NZ Sc2 events as possible. Also studying at Victoria University (Accounting & Tax), it will be interesting how the team environment will help Ben progress down the pro scene of Starcraft2.

Interesting fact - Ben's in house team name = 'Poverty Zerg' because he's always broke....That doesn't stop him from giving away free coaching lessons though!

___________________________________________

Name: Jamie Palmer
Handle: Another
Location: Wellington, NZ
Race: Protoss

Also previously residing in Palmerston North, Jamie and Ben went to the same high school and also made the trip to Wellington to attend Victoria University. There is not another Iris member (Except Ben...Must be the water at Palmerston North Boys High School) that can compete with how active Jamie is on the ladder. This perseverance has already been rewarded through high placings/wins at Local LAN and online events. With 2012 as a break off to focus on Starcraft2, there is no possible prediction on how far Jamie is going to go in the 2012 season.

Interesting fact - Jamie recently won season 2 of the NZ cup...But that wasn't enough for him so he decided to win an Auckland Sc2 tournament 2 days later o.o!

___________________________________________

Name: Jamie Wilson
Handle: Flaunt
Location: Christchurch, NZ
Race: Zerg

Jamie also probably needs no introduction in the SEA community, largely due to the amount of trolling he has done in the e-sports scene stemming back to the Wc3 days. Jamie currently resides outside of the team house but that doesn't stop him from playing with the Iris guys and on the ladder at an extremely high level. We hope that with our support, Jamie will proceed to manner up in the community and contribute towards the development of other Iris members with his extensive knowledge and solid play style.

Interesting fact - Jamie is actually known as 'Ricky' to Iris as punishment for losing 3 seperate Bo5's to the one and only Jamie (Palmer).

___________________________________________

Name: Greg Hounsell
Handle: Fresco
Location: Auckland, NZ
Race: Protoss

Greg is a very popular Protoss player located in Auckland. Participating in Local LAN events, he has played at some of the highest level here in NZ with his unique strategies and strong execution. Currently carrying out post graduate study for Geography at the University of Auckland, he is a very busy man but never fails to support Starcraft events here in NZ.

Interesting fact - Greg is the oldest member of Iris at 24 yrs...This is proven by his avid love for the only T.v. show he watches: Home & Away

___________________________________________

Name: Hyun-Jong Kim
Handle: Horizon
Location: Wellington, NZ
Race: Terran

As one of the youngest members as well as the only Terran player, Hyun cops most of the inhouse BM in Iris. Whilst enrolled for Law at Victoria University, Hyun also resides in the team house and is currently working on his game to get back up to scratch after his holiday (and trolling me with a cheerful at the GSL) in Korea. It will be interesting to see how far Iris can take Hyun as Terran's are extinct here in NZ.

Interesting fact - Hyun's father is amazingly awesome, providing Hyun with a book of SC:BW strategies when he was a kid (Talk about training them yougn!) as well as bringing the team house sushi

___________________________________________

Name: Mackenzie Smith
Handle: Petraeus
Location: Auckland, NZ
Race: Zerg

Mack is one of the most recent additions to the Iris family. Whilst being in wT, Mack has started to develop some of the essential skills required in high level Starcraft2, resulting in reaching a high GM ranking at 15 yrs of age. Still attending High School, Mack will have a lot of time to further develop his skills under the leadership of older Iris players. As it stands, with 2 2nd placings in the previous weekend, there is no telling how far Mack is going to go in the 2012 season.

Interesting fact - Although appearing ridiculously shy in person, Mack and Jamie still need to do the eagerly awaited MC WIGGLE WIGGLE WIGGLE dance off! Hopefully this will happen next time they meet!

___________________________________________

Name: Alicia Amy Oliver
Handle: Rogue
Location: Auckland, NZ
Race: Zerg

I doubt there is anyone here on Sc2Sea that doesn't know Alicia - From her insane BM, her tantalizing blogs on people like Maynarde, Minimat, etc..., to the actual crazy amount of work she has done for this community. Iris is grateful she will be on board as their prime media specialist, doing things like news, articles, features & graphics for the team....We also aappreciate the pancakes she cooks us o.o!

Interesting fact - It is with a heavy heart that Alicia's MISCHIEVOUS cat, Oscar, not only managed to pee in my coat after sleeping on my bag recently...But more importantly, tore right through Haypro's face in a MLG poster in Alicia's room. The conflict remains unresolved...

___________________________________________

About our sponsor: TelstraClear is one of New Zealand's leading broadband providers and with a long history of supporting gamers in New Zealand; from the original Paradise Games to today's ON3 Network, TelstraClear has provided much support and services to its valued gaming customers. They have been the most significant cash sponsor of gaming events in New Zealand since 2007 and are taking an important step into providing new support to the Starcraft II community through events like BarCraft, various gaming tournaments and now as a sponsor of Team Iris.

We believe that they are one of the best performing ISP's in New Zealand, and their constant support of the gaming community makes this partnership and easy decision, we're grateful for their belief in Team Iris' potential.

Interesting fact: TelstraClear has a direct internet line towards the SEA region, resulting in some of the best latency's to the SEA Starcraft2 server that can be obtained from New Zealand.

___________________________________________

We hope to bring some more high level Starcraft2 games to the SEA/Sc2 Scene

Please enjoy our games and support (or continue to support!) us as we try make our move in 2012.

(Maybe need to get our new logo updated and save this one for the trolling ?!)

Quick Comments

	nirvAnA:	niceeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!! now for the house pictures please!
	VoxMSI.Rogue:
	syfCrimson:	Wooo!
	VB_Blake:
	Apth:	Awwww yeah.
	SIDX:	Iris fighting!
	ROOTPetraeus:	woooooooooooo
	xGKingdelete:
	Stallion:	love this team
	Maynarde:	Awesome
	Baldie:
	x5.Revenant:	Love the colours
	Fenner:
	Sunset:	Rooooogue so sexyyyyy
	TCPLemminks:	Rainbow team GOGOGO!
	JaFF:
	FaDeHellfyre:	Awesome, keep repping the kiwi's!
	FLuX:	Poverty Zerg ;D

[Navi]

If your interested in following Iris, please 'Like' us on Facebook!

Our twitter will be operating shortly =]

Any questions will be answered/throughout this thread....

In the mean time...

@Nirvana - House pictures sometime next week as we have a photographer coming to visit us this weekend for all sorts of shots =]!

Quick Comments

	EveVendetta:	Love that video lol
	Stallion:	WIGGLE WIGGLE WIGGLE
	ROOTPetraeus:	YEA
	IcedTea:	LOL
	FLuX:	I drooled a little ;P
	ToRSpartaz:	<3

[BAD.BiGbiRd]

Xypher notorious hacker very, is he still active?? Haven't seen him too much lately

[VoxMSI.Rogue]

Yay excitement.
I love these dudes so much!

To clarify since I have been asked about 3998472834724 times already, I have NOT left TA. TA will be my clan forever and ever or until Rich kicks me out I left American female team femFx.

Quick Comments

	Fenner:
	Maynarde:

[iMSystem]

So sick to see this ^_^

[ThatGuyDoMo]

Wow cool! you guys have a house! that is awesome.

Best of luck.

[ToR.Arnor]

wow guys congrats! So freaken awesome to see NZ Esports coming to the party ^_^

PS. That is a freaken awesome sponsor guys BIG congrats ^_^

P.P.S why are NZ telcos so baller comparatively to Aussie ones? T_T

[ToRSpartaz]

Bout time yo :P gl hf the Crimson Lingalingaling and Haaamiiie fiiiighting hehehe good luck all you guys, I expect great things of you all

Quick Comments

ROOTPetraeus:

disappoint

[inFeZa]

woooooooooooooooooop

extra o's because of the 10char

[syfCabracan]

Horizon better play in the next NZCup. I'm getting pretty lonely and it would be nice to see a terran that stands a chance in there.

[Stallion]

Originally Posted by Cabracan

Horizon better play in the next NZCup. I'm getting pretty lonely and it would be nice to see a terran that stands a chance in there.

AprilOne will give you a fight for your money hes getting better and better and was impressive at the auckland lan

Quick Comments

ROOTPetraeus:

[Sent1nel]

Great news for New Zealand gaming and the SC2 scene. Kiwi's have always struggled to gain recognition for their efforts and with Telstra Clear moving from supporting events solely I can only see good things happening.

I must also point out that this is great news for Australia - many Kiwi's in the one location - everyone grab your shears.

Quick Comments

VoxMSI.Rogue:

i dare you to shave me, i ******* dare you ;)

[IrisHorizon]

Originally Posted by Cabracan

Horizon better play in the next NZCup. I'm getting pretty lonely and it would be nice to see a terran that stands a chance in there.

Only if banshee gets a buff

Quick Comments

	Another:	cos flying DT's arent OP enough right?
	syfCrimson:	Clearly reaper needs nerf
	Stallion:	lol get better bio control :P

[ROOTPetraeus]

WIGGLE WIGGLE WIGGLE WIGGLE WIGGLE, YEAH!
Iris is a great bunch of people and I look forward to going far with them

[Fenner]

Congratz to all involved, good shit right here

Quick Comments

VoxMSI.Rogue:

<3 big danmate!

[AxSGRiM]

awesome, they raped t3 hard

[Snx.FigJig]

Awesome! So how does TelstraClear sponsor the team? As in like funding, providing hardware, etc.

[Navi]

Originally Posted by nRvPickleWeasel

Awesome! So how does TelstraClear sponsor the team? As in like funding, providing hardware, etc.

TC currently provides awesome internet at the team house here, as well as funding on a case by case basis.....Expect to see some Iris team shirt's coming out at some stage

[syfCabracan]

Wonder what Another and Pet plan to do with their orcon vouchers.

[TAScarecrow]

i really can't believe that you recruited Flaunt. he's so slow and has no mechanics what so ever.

Quick Comments

|Erasmus|:

I see what you did there...