We get the thoughts of three players competing in the very last GESC qualifier happening this Saturday! This features upcoming player from Flash's newly strengthened lineup Bryan "FlashDrake" Sum and established stars tgun from It's Gosu and cR Captain "cREdgE".
Q: The community is curious about you as you're relatively new to the competitive scene. Do share with us some information about yourself!
My name is Bryan, currently 19 years old and from Singapore. I'm serving my National Service at the moment but I plan to go pro full-time after that finishes and before I enter university. My playstyle and builds usually depend on the current metagame, but I generally adopt a standard passive macro style. As for practice habits, its largely limited to weekends, usually ladder on NA where I'm trying to hit GM in season 8
Q: What made you join this tournament?
I wanted to compete with the best Australian players, who I feel are at the top of SEA right now to get a rough gauge on where I stand and how much I have to catch up to them. This tourney is stacked with them more than any other online tournaments.
Q: Who do you think are biggest contenders for the final top three spots this week?
Rossi, Light, Tgun
Q: Lastly, any shout outs to your team / sponsors?
I would like to thank our prospective sponsor Cooler Master [CM Storm] and our partners Zepy Games, MAGES and Colosseum, the team management and players for their support. I will make them proud and show good results in the future
Q1: We haven't seen you much in the limelight recently. Whats been happening lately for tgun?
I've just been practicing a lot. I've had a few rough weeks (in real life) that I've told a few people about, but would rather not discuss -- that ended in me missing a few key Sydney events, but I'm back on track now. Just improving my ZvZ and training with itsGoSu
Q2: What are your plans and goals for Starcraft 2 this year?
My plans sort of involve my goals. My goal is to win a major event this year. Major being ~$2k. If I can do that, I'll be over in Korea again for an extended stay. If I don't manage to win a major event, it's very likely I'll be retiring from full-time progaming if something doesn't pick up immensely profit-wise (e.g. streaming or youtube)
Q3: The demuslim shout casting drama. Whatever happened in the end? Final words?
What happened? He was completely unprofessional while casting and then refused to acknowledge it. I called him on his bullshit, he was defended because apparently people feel he's as infallible as Idra. Nothing happened in the end -- we had planned to make myself and him play in the EG clan war, but I told my manager not to do it as personal dramas should not, in any way, influence clan wars.
I just want to clarify that I never wanted to, nor intended to, call into account how good he is as a player. That doesn't, didn't, and never will matter -- the issue was his casting.
Q4: Who do you think are biggest contenders for the final top three spots this week?
My biggest contenders for the final three spots? I'm not worried about anything but a zerg. All the terrans and protosses in SEA -- I'm completely comfortable against. That includes the terran who's already qualified.
Q5: Any shout outs to your team / sponsors?
Shout outs to itsGoSu, our sponsors NOS, Maxx Integration, own3d, Razer and S2Games.
Q: You've not being as active in the scene recently, share with us whats been happening lately in the world of EdgE.
Yes i haven't but this was not by choice! My computer was having serious issues that have finally been solved, but that put me out of action for a month (about 5 days in the month i would have been able to play SC2, but only on SEA). I took the chance to offrace on SEA, and also play in the SEASL qualifier where i was still able to get to the semis. I was able to sort out a lot of life things, including job and education, as well as a few other things.
Q: What are your plans and goals for Starcraft 2 this year?
My plans are to keep up with practice much more than i did last year, and i've done decently in the times I have been playing but there is still much more to improve on. Watching more replays, accepting losses a bit better and of course just having better practice ethic. Tournaments are a bonus and i hope for at least 2 more victories with one of them being online before years end.
Q: Who do you think are biggest contenders for the final top three spots this week?
I'm not completely sure who is left, but tgun is definitely my no.1 if he is playing. Of the others on the list, i think deth and rossi have a great chance for terrans even in a dark time for them, and yang would be my protoss pick.
Q: Any shout outs to your team / sponsors?
Shout out to Carnage and the sponsors Razer, iiNet and Tecmasters. Also shoutout to Terror Australis and to anyone who gives a enough of a crap to read an interview of mine!
Last chance to join!
Online registrations for the "Gigabyte Electronic Sports Winter Slam" qualifier #3 at 12noon AEST this Saturday are still open. Only Three Spots remain for the $4,000 Melbourne final! Remember an extra 5 slots will be awarded to the players with the highest points so there's plenty of chance still to qualify.
Note: Registration fees have been reduced to $20 for the whole event. Games will start at 12noon AEST this time. Registering once will allow you to participate in all three online qualifiers. Players who earn qualification to the finals will not be allowed to play in any additional qualifiers. As for the conflict with ACL, Tony is working to resolve it so at least the Pro Players will be able to play at both events. Seeding for the qualifier brackets will be based on the recent ACL Sydney results.
The top 3 winners of each qualifier will receive automatic qualification to the $4,000 LAN Finals event in Melbourne. The top 3 each qualifier also receive prizes worth $1,250 in total!
Date: Saturday, 16th June Match Starts at 12noon AEST Channel: GESC (SEA Server) Format: Bo3 Double Elimination every round. Brackets: TBD Stream:http://www.own3d.tv/TeamImmunity/live/320566 Report results to: "BenAd" by private messaging him. Replays: We want all players to save and submit replays; failure to do so can result in disqualification..
BenAd and nirvAnA will be there in the channel throughout the entire event.
Daybreak is the first map for every round, loser picks any map from map pool.
1 veto, winner of game 1 vetoes first.
Maps are not allowed to be played again, unless both players agree.
Map Pool
• WCS Ohana LE by Blizzard
• WCS Shakuras Plateau by Blizzard
• WCS Daybreak by Blizzard
• WCS Antiga Shipyard by Blizzard
• WCS Entombed Valley by Blizzard
• WCS Cloud Kingdom by Blizzard
Similar to previously organized SC2SEA tournament rules. Some notable ones include:
Walkovers - We are using a check-in system this time, so be sure to be there 20 minutes before match time, i.e 9.40am. If you are not there by 10am you will not appear in the bracket.
Disconnects after 5 minutes will result in a loss for the player who disconnected. The player who did not will be given the opportunity to give him a regame, but is not obligated to. Also, the admin may intervene if necessary to determine if there should be a regame or not.
Wrong map choice - Players make sure you check the map is wrong. If it isnt f the round has progressed there will be no regame. If the round has not progressed and the map is significantly different/wrong then there will be re-game
The Admin reserves the right to amend the rules in any way he sees fit. In our history of tournaments a situation where this was needed has not arisen but nevertheless it is important to include this as a disclaimer.
Q: Why is there an entrance fee?
A: This was the main organizer's requirement and current trend for LAN tournaments with a large prize pool. ACL charges a similar sign up fee.
Q: I am from New Zealand / Singapore / Malaysia / Other SEA country - can I play in this?
A: Yes
Q: I am a South Korean living in New Zealand / Singapore / Malaysia - can I play in this?
A: Yes
Q: I am from South Korean living in South Korea or an American living in United States, can I play in this?
A: No
The Gigabyte Electronic Sports Winter Slam is a series of tournaments spanning multiple games held over an entire week. Starcraft 2 will be one of the major titles at the event with a total prize pool of over $4,000++ AUD in cash and products. The Gigabyte Slam will be run in partnership with Team Immunity and SC2SEA. SC2SEA will facilitate in the running of the online qualifiers for the event.
The top 3 players of each of the three qualifiers as well as the 5 players with the overall highest points will receive an automatic invitation to the LAN finals @ Melbourne on the 8th of July for the 16 man finals which will run over a single day. The online qualifiers will determine the top 14 players, with two slots for the finals allocated to wild cards from a university tournament. This event will also feature some of Team Immunity's newly recruited shoutcasting team.
Final Lan Prizes: (Tentative)
#1 $2,500 Cash
#2 $500
#3 Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H Motherboard
Total Prize Pool: $4,000 in cash and products
This tournament is open to everyone who is a SEA citizen or resident. This is the sponsors request as the finals will be held live in Melbourne and they wish all qualified players to attend the live event. If you are not sure if you are eligible due to your nationality/residency send me a PM.
Qualifier 1: 10am AEST Saturday, 2nd June Qualifier 2: 10am AEST Saturday, 9th June Qualifier 3: 10am AEST Saturday, 16th June
LAN Finals: Sunday, 8th July @ Melbourne
The top 3 winners of each qualifier will win an automatic invite to the LAN finals @ Melbourne. The remaining 5 slots will be awarded to the players with the highest points. It is therefore recommended to play in as many qualifiers as possible to increase your chance of qualifying.
This is still subject to change. 1st-3rd placing receives auto qualification and is removed from points pool. They will not be eligible to play in any more qualifiers.
4th - 15
5-8th - 8
9-16th - 4
Seeds #10-14 will be given out in order of points.
External Links
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team Immunity's Home Page | Team Immunity's Facebook
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Samuel "cRFourby" Tham - 16 points Thomas "Flashblitz" Kopankiewicz - 15 points David "Nv.Rossi" Rossi - 12 points Bryan "FlashDrake" Sum - 12 points Ryan "Flashkyzer" Low - 12 points
= Attendance confirmed.
Note some of the players attendance are still pending at the moment. If a higher seeded player is unavailable the next ranked player will take his place.
Point Calculation to decide the final 5 from the players who did not get top 3.
Players who did not show up at the qualifiers are not awarded any points for that particular qualifier.
4th - 15
5-8th - 8
9-12th - 4
Seeds #10-14 will be given out in order of points. Players who are already qualified are ignored in point calculation
The flash boys, will not be attending the live event. It was nice to see strong performances from them and I look forward to seeing more in the future!
This brings us to the next players in line who are tied on points - yoon / yang / notorious / techtron / dox / stally
notorious has declined participation in the live event and dox i assume will be unavailable as he's running ACL on the same day. This leaves four players for the final three spots. I will confirm with them first if they would all like to play. If all of them do, a simple 4 man DE bracket will be held off-stream, with the top 3 players going through.
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