Liquid Taeja Wins Dreamhack Valencia

LiquidTaeja has once again proven that he is currently the best Starcraft 2 player in the world, by taking down this third international SC2 tournament, the prestigious European Dreamhack Valencia held on 22-23 September 2012. The Terran player came back after being down two games against another Korean Terran player and ex Brood War pro gamer ForGG from team Millenium. Taeja's win here adds another Euro 7,850 / $10,400 into his bank. His road to the finals seems to be a walk in the park by taking down Bly, Sase and Targa without dropping a single game from the Round of 16. The Terran player took down Warcraft 3 legend Grubby and even

Stephano Wins WCS European Finals

Stephano from team Evil Geniuses has proven once again why he is the best foreigners has to offer representing the west. Dub the best player outside Korea, Stephano took down WCS European Finals with ease. His domination was proven once again with him going undefeated in match series heading all the way into the Grand Finals. His only game loses was against the 2nd and 3rd place finisher and brothers, Vortix and Lucifron. The French player added another fat paycheck of $24,000 into his now fat piggy bank. Who knows what the actual amount he was offered to join EG.

First look at SC2: HOTS Beta

SC2: HOTS, Heart of the Swarm Beta has been released by Blizzard. However, at this stage, only a selected number of players are able to participate in this Closed Beta. Those invited include most of the professional SC2 gamers and random players that signed up for the Beta Trial in your Battle.net account profile. If you are one of those lucky few managed to get your hands on this piece of treasure, congratulations. However, most people like me are not able to get into the beta at this stage, until Blizzard plans to release it to the mass public before actual release of the game itself. If you want to know the actual release date for HOTS, you will probably won't find the answer so soon as this is Blizzard here we are talking about. The awesome gaming company will only release the retail version after it has been perfected and they do not fear to prolong the date. (I predict it to be released during Christmas time or early next year)

Lets, come back to the actual first look at SC2 HOTS at this release of Beta. If you cant get your hands on the Beta trial key, you can always watch the live streams available as well as VODs. There are even tournaments for HOTS beta currently.

Top Protoss Builds for Every Matchup

I will be showing you the most popular and top Protoss build for every matchups against Terran, Zerg and Protoss. These builds are a must know for you and deemed the most reliable builds and standard openings being used by top pro gamers in Korea and Internationally. If you plan to climb the Battlenet ladder, you should start practicing these builds and learn the main strength and weaknesses. SC2 best players like MVP, Nestea, DRG are the masters of builds. They have spend most of their time practicing the same build over and over again. When oGsFin,  (ForGG was his ID back in Brood War days) first transitioned over to Starcraft 2, he had been seen doing the same 1-1-1 build over and over again in his stream. He even use it in all the matchups. This is  how you should be practicing one build at time until you are a master in that build.

Protoss vs Terran Matchup
Let's start off with the Protoss and Terran matchup. Your main aim is to survive as long as possible and play a late game in PvT. This is due to the strength of Protoss late game army composition of Upgrades, Storm and Colossi. Terran is very efficient in the early game while Protoss in the late game. 1 Gate expand is deemed the most standard build nowadays. Long gone were the days of 3 Gate expand or 2 Gate Robo build. The main reason for the decreasing in their popularity is players are getting better in holding pressure from their opponents and larger macro maps. Thus, macro builds are preferred compared to pressure builds. This does not mean that these builds are not feasible. We can still see Gateway pressure timing builds once in a while. Sase and Naniwa are popular for

My 4v4 RT Game vs Stephano, Incontrol, Idra and LzGamer

Hi guys, this is my 4v4 Random Team match against some of the most feared players on the North American server, Stephano, EGIncontrol, EGIdra, and EGLzGamer. Ever seen Idra and Stephano played together? This is your chance. I was surprised to be matched against these professional players while I was screwing around. They can be seen screwing around as well in this game. I will share with you the replay. Enjoy!!

http://drop.sc/191801

How to get Masters in 4v4 Random Team with Protoss Build

A lot of you may be only interested in playing team games. Even when I first started out in Starcraft 2, I only do 3v3 and 4v4 team games all the time with my mates and had only played a few solo games. However, if you are keen to really improve in this game, I seriously recommend you to start playing your solo games. Team games can only get you so far. In this article I will show you how to get Masters League in random team 4v4. This is useful for players from Bronze level up to Diamond League. My main focus here is the Robo built that I constantly use up until now. For your information, I am ranked top 3 in my Masters division on North American server. Do take not all these games are Random Teams as I prefer to play alone on this server to screw around. I am having serious lag issues with my 300 ping, approximately 1.5s lag on this server. Thus, playing serious here is out of the question.

It has been closed to two years since the official launch of Starcraft 2. Hardcore avid gamer like me had played thousands of games from solo to team games and to some extend the custom games. By now most and nearly all of us had improved to a certain skill level, varying from individuals due to determination,

How to Cannon rush Cheese Zerg on Antiga Shipyards

This is a new strategy just shown to the world in one of Idra's games. The infamous Idra is on the receiving end of this cannon rush. As we know, Idra is one of the best foreigner Zerg out there from team Evil Geniuses. This cannon rush was very smartly done on Antiga Shipyard by the Protoss opponent as it only requires 2 Pylons to block off below the ramp as shown in the VOD. Once your Pylons are completed, you can throw down a cannon. This will push your Probe back out at the other side of the Pylon. Use this Probe to build an Assimilator at the Zerg's base to give you vision. Then build another one or two cannons. This is a very strong cheese as it utilizes the same opening as the normal Forge Fast Expo (FFE) build which is the most commonly used starting build in Protoss vs Zerg matchup. Remember to bring along another one or two Probes in case your first Probe got killed. Once your cannons are completed, you can use your Probe to give you vision while dodging the Zerglings.

Good luck in trying out this cheese and prepared to be flamed

SK MC and his Girlfriend

SK MC and his Girlfriend. Taken during his stream.

Three Championships Three Winners: Polt, MKP and DRG

The past week has been full of incredible world recognized tournaments being held across the globe. First there was the ASUS Rog, MLG Winter Arena and GSL 2012 Season 1 Finals. Incredible games and the fiercest matches were being played by some the world best Starcraft 2 players over the past week. The Korean travel across to new lands in hopes of claiming another championship under their flag. The foreigners fought fiercely defending their pride within their homelands. Players such as Stephano, Huk, Idra, Ret, Whitera and all the foreign champions fought bravely against the invading Koreans. In the end, only one shall remain. When the dust clears, only one champion will be crowned.

TSLPolt wins ASUS ROG

Polt from TSL claims the championship besting Stephano in the grand finals 4 to 1. The Korean had an incredible weekend taking out players such as Taeja, Hero, Lucky and finally Stephano. The Frenchman on the other hand performed very well before falling in the finals to the Korean. Stephano is the favourite to win this tournament and stopping the Korean domination. Do take note, this is only a few days after the Ghost nerf. Terrans are having a huge problem against the Zergs endgame might. However in the end, the GSL Super Tournament winner managed to add another gold medal carrying the Korean flag behind him.

How to Unselect Workers from your Control Group

I have been asked this question before. Some of you may be wondering how do you Unselect workers from your control group with ease. This works as well for unselecting specific units in your control group. For example, removing High Templars, Ghost, Siege Tanks or any other units. The best known way is to Hold down both CTRL + SHIFT keys and Click on the unit icon within the unit box found below of your screen. This is useful when you have your units on the mineral line next to your workers. Here's some screen shots.

1. Drag and select everything.

2. Hold down SHIFT + CTRL and Left click on the Probes in the units selection.

Small Tips against Dark Templar DT

We all know the feeling when one or two infamous Dark Templars managed to sneak into our defenseless base during our games. This is the worst feeling in the world, being caught with your pants down without a detection. Everyone had definitely experience this before losing the game entirely being killed by only one Dark Templar. In fact, DT is one of the most used strategies in team games where having your allies to pressure while the Protoss player teching happily behind with an extremely greedy build without a single unit. DTs can come out as early as 6:30 in game time.

Let's get to the main point. This is just some small tips for everyone the next time you have a Dark Templar sneaking between your mineral lines. The main objective is to buy as much time for you or your allies Detection whether in the form of Scan, Obs, Overseers or even Cannons.

If the Dark Templar is not being microed, the unit AI will give priority to units instead of workers. For example, if the DT being assigned SHIFT+Right click on the workers, the DT will always attack the Queen

VODs and Replays You Should Watch

For those of you who does not watch every single VODS and replays in every SC2 major events, you should probably watch these. Some spoilers here for your information.

MLG Winter Qualifiers (VODS)
Watch the performance of multiple GSL winner IMNestea and uprising Protoss star from Startale, STParting impressive performance in the Korean/ Taiwan Qualifiers.

Favourite SC2 Champion Vote

Vote for your favourite Starcraft 2 Champion here. Champions representing each race in SC2- Terran, Zerg and Protoss will be selected for this poll. First let's take a look at the contestants.

IMMvP

The best to start off the list is none other than 3 times GSL Champion, MvP from team Incredible Miracles. Deemed the Game Genie Terran and probably the most accomplish SC2 Korean professional gamer to date. He is probably the strongest Korean scene has to offer. With his impressive macro and micro mechanics, MvP has never failed to continue impressing the viewers. MvP has so much different builds and will probably be known as the one who brought 'Mech Play' back into TvT matchup. Artosis's prediction finally came true after months of arguing that Mech is the best build in TvT.

IMNestea

The Professor and Zerg Genius from team IM. Teammate and rival of IMMvP. The most accomplish Zerg player out there with 3 GSL gold medals under his belt. Nestea continue to show that age is not a problem if you are aiming to be the very best. Nestea had been hyped so much by Artosis that we mortals continue to believe Nestea is a God.




MC

Favourite SC2 Females Vote

It's time to vote for your Favourite and Hottest females in SC2. More names had been added. Anna Prosser is now Voteable!

Aphrodite 'Kim Ga Young'

Aphrodite from team Startale is probably the best female Starcraft 2 has to offer. 23 Year old Ga Young shot to the spotlight and has melted the hearts of the SC2 community with her charm and impressive performance winning Iron Lady Champion Cup 6 and Zowie Divina Invitational. She is probably the fastest female rising star in SC2 scene with her skills and good look. Aphrodite is probably known to us as Rainbow's girlfriend. If you ask any Korean Pro gamers who has the hottest girlfriend, their answer will be none other than Rainbow from team Startale. Aphrodite is currently ranked top in the Korean Masters Ladder. This is no easy feet for any gamers out there. Aphrodite's charm and skill has grab the hearts of many.

DaSakura

DaSakura 'Roxanne Daviault', Canadian Zerg player is well known for her participation in Zowie Davina.

Anna Prosser

Our Miss Oregon and Mrs Incontrol.She is definitely the diva in the world of Starcraft 2. She has contributed a huge part into the SC2 community with her wonderful professional gamer interviews and tweets.

SlayersEve

SC2 Rebinding and Remapping Hotkeys

Rebinding and remapping hotkeys in Starcraft 2 is one of the most overlook advance features in this game. Rebinding and remapping hotkeys are currently used by a lot of Professional gamers to improve their micros and macro abilities. Blizzard Entertainment had done a wonderful job in the hotkey features in SC2. Most of the hotkeys are perfectly assigned. However, some of the hotkeys are still being kind of wrongly placed. I'll give you an example here. Let's take the hotkey for Immortal from the Robotics Facility. The original hotkey assigned to this unit is 'I'. This seems to be good at first sight as it uses the first letter of Immortal. However, the more I play this game, the more I feel that this is wrong. I have added an alternative hotkey of 'R' for Immortal. This instantly improve my gameplay. So the new hotkey for Immortal will be 'I' and 'R'.

Why Assign and Rebind Hotkeys
This feature aims to change some of the custom hotkeys for the custom assigned hotkeys from Blizzard in SC2. The main feature of using this remapping hotkeys is to assign the keys 'Towards the Left side of your Keyboard'. As you all know, having the hotkeys towards the left side improves and smooths your gameplays thus having better unit creation and upgrades. If we take the example of the Immortal before, everytime when we wish to train an Immortal, we have to move our left hand to the 'I' button.

oGsMC is Finally Back and Wins Home Story Cup (HSC)

Protoss President, oGsMC is finally back in form by winning one of Europes finest tournament, Home Story Cup (HSC), the first SC2 tournament in 2012. The Boss Toss or Kratoss Protoss has finally been out from his multi months slump which landed himself out of Global Starcraft League (GSL), Koreans most prestigious SC2 tournament. Having clawed himself back into Code S, MC's play is looking stronger and fiercer than ever. Having achieved a third place in the previous Home Storey Cup behind Huk and Naniwa, MC once again is seeking his first championship since his slump. His hunger and thirst for a win here has never been higher from his multi months slump.

Finally, oGsMC manage to claim yet another championship. Home Story Cup is a very prestigious SC2 tournament hosted by Dennis Gehlen, or more oftenly known as Take by the community at his very own apartment. Players and contestants will enjoy a never seen before casual surroundings and fun atmosphere. However, HSC has often been lauded for one of the most competitive scene due to its high profile Korean invitees facing the very best the Westerners has to offer. 7 Koreans were invited into this HSC alongside 25 other international high ranking players such as Stephano, Thorzain, Socke, Nerchio, Dimago and others. Leading the Korean onslaughts were 2 time GSL champion and the eventual HSC winner oGsMC, multiple GSL 2nd placer, MarineKingPrime, Violet, Liquid's very own Hero, upcoming Startale Star Sound, EG's new acquisition JYP and Protoss player Real.

In the end, the 6 of the final 8 players were Koreans. This

EGIdra in GSL Code S January 2012 and Bonus Video

The Gracken is back in Korea. EGIdra currently residing within the Slayers House is doing some intensive training with teammates from team Evil Geniuses such as Puma, Huk, recent EG addition JYP as well as having top Starcraft 2 players to train with such as Boxer, Champion MMA, Ganzi and the list goes on. Idra was awarded a code S in GSL January 2012 from the cooperation between the Korean Global Star League (GSL) and international Gaming company Major Gaming League (MLG).

We will once again see the Gracken try out his luck at the most prestigious Starcraft 2 tournament in the world faced against the best SC2 has to offer. Since the announcement of the group allocation for GSL January, Idra's fans around the world is getting crazy. EGIdra is being placed within the same group as the two Champions of GSL, IMNestea and IMMvP while the final player being a Zerg player from team FXO, Lucky. This will be Idra's toughest test ever having to face both the champions since returning to Korea.

Idra's best placing before leaving Korea was during the early release of SC2. Being placed into the Semifinals and then being knocked out by Swedish player LiquidJinro. This was during the days where Terran players can just build 2 Bunkers below the Zerg's ramp to fully wall off the ramp. This is why we see some tournament version of the maps today with a neutral Supply Depot below the ramp. I can still remember the final game where Idra 6 Pooled Jinro with Drones and nearly grab a win. However, Idra can blame his luck back then as a Marine managed to sneaked into a Bunker with 5 hp. This is a Drone
hit away and a GG from Idra soon followed. Idra then left Korea hoping to secure some championships in the international scene. However, things do not go his way as Koreans started to invade the international championships and winning one after another. The Koreans took our money, girls and babies away from us. (Lol this is exaggerating but you know what I mean)

Idra has not been performing well in MLGs as has always been knocked out by top players such as oGsMC.

The Gods of Starcraft 2 - Part 2 IMMvP

The most accomplished player to date since the release of Starcraft 2 will definitely go to another legend from clan Incredible Miracles (IM), MvP. Jeong Jong Hyeon (IMMvP)'s gold medals is an envy to every other professional SC2 gamers out there. Having won 3 GSLs, World Cyber Games, MLG, a silver GSL medal and having the highest price earnings to date which stood at $255, 790 easily makes MVP the best Starcraft 2 player to date. The Terran God, has proved himself over and over again by winning tournament after tournament from the Korean Global Starcraft League (GSL) to International tournaments such as the Major Gaming League (MLG).

Nicknamed the Game Genie Terran, MVP comes from a Broodwar background. Although not the most accomplish and impressive gamer during his previous gaming career, when compared to the S Class players such as Jaedong, Flash and Bisu, MVP has shown his hunger for success and victory. His Brood War background has set to be a very important factory in his success in SC2. His total record during the Brood War days was only 39.47% or 30-46. This is probably a joke for many. However, Brood War is considered one of the hardest online game has to offered during it's days due to the game's mechanics unlike SC2. For example, gamers can only set 12 units in a hotkey and workers can't be rallied to mineral lines. Thus, every action has to be taken with care and precision. Not to mention keeping up with your macro while microing during multiple engagement fronts. This require a player to have insane amount of apm to play the game at the highest competitive stage.  

Known for his strong macro style and mechanics, no other Starcraft 2 player can emulate the legend in

The Gods of Starcraft 2 - Part 1 IMnestea

Every game has their champions. Golf has Tiger Woods, Basketball has Michael Jordan, Warcraft 3 has Grubby and Legendary fifth race Moon. In Starcraft 2 we have MVP and Nestea. There is no denying the facts that IMMvP and IMNestea are currently the best players for their perspective race at this point of time. The God of Terran IMMvP or more commonly know as the Terran President in Korea and the legendary IMNestea or the Zerg President both holds more GSL championships than any other SC2 gamers out there. Both Mvp and Nestea holds 3 Gold medal trophies from GSL. This is no easy feet to even get into Code S as GSL is deemed the Mecca of the Starcraft universe. Koreans are always the leaders of this game since the early days of Broodwars with legendary names such as Boxer, Nada, Jaedong and Flash.

Both Nestea and MVP were professional gamers from the Brood War era. However, they did not accomplish anything more than just being a punching bag for the S Class players. Nestea was known as ZergBong from BroodWar only spots a measly 11-21 (34.38 % win rate) with minimal appearance. MVP on the other hand had a 30-46 (39.47) record during the days. These results were greatly inferior comparing to S class players such as Jaedong, Flash, Nada and Bisu with each spotting more than 60% win rates and going as high as 80% at some point during their peaks respectively.

IMNestea

Undefeated PvT Proxy Robo 2 Immortal All in

This time I will be revealing a very strong and near undefeated build order that I am constantly use during my online game plays against Grandmaster Terrans. This build mainly revolves around setting a proxy Robotics Facility near enough the Terran's base while being out of his vision and tower sights. This is an all in build. Thus, if you are not into allins turn back now. But I have to make a note here, a lot of players are against all ins but I am perfectly fine with this. All ins are used to exploit a certain part of the game itself. You always see the professional gamers all in as this is also a part of the strategy.

Due to the metagame favouring towards a more heavy macro oriented builds in general, 1 Barracks into expansion is probably one of the most common builds on larger maps such as Tel'darim Altar, Antiga Shipyard, Shakuras Plateau and others. Thus, we can use this to our advantage in exploiting build order advantage. Let's take for example where going a 15 Nexus against Terran is very very risky and basically suicide against 1 Gas Terrans as you can just die to 1 basing play from Terrans such as Maruaders and Hellion pushes.

First of all let's take a look at this Immortal build. Immortals deal insane amount of damage to Bunkers. With 2-3 Force Fields you can break the Terran defense with ease. This build works perfectly when the Terran is going for a Gasless 1 Barracks Expo. Thus, we will be scouting at 9 food after Pylon. On maps such as Tel'darim Altar, Antiga Shipyard you can scout 2 locations and knowing perfectly if the Terran is grabbing his gas. As for the third spot, you Probe will see the expansion if he is expoing.

Thus, before we go for this build, always confirm the Terran is going Gasless.

Build Order
9 Pylon > Scout