[Fiz]zle Cast

Korea: Changes to Pro-Gaming Tier Structure to be Implemented Next Season

2011-10-30T22:31:00.000-07:00

At the eSports capital in South Korea, home of GomTV and the Global Starcraft II League (GSL), changes are being made to the structure of qualifying pro-gamers into their "Code" ranking system and will be implemented as soon as the next coming season that will start in November. WaxAngel from TeamLiquid gives the full detail and scope of the changes being made to the Code S and Code A qualifying procedures in his original post found here.

For those of you new to Starcraft II eSports, the GSL is currently the highest league of competition for Starcraft II professional gaming. Code S is the highest rank achievable within this league and is recognized as the top players of the world. Code A is the tier directly below where most of the up-and-coming stars rise and fall. If you want to see the best of the best, the GSL is the place to watch the top 72 players in the world (32 Code S, 40 Code A).

Some of the major changes being made:

The new system has only the top eight players receiving seeds, while the remaining 24 get placed into progressively higher rounds of Code A depending on their performance.

With the Up-Downs supplying ten of the Code-S Spots this season, it needs to be elevated in status so it becomes its own unique entity, or rolled into Code A where it might get the high profile it deserves.

From WaxAngel on Team Liquid, full complete article here.

Rumors of Legacy Korean Brood War Teams Considering Switch to Starcraft II

2011-10-29T22:14:00.000-07:00

According to some translations of articles circulating Korea on Fomos (the e-sports "league" of Korea) and speculation from translators on TeamLiquid there is strong evidence that some of the Korean Starcraft: Brood War teams are taking Starcraft II into serious consideration. Most of the Legacy teams which are being left anonymous by Fomos have already begun preparations and training for Starcraft II. It has been revealed that teams like CJ, STX and SK have already made hardware changes to their equipment (source from Fomos). Most teams are reporting that many of their players are finding it an easy transition from BW to SCII. They report that most of their players are making it into Master's league naturally and believe that after enough time they will gain the experience needed to push into the GrandMasters.

Read more and discuss it on the original post from Team Liquid Forums.

"Final Metamorphosis" Sequel to Fan Made Starcraft 2 Cinematic "First Contact"

2011-10-29T21:58:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago Chris "Freespace" from Starcraft Legacy just released his completed sequel cinematic to his original "First Contact" calling this second episode "Final Metamorphosis". Quite an impressive feat of technical skill, story writing and animation this cinematic blew me away the first time I watched it. The effects are amazing and well worth the time to check out if you are a fan of Starcraft lore. Check out the video at sclegacy.com or find it on YouTube. If you haven't seen the first cinematic I recommend watching First Contact before; "First Contact" on YouTube.

Original post found on TeamLiquid.

HuskyStarcraft Stars in New Starcraft 2 Animated Series "Husky Tales" created by SaveAsAwesome

2011-10-27T18:38:00.000-07:00

Was browsing the forums and blogs on TeamLiquid today and came across this...

Husky Tales: Episode 1

Talk about AWESOME. First of all, I am a huge fan of HuskyStarcraft, and second, the animation is incredible for a fan-made series. If you have not seen this before I highly suggest you give it a peak! Check out the full post by Husky himself at TeamLiquid and check out the second episode there. The story line isn't the best and some of the scenes can come off corny but hey, entertainment comes at some costs and this one isn't that taxing on the brain compared to some of the other junk on the Internets.

Click here for Episode 2

Starcraft 2 PTR Patch 1.4.2 Released

2011-10-26T13:40:00.000-07:00

The Starcraft II Public Test Realms just came out with Patch 1.4.2 which included some surprising nerfs to Ghost's EMP radius as well as buffs to Protoss' forge upgrades. The updates look very promising to the current PvT imbalances with 1-1-1 Deathballs being extremely powerful on short rush distance maps and with no solid response from the Protoss community.

PROTOSS
Forge
The cost of Upgrade Shields Level 1 has been decreased to 150/150, down from 200/200.
The cost of Upgrade Shields Level 2 has been decreased to 225/225, down from 300/300.
The cost of Upgrade Shields Level 3 has been decreased to 300/300, down from 400/400.
The cost of Upgrade Ground Weapons Level 2 has been decreased to 150/150, down from 175/175.
The cost of Upgrade Ground Weapons Level 3 has been decreased to 200/200, down from 250/250.
The cost of Upgrade Ground Armor Level 2 has been decreased to 150/150, down from 175/175.
The cost of Upgrade Ground Armor Level 3 has been decreased to 200/200, down from 250/250.

TERRAN
Ghost
EMP radius has been decreased from 2 to 1.5

Now to clarify some math, the area of a circle is equal to πr^2, so although many people may be under presumption that the nerf is "only 25%", the actual area loss is equal to [(π(2^2)-π(1.5^2))/π(2^2)] or (4-2.25)/4 which equals a 43% decrease in EMP radius. In otherwords, EMP in 1.4.2 is 43% smaller or 57% of its original size.

Discuss the patch on TeamLiquid here.
http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/forum/topic/1213111662

Healthy Wednesdays: Take a Break!

2011-10-26T13:18:00.000-07:00

A healthy mind and body are essential in any sport and e-Sports is no exception. I have decided that every Wednesday I will try to promote one tip that all gamers should become familiar with and practice in order to stay healthy, fit, and on top of their game. Did you know that Starcraft pro gamers work out regularly as part of their professional training? If you are serious about getting good at any e-Sport game whether it is World of Warcraft Arenas, Call of Duty or Starcraft 2 you need to take care of your body before you expect it to perform at a professional level.

Today's tip is a broken record for most but still an essential baby step towards a healthier lifestyle for any gamer. One of the biggest health dangers we put ourselves in as amateur gamers is the extensive period of times we can spend sitting idly at our desktops game after game after game. If I am any sample of the population of gamers in the world I have had some times where I would easily sit for 6 hours straight grinding 3v3 matches on WoW, going on a SC2 ladder marathon, or playing games of DotA, LoL or HoN. It is so easy for us to get preoccupied with raising our MMR or practicing our PvP build that we forget how much time has actually passed. Many studies and even more studies have shown that sitting too long can be a major health risk and in some cases fatal.

You might be thinking, "Wow, I do the same thing... Where do I start?" Talking from experience, a simple behavior like this may seem easy to do but it is very easy to get sucked back into the virtual world and forget about taking a little break. Try to start by taking a short walk to the kitchen for water. If you drink a lot of water while you play you should try to get only half or quarter cup that way by the end of your next game you will need to go get more. Maybe you don't want to stop your team mates or friends from queuing, that's ok you can stand up at your desk and do some jumping jacks like Day[9]. The goal is to stop your body from sending harmful signals that result from excessive sedentary behavior.

Possible Diablo 3 Release Date Leaked

2011-10-24T14:30:00.000-07:00

According to some speculation by posters on Team Liquid, there has been a potential leak of the projected Diablo 3 release date based on some iffy screenshots of email correspondence between blogger daeity and his web programmer referred to as David of some leaked announcements for this year's Blizzcon 2011 (check the original thread here). Link to the photograph on imgur here. According to the image, the release date is November 24, 2011 with a backup release date set at January 17, 2012.

Stonecraft: TeamLiquid User Teaches us How to Make SC2 Sculptures.

2011-10-24T13:45:00.000-07:00

Team Liquid user and Deviant Artist DanielHetberg created a Ultralisk statue from scratch and even wrote up a guide on the Team Liquid blogs found here. The little statuette is amazing and very detailed, huge kudos to Daniel for his hard work! The closest thing I've made to a rock sculpture is a clay pot in middle school. I brought it home and showed it to my mom who took one look at it and put it up on our bookshelf to gather dust only to be thrown out the following spring cleaning. Any who, I think Blizzard should hire this guy to make 30,000 of these for next year's goodie bags. You only need to pump out about 100 a day, get to work!

Blizzcon 2011 Day 1 Recount!

2011-10-21T22:44:00.000-07:00

Earlier today...

It's only 3:40 PM and my legs are already killing me. Sitting in the loot elemental line which is taking forever. I figured it would be a great time to just sit down and type out some of my blog content on my iPod touch while waiting. So far I have spent most of the time enjoying all the vendor booths and checking out the games and contests being offered. My personal goal is to play every game at least once. It's been 7 hours since I walked through the doors and I have already mustered together a respectable loot stash.

As far as Blizzcon it has been very similar to last year with the set up, schedule and overall atmosphere of the convention halls. The highlight has definitely been the gaming stations loaded with the latest playable beta content for World of Warcraft, Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 Heart of the Swarm. The Heart of the Swarm unit updates is going to be extremely game changing, almost too game changing. I could not believe some of the new units and skills being added to the game will definitely lead to even more epic new strategies and matches within the pro league.

For now enjoy the photos of the venue, the awesome cosplay being shown off on the convention grounds as well as detailed descriptions of the event's activities and booths.

10:55PM Today: Finished uploading pictures, I will be posting all the awesome pictures through the next hour!

Blizzcon 2011 Post Navigation:
Blizzcon 2011 Swag and Loot
Blizzcon 2011 Eye Candy (Photoblog)
Blizzcon 2011 Booths, Games and Contests
Blizzcon 2011 Heart of the Swarm New Units

Blizzcon 2011 Goodie Bags Revealed!!!

2011-10-20T18:10:00.000-07:00

Being able to get my hands on a goodie bag early, I couldn't help but post the images and reveal the surprises Blizzard had in store for us attending Blizzcon 2011 this year! Click the image to read the full, picture full post on what is inside this years bag of mysteries! Warning, paper bag is recommended in close proximity to those susceptible to panic attacks when exposed to cool, geeky things.

MLG Anaheim 2011 Photos

2011-10-19T19:54:00.000-07:00

Just finished moving my Major League Gaming Pro Circuit Anaheim 2011 photographs over from the Team Liquid blog I had been using. If you are interested in some high quality picture of some visiting Korean Pro Gamers including most of Team SlayerS, MVP DongReGu, and IMMVP as well as some behind the scenes shots of a press shoot they had after the festivities check my gallery out by clicking the image.

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2011-01-01T20:22:00.000-08:00

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