[x5.Crescendo]

To celebrate five year’s worth of StarCraft II action, as well as the impending arrival of Legacy of the Void (LotV), ESL have assisted Blizzard in organising LotV Beta events for parts of the SEA region without strong pre-existing eSports scenes. Each region selected will field two players from each qualifier, with a final open qualifier to give eligible players a second chance at glory.

Blizzard and the ESL hope to start planting the seeds of #passion and encourage new players to take a look at the eSports side of the game they enjoy. Full details regarding the overall tournament can be found at esl.gg/seavoid

The first LotV Beta Tournament qualifier was held on 23 August for the Philippines. The games ranged from crisp timing attacks to utter shambolic chaos but, despite the quite varied ranges of skill to be found among the competitors, the overall event proved to be an entertaining one. I'm hoping that more players in the Philippines get a taste for the competitive side of the game and keep playing in preparation for Legacy of the Void's launch.

With that being said, please join us in congratulating the two qualifying players for the Philippines!

Caviar Napoleon '[PSISTORM] EnDerr' Acampado
&
Paolo 'Jabito' Javier

Before we take a look at the games, a shout out to Zendex for organising the event and to Insano for streaming and casting. Please show them some appreciation!

===Let The Games Begin!===

---Handy Links---
VOD Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...QfxuygkwXu0PfI
Brackets: http://play.eslgaming.com/starcraft/...fier/rankings/
------------------------


The winners bracket came down to four players in the semi finals, with two Bo3 series played: EnDerr v Ram, and Jabito v Arkanthiel.

Regrettably, the games between Ram and EnDerr were not streamed, and no replays could be obtained. All we know is that EnDerr took the series 2-0.

However, the games between Jabito and Arkanthiel were streamed, and here is what happened:

---Winners Bracket Semifinals: Jabito v Arkanthiel Bo3---

---Game 1 - Ruins of Seras---

The pair spawned diagonally across from each other and, given the large map size and number of spawn points needing to be scouted, both chose to expand early. Jabito's reaper found Arkanthiel's position but did little damage beyond taunting queens and killing zerglings. Arkanthiel took his third at five minutes and decided to check the weather report. The forecast was 'Acid Rain'. Arkanthiel loaded up an overlord drop with 4 banelines and melted 11 scvs in a very short period of time. .

The rain of banes falls mainly in the base



If one took the the commentary in twitch chat at face value, many of the viewers had tuned into the event with the view that Arkanthiel was favoured for the series over Jabito, and the successful baneling drop certainly encouraged their viewpoint.

Jabito didn't keep his army home in fear, though. It took more than a bad acid trip to keep the Terran contained. He crossed the map with marines, hellbats, and medivacs and did very little damage. His attack was cleaned up with a small force of ling/bane/muta while Arkanthiel had sneakily sent a speedling runby into the Terran's mineral lines. Things weren't looking all that peachy for the Terran.

Heavy mutalisk harassment kept Jabito at home, but the Terran did not slack on upgrades whereas the Zerg's ground forces lacked any attack or carapace upgrades whatsoever. Despite the rough start to the Terran's day, the upgrade advantage let Jabito start trading well in their skirmishes, and his supply eventually overtook Arkanthiel's.

With upgraded marines and marauders supported by medivacs and thors, Jabito began his deathmarch across the map with a superior army supply and upgrade advantage. Marines and marauders died, but they died at great cost to the Zerg, and Arkanthiel was eventually forced to GG.


---Game 2 - Moonlight Madness---

The outcome of game one seemed to have given Jabito a decent sense of his opponent, and while Arkanthiel went hatch first again, the Terran went straight into a factory and tech lab. Tank Drops were all but confirmed when the starport began construction.

A single tank began the siege harassment, but a second tank soon joined it, and the Zerg base shook with the impact of cannon shells. Jabito's multitasking was on point, the siegetanks hopscotching from point to point, exploiting the quirks of Moonlight Madness brilliantly.

Tanks for the memories?



A zergling runby prevented Jabito from landing his natural, but did little material damage, whereas the Zerg had already lost his main hatchery. Arkanthiel fought desperately to hold, managing to kill one tank and medivac, but too much damage was done. Somewhere a redditor nodded wisely and said 'plz nerf sieged tank drops'

---Winner's Bracket Finals: EnDerr v Jabito Bo5---

---Game 1 - Ruins of Seras---

Both players took early expansions, with EnDerr working towards two base muta and Jabito preparing a tank drop. To Jabito's regret, EnDerr's overlord spread gave the zerg plenty of warning and, with lings and queens in position, the medivac found no safe landing zone for its payload. The tank dangled sadly in the medivacs arms, mumbling "I miss Moonlight Madness"

Well this is awkward. I'll just be going then, shall I?



EnDerr wasted no time and swiftly crossed the map with mutalisks and speedlings. The flock shrieked above Terran production buildings, creating chaos wherever they flew, then sniped stimpack tech and a reactor while the lings cleaned up the marines and scvs. The tank and medivac never got to return to Moonlight Madness together like they'd planned.


---Game 2 - Terraform---

Game two was a classic example of EnDerr's infamous aggression translated into Legacy of the Void. With a roach warren and swift lair, the zerg player set himself up for a strong Ravager push at 6 minutes. As the Ravagers broke down Jabito's wall, sniping burrowed mines with their corrosive bile, zerglings streamed in to unleash havoc.

Why did the Ravager fall over? Because it was imba.

...what do you mean 'that's an old joke'? It never gets old


Jabito fought both bravely and desperately to hold, and managed to fend off the first sustained assault, but the damage to the Terran's economy was too much, and the next wave of EnDerr's aggression forced Jabito to type GG.


---Game 3 - Moonlight Madness---

Both players expanded quickly, Jabito teching to factory while EnDerr chose an early spire. The Terran moved out with a Hellbat/marine/medivac push at 5 minutes, a liberator joining the army shortly, in the hopes of damaging the zerg economy early.

A queen was roasted at the evo gates, and drones gibbered as they played ring-a-rosie 'round the hatchery trying not to become the next item on the hellbat's barbecue menu.

The cavalry arrived, however, and EnDerr's early mutalisks held the push. Then the aggressive Zerg countered hard.

This is not a fun place to be without mutalisks.



Jabito took heavy scv damage as EnDerr rampaged in his base, but managed to buy some time with a Thor and mines. But even the mighty Thor wasn't enough. EnDerr's pressure continued unabated and Jabito fell to the fury of the swarm.

With the series won, EnDerr was the first to qualify, showing a dominating run where he didn't drop a single map.

However, while EnDerr could put his feet up and relax, war was still raging in the lower brackets. Arkanthiel, a crowd favourite, rampaged back to demand a rematch with Jabito in the lower bracket finals.

---Lower Bracket Finals: Jabito v Arkanthiel rematch in a Bo5---

---Game 1 - Ruins of Seras---

The fight for the lower bracket finals had been a much hoped-for rematch for those who had been watching the event stream since the beginning. Arkanthiel had many fans in Twitch chat who wanted to see him do well, and Jabito had already shown he had a decent measure of his Zerg opponent.

Both expanded quickly, and Jabito postured outside Arkanthiel's base with hellions and a reaper. The Zerg elected for a ling/roach pressure in response. However, the Arkanthiel's attack failed largely in part to Jabito's careful hellion control while marines were produced to bolster the defence.

With the swarm's aggression deflected, Jabito's attention to his upgrades began to put him ahead of Arkanthiel whose 1/1 started as the Terran's completed. Jabito pushed out with marine/marauder/medivac, taking advantage of the timing and destroyed Arkanthiel's 3rd.

Arkanthiel double expanded in a bid to stay in the game economically, but Jabito's production continued unabated and his supply soon dwarfed Arkanthiel's. As the Terran forces destroyed yet another hatchery the Zerg typed GG.

So much blood spilled. So much.




---Game 2 - Dash and Terminal---

Arkanthiel expanded swiftly while Jabito took double gas and went into a fast factory and starport. Tank drops, you might ask? You would be right, and should give yourself a pat on the back.

Jabito commenced his double tank drop at the 4 minute mark, before Arkanthiel could get defensive roaches out. Have you ever seen a queen fly? I have now. They don't land very well, it has to be said.

The much-rumoured flying queen of LotV



Much as in their earlier series, Jabito's medivac/tank control was on point, and he leapfrogged the tanks to kill drones, a queen, and most of Arkanthiel's roaches before he lost one of his tanks. Catastrophic damage had been done to the Zerg by the 6m mark, but some technical issues caused Jabito to lag out. On recovering the game, Arkanthiel swiftly GG'd.


---Game 3 - Moonlight Madness---

Both players took their expansions, and Jabito opted for a reaper opening. The reaper was deflected by the queens, who laughed in the face of anything that wasn't a pair of tanks. Arkanthiel took all four geysers in his bases. A lair and warren were scouted by the Terran, who responded by adding a liberator into his defensive hellbat/tank composition.

With a liberator, mines, and tanks zoning out his front ramp, the Terran was ready for Arkanthiel's roach hydra, who wisely chose not to attack into the killing floor. However, when Jabito took his third, the zerg pushed out to try and get some damage done. But this was mech, not bio, and Jabito's army was ready with liberators to zone out Arkanthiel's attack avenues, and when the Zerg didn't back off, the engagements went poorly.

Jabito found Arkanthiel's sneaky fourth base and destroyed it without hesitation. The Zerg didn't like that much, and retaliatory strike in open terrain led to mostly mutual destruction of the forces involved. Jabito's superior economy let him recover swiftly, however, and he took a significant supply lead.

Once again Jabito moved across the map, and developed his tank/liberator siege line, supported by thors. Arkanthiel held the attack, trading brilliantly with Vipers painting the map green and roach/hydra crushing the blinded Terran units. Regrettably, an over-confident counter-attack let the Terran forces take their revenge.

Undeterred, Arkanthiel moved across the map with another army to try and kill Jabito's third, but the force was readily defended. Once again Jabito found himself with a substantial supply lead and, with 5 bases to support him, pushed out. Blinding clouds continued to be the key to Arkanthiel holding the defence, repelling the mech army, and then Jabito remembered that Cyclones had been buffed again

It mechs zerg sick to the stomach to see this filth



When the cyclones and liberators cleared out the vipers, Jabito was finally able to push into the heart of Arkanthiel's territory and force the GG. With that win, Jabito qualified alongside EnDerr.


But that's not to say no other Philippines representatives will make the finals: the Redemption System, where the 3rd-placers from each qualifier get a chance by popular vote for a place in the finals, could very well see Arkanthiel's return. And then there is the Open Qualifier on September 27 where every eligible contestant has a second chance at glory.

===Final Thoughts===

Personally, I think it is fantastic that ESL are spreading a bit of love to areas without a lot of direct support in the form of tournaments for their region. The more folks that are reminded that there's more to the game than the campaigns, the more we can say 'Hey, guess what, there's even more tournaments and events in SEA. Come check them out and have some more fun with the competitive side!'

The Philippines Qualifier was a fun stream, and I really look forward to the Singapore Qualifier on 30 August!

GLHF all!
~ x5.Crescendo