[nirvAnA]

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SC2SEA Awards 2012

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You can review Part 1 of the awards here.

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Player & Team Awards

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Best New Clan

Nominees:

• ETL
• pX
• iOS OS
• mGG
• FS

+ [And the winner is...] +

There were several good clans that popped up over the year. Phoenix e-Sports is a relatively new clan that regularly host their own tournaments. OS is a Singapore clan that even made their own custom jerseys.

ETL is driven mostly by soundwave, in the same way FS is driven mostly by its leader BenAd. Special mention has to go to Ben who does an amazing amount of work for his clan. They have run internal cups, clan wars and even organized and won their own Fusion Slugs Clan league which was a fantastic effort!


Team OS

However, the winner this year is should be obvious. I think its partially due to how many committed members they have involved, and how they all work well together. From Alpha to Asrathiel & GooSe to Nemesis, mGG has a lot of individuals dedicated to growing the scene and their clan. And this has resulted in massive growth in all deparments from clan numbers, activities and tournaments. They are by far the biggest sub-community on SC2SEA today and have the most popular channel on battle.net. Even Protoss Star Light ending up joining mGG giving them his stamp of approval.





They also just turned one!



Winner: mGG
Runner-Up: FS

Most Improved Clan

Nominees:

• ToR
• mGG
• TCP
• FS
• TA
• aLt
• FaDe

+ [And the winner is...] +

For most improved clan, we look at the overall improvement across all the divisions. All the nominees have a tight community that encourages growth in each other's games. TA and aLt had nice improvements with players like Kez, Fourby, BigBird, Ninja, NXZ, Stally, delete going from nobodies in 2011 to quality players in 2012. But improvements in these clans were mostly top heavy.

TCP, FS, FaDe and ToR we clans that seemed to improve all round. I felt the biggest improvement was from ToR. They came from barely winning the new clan award last year to having their own Pro team. Whats better was they were made up of homegrown stars Dano, Pez, Zoom and Pox and they have come a long way.

At one point it seemed that the whole of SC2SEA was ToR! Their activity has seemed to have dwindled recently though and it will nice to see them as active as they were before! Somebody please start giving Spartaz some help.

You Tube

You Tube

Winner: ToR

Best Pro Team

Nominees:

• Immunity
• Nv
• Frenetic Array
• xGking
• Mineski
• Flash

+ [And the winner is...] +

Fray have been doing a lot of awesome stuff from coaching winners of BSG cups to helping in charities. IMO this is mostly due to Chadmann's great networking abilities. He continues to lead his team well and secure sponsorships for them. I remember him being super protective of Pet when he was in Singapore, whenever I tried to talk to Pet, Chad was right there lol. And he even accompanied him to France so he could just focus on his games. He makes the best of what fray is provided with.

Mineski have quite a big budget but the PH community though is very disconnected from the SEA scene. So we don't feel that they are involved much even though they are. I hope this changes next year. They have sent their players several times to Singapore and EnDerr and JaBi seem to be treated like PH e-Sports royalty each time I see them.

Flash picked up some decent sponsors but the best thing about them were the players they groomed. They picked up three virtual unknowns, one of each race in BlitzHawk, netherdrake and Kyzersoze. Then instilled in them a proper training schedule and dedication. Their joining of Flash motivated them so much that they ended up becoming Singapore Starcraft 2 stars. I don't think there has been progress quite like that anywhere else in SEA. This is something big other teams can learn from.



xGking had a fantastic start to the year and would have won this year's award again if it was a mid-year awards. They won the most team competitions, placing a #2 in SEASL, SEACC and winning the Frog Cup. Not to mention strong performances in other regional leagues, finishing in the top 4 for the TCL S4, ASIT and XGTL. There were no team competitions in the second half of the year though.

Unfortunately, the purchasing power of the richer teams meant that they key stars of xGking - Light, MaFia and Jazbas had now left them and they have become a shadow of their past self. And with Benji's shifting attention to LoL I am not sure what will happen to xGking in the future. However, its still a relief to know that they are still in good hands, with Eddie, delete, Stally and the Korean beast King Kong.

If you ask aynone about "Pro Teams" in the SEA scene today, the first two that would come to most people's minds are Immunity and Nv. IMO a large part of the teams success depends on the financial power it wields - look at EG for example. Then after that it comes down to management. Immunity lacked a dedicated active manager in the scene. Dox from a players perspective has to be one of the best managers you could ask for. He handles all the logistics and spares no expense for his players either - the Nv boys stay at classy hotels whenever they travel.

So between Immunity and Nv, I felt Nv had the edge in terms of management and giving their players opportunities. The Nv boys were basically given an opportunity of a lifetime, though so far it only seems like mOOnGLaDe has been able to capitalize on it fully. Its hard to give any non-glade team the award based on his performances alone.

It is rumored that a large 5 figure amount was spent on Team Nv this year which came out of Dox's own pocket. Whether this will be sustainable remains to be seen but for now Nv continues to give the whole of SEA a reason to cheer whenever they perform at international events from IEMs to MLG.



Winner: Team Nv

Most underrated player

Nominees:

• ToRXzam
• ProAnnn
• IXLSaviour
• xGkingMyuu
• TABigBird
• Lobo
• aLtNXZ
• AuXMegaFonzi (Caz)

+ [And the winner is...] +

None of the top SEA Zergs used to give ProAnnn respect even after he knocked them out of tournaments (*cough* tgun/mafia). Whether they do now I have no idea but ProAnnn the master 2 baser has always performed well in Singapore tournaments, finally winning the IEM Singapore qualifiers.

Saviour is another guy who used to get a lot of flak and he probably deserved it too as he went on consistently about beating a fake Naniwa, omitting the fake part each time. I think people would rate him higher if he was more likable. BigBird had a massive performance at WCS, coming out of nowhere to qualify then taking out iaguz. Lobo is a clanless Singaporean who has quite decent results but has never been given any attention.

NXZ won SpringSmash 2012 Brisbane and reached GM on NA but surprisingly remains teamless till today. Caz and Xzam and two very good Australian protoss players who need to start playing in more tournaments or will forever be under the radar. The winner though goes to a player so low profile only the top players would know about and rate. Hes like a ghost. I don't think he has an sc2sea account either and you probably are wondering what race he plays.



Winner: Myuu

Most Likely to get banned in 2013

Nominees:

• Frustration
• cruxis
• Ruined
• Centrelink

+ [And the winner is...] +

Winner: You are all terrible.
Hall Of Fame for most bans on SC2SEA: AtlasMech

Whatever happened to?

Nominees:

• deL
• crAzerk
• yoonyj
• yang
• Satu
• JimDiddy

+ [And the winner is...] +

Jimdiddy came back from the wilderness to take ACL Brisbane Regional with a 6-0-0 score including taking out moonglade. He then returned into the wild and was never heard off again. Yoon had his last big run at MLG destroying American hero QXC, before joining the A team. I think he even deactivated his facebook account. Come on yoon come back!!



crAzerk went off to study in america, yang lost interest in the game and Satu... well I have no idea too!

The award tho has to go one of SC2SEA's biggest contributors, who among many other things did a fantastic job running T4 of the SEAL last season. He was in the middle of hosting the much anticipated sOO before disappearing into the bizarre triangle of love.

Winner: deL

Congrats on your engagement deL!

He also recently donated $50 to our SEAL tournament. And heres a short interview.

+ [Interview] +

Q1: You were previously one of the most active community members in the scene. Then one day you suddenly disappeared. What happened!

A1. I had wanted a break for a while, and it just coincided with me getting back into the dating scene (well, getting into it at all). I met a lovely lady by the name of Cheyanne and 5 months later we are engaged, with a wedding hopefully as soon as November this year Spending time with my now-fiancee is a big part of what kept me away from the computer.

Aside from that, a big part of my motivation for being so active was to follow tournaments and local players, and provide events for them to prove themselves. I went from being a tournament host into more of a general fan and casual player as there was no real need for me to be hosting events any more because there were a bunch of people doing an excellent job already. It was natural that my activity decreased because of this.

I am also quite into fishkeeping as a hobby and have 6 fishtanks, which takes up alone time

Q2: Do you still play Starcraft?

A2. I haven't touched StarCraft for a long time, though I have watched a few games here and there since I've vanished. Mostly Korean ProLeague and of course following all the SEA guys in MLG and other big events. I will be getting back in to it for SEACL if there's a team that can take me, though I shudder to think how slow and useless I will be even compared to usual. I have been playing a few casual games but mostly console stuff. I still remember the basics though so hopefully the builds that were relevant when I left are still used.

Q3: What are your future plans, do you intend to come back to the scene?

A3. I doubt I will be as involved in the scene as I have been in the past, at least for the near future. HotS and other expansions may change this of course but after marriage and a job things that take up your spare time just increase. Kids are planned in the near future too Maybe the break will increase what I get out of the game or give me a new perspective that will encourage me to return! You guys seem to be doing fine though haha.

Breakthrough tournament performance

Nominees:

• fray`Petraeus @ ESCW
• FlashdraKe @ Alienware Arena
• TargA @ GESC
• FlashBlysk @ TGS
• fray`Ninja @ ACL Sydney / IEM Singapore
• EveYekke @ WCS

+ [And the winner is...] +

Blysk took his first championship by winning the TGS qualifies, coming back from the losers bracket to beat Revenant 4-0! Yekke who was regarded as an unknown at that point of WCS Singapore my most, surprised many by finishing #2. Ninja got finally recognized as a top tier player after finishing top 4 at ACL Sydney and then later finished as the only SEA player in the top 12 in Singapore.

TargA who had a string of decent performances but never a big win yet - took down the $2,500 first prize in GESC and his first major victory on Australian soil, defeating moonglade in a super tense final game. draKe had his year of hardwork finally awarded clinching a computer at Alienware arena.

The winner however, goes to somebody who risked flying over just to compete in a qualification tournament. Although he placed third, at that point had his fair share of doubters. It takes a strong mindset and a lot of self-belief to have traveled for that tournament. His results shocked many and from that moment on Petraeus was acknowledged as one of the best SEA players. His courage and his performances since then wins him the breakthrough performance award of the year.



Winner: Pet @ ESCW qualification

Most Improved Rookie

Nominees:

• ToRPox
• xGkingdelete
• xGkingPoker
• fray`fenner
• x5.Frustration
• fray`Petraeus
• FlashdraKe
• FlashKyzer
• FlashBlysk
• EveYekke

+ [And the winner is...] +

Poker made unprecedented improvement ever after switching to Zerg from being a Random player. delete had several strong performances in ACL and CH lans. Pox went from being unknown to finishing deep consistently in many events. Frustration came out of nowhere to win a spot in WCS Australia but its hard to think of him positively so I forgot him lol.

As mentioned earlier the Flash boys and Yekke have improved significantly over 2012. fenner went from being fenner to being good. (And making awesome videos!)

The winner again is someone who was once an SC2SEA organizer. He would regularly help manage the wTs and COs. And he also used to get into silly chatbox fights with Spartaz and Light. Then in a dramatically short period of time he became a New Zealand superstar. Taking the crown from resident king Jazbas and representing New Zealand in Japan for TGS. And that was only the start! Who would have thought?

Petraeus again wins the award for best rookie for a fantastic year!

Winner: Petraeus

Player of the year:

Nominees:

• iMLight
• Nv.mOOnGLaDe
• iMtgun
• PiG
• iMMafia
• Fray`Petraeus
• Ninja

+ [And the winner is...] +

The most obvious award every year. GLaDe still remains a league above the other players in SEA. In the SEA performance of the year, he took out MC and then Huk to win his open bracket. He then beat Major and Revival before finishing the MLG tournament as the 2nd highest foreigner behind Naniwa!



Will anything change in 2013? That remains to be seen. For now all hail our SEA king!



Winner: Nv.mOOnGLaDe

The End!

Until 2013's awards! Now let the drama and butthurt begin!

[RuineD]

do i get a medal / achievement? i think i am deserving of one.

also i'd like to make a blog asking why i'm not an underrated player

edit: realised im not there cus you all know im gosu

Quick Comments

	Cute:	Ruined2013
	Pox:	think of getting banned as an achievement
	fur:	None of those 'most improved' nominess even lift

[SIDX]

Grats Pet and GlaDe!

[ROCCAT_Savior]

HEY HEY, the guy was called naniwa so im well within my right to say i beat naniwa and omitt the fake part just cause.

[ToRSpookToR]

how did sR not get best new clan?

Quick Comments

	ROOTPetraeus:	wow so bm
	RuineD:	sR is now IXL and everyone hates IXL :(
	ROCCAT_Savior:	except the people in ixl, we love us
	Pox:	at least someone does
	x5_Namakaye:	T_T RIP sR
	sRDreaM:	Haha the obvious winner was mGG

[iM SundeR]

Myuu definitely the best choice for the underrated award by far. No offense intended.

Grats all the winners.

Quick Comments

	ROCCAT_Savior:	i think the runner ups deserve a round of applause aswell
	RuineD:	you mean, all the offence intended since this is supposed to incite drama
	mGGPrometheus:	ya i had nevr

[Pox]

All well deserved except the underrated-overrated mixup in the case of savioure.

Quick Comments

	RuineD:	+1
	ROCCAT_Savior:	New award: Most Butchered Spelling of "Savior"
	nirvAnA:	lol!!

[fray`Alpha]

Great awards very glad mGG won the best new clan

Have to say I am disappointing that nirvAnA didnt give him self an award for most aweosme BOSSS around >.< :P

Thanks for all the hard work over the last year nirvana, and thanks for the awards

Quick Comments

	FvRsolis:	Well deserved, Ali! Congrats!
	mGGNemesis:	:D

[FSBenAD]

Very well done to Nv.mOOnGLaDe, definitely our best representative on what SEA players can do and well done to Petraeus too!

There are so many good clans and teams in SEA at the moment and I think ToR, mGG and Nv are all deserving of their wins.

For myself personally, I am very humbled to have FS even nominated in the Most Improved Clan category and extremely happy and surprised with our runner up in Best New Clan. I really dont have the words to explain how much I appreciate it. Whilst the award is a very nice pat on the back for the hard work myself, Dele, Zomgrofl, Jhedjuka and our members have done, my aim is to work even harder this year. There is always improvement and I really believe in the SC2SEA community and what we can achieve together.

Thankyou to the SC2SEA team for taking the time to do the awards, I wouldn’t be surprised if many of them caused debate.

Here is to 2013!

[TtSYF.tRoy]

Wow had the shock of my life when i saw nominated especially since we were only around for like 1 month of 2012. Cheers Nirvana
Great work with the awards, Petraeus went alright got a few nominations this year. A fair few up and comers from singapore will be interesting to see how they go in 2013.

[iM MaFia]

great, now pets head is gonna get even bigger for winning 2 awards

Quick Comments

	ROOTPetraeus:	someone's mad they didn't get an award :s
	RuineD:	deja vu
	Pandan:	I hope not, I don't think his frame could support too big of a head!

[ToRSpookToR]

Originally Posted by iM mafia

great, now pets head is gonna get even bigger for winning 2 awards

oh god not this again

[SLCN.NXZ]

I think a huge result for Petraeus was the SEASL. Until then he was just a good New Zealand player that occasionally made some runs in tournaments but generally lost once getting to the pigs and mafias of the world. However in one of the qualifiers for SEASL he came out and made it to the finals beating syk who beat tgun earlier in the tournament. He lost to hyun in the finals but then went on to do quite well in the actual event. I think thats when he started to become recognized as a very good player. Then I'd say that beating jazbas and someone else to qualify for the TGS was when people started realizing he was a really top player. Obviously the EB expo following it up just confirmed his status. At least, in my eyes.

xG had a pretty poor end to the year with Myuu still not really playing too many tournaments, poker disappearing for exams and iM/Nv taking their really top class players. However with pokerface coming back, myuu being as good as ever and kingkong joining the team I think they probably deserve runner up for team of the year. To bounce back like they did after losing so many of their players is quite a feat. However can't really argue with Nv taking first.

I think Myuu is definitely the "best" and the most "underrated" of the underrated category. He far outclasses most of the other players but no one actually knows about him Lobo and proann are both underrated but I think that's mostly due to their tendency to all in over playing impressive macro games. Honestly I hadn't heard of xzam until very recently and apparently hes like the best player in Av.ToR and is GM on NA. Wow. How can someone fly that under the radar? I think I've only really performed in Brisbane LANs taking vroomvroomvroom and SpringSmash so i think its more me sucking than being underrated.

I think Jimdiddy would take a VERY close second to DeL in terms of disappearing skills. Like the guy would come out, beat glade do well for a few weeks then completely disappear for the next half a year. Alas del's hyped SoO tournament probably gives him the crown.

Pet actually isn't even one of the nominees for the most improved rookie but was chosen as the winner. Fix that up yo he needs to be in the nominees section too. But yeah pet is obviously the most improved player of 2012 by far.

Looking forward to next year!

[Frustration]

Clearly im not a rookie just a pro, i never improved at all over the year :/

Quick Comments

	Snx.FigJig:	BEST OF THE WEST
	ROCCAT_Savior:	2013
	nirvAnA:	you're right. added!

[eCKo`Tazerenix]

Jesus christ moonglade is handsome.

[Baldie]

Entertaining read and many well deserving winners.

Great write up! Definitely enjoyed the most likely to be banned "You're all terrible people" winner haha!

GLHF everybody in 2013 it's a big year for SC2 in general and the SEA scene as a whole.

Quick Comments

fray`Alpha:

That award made me laugh pretty hard :D

[Seffy]

Moonglade the FFA God!

[|Erasmus|]

is atlasmech really higher than zanooku? :O

[syfSoundwave]

Can't say I disagree with any of the winners! Good work everyone!

[nGenLight]

Thank you for putting me a nominee, even though I didn't deserve to be there I am very thankful you took my bruised ego from last year's award into consideration. . I feel like Rossi should be on this list too though because he has been the most consistent Terran this year and had a really strong first half of the year. If Pet is up there for really great results towards the final quarter, Rossi should definitely be up there too. Also people like Rossi who have full-time obligations and doesn't play Zerg(not saying I don't respect yas) has a tremendous amount of sympathy and respect from me.

I love the underrated players part, many of these players seriously don't get credit for being well rounded players. I thought NXZ was just some forum person until he took me out of a WT weekly. Oh and Myuu, that guy is like Leenock, looks like a kid you can muck around with, then smashes you in like every second City Hunter Tournament. I believe Xzam is from NZ, never ever seen him been in a tourney but his Korean ladder score was nearly as good as some of SEA's best at one point last season. Same with Caz, great player, but lives under a rock or something. Come to tournies and represent Protoss in SEA yo!

Lot's of well deserved love to Pet, shows that hard work really pays off, especially when your young. However it is gonna take some more hard work, time and BM to knock us oldies into Filthy land.

Much love for mGG being recognised. They have seriously provided such a pleasant environment for me that it's making me spend all my SC time on SEA having a good time rather then fighting the ego battles on KR. You guys are responsible for my decline! Jokes.

AvTor - Scary scary team, guys like Pox and Dano, guys that you used to didn't take seriously are now smashing us left and right. I'm seriously hoping you guys step it up big time because your roster is filled with Terrans (time to switch Pox)and Protosses that will keep those future Zergs in check. Kudos to Spartaz for doing a great job with this clan/team.

Really happy about so many big teams coming into play in 2012 when it was seriously just silly watching YYJ, MG and Tgun catching all the free Flights back in the day. Grats to Dox, such a legend.

I don't think it is important who is player of the year, what is important is who is the runner up for that award.

Rayrayrayryaryay

Quick Comments

	ROOTPetraeus:	<3
	SLCN.NXZ:	<3
	Pandan:	I doubt anyone is game enough to choose between PiG and MaFia for runner up LOL
	nirvAnA:	yea we aren't going to go through that again ahahaha
	mGGNemesis:	<3