Will "Chobra" Cho

OGN Host/Caster and e-sports Korean Translator/Interpreter. ggChronicle Staff Writer

[willchobra-blog]

How I see myself in Esports

By now most of you will have heard the big news. I will be moving back to America (Yay!) to join ESL as a Commentator and Creative Producer (Double Triple Yay!). With that news, there’s also been a ton of questions: Where will you reside (NA!)? Will you still be doing OGN stuff? What games will you be a part of?...and most of all, Why are you leaving OGN?

For starters, I will be leaving OGN and joining ESL as a full-time employee. I’m not barred from doing outside events, so there’s a chance you might see me at other tournaments like we do with Apollo at Dreamhack =] I will be moving to California to join the ESL North America offices, but as you saw, this also does not mean I won’t be doing ESL HQ events since I am kicking off my ESL career with ESL One Frankfurt.

I have about 3 pages by now on all sorts of explanations for my choices...and decided that’s not exactly what you guys are looking for heh. Maybe I’ll share all of that one day, but today, let’s talk big picture.

It seems a lot of people don’t know, but I started off my esports career as a caster foremost, then a translator/interviewer, then followed by all sorts of behind the scenes work surrounding production and consulting. The point is, it’s not that suddenly I want to do more on-stage work...that was what I always wanted to do the most! That is where my roots are, and I’m just returning to it in a sense ^^

As a commentator at ESL, my biggest role will be as a host, and that too is where I wanted to see myself going. Sure, I casted matches more often than I hosted events in the past, but I didn't have many opportunities to begin with to host events. A big part of this is that OGN is in Korea and the audience is Korean and Korean will be the main language, as it should be. The few times I got to host events though, I had a blast and wanted to do more so I could improve even more.

Another thing is that I want to hold a broad repertoire of games. You have to draw the line at some point to remain knowledgeable in all the titles you are a part of, but I wanted to take part in as many as I could. This is because I want to continue reminding myself that I enjoy games as a whole, and that I enjoy esports as a whole and the different styles each title brings. Not to say analysts of games don’t enjoy other games, but to me, as a presenter, it was always important to stay in tune with that within my job. If you’re an analyst, you have a very clear priority in which title to spend the most time with. As a presenter, it’s often a different case. Now, OGN does do multiple titles, and any broadcasting company’s repertoire will come and go...but Korea in general moves in masses. Culturally, be it fashion, music, or games, when one thing gets big, it gets huge. You’ll always have leaders in any field, but in the Korean community (compared to America at least) the discrepancy is quite a bit larger between the largest audience and those that follow. As we know, if there isn't a player base, there isn't a scene, and that can often be the limitation in what gets produced. The way I see it, at ESL (especially with offices across NA and EU) there will simply always be more options because the overall playerbase is bigger to begin with.

One factor that isn't directly esports-related is that I planned to move back to the West at some point. Korea’s great and it’s changed a lot for the better from the past, but culturally I just feel more at home in the States (there are parts of EU I’d like to try living in though!). With that as a plan, I wanted to prioritize my career in English over my career in Korean. It was an honor to be invited on to the Korean broadcast of global tournaments in LoL and Hearthstone. I had a lot of fun, learned quite a bit, and received a lot of support from the community. I really wanted to do more of it, but I was torn because at the end of the day, I was building up 2 separate careers rather than 1. Some parts of it overlap (such as stage presence and game knowledge) but I’m still essentially building two different towers and asking people to look at them as one. My efforts and time had to be split. This was one of the biggest things, and one of the unfortunate aspects of the situation. I was thankful to be given such opportunities by OGN and honored to be so valued, but our long term visions for myself didn't align in the end.

On the flip side, I have held high regard for ESL for quite some time. I really like ESL’s style in most of their productions, and thought it would be neat to take part in that. When the position included that of a Creative Producer, it really seemed to be a good fit for what I was looking for. I didn't just want to be included in the set for ESL events, but also help evolve it, and coming from Korea and OGN, I believe I can offer some new angles and ideas. They might not all be great, but I’m positive they’ll at least lead to new questions and new challenges to take some different steps in global esports production. My experiences on stage at OGN will be helpful, but it’s the time I spent in the production room and in the office at OGN that will help the most here. I’ve been a part of most of the different aspects of producing a tournament, from brainstorming, tournament format, set design, to tech on site. I don’t claim to be an expert in all of them, but I hope that I can at least provide another set of eyes and ears for most of them.

Global esports is still growing day by day, and I can’t wait to be in the thick of it with ESL =D After a lot of consideration, I saw ESL as the best fit for me. It was a place where I wanted to go, and I decided it’s also the place that provides me with the best canvas to work on. They have a solid foundation in esports broadcasting, quite a history, and great people. When I talk with members of ESL, so often I can tell that our ideas about what’s exciting about esports match up. ESL already does awesome work in the scene, but I’m confident that so much more can be done...and it will be =]

Man, I wish I could just keep on writing out all my thoughts. There’s a lot I want to share, but I hope this answers some basic questions. My visions and OGN’s visions for me didn't line up at the end of the road, and I've always enjoyed working with ESL and watching ESL productions. I’m very excited to join and be a part of that, and I hope that you continue to have faith in the fact that I’m here to make esports more fun for us all. I want to enjoy it, and I want you to enjoy it with me.

I plan to host an AMA soon to help answer detailed questions, so if your curiosity hasn't been quenched please stay tuned to find out when that will happen! Until then, good luck and have fun~

[willchobra-blog]

Thank you: Hosting the IEM World Championships

[I wanted to really do a Vlog but am recovering from cold-like symptoms so I’m going to take it easy >.<]

Hello everyone, AND WELCOME TO MY BLOOOOOG. Haha, all jokes aside, first and foremost, thank you everyone for the love and support. I can’t say this enough. I have a lot to work on, and I know it’s hard to find a style that’s everyone’s cup of tea, but I appreciate all the support, awareness, suggestions and love that the community has shown this past weekend.

IEM Katowice 2015 was quite a meaningful event because A.) it was my first IEM, B.) My first time being the main host for any offline esports event, and C.) it had been about over a year since I got to stand on stage for a relatively large offline English event. (last one prior being Blizzcon 2013)

I was quite excited and anxious as you might imagine. I always wanted more chances to practice hosting and casting in English, but to jump right into the IEM World Championships was a bit daunting at first. As I said in my interview with SK Gaming, the last time I was really the main host for anything was probably in school a number of years back. I was still a bit unsure in rehearsal of how I wanted to do things, and unsure of how the crowd will be once we kick things off.

Whether it’s casting or hosting I always wanted to stick by the idea that I am still the same fan of esports I was before I started a career in this. I always look at my poster for Azubu Blaze (that I made in 2012 for their MLG Summer Arena visit) before I head off to any events to remind myself what it was like when I first got to meet professional casters and players. How exciting that was, what it was like to watch these games, and how fun it was to stay up until 6am watching OGN while discussing our various breakfast dishes in IRC. There’s different styles and tones required for different environments and events. However, for my first big main stage hosting, I wanted to just stay grounded to who  I am and share my excitement with people.

Granted, I did mix in some inspiration from Caster Jun, aka Korean Hype Man. I think there’s a lot to work on here (as people noted, voice projection being one things. Admittedly I hadn’t warmed up my voice enough this weekend + I had been lazy with training my voice in recent months, given I haven’t done many events), but I think for a first attempt on a Western/Korean hybrid style, I’m willing to be content. I’m glad a lot of people found it enjoyable even if it wasn’t perfect.

The crowd was actually pretty awesome. Opening day was pretty good, and they were definitely very passionate about the finals. I know some people who were at the venue also said that the crowd wasn’t as reactive to my introductions but sometimes you’re not as invested in the teams or given that it was in Poland, English isn’t as comfortable for everyone. Add that to venue sound systems + speech speed on stage, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was simply harder for some people to follow. The reason I didn’t let that change my style was that I wanted to keep consistency for the fans watching at home. A lot of times for live productions, you’ll also have someone who keeps the fans hyped up during breaks, but we didn’t always have a polish speaking person available for that, and that’s ok. I still wanted the fans watching from home to be excited about their favorite team’s next match, or the anxious moment when your region might be eliminated all together from the IEM World Championships. To me it’s just as important to communicate with viewers through the lens, as it is to keep the energy up in the venue.

After I did the team introductions for the finals, I was just about ready to knock out because so much adrenaline had just rushed through my body. I loved that though. I was so glad I could be up there and nerd out over the match that was about to happen, and share that with all the fans around the world. Katowice was a very good reminder on why I love being in the field: because at the end of the day, it’s exciting, it’s got emotion and I can essentially be a huge fan while working.

It’s always a pleasure to work with ESL too. I know that many people had qualms with the production and/or live venue operations, and I can’t speak to that as I wasn’t a part of it on either side. However, I know that ESL has some of the hardest working and passionate people I’ve worked with in esports. I also really respect their production quality overall. Heck, OGN’s had it’s fair share of issues for global broadcasts. But when I look at some of the best content ESL has produced, I want to say that esports production has come a long way globally. The production crew is very accommodating and...Carmac and his crew aren’t people to stop striving. You might not always agree with their conclusions or directions, but if there’s one thing for sure, Carmac is one passionate soul about esports.

Huge thanks to Joe Miller for heading up all the talent operations for the LoL side of things, and the rest of the talent crew we had: Sjokz, Crumbz, Deficio, Quickshot, Montecristo, DoA, and Rachel. They were a fun group to work with and I’d like to think we put up a good show for everyone out there. Big thanks to Alex the ESLStagemanager for main stage, who made sure I was fed, hydrated, and comfortable with all of the production; Oli, the head producer for the main stage events, who was always happy to listen to any ideas I had and willing to discuss things to provide better production for everyone; The entire crew for making sure the talent didn’t have to worry about a thing other than our presentations; and of course, Carmac, for bringing us all in and making IEM happen.

What’s next? Well I’ll still be working on OGN productions for sure. I hope to be able to find more opportunities to host global events though. It’s something I want to perfect and find my own style in. I firmly believe that a great host requires finesse in adapting to different stages and even game titles, so there’s a lot to work towards. Otherwise, you’ll still find me streaming (twitch.tv/willchobra) and doing online tournaments while working with OGN stuff. As always, you can find out all about it on Twitter.

Thank you once again for all the love from IEM. It means a lot to get such support after my first big gig, and really makes me want to work on my stage performance even more. You guys are pretty awesome, and I’m glad we can all be jolly nerds when it comes to esports. Feel free to give me feedback here, Twitter, or on the Reddit thread, so that I can bring you more awesome esports events in the future!

[willchobra-blog]

The state of Veigar

This isn't an organized post but just some expanding while I was tweeting.

If you play League of Legends, many of you probably have complaints about the recent patch, Patch 5.4. Now, I don't mean to say that if we have complaints it's automatically bad. By nature most of us won't like change, and many times we've complained about a balance change or such that ended up being just fine. I've been guilty of that too.

Veigar's a huge topic though (along with the jungle, I know, but that's why I'm staying away from re-learning jungle yet this season.) Veigar has always had his identity in being an anti-mage assassin. He is also one of the few infinite scaling champions (like Sion's health), in that he can farm his Baleful Strike(Q)s as long as the game continues. He's a yordle, he hates short jokes, and he basically had a Deathcap built into his skillset. Which was awesome. You were so squishy so you never played him much, but it felt so darn good when you just 100-0 anyone you wanted...especially that pesky Leblanc or Ahri. Or that Swain, cause you know, his AP is your AP.

Recently, however, Veigar gained a lot of attention as a support. As someone who loves trying champions in unconventional roles, I wasn't surprised to see this at all. His Event Horizon (E) is a great zoning ability AND an amazing stun if you can hit it. Your ult still does good damage against most other supports and mids, and even top laners these days with Rumble and Lissandra. You have wave-clear. You sacrifice a little utility compared to standard supports for more damage. Like Annie.

This brought attention to his powerful stun. Up to 2.5 seconds is a long time for a stun in League of Legends (I know it seems puny to you DOTA fans.) For reference, Ashe's Ult stuns for a max of 3.5 seconds if you covered enough distance, and that's an ultimate. If you've been hit by an arrow, you know that it feels like eternity. Event Horizon is similar.

If you've never played Veigar, let me brief you very quickly. Event horizon is a circular skillshot, It isn't exactly the easiest thing to land. It used to be instant cast, so if you hit it, you got it, but you would really need to have played Veigar quite a bit because your mouse is where the center of that circle is...where as the stun is the edge of that circle.

If you don't use smarcast, you'll get the indicator, but it's still no simple task to hit moving targets in a teamfight. Bottom line: it's different. It's not your line skillshot, and it's not your AOE. Even then, an instant-cast 14sec cooldown (at the highest level) 2.5sec stun seemed too strong to Riot. And I can agree with that. It IS super strong! Just because it's hard to hit doesn't mean it should stay untouched forever either given the game changes all the time, and also people will learn tricks and champions as they go etc. etc.

This recent change though, I don't agree this was the way to go. A lot of people have mentioned their reasons, and I think I pretty much agree but I wanted to sum it up in one go:

Event Horizon was Veigar's only defensive characteristic.

The theory here is that Event Horizon was too strong when used offensively. Locked in for 2.5 seconds spells instant death for almost any champion, especially in a teamfight. It could hit multiple targets too. This is all good and fair, but then putting a 0.75 second delay on the walls going up? If you're on the edge, you can walk out, if not you can use an escape skill (which so many champions have these days) to get out without any further consequence. In the old version, you could still jump out of the circle, but you'd get stunned at least at the end of your jump. Now there's infinitely more ways to avoid this.

Now let me expand on "only defensive characteristic." The first is obvious. Veigar has no escapes. He has no dash, blink, jump, knockback, untargetable etc. Vlad has his pool, Ahri has her ult, Zed has his shadow, even Ryze has his ult's movespeed (he also has a targeted snare so that's that). Veigar has nothing. You just turn around and go, or hope you kill them before they kill you.

Second, you only have one utility spell...well the Event Horizon. Which is iffy now. Annie has no escapes, but at worst has Molten Shield (and can have a targeted spell with her passive + Disintegrate). Xerath has a stun and a slow. Anivia has a wall + a stun + a slow with her ult. Morgana has black shield. Swain has a slow and a snare and a sustain ult.

Lastly, Veigar doesn't have a long range. Xerath is a very well known gank-susceptible champion, but how does he survive laning phase? By having superior poke OR farming from way behind if he's falling behind in the laning phase. Veigar can't do that. His changed Q is just your average length, and in fact feels super short once you fall behind. I know this is technically covered by the fact that it can surpass one extra target, but it's in fact a little too wide that it often just hits two in the front row.

What does all this mean?

If you're attacked by...anyone. You're done. Enemy assassin jumps on you? Good bye. Ganked? You get one flash, that's it, good bye. Want to trade? Better be willing to die for it. But WAIT! You have that stun! Which...only goes up after 0.75 seconds. Here's the thing. Yes, you can lead them a bit and stun them, but what matters here is that the extra 0.75 seconds is 0.75 seconds you're taking damage. Basically, you have no way to get back in the game once the enemy shows aggression unless you kill them first...which technically got harder after DFG got removed and now his ult got nerfed.

I say this...after having a successful game with Veigar. His stun can still serve a great zoning purpose, and if you have the element of surprise, you can still catch them pretty decently. But after just a few games, what I'm feeling is that the new Event Horizon has actually taken counterplay options for Veigar himself. Again, champions like Xerath can farm from behind. Ryze can sustain off of his ult. You can always roam as any champion, but without a targeted CC, your roaming depends on your teammates.

Personally, if it's the absurd support potential Veigar showed that is the problem, then I suggest simply shortening the stun duration of Event Horizon. Some people are suggesting this stun duration exists to make his Dark Matter (W) smoother, which is probably true, but if the stun is instant you can queue Dark Matter first. In fact, even in the former version of Event Horizon, rank 1 didn't give you enough time for stun + Dark Matter, especially if they were stunned on the far end. Basically, try to think about how you played him when you only had that first rank in Event Horizon. If you have full mana, you can stun at the far end, harass with Q, and back out until you can burst them with your ult. If they come in, you can stun on the close end. Or, if they are melee, you can stun on the close end and get a full rotation of damage in. It gives you more options, and forces you to make choices, but leaves those choices intact. Now it seems that there's only 2 obvious ways to use Event Horizon which is a.) zoning, b.) catching people from fog of war. The current edition doesn't feel like a cage, because 0.75 seconds is a long time in League for reactions. I really think a shorter stun duration would make him less appealing as a bully support but still allow him to feel somewhat safe in lane and make picks late game.

I was going to write a lot more on my suggested change, but I'd like to hear your thoughts first. What are some other suggestions you can think of?

[willchobra-blog]

And on we go!

Happy New Year!

2014 saw a return with a focus on casting/hosting for me in esports. I loved it. It was fantastic to be back on the stage and able to deliver fun content to all of you. I was also honored to present both the LoL World Championship 2014 and Blizzcon in Korean for the Korean audience on OnGameNet.

After a short stream run in the spring, I also got back to streaming and starting to export some clips to YouTube near the end of the year. I appreciate the patience everyone had with some parts of my personal production that may have been slightly lacking (graphics anyone? ^^). I hope you were still able to have fun with me on stream, reminding ourselves that games are meant to be taken both seriously and humorously at times.

So, 2015 we're going to run with video content. I'm currently in talks with both my agent and OGN to polish content direction. I will be able to announce plans as they come, one by one, so stay tuned to hear what we've got in store. It will be a good balance of live streams and VOD services, so don't worry about timezones =]

Thanks for all the support from you guys. Conversations on Social Media, official broadcasts, and my own stream where we can just chit chat about games and what we love about it; that's what keeps me going. It reminds me that I'm in good company, and that we're all in a place we enjoy. And thank you to all the people who have had faith in me to deliver their production in 2014: OnGameNet, Riot Games, Blizzard Entertainment, Smilegate, and Machinima. The hard work from the directors to the business team, the stage crew to the make-up artists, all deserve a big hug and a thank you.

A big shout-out to none other than the two awesome co-casters I get to work with here at OnGameNet: MonteCristo and DoA. Of course, the Korean casters I get to work with are awesome too (both LoL and Hearthstone crews!) A special thanks to the other English casters stationed in Seoul that I've had the pleasure to work with this past year: Wolf, Tasteless, and Artosis. Oh, and even if we just started working together on the Machinima Hearthstone content, a shout to Amaz for being an awesome co-caster, and Sympatico for his work behind the scenes.

Last but not least, my agent Toby is the man.

So. Who's excited for 2015 esports?

[willchobra-blog]

The Prince and the Trogg

Now that Goblins vs. Gnomes (GvG) has been out for a week, we're seeing the dust settle and mechs rise up. I've been tinkering myself, originally with Mage (since Flame Leviathan was the first class Legendary I opened) and Priest. While I've certainly had my fun with those two classes (Read: Flame Leviathan and Shadowboxer), I've settled on Rogue the past few days.

My goal with GvG has been to theme my decks. Whether it's around one card or an overarching concept. My Priest is currently struggling with Shadowboxers (to the point where I jokingly put in Knife Jugglers with them, stomped a casual game, and got wrecked on ladder), and my Mage is needing some consistency tweaks (also some inspiration from Strifecro!)

With Rogue, I've somehow...hit some more consistency. It all started because my daily involved Rogue wins. Naturally, I needed to put in the new shiny cards (Ben Brode was right, shiny cards are awesome), so I immediately crafted Trade Prince Gallywix and got to working. First, so far, the most consistent version of the deck:

There's 1 Backstab not seen in this rendition

The Prince made the brainstorming easy: punish them hard for using spells. This actually seemed like a decent idea in the first week of GvG, given the lack of silence noticed on ladder and conversations. If you don't have silence minions (Ironbeak owl or Spellbreaker), you are at the mercy of spells or minions already on board to deal with later threats. Now, if you punish them for using spells at that point...their options do seem to be a limited huh?

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We'll start with the most "fun" part. My late-game went for the dream counter-spell: Loatheb - Gallywix - Troggzor. The most ideal scenario is of course that I play them turns 5, 6, and 7. Turn 5 they usually can't afford to play a spell to rid of Loatheb given its effect, then Gallywix comes in forcing them to either give me a removal spell or deal with now two 5-damage bodies, then turn 7 pretty much wins you the game where you ask them...do you really want more Troggs?

Even without Loatheb, Gallywix + Troggzor makes for an interesting combination, because while Gallywix's coin doesn't trigger Gallywix...it triggers Troggzor. Of course these all sound a bit win-more. In my opinion, that's only truer the more you combo, especially in the current frequency of aggro based decks. The flip-side argument could be "why not Ragnaros?" Something with a more immediate threat? While true, there is a distinct tradeoff of being BGH'd at that point. That argument I think is indeed much more meta-dependent. Also, I'm trying to keep a theme here!

The original considered the use of earlier Rockjaw Troggs (my current Priest deck still does), but we had more pressing matters on hand. For one reason or another, I kept thinking of this gif below:

and as a result, needed ninjas. That fought wizards. Although the gif is about...ninja wizards. But that's beyond the point. The point is any combination of pirates, ninjas, and wizards are cool. And bears with laser beams. So, we put in Iron Senseis. I wanted to put in Ogre Ninjas too (and did at one point), but my late game is already pretty slow, and conditional. It's a nice card, but not too fitted. I needed more early oomph.

So, given my theme of ninjas that fight against wizardry types, the Arcane Nullifier X-21 made it in. This added to the dream combo of turns 5-6-7 by adding a turn 4. If lined up perfectly, they couldn't spell my Arcane Nullifier, it lived to protect the Loatheb which denied spells, etc. This also works really well with Iron Sensei, either on Turn 7 or earlier with a Mechwarper / clear board.

The above version was built to combat some of the more common aggro decks I was facing at the time. Fan of knives and Bloodmage Thalnos both served a two-fold purpose: card draw and board clear. The Faerie Dragons meant I could use them to control board rather than pressure only to be dealt by with spells (was seeing a lot of mage). The Tinkertown Technicians not only serve a decent body, but spare parts allow for combos to be used effectively to end the game or rid of big minions down the road. I've found spare parts to really benefit Rogue because of that, even without Gadgetzan Auctioneer.

The rest of the cards are variable, so we'll discuss that later. While the strategy is pretty straightforward, let's review. The overall theme feels similar to Miracle. Hang on for dear life and fish for those legendaries. The GvG spin there being...if you get lucky you'll have a mech army on your hands serving a beat-down to your opponents before the Trade Prince can even waltz in. You definitely want Mechwarpers off your mulligan. The Goblin Auto-Barbers have also served me well early. Worst case you put a 3-2 body on the board turn 2 to pressure. Best case you get the +1 on your weapon to gain tempo. Now, Iron Sensei with the warper is nice early, but to guarnatee the play it's a turn 4. It's only super ideal with a coin on turn 3, otherwise you lose too much tempo against aggros. If it's Druid, I've found keeping that eviscerate for an early yeti or Keeper has been quite nice. Of course, if it's aggro you're facing, keeping a Blade Flurry or Fan of Knives is great. The dream against aggro is naturally Mechwarper + Clockwork Gnome to fight for board.

Not sure we're so silent but deadly anymore Sensei...

While it's cost me several games, don't be afraid to keep using your health to help clear board...except against Hunter. If you can get to Gallywix and Troggzor (especially Troggzor) you can generally win the game. For your early spells, I've found using them in the following order to be best for board clear: Deadly Poison, Eviscerate, and Cold Blood. However, I have to add that I still favor saving Eviscerate for the finish over Cold Blood, for obvious reasons of avoiding Taunt. If it is a class that can attack with face, Cold Blood has always proven useful in Rogue to pressure by pre-emptively buffing a minion: "You can take 8 more damage to the face and clear...or leave it and take 8 more damage to the face + more."

As mentioned earlier, don't be afraid to use the Auto-Barber bare, and especially with only 1 charge left on your weapon. If that charge is going to let you rid of a nasty annoy-o-tron or an injured taunt, it's worth it as long as you have health. It's only worth saving for 2 charges if you think a crazy weapon/Blade Flurry combo is your only remaining win/clear condition. Also don't be afraid to use the SI:7 Agent bare if the board is empty, or only has one enemy minion. You want to have options ready to fight for board.

One thing to note is that you actually want your opponents to save a fair amount of spells. For instance, unless it's going to net you a near-guarnateed win, or you're in a corner and have to just go all out or lose, don't fill your side of the board. That Holy Nova or Hellfire is going to be a lot more helpful to you if it comes out once you have Gallywix or Troggzor on board. If not, it's fine if they use it out of desperation on 1-2 minions. On the same note, have a deadly poison and SI:7 Agent, and they have a Mechwarper on board? Just use that weapon to clear. No need to bait out a Shadow Word: Pain to lead to your misery and loss of opportunity on copying it.

At the end, Troggzor will usually wrap things up for you nicely on an empty board, but if he's not there, Cold Blood, Spare Parts, or Iron Sensei's are your best bet. Deadly Poison and Eviscerate are more desperate means in my opinion and you'll find yourself using them more often than not to help clear board. Now, with Cold Blood and Spare Parts, remember that Gallywix is still a 5-8 body. His effect is super cool, but he's 5-8. That's a solid body. You Cold Blood this guy and he can do 9 damage. You swap his health, he can do 8. Use him as your big minion. The only time you should really watch out using him is either Druid on Turn 8 (that coin might end the game for you), or against a Mage late game since if they're ahead in health, they can get a minimum of 1 extra Fireball that turn off your coin with Archmage Antonidas. Oh, and apparently watch out for Questing Adventurers. I haven't run into one yet, but the PSA was out on reddit =]

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Let's talk small tech tweaks as food for thought.

Jeeves: I've used Jeeves on and off. He serves you well, but if you're running into tons of aggro, then be wary: He'll serve them too if you draw it first. In top-deck wars, your win-condition may be less-immediate but more preventative as long as you have ok-health. This is a toss-up. The up-side is, I've won a handful of games by using the Reversing Switch off of Tinkertown Technician to make Jeeves a 4-1 killer. He's also a mech, which can be used sooner with Mechwarper or buffed with Iron Sensei.

Explosive Sheep: If you put in Jeeves for your draw, you might just want Sheeps for your large clears. I haven't tested this too much but putting them over Fan of Knives and Thalnos sounds appealing in theory.

Harvest Golem vs. Spider Tank vs. SI:7 Agent: This is a tough one. Harvest Golems work best against full-out zoo as you'll have the stickiness. Spider Tanks seem to work better against mid-range. SI:7 agents provide safer clear at the cost of a combo condition. The first two have the benefit of meshing well with Mechwarper, Iron Sensei, and Tinkertown Technician. I've always kept the Agent, and had better success with Spider Tank, but am considering putting the golems back in tomorrow over the Agents. Tinkertown Technician has never been considered being traded with any of these due to Spare Parts allowing for such easy combos/win conditions.

Micro Machine vs. Clockwork Gnome: Clockwork Gnomes give you spare parts, but can easily be pinged off by a Mage or simple spell. Micro Machine's one extra health is nothing to laugh at, and it does provide more threat. If you're dealing with slower decks, the Micro Machine will serve you better, but even against Mage, that spare part is pretty appealing. Clockwork Gnome is also free with a Mechwarper.

Number of Spells: If you are running against slower decks, another thing to consider is running 2 Cold Bloods at the cost of...maybe an Iron Sensei or SI:7. This will allow for earlier wins more often.

Annoy-o-Tron: This does wonders against Hunters and even slower decks. It can soak up that hit from the Highmane or Giant, buying you one more draw for a win. You'll need another minion on board quite often though for that Cold Blood. Without that, your win condition is often 1 step slower at the benefit of being preventative, so if they have 2 giants on board, that Troggzor's going to feel a lot less mighty. This also provides reason for the Southsea Deckhands to make an appearance as back-up conditions. Even against aggro however, sometimes the Annoy-o-Tron is better than that Faerie Dragon since it stalls their pressure where as Dragons can just be ignored.

Sabotage and Tinker's Sharpsword Oil: You're looking for a satisfying win moment? Sharpsword Oil is your thing. With spare parts, the combo isn't hard to come by, and that's an immediate 6 extra damage that turn. 9 if you have Blade Flurry and the mana. For Sabotage, I originally used Assassinate, but then realized that oftentimes I just needed to get rid of that one big guy on board. Sure, there might be a pesky small minion hiding behind him, but you have some other options to deal with that first (Backstab, Eviscerate, SI:7). It's one mana less than Assassinate, and with a spare part combo, you can take out their weapons too. My Assassinate first came in because of all the Handlocks, but then as I ran into more Warriors, I liked the idea of Sabotage. Try it, you'll be surprised. The Sharpsword Oil though, I think is going to take its place as a given in this deck for me. Just one, for that sweet sweet win. The beauty of Rogue has always been the threat of massive burst.

Seriously Tinker's Sharpsword Oil. Use it. Love it.

------------------------------------------------

Well that's where I am. The deck still needs a lot of tweaking and normalizing, but if you're looking for a Rogue deck to build off of, I say give it a whirl! At the very least you'll find yourself chuckling whenever you play your Gallywix and Troggzor =] Go have fun!

[willchobra-blog]

You still got me to deal with! - GvG Reveal Analysis #2

Oh man, more cards were announced today, but we have catch-up to do! What I've been enjoying about these reveals is that we still don't know the rest of the expansion. Theories flying everywhere! In order to theorize we're gonna need to check out these cards huh?

____________________________________ 1. Unstable Portal: 2, Draw Spell

The first of many "Far Sight" cards, this one for the Mage. This card gives you a random minion which costs 3 less mana. So, you're spending 2 mana to get a 3 mana discount....if on the same turn. If not, the trade value obviously needs to account for turns. The part that is fun is the "random". As in, completely random. You could get a Wisp or a Ysera or...a...MAGMA RAGER? Oh the value. In all seriousness, I think it'll be a fun card to test out. If you get anything 3+ mana, the value of the card itself is provided. The utility is a different question though. This is a Mage card. Aside from awesome legendaries that any class can benefit off of, there are actually a much smaller pool of minions that Mages would eagerly benefit from in my opinion.

The animation is sweet though. I think this card will see play for its fun factor, and possibly pop up every few meta-cycles as a niche deck. It'll surely bring up tons of highlight clips! Can't wait to see how often I can make big plays with this one XD

____________________________________ 2. Goblin Blastmage: 4, 5-4

Didn't get to see this bugger in action at BlizzCon, but I like it. A 5-4 body for 4 mana is just fine, and if you have a mech in play, it'll help with your board control mid-game. Also, assuming you do have a mech in play...for now we're supposing you're running some mech based deck. Given the mechs revealed so far, most classes could build up a decent early/mid-game with mechs, and with the Blastmage Mages are no exception. Heck, even if you were just running a Spider Tank for an early body on Mages, this would help clear some stuff against Aggros. The biggest question then becomes that 4 mana is your slot for Fireballs, Polymorphs or Water Elementals...pretty much usually the staple for your Mage decks. So either we're gonna see some spin offs on Mage decks, or this will also just have a slight spark in the beginning then reside for decent Arena usage. I'm hoping for the former though. With more mechs and such coming out, I think most classes will at least spend a month or so to investigate new styles of decks, and Goblin Blastmage may be your guy for the Mage meta.

____________________________________ 3. Piloted Shredder: 4, 4-3

Ah, Piloted Mechs! Got to see both the Shredder and its older brother the Sky Golem at BlizzCon. Now the Shredder, just like the Blastmage for Mages, pays a bit in body value due to card text. This time it's a deathrattle, where a pilot will remain after death. Pilots will be a random 2-cost minion. I'm actually a bit skeptical of this. Most classes contain such crucial 4-drops that I don't see this replacing too many instances. Also, 2-cost minions contain a decent number of...big risk ones. Doomsayer or Lorewalker Cho could completely ruin your own game. Ancient Watcher could potentially be useless. Others will at least leave a body on the board that can attack, but hopefully you catch my drift. Even a Novice Engineer is going to make you groan since you won't even get the card draw.

I like the ideas though. Conceptually. Loved the way they introduced Piloted Mechs at BlizzCon (someone just walked in and brough the Mech, you don't even know who's piloting it yet!). They'll also serve solid Arena presence I presume. It'll be fun, but I'm more for the Sky Golem.

____________________________________ 4. Piloted Sky Golem: 6, 6-4

As I was saying, this one has more of my interest. First off, the art is cooler. Sky Golems are just simply better than Shredders. You're in the sky for goodness sake. Pew Pew. While it's still only 4 Health, and therefore relatively easy to eliminate post turn 6 for your enemies, it's got 6 Attack, meaning they also have to jump on that opportunity or else it's going to hurt. And then there's the Deathrattle, leaving behind a random 4-cost minion. 4-cost minions don't tend to pose as much of a threat as 2-cost ones like the Shredder might leave behind. So that's a sigh of relief. These Deathrattles aren't meant to make or break the game in my opinion....ok maybe break in some of the instances mentioned above, but not make. Most of the time big value from cards come in their card text anyway. However, in any case leaving behind a minion as a Deathrattle is always annoying to deal with. Harvest Golems and Sludge Belchers are good examples of this. The token they leave behind is weak at best, but it's always pesky. Now you have the chance to leave behind something beefier, or with more meaning if you get passive card text on it. That...is actually quite good.

Of course they also interact with the Undertaker. I'm pretty sure we're on the verge of people playing 30 Deathrattle minion decks.

____________________________________ 5. Sneed's Old Shredder: 8, 5-7

Ok, so the Legendary version rolls around and now we got it swapped. More Health, less Attack. 5-7, that can get annoying. 7 Health is a solid place to be. Without a very strong minion on board, you're rarely going to clear this guy with a simple one card play. This is another target to save those Polymorphs and Hexes for. Because even if you do kill it swiftly...you could give them a free Ysera or a Ragnaros...or a...unfortunately not Mr. Bigglesworth. Only collectible Legendaries. You're rarely not going to get your value on this guy. You could get a Millhouse as your DeathRattle and it's still a free 4-4 Deathrattle on the board. On the flipside, out jumps Kel'Thuzad and...oh my wait a minute. That would loop. Oh...boy...

I'm excited to use Sneed's Old Shredder. Sadly, I think the kicker will be that it's not really a finisher, and usually any legendaries 7,8,9 mana serve that one purpose. Even Rag, usually you're going for the finish. It will be fun though. In fact, for decks that look to the long long end-game, this could replace Ragnaros just alright since you need to silence or transform it to negate it's value, not just kill it with something like Hunter's Mark.

I personally will probably 99% of the time also always take it if I have the option to in Arena. RNG is always value, entertainment value.

Sharp Edges

The Piloted Mechs is really just a nice conceptual design in my opinion. They're solid cards too, they're always going to leave a minion behind. That's nothing to be scoffed at. I don't play Mage too often, but I'm looking forward to what else they have in store. Next week we'll take a look at some Warrior cards and Spare Parts!

[willchobra-blog]

Blessings, Bombs...Blegh! - GvG Reveal Analysis #1

Goblins and Gnomes! The new expansion Goblins vs. Gnomes for Hearthstone is coming out next month from Blizzard Entertainment. They've been teasing us here and there with releases of cards in the 120+ expansion set for the card game on PC and iPad.

I thought it'd be fun to analyze and share my thoughts on said cards before the pack comes out. As a caster, I do like to consider the competitive aspect of the cards, but as a player, I'm all about the RNG and Player Stories.

I'll be covering 5 cards each post (2 class cards, 2 neutral, 1 legendary), mostly daily, so don't forget to follow and check back each day for more of my thoughts! First up, let's cover my favorite class (Priest) along with cards I actually got to try at BlizzCon.

____________________________________ 1. Shrinkmeister: 2, 3-2

Ah the answer to the ever-elusive 4 attack minions! What's this? and only 2 mana cost? That's right. Us priests just got another combo card to get rid of those pesky creatures. Let's not get too excited though. It's still a minimum turn 4 for the "Shrinkword: Pain" combo, or 6 mana for the "Shrinking Madness" and 8 mana for the "Cabal Shrinky Priest" combos. On the flip side, this is also a 3-2 body on the board. It's another boon to Priest early game aggression. In the later half, if you combo with say the Cabal Shadow Priest, 3 damage is still not to be laughed at, yet the opponent may not have cheap spells/minions to trade with if they haven't been careful. Even turn 1 after a Zombie Chow or Northshire Cleric could help make an efficient trade against something like...oh, a Flame Imp.

Personally, even in the current meta, I'm excited to test it out replacing things like Zombie Chow or Ancient Watchers in my silence heavy deck. Heck it could easily help replace heavier cards in control decks to make it more aggro.

____________________________________ 2. Velen's Chosen: 3, Buff Spell

At first glance, it can seem that Velen went trigger happy with the Christmas presents. Attack, Health, AND Spell Damage buffed? My oh my. But then we take a step back and we're like...Mark of the Wild gives...3 things...for 2 mana. Oh. So Priests get to give +2 extra Health and Spell Damage for Taunt all for 1 extra mana. The biggest question then becomes the Spell Damage value. Sure, now you can instant combo Spell Damage for Mind Blast/Holy Smite as long as you have any minion on board. It can help with better clear late game to boost Holy Nova or such. As you can tell, I'm a biiiit skeptical on the value of the actual Spell Damage. It's there in theory, but with mana cost and meta decks, how often will that chance actually surface? Granted...meta's gonna change. Surely it will. +2/+4 buff is always nice too. Priests don't have direct buffs to damage at the moment, so this will maybe simply help increase threat value on certain minions. Another card I will certainly test out right away.

____________________________________ 3. Bomb Lobber: 5, 3-3

Yes yes, these cards are all I really wanted to talk about anyway, finally! The explosions start rolling in with GvG, and all of our Hearthstone Boards will turn into booby-trapped experiments. We also didn't have enough sniping going on with just Ragnaros, so here we are with the Bomb Lobber. This guy will do 4 damage (half of Ragnaros), to a random enemy minion, once (Battlecry). We do need to note he is limited to damage only minions, and only on the enemy's side of things. As a one time effect, it doesn't hold as much value as a mini Ragnaros, but it DOES trigger on play, meaning you can secure board clear for a gameplan rather than hope at the end for Rag to do his thing.

The 3-3 body part is just a nice little gift, as 5 mana for 3-3 is really not so great. We have Loatheb to put value on the 5 mana slot. There are still ways I can see this being used though. Control decks who have issues clearing mid-game minions will find decent value from the Battlecry, and if it stays alive for one turn it's a total of 7 damage on the board. With cards like the  Recombobulator coming up (we'll discuss this later, but it morphs your minion to another!), it could also find much value from just the Battlecry.

Trust me, this guy's going in my decks no matter what at the start. He throws a bomb with a smiley face on it, that's a no brainer. For me, I'm excited to try him out in funky combo decks in constructed, or obviously as an ok choice in arena too.

____________________________________ 4. Madder Bomber: 5, 5-4

MY. FAVORITE. For those who weren't aware, Mad Bomber probably ranks as my absolute favorite card in the entire game. The RNG and great stories from that card just tickles my funny bone, even if it plays as an overpriced Flame Imp for myself. That guy, just got an upgrade. A 5-4 body, and A WHOPPING SIX damage randomly split between all other characters? I mean, imagine hitting face all 6 times for the win. Seriously. Imagine that. Because it probably won't happen. But still. I know it's going to be hard to find his place cause he costs 5 mana, and 5 mana is currently held by....Loatheb and Sludge Belcher in most decks. Very important cards. But I myself will gladly take out Sludge Belchers to put this guy in =D Don't think it's so bad against rush decks, or if you're in an aggro race. It'll surely make or break the game that's for sure =P

____________________________________ 5. Mekgineer Thermaplugg: 9, 9-7

This guy's hilarious. I had the honor of playing him with two Knife Jugglers in play at BlizzCon. I do believe I ended up getting 3 Leper Gnome's on turn 9 as I played him. Yes, you get chain reactions of Leper Gnomes and throwing knives. It's beautiful...ly annoying for your opponent. Eugh. In all seriousness....it doesn't shout TOTALLY USEFUL to me in the face. But, can it help secure a game that's similar in power? Perhaps. Maybe your boards are somewhat in a deadlock, and you play him, start trading for Leper Gnomes. Aside from that though, I mean if they can't clear this in one turn to deny the gnomes, they were probably going to just die from the 9 Attack. He "only" has 7 Health, so compared to other late game Legendaries, he should be taken care of if people are aware he exists. Look at Prophet Velen for Priests, 7-7 stats, and rarely used despite being one of the only ways to get that ~15 damage burst late game. Because you will usually need to get the combo in one turn, not two as the opponent will get rid of your Velen. Similar deal with Mekgineer in my opinion, but some people like me just can't deny the temptation of letting the opponent know it's game over with 4 Leper Gnomes on board. Mwahahaha.

Next up, Wizardry? Well that's all for today folks. Tomorrow we'll check out some Mage cards along with Dr. Boom as the Legendary, all cards I also got to check out at BlizzCon! Don't forget to follow!

[willchobra-blog]

I’ve seen quite a few ADC users talk about how the Summoner Spell changes affect ADC Spell options in 4.5, specifically the change to Heal. ADC users here and there seem concerned that these changes will “force” ADC’s to carry Heal over Barrier. I’d like to dispute that thought.

1. Heal vs….

[lolramblings]

I agree with all of this, but it’s also worth pointing out that ADC’s who take heal will learn how to use it effectively overtime. Then again…there are lots of LoL players who never want to learn or take criticism well…(myself included)

[willchobra-blog]

I don't doubt the capability of players that can use it. But then the concern becomes that is it really worth having an ADC use part of his focus to use heal effectively in a teamfight when they can use that to focus only on that bruiser on top of them and keep an eye on better map awareness? Even the best players will not have perfect awareness 100% of the time, I just feel keeping as much focus on best damage output over time is focus best spent for ADC players.

[willchobra-blog]

Quick Thoughts - ADC Summoners on 4.5

I’ve seen quite a few ADC users talk about how the Summoner Spell changes affect ADC Spell options in 4.5, specifically the change to Heal. ADC users here and there seem concerned that these changes will “force” ADC’s to carry Heal over Barrier. I’d like to dispute that thought.

1. Heal vs. Barrier Heal is still weaker in lane in terms of pure effective health power. Heal will take until level 8 to reach the same effective health efficiency as Barrier, which usually means the duration of a standard laning phase (oftentimes shorter these days.)

Heal of course contributes by eliminating healing debuffs (ignite, impure shots etc.), but at levels 1-5 are you really going to hurt from that? Probably not.

Now Heal has more utility. This is true. The move-speed for 2 seconds could make or break an early skirmish, in either direction. But why does this mean the ADC has to take Heal? In fact, if you’re afraid of being initiated on, why not take both Barrier AND Heal?

Also, Barrier still has a shorter cooldown, albeit only 30 seconds. It’s still an advantage it has.

2. Heal on the Support Now I’m going to talk full efficiency. The default counter argument will be “Support not always near ADC”, which is true, but hear me out to the end. Heal is no longer an AOE around the user. It is a smart-targeted ability. It will affect the user and the ally champion nearest to the user’s cursor (within a range of course).

Let’s assume the ADC takes Heal. There are essentially two late game scenarios. A teamfight or a Duel. In a teamfight, chances are the ADC will not have the leisure to find an appropriate ally target to heal. It will always be for the ADC themselves, and most likely affects the ally nearest as the ADC’s cursor is probably right in front of them. There’s much lost potential in Heal efficiency here.

In a Duel it’s even worse. You will use it in a 1v2 or 1v1, and while yes, you get the full effects, you essentially ignore the fact that it can be used on an ally. So if the enemies see you split-pushing, and come to 2v1 you and blow your heal, it’s a huge advantage for them. If you had a different single target spell, aggressive or defensive, it’d be less of an advantage for them.

As for the Support: In teamfights they will indeed be next to the ADC most of the time, but if they are not, it should be for good reason. Maybe your ADC player has the mechanics and is on a champion that can fend for itself (think ezreal). Maybe your ADC is so fed and your bruiser could do with more heals or CC to help lockdown the enemy team. In either case, then the Heal can be used to buff the initiation of your bruiser (or save a different Carry such as your mid.)

Again, the ADC will always see the full potential of Heal if he/she carries it, but I’m willing to bet that this will lead to big losses in Heal’s efficiency a majority of the time. The Support carrying will have many more chances to use it to its full potential.

3. Alternatives for ADC's Let's assume then that your Support takes Heal.

- Barrier As I mentioned earlier, this will make your laning phase SUPER tanky. Could be used aggressively although probably only in the case of a Leona vs Thresh/Ali Support match-up where the Supports can do good damage 1v1ing the ADC. Definitely can be used in a farming lane if your opponents try to all-in you.

- Ignite I'm not REALLY liking Ignite on ADC's still, but if your team really needs an extra (top is running Heal or TP, mid is running Barrier or flash/ghost etc) then it's still an option. If you're winning the duo lane, it can be used to bait the enemy duo's (probable) Heal. You can still use it in a late-game fight, be it a 1v1 or if someone like a Jax is jumping on your with his BotRK.

- Exhaust This is my favorite pick-up for ADC's coming up. More than anything, I think it's one that ADC's can use with the most versatility. It's uses are well proven already, being used as extra CC to attack or to escape. What's more, if you're going to split push, this is your spell now. Only 1 enemy shows up? Exhaust them and force a duel. With it's changes now, it's useful against both Auto-Attack or Burst enemies. 2v1 coming to block you? Exhaust the CC potential and run away. In a teamfight and Jax all on your face? Exhaust him and laugh in his face.

- The others The others are pretty straight forward and niche. Cleanse has proven itself already, as some ADC's are starting to bring it back against these heavy wombo compositions returning. Teleport is obviously a niche pick if you want to Old School CLG everyone. Ghost can also be a niche pick if you think you will always be with your team, then rely on your Support for a heal + crucible and use Ghost to kite more efficiently against bruisers....and clarity/clairvoyance...no

That's my quick write-up. Again, Heal on the ADC is great now, I just think it means it won't be used to its fullest potential as often. Worth thinking about other options to open up more strategic versatility...

like the return of Enchanted Crystal Arrow->Teleport to lane->Pick up Kill Ashe. XP

[willchobra-blog]

Promise and what that says about Korea

Now that some time has passed, let's talk big picture regarding the events surrounding AHQ Korea and Promise.

First and foremost, I want to say that I'm relieved to hear that Promise is making a steady recovery. I wasn't able to put my thoughts on paper right away because what was most important to me in the series of events was his safety. For whatever reason, suicide/suicide attempts is a theme that I've seen linger close to me throughout my life so far, so it was hard to really think about anything else other than his health. Thankfully, Promise survived the fall and is now in treatment.

The key issue I saw in these events why Promise was pushed to the point of a suicide attempt. There's a glaring problem with social pressure in Korea. I don't mean to say it's unique to Korea, many if not all communities will deal this to an extent, but I'd say it's pretty widespread in Korea. Korea is all about 'unity'. Now this can be a good thing as was seen during the 2002 World Cup. Being on home field, Koreans throughout the country came together to cheer like none other and support the players, and it definitely brought positive change to Korea as a whole.

At an extreme level, it has clear cons though. Notably, if you're not part of the unity, then you're disregarded, bullied, shunned. I'm aware that this issue has been brought to light more and more in the U.S., but it's been a serious concern in the Korean society even since the 90's. Deaths from hazing and bullying in middle schools and high schools would occupy headlines more often than I could keep track of, and the threat of a mid-life crisis for men were highlighted by surreal suicide rates in that age group. As you might have gathered by now, this extreme obsession for unity and social acceptance coupled with a very superficial concept of success leads to a lot of insecurity.

The underlying problem is the same as it is with any group of similar issues. Those that have struggles or different ideas are discouraged from speaking. They're told that their thoughts are not worth listening to, that they are simply wrong. This leads to a fear of association, as you'll be grouped with the outlier should you stand by their side. It should not be this way.

I know it's been said before but it can be said again and again. Not even just for Korea. Anyone, anywhere. Don't be pushed down by the superimposed expectations of your society. There is always someone who can listen. If you feel that there's no one close to you, then there are those that you may not know. Even hotlines. In fact hotlines are a great resource, as are therapists and the like. You're not weird for seeing someone for help. There are a surprising number of people who seek help that you're probably not aware of. Yeah, it's not something that needs to be flaunted, but that doesn't make it nonexistent.

It just bothered me that Promise could only muster the courage to share the issues with AHQ Korea once he had made the decision to take his own life.

This issue can also trace back to another phenomenon in Korea which I view somewhat negatively. That concept of unity. I'll say it directly: it's over done. Why must you strive to be a clone of the man sitting across from you on the subway? Trends occur everywhere, but Korea is one of the countries where trends are mandatory. Not just about entertainment or fashion, but also just to social standards. We often joke about the obsession with plastic surgery in Korea, but it often comes from this insecurity of being...different (not for everyone keep in mind, I am generalizing a bit throughout this post.) How harshly do social standards have to be engraved in people's minds that some people are led to banish themselves or ruin their own lives just because they're different? I'm not even talking about as a result of bullying, but simply them walking out the door, seeing themselves as different, and being self-driven to a state of depression.

Another example is success and education. A good example is close to my own heart. When I first flew into Korea for OGN and visited my relatives, there was a lot of dancing around the topic of my future. It was constantly emphasized by many family members that my job at OGN was "only temporary" and that it was "just an experience". My dad's side of the family does have a long running legacy of top tier education and comparable jobs after their studies, so it seemed my position was unacceptable. My parents are thankfully supportive (at least minimally) but at family meetings it's not to the point where they feel comfortable standing up for me. It was also noted that it'd be rude of me to stand up for myself against my elders.

Needless to say, this was frustrating. Quite a bit. I understand, and agree, that education is important. I encourage everyone to finish their schooling first. At the same time, that doesn't make other paths any lesser than the path of edu first. There are different needs and wants, different situations and there are definitely exceptions to everything. It's a fine line, but that shouldn't mean you have to think extremely for the sake of caution. I'm actually not sure what my relatives think of my job any longer. They don't look down on me, no, but there's definitely less respect and recognition for my work.

I'm not saying my family stinks by the way. It's just an example of what this culture in Korea has become. I understand these environments can exist in any culture, but this is somewhat the "norm" in Korea, which is why I'm highlighting it. For many who have only recently gotten to know Korea, the case with Promise was a bit shocking. In Korea, while still shocking due to the tragic factor, the overall formula is sadly familiar. I want to bring that to light for all the fans who have recently fostered an interest in Korea. Korea's great in many ways, but this is an aspect that needs dire help and attention.

As for the scandal itself? It will have a lingering impact in the Korean LoL scene for a while I presume. It will be easier for the community to doubt any results or happenings. The scene will still grow however. What's more important is this shows the importance of education for all parties involved in e-sports. I include myself in that. I was quite naive and ignorant to the business and logistical side of things when I first jumped in. Hopefully we can see a rise of emphasis from larger organizations to provide resources to educate players and others involved in how to protect themselves from scandals and such. It was very nice to hear KESPA address this.

Well this was a bit of a debbie downer post, but it's a topic I hold dear so I had to put it down on the page. It was great to see Korea having grown as a country over the past decade, and I want to see it take further steps. This is one of the areas with deeper roots in my opinion.

On a positive note, I am working on redesigning how I interact with fans, which will include (over time) revamped visual designs, a stream schedule and hopefully separate videos. There's much to talk about, be it games, Korean culture, e-sports as a whole or just fun chatter, and I'd like to open as many channels as I can handle to reach out in the different ways. Updates as I go!

[willchobra-blog]

The February Storm, Pt.2

Before we go into this I should clarify once again. I've adopted the way Koreans have used the terms caster and commentator, rather than Play-by-Play vs. Color. It's not cause I think Koreans are superior. But I've always been a bit dissatisfied with those terms, at least for e-sports. Admittedly I don't watch a huge variety of other sports, so I'm not sure how I'd feel about the terms there. The terms PBP and Color just seem so...defining, whereas Caster and Commentator seem to highlight each person's focus, but not limit them. Of course it's also up to perception. Bottom line: for me, caster = the hype guy, the host, the one who continues the broadcast. commentator = the expert.

Man, if that emotional ride with Zephyr wasn't enough there's more coming in my crazy February schedule.

  LoL Masters 2014 - The return of Caster Chobra

LoL fans rejoiced this past week as OGN kicked off a new league called Masters. This is a tournament designed to give larger organizations a chance to battle for reputation, with teams sending out one squad at a time, and a free roster (any combination of 5 players from the entire team) for the last match (Masters Match).

I was personally excited as it was my return to the casting desk. I've done one off casts here and there in 2013, but haven't really gotten to sit down and work on bringing games as entertainment to the fans. Here I was, surprised that it was already the second week of February...and feeling unsure of how ready I was to cast again. I mean, I love it, and I was so glad to get to sit up there again, but man it just felt so...foreign.

Once the show started up I felt much more at ease. Thankfully there were some fun games in week 1 too, and that is always a blessing to any caster. Of course I have to give big thanks to Montecristo for being my commentator for Masters. It's very nice to be able to work with one of the best commentator's for LoL let alone also a great broadcaster overall, so that we can toss back and forth with ease.

I hope everyone enjoyed the new broadcast (THEM CURTAINS AND PLAYER PROFILES) and the new tournament format. I know some parts still feel a bit clunky, as it's a production team that hasn't done a LoL tournament before (many of them of course play the game quite a bit though). This helped add a very new flavor in my opinion, while yes, some parts may not be as smooth as a Champions broadcast, but heck, Champions has been doing this for over a year now with their only focus on LoL. I think given some time, the Masters team can show an entirely new way to present LoL tournaments. Feel free to shoot me feedback to relay onto either myself and Monte or the production team. Here or twitter is fine.

Reviewing my cast I have to say it was satisfactory but not great. I got the job done is how I'd put it. I also came into 2014 with a specific goal on how to develop my casting, and as a result affect some changes in e-sports casting overall, and week 1 was just run of the mill stuff from me. I appreciate the kind words from the fans, and the support especially from people who knew me from the very beginning, but I'm just not one to settle. It'll be tough as the biggest issue in my eyes is that I lost one habit and gained another. I lost the habit of quickly assessing the crucial parts of a teamfight (for the broadcast, not necessarily to the game, this is important), and I gained the habit of always pondering 'what if's. The latter came from me having more time to just chat with ppl and theorycraft myself, whereas the former was lost simply due to being out of the game for some time. The whole 'what if's and theorycraft is great if you're a commentator, and it's nice to have a bit as a caster to help carry on conversations and bounce back ideas. It's an issue I've always had myself though, where my interest in both roles has kept me from defining myself as one or the other, and just being a jack of both trades. I decided in 2014 to define myself as a caster, and the next news goes along with this idea.

The Triple Comeback - FPS, Grand Stage, and China

Please, you think LoL, SC2, and Dota 2 is enough e-sports? Think again, because I'm going to China this week to Host and Cast the Season 2 of Crossfire Stars. For those who don't know, Crossfire is a F2P FPS developed out of Korea, and it's wildly popular in China, SEA, and somewhat still in Korea. For those less accustomed to the game in the West, it's a CS-esque FPS, which there are many of in Asia. Some might know that I used to play amateur CoD, and while yes it's a totally different style of FPS's, I simply love FPS games. Inevitably I've always wanted to cast FPS games, but there hasn't been a title that has been popular in both the West and East simultaneously. Crossfire is trying to do what it can by holding these annual global tournaments, and with OGN heading production this year, I've been given the honor to cast the tournament in English. I also get to work with the lovely Susie Kim (twitter.com/lilsusie), aka best e-sports mom ever (some might recognize her from the older Starcraft days or her current work at ESGN.tv).

I've also been given the honor to Host the whole weekend in English alongside the Chinese host (I don't dare write her name down off memory in case I get it wrong >< Sorry!). Starcraft 2 fans appreciated my hosting performance quite a bit last year (thanks everyone!), and I've always wanted to try my hand at more to improve so I'm very thankful for this. The even itself is the 22nd and 23rd, and I'll be flying out on the 19th to go and settle in. Needless to say, I'm pumped. Casting an FPS, hosting a global tournament....this is just an awesome opportunity, and I hope I can do it justice. It's also in Chengdu, where the Pandas are (PANDAS YESSSS).

On that note, it's in China, which is a country I had a bad experience with last time I went for LoL All Stars. Can't necessarily say it was the country itself, but it was indeed the first time I've dealt with any sever culture-shock in the form of inability to communicate. Being blessed with the ability to speak two languages fluently, I've rarely had moments when not a single word I spoke got through to the other person, but this was different in China. People who are used to the travel get by with body language and tone, but I just wasn't sure what to do with myself. This struck me with fear I guess, leaving me somewhat mentally frozen for the week. I was also feeling a bit under, and the heat + smog only made things worse. I can only hope that the cooler weather will help soothe that part of the travel, and since it's my second time maybe I'll actually go out and eat some food during this event ^^;

I'll be tweeting about it all week so if you're interested, please do tune in! It should be streamed on Twitch.tv along with other platforms.

This post should naturally conclude with what I do envision as my style of casting and hosting, but to be honest, I'm not 100% sure what it is, might be, or what I even want to be. I have some ideas, but I think that's a discussion better left for a couple weeks. Cheers!

[willchobra-blog]

The February Storm, Pt.1

Well this past week was just crazy wasn't it. Let's start with the Finale. This blog will be separated into two parts.

Zephyr at the NSL Final - The end of a chapter

I've been in nervous situations before. Quite a bit actually. From the butterflies on the first day of middle school or talking to my high school crush, all the way to playing the violin with a professional orchestra behind me, and of course including my casting experiences in e-sports. Never have I ever dealt with this kind of anxiety though. To be so invested in an event, to know I had a part, and yet at the same time feel somewhat helpless was new to me. I didn't know how to deal with it.

I'm of course speaking about the NSL Final for Zephyr Dota. With Masters kicking off at OGN that week, my heart wanted to be with Zephyr everyday, but I failed to do so and felt I had not done my part for the team. I still checked in on the guys every day, made sure spirits were high and confidence was good and they updated me on scrim results and progress. I just felt I wasn't closing the gap I needed to though. So come friday, I'm going nuts. I couldn't sleep, and so I ended up spending hours just staring into space in my studio, eventually leaving at 2 A.M. for a night stroll (which isn't so quiet on a friday night near a college neighborhood, let alone Seoul in general.) I walk around for almost 2 hours, only to find myself starving, so I eat the same beef soup we always get as a team before matches, before finally heading back home. Sit around for another hour or so, and finally, sleep beckons me.

Needless to say, I was a zombie when I woke up in the morning. The adrenaline and anxiety got me going though, keeping me alert. Preparation went fine keeping me somewhat at ease. The first game changed that though. Boy, those who watched the game can imagine how much I held my breath. At around 30 minutes, I started rehearsing my pep talk for the guys should they start with a loss, and found myself shouting whenever Zephyr found a good fight. After the hour long win, nothing felt better than Corey getting up to hug me right away.

The rest is history. With spirits high, the guys played two great games to take a 3-0 sweep against EoT Hammer, netting ourselves a ~$60K sponsorship prize.

I've only known Zephyr for about a month now. I was just a guy translating for them during the NSL qualifiers. In one short month, I had become an invested and proud manager of 5 excellent guys. My only regret is I wish I had made time to do more for the team, and to spend more time with them. It will definitely be something for me to improve upon throughout Zephyr's journey.

This happy resolution also made me realize exactly why some people just LOVE to coach/manage/direct teams or players in any field. The anxiety and nervousness kills you, but you couldn't be prouder when they take that trophy; you couldn't be happier than when they get up and look at you with that big grin on their face.

I want to thank the guys of Zephyr. They not only pulled themselves together for this achievement, but also put a lot of trust in me. Sure, I had credentials as a professional in e-sports, but we all know how volatile and unpredictable this field can be at times. The guys still trusted me on a lot of judgement and were willing to listen whenever I did chip in my 2 cents to their gameplay even though I am not a Dota expert. For Dota fans, nothing to worry about, I didn't dare try to analyze mechanics of the game, but having watched the tendencies of many e-sports overall, I felt confident enough to pitch in about habits in and out of game etc. And I'm just thankful Blitz, Bamboe, Eosin, Purge, and Corey were willing to listen.

Fans of the team will know there's no 6 month wait for the next Season of the Zephyr Journey to kick off, as the next chapter started immediately on Sunday with the KDL. Thankfully, the guys pulled another 2-0 sweep. The victory was just a cherry on top for me though. The week before the Final of NSL is when I knew I wanted to keep supporting these guys as best as I could and I have the honor of being their manager. I admit I lack a lot as a manager, and look to improve on these aspects for the team's progress. With a fairy tale ending to Chapter 1, I'm even more excited to work with the guys in Chapter 2 with KDL to see where we end up.

Also thanks to the fans of Zephyr really. Many of the fans may not know who I am or exactly what I'm doing out here with/for Zephyr, but your support to the players is all I ask for. The boys are looking to stream more often so keep your eyes on Twitch.tv and our twitters for any updates on that. My twitter's to the left, and the guys are at twitter.com/ZephyrDota I would write all their twitters, but that is a lot to type. You will surely find them here and there between both my twitter and Zephyr's.

Keep up the good work boys. Bamboe, Purge, Eosin, Blitz, Corey....you all have guts to come out here for this, and props to you for sticking through. I'll come over after my business trip so we can all eat chicken together.

[willchobra-blog]

The 2014 Kick-Off

This will be a long but thorough update post to let you know what was up, what's going on now, and what to expect from me and this blog in the future.

So this week is really the Kick-Off week of 2014 for me. I know that might sound just as ambiguous as my activity the past few months so let's start from now and work backwards.

I am staying in Korea for another year (and hopefully more!) with Ongamenet (OGN). OGN became my home in e-Sports last year, and I am honored to work with the brilliant PD's behind the spectacle we all see on screen. The difference in 2014 is that I will be with OGN as a full-capacity Caster/Host. Last year I was here as a Creative Director + semi-Caster + host + interviewer + translator + producer...you kinda get the idea. I was doing too much. I loved it, but my regret is that by stretching myself too thin, I wasn't able to deliver the goals I had in mind to the fans. After much thought I accepted the fact that things had to be taken one step at a time, and I'm going to start with Casting. Everything I do here has a focus on bringing the Korean e-Sports scene to the West. In Casting/Hosting, it is my goal to combine the best of both the Korean and American style and habits in on-air presentation. I am grateful to be able to fully understand and appreciate the charisma, humor and professionalism of shows in both Korean and English, so why not use that gift to help discover the next step in shoutcasting development!

That does not mean I am done with all interviewing/translating/interpreting, nor producing. I'll just be taking a step back from investing my time directly into all these avenues. OGN was happy to still keep a door open for me to offer my two-cents at all time by allowing me to remain as a OGN Global e-Sports Advisor, and I'm thankful they're willing to listen. As much as I want to pour my time into doing that, if I want to contribute to discovering the next advancements in shoutcasting, I just need more time to sit and research casts, speech patterns etc. so I can't invest my time to being in the office everyday. Any feedback fans give me will surely be considered and submitted, let alone any things I see that OGN could improve upon or innovate will surely be discussed. As for translating/interpreting, again the issue is that it becomes simply too demanding for me to stand in for every full global broadcast + translate any interview subtitles. I know the call from OGN Global for a new translator set off some alarms, but not to worry. I intend to offer the insight I've gathered over the past 1.5 years in e-Sports translating to help select, and if needed, train the new translator that would help us with global productions at OGN. Any event I'm already present for I will definitely be there to give voice to the Korean players. I'm thankful that so many of you thoroughly enjoy my translating/interpreting work, and it was touching to see people concerned that I would no longer take part in any of that out here. It's just unfortunate that I am a mere human being! Translating is how I got started in e-Sports, and it's something I want to pursue in any field for the rest of my life, but it's just taking the passenger seat for now. And like I said, it's also something where I can pass on the insight more easily than say...casting (in some ways).

I'm also not tied only to OGN. OGN is my home, and OGN productions always take full priority, but as a freelancer, my heart is still with all of e-Sports so if I can find time and place, nothing would make me happier than being able to greet fans from more stages and screens.

That's the basic gist of it. As many speculated, I will be the Caster for LoL Masters at OGN (starting this week!). Monte will be joining me as the Commentator. Please note: nothing happened to DoA. He's alive and well. The duo of DoaCristo will return with Champions, but hey, I want someone to discuss game insight with too during Masters! I am also already in meetings with the global team out here to discuss possible Hearthstone content, and hope to bring you some new shows with that =]

Some of you will be bummed to have not read a single mention of Starcraft 2 above. I am too. 2013 went from great to amazing for me when I had the chance to help present Starcraft 2 and the community accepted me with loving arms. I still enjoy the game (watching at least! I suck but I'm competitive so it's hard for me to enjoy playing it anymore haha), and I plan to watch lots of it this year as different titles offer different casting styles. If I am given the chance to participate in any capacity for one-off SC2 events (Finals, show-matches, international tournaments etc.), man I'd do everything to find a way to make it work barring schedule conflicts. For now though, there isn't any immediate SC2 work coming up for me so we wait.

Thankfully, I get to satiate my hunger for over-working by having picked up work in Dota 2. A month ago fate brought the attention of William "Blitz" Lee to none other than myself as a potential manager of his new team, Zephyr Dota. They needed most of all an interpreter, but so much of it would involve admin work that the position would double as a manager. It started as a temporary volunteer position, and in one month I've gone from talking about Zephyr in third person to first person. In our most recent talk the team and I have decided to stay together post-NSL Season 3, and I'm very fortunate for that opportunity. The guys are great, I enjoy Dota 2 (have you guys noticed yet that it's ok to like several games AND have work in different titles too? It's a beautiful world), and we get to play a part in the development of Korean Dota 2. We have the NSL Final coming up this weekend, and then jump straight into the KDL Tier 1 Season 1 that we qualified for a few days ago. Shoutouts to my boys Blitz, Purge, Bamboe, Eosin, and upstate-NY homie Corey.

Thought I was done did ya? Well not quite. Since I have decided to channel most of my focus into shoutcasting/hosting improvement, I was offered a chance to go with OGN to China for the Crossfire Stars tournament 2/22-2/23 as the English Host and Caster. Well gee, I don't survive well in China but I'll be darned if I miss a chance to work in First Person Shooters. (I used to play amateur CoD on PC before...the scene kinda disappeared on PC for apparent reasons).

This all came through as a result of me having the great chance to have gotten hands-on experience on so much in 2013. It was tough to make some choices, but it was a decision I was thankful I had to make. I have tons of wishes and goals for e-Sports production too, but that will have to wait at least another year. For now, they all go in the passenger seat (not the backseat though, backseat is filled with music stuff), and on-screen work takes the wheel.

That actually explains what I was up to for the past 2 or so months. Decisions and discussions about my 2014 plans. That meant no stream, no blogs nothing as I hadn't been able to do anything concrete. Now with this all set, I'll have, if anything, too much to talk about on blogs, and lots of different titles to stream. Stream has to wait for a new gfx card though since I have my desktop now =P You know where to find me for that, twitch.tv/chobralol

Keep the questions coming again too! I know I left the last few on hold as I was inactive since...again, everything was in uncertainty, but I'm back on track again. I'll also be doing a full AMA soon so keep your eyes open for that if you got some questions.

In fact, I know exactly what I want to write about in my next blog and it's going to be about how casting has evolved, partly affecting the community's perception of casting itself. Lots to talk about there. Next week it is!

Ah, I wanted to write more, but I must head out as today is the profile shoot for Zephyr's NSL Final. Engine's running, and I'm back on the road for e-Sports starting this week. See you all from OGN on Thursday for LoL-Masters, and with Zephyr on Saturday for the NSL Final.

Thanks for all the support in 2013, see you all soon <3

[willchobra-blog]

Team Dark's disqualification: Justified, or extreme?

As I sit here sipping my chamomile and honey tea (one of my favorites for a chilly day like this), I can't help but think that indeed the mainstream KR e-Sports scene was too quiet. Sure, we had some SC2 teams struggling to stay together, we had Apdo getting banned for elo-boosting, but nothing really in the face of a tournament. Don't get me wrong, it was nice, it was quiet, and we could focus on the game...but as with all things, it wasn't eternal.

Last week, Team Dark played a tournament game that surely caught the eyes of all LoL fans in Korea, if not the world. Some Background: Team Dark is the team that Apdo originally led to infamy. Even after Apdo's departure due to his ban, the team carried this air of arrogance and showmanship around them, and to be honest, character is a good thing. It was nice to have a team that voluntarily took the role of "brewing evil" without actually being a bad presence...until last week. Last week, in Set #2 against Samsung Ozone, Team Dark picked 5 champions that Cloud Templar was known for. Cloud Templar was casting that day, so the idea was that this was a tribute game.

Except it wasn't. There's innovative, there's crazy, then there's a throw. There are VODs of this particular game out there as it was such a splash in the scene. Immediately the Korean community was disgusted, and quite frankly, I think that's the right response.

I'll say it right now, I wasn't a big fan of the "troll" game by TSM at worlds. I was a little bit more appreciative of Mineski's humor efforts, but still not pleased I guess. Worlds, and Champions, are both the most prestigious tournaments for League of Legends in the World. There are places and times for such showmanship. In fact, I just remembered an interesting case, a bit of the opposite really. At the S2 World Championships, Riot prepared an all star show match with players from the teams that didn't make it to the Final. In this match, MakNooN infamously played Teemo, and fed up a storm. Now, if he was intentionally feeding without discussing with his teammates, yeah that's a bit disrespectful to his teammates. Some will also argue that he went over the line, making it less funny as a result. Could also be true. At the very least, he took a time and place that Riot prepared for players to boast their character and have some fun. There was no money involved, no ranking, and it was even prepared a bit impromptu.

Meanwhile, the group stages of an actual tournament, and the most prestigious ones at that? No, you don't taint that. Was it an entertaining game of League of Legends? perhaps. Would I have watched it if it was simply uploaded to YouTube? Most definitely. I'd even commend the 5 friends for paying a humorous tribute to Cloud Templar. But doing it in a professional setting, in front of CloudTemplar himself, while there are various stats being affected? That's just a big nono.

Most fans in Korea come to watch, or turn on the channel for, Champions to watch the best League of Legends they can find. They come to watch exhilarating plays, brilliant strategic decisions, to learn build orders, and to experience that moment of split second decision making that changes the match. They go to watch players they respect, and to listen to the casters they look up to. That's how it should be. You can argue that perhaps that's not why YOU are there, but that's what the tournament organizers intend it to be. Before you say that then it's not fair to all viewers, that's why there are in fact other matches and tournaments from a variety of organizers to cater to various fans.

Some of you will remember Club Masters from OGN in February this past year. If anything, that was a good place for some unconventional picks and plays. It was a darn shame a lot of the teams didn't take advantage of that opportunity (I suspect it would be much different now), but we did see 2 games that stick out to me the most. One was the flip comp from the Xenics/OP team. They ended the game in what I recall around 18 minutes, with some hilarious flips. It's important to remember that while these may not have been the players' best champions, they definitely tried, and had logic behind their builds and plays. The other is the KT game against CJ, where the KT coach proudly picks Annie and Brand for his players. This was a direct jab back at CJ who had picked this combo against KT in the past, and failed with it. It was 'troll', 'bm', 'a challenge'...but it wasn't a throw. In fact, KT won that game, convincingly.

Do you see the difference here? This isn't simply "they threw a game." I actually want to believe that it's not even mainly about the fact that the game "could have mattered". It's that they straight up disrespected what the tournament stood for, and therefore what the fans, the other team, the casters, and the organizer come to see. It was disrespect disguised as a tribute, which makes it disrespectful to CloudTemplar himself also.

There's a time and place for everything. If they had the same picks, but put in some effort to prove that there was some logic and innovation behind it, I would have been ok. It might have been even less funny, but I would have appreciated it. This though...this is different. Also, given their claims online before, and their attitude in the past, there's more than just the game that points to disrespectful intent here.

Some fans in Korea are demanding that this was just a tap on the hand. Some fans around the world are claiming that it was too harsh. Where do I stand on this? I think it was justified to say the least. A simple disqualification would be no consequence to a bunch of players who didn't think about the implications of their actions. They'd just say 'Fine, we probably wouldn't make it out of group anyway, let's just go try to stomp NLB and make fun of opponents there.' Harsher punishment + the ban from both OGN and NLB this season not only gives them a wake up call, but time to sit on it and learn from it. I won't say I necessarily think harsher punishment was necessary, but the current action was justified if anything.

[willchobra-blog]

What sOs' WCS victory meant to me

There’s a tad bit too much to talk about this weekend for one blog post, so general Blizzcon thoughts will be a separate post and/or vlog/stream material. I wanted to talk about the WCS Global Finals while it’s still fresh on my mind though. And my goodness, was it a great tournament.

You take the 16 best players of Starcraft 2, and then the story writes itself. Naniwa managed to snag that last spot, we had all the title holders of WCS 2013, and the Ro16 featured some sick matchups. You had Bomber, the oldest player to qualify, take down Soulkey and claim none could face him, only to be silenced by Soulkey’s teammate sOs. We saw Jaedong with an incredible and emotional win over Dear, the player with the most momentum coming into the Finals. Anyone who watched that Game 5, the burrowed Roaches…will remember it for a long time coming. That game had Korean fans talking about getting goosebumps and remembering BW days.

Leading to the Final, Jaedong was the natural fan favorite, claiming that he “started from the bottom…[but] going to the top.” But there was sOs who appealed to the crowd, expressing his fear of being forgotten, and wishing to hear more of the crowd in the Grand Final.

Many were sad to see Jaedong get yet another 2nd place. By all means, this proves Jaedong as one of the strongest players with such consistent finishes, but you see that face of disappointment after, and you know that it’s not easy to take for the dong himself. But the Finals, and sOs’ win, meant a lot to me as a Starcraft and eSports fan. For one, it reminded me why I became a fan of sOs in the beginning of the year. Oh I know, playing against him must be frustrating to no end. But look at it from sOs’ point of view, and…it’s beautiful. It’s brilliant. You never know what to expect from sOs, but at his best, he seems to always know what to expect from his opponents. He uses that to just hang them dry.

sOs plays with a style that is built to annoy and frustrate his opponent without direct disrespect (although one could argue he did have that dance moment against Bomber this weekend haha). sOs embodies that this game, Starcraft 2, is a real time strategy game. It’s about the brains. Yes, there are physical skills involved, at a very high level. But no top player in Starcraft 2 is going to sit there thinking that he got there with pure micro. They all have pride in their builds, their ability to react, their ability to read the opponent. sOs plays in a way where he slowly chips away at his opponent’s pride, their ego, regarding intelligence within the game.

sOs reminded me why games are beautiful. They’re an avenue to express uncanny brilliance. Quite frankly, this can be seen in almost any game. Naturally, games such as Starcraft 2 perhaps showcase it even better. sOs showed the world that eSports isnt about bragging who’s mouse moves faster, but rather about a sixth sense, game sense. If you didn’t watch the WCS Global Finals, go watch some games, especially Dear vs. Jaedong and sOs vs. Jaedong. but others too. If you don’t know Starcraft 2, have someone who knows Starcraft sit down with you and tell you why these games showed everyone the beauty of games. Such spectacular minds at work.

Last but not least, sOs’ victory was a great way to show that Starcraft is alive and well, and still has that tight knit family around it. People were cheering for Jaedong like none other, and yet when sOs won, the super packed hall all got up on their feet and cheered for sOs. People crowded the stage to congratulate the 2013 champion, and were genuinely happy to see the guy win. We didn’t have half the hall leave or just sit quietly with golf claps all around. People were happy to see great starcraft and a brilliant player win the title. Starcraft fans were being starcraft fans, not Jaedong fans. Wonderful.

I’m happy for the guy. He may not show it, but the 4-0 loss to INnoVation after such a run at the WCS S1 Finals haunted sOs for a long time, and he had really started cranking up his prep during the 3rd season of WCS with the GSL.

sOs isn’t the one who needs to hear my congratulations though. He’s got that sick trophy, some cash, and a respectable title. The Starcraft fans really need to hear this. You love Starcraft, and I love you for it. I’m almost always moved after every event, but Blizzcon was different. Throughout the weekend, you saw the Blizzard family gather round, and yesterday we saw the Starcraft nuclear family truly show itself. It was an honor to be included the whole journey. Well done fans, and here’s to 2014

[willchobra-blog]

Notes on MakNooN and CloudTemplar's career moves in KR LoL

This post should have been here much earlier, but still wanted to share my thoughts. I'm only going to talk about these two because I know them the best and I also know the CJ team the most. The others I can speculate on, but only the season will really tell (which starts in 2 weeks woo!)

So first MakNooN. I think this is a smart move for him AND CJ. Smart for MakNooN because he really needed a new challenge to get him going again. Not because he was at the top, but because he wasn't for so long. The Top meta's changed, and that affected a whole lot of people (ex. Reapered & Homme). MakNooN thankfully still has his hunger for flashy moves, and in the upcoming machinima/OGN interview I conducted with him, he talks about that. The short lane in Mid provides that pressure that MakNooN works well under. He also used to be an original Mid Laner so....look forward to this.

This is good for CJ because CJ needed just some stimulation to get back to the top, notably in the mid lane. Rapidstar and GBM just weren't cutting it, not because they're not good, but because they're very niche players. What this does allow is for these guys to help MakNooN get up to speed with other mid-laners by filling in some holes for him. This will really switch up the color of Frost, but that's ok...it's a good thing. We've seen far too many teams fall behind cause they stubbornly tried to stay true to their "color", but there's a fine line between self-confidence and foolishness. 

As for Cloudtemplar. Props to this guy. Yes, he seemed to be improving, yes he probably could have done better, but it also wasn't as surefire as it used to be. Frost nor CT are now expected to always place 1st or 2nd. 4th or above, sure, and that's amazing, but it's totally different. On the flipside, for casting, he was on the rise. People love his commentary, he loves TO commentate and analyze, and all he has to do is now learn the ways of actually broadcasting rather than just analyzing. But he's already pretty darn good at that too. Talking to him, I think these thoughts got to him too at which point he also just didn't have the same confidence and drive as he used to when he first started competing. He may have to start back from the bottom, but with a clear plan in another line of work, so all in all, good move.

I'll be flying out to Blizzcon in a few days now, and will definitely have lots to talk about that too! Stay tuned!

[willchobra-blog]

CloudTemplar Retirement News Translation

Source: http://m.sports.naver.com/esports/news/read.nhn?oid=109&aid=0002636543'

Hyun-Woo "CloudTemplar" Lee (age 25), a 1st generation LoL Pro who made a name for himself as the best Jungler, is putting down his mouse and keyboard.

The CJ Entus gaming team announced CloudTemplar's retirement in a press release on the 14th. CloudTemplar started on the MiG Frost team pre-CJ Entus as a Jungler.

CloudTemplar and his team rose to stardom by winning the first Korean LoL tournament, the 2012 LoL Invitational. Frost has managed to maintain stellar results by never falling below 4th place in any Korean tournament.

CloudTemplar's performance was just as great overseas. He has been noted as a representative of Korean players by achieving 2nd place at the S2 World Championship, and winning the IEM World Championship. (Correction: Frost was 2nd place at IEM, but the above is a direct translation of the article)

Fans loved Lee for more than just his plays, but also his wit and talk. He made a splash as a guest commentator with his pinpoint analysis, while also providing entertainment by labeling Junglers as carnivores and herbivores.

As he puts down his uniform leading up to Season 4, CloudTemplar stated that "I believe this is best for the advancement of both the team and myself. Thank you to all the fans who have given me more support and attention than I deserve."

Lee will be taking a break before deciding his next career move.