Starcraft 2 Thoughts: PvP builds

A very intersting PvP build from Duckvillelol, cast by Tumbastarcraft.

This Build is still clearly in the developing stages, the Phoenix give early map control so an early cross map 3rd would make sense IMO, plus help with gas income, which is a limiting factor.

Cannon for delay defense at both locations, ie to buy time for warp ins & Phoenix to defend, I also think getting more gateways than normal and warping in at needed location might be useful.  More like a Zerg making units when they scout attack coming in.

Starcraft 2 Skills: To Defeat an Enemy, use their Strength against them

QxG.Destiny(Z) v Katari(P) - Shakuras Plateau - 3.30.2012

In this game, Destiny vs Katari, cast by Ipp from RageQuitTV, you will see one one GM player uses his opponents strength against him.  ^_^

Thundertoss Top 200 KOTH (King of the Hill)

Thundertoss' weekly Top 200 King of the Hill continues, showing the top players duking it out in a King of the Hill format.


Stream: http://ascendtv.com


When: 10:30 KST/03:30 CEST/Fri 21:30 EDT/Fri 18:30 PDT

Casters:  Ascend & Thundertoss

Replays:  http://top200koth.blogspot.com/ (See Replay Packs on left side of that page)

Format:  Top 200 Players (Grandmaster priority, top Masters permitted)

Prizes:

• $20 for each 5 wins.
• $10 for dethroning a 5+ win player.
• $10 for "Match of the Night"

Players: join the chat channel "top200koth" on the NA server, and send a message to Thundertoss.

Thread: Top 200 KOTH (with prize $$!)

dtGSickness is streaming

Edited to add, idk what happened his stream was up but then went down T_T

Stream:  http://ko.twitch.tv/nexsickness

lot of people still think of him as NextSickness

HwangSin is Streaming

Go HwangSin!!!!

Stream:  http://www.twitch.tv/hwangsin

WWSpades vs coLMinigun Showmatch Bo5

Every Thursday Night @ 9PM Eastern, SCShout and Gamer University will bring you two grandmaster players who will face off in a Bo5 Showmatch casted by FireFlash of Gamer University and It's GoSu. Players in the Bo5 will be playing on the MLG Map Pool.


Winner takes home $100

WWSpades vs coLMinigun


Stream:  http://www.twitch.tv/scshout

Thread: WWSpades vs. coLMinigun $100 Bo5 Showmatch

Rainbow vs Zephyr

Rainbow vs Zephyr cast by Crota

Game 2 || Game 3

HwangSin Streaming ladder

<333 HwangSin

Stream:  http://www.twitch.tv/hwangsin

Code S Korean player sCfOu (T) vs SEA player ttPiG (Z)

sCfOu vs ttPiG cast by c0mmissar1

For more information on sCfOu, currently on Team MvP, click TL player info or Fan Club.  He has had some major health problems.

For my Australian followers, PiG needs no introduction, for people not familiar with SEA PiG is one of the Top Australian players.  He is popular in Australia.

His stream http://www.twitch.tv/ttpig & http://sea.battle.net/sc2/en/profile/387366/1/TtPiG/

Nerd News: "Sony tries cutting off homebrew exploits, takes down Vita game downloads"

From Ars, "Sony tries cutting off homebrew exploits, takes down Vita game downloads", Hackers have been using vulnerabilities in some downloads for the PSP, to install programs not approved by Sony.

If your not familiar with Ars, well you should be if you aspire to being a true Nerd, they are a sister company with Reddit, but more grownup IMO ^_^

Always read the comments on any article that your interested in on Ars, a lot of hard core Nerds read & comment on Ars.

Lot of times you will get game developers, IT Admins, Engineers, & Ph.D Scientists, etc all commenting.

A very large knowledge base!

Idra vs BounD

EG.IdrA vs BounD, on Entombed Valley, cast by Ipp from RageQuitTV.

Replay of this game at http://drop.sc/144693

Some of my comments, with spoilers, below the VOD.



I have thought for a while that Zerg is the strongest race in Starcraft 2.

I think once Zerg players figure out how to effectively use and coordinate their units and structures, Blizzard will probably have to nerf Zerg a fair bit.

I think this game provides some support for those opinions of mine, even though Idra made several strategic mistakes in this game, he still won pretty easily, his Protoss enemy made some mistakes, but they were far less obvious.  At least to me.

I don't think Idra fully understands yet, or perhaps he understands but doesn't have his build refined yet, using Mass Broodlords with Spine & Spore support.

I have covered this a bit already in Starcraft 2 Thoughts: Broodlords Support units Part 1 (ZvT focus) and in Starcraft 2 Thoughts: Broodlord Support Units Part 2 (ZvP focus).

Some of the keys points that I feel Idra missed, some which I have mention in previous posts, and some I have discussed with other players & coaches.

Not in any particular order, Idra should have done the following, in addition to the things he did correctly:

1. Expand TOWARDS the enemy, just like Meching Terran, for the same reasons a Meching Terran does it.  This keeps your newest & most important mining base as the most protected, because it is close to your powerful but slow moving Army.   This also makes your defense more cost effective, because your bases have less surface area.
2. More Queens for Transfuse and Creep spread.  This would make mass Broodlord with Spine & Spore support a LOT more efficient.
3. Nydus for defense and rapid support at the front, also to cross connect bases.
4. Massing Overseers for Contaminate of key enemy production structures!!!
5. Possibly Hydras, with Creep they are as fast as Stimmed Marines & Maruaders, with Nydus they can move from one side of the map to another instantly.  They also shoot up and down, so they can help defend Broodlords.  Also vs Protoss they dominate everything except for Colossus or HT with Storm, so after a big fight, Hydras will tend to dominate remaining Protoss Army, if you focus down Protoss Colossus & HT with Broodlords, the Hydras will clean everything else up! 
6. To many Infestors, Queens & Hydras are a better use of your supply.
7. Combined Harassment with Overseers + Nydus +Hydra/Ling 

 What should the Protoss player have done?  That is not so clear to me yet.

Some things worth trying:

1. Sentries and Hallucinate, I am not saying this because it was Idra, I think using them as a damage buffer, and to draw Fungals & Neural Parasite to waste Infestor energy.  As well as Guardian Shield & Hallucinated Phoenix scouting
2. Two or three Warp Prisms, with Prism Speed upgrade, one of the standard counters to a Meching Terran is drop play.  I think a Pair of HT for Storm Drops with an Immortal is best.  Immortal to provide Roach and Structure killer with Zealot warp in support, and when HT out of energy you could make them into an Archon.  One Immortal and one Archon with Zealots warped in, would be good at killing Zerg tech structures.  You could just do 2 HT and round of Zealot warp ins, and run away with Prism and HT.
3. More Observers.
4. With the additional Observers, and better Scouting, including Hallucinated Phoenix, Drops could be a lot more effective!  Know were critical tech structures and in base defenses are located.
5. Put down a Proxy Nexus or Assimilators at Zerg's likely 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc expos.  This will delay Zerg's Teching.  I really like putting Assimilators on all the gas at say 3rd & 4th, or 4th & 5th.  They only cost 75 Minerals each, but have 900 total HP + shield.  This also provides more Scouting information, and if Zerg is lazy, may pull whole army or big portion (ie One whole hotkey) to kill them.  Creating opening for a drop or attack from your main Army.

HwangSin vs Col.Nada

HwangSin vs Nada cast by MrLlama.

I am a big fan on HwangSin <333

I am also a fan of MrLlama, thought I only discovered him a few weeks ago, I immediately started following his http://www.youtube.com/user/MrLlamaSC if you ask me I would say you should to ^_^

HSM Easter 2012: Boyostarcraft

Boyostarcraft is in the Holiday Show Match (HSM) Easter 2012, click link for more information on the showmatch, but this Blog post is about Boyo.

Boyostarcraft is a top level GM NA Protoss player, he is a member of Team Epidemic, formally eP (Eternal Plague), though not widely know among fans yet, he is certainly known to many of the Pro Gamers.

I have seen him on Thundertoss' Top 200 KOTH a few times.  Thunders' Top 200 is a King of the Hill format for Top 200 GM's.

Lately, Boyo has been practicing with Team EG (Evil Geniuses), he practiced with Desrow before Desrow went to Korea.

More on Boyo:

• Boyo's Official site
• Teamliquid thread about featuring Boyo 
• Boyo's Stream
• Boyo's Gaming PC
• Replays

More on the HSM (Holiday Show Match):
Cliff's Blog Post
Teamliquid Thread HSM

HwangSin streaming!

HwangSin fighting!


Stream:  http://www.twitch.tv/hwangsin

Nerd News: Forbes on Android & iPhone Hacking

Some of my Nerd friends like to make fun of my Blackberry, they think I don't understand how Android is a better phone for Computer Geeks.  A few will argue for iPhone.

I'll admit the Apple Eco system has far more games, and other Apps, so I am looking at an iPod Touch for fun & games, while I keep important information on my Blackberry.

I think Android fans should read this article, and think about all the security issues with Android apps.

If you still want to use Android, that is fine with me, I just want you to be fully informed!


From Forbes,

Set your iPhone to require a four-digit passcode, and it may keep your private information safe from the prying eyes of the taxi driver whose cab you forget it in. But if law enforcement is determined to see the data you’ve stored on your smartphone, those four digits will slow down the process of accessing it by less than two minutes.

They also had this VOD embedded:


For more posts on security issues click security, that link can also be found in Label Cloud at left side of blog, there are also Label(s) at bottom left of every post, so you can easily find posts similar to any you like, not all Labels are in the Cloud at left due to space restrictions.

Nerd Gear: NSA builds Android phone for top secret calls & so can you?

I saw this article from SC Magazine,  about the US Government building secure phones with off the shelf Android components.

The NSA page about the secure phones with Secure VoIP is here http://www.nsa.gov/ia/programs/mobility_program/index.shtml

While this PDF spells out the requirements http://www.nsa.gov/ia/_files/Mobility_Capability_Pkg_%28Version_1.1U%29.pdf

Supposedly anyone could build something similar from these specifications, though I think it would take a bit of work, a certain minimum skill level, not to mention some specific knowledge and funds.

Also a key part to this working with Android phones is a clean vetted app store, not sure how many people would have one of those in their basement.

But I am sure some computer, Ham, & cryptography geeks will try their hands at this.

Starcraft 2 Skills: Don't pull an Infested Terran!

Alternate Title:  You have to beat yourself, before you can beat the enemy ^_^

In case you didn't know, when their timer runs out, Infested Terrans shoot themselves in the head T_T


This game, Liquid.Jinro(T) v aLive.PS(P), cast by Ipp, from RagequitTV, shows a player doing just that.

Replay:  http://drop.sc/141283

WhiteRa vs Devil

I like the Special Tactics WhiteRa uses in this PvZ game ^_^

Nerd News: Military Robots & Gamer Controls

I noticed in this VOD that the controllers for the robots looked like they came from Gaming Consoles, and I can't help but wonder if that is because the designers felt users would be familiar with them, that the designers were used to them, or that they are actually an efficient UI for military robots?

For the two people that read my blog that don't know what console controllers look like here are links to Xbox controller and PS3 controller.

iRobot Military Robot VOD from TechnoBuffalo.  Note, can't find current link to iRobot military line, looks like they might have removed that from public view after getting contract with US military.

Iron Squid #8: MC vs Symbol; Mvp vs Idra; Mvp vs MC (NA)

What:  Iron Squid #8: MC vs Symbol -|- Mvp vs Idra -|- Mvp vs MC (NA)


When:  10:00 KST/03:00 CEST/Mon 21:00 EDT/Mon 18:00 PDT

Streams:  

• English Cast : TotalBiscuit & Apollo on http://www.teamliquid.net/video/streams/IronSquid
• French Cast : Pomf & Thud on http://www.teamliquid.net/video/streams/IronSquidTV

Kings of Tin: eP Gimix

KOT is live right now, 18:20 CDT Mar 26, 2012

Stream:  http://www.twitch.tv/onemoregametv

IPL Fightclub: Violet vs TheStC

IPL Fightclub 13: Violet vs TheStc, from IGNProLeague


Game 2 || Game 3 || Game 4 || Game 5 || Game 6 || Game 7 || Game 8

IPL Fight Club: Kiwikaki vs Sheth VOD's

I watched this series live, I remember because they had some real problems with the cast, power went out for their whole building.  Was back in Dec 2011 IIRC, good series though.

Game 2 ||  Game 3 ||  Game 4 ||  Game 5 ||  Game 6 ||  Game 7 

PSA: Highspeed Face Recognition

New very high speed face recognition from, Hitachi Kokusai Electric, company link here.


Full story at Dig Info TV

Surveillance Camera System Searches Through 36 Million Faces In One Second

This seems scary to me from the privacy aspect, specially when you realize that this technology probably can be used with Spy satellites, planes, and RPV.

 It is one thing to know your on surveillance cameras on occasion during the day, but a much different issue IMO when they can track everything you do, this seems to me to be far to easy to be abused.

If one political group for instance, gains enough power to control such a system, it would provide them with an easy way to track and disrupt competing political parties.

I think one of the strengths of democratic government is that it tends to be weak government, compared to more authoritarian forms of government, so democratic governments do less harm when they do wrong.

On the positive side, I would like this as a security/password application for my laptop, tablet, and Blackberry though, if the software side of it was secure.

No more needing to remember passwords, or needing to change passwords all the time.

To see more Public Service Annoucnements posts click PSA, that label can also be found at the left side in the Label Cloud.

Nerd News: Autonomous Super Soaker Squirrel Suppression

Full story at I Programer.

Fair notice, this is more of a Computer Geek VOD on how to make your own system, than lots of Super Soaker action on the Squirrels.

If you just want to see the Squirrels getting hit jump to about 16:00 on the VOD.

Also note this is sorta the Beta version, the designer admits he needs a more powerful squirt gun and a larger water reservoir. 

This is really cool though IMO, and the designer is using open source software, and clearly outlines what he did so if you want to give it a try yourself should be pretty easy.

Morrow vs Hasuobs

I am definitely on a Morrow kick right now, so here is another Morrow game.

Morrow vs HasuObs, practice game from Red Bull LAN Orlando, cast by djWheat & Day9

A comment with spoiler below VOD



I am really liking Morrow's recent play.

I am big fan of Nydus play, part of the reason I like players like Morrow, Violet, & Zinger, is because they use Nydus play in a sophisticated, thoughtful fashion, not always just trying to sneak a Nydus into the enemy's base.

Morrow really shows that he is thinking about what he is doing with the Nydus in this game, he actually cancels his Nydus in this game to have more resources to defend the big push by HasuObs.

The Executives #4: The Business of Being TotalBiscuit

Episode #4 is my favorite episode to date of The Executives.

For more on The Executives:

• VOD: All VODs will be hosted HERE.
• MP3: Here | iTunes | RSS
• Official Team Liquid Thread: HERE

This is the Microphone Totalbiscuit mentions AFAIK Samson CO1U USB Condenser Microphone

LiquidHaypro vs EternalSword

Haypro vs Sword cast by Duckvillelol




Spoiler Warning.

More Nydus, maybe a Trend?

If you want to see more Nydus play and discussion click Nydus.

That link can also be found in the Label Cloud at left side of Blog.

Go4SC2cup monthly final: roxkisTITAN vs AcerNerchio

T1TAN vs Nerchio, in a Bo5 series cast by MrLlamaSC

Game 2 || Game 3  ||  Game 4  ||  Game 5

WhiteRa vs Goswser

WhiteRa vs Goswser cast by HuskyStarcraft

A couple of my comments with Spoilers below the VOD




Special Tactics.

I am not sure if I would call this cheese or not.  Part of the problem is what does Cheese mean?

I usually consider something Cheese in SC2 if it is an all in, the is an auto lose if it is scouted or defended properly.

So a Cannon rush isn't always Cheese the way I look at it, because you can use a Cannon Rush or Harass as part of a Forge Fast Expand (FFE), in which case it is clearly not cheese IMO, because your using it to cover your early expo at your Natural.

But if you do a 1 Base all in Cannon Rush I would call that Cheese.

Without some testing, I am not sure if a Forge Fast Expand into Carriers vs Zerg is an auto lose if scouted and defended correctly buy Zerg.

Because if the Carriers stay on defense behind Cannon with a little Sentry, for Guardian Shield, or Stalker support they should be strong vs anything from Zerg that was not all inish from Zerg.

Something I will Test, I know Carrier Colossus is a strong combo, though Protoss would need something to deal with the Corrupters from Zerg then.

TriMaster is streaming!

Go TriMaster http://www.twitch.tv/colTriMaster

LiquidHaypro vs aliveSE

LiquidHaypro vs aliveSE cast by Duckvillelol

Computer Geek Dream Job?

"Meet The Hackers Who Sell Spies The Tools To Crack Your PC (And Get Paid Six-Figure Fees)" full story at Forbes:

Bekrar won’t detail Vupen’s exact pricing, but analysts at Frost & Sullivan, which named Vupen the 2011 Entrepreneurial Company of the Year in vulnerability research, say that Vupen’s clients pay around $100,000 annually for a subscription plan, which gives them the privilege of shopping for Vupen’s techniques.

Note that $100k just lets you see the catolog, doesn't actually pay for any product, from what the story suggests the products can easily cost more than $100k.

What surprised me, is that this is legit, or so the story says, I don't understand how that can be, since they are hacking one company's products for other companies & governments.

A very interesting article.

Learning Starcraft 2: Superior Nydus Play

I have been waiting for a long time for a pro to start using Nydus in a more correct fashion, instead of the cheesy sneak them into enemy's base, they should be used for Logistics (ie Unit Movement & Mobility) and Macro (Economy/Drones), and offensively to delay Expos, as well as spread creep, and gain map vision, especially with extra Queen or two that hope through and plant a Creep Tumor.

This practice game:  Morrow vs SaSe showcases some of the real fundamentals of correct Nydus play IMO.

If more Zerg start doing this, Terran & Protoss will have to start doing far more active scouting, much earlier in the game.

Nerd News: Korean Scene preparing for Brood War Switch

CSN's latest Blog post in case you missed it,

It's a question that has been looming over the StarCraft 2 scene for as long as the game has existed: Are the Brood War players coming?

Of course, it isn't just the players that we should be expecting; KeSPA, OGN, and the Brood War teams are all well established organizations that could have a significant impact on StarCraft 2 in Korea and abroad. Many have predicted what might happen if top tier Brood War players switched to the sequel en masse, such as in TeamLiquid's well known "Elephant In the Room" article. However, teams, players, and organizations have also begun to discuss what a switch might mean for them.

In an interview with ThisIsGame translated on TeamLiquid, Coach Won from StarTale, Mr. Chae from GOMTV, and Lim Jae Duk (IMNestea) discussed the likely switch of Brood War teams.

Click for the rest of Korean Scene preparing for Brood War Switch, by csn_jorge.

Gratz & Thanks for a Great Event to "The Real Champions of the Lone Star Clash"

Maestro, posted the snippet below & more on the TL Thread:  The Real Champions of the Lone Star Clash,

This huge success featured 16 heroes of StarCraft II from all over the globe gathering in the UT SAC building at Austin, Texas: Destiny, Polt, NonY, Stephano, White-Ra, Dragon, Heavens, DeMusliM, iNcontroL, State, SeleCT, BlinG, Grubby, Sleep, Hawk, and viOLet. However, what goes unnoticed is the crew behind the magic in creating this truly historic tournament. What people need to understand is that this was created with an extremely low budget and almost entirely by UNDERGRADUATE COLLEGE STUDENTS who voluntarily contributed months of work.

Lone Star Clash VOD

Lone Star Clash Invitational Tournament, thanks to TeSPA, CSN, and Quantic

I haven't seen any youtube casts of the Lone Star Clash yet, but they have TwitchTV VOD's up.

These are all in one VOD's, I have listed length (time) for each, hope this helps all the people that end up on my site looking for these replays.

Day 1 http://www.twitch.tv/lonestarclash/b/311964215 [Time 12:12:26]
Day 2 http://www.twitch.tv/lonestarclash/b/312086279 [Time 13:16:15]

For other replays on my Starcraft 2 Blog, click replays, that link can also be found in the Label Cloud at left side of blog.

Nerd News: Europe moving 60 ms closer to Japan with new undersea cables

Go Internets!

Full story on Ars, but short version is Global warming is making it practical to lay cables through Northwest Passage.

So as the seas rise, and atmo becomes toxic to O2 breathers, see Under A Green Sky for more on air problems with Climate Change, the survivors in their bunkers, will still be able to do serious gaming!

Team LXG in The Legion Team League Season 1 Lower Division Finals

Tonight LXG plays XO Gaming in the playoff's of The Legion Team League!

When:  7pm EST

Stream:  http://www.twitch.tv/therealnanman/

If they win they will be in the grand finals Thursday

For more information see TL thread http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=296723
includes Brackets & Standings for all divisions & regions.

Haypro vs April

Haypro (Z) vs April (Z) cast by Ipp, from RageQuitTV.

A nice little gem of a game!

IMBADUDE vs TypeReaL cast by Duckvillelol

Trust me on this, watch the game to the very end, not when you think it is over, wait until you see the GG!

I laughed so hard at the end, I woke up my gf in the other room ^_^

WhiteRa vs Stephano Showmatch VOD

Stephano vs WhiteRa VOD's cast by Crota. 

I believe this is the SXSW Bo9 Showmatch between Stephano & WhiteRa.

I am not sure if Crota has these in correct order, he had some confusion about it., Game 1 is embedded below, and I have the links for the other games in the order Crota has his casts labeled.

Game 2  ||  Game 3  ||  Game 4  ||  Game 5 (he says Game 4 at beginning but is labeled as G5)  ||  Game 6

Minigun & Destiny both streaming Practice vs each other

Been to long since I seen this!

Sounds like Catz in on Skype with them to, but I don't see him streaming.

Yeah looks like Catz is playing some game to, bet he isn't streaming.

http://www.own3d.tv/live/153518/Destiny

http://www.twitch.tv/colminigun

Sickness streaming!

Go Sickness!

http://www.twitch.tv/nexsickness

HSM Easter 2012: Boyo vs Zinger

Holiday Show Match (HSM) Easter 2012: Boyo (P) vs Zinger (Z) in a Bo7

The HSM is a new series of SC2 Showmatches sponsored by Cliff's Esports Corner & NanMan, we plan to have HSM for the holidays every year, we have at least three more planned this year.

Prize Pool for the first HSM is $75, we are following Totalbicuit's model, so the winner will receive $50 and the loser will receive $25

Since HSM is a holiday event, the show will be cast from replays, we would would prefer a live event, just like you do.

But this way the players are free to spend the holidays with family and friends, and everyone can still enjoy the HSM over the holiday, when there are not many Starcraft 2 events.

NanMan will cast live (ie he will not have seen games ahead of time) Friday, and we plan to have the VOD's up by the next day.

I will blog more about the players, both are strong GM players, they are not as well know as they should be, yet!


Stream:  http://www.twitch.tv/therealnanman/

Caster:  NanMan

Date:  April 6, 2012

Time:  20:00 [8:00 pm] EDT

VOD's:  http://www.youtube.com/user/NanMan/

More Information:

• http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=322312 
• HSM Easter 2012:  Boyostarcraft

Learning Starcraft 2: Accepting Failure

As I have mentioned before, I am a Technical writer, I learned from Jerry Pournell years ago, that to succeed at writing, or anything, you had to be willing to accept failure.

Today I found another author, Matt de la Peña, who says the say thing, but with a personal story that I think most Nerd's can related to, I certainly can, though in my case it was flowers and not a poem.

Matt de la Peña's words:

He told them that if they were serious about writing, they had to be ready to accept lots of failure. He once wrote a poem for a girl he liked, but after reading it, she never spoke to him again. His goal as a writer, he said, “is to give grace and dignity to people from the other side of the tracks.” 

~from page two http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/19/education/racial-lens-used-to-cull-curriculum-in-arizona.html

I blogged this on Cliff's Book Review Corner,  you can find links to the book and the author there if your interested.

But I think the key point for gamers, the ones that really want to succeed, is that using the excuse of failure is just that, an excuse.

Failure is not a reason for a lack of success. 

It is simply one of the obstacles on the path to accomplishment.

No one accomplishes everything the first time they try, or the 100 time they try.

I will certainly talk more about this in the future, as well as how this ties in with Romantic pursuits.

For more posts on Learning Starcraft 2, just click Learning SC2, that Label can also be found in Label Cloud at left side of blog.

Sluggy Freelance, Awesome online Comic

If you have never hear of, or read, Sluggy Freelance, you don't know what your missing.

Warning: this comic has a lot of Violence, I would say it is PG-13/R on violence.

I suggest just jumping in at the beginning http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=970825
for the immersive approach.


But if you want a lot of background you can look at the Sluggy Freelance New Viewer's Guide or  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sluggy_Freelance.

I have been reading Sluggy for years, I appreciate the wit, the parody, and Bun Bun's ongoing war with Santa Claws.

I also really like The Evil (aka Satan's Kittens).

Lone Star Clash: Grubby vs Sleep next!

Grubby vs Sleep next.

Go Sleep!!!



Brackets:

• http://cyber-sports.net/brackets/21471
• http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Lone_Star_Clash#Bracket

More information & links Lone Star Clash:  Gauntlet of Champions.

Lone Star Clash: Gratz to Stephano

Stephano beat Polt in a Bo3, but could still face Polt in the Grand Finals.

See Brackets for details.


Brackets:

• http://cyber-sports.net/brackets/21471
• http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Lone_Star_Clash#Bracket

For more information, Lone Star Clash: Gauntlet of Champions.

Lone Star Clash: Real impressed with HeavensLight performance!!!

More info on Heavens http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/sc2-international/players/3664_HeavOnEarth
and his team LighT eSports http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/sc2-international/teams/229_LighT_eSports

And also http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Heavens

He is on the University of Houston CSL SC2 team.

He 2-0 Select in a Bo3, with some truly impressive play.

GG WP!

I will be following HeavensLight.

Shoutouts to Samscraft & Urbzie for finding the info on Heavens for me.  Thanks <3

An Interesting Stephano vs Roxkis T1TAN game

Mill Stephano vs Roxkis T1TAN cast by Ipp, from RageQuitTV. 

Replay of this game, that Ipp always provides for the VOD's he casts.

This isn't the typical type of game that you see from Stephano.  To see more games by T1TAN, click Titan, for more on Stephano click Stephano, both of those links can be found in Label Cloud at left side of Blog.

Nanman Live now with the Playhem Sponsor Me Tournament!

http://www.twitch.tv/therealnanman

Go Doc!

NanMan, the caster, is asking for suggestions for people/games you want cast from this Playhem event.

For more info on the event see below:

"Sponsor Me!" Tournament (Hosted by Playhem)

Have you ever wanted to be the pro with the awesome sponsor at a major professional gaming tournament? Do you want the chance to play with superstar Starcraft 2 player Aleksey “White Ra” Krupnyk and hang out with him afterwards? Well, here is your chance. Next Saturday (March, 17th) Playhem will be giving anyone who wants it, a shot to get sponsored. The winner will be completely covered to compete at IPL4 in Las Vegas. That’s right, we’re covering the winner’s airfare, lodging, and entry fee, just for winning this two-day tournament.

Saturday March 17th (Through Ro32)
Sunday March 18th (Ro16 - Grand Finals)

Site: http://www.teamliquid.net/video/streams/PlayhemTV

Thread: "Sponsor Me!" Tournament (Hosted by Playhem)

Lone Star Clash: Gauntlet of Champions

Lone Star Clash:  Gauntlet of Champions, a truly impressive event, I am really looking forward to this!!

When:  Saturday March 17, 2012 at 23:50 KST/15:50 CET/10:50 EDT/07:50 PDT

Stream:

• All Streams:  http://www.twitch.tv/team/lonestarclash
• Main Stream:  http://www.twitch.tv/lonestarclash   
• Second Stream: http://www.twitch.tv/lonestarclash2
• Third Stream:  http://www.twitch.tv/lonestarclash3

Official Site: http://studentorgs.utexas.edu/tespa/lonestarclash.html 

Casters: MrBitter, RotterdaM, Axeltoss

Pro Players: Polt, Stephano, WhiteRa, NonY, Destiny, Dragon, DeMusliM, iNcontroL, State, SeleCT, SjoW, Sleep, Violet, and more!

Brackets:  http://cyber-sports.net/brackets/21471

Universities: see this thread scroll to Universities


The Lone Star Clash: Gauntlet of Champions aims to bring together two huge e-sports demographics in a way that has never been done before. There will be two parallel brackets: the Collegiate StarLeague Southern Regional Playoff Qualifier event and a 16-person pro-player invitational event. We hope to foster the growth of the e-sports scene by bringing together the relentless passion of the collegiate gaming community and the unparalleled following of the professional world.

The Texas e-Sports Association, Quantic Gaming, and Cyber Sports Network are proud to offer a staggering prize pool of $10,000 for the professional invitational. The collegiate bracket will offer a prize pool of $1,500. On top of this, a multitude of quality prizes and products will be given away through raffles, contests, and completion of real-life achievements, both in-person AND online. The event will also feature additional open fighting game style tournaments for four titles with separate prize pools.









About Cyber Sports Network
The Cyber Sports Network (CSN) is a dedicated organization of gaming enthusiasts and professional administrators working to support and provide for the fast-growing esports community. Built from the ground up, CSN's online tournament platform has been designed, tested, and fine-tuned to facilitate competitive game play with integrity and ease. Using the newest technology and input from professionals and the community, CSN has created a competitive environment that caters to all levels of player. The Cyber Sports Network is committed to continued product improvement with additional tournament and league features added on a regular basis.
With an ever-growing list of personalities and perspectives becoming relevant to the esports community, CSN has recognized the need for consistent, high-quality, in-depth coverage across all games and regions. CSN's media coverage includes interviews, house tours, event showcases, player and personality profiles, headline investigations, and more.
Cyber Sports Network is committed to supporting the esports community, players, casters, and fans alike, as competitive gaming grows in popularity and matures into mainstream media.
About Quantic Events
Quantic Gaming, LLC (Houston, TX USA) is a revolutionary eSports, new media, and brand representation organization that is building bridges between the competitive gaming establishment through professional management, and utilization of new media platforms. Quantic Gaming fields numerous competitive gaming teams, with presences in a variety of games including StarCraft 2, Call of Duty and Battlefield.
As a subsidiary of Quantic Gaming, "Quantic Events" is home to some of eSports' most experienced organizers, offering professional planning and event management. Quantic Events aims to engage fans, both in-person and online, in unique and interactive ways.
About Collegiate StarLeague
The CSL uses South Korea's Starcraft "Proleague" as a model for its format, pitting teams against each other on a weekly basis. We've come a long way in our first year. Twenty-five teams participated in the inaugural season of CSL. Fifty-four teams and nearly four hundred players duked it out in season two. The third season featured over seventy teams, and we saw the fiercest competition yet in Season 4, in which over one-hundred forty teams battled it out for the first time in StarCraft II. Today, we have over two-hundred forty schools ready to play for Season 5. We have a re-vamped website, better coverage, and much more broadcasting lined up this season.
Our shared dream of introducing e-Sports to North America is only just beginning. The CSL is merely a small step in the process of creating enough excitement and passion for e-Sports to fill stadiums, be broadcast on television, and ultimately become a part of mainstream culture.

Gaming Jobs: Blizzard is looking for some people

Forgot to give shoutout to Joofro for the heads up on this, thanks Bro!

For those interested, but unaware, Blizzard has a lot of job openings.

They break them down geographically, though you can filter each listing, as follows:

• Global
• Americas
• Europe
• Asia

Boyo streaming Korean Ladder

Go Boyo!

Stream:  http://www.twitch.tv/boyostarcraft

DeMuslim vs Machine

EGMAchine vs EGDeMuslim, cast by Ipp of RageQuitTV.

Thundertoss Top 200 KOTH (King of the Hill)

Thundertoss' weekly Top 200 King of the Hill continues, showing the top players duking it out in a King of the Hill format.

Stream: http://ascendtv.com

When:   Sat 11:30 KST/Sat 03:30 CET/Fri 21:30 EST/Fri 18:30 PST

Casters:  Ascend & Thundertoss

Replays:  http://top200koth.blogspot.com/ (See Replay Packs on left side of that page)

Format:  Top 200 Players (Grandmaster priority, top Masters permitted)

Prizes:

• $20 for each 5 wins.
• $10 for dethroning a 5+ win player.
• $10 for "Match of the Night"

Players: join the chat channel "top200koth" on the NA server, and send a message to Thundertoss.

Thread: Top 200 KOTH (with prize $$!)

compLexity TriMaster is streaming!

Been a while since I saw TriMaster stream, http://www.twitch.tv/colTriMaster

Mill Stephano vs iSPyre

Stephano vs iSPyre cast by Ipp, from RageQuitTV

Ipp always includes Replay  http://drop.sc/134663

Catz & Destiny streaming practice

Catz, Drewbie, QXC, Destiny, etc are doing practice tonight.

Catz & Destiny are streaming the games.


Catz's Stream:  http://www.twitch.tv/colcatz

Destiny's Stream: http://www.own3d.tv/live/153518

WhiteRa vs QXC Bo7?

Both WhiteRa and QXC are streaming, they are playing Custom games vs each other for fun/practice, think WhiteRa just said they will do a Bo7 after a 45 minute game!!

Go WhiteRA!!!

http://www.twitch.tv/colqxc
http://www.twitch.tv/whitera

Diablo III will be out May 15, 2012

Blizzard is taking Digital Pre Orders for Diablo 3 now!! 

I admit I am a Blizzard fanboy, though not a WoW fan, I was playing Diablo II until a few months ago when my XP machine that it was installed on died.

I am looking forward to Diablo III, it will probably cost me a night or 3 of sleep ^_^

Official details & preorder information at http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/4612389/Diablo_III_Launching_May_15_%E2%80%93_Digital_Pre-Sales_NOW_OPEN-3_15_2012

Violet vs Minigun Bo3

Empire Violet vs coL Minigun Bo3 in one long VOD from myEGnet

Watching IPL TOC

Stream:  http://www.twitch.tv/ignproleague

Go Squirtle!

Tonight's games are all Bo5

When:

• 09:00 KST
• 01:00 CET
• Wed 20:00 EDT
• Wed 17:00 PDT

The IPL Tournament of Champions (TOC) is a 16-man, double-elimination, best of 5 format tournament featuring top players from each of our Team Arena Challenge 2 participating teams. Today's matches are Jjakji vs Kas and Polt vs Squirtle for WR1!

Site: http://www.ign.com/ipl

Teamliquid Thread: [IPL] Tournament of Champions WR1 (Day 2)

ONOG i2 March 27th - April 1st

One Nation of Gamers invitational #2 (ONOG i2)

Stream:  http://www.twitch.tv/onenationofgamers

When:

• Tues, Mar 27th starting 17:00 EST
• Wed, Mar 28th starting 17:00 EST
• Thurs, Mar 29th starting 17:00 EST
• Friday, Mar 30th starting 17:00 EST
• Saturday, Mar 31st starting 14:00 EST
• Sunday, April 1st starting 14:00 EST

Invited Players & more information on Teamliquid thread http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=320141 

Details:

$5,000 Prize Pool

32-players

Tuesday, March 27th - Friday, March 30th
Group Stages

Saturday, March 31st
Single elimination; ro16 - bo3 and ro8 - bo3;

Sunday, April 1st
Finals: ro4 - bo5; finals - bo7.

Map Pool
1. IPL Metropolis
2. IPL Atlantis Spaceship
3. MLG Tal'darim Altar
4. MLG Daybreak
5. IPL Cloud Kingdom
6. GSL Terminus
7. MLG Antiga Shipyard
8. MLG Shakuras
9. MLG Dual Sight

Sleep vs Polt

xSix Sleep (Z) vs TSL Polt (T) series cast by Crota, aka BlitzShouter.

Game 2  ||  Game 3  ||  Game 4  ||  Game 5

Nerd Gear: Freedom Box

I read an interesting story today from The New York Times about Eben Moglen, a real nerd, he was writing code for pay at age 14, but he is also a hard core legal expert.

Moglen wants to improve access to the internet in ways to protect personal privacy.


Moglen recently started http://www.freedomboxfoundation.org/, in their mission in their own words,

We're building software for smart devices whose engineered purpose is to work together to facilitate free communication among people, safely and securely, beyond the ambition of the strongest power to penetrate. They can make freedom of thought and information a permanent, ineradicable feature of the net that holds our souls.

Not only is Moglen a Computer Nerd, and a lawyer, he is not your average lawyer, any more than he is your average nerd.

He clerked for Thurgood Marshall, a Supreme Court Justice, if your not familiar with law it is hard to explain exactly what that means in practical terms, other than the obvious that he worked for the a Supreme Court Justice.

But it is a close relationship, and a clerk can have a lot of indirect influence on cases.

Probably the best way to think of a clerk, is it is like a post doc position, your considered to know your field, but you have no experience so you do a lot of menial or grunt work, like being an apprentice, or journeyman, and you learn a lot from the person you clerk for, and generally they become a true mentor.

So unlike a lot people interested in computer security, or data privacy, he knows a lot about the legal system.

Not just the actual laws, and what type of legal arguments might work, but what kind of computer hardware or software solutions would be stronger to defend in court.

He should also, from his time clerking for a Supreme Court Justice, know a lot about the politics and related issues that would affect data privacy.

 I suggest reading the New York Times story, and if your a computer nerd, the Freedom Box Foundation link.

You may also be interested in Post SOPA, EU vs USA Internet Freedom & Rights.

To see more of my blog posts on related topics click Data Bill of Rights, that link can also be found in the Label Cloud at left side of blog, though it will be hard to find currently, since I don't have a lot of posts on that specific topic yet.

Learning Starcraft 2: Mech vs Protoss

LiquidHerO vs Dandelion cast by Duckvillelol

Back in State of the Game #59, Day9 suggested that Terran's had perhaps not experimented enough with Mech vs Protoss, I have blogged about this a few times, click SOTG 59, to see all my posts on that.

My comments with spoilers below the VOD.



There were some things I really didn't like about Hero's base layout in this game, I would have like to see the Cybernetics Core less exposed to drops or Banshee harass, and I didn't like the 3 Gates behind the Natural's mineral line.

There are things I do really like about Hero's base layout, I liked Templar tech placement & Robo placement in his Natural, I think Tech structures should always be as far from the enemy as practical, unless you want them to scout some tech, ie if your try to fake them out.

I also realized the reason for the 3 Gates in the Natural's mineral line were probably to hide the 4 Gate pressure Hero was doing in the early game.

That early 4 Gate attack did some serious damage, more to Terran's timing than to economy, but that was still important.

I would like to see some more Mech vs Protoss games from this Terran, I think the game would have been a lot different if he didn't suffer that damage from the early 4 Gate.

I do think Mech vs Protoss should use blue flame Hellion drops in addition to Banshee Harass, though I am still not sure if Mech vs Protoss is truly viable.

Nerd News: "Daybreak, Metropolis, and Ohana be joining the map pool"

Full story at http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/blog/4593795

Blizzard is also asking for votes on what map should be retired.

HerO vs Artist and SuperNoVa vs Life - IPL ToC - WR1

IPL Tournament of Champions is a 16-man, double-elimination, best of 5 format tournament featuring top players from each of our Team Arena Challenge 2 participating teams. Today's matches are HerO vs Artist and SuperNoVa vs Life for WR1!

Stream:  http://www.twitch.tv/ignproleague

When: 01:00 CET/Tue 20:00 EDT/Tue 17:00 PDT

More info & discussion at http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=320229

WhiteRa & Stephano on same team, well allies now, in 2v2 live stream from both!

 Now I am not conflicted about who to cheer for ^_^

http://www.twitch.tv/whitera

http://www.twitch.tv/mstephano

WhiteRa Playlist

Here is a WhiteRa Playlist <3 WhiteRa


http://lsdb.eu/set/105346/dj-amoureux-white-ra-valentines-dance-party-14-02-12.html

To see more music choices from the pros, just click playlist, you can find that link and others in the Label Cloud at left side of Blog. 


If you would like to see the replays from programers on my Starcraft 2 Blog click replays.

WhiteRa vs Stephano streaming live practice games!

Looks like they are playing custom practice games vs each other, they are both streaming so you can see what both players are doing!!!

Which is the best way to watch pros play IMO.

<333 WhiteRa & Stephano

http://www.twitch.tv/mstephano

http://www.twitch.tv/whitera

PSA: Social Engineering (Security) NATO & You

I read on ZDNet today, about a Social Engineering attack on NATO using Facebook, that story also referenced this link from The Guardian.

[Edited to add, see also this story on Sony dealing with Hacking problems & Security.]

I cover IT and related security issues from time to time, even though this is a Starcraft 2 blog, because I know IT security is a real issue for anyone that uses computers and the internet.

I have had personal identity information stolen a couple of times already, and I have friends that have had gaming accounts hacked.

Not to mention some professionals in Esports, Mrs. Violence & JP McDaniel to name two that I know for certain that have been hacked.

I felt this was worth mentioning, both as a reminder, but also to make people think.

According to ZDNet "senior British military officers, Defense Ministry officials, and other government officials" were fooled by this attack.

All of those people receive some training in the basics of information security, controlling access to information that is not just IT, yet they fell victim to this attack.

Makes me think that not only do people need to learn more about security, they also need to practice good security habits more often.

If your interested in learning more about IT Security click Security or Hacking, those Labels can also be found at left side of Blog in the Label Cloud.

Check Six,

Cliff

Cute Comic Intermission: Half Dog, Half Maid, truly Man's best friend?

This has nothing to do with SC2, but I thought it was amusing, and I needed a break from Starcraft.

Starcraft 2 Thoughts: Broodlord Support Units Part 2

I watched the SXSW Showmatch Stephano vs WhiteRa yesterday, and thought several of the games from that illustrated some of my thoughts about support units for Broodlords, especially the last game of the Showmatch.

So fair notice, there will be spoilers if you didn't see those games yet, I haven't seen VOD's go up for them yet, but I am sure they will.

In Starcraft 2 Thoughts: Broodlords Support units Part 1, I mentioned using Spines and Spores to support Broodlords, though that post was more focused on ZvT, and strictly speaking Spines & Spores are structures or buildings not units ^_^

In the SXSW Showmatch Stephano frequently used Spines and/or Spores as a key component, and not just for supporting Broodlords, he is clearly using Spines as speed bumps, to buy time, as a standard component of his game play.

He is utilizing a Defense in Depth, which provides several advantages, as well as some disadvantages, but the key advantage IMO is that it uses TIME & SPACE as resources to fight the enemy.

But back to Broodlord Support, in the last game of the SXSW Showmatch, Stephano was pushing with Spines, Broodlords, Infestors, and a few Queens.

I think with more Spores, you could skip most if not all of the Infestors, this would let you have more Queens, and Transfuse works very well on Spines & Spores in addition to the Broodlords and other Queens.

WhiteRa made several Motherships, not to mention lots of Voidrays, and Stephano was countering with ridiculous numbers of Corrupters.

He had more than 24 Corrupters a few times in that game, I think that was big part of the reason he made so many Spines, he wanted to be able to kill the Mothership quickly, and still have plenty of Corrupters left to morph into Broodlords, so out side of drones almost all his food was in Corrupters & Infestors, plus a few Queens.

He had to make Spines because so much food was in Corrupters.

I realized during this game, that having Spines + Spores supporting your Broodlords helps defend you vs Mothership.

Vortex only affect Units!  Not Structures, so the Vortex isn't going to have any real impact on the Spine & Spore support.

This also means Zerg can try making two groups of Broodlords, a forward one that is attacking, that might get vortexed, and a 2nd supporting group just behind the front lines, that can move forward as soon as a Vortex goes off.

You might even want 3 groups of Broodlords, because a Mothership can have enough energy for 2 Vortexes if maxed on energy.

If your using Spines and Spores for supporting the Broodlords, instead of the normal Zerglings, you will have more food supply to work with, and Broodlords only take 4 Supply.

With 3 Groups you could have 2 groups both fighting, but spread out enough that it would take 2 Vortexes to get them.

Something worth testing IMO.

GL HF,

Cliff

See also:
Starcraft 2 Thoughts: Forward Defense when using a Slow Immobile Army
Starcraft 2 Thoughts: Corps d'armée: FXOBratOK vs Mill.Stephano

Catz vs iSanddbox

ColCatz vs iSanddbox cast by Duckvillelol

Catz's Playlist, list of all pro players playlists I have just click playlist.  For list of replays, click replays.

Nerd News: Mika Mobile "can no longer legitimize spending time on Android apps"

Mikia Mobile's Blog, maker of Battleheart, explains the key reason they will not be supporting Android Apps anymore, full post at link above:

I mentioned on Twitter, our Android apps aren't making money.  A few people took offense to the bluntness of this statement, so I'll clarify in more delicate terms.  There's a big difference between generating revenue, and "making money" - It's not that they haven't generated income, but that income is offset by the additional support costs the platform has demanded.  Where did your dollar go?  We spent about 20% of our total man-hours last year dealing with Android in one way or another - porting, platform specific bug fixes, customer service, etc.  I would have preferred spending that time on more content for you, but instead I was thanklessly modifying shaders and texture formats to work on different GPUs, or pushing out patches to support new devices without crashing, or walking someone through how to fix an installation that wouldn't go through.  We spent thousands on various test hardware.  These are the unsung necessities of offering our apps on Android.  Meanwhile, Android sales amounted to around 5% of our revenue for the year, and continues to shrink.  Needless to say, this ratio is unsustainable.

If you haven't seen Battleheart here are links for Android & iTunes

TLO Replay Pack

TLO's replay pack ^_^

Released March 2, 2012 http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/AresEffort/TWIR/TWIR_24_2.zip

To see other replays on my Starcraft 2 Blog click replays, you can also find that link and others in the Label Cloud at left side of Blog. 

You may also be interested in the playlist I have on my Blog from various pro players.

EG's LzGaMeR Replay Pack

 LzGaMeR released a replay pack, this is was released February 2012

http://drop.sc/packs/604

To see other replays on my Starcraft 2 Blog click replays, you can also find that link and others in the Label Cloud at left side of Blog. 

You may also be interested in the playlist I have on my Blog from various pro players.

MLG Winter Arena 2012 Replay Pack

http://s3.majorleaguegaming.com/files/WinterArena.zip

MLG has released the replay pack from the 2012 Winter Arena, thanks MLG!

To see other replays on my Starcraft 2 Blog just click replays, you can also find that link and others in the Label Cloud at left side of Blog. 

You may also be interested in the playlist I have on my Blog from various pro players.

Stephano Replay Pack March 5, 2012

Stephano just release another replay pack a few days ago, here is the link for the replay pack http://www.mediafire.com/?6p9vnsacje7dy19

<333 Stephano

To see other Stephano replays I have linked http://cliffsesportcorner.blogspot.com/2012/01/stephano-replay-packs.html

To see other replays on my Starcraft 2 Blog click replays, you can also find that link and others in the Label Cloud at left side of Blog. 

You may also be interested in the playlist I have on my Blog from various pro players.

Learning Starcraft 2: The Sandbox (Unit Tester and Micro Trainer Map)

Read the TL post http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=313187

The Sandbox map is from dingoo1971, I liked his Unit Tester Map so much, that I started following him on youtube, you should to http://www.youtube.com/user/dingoo1971

Nerd News: Chrome Keeps getting Hacked, but keeps getting Patched

This was my favorite, hands down, Chrome Hack Story of the week, http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2012/03/googles-chrome-browser-on-friday.ars

Pinkie Pie did it!

Learning Starcraft 2: StarCraft Art of War: Replay Analysis

Announcement here http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/blog/4593790, and actual discussions at http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/forum/topic/4175417735#1

A new place to talk about Replay Analysis, brand new, so no content yet, but something I am going to follow.

GL HF,

Cliff

Thundertoss Top 200 KOTH (King of the Hill)

Thundertoss' weekly Top 200 King of the Hill continues, showing the top players duking it out in a King of the Hill format.

Stream: http://ascendtv.com

When:   Sat 11:30 KST/Sat 03:30 CET/Fri 21:30 EST/Fri 18:30 PST

Casters:  Ascend & Thundertoss

Replays:  http://top200koth.blogspot.com/ (See Replay Packs on left side of that page)

Format:  Top 200 Players (Grandmaster priority, top Masters permitted)

Prizes:

• $20 for each 5 wins.
• $10 for dethroning a 5+ win player.
• $10 for "Match of the Night"

Players: join the chat channel "top200koth" on the NA server, and send a message to Thundertoss.

Thread: Top 200 KOTH (with prize $$!)

TLO Streaming

http://www.twitch.tv/liquidtlo

Go TLO!

Nerd News: CheckSix & Sleep's recruitment

From CheckSix:

As some of you may know, Sleep's recruitment into CheckSix included living in the US for an extended period. Our caster, Gwin, and CSN's Rance met Seung "Sleep" Kim at the airport to welcome him to the States and to create the first of a series of interviews of Sleep while staying in Southern California. See what Sleep had to say here:

http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=318661

Learning Starcraft 2: Defending against Mech in ZvT

LgNavilo vs iSanddbox cast by Duckvillelol

I have watched this epic game at least 4 times, I still don't feel ready to give a detailed commentary on it, but I can say any Zerg that is struggling vs Terran Mech could learn a lot from studying it.

iSanddbox is impressive with his unit comp switches, back and forth, repeatedly, he will kill off like 9 Thors with lings and Infestors, then switch back to Ultras/Ling/Banes to deal with Hellion/Tank/Thor, and he also does a lot of serious damage with lings hitting Mineral lines and other targets of opportunity.

Then there are the Ling drops for dealing with Siege Tanks! 

And a logistic, ie Macro, Nydus worm!!  I know most of you won't find that exciting, but it is perhaps a stronger use of Nydus than sneaking attacks into bases.  Something I have been wanting to see more.

CSN's The Rundown #14

When: 09:30 KST/01:30 CET/Thu 19:30 EST/Thu 16:30 PST

Stream:   http://www.twitch.tv/cybersportsnetwork

Site: http://cyber-sports.net/event/rundown-14

Brackets: http://cyber-sports.net/brackets/21007

The Rundown is a weekly 8 player invitational that focuses on helping underexposed players and teams get the exposure they deserve. The competition is of a high level and the casting is always top notch nerd analysis. This week joining CSN's Gwin will be Alex "Axeltoss" Rodriguez.. the most interesting caster in the world!

viOLet may be missing, and I am sure trolling some foreigners somewhere, but its back to the 'Sleep' show. Check Six Sleep returns and looks take back the Championship. However, some newcomers to the Rundown are here to put a stop to it. Topping the list may very well be infinity seven's jEcho, but Invidia Rossi and the un-teamed KiF1re will surely take their shots. The first Champion ever at CSN, Perfect, is back and this time with his new team, Check Six. Area 51 offers up wannabe and Convergence fires in YaTa. Could we finally see a Rundown in which Sleep or viOLet were a participant, but did NOT win?


Thread: [CSN] Rundown #14 - w/ Axeltoss

Previous Rundowns:

1. December 07, 2011 Rundown #1 Bracket
2. December 14, 2011 Rundown #2 Bracket
3. December 21, 2011 Rundown #3 Bracket
4. December 29, 2011 Rundown #4 Bracket
5. January 05, 2012 Rundown #5 Bracket
6. January 12, 2012 Rundown #6 Bracket
7. January 19, 2012 Rundown #7 Bracket
8. January 26,2012 Rundown #8 Bracket
9. February 2, 2012 Rundown #9 Bracket
10. February 9, 2012 Rundown #10 Bracket
11. February 16, 2012 Rundown #11 Bracket
12. February 23, 2012 Rundown #12 Bracket
13. March 01, 2012 Rundown #13 Bracket

Stephano vs Origine

Stephano vs Origine on Shattered temple, cast by Ipp from RageQuitTV. 


Replay at http://drop.sc/127841


If you like Ipp as much as I do, please follow him on Twitter or Youtube.

NASL Sunday ShowDown: Machine vs WhiteRa

A Bo7 Showmatch, WhiteRA vs Machine, from NAStarLeague.

Game 2  ||  Game 3  ||  Game 4  || Game 5  ||  Game 6  || Game 7

Starcraft 2 Thoughts: Corps d'armée: FXOBratOK vs Mill.Stephano

BratOK vs Stephano cast by Husky

My comments and spoilers below the VOD.

This post ties in with Starcraft 2 Thoughts: Reality of Fighting: Maneuver vs Attrition to see more post similar to this one, click Starcraft 2 Thoughts, you can also find that Label in the Label Cloud at left side of my SC2 Blog.



Corps d'armée may be unfamiliar to you unless your a military or military history person.

If your unfamiliar with it, short description can be found here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corps#France

At ~11:59 game time (8:28 VOD time), Stephano moves out with some truly beautiful maneuvering with his Roaches.

With some extremely well coordinated movement of 2-3 groups of Roaches he manages to trap and destroy BratOK's Hellions.

The Hellions were there to Pin Stephano in his base for a while, with the threat of roasting a critical number of Drones, the minute they were gone, Stephano was free to attack with all of his combat power.

This attack was successful because BratOK was planning on using the time the Hellion Pin porvided to tech up and expand his army, he didn't have enough forces to directly defend vs Stephano's army.

For more on the Corps d'armée see http://www.napoleon-series.org/military/organization/c_armycorps.html

Starcraft 2 does not translate 100% with real world armies, I would not claim that Roaches by themselves are a combined forces composition, which is a core concept of Corps d'armée, in general.

They can't handle flying units or things like Immortals or Tanks in any numbers, without support.

But in the EARLY GAME, before those units can appear in any numbers, the Roaches can deal with anything.

They are cheap, so you can outnumber enemy units, and with speed upgrade they can outrun most things they can't fight.

And with Burrow, especially combined with Tunneling claws, they heal very quickly, which makes them cost effective.

And because they are relatively cost efficient you can safely risk small numbers of them, or risk other units, like Zerglings or Banelings, since those are a small % of your combat power.

The enemy can't counter attack and beat you just cause you lost 20 lings or banes, if you still have 30+ full health Roaches.

To see more of my posts on strategy click on Starcraft 2 Skills, you can also find that label in the label cloud at left side of my SC2 Blog.

Nerd News: iPad 3 Boost to South Korean Economy

According to YonHap News, Korean manufactures will benefit from the iPad 3 introduction & sales.

Nerd News: Chrome Hacked

From Ars, Chrome hacked twice in the same day with Zero Day attacks.

Chrome was hacked at Pwn2Own hacker contest, and a Google event as well.

See Ars link for full details.

GoSuHwangSin vs mOOnGLaDe Podcast and Showmatch

Don't know how much s left, but woke up in time to catch part of this Showmatch.

Go HwangSin!!!

When:  14:00 KST/06:00 CET/00:00 EST/Wed 21:00 PST

Stream: http://www.twitch.tv/onerumcake

The Round Table is a new weekly podcast and showmatch series that will be hosted by Gretorp, Doa, and GoSuRuM. Each week we will be accompanied by two guest players, that will take part in an hour long podcast, followed by a BO 5 Showmatch. The Podcast will cover a range of topics in our scene, as well as a 15 minute segment of user questions. Immediately following the showmatch will take place.

Site: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=317353

Thread: GoSuHwangSin vs mOOnGLaDe Podcast and Showmatch

Bio vs Mech: coLdrewbie vs acslayer

drewbie vs acslayer cast by  GLiTCHStarcraft

Some amusing chat at the beginning of the game, acslayer seems to know drewbies style of play pretty well, he also seems to metagame drewbie effectively.   Some of my comments and spoilers below the VOD.





It clearly seems that drewbie was being Metagamed, ie acslayer knew how drewbie tends to play, so he was able to prepare counters to drewbie before scouting.

In the in game chat acslayer mentions that he has watched drewbie stream  abit, at least in the Root days.

One critical thing drewbie could have done, was send medivac on clockwise flight path to scout that side of the map, that would have revealed the ninja (hidden) 3rd base his opponent had up early.

But dropping from that direction in addition to the counter clockwise drop path he used, would have forced acslayer to put up more defenses.

It would also have allowed for coordinated dual prong attacks.  Something drewbie is VERY good at, I wonder why he never did that in this game, I wonder if perhaps he hasn't had a good TvT practice partner lately?

His drops and marine micro were still looking as strong as ever, if acslayer hadn't gotten the econ boost from the hidden 3rd, drewbie's drops would have won the game IMO considering how much damage they did.

Streaming Tips & Tricks: TwitchTV chat commands

The link http://www.justin.tv/chat_commands.html has a handy list of Chat commands, useful for Owners & Mods of streams on Twitch TV.

For more on this topic, just click Streaming: Tips & Tricks, that will show you a list of all the posts I have on that topic, you can also find that Label in the Label Cloud at left side of Blog.

Nerd News: Faster Game Downloads using Cloud Technology?

 From Ars:

Imagine a gaming service similar to Steam, where instead of having to wait a few hours for the game to download, you could get started in just a few minutes. Or imagine a gaming service like OnLive, but where you could play even if your Internet was down, with no extra latency, and all the quality and performance that your PC can provide.

 Sounds interesting, click on link above for full story.

Though with the way game, and other software, tends to grow in size, that might just mean even bigger sized games.

Duckvillelol Blogging about MLG PPV

You can read Duckvillelol's latest blog at http://duckvillelol.com/train-rant-about-mlg-ppv/

His blog is among the handful that I feature on the left side of my Blog, so you know I think he is worth following.

GL HF,

Cliff

Kings of Tin: Pokebunny Tonight!

@wacksteven Tweeted:

Tonight, we choose @Pokebunny for @KingsOfTin ! Be sure to tune in and right after we have the #EGMastersCup ! All on @OneMoreGameTV

Stream: http://www.twitch.tv/OneMoreGameTV

When: 09:00 KST/01:00 CET/Mon 19:00 EST/Mon 16:00 PST

Carrier Tactics: WhiteRa vs Dimaga

This is my favorite game, Game 3, of the series from a showmatch between Dimaga vs WhiteRa, cast by Ipp, from RageQuitTV.

I really like Ipp's casting, and he always includes the replays in addition to  the VOD, the replay pack for this showmatch is http://drop.sc/packs/623 the rest of the Cast VOD's can be found at http://www.youtube.com/user/RageQuitTV/

Streaming Tips &Tricks: In Depth Streaming Guide by Ipp

From RageQuitTV,

My targeted audience are people who want to not only setup Xsplit but also learn about how it all works so you can optimize everything to your setup and be able to quickly resolve any issues that come from scenario’s such as JTV Issues, XSplit Updates, etc.  If you are just looking for a video that has some arbituary numbers that work on some guys computer than this guide is not for you. 

I highly recommend this guide by Ipp, posted on RageQuitTV!  Full guide at http://ragequit.tv/news/In-Depth-Streaming-Guide

It is the most complete & authoritative Streaming Guide I have found to date.  Well worth reading and bookmarking, you might even consider printing out a hard copy.

If your interested in more streaming resources just click Streaming: Tips & Tricks, that will show you list of all my blog posts on that topic, you can also find that label in the Label Cloud at left side of my Blog.

Iron Squid

Iron Squid Group A

Players:

• MarineKing vs ToD
• Ret vs BoxeR
• PuMa vs ToD

When:  Sun 21:00 CET/Sun 15:00 EST/Sun 12:00 PST

Stream (English):  http://www.teamliquid.net/video/streams/IronSquid
Casters:  Totalbiscuit and Apollo

Stream (French) :http://www.teamliquid.net/video/streams/IronSquidTV
Casters:  Pomf & Thud


Site: http://www.ironsquid.tv/

Thread: Iron Squid Group A Liveshows Schedules