Strictly Avilo - Terranman - Master of Mech

Thus far there's been several LAN tournaments at Cyberground, Fairfax, Va., that Avilo has entered. Some hosted by Hypercrew and some by DCLan. I'm pretty certain that Avilo has won five or six of them in a row now. Not to mention that he took second in the collegiate tournament in DC.

Tonight was another win for him.Yeah, he did his Bob the Builder build v Zerg, but whatever it takes to win, right? What amazed even the casters was that he finished a TvT in less then seven minutes.Okay, that's laugh out loud funny, because Mr. Terranman, Master of Mech, Avilo is known for turtling and thus causing excruciatingly long TvT games that impatient opponents cry about. What? What's that you say? Players other than Avilo whine? lol 

I just watched a replay of LzGamer v Avilo posted on his stream - and yeah, Gamer whined. "I'd rather lose the game than sit here wasting my time." One excuse is as good as another, I guess. Whatever!

Anyway, the DC LANs are great fun and the casters were awesome, as usual. Ipp from RageQuit TV, who has stated that Avilo is a "great player," commentated along with Janitor and Zyori from Hypercrew.

What really made the final games fun, was that in the semis Avilo faced off with Maestro - both Terran. But after Maestro lost the first two in a best of 5, he switched to Zerg in the third game figuring that that match would be Avilo's weakest. I know Avilo doesn't like playing Zerg, but in my opinion Protoss is his weakest.

Okay, I have to admit, Arkansassy had her fingers crossed, but Avilo finished up the game fast. He then moved  to the finals, where he faced Luckyfool, who not only organizes the DCLan, but is friendly with Avilo. Another TvT match.

But wait! What? After Avilo won the first two, Luckyfool switched to Protoss. OMG! I'm laughing now, but wasn't as I watched. Luckyfool knows Avilo's weakness is Protoss and guess because it was Luckyfool's birthday he wanted to celebrate with a win.

Something tells me that players in the DC area think they can't beat Avilo's Terran and they switch races? Luckyfool is an awesome Terran player and I don't think he should have switched, but oh well. Certainly now he'd win for sure. He came close a few times, but somehow Avilo, who's been trying different strats and builds to overpower Protoss, came out the victor.

Some Starcrafters like to throw insults at Avilo and tell him he sucks as a player. To those players all I can say is suck on this. Avilo is a winner! :)

The North American Starcraft League - Fact or Fiction

Obviously by now, you can tell I'm a SC2 fan. The game is exciting. Did I ever wish it would grow as big in North America as it is in Korea? Hell, yeah. It not only means that aspiring pro-gamers can earn money, but they can make the money doing what they enjoy doing. 

For weeks now a gamer by the name of Incontrol has been teasing players with an announcement so spectacular that SC2 gamers were abuzz. Finally, after much hype, the news was revealed. The NASL (North American Star League). What is it?  By most posts in the forums, I don't think anyone knows. What are its intentions? That too is unclear. When the people that run the show compare SC2 to basketball, they obviously don't know what the game is.  But it doesn't matter, because most hopeful pro-gamers won't even get the chance to shoot a hoop.

Can I just say (well I guess I can because it's my blog lol) I think it's a get rich quick scheme. Unfortunately, the only ones who are gonna make any money are the folks promoting this. They're going to sell their "live" games (which, according to the information I'm getting aren't live) to a bunch of idiots, who will purchase the games? 

Whoa! Excuse me, but when I buy a pay-per-view for let's say a championship boxing match (even that sport might relate to SC2 better than basketball) I'm watching it live. *shrugs* Okay, I don't get the meaning "live" as defined by the NASL.

What was really fun was when they posted a "Who's your favorite player" roster. Yeah people like you and me were able to vote for their favorite player. Wait a minute! Is the NASL going to have a league of "skilled" players or "popular" players? Or was this just a gimmick to acquire your email address? And if it is the latter, for what reason? 

I, for one, smell a rat. As a matter of fact, they claim that the roster they  posted was hacked. Unknown players were beating out well-known ones in popularity. How exciting to see your name on page one with thousands of votes. How disheartening to see your name disappear from the roster. "No way you could have that many votes."

Well, if you were out politicking - which unfortunately a person was forced to do by these standards - then, yes, it's possible. 

Avilo, whom I'll use as an example, because I know him personally, put himself out there. He hoped, like many others that he'd be chosen by the NASL. HA! It's all a sick joke. You vote for your favorite, but NASL already knows who they're going to choose for the league. The most "popular" gamers, not exactly the most skilled. Why else would Idra come back to America from Korea? Well, according to one poster, because he couldn't win a game in Korea and they don't want him anymore. Okay, I just laughed out loud.

Back on topic - The competition for the NASL isn't working your way in by winning games, it's if you're popular and on a team or have a sponsor. For the tens of thousands out there, who are excellent players, but aren't on a team and don't have a sponsor is their dream dead? Well, they've lost this round. 

Even though many people supported avilo - who is a skilled player and has won tournaments and even beaten a lot of the "popular" players - he was deleted from the roster. When he contacted the powers that be to find out why, he was told "it was an accident." They returned him to the roster with his plus 13,000 votes. Why? Because it doesn't matter. NASL knows who the chosen few are and as hopeful as he is that the NASL is on the level, he's not on their list of the elitist.  

And that, my friends, is life and other fantasies. :(

StarCraft2 and the Craftcup Tournament Fiasco

There’s been much ado since the avilo v beasty Starcraft2  game that took place on Wednesday, February 9, 2011, and for good reason. I, along with many others – even avilo haters (yeah, when you’re good, people who don’t even know you, hate you) were outraged at admins decision to disqualify avilo in game two, after he had already won v beasty in game one. 

Their first game Terran v Terran lasted 50 minutes. The commentators at ImbaTv, where I watched the stream, made it exciting. Then suddenly, the stream died. By the time it went back up they were broadcasting another game; however, the avilo v beasty game was still in progress. Yeah, it was a long 50 minutes. What I found humorous about avilo’s win, is that a commentator mentioned that when he talked to beasty, he was told “I never lose on Steppes of War.”  I guess the saying “Never say never” holds true. Lol

Gomas won his game and now the start of game two between avilo v beasty was about to begin, while Gomas waited in the wings. 

After a grueling long 50 minute first game, I have no doubt that both players were exhausted, as were the commentators and everyone else involved in the production. Several “immature” chat people thought it was funny to make insulting remarks about the game – especially avilo’s game style. (I’ll interject that this was the European Craftcup tournament and avilo being American was fair game.) Fortunately, he didn’t have to endure the slurs. For me, it was hard to take, and seeing as the moderators didn’t take exception to the slurs, I stopped reading chat and focused on the game. 

Avilo, known for “turtling” in some games, it appeared, was going to do it in this game. Although he was moving in on beasty, he wasn’t taking any chances. From what I could tell, beasty turned around and starting playing avilo’s game. In other words, he wasn’t making any moves that would progress the game. What he was doing was typing ingame outrageous insults toward avilo. Some of the viewers in chat and the commentators thought it was “funny.”  Beasty was, as it’s referred to in the StarCraft community as BM (being bad mannered) 

Guess the commentators had to jump on the bandwagon, as well. One in particular, made a joke along with a video of a person stumbling about like he was handicapped; however, the implication from the commentator was that the person was mentally challenged (except it wasn’t that nice) “like avilo.”  I didn’t hear that part; however, that’s what those who did hear stated. Other casters were expressing their boredom by commenting “I’m going to take a nap, wake me if this game ever ends.”  (I will say that, that caster at least had the balls to step up to the plate and admit an error in judgment by apologizing to avilo). Another apologized in the Craftcup forums for “yawning” during the game. 

After almost an hour the game was still going on, I left to get some water, returned, and learned that avilo had been DQd (disqualified).  There was rage in chat and when I logged into the TeamLiquid forum, there were posts galore at the unfairness. People, who hate avilo’s play style, were defending him. 

At this point all I knew was that avilo’s opponent dropped out of the game without saying anything to avilo. He just disappeared. Then I learned that avilo refused a regame. Slowly the information was coming in as to what actually transpired; much too slow for this girl’s impatience. My head was about to burst from rage. How did this happen? How could it happen? WTF HAPPENED??????

I don’t know beasty, but I do know avilo. He can be bad mannered and, yes, he turtles in some games. Players do whatever they can legally do to win the game. There are far worse bad mannered players than avilo and I’m sure that being bad mannered is them mostly kicking themselves in the butt for making a wrong decision, a bad build, a stupid move, for losing – period.  Good players get angry with themselves and tend to take it out on their opponents. At least that’s what I want to believe; otherwise it’s just vicious attacks and poor sportsmanship. That’s what I had to make myself believe about Idra, one of the top StarCraft players. He absolutely rages when he loses. 

Avilo isn’t a nobody in StarCraft. He’s not a noob. He’s been playing long and hard since its inception and has played other video games before that. His only goal, even going through college (a mistake, but that’s another story) was to be a pro gamer. He’s a hardcore StarCraft player, who is dedicated to the game. He ranks 30 or 50 in the United States and I think somewhere around 150 or 200 in the world. He’s around 3700 in the Master League. That’s not crap! 

So what happened? Why was  avilo DQd? In my opinion and the opinion of many others, because of bad judgment on the part of administration.  The game was going too long. It was getting late. Gomas was waiting to play the victor be it avilo or beasty. Admin made some ludicrous suggestion that they play the game again, but had to choose a different race. Avilo didn’t go for that, of course. Who would?  Mind you the game was already approaching the hour mark. 

There was nothing in the Craftcup rules and regulations to cover a “too long game” situation. There are rules regarding stalemates, which wasn’t the case here. Avilo led in some areas, beasty in others. As I see it, avilo could have taken that game. 

When the admins told avilo to “leave the game,” he responded, “I’m ready to wrap this game up.”

If admins were able to think under pressure they would have said, “You’ve got another 10/15 minutes to prove it.”  What they did, however, was DQ him for not leaving the game and refusing a rematch. Totally bad judgment on their part. Excruciatingly painful for a player, who had just put in an additional hour game time immediately following a 50 minute game. 

Since then, it’s my understanding,  the people at Craftcup have established a new rule that covers long games. They’re now giving the players a warning. Does that help avilo? No. Does it make him feel wonderful to learn afterwards how he was being bashed by not only his opponent but by some in the chat and by the casters as well? No. But avilo has and always will persevere. He’s a fighter, who has struggled through many an obstacle to get where he is now. Above all, he’s an honorable man, who believes in fairness, who has the balls to apologize when he’s made an error in judgment. 

Now several reasons I believe avilo – who has moved past this fiasco – deserves an apology:

1. There were no rules set in place to cover games running overtime.

2. He deserved the right to “wrap up” the game and was not afforded the time to prove he would.

3. Admin was being hard-nosed and made a bad decision in not allowing x amount of minutes to finish the game.

4. Commentators on ImbaTv were disrespectful and rude.

As an aside and my rant: For those of you who posted on TeamLiquid that  Craftcup isn’t exactly the MLG or GSL, guess what? To some players every game is important and has nothing to do with the monetary value. You’re idiots! You’re the same morons that play “Follow the leader,” because you don’t have the brains or the balls to stand up for yourself. “If (insert well known popular player here) hates avilo then it must be the thing to do.” You’re simply pathetic. And for the idiot who can’t admit he was wrong and only offers dumb excuses (won’t mention any names, but his initials are J.R.) grow some balls, dude.