Where?
Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan Center Studios, NYC 34th St. b/w 8th&9th Ave
When?
8th-10th of September, 2005
Maps
| StarCraft: WCG Gaia WCG Azalea WCG Estrella WCG Paranoid Android WarCraft III: WCG Echo Isles WCG Turtle Rock WCG Lost Temple WCG Twisted Meadows |
sMi.NewB will be at the WCG USA Finals covering news for GosuGamers.net. He will be updating results, pictures, etc. while he's there along with observing the matches.Updates
Es Fin2005-09-13 - sMi.NewB Well it’s over. Everyone has made their trek home. Instead of seeing each other in the WCG main room we’re finding each other on bnet, AIM, MSN, SCL, GG.net and TL.net. The USA finals are over and the excitement is dissipating. But it’s a trip I will personally never forget and I hope that the friends I made here are friends that I keep for a long time to come. I have updated all of the replays and pictures. You can get replays for every game played on the replay page now. That way you guys without WCG accounts can nab em. I also put up pictures of some WC3 players and the closing ceremony. There are a few good ones in there that aren’t in any other galleries that I’ve seen so check it out. Riding the A train out to JFK gave me a lot of thinking time, and I kept going back to my impressions of all of the players. So I decided I would write them out for everyone to read. I know that when I used to be the one reading the reports about these events I always wondered what the players were really like. So here’s my attempt to share that with you. I probably was too kind, but I had such a good time that it’s hard to say anything bad about them.Dan Stemkoski (iD.Artosis)  Dan was a bit uptight, a bit nerdy, and a bit of a shit talker... but I liked him. He was confident and was completely comfortable with being himself. I respect that. He also took the event very seriously. I wish it had paid off and he would of made it further. Sean Plott (rS.Day[9])  Sean's a bit of a prick, but in a very good way, a way that makes you laugh. He's not as hyper as his brother but he's got the same quirky sense of humor. He's got a witty comment for every situation and it's a lot of fun to hang around him. He's more serious than Tasteless and I think that may be why he won their match. He was also one of the few guys that had the balls to chat it up with the "WCG Girls" AND he has a girlfriend. I'd definitely hang out with him any day outside of bnet. Nick Plott (rS.Tasteless[9])  This guy is a stud. He's also someone I wouldn't want to see on speed... cause he's bad enough while sober. He's a jumpy wiry guy but he's also pretty tall. He's got a great sense of humor and is far far far from being a StarCraft nerd. I'm hunting him down and going partying with him because I know it would be a good time. He was also really great about supporting his brother and his team. A very impressive guy. Richard Almand (Future[Light])  Without a doubt the nicest person I met at WCG. Completely approachable, extremely well composed, and cool to talk with. He's got a very all American look to him. After chatting with him a few times my respect for [LighT] has increased ten fold. Any team that has Future on it is definitely a quality team. Aaron Deir (iD.CocoA)  He's a little guy. Short, skinny... but he stands out. He has a fire to him and if you took a guy his size and put the two of em into a ring, I'd put my money on Cocoa. He'll fight hard and won't give up. I think that's part of what took him so far in the tournament. I didn't talk with him much but he was always polite and confident. I definitely like the guy. John Weber (JelloPud)  He showed up, played his games, disappeared. I saw him once from afar. My impression -- distant ghost. Andrew An (SLoG4[TmG])  Slog takes the runner up spot behind Future for nicest guy at WCG. He helped me out a lot when I was updating results and he was always willing to answer a question. If I had to describe him with 1 word it would be "goofy". He's just a goofy guy. He laughs a lot, he smiles a lot, he smokes a lot of cigs. He's manner and shy, nice but nerdy. I'd love to take Slog out on the town and get him laid. Daniel Eidson (iG.Nyoken)  Didn't get to know him that well, but whenever I needed help he was willing to give it. Nice guy and was always polite when I talked to him. People seem to think he's weird looking, but I never really felt that way. He and Artosis seemed like twins to me. They both had those damn hats on all the time. Tom Whittier (FroZ[TmG])  Without a doubt the most unapproachable player. It seemed like his years of StarCraft fame had left him with a bit of a protective wall built around himself to deal with all the random people who tried to talk to him. He also seems like a shy guy. But once he opened up he was a fun guy to hang out around. I'd definitely like to hang out with Tom outside of the BW scene. Cody Thompson (NerO)  Without a doubt my favorite person at WCG! I mean cmon, we had just met and he offered my a place to sleep on his hotel room floor. That's a nice guy. He's a big kid who's a top notch baseball player that grew up in some slums in Florida (for those who don't know, Florida slums are pretty damn nasty). He's a really, really, really nice guy... which may shock some of you to hear cause he has a reputation for BM. That's because he's also brutally honest and extremely blunt. But that doesn't make someone BM in my book. He was always trying to help people out, give advice, watch out for other people. He also has some great StarCraft knowledge and is very good at analyzing maps and strategy. He's a great guy. Ok, I'll wipe the brown off my nose and move on now. Bryan Kerr (rS.Wisdom[9])  He's not someone I'd want with me if I was rolling to a fight, but if I was gonna go out and get really drunk I'd like to have him there cause I'm sure he'd be a laugh. He's a smart guy and very well mannered. I didn't get to know him very well but I can't think of a single bad thing to say about him. Sherwin Mahbod (rS.Yosh)  Yosh really impressed me. He's a very composed guy, very smart, very nice, and was just... cool. He's got a good way of telling stories that always keeps me interested. He also handled himself very well the entire tournament. Good manner and good preparation. I just wish I coulda partied with him. |
Almost Done2005-09-12 - sMi.NewB I'm back in Colorado and nursing my battered body back to health. I still have more pictures and replays that I plan to add along with what I hope will be an interesting summary of the event. So we're not done yet! |
Replays And Pictures Online2005-09-10 - sMi.NewB Here they are, Team America, the two men to represent USA at WCG in Singapore!  The final was the first match that didn't go 2-0, and we were all very happy that it didn't. Game 1 was on Paranoid Androide which turned into a long macro battle. There was very little harassment and no fighting until the very end where Yosh made a move on Day's expansion in bottom left and Day sent his entire army to Yosh's main. Game 2 was on Estrella and Yosh was able to win by going mech. Game 3 was on Estrella and started with some great muta harassment by Day and ended with Ultra / Ling. There was a point where Yosh may have had a chance to win, but it seemed his macro was lacking while Day's was amazing. Tasteless (Day's older brother) shoutcasted the match which made for a very entertaining event. It seemed that a lot of his jokes were only appreciated by the StarCraft corner, but that's ok. It was very funny to watch tasteless be serious. Pictures and Replays are up from the finals. Go and check them out. » Pictures » Replays |
rS.Day[9] Wins 2-1!!! Nyoken wins 2-0 for 3rd place2005-09-10 - sMi.NewB Day just won the USA finals 2-1, winning game 1, losing to Yosh on game 2 and finishing it off in game 3. Very intense to watch matches, very macro oriented. Nyoken was able to win 2-0 TvZ to take 3rd place and $500. Details, replays, and pictures coming! You heard it first, here on GG.net! |
Waiting For Finals To Start2005-09-10 - sMi.NewB We're waiting for the finals to stat. We're scheduled to start in 10 minutes, but there have been many delays going on. There is also a rumor that the finals will NOT be on the big screen OR shoutcasted. They're afraid that it might give players an unfair advantage. We hope that they will figure out a way to have the players positioned so that they can't see the screens... it shouldn't be that hard. I have uploaded some pictures that I took this morning of Yosh and Day in pre-game mode. Go check out the picture section. I am also still having trouble getting any of the replays off of the WCG website to DL. Once I post this I'm going to bother the referees to get me the replays. Maybe they'll hook me up. Cross your fingers. » Pictures |
Yesterday's Replays Released2005-09-10 - sMi.NewB Nero kindly just informed me that yesterday's replays are now on the WCG website. I am about to get them all up on our replay page, but till then you can download them from WCG which has a pretty nice replay section going on. You do need a WCG account to download from their page though, and right now it's being very slow (or not working at all). Unfortunately I've gotten the replay shaft so far since WCG is guarding them like a mother guards her daughters virginity, but at least they've finally put them up! Enjoy! (Sometimes the direct links don't work, so if it won't work for you try the "Replays" link at the bottom and then click the tab for the game you want to see.) » StarCraft Replays » WarCraft 3 Replays » Replays |
First Batch Of Pictures2005-09-10 - sMi.NewB It's 3:20 AM but I FINALLY got the pictures up from Thursday. I will get the rest up during the day tomorrow as I now can get my pictures onto my computer easily. I might even steal some from mnm since she can't get hers onto SCL.Click on "Pictures" to the right to check em out. Oh, and Wisdom, I didn't realize you were the cause of that picture. I thought WCG was just trying to show off your feminine side. And if you say she's not emo, then I take your word for it. She has officially been de-gothed and de-emo'd. |
The Way WCG See's Wisdom2005-09-09 - sMi.NewB A funny little thing we ran across... when looking at the WCG results page, clicking on rS.Wisdom's games yields a picture of a rS.Wisdom none of us have ever met before -- the emo goth girl!  »WCG results page |
Finals Approach2005-09-09 - sMi.NewB We're all sitting around waiting for the bus. The games have winded down and there's only 2 more matches to be played: the playoff for 3rd place and the final round. Nyoken and Cocoa will play each other tomorrow to determine who gets 3rd and 500 dollars while Day and Yosh battle for the #1 USA spot. It's going to be good. I realized while watching Choblar posting for WGT that I had completely forgotten to post the maps for each round. So here they are for you:USA Final Maps: -Round of 16: WCG Paranoid Android, WCG Estrella, WCG Gaia -Round of 8: WCG Estrella, WCG Azalea, WCG Paranoid Android -Round of 4: WCG Azalea, WCG Gaia, WCG Estrella -Final / 3rd place match: WCG Paranoid Android, WCG Estrella, WCG Azalea Pictures and interviews to come. Stay tuned. |
StarCraft Round 3 Results: It's an rS. Final! Day and Yosh Are Going To Singapore!2005-09-09 - sMi.NewB The theme of 2-0 has continued into the semi-finals as Day and Yosh both win solid and decisive matches Vs Cocoa and Nyoken. Some details:Match 1: rS.Day[9] Vs [iD]CocoA -Cocoa chose to go Terran Vs Day's Zerg. Both games were very standard as Day started with Lurker / Ling and Cocoa went M/M into tanks and vessels. Day was just the better player as he held of Cocoa's attacks and took the map at a perfect pace. It was very impressive watching Day play as his macro was superb. It's looking very good for Day in the WCG USA Finals. Match 2: Nyoken Vs {SG}Yosh -Again Yosh won without too much trouble in 2 TvT games. According to Nyoken, "Yosh slapped Nyoken around like it was an East Pubbie game." It was painful to watch. Yosh has been lucky so far to get a matchup he's very good at. Unfortunately for him, he did not practice any TvZ at all in the lead up to WCG and is now in the finals Vs a great Zerg player. It should be very interesting. And that's it for today. I will try to get the pictures up and some interviews done tonight. If there are any specific questions you want me to ask these guys post them in the comments and I'll try to toss them on my list. The finals are tomorrow at 11am Eastern. We're all very excited to see these two great players face each other. Congratulations to Day and Yosh for their performance today, and also congratulations to rS. on their performance in WCG. So far the only people to knock an rS. player out have been other rS. members, and it looks like tomorrow it will happen just one more time. |
StarCraft Round 2 Results: Day, Cocoa, Nyoken and Yosh Advance!2005-09-09 - sMi.NewB The second round has just finished and here are the results:Match 1: Artosis Vs rS.Day[9] -Before the match Day got sick and had to run to the bathroom to puke. He said that after puking he felt great and played better than ever. We suspect that the cause was the disgusting curdled milk yogurt that Tasteless tried to poison Day with at breakfast. Unfortunately for Artosis, the first match he got to play at WCG was vs Day, who won 2-0 in two ZvT games. Right now Day is a favorite to win WCG USA. Match 2: Future[LighT] Vs [iD]CocoA -Future also played his first match of the day after getting a WO in the first round and lost to Cocoa 0-2. Both games were ZvP where Future's toss was just not able to pull out a win. Cocoa has had a solid start to the tournament and the next round should be very interesting. Match 3: Nyoken Vs NerO -After the huge win the first round, Nero was unable to keep his momentum and lost to Nyokens Terran. Nyoken is feeling very confident and should play a very good match in the next round Vs Yosh. Match 4: [iD]rS.wisdom Vs {SG}Yosh -Both of these players had WO's in round one so this was their first match played today. Yosh was able to win a very solid TvT match 2-0 and secure his spot in the 3rd round. Yosh is the favorite to win the bottom end of the bracket. Day and Yosh are the current favorites to make the finals. As for who will win overall, it's a very tough call. We'll just have to wait and see. Round 3 starts in 15 minutes. I'll let you guys know how it goes. |
StarCraft Round 1 Results: Nero Upsets FroZ!2005-09-09 - sMi.NewB The big news of the day is that Nero was able to beat FroZ... 2-0. FroZ was very much favored to win this first match. Considering his performance the last 3 years as the defending champion, he was favored to win the WCG USA finals. This is the biggest upset of the event without a doubt, and arguably the biggest upset of American StarCraft history. Congratulations to Nero for moving into the second round against all odds. On a funny note, Jello Pud did show up late last night. He played Cocoa the first round, another Zerg player. I talked to Cocoa on the bus over this morning and asked him his ZvZ plans and he told me he actually planned to play Terran. Then during breakfast I was told that Jello Pud planned to play Terran. I made a joke to the rS crew and tasteless saying, "Wouldn't it be funny if they both chose Terran without realizing what the other was going to play and ended up having to play TvT?" Well, guess what, not only was it funny, it was hillarious because that's what happened. WCG made them choose their races before the game, locking them into the choice. Neither realized that the other planned to play Terran and their first game was a TvT. Before the second game they talked and it was decided that Cocoa would play Zerg and Jello Pud would play Terran, so the universe came back into balance. The results page has been updated, but here are some more in depth details of the matches:Match 1: LastGosu-x17 Vs Artosis -LastGosu-x17 did not show and Artosis WO'd into round 2. Match 2: rS.Day[9] Vs rS.tasteless[9] -The match of the brothers was played and for once, the little brother ended up beating up on the big brother. In the first game tasteless tried to take Day out with a Zealot / Probe rush that normally wins Vs his little brother, but Day was ready and able to kill the first Zealot. The failed rush threw tasteless off his game and he lost shortly afterwards to Day's Mutalisks. In game 2 both brothers agree that tasteless was winning after early expanding during a 4 zealot drop and then moving into reavers. He was able to fend off Day's Hydra drops on his natural and main, but then he lost his Shuttle and Reavers right while he was switching tech to templar and Day was able to pull out the win. It was a very close and solid game. Day said that the one person he did not want to face here was tasteless. Wisdom also said that of all the people at WCG this year, tasteless was the only one who could take out Day. Tasteless and Wisdom both feel that Day is a shoe in for first place now that tasteless is out of the way. Only time will tell. Match 3: eVaDe Vs Future[LighT] -eVaDe did not show and Future WO'd to round 2. Match 4: [iD]CocoA Vs Jello Pud -Jello Pud actually did show up, late last night. He played Cocoa today in a TvT the first round and a TvZ the second. I can't find the exact details of the games (even Cocoa was very vague). When I asked Redcloak what happened he made it very clear by saying, "Jello Pud's not very good. The bad player lost." Well that makes sense. Congrats to Cocoa for being the good player! Match 5: [pG]SLoG4 Vs Nyoken -Again my prediction was wrong. I'm striking out left and right. SLoG told me that both it was a hard match to play since they're both such close friends who play together all the time. The games both came out to be by the book PvT's that were both very close. In the end SLoG just came out on the bottom. Despite his loss SLoG has been extremely manner. It's very impressive. I've rarely seen someone take a close loss like that and stay polite. It also seems Nyoken's mass PGT did pay off for him. We'll have to see how he does in round two Vs the upset kid, Nero. Match 6: FroZ Vs NerO -Nero played a very smash mouth style of PvT, going straight for FroZ without mercy. The first game on Paranoid Androide started very standardly and turned into a longer game with several huge battles. It ended with Arbiters, recall, stasis, and FroZ down 0-1. In game 2 Nero did a 2 Zealot / 1 Goon drop on FroZ who had gone CC expo. Nero was able to put the early pressure onto FroZ while getting his expansion online. Throwing FroZ off so much early allowed Nero to keep a solid lead and win the game. Everyone here is in a state of semi-shock at this upset. FroZ is not very happy about the loss and has been somewhat scarce since the match. FroZ was expected to do very well, if not win the tournament. Nero feels horrible about winning since he believes that FroZ is definitly one of the best people to represent America in Singapore, but at the same time he's very happy that he played such a good match. He went into the match feeling it was a win-win situation -- if he lost he would have lost to an amazing player who was likely to win the entire tournament, and if he won he'd pull a huge upset. Being able to lay with such little pressure was too his advantage today. Now we'll just see if he can keep up the same game play with all the pressure that has just been put onto him. Match 7: LJT Vs rS.wisdom[9] -LJT did not show up and wisdom WO'd to round 2. Match 8: {SG}Yosh Vs sonic-x17 -sonic-X17 did not show up and Yosh WO'd to round 2. After watching a first round where 2 brothers had to play each other (Day and tasteless), 2 close friends had to fight it out (SLoG and Nyoken), and a huge underdog beat one of the favorites to win the tournament (Nero and FroZ), I can't help but think about how much better a double elimination tournament would be. Not only would it be more accurate, but it would allow these players a chance to play games that didn't involve destroying their best friends chance in the first round. Most every player here thinks that this should have been double elimination, including the ones to win. We can only hope that next year WCG will listen to our whining. Round 2 is being played right now. I'll post results when they come in. |
A Real Update2005-09-09 - sMi.NewB Poker is over for me tonight (cashed out 6 dollars ahead but ended up tipping the pizza guy 4, so make that up by 2!) and it's time to give everyone a serious update. Sorry that it has taken so long! While getting off the plane this morning I went through my mental checklist to make sure I had everything I needed:
I spent the day frantically running around NYC, talking to Colbi trying to learn how to do a proper news post, and worrying about how awkward it would be to approach a bunch of top StarCraft players that I didn’t know at all. But my fears were baseless. As soon as I found the StarCraft group they were all, well… chill. I even met up with the players of the top bracket of WC3 and got some pictures of them, including Froz’s little brother. Most of the players arrived in NYC Thursday, though a few arrived on Wednesday. Today they all were ushered to the WCG main room which was filled with about 75 computers and 30 or so TV screens, Xbox’s attached. The place was swarmed with press from news papers (The New York Times) to magazines (RIX), television (NY 1) to documentary makers. Several interviews were conducted (Froz and Artosis got some specific attention) and reporters left and right were aiming their camera’s at the StarCraft players, trying to record anything they could catch. At 6:30pm we all watched an elaborately planned opening ceremony which was followed by a musical performance and the “Lucky Draw”, a raffle where they gave away Samsung Digimax V5’s and 1 Shuttle Gaming PC (I won a freaking camera…I love WCG now). And then the gaming began. Froz and Slog started playing a friendly game (sitting right next to each other… can you say hax?) and the crowd built. In thirty minutes about 40 onlookers watched as Froz, Slog, Cocoa, Tasteless, and Wisdom played away in several games. The majority of the spectators weren’t StarCraft players, but they were all awed by the skill displayed. I have to say, watching a StarCraft player tends to be much more impressive than any other gamers as the game so obviously requires large amounts of talent and expertise. Other interesting things to mention :
That’s all for now. Unfortunately I don’t have the tools with me to get the pictures off of this camera (hell, I forgot to bring my clothes from the WCG main room). I will upload all the pictures I took as soon as I get back into the city. We leave here at 8am on Friday. The first StarCraft games will be played at 12:30pm Eastern, while the first WarCraft 3 games will be played at 11:00am Eastern. I will be updating the results as they come in, so stay tuned! |
StarCraft Round 1 Predictions2005-09-09 - sMi.NewB I have updated the results page with player names and thought I'd offer some predictions on the upcoming matches. So here it goes:Match 1: LastGosu-x17 Vs Artosis -No one has seen LastGosu-x17 and it is rumored that he is not coming. I predict a bye for Artosis to the second round. Match 2: rS.Day[9] Vs rS.tasteless[9] -This is a much anticipated match. The two brothers whom are on the same team must decide each others fate in the first round of this tournament. After talking with them about this several times tonight I can't come to a conclusion as to who will win. All I can say is that I think these games will be very interesting because they know each other very, very, very well. They aren't happy about having to play each other, but they've both been preparing mentally, trying to think of new things to do that the other won't see coming. I predict this will be the most exciting match of the first round. Match 3: eVaDe Vs Future[LighT] -While Future is here and ready to play, eVaDe has not arrived and is rumored to not be coming. I believe he has school obligations that prevent him from arriving in time for the first round. I predict a bye for Future[LighT] to advance to the next round. Match 4: [iD]CocoA Vs JelloPud -Again, another match with one player currently missing. The opinion of most of the gamers here is that Cocoa will get a bye to the 2nd round where he will face Future. I predict the same, a bye for [iD]CocoA. Match 5: [pG]SLoG4 Vs Nyoken -This is another hard to call match, but after watching SLoG play today I have to put my eggs in his basket. I predict a [pG]SLoG4 victory over Nyoken. Match 6: FroZ Vs NerO -It is generally agreed upon that Nero is, well, completely screwed (even by Nero himself). It will either by a win for FroZ or a gigantic upset. While I'd love to see the upset, Nero's admittance to being inactive over the last 2 months until just recently leads me to believe his chances are slim. And with the skill FroZ displayed today I doubt any cheese will pull Nero through. I predict FroZ will win Vs Nero. Match 7: LJT Vs rS.wisdom[9] -This is another match with a missing opponent. While many players have talked highly about LJT's skill, they have also talked about his ability to be a ghost... and never show up for tournaments. I doubt he will be here. I predict a bye for Wisdom to advance to round 2. Match 8: {SG}Yosh Vs sonic-x17 -The feeling on this match is that sonic-x17 is not going to miraculously appear for the match. I predict a bye to the 2nd round for Yosh. I want to note that the "backup players" that would take the places of the missing gamers are not yet here, so I am predicting these bye's because I don't think there will be any replacements made. |
Stranded in Englewood2005-09-08 - sMi.NewB I landed at 6:16 eastern time, groggy from the codeine cough syrup and muscle relaxant that I took to make the flight bearable. I made it to WCG later that day and ran into a very cool and relaxed group of gamers. Stupidly I got onto the bus to the players hotel, which ended up being a 70 dollar cab ride back to the city where my room is. I'm going to crash in Nero's room, the floor looks good... Now it's time for us all to go play some poker. I'll have a full update for everyone once the poker is over. For now just know that the players are in high spirit and most all of them are here. So far we're missing LastGosu-x17, Evade, JelloPud, LJT and Sonic-x17. There have been lots of fun games played so far, one where Tasteless became the BM obs who nuked both the players, and another few games where we watched Froz's fingers flying so fast that they were only a blurr. Poker calls. Yosh is reading over my shoulder. I can't refuse. He will hurt me. |
