[WNG] Weekly Open #6

Hurray! We have more sponsors coming on board! This has been especially awesome because I haven't really had time to source sponsors yet, but fortunately for me they've been doing all the walking!


Today I distributed some stream overlays for each of the guys to use, they're looking pretty swish! I haven't gotten around to updating their twitch backgrounds/banners or twitter backgrounds yet, but you'll see those transform pretty soon.


In the meantime, you can check out their stream pages here:
Rossi | deth | YoonYJ | Pinder

Back again for another shot at the [WNG] $20 Weekly event, Pinder, YoonYJ, deth & I all decided to sign up. Unfortunately Rossi is still pretty exhausted, having just returned from the TA retreat, so he isn't participating this week. 

As luck would have it, I'm actually 0 wins and 7 losses for the day. I've been struggling to break even this season, and somehow, ZvZ has turned into my best matchup, whilst I've only won 1 game of ZvP this entire season. I don't even know how this happened! I'm playing very poorly lately. To make matters worse... the brackets have just been published, and hey! Nv.Dox vs Nv.Pinder round 1. Hurray!

So let's see how everyone is tracking: 
Brackets
Live Stream

ROUND 1 (Bo1)

(P) Nv.Pinder 1-0 Nv.Dox (Z)

(T) Nv.deth 1-0 syntoX (Z)
(T) Nv.YoonYJ 1-0 wT.Ace (T)

ROUND 2 (Bo1)

(P) Nv.Pinder 1-0 Hydroid (Z)

(T) Nv.deth 0-1 Balloon.SPR (P)

(T) Nv.YoonYJ 1-0 Venom (P)

ROUND 3 (Bo1)

(P) Nv.Pinder 0-1 Danmate (Z)

(T) Nv.YoonYJ 1-0 feLicity (Z)

Quarter Finals (Bo1)

(T) Nv.YoonYJ 1-0 raZIel (T) 

Semi Finals (Bo3)
(T) Nv.YoonYJ 0-2 Balloon.SPR (P) 


Nv.Dox: 
nice work man!
ripping it up

Nv.YoonYJ:

 nah, I'm just chilling
eating while playing


Unfortunately Yoon fell to Balloon the semi's, but TA's EdgE will be waiting in the grand finals to get revenge!

How to SimCity - By Pinder

Pinder has written an awesome blog on how to correctly (and incorrectly!) SimCity as Protoss. I'll probably migrate it over here in the near future, but for the time being, you can find it over at SC2SEA.

Notes about this guide: 

In none of the walls (except tal'darim, where it's unavoidable) is the pylon vulnerable, only the higher hp buildings are vulnerable.

In all simcities the 1 cannon covers all your buildings from lings.

The gateway i have not placed, but am trying to build over the top of the simcities, completely wall off the wall (for example, vs early pools, you may need to build 2 gates to fully wall yourself to allow time for the cannon to get up), the actual build positioning shown is a 1-hex gap which a zealot blocks. Hopefully this makes sense when you look at the pictures themselves.

I've included a small guide of how to place the pylon without messing it up in each one, since that's the easiest thing mess up with these sim cities.

Awesome stuff Pinder!

[WNG] Weekly Open #5

Well, today has been a pretty big day for the team. I was delighted to discover that a few organisations were trying to get in touch with me today because they were wanting to sponsor the team! No time to waste! We're at the negotiating stage at the moment, but things are already looking bright.

Having just arrived home from work, I got started on the Twitch/Twitter page designs for the team. I realised (3 minutes ago) that the [WNG] $20 Weekly event was about to kick off, so YoonYJ and I have signed up at the last minute to participate. It's not a huge cash event, but there are an immense number of really good players competing in it - Pokerface, Danmate, Stallion, kez, tgun, MaFia, JaBiTo, yekke & techtron - just to name a few!

The brackets have just been published (and unfortunately they haven't randomised, so seeds are distributed based on who signed up first, eek!) and the stream is live, you can find the links below. Fingers crossed! Eek, my round 1 opponent is a GrandMaster Terran and we're playing Antiga first!

Stream

Brackets

ROUND 1 (Bo1)
(T) Nv.YoonYJ 1-0 Techtron (Z)

(Z) Nv.Dox 0-1 Deneb (T)

Well, that was expected. Without any opportunity to warm up, I kinda just flailed around helplessly with 2000+ minerals in the bank whilst dying to a 2-Port Banshee. Woo! Hopefully YoonYJ has better luck!

ROUND 2 (Bo1)

(T) Nv.YoonYJ 1-0 HDLockeMD (Z)

ROUND 3 (Bo1)

(T) Nv.YoonYJ 1-0 yam (T)

ROUND 4 (Bo1)

(T) Nv.YoonYJ 0-1 Danmate (Z)

Watching YoonYJ in round 3 destroy his Terran opponent with pure Hellions and 400 APM micro was actually insane, hahaha. So scary. Danmate played an extremely strong game on GSL Daybreak, hitting YoonYJ at a vulnerable timing where he was trying to take his 3rd. Very impressive! He's now in the Ro4 (ZvZ) against Yekke, good luck Danmate!

Danmate:
 fuck, im shaking!
i didnt expect to win that game

Masters Cup #13

After a bit of a sleep, Rossi and I were ready to jump right into the Masters Cup. deth on the other hand chose to stay awake and practice after the IPL & NASL Online Qualifiers earlier this morning, before an entire day at work. He arrived home from work about 30 minutes before the Masters Cup began, somehow still awake! Pinder was  supposed to play, however he chose to study for an exam he'll be sitting on Tuesday. Unfortunately YoonYJ was forfeit, due to still being away celebrating his girlfriends' birthday! (He didn't arrive home until ~9:00PM)

Pinder and I played a few practice games before the event, and he showcased a very clever new build he was developing. I was really impressed! We both discussed it quite a bit, and came to the conclusion that he was walking a fine line between "Genius" and "Insane" with this build. ;)

I can't wait to see him showcase it in a tournament!

I managed to take one game off him, but lost the rest, playing very poorly. Things weren't looking good for the Masters Cup.

Anywho, with myself and 2 of the 3 Terran titans competing in the bracket, here are the results.

ROUND 1 (Bo1)
(T) Nv.deth 1-0 CoolBeans (P)

(Z) Nv.Dox 0-1 WeryNg (P)

(T) Nv.Rossi BYE

ROUND 2 (Bo1)

(T) Nv.deth 1-0 Zixma (Z)

(T) Nv.Rossi 1-0 iRL.ProAnnn (P)

ROUND 3 (Bo3)

(T) Nv.deth 2-0 FlashRevz (Z)

(T) Nv.Rossi 2-0 Xenomorph.SPR (Z)

ROUND 4 (Bo3)

(T) Nv.deth 1-2 iRL.Drake (T)

(T) Nv.Rossi 2-1 xGKing.Pokerface (Z)

ROUND 5 (Bo3)

(T) Nv.Rossi 1-2 GoSu.Tgun (Z)

So unfortunately deth's fatigue eventually kicked in, having been operating on 2 hours all day. I was glad to see him finally commit to some sleep after being eliminated. ;)

Rossi had a fantastic run through the bracket, finding himself up against tgun's extremely powerful Ling/Infestor play. With some great Blue Flame Hellions, Rossi managed to take game #1, but fell in the two following games. Well played by tgun, I really enjoyed watching this series!

As for me, my early exit from the tournament was pretty embarrassing. After a streak of losses in practice prior to the tournament, I didn't have high hopes. But as it turned out, I was crushing my opponent - 5 bases to 2 - with 200 supply of Roach/Infestor/Ultralisk. He ended up turtling at the top of his ramp with 70 supply of Immortals/Stalkers/Colossi with a single hex choke - I was dumb enough to attack into it because I thought the game was over. He killed my extremely expensive army and counter-attacked before I could muster up enough reinforcements to end the game. Very sloppy and disappointing. Fortunately I was able to spend the rest of the evening listening to the wonderful Zepph casting alongside Meatex.

So with YoonYJ now back home, and Pinder 2 days away from his exam, I expect we'll have more updates from those two later in the week! I'm sure we'll see more of YoonYJ on Tuesday night as he represents team aLt in the SEACL!

I feel like it's only fair to include some sort of interesting chat log with each entry, since I did that for the last two. I don't have anything from the team this time, but I do have this gem:

[1:12:34 AM] NvDox: OMG

[1:12:42 AM] SQLTtinFeZa: yes

[1:12:44 AM] NvDox: i was just in the shower right

[1:12:46 AM] SQLTtinFeZa: i am up for this

[1:12:47 AM] NvDox: thinking of chad and yang

[1:12:48 AM] NvDox: like you do

[1:12:49 AM] NvDox: anyway

[1:12:52 AM] NvDox: i put their names together

[1:12:55 AM] NvDox: and it was

[1:12:55 AM] NvDox: CHANG

[1:12:57 AM] NvDox: and it was amazing

[1:13:01 AM] NvDox: and i had to run here to tell you guys

[1:13:07 AM] SQLTtinFeZa: LOL

[1:13:08 AM] SQLTtyang: ....

[1:13:08 AM] Kalikah: were you twisting your nipples

[1:13:11 AM] SQLTtinFeZa: CHAAAAANG

[1:13:14 AM] SQLTtinFeZa: Chang

[1:13:14 AM] NvDox: of course i was

[1:13:17 AM] NvDox: that was rhetorical right?

[1:13:21 AM] NvDox: CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG

[1:13:23 AM] TAChadMann: CHAAAAAANG

[1:13:30 AM] Maynarde: CHANGMANN

[1:13:32 AM] TARogue: w t f

[1:13:34 AM] TAChadMann: btw.. you dressed yet?.. or just in a towel?

[1:13:39 AM] SQLTtinFeZa: changman the chinese chicken

[1:13:39 AM] SQLTtyang: or not

[1:13:41 AM] TAChadMann: cause that'd be sxc

[1:13:46 AM] NvDox: i'm going back to finish my shower now

[1:13:46 AM] NvDox: bbl

[1:13:49 AM] Kalikah: dox had to change his towel a few times

[1:13:53 AM] TAChadMann: HAHAA

NASL Online Qualifiers

After being eliminated from the brutal IPL4 Online Qualifiers, it was time to try our hand at the NASL Online Qualifiers.

Take the crowd who had signed up for the IPL, subtract a handful of Koreans, and bam. There's the NASL bracket. Three channels full of freakishly good players ready to tear us apart. Pinder had just woken up for this one, however YoonYJ was unable to attend, due to celebrating his girlfriends' birthday the previous evening.

ROUND 1
(Z) Nv.Dox 1-2 Spydo (Z)

(P) Nv.Pinder 1-2 Plaga (P)

(T) Nv.deth 2-1 vVv.Ruff (T)

ROUND 2 

(T) Nv.deth 0-2 RoXkis.Pomi (P)

Yay, mirrors for everyone in round 1! Unfortunately Pinder and I weren't able to advance to the 2nd round, however deth executed a very successful comeback after being down 1 map against Ruff.


Although Pomi's Psi Storm / Colossi power was too much for deth to handle in the 2nd round, I was really happy and proud to see this comment in Skype immediately after he was eliminated:


[7:58:04 AM] deth:
 no shame in my losses imo
i can hold my head high
practice harder for next time


That's the spirit! <3


Well, that's everything from us for today, but be sure to keep an eye on Eddie's Masters Cup #13 tonight! Nv will be out in force.

IPL4 Online Qualifiers

Today, Invidia took a swing at the IPL4 Online Qualifiers.

The event was held on the NA Battle.net server and showcased the most tremendous talent from around the globe. Honestly- I was starstruck whilst idling in that channel waiting for my games to begin. Take all of the biggest names from the GSL, MLG, IEM, Dreamhack, IPL, NASL and put them all in 1 Battle.net channel?

Terrifying.

So unfortunately, those of us who participated didn't make it tremendously far. Rossi and deth both decided to go to sleep at around 2:00AM, giving them a few hours sleep before their games started at 5:00AM. However I chose to stay up all night, practicing with ladder games until my eyes were burning. Sadly, throughout all of my practice games, I was undefeated against Protoss and Terran. But I lost every single Zerg mirror except one. And my round 1 opponent? Yep.

Zerg.

I texted deth at 4:30 to wake him up, and within minutes he was pouring energy drinks down his throat in anticipation for his match. Unfortunately, Rossi was nowhere to be found. 

I gave him a call, to which he murmured:
"Uuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrnghgghhh...
Yeah... 
Yep... 
I'm up... 
Yep..."

I reminded him of the channel name & the check-in, and within minutes he was online.

[4:51:10 AM] Rossi: 

did i speak english when u called dox?

And here are the results.

ROUND 1

(Z) Nv.Dox 2-0 DoDOmen (Z)

(T) Nv.deth 0-2 FXO.Tear (P)

(T) Nv.Rossi 0-2 Guillycuddy (P)

ROUND 2 

(Z) Nv.Dox 0-2 dignitas.Bischu (P)

So, things could have gone better. But fortunately, the NASL Online Qualifiers were only minutes away!