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This Episode:

  • StarCraft II 2 Year Anniversary
  • Patch 1.5.0
  • ASUS ROG
  • GSTL Finals: FXO vs SlayerS
  • GSL Finals (aka snooze fest)
  • TSL4 Ro32
  • MLG Format Changes
  • Roster Changes


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News

2 years of StarCraft 2: released July 27th, 2010
With 5 months left in the year, Heart of the Swarm looks unlikely for this year.
Blizzard prefers 3-6 months of beta in advance to release.

Patch 1.5.0 is Live

  • New Ui
  • Streaming Launcher
  • Graphics Improvements
    • Many physics optimizations have been made across the entire game.
    • Texture and resources management have been greatly improved, and now use less overall memory.
    • StarCraft II is now significantly more thorough in pre-loading content, resulting in less in-game stutter.
    • Custom games now load shaders during the loading screen rather than in-game, resulting in less stuttering caused by shader generation.
    • The fog of war has been reworked to more accurately display units that are positioned near the edge of the fog.
  • Editor Improvements
  • Loads of bug fixes
  • Orbital Commands and Planetary Fortresses in the same control group now build SCV’s equally without having to use the tab key.
  • Massive Point Fluctuations, and again
  • New mini-map creep color, new creep look
  • Changeling vs. High Templar vs. Ghost
  • 1v1 on far right.
  • Quick match 4th button

 

Patch 1.5.0 Bugs & ASUS ROG
Patch 1.5.0 also has high profile bugs that are now an issue with eSports.

The Larva Bug

  • Larva left behind after a Hatchery is destroyed now block the Zerg from re-taking the same Hatchery location.


Larva Bug Workaround

  • Destiny and Dox_au told Sheth that you can turn all of the left over Larva into Overlords [so that if you’re maxed you can still morph a unit] and cancel them all to destroy the Larva.
  • The other option is to kill each and every Larva.


Sheth’s Suggestions to Blizzard
Liquid_Sheth posted on Reddit this afternoon with his thoughts on Blizzard leaving major glitches in StarCraft with tournaments going on the week on patch release and what can be done to prevent these issues from happening in the future.

  • Revert Option
    • “allow tournament organizers a way to “revert” to a previous patch for an event”
  • Tournament Server Running the Previous Patch
    • “Blizzard simply keeps a server up for a previous patch for organizers.  There is a Beta test for new patches and there should be a Secure server for the previous patch for these tournaments to be able to use in case the newest patch is broken.”
  • LAN
    • Garrett Note: Not going to happen


Blizzard’s Response
Cloaken, a community manager for StarCraft’s official forums, made a blue post detailing the known issues and assuring everyone that they are working “rapidly” to fix these issues.
The Other Bugs

  1. Viewing certain players’ profiles was causing the client to crash. We have released a temporary fix that allows these profiles to load without crashing, but some ladder related data may not appear. The ladder data is not lost; it is just not being displayed while we work on a long term fix for the issue.
  1. Searching for maps in the Arcade can sometimes not return any results.
  1. Attempting to open version 1.4.4 of StarCraft II, pinned to the task bar, will cause the launcher to go into an infinite loop. Please try launching the game from the installation directory to get around this. We are working on a solution to address this.
  1. Some games appearing in the “Join Game” list of the “Custom Games” menu on the StarCraft II side of the client will cause that game to be played using an older balance. As a temporary work around please start lobbies from the “Create Game” page.
  1. We are getting some early reports that a few people cannot publish their games.
  1. Massive Point Fluctuations, and again
    1. Garrett Note: There is also a pathing issue mentioned by Sheth.

 

ASUS ROG Summer 2012
ASUS Republic of Gamers kicked off today in Finland.  Apollo, TLO, Khaldor and Wolf are all casting.
ASUS ROG Resources

 

GSTL Finals: FXO vs SlayerS
Amazing stage/location.
Garrett Note: When did StarCraft become a scene out of the Fast and the Furious?  So many hot women in short shorts…

Game 1: FXO_GuMiho vs SlayerS_MMA
Antiga Shipyard

  • The most truly brutal TvT in recent memory.
  • Both players looked as if they were done multiple times in this game.
  • MMA took a sizable lead early on but it was for not, GuMiho refused to leave and somehow took a win despite logic.

Game 2: FXO_GuMiho vs SlayerS_Min
Atlantis Spaceship

  • So many Seeker Missiles!  Mass Broodlord death!
  • If you’ve never seen a Seeker Missile run out of steam before this is also the game to watch.  Min tires one out by microing his Infestor away.

Game 3: FXO_GuMiho vs SlayerS_CoCa
Metropolis

  • GuMiho continues to be a monster and pressure the hell out of CoCa early game with a proxy-Rax.
  • CoCa fights back with a beautiful Baneling bust but GuMiho responded with a beautiful defense!
  • CoCa’s hidden expansion towards GuMiho’s main turned this into a top notch, albeit crazy, TvZ.
  • A GSTL match was decided by SCVs fighting Drones.  All hail GuMiho the sweaty-Terran wonder.

Game 4: FXO_GuMiho vs SlayerS_Ryung
Whirlwind

  • Sick timing attack from GuMiho.  He literally rolled over Ryung.

Game 5: FXO_GuMiho vs SlayerS_Puzzle
ESV_Ohana

  • GuMiho played a damn near perfect game of StarCraft.  Winning against Puzzle to win the GSTL Season 2 with an All Kill against team SlayerS.

 

GSL Finals
Seed won. Boring finals.
ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

TSL4 Ro32

 


MLG Format Changes
Stage 1

  • Still a massive, double-elimination Open Bracket.
  • “New for Summer is the fact that Open Bracket match history will not be carried over into the latter stages of the Event.”

Stage 2
Group Play has replaced Pool Play as the second stage of the Event, and there are some major differences between the two:

  • Group Play is made up of four separate double elimination brackets.
  • 32 players will compete in Group Play, with eight players per Group.
  • 24 players–including the Top 16 from the Summer Arena and eight players that will be announced later–will start in Group Play. They will eventually be joined by the last eight Open Winners Bracket Players.

Like Pool Play, Group Play placement will determine a player’s starting position in the Championship Bracket.  And like the Open Bracket, Group Play match history will not be carried over into the third stage of the Event.

Stage 3
The Championship Bracket is the third stage of the Event and like the Summer Arena, it is broken up into two separate brackets.  Each bracket will progress until only one player is left.  The final two players will then compete for the Summer Championship Title in the Best-of-7 Final match.
Check out the official Event Format, maps, rules, schedule, and prizes, and view sample brackets for Groups A and D of Group Play (groups B and C will function in the same way) and the Championship Bracket.

Roster Changes

  • NaNiwa Leaves Quantic
    • Official Quantic Statement:
    • “Johan Lucchesi asked to be released from his contract today. Quantic has granted this request effective immediately. While we believe that Johan has thrived in his relationship with our family, we do not believe in holding players who no longer wish to be with us. We are grateful for the time he has spent with us and we are proud of the growth he has shown as a player and as a member of this community.”
  • NaNiWa’s TL Response:
  • “guys guys, i appriciate all support but this was all my choice, i wasnt kicked or outed or forced to leave quantic  its all my choice . i can explain it more fully in voice if i come on ome show like lo3 etc but please dont assume its because of me being difficult or such!, i am very sorry about my small outburst in TSL .. i was so dissapointed when i played at a pretty bad IT cafe straight after i lost WCS swe. clearly i need more builds in these tournaments so im not as predictable, my spirit to become the best is exactly the same as always. i have no intentions of quitting  quantic simply didnt feel like home to me. people might not understand me but thats okay. I guess all im trying to say is that – im not quitting and i appriciate all the support i get from all u fans! there is no need to donate to me on some paypal. i m allright. i just want to find ways to repay your faith with good games in the future !  Im sure ill find a home soon where i can relax and play without as much pressure as before <3”

 


Outro
iTunes Thanks

  • Yukiryushi
  • RSmith2011
  • Larzjudith


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Check out Kyle and I’s other show This Week in Blizz if you enjoy Diablo, WoW and StarCraft.

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