[breadfan]

The MLG Summer Championship in Raleigh, North Carolina kicks off tomorrow morning at 0700 AEST (0900 NZST/0500 SGT).

Broadcast Schedule
Full broadcast schedule can be found here.

Friday's broadcast will run for approximately 6 hours with MLG group play on the red steam and WCS NA on the blue stream. Full information of the WCS NA finals can be found here (note that it's WCS NA, not WCS USA - includes qualifiers from WCS Canada, WCS USA and WCS Mexico).

Key times for your convenience are:
WCS NA Final - Sunday 1000 AEST (1200 NSZT, 0800 SGT)
MLG Summer Championship Final - Monday 0700 AEST (0900 NZST, 0500 SGT)
Times are based on MLG website, MLG might deviate from these plans, use only as a guide.


HD passes are once again available for purchase ($14.99 and free to Gold members) which grants HD access to all four streams (including two "premium" streams), while two streams will be available free to the public in SD. One addition to the HD pass is that you can rewind live streams, just like TiVo or Foxtel iQ. You can pick up a pass here.


Casters
Day[9], Apollo, djWheat, TotalBiscuit, Mr Bitter, Rotterdam
Rob Simpson, Tim Frazier, Axeltoss, Kibbelz
...with Adebisi on obs duty

The full lineup of players is available here.


8 KeSPA players invited; KeSPA declines
The 8 mystery invites were confirmed to have been for KeSPA players. However, the organisation has declined to send its players to the event, citing scheduling conflicts. As a result the eight spots were given to the next eight highest seeded players from the MLG summer season which includes the summer arena and invitational qualifiers. Source.


Koreans dominate the groups
The group stage has a significant Korean flavour. While there are some familiar names amongst the foreigners (the likes of Sheth, Grubby, Goody, qxc and Stephano), there are also a few rising stars managing to qualify for the group stage.

Legion's giX, LighT's Caliber and Binski, and coL.Academy's Sasquatch are not without accomplishment, however their success has not to this point been on such an international stage.


Taeja in town
Whether or not you think he is the best player, the best terran or even the best player on Team Liquid, you have to recognise that Taeja's recent form is astonishing. He is currently ranked first in the world on Elo. With a career record of just over .66, he has stood out for his over .80 TvZ record since the patch that buffed queen range and overlord speed. In addition to his success in team leagues (including two all kills this year), as well as securing dual championships with the MLG Summer Arena and ASUS ROG Summer, he took out the MLG Summer Arena and no doubt will be on a mission to make it an MLG summer sweep.


Stephano vs Oz - the saga continues
One of the most anticipated matchups of the tournament is sure to happen with Stephano and Oz drawing the same group. Oz had Stephano's number in their last meeting, but the foreign hope (and otherwise destroyer of Protoss) will be seeking revenge, especially on what will be his last appearance for Team Millenium (barring a post-contractual change of heart) and quite likely his last opportunity to convince prospective teams that he is worth a hefty salary.