My Take on the MLG-Dallas Starcraft Competition 2011

First off, I was sorry that Avilo couldn't make it to Dallas, but he'll be in the Columbus MLG in June. And like many others will have to fight his way up to the top of the brackets, whilst others play in the pool. I was told in so many words, "Hey, blondie, it's not a swimming pool." *shrugs*

Obviously, from watching Naniwa win 24 straight games undefeated, it's feasible. Of course, let's not forget he's Protoss. lol  Okay. Okay. He played well. And even if the final match was PvP, (Toss not at all imba as one can surely tell by the number of Terrans left in the finals - three Terrans, one Zerg placed in the top eight) it was an exciting game to watch. Not all the games were viewed live thanks to technical difficulties. :(  But those that paid ten bucks for HQ were all refunded their money. Wonder how many of those people will pay $25. to watch replays of live games offered by another North American league. :D

Replays, of the games we missed, were posted promptly and Day9 and DJWheat, who commentated, along with JP, filled in the dead airtime with spontaneous improv. It's not at all easy to come up with something interesting to talk about, especially when you know there are thousands of viewers, who tuned in to watch championship gaming, raging at their screens.

The best match for me, and the funniest, was Huk v Idra. Keep in mind that Idra hasn't won that many games of late and he has to be one of the best at BM, so naturally when someone sticks it to a player like Idra, it's awesome cool to see.

In the second match, Idra, in the lead, raged and left the game when he spotted the number of voidrays (I think nine) Huk amassed. But when the third game commenced, Huk politely typed something like, you know the voids were hallucinations, to which Idra in his own inimitable bad style replied FU (except spelled out).

Wow! I laughed so hard and was greatly pleased that Idra's temper, not his play, lost him a game. Then, again, he's just a kid at 20 and maybe hasn't had the proper up-bringing as far as good sportsmanship.  Huk went on to win two of the bo3 v Idra, but lost to him later in a rematch bo7. :(

Another interesting turn of events was the match between Incontrol and TLO. Incontrol won, admittedly using cheese, which "I feel so bad about." Yeah, right! Anyway, it's about time he wins something. He actually finished 4th at MLG. I wonder, though, where he might have finished if he hadn't started at the top. He impressed everyone with his "good manners." mmhmm. A certain someone knows how well mannered he really is, having, from the corner of his eye, caught some really nasty gestures executed by Incontrol in another MLG tournament. I'm sure inside he was raging, because he really needed a big win to prove himself. Guess 4th isn't too bad though even if he is Protoss.*rolls eyes*

Luckyfool, someone Avilo's played against in the DC LANs was there and both avilo and I wished him well; unfortunately, he lost in round 2 to Naama. :(   You always like to see those you feel you know more personally win big.

In most of the matches I've seen, as the commentators shouted out what each player was doing, I've wondered if the players can't hear them. Apparently, they can. At least Idra reported that he could. These casters really have to learn to speak in golfer commentators voices. Janitor is a good example of someone that can do that. He's capable of making the games just as exciting in what's called a "stage whisper." Maybe he can give lessons to the others.

The final exhausting day came and went, with some exciting and unexpected results - except for one that's pretty obvious. Wonder if you can pick it out. Here's the results:

NaNiwa	$5000  PROTOSS
KiWiKaKi	$3000  PROTOSS
Select	$2000  TERRAN
iNcontroL	$1400  PROTOSS
TLO	$1000  TERRAN ?
Socke	$700    PROTOSS
IdrA	$500    ZERG
mOoNan	$400    TERRAN