IPTL Premier Division - Team Liquid Preview

In the first season of the IGN Pro Team League, Team Liquid will look to replicate their success from the final edition of IPL’s Team Arena Challenge, where they came within one series of taking the entire tournament, qualifying them for the Premier Division in the new IPTL format.

Liquid’s history in team league play is a tale of two eras: pre-TaeJa and post-TaeJa.  Before the acquisition of the Korean Terran in March of this year, Liquid was a strong foreign team with a couple of Korean players to add some luster to the lineup, but just did not stack up against the deep rosters of the GSTL-caliber teams.  They were able to win the small team league event put on by NASL, but other foreign teams were the only competition.  The primarily foreign Liquid roster was not competitive when invited to participate in GSTL 2012 Season. TaeJa was unable to attend the first match against ZeNEX, where the ZeNEX Zerg Life all-killed Liquid, and in the second match HerO was the only player to manage any game wins off of NSHoSeo, taking two maps as the last hope for Liquid before losing.

In the time since the lackluster team performance in Korea, TaeJa has become one of the very best players in all of Starcraft 2, and brought Team Liquid to a whole new level of team league performance.  Their IPL TAC 3 campaign began with a bang, with Zenio all-killing Dignitas in the first round and a 5-1 trouncing of Mouz by Sheth and HayprO.  Then the foreign foes so easily swept aside by the backup players of Liquid were replaced by Korean teams, beginning with Prime.  Things seemed dire for Liquid, as they quickly fell behind Prime by a 3-0 margin before TaeJa came in and worked his magic, disposing of the entire Prime team, securing his first all-kill.

In the next round of the winner’s bracket, Liquid did lose to SlayerS and fall to the loser’s bracket, but that only served to provide the team and TaeJa more opportunities to shine.  Their first match was a team effort, with TaeJa, Ret, and HerO all taking sets in a victory over MVP.  The next clan war came against StarTale, a team with a roster chock full of Code S players, and Liquid once again fell behind at the start, losing four maps to Ace and Life. The situation was dire, and the best players for StarTale had yet to come into play.  TaeJa, however, was unimpressed, coming in as the last player for Liquid and once again cleaning house, defeating Life, Curious, Squirtle, and Bomber in succession to steal victory from the jaws of defeat.

Not content with this achievement, TaeJa scored another four kills in a win over SlayerS to send Liquid the TAC 3 finals in San Francisco, and there met the team who made it through the winner’s bracket unscathed, Incredible Miracle.  In the first best of nine series, IM led off with arguably their strongest player, the most recent GSL champion Seed. After he took game one from Ret, Liquid brought the big guns out early, relying on TaeJa to deal with the powerful IM Protoss.  No coaching decisions were necessary after that, as TaeJa all-killed the Korean powerhouse team.  However, a second best of nine series followed since Liquid came up through the loser’s bracket, and lightning did not strike twice for the community favorites.  Seed avenged his defeat by ending another TaeJa streak after only two victories, and then proceeded to finish off the rest of the team.

Clearly, the key to Liquid’s success is the Terran superstar TaeJa, especially in a stacked field like the Premier Division of the IPTL.  It is not much of a stretch to consider him the most consistent Terran player in the world right now, and he needs to bring that consistency to every clan war this season for Liquid to have a chance at advancing from the group stage.  TaeJa is excellent in all matchups, but has a particularly good TvZ.  This could prove to be quite advantageous, as Liquid’s group features Stephano and DongRaeGu as opposing team aces.  Obviously, there are a number of other great players between the rosters of EG, MVP, and SlayerS, but TaeJa should be considered the favorite in every set he plays.

The other major threat for Liquid is their longest tenured Korean, the Protoss player HerO.  With the arrival of TaeJa as ace, much of the pressure that was on HerO to take maps from the opposition’s best players is now gone, which should help avail some of the nerve issues he has been known for in the past.  Frankly, HerO could actually be an ace on many great teams, and an absolute boon to have as a major backup for the frontline player.  His creative play makes him an especially strong PvP player, and his other matchups are solid as well, as you can expect from any player who has won a Dreamhack Open.  Expect him to flourish alongside TaeJa this season.

A stable of Zerg players form the rest of the lineup that we will likely see in the IPTL: the Korean Zenio, and the foreigners Ret, Sheth and TLO.  Zenio has been sitting around the border of Code A and Code S for a while, the sign of a player with great potential but not the ability to pull off his best play on a regular basis.  After taking that into consideration, he is still the third best player behind his Korean brethren, and the most reliable Zerg.  Liquid will look to use him in the leadoff role often, trying to grab a couple of wins behind his well-balanced style of play.

The foreigner Zergs are all wild cards, players who with a win here and there can make a big difference for the team.  When Ret is on top of his game, he can out-macro anyone with his Brood War-trained mechanics, but his decision making is lacking. Sheth is a good player, but just not on the same level as the high-caliber opponents he will be facing in this league.  TLO, with his creative play that borders on the ridiculous, can steal a win if he catches a foe off-guard with a wacky build.  Any maps taken by these players at this level of competition should be viewed as a gift, making life easier for the core of Korean stars.

Liquid was somewhat lucky to end up in Group A, as the only other foreign team—Evil Geniuses—is also in the group.  To add to that, the arguably strongest Korean teams Incredible Miracle and StarTale, along with the massive amount of Code S players they bring with them, are in Group B.  This should create easier match-ups for TaeJa and HerO, who will have fewer players of equivalent skill to play against.  Even so, the group stage will be a challenge, as MVP and SlayerS have skilled players of their own, and possess greater overall depth in these best of nine scenarios than Liquid.  The match versus EG is almost a must win for Liquid, as having a 1-0 edge before facing off against the Korean squads will give them a much better chance of advancing.

The match against EG will take place on September 11th, and is also the first match of the IPTL Premier division, so be sure to tune in!

Written by Kyle Elliott

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Defiance: Sticky Grenades and Alien Aides

Trion has shown off how you can quest and kill in the open world and take part in Defiance. For this particular round of previews, arena PvP combat was on display. Using your regular PvE character, you’ll be able to queue up for matches while running around in the overworld and then magically transport yourself into maps that can range from fights between small teams to bigger 32 player contests that allow for vehicle use.

Defiance’s weaponry includes the conventional and the strange. You can run around with shotguns and assault rifles, or switch to a grenade launcher that lobs up to five sticky explosives that can be detonated by reloading the gun. While this is great for setting traps around stages, the bombs also stick to players, which means it could be wise to time the detonation so it coincides with the moment the affected player runs into a group of his friends. Alternatively, if a player sees there’s a bomb stuck to his clothing, he could run at you, making it impossible to detonate the bomb without dealing damage to yourself as well.

By equipping a beam weapon you become a significant threat, as its damaging energy discharge rapidly drains the health of any enemy it touches. By using its alternate fire, you turn into a healer, and can serve your team most effectively by pairing up with others and scouring the map for enemies as part of a pack. The strangest weapon on display fired blobs of organic goo at enemies. The blobs stuck and grew on targets, and eventually burst, spilling Half-Life-like headcrab monsters onto the ground. These creatures then scurried around the map for a limited time and attacked any hostiles in range.

In addition to weapons, you’ll have special abilities like cloaking fields and speed bursts and decoys to help escape from and distract opponents. The map included in the demo had plenty of hiding spots and few wide open spaces, making it easy to escape around a corner and throw off a pursuing enemy by tossing out a decoy in the opposite direction. Near the map’s center was a raised platform that gave a view of most of the map; an excellent place for snipers to sit and pick off any down below. Getting up to the platform was risky, though, as it required you climb up an exposed ladder at a slow pace, making you an easy target for any in the area.

If you’d rather play on larger maps with vehicles, you’ll find many machines can accommodate multiple players at once. One could drive while another could operate a rocket turret, so it seems the flow of combat on each map could differ quite significantly. While on foot, the game played just like you’d expect a third-person shooter to, which perhaps didn’t really highlight what are Defiance’s most interesting aspects – the fact that it’s not only a third-person shooter, but also an MMO. Still, it’s yet another way to play, in case you’re looking for combat that’s a bit more structured than the chaos of the open world.

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Black Ops 2 Will Make eSports Important to You

Treyarch wants more than to exist in the eSports arena -- it plans to dominate it, but not in the way you expect. Call of Duty is such a juggernaut that Black Ops II could probably brute force its way to the top with Activision marketing money and sheer numbers. With a few strokes of brilliance, though, Black Ops II involves its entire audience in the constant competitive spectacle.

You Are the Shoutcaster

If you find yourself better at observation than competition, the role of a shoutcaster -- or CODcaster, in the Black Ops vocabulary -- could be something that’s up your alley. Any player can switch to the shoutcaster “team” before a match starts, thus opening their adversarial player slot for another person, and broadcast their live commentary to anyone willing to listen. Shoutcasters function like a sports broadcaster, giving viewers a play-by-play account of the events on screen, as well as identifying players accomplishments and notable strategies. Users can also team up and co-broadcast any match, whether it’s live or recorded in your Black Ops II Theater.

There’s more to proper shoutcasting than just yelling into your mic, though. Using your controller or mouse and keyboard, shoutcasters can easily shift player perspectives to get a greater view of the most important action. Itemized counters indicate who’s scoring well, carrying the flag, or capturing a control point, so you’ll always know where to go to give your audience the best perspective. Other functionality includes a top-down view of the map with every player’s location, listening in on live team chat, and customizable menus to maximize your presentation. Players can also It’s a terrific system that’s easy and fun to use, and in the hands of a skilled shoutcaster, it’s entertaining as all get out to watch.

League of Legend

Treyarch kept off-handedly mentioning eSports when Black Ops II came up in conversation, but we didn’t really know what any of that meant. Call of Duty’s League system is emblematic of what the developer’s looking to achieve. Players divide into one of seven divisions based on their skill level – not their rank or Prestige. The Starcraft-style ladder system moves better players up into higher leagues and matched them against similarly skilled opponents. Those of us who are, uh, terrible, will find talentless hacks to team up with, and have fun in our own corner of the playground. How well you play and place in each match determine how quickly you move up or shift back down. It’s about consistency, which keeps players happy, which keeps them playing.

It’s Always On

At any given moment, you could be part of a Black Ops broadcast. Any user can live stream a custom match by simply turning it on in the options menu, and when Black Ops II releases on November 13, everyone will have access to streaming matches on all platforms. You can load up a live stream on your PC at work, or a mobile browser on the train, and watch a game happening right then and there. Treyarch isn’t talking yet about a potential iOS and Android app for streaming, or how Elite functions with eSports – but this is a strong start.

Mitch Dyer is an Associate Editor for IGN's Xbox 360 team. He’s also quite Canadian. Read his ramblings on Twitter and follow him on IGN.

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