[Dox]

For those of you who followed this thread, you might recognise the teaser above. Today I'm pleased to unveil the remaining details of this event. As you know, Gamespot has undertaken a recent initiative to spotlight eSports, with MLG being featured on their front page all weekend. Now, thanks to ASUS, Gamespot Australia are gonna be bringing some of that action to our door.

The ASUS Pro-Am will bring together gamers from both the competitive and social side of the community to create a unique Starcraft 2 tournament experience. To even out the competition and to ensure everyone gets a fair go in this competition, the tournament will be broken up into 3 separate segments:

GameSpot Invitational - Friday 22nd June (7:00 PM - Bracket)
Pro Player Invitational - Saturday 23rd June (12:00 PM - Bracket)
Finals - Sunday 24th June (12:00 PM - Bracket)

GAMESPOT INVITATIONAL
GameSpot will select 16 players from the GameSpot community to compete for a place against the pros. The top 4 players from the GameSpot Invitational go through to meet the pros in the finals event.

PRO PLAYER INVITATIONAL
16 Pro Players have been invited to compete against each other until the top 4 players emerge from the bracket. These 4 players will go through to meet the GameSpot players in the finals.

FINALS
The final 8 players who made it through from the GameSpot Invitational and the Pro Player Invitational will compete in the finals for the pride, glory and amazing prizes. The entire finals event will have full commentary by ACL's shoutcasting team and be LIVE streamed via Twitch TV.

RULES & MAPS
ACL Maps & Rules will be used for the entirety of this event. The format will be a mixture of Group Stages and Double Elimination (Best of Three) throughout.

PRIZES
1st: $1,500 + ASUS G75 gaming laptop (worth over $2,000)
2nd: $700
3rd: $400
BONUS: The final 4 GameSpot community players featured in the finals event on Sunday will all receive $100 each!

INVITED PLAYERS

+ [Fourby] +

Team Carnage’s Samuel "Fourby" Tham is a 20 year old Protoss player from Melbourne who loves Protoss vs Protoss. Yep, you read that correctly. Whilst most Protoss players appreciate the ability to dictate the flow of PvT, Sam says:

“Call me weird, but I like the fast pace of the matchup. Protoss units kill eachother so quickly and due to this fragile nature, we rarely see any serious diversity. When we do, it’s interesting though… if they don’t get crushed!”

Boasting an impressive 2nd place finish at the Australian Cyber League Melbourne 2012 Regionals in March, Sam is happy with the shape Wings of Liberty is currently in. He’s worried about Heart of the Swarm because it has the potential to really shake things up, especially some of the terrifying new Zerg features!

+ [PiG] +

Jared "PiG" Krensel is the face of Tt eSports in Australia. The 23 year old Sydney resident has made quite the name for himself over the last year, as one of the most analytical Zerg players in the scene. Unlike most Zerg players, Jared surprisingly enjoys ZvP above all matchups. Why?

“You really get to play as the SWARM in this matchup. Protoss have to go really far up their tech tree to have amazing defense (Collosus and/or Storm), which provides an interesting window of opportunity for the Zerg, allowing you to be incredibly aggressive with a combination of Zerglings, Roaches, Banelings and Mutalisks. It creates and interesting flow where the Protoss applies pressure to the Zerg during the early stages of the game, whilst the Zerg tries to live long enough to overwhelm the Protoss. It's a matchup where you have to push your Actions Per Minute (APM) and aggressive precision to the limit – and if you do it right, you usually win.”

Having competed alongside Xeria Gaming’s iaguz at the Intel Extreme Masters event in China and consistently placed in the top 3 for the World Cyber Games Australia & Australian Cyber League National events, Jared is looking forward to enhancing his skills with the new units and abilities that will come with Heart of the Swarm.

“Blizzard has a history of releasing fantastic expansions that further the balance of the game, so it should be a step forward in improving the dynamics of fall the matchups.”

Jared will be looking to take down Team Immunity’s Mafia, after being eliminated by him in numerous tournaments.
“I respect him, but I also hate how much smarter he is than me when it comes to SC2. He always knows which risks to take, and plays me like a fiddle!”

+ [yang] +

20 year old Mark “yang” Richardson is the latest addition to Team Immunity, after clearly being recognised as one of Australia’s finest Protoss players. Having dominated the Perth scene for the duration of his SC2 career, yang recently attended the Australian Cyber League 2012 National events on the Gold Coast & Sydney, where he took 5th place and finally defeated his rival mOOnGLaDe 2-1 in a best-of-three series.

“I seem to hit him in the first round of every tournament. It’s really frustrating because he’s so good!”

With the way Wings of Liberty has shaped up, Mark is really enjoying the way PvT plays out. He aims for the late-game where he can keep his opponent busy with multi-prong Zealot warp-in’s and using Warp Prisms & High Templar to rain down Psionic Storms on opponents’ workers. As for Heart of the Swarm however, he’s looking forward to seeing how much the Protoss vs Protoss matchup will evolve.

+ [EdgE] +

Adelaide’s revered champion - Cameron "cR.EdgE" Murrin is an 18 year old Zerg player from team Carnage. Cam appreciates the similarities between ZvT in StarCraft: Brood War, and the way it plays out in StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty.

“Although some of the recent patch changes are questionable, it’s still a well-rounded matchup, definitely my favourite.”

Unlike many, Cam is most excited for the single-player campaign when Heart of the Swarm arrives. Although most people aren’t huge fans of the Starcraft storyline, Cam can’t wait to see how the next chapter plays out.

“In all likelihood, the multiplayer changes will reinvigorate my competitive passion too!”

Although Cam is often inactive and lacking practice, he has earned the unmitigated respect of the Australian SC2 community for his ability to shine when it counts.

+ [delete] +

At only 17 years of age, Sequential Gaming’s Daniel “delete” Li has really demonstrated a breakthrough performance lately, taking down some of the heaviest opponents in the recent Australian Cyber League Sydney 2012 Nationals. He also recently won two of the wT Weekly events!

Like many Protoss players, his favourite matchup is Protoss vs Terran – as nothing is more satisfying than watching entire army of Marines & Marauders melting to Colossi & well-placed Psi Storms. *

Once Daniel is finished with the Heart of the Swarm single-player campaign, he’ll be keeping an eye on professional Protoss players from around the world to see exactly what clever and powerful strategies they can engineer before standing trial before the Blizzard balance tribunal!

+ [iaguz] +

Ethan "iaguz" Zugai is one of Australia’s most outspoken and charismatic Terran players, with a striking resemblance to James’ Raynors sidekick Engineer – Rory Swann!

Nicknamed the “Gimli Terran”, Xeria Gaming’s 22 year old star is no stranger to competitive play – having represented Australia alongside his fellow Sydney-sider PiG at the Intel Extreme Masters event in Guangzhou, China. He also took 3rd place at the NRG Hardcore Gamer 2011 tournament in Sydney, where he took a game from StarTale’s Ace.

For one of very few Terran players swimming in a sea of Zergs, Ethan has a love/hate relationship with the TvZ matchup.

“I enjoy playing TvZ, but the fact I routinely get beat by Zergs in tournaments makes me sad.”

He went on to highlight that TvP is going to become a lot of fun in Heart of the Swarm thanks to the Battle Hellion and Warhound introducing the viability of Mech-based strategies.

“Everyone is gonna be doing one-base strategies and doing crazy stuff with the new units. It’ll be like the Wings of Liberty beta - except this time everyone will be mechanically proficient.”

+ [SenSei] +

Andrew "SenSei" Carmichael is a 23 year old Protoss player from team Carnage. When asked what his favourite matchup is, Andrew replied with, “Protoss vs Terran – ‘cos it’s so easy!”

Just like Eve’s Techtron, SenSei mentioned that he has a long-standing rivalry with Nv’s deth. He's looking forward to inventing new and unique strategies when Heart of the Swarm is released and dominating the ladder with them before the Blizzard balance team steps in!

With a top 8 finish at the Australian Cyber League’s Gold Coast event and having taken 2nd place at their Brisbane Regionals in League 2, Andrew has made it clear that he’s one of the strongest Protoss players in the scene. He even managed to take down SeleCt 3-1 in the Gview Invitational Tournament last year!

+ [Rossi] +

David "Rossi" Rossi is a 20 year old Terran player from the team Gamecom Nv. As one of the late-comers to the scene, David is really looking forward to the release of Heart of the Swarm so that he can be a part of the "experimental" phase where everyone is establishing new build orders and pioneering brave new strategies.

It comes as no surprise to us that Terran vs Zerg is David’s favourite matchup – he finds the depth and excitement of this matchup passionately intriguing. With most South East Asian events being flooded by the Zerg swarm, David is constantly striving to improve with an array of intimidating opponents.

Last year David found himself representing Australia on the world stage when he went up against the best-of-the-best in the IPL4 Oceanic Qualifiers in Manila. And most recently, he proceeded to play over 34 tournament games in a single weekend, where he took first place in a World Championship Series Australian Qualifier, followed by 2nd place in a Masters Cup!

+ [TargA] +

Kristoffer*"TargA" Marthinsen is a 22 year old Norwegian Real-Time Strategy legend who has been living and studying in Australia for the past few years. Currently situated on the Gold Coast, TargA has had a very successful Starcraft 2 career in both South East Asia and abroad, taking 2nd place at the Australian Cyber League's Sydney 2012 National event, and representing Norway & Australia in the North American Star League & Intel Extreme Masters global tournaments.

As a Zerg player, it came as a surprise to us to hear that his favourite match-up is actually the most volatile of all - Zerg vs Zerg! Kristoffer said he enjoys using deception and controlling the flow of information to really get into the minds of his opponents.

With the "Heart of the Swarm" expansion pack on the horizon, Team Mindfreak’s TargA is really looking forward to the recently unveiled Battle.net improvements - particularly clan support!

+ [mOOnGLaDe] +

Andrew “mOOnGLaDe” Pender has been a household name in Australian RTS for nearly 10 years now, having confidently reigned over the WarCraft 3 and StarCraft 2 scenes respectively since 2003.

This 25 year old Zerg mastermind from team Gamecom Nv – like most other Zergs – enjoys playing against Terran due to its dynamic and exciting nature. At this point in time, Andrew’s #1 enemy is Diablo III! The time-consuming dungeon crawler is dramatically cutting into his practice hours.

Having made it all the way to Code A in the Global StarCraft League in Seoul, Korea, Andrew is really looking forward to the fresh multiplayer changes that will be introduced with the Heart of the Swarm expansion – with some new and interesting maps to boot!

+ [Mafia] +

24 year old Timothy “Mafia” He has been showing one of the strongest, most consistent tournament performances over the last 12 months, and is widely regarded as one of Australia’s 3 Zerg powerhouses. Having recently joined Team Immunity, Tim has already painted a target on the back of his nemesis mOOnGLaDe:

“We’ve faced off in so many tournaments and he usually comes out on top.”

When we asked Tim what his favourite matchup was, he replied with, “Zerg vs Zerg – because a matchup is truly balanced when your opponent is equipped with exactly the same tools and limitations.”

It’s no secret that Tim is in top form for this event, sporting over 1,400 points in his Master League division on the Korean ladder in Season 7 – placing him in the very highest echelons of the world.

+ [YoonYJ] +

Yojun “YoonYJ” Yun is one of Australia’s very few competitive Terran players, with several appearances at national championship events over the last two years. By training almost exclusively on the Korean server, YoonYJ takes a lot of pride in regularly beating Code S GSL stars.

Like his fellow Gamecom Nv teammates, he enjoys playing Terran vs Zerg more than any other matchup not only because of the excitement factor, but because most of South East Asia’s best players are Zerg, and he enjoys the intensity of playing such challenging opponents.

“The new units in Heart of the Swarm look pretty interesting… I hope the Terran ones are imbalanced!”

+ [Ninja] +

Alex “Ninja” Smith is one of the youngest and most intimidating competitive StarCraft 2 players in Australia. For the past 2 years, we’ve watched as he has risen through the ranks of Aussie Zerg players and today, this 18 year old prodigy from Sequential Gaming is definitely a strong championship contender.

Alex is really enjoying the way Zerg vs Terran plays out in Wings of Liberty. He feels that this matchup in-particular showcases a lot of fun & back-and-forth components, and he’s really hoping that the new units introduced in the Heart of the Swarm expansion share this dynamic amongst the other matchups.

Fresh out of a 4th place finish at the Australian Cyber League Sydney 2012 Nationals 2 months ago, Alex doesn’t have to climb much further to reach the top.

+ [tgun] +

Bradley “tgun” Seymour is a 21 year old Zerg player from Sydney, and is one of very few Australian players to have competed abroad multiple times. With experience in South Korea’s Global StarCraft League and America’s Major League Gaming, Brad has unique insight into competitive gaming.

As another unique factor, Brad is also one of very few Australians who also represent international teams, with the rest of the its-GoSu roster hailing from Canada, America and Korea.

When we asked Brad why ZvT was his favourite matchup, he said: “I feel that this matchup rewards the player who is most inventive. There are still many strategic avenues which we haven’t explored in ZvT, as well as old ones that are being successfully reinvigorated.”

Brad also mentioned that a friendly rivalry may be building between himself and fellow Zerg player “PiG”, as they tend to face eachother in almost every single tournament – most recently being the 3rd round of the 512 player TeamLiquid Star League Qualifier!

+ [Light] +

Zi Ray “Light” Wang is widely regarded as one of the best Protoss players in the country, despite several periods of inactivity. With numerous appearances at national championships (including the SEA 2011 Battle.net Invitational and WCG Australia 2011), Light has made quite the name for himself – especially after taking a game from StarTale’s Ace at and landing himself in 2nd place at the 2011 NRG Hardcore Gamer tournament.

When we asked Xeria Gaming’s 24 year old Sydney resident which matchup he preferred, he responded with,

“No favourite race matchups, only favourite player matchups. I love playing against YoonYJ and Mafia because those games are always action packed. Even though Mafia and I are really close friends, he’s still my biggest nemesis. He surpassed me in 2011 and I’ve been striving to overtake him ever since.”

With a hard-core record of 108 games played in a 24 hour ladder session, Light is looking to take it easy when Heart of the Swarm is released.

“It’ll renew my interest in the game, so I’ll be playing for fun instead of trying to keep up with everyone else.”

+ [Techtron] +

Lucas “Techtron” Tan is a 17 year old Zerg player from Melbourne, and although being relatively new to the scene, he’s boasted some very impressive results. Like many of his fellow Zergs, he enjoys the element of control inherent to the ZvT matchup, where the slightest mechanical slip or wrong decision can significantly impact either player.

Having attended numerous Melbourne events, Lucas is always striving to defeat his friendly rival deth, as the two of them regularly face eachother in the final rounds of every local tournament – including the recent Australian Cyber League Melbourne Regionals where both of them were awarded invitations to participate in the Blizzard World Championship Series for Australia!

With Heart of the Swarm on the horizon, Team Eve’s Techtron is really looking forward to the Custom Game UI enhancements. After seeing how successful the original “Defense of the Ancients (DOTA)” map was in WarCraft 3, he’d love to see another genre-defining map emerge in StarCraft 2.

BRACKETS & STREAM
Day 1 Stream | Day 1 Bracket
Day 2 Stream | Day 2 Bracket
Day 3 Stream | Day 3 Bracket



RESULTS
Gamespot Invitational Top 4: TA.ChadMann, Demosthenes, QED.Fridge, TA.deL
Pro Player Invitational Top 4: Nv.mOOnGLaDe, GoSu.tgun, Tt.PiG, Mf.TargA
GRAND FINAL: GoSu.tgun, Mf.TargA, Nv.mOOnGLaDe

Quick Comments

	iMSystem:
	Loach:
	zenabi:
	Mayo:
	Criven:
	Maynarde:
	Blitz:	awesome prizes!

[Mayo]

glhf

Prizes look pretty awesome

[Maynarde]

So hawt, see you guys on the stream!

Quick Comments

	Loach:	have rep!
	iMSystem:	Dat $150
	Mayo:	!!!!!!

[PiG]

My pants are tight >.<

Quick Comments

	sRDreaM:
	fur:	Just Shoot Me ftw
	nirvAnA:

[sRDreaM]

Woah that 1st prize with laptop is sweet!! GL HF!!

[SLCN.StoicWilly]

wow sick prizes and players gogogo! ^^

[SmirkToT]

zerg fighting

[Dox]

Now that SC2SEA is back up - I'm pleased to add the following players to the list of invites! More at 8:00PM tomorrow!

delete (SQL)
PiG (Tt)

Quick Comments

	TAminimat:	nod
	xGKingdelete:	yay
	Maynarde:	Have some r- ... nice comments!
	syfChadMann:	/up rep

[Junho]

as if Myuu didn't get invited.

Quick Comments

ToR.Arnor:

Still 6 more invites, Myuu is unlucky that their are more Zergs than there are Protoss RACE SWITCH TIME

[AvPoker]

Get Myuu in there!

Quick Comments

	ToR.Arnor:	Like ^_^
	Dox:	invites have been locked in for several weeks already

[neKo]

Can I suggest minimat

Quick Comments

	Dox:	agreed
	TAminimat:	oh yea ^ thats an invite right??

[NDG.Stitch]

Good to see that Nv is sending out Rossi! WE NEED MORE TERRANS!

[Dox]

I'm a few hours late on this one - apologies! Busy night.

Please welcome Fourby (cR) & Techtron (Eve) to the lineup!

Quick Comments

	syfChadMann:	Nodding head and uprep
	SLCN.Kez:	Techtron fiiightttiinngg!

[iM yang]

i hope to god you announce ninja and deth

[sRDante]

My god the first prize is so sexy~

[Dox]

Two new challengers have appeared!

Ninja (SQL)
EdgE (cR)

Quick Comments

	Maynarde:	NEW CHALLENGERS use HANDSOME - it's SUPER EFFECTIVE
	syfChadMann:	mmmmm dat Murrin.. <3

[Fourby]

Yoon and deth last 2, im calling it now

Quick Comments

	ToR.Arnor:	Glade and Yoon for me (although id prefer 2 terrans!)
	iM tgun:	Agreed.

[Dox]

The last two will be unveiled tonight at 8:00PM!

[iM MaFia]

wouldn't be surprised if the last 2 spots were SanG and deth

haven't seen yoon on much lately

[syfMiley]

I reckon yoooooooooooooooooon