GosuGamers is proud to announce its first ever award delivery for the year 2009. The best players, teams, games and community efforts have been picked out to form the nominees pool. Let's see who left his marks on us last year...
Throughout 2009 year, the Warcraft 3 scene, despite having had its ups and downs, had an indelible impact on every supporter, every fan that clung to the joy of gaming from all four corners of the world. Hope, pleasure, passion but also bitterness, deception and despair are sentiments that swept over the cheering crowds, crowds of insatiable fans that never doubted belonging to this world made of competition, rivalry and performance.
What are 2009's greatest moments? Who could excel among the others? Who owes the community a debt of gratitude for spreading such enthusiasm in the hearts? GosuGamers wants to award the best among brilliant nominees, to whom we are beholding after a bustling 2009 year.
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Best player of the year 2009
Fly100%
- The Chinese Orc is arguably the player that has shown the most stable level throughout the whole year. Handling extremely well the sneaky Blademaster, he managed to find a way to victory in several major events. He, for instance, grabbed the gold in EOG China, WCG China, IEM Chengdu, IEF and filled the runner-up position in the well-attested WCG Global Finals and PGL Season 4.
ReMinD
- After a quiet 2008, ReMinD was dominating the scene in early 2009, winning many ZOTAC cups and showing good results against top players. Unfortunately, he seemed to be a better player online as he never managed to make it far in offline tournaments and was unable to qualify for WCG. Either way he really exploded back onto the scene in 2009 and always made for some entertaining games. He also dominated the XP League, swiping the golden prize two times in row.
Lyn
- After the 2008 supremacy, the Korean was expected to carry on his successful performance, but he didn't. He still managed to show satisfactory results by defending his Blizzcon title and placing third at WCG. He also got silver in XP League seasons 4 and 5 as well as bronze in IEST. Despite experiencing a little slump in last year's results compared to 2008's, Lyn managed to show a decent level in every event he attended.
InFi
- Having been overshadowed by his team captain 'Sky' for a very long time, 2009 was the year InFi stepped up. He achieved second at IEF 2009 and went on to win WCG taking down the likes of 'Moon' and 'Fly100%' in the process. InFi really made a name for himself in 2009 and no one can deny his improvement during the last months, placing him shoulder to shoulder with the big icons of the scene.
Grubby
- The Dutchman showed an up to par performance throughout the year taking home a few titles such as E-Stars Seoul, Norton Anti-Virus GOMTV World Invitational and WEM 2009. The year also saw Grubby doing a lot for the community such as streaming his games, starting a blog and most recently running competitions on his facebook fan page. Grubby is without contest the only non Asian player that manages to deliver constant results time and time again.Best team of the year 2009
MeetYourMakers
- The fall of the initial MYM.WC3 team which was to many, the best and strongest team boasting names like Moon, Lucifer, Susiria and even Grubby had left many fans flocking to new teams; but in 2009, MYM announced its return with a brand new roster. There were a lot of expectations and unfortunately the players did not have much individual success. However, as a team, they managed to have some decent results in the leagues they attended. That said, the Makers still hold a large fan base as they represent one of the last top European WC3 teams.
Mojawi Gaming
- The epic trio made of FoCuS, Shy and Space has always had a hard time finding a team, being picked up only to be dropped a few weeks later many times in 2009. Fans were sceptical when the French based team of Mojawi decided to pick them up. To everyone's suprise, Mojawi stuck to them and has now built a strong name in the WC3 scene as the triplet managed to dominate the online team leagues and constantly placed very high in the online events.
Millenium
- The team really stood out in 2009 after ToD announced he would return to WC3 under the Millenium tag together with Wolf. The players had very good individual success with Stephano winning season one and PsYkO placing second in the Warcraft III Nations Cup, showing a great performance when beating top-notch players and leading the team to precious triumphs in the team leagues.
World Elite
- Stronger than ever, the Chinese tigers roster, compiling top talents such as Sky, InFi and TED, impressed this year. The team is known as the most stable one with constant achievements from time to time. Earning WC3L XIV title in early 2009 and NGL 3v3 later, the squad showed efficient teamwork and burning team spirit.
Mousesports
- Holding stars named 'Fly100%' and 'TH000', the German-based team manifested a true power as it could overcome many strong teams, notably when reaching the podium in NGL 3v3 tournament.Best community effort of the year 2009
ZOTAC Cup -
While many tournaments come and go, ZOTAC Cup is always there every week and is the most well known WC3 tournament. It allows anyone to participate and give them a chance to play against the best. It is also a place for top gamers to earn some income not to mention giving us always great replays to watch afterwards. In 2009, ZOTAC passed their 100th tournament, keeping the fever of the competition alive in the weekends.Shadow League -
Who could tell that someday legendary icons from the very old scene would burst in to vie with the best current talents? Transcending history and the world, Trophy of Legends brought delight to thousands of fans by uniting old school and new school figures in a thrilling league. Cherry on the pie, we could savour exclusive interviews and memorable replays through sumptuous replay packs, made public on the official website. Outstanding.GOMTV -
After the international success of their Starcraft tournament, GOMTV launched a WC3 version with 'ToD' and 'RotterdaM' as casters. The tourney had some epic games with a patent skill demonstration, featuring a unique competition spirit with excellent commentary involvement.A1 Broadcasting Station -
Using the perfect recipe for a nail-biting contest, XP League could make an original blend of professional and amateur Korean talents, sketching a microcosm of the WC3 scene in Korea, the home of eSports. By establishing a unique bracket system and opening spots for concealed skills, the event kept the scene alive, followed by crowds in gusto.Last but not least, consistent awards were awaiting the champions at the end of every season, an incredible offering from an organisation sponsored by supporters!
WCIP -
A very well renowned team league with a decent prize pool, run by one of the well-attested community's admins 'D4nny' who spent a lot of time making sure everything is running perfectly and even streamed and commentated some games throughout 2009. The league is currently in its fourth season.Best game of the year 2009
- Moon vs Soccer Game 2/3 at WCG Korean National Final Ro16 - Watch it on YouTube
- FoV vs Grubby Game 1 at NGL-ONE Season 6 Matchday 7 - Download Replay
- Moon vs Fly100% Game 1 at NGL-ONE Season 6 Matchday 8 - Download Replay
- Check vs ReMinD Game 2 at XPL Season 3 Grand Final 1 - Download Replay
- Moon vs FoCuS Game 3 at IEM Season 4 Semifinal - Download Replay
Best newcomer of the year 2009
VortiX -
First really coming into the scene in 2008 but being in the shadow of his brother 'LucifroN', 'VortiX' impressed the community in 2009 by dominating many of his opponents including top level players such as 'FoCuS', 'ReMinD' and 'Shy'. He is undoubtedly prodigious for showing such a performance at his young age of 16, a fortiori playing Undead, a race that many gamers abandoned.
Naama -
Appearing as a rising European star, he made an indeniable improvement in 2009 inflicting defeat to top players such as 'HLA' and 'Check'. Moonfans -
Inspired by the legendary 'Moon', at least in his nickname, the Chinese attracted the audience with an amazing play, showing a great performance this year by beating the likes of 'iXi' and 'LiKe'.
ViOlet -
Exploded onto the scene in 2008 by catching the community's attention with his very strong play and was in high demand, switching clans 2-3 times in a very short time. Unfortunately his home burned down and his WC3 future was in doubt. Somehow Violet collected himself and continued to play. He managed to win a few ZOTAC cups and took part in major events.
ThomasG -
Currently rated as one of the best Elves in Europe, ThomasG made a name for himself during 2009. At some point, he played shoulder to shoulder with 'ReMinD' and 'LucifroN' before being picked up by GaB team. Apart from winning a ZOTAC cup, he managed to grab the bronze in IeSF, a high caliber tournament featuring many stars such as 'WhO', 'Check' and 'suhO'.Cast your votes!
[Co-written by 'Sidx' and 'MaelStroM']