Continue reading PSISTORM At Dreamhack Montreal – Day 2 : Triumph
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PSISTORM At Dreamhack Montreal : Preview
This weekend, the last stop of the 4 WCS stops takes place in Montreal. With 100 000USD and 11 000 WCS points on the line, it is the last chance to get points and clinch that BlizzCon seed.
With this being the last chance, all our players went all out and will congregate in mass to the event. We will have TEN players compete in the event who will be joined by a couple community members and staff.
Competing this weekend, we have : TRUE, JonSnow, jheffe, Silky, PiLiPiLi, Zanster, PengWin, UpATree, DisK & Poizon.
We will also have Magitek, Temp0, Team Owner KJ Freeedom & Writer & Photographer Frostbite.
This will be our largest gathering in a long time, we have nearly all our professional roster present and a few of our academy members present. So expect a massive amount of pictures and content on our twitter : @psistormgaming. A few days after the event we will also publish a vlog/documentary of the event giving you an inside look into what a tournament means to our players and staff!
We hope to see you there!
Guess who is going to #dreamhack #montreal ? This guy. Who else is going? see u guys there! https://t.co/X2Ux5rh9zy pic.twitter.com/rEaZ2B7sQ0
— KJ ƑℝΞΞΞƊ☢Ɱ G ♒ (@KarlJayG) August 31, 2017
PSISTORM At GSL Season 3
In the past week or so, we had GuMiho play in GSL, Zanster play in 2017 WCS Montreal – Europe Open Qualifier.
In Korea, our GSL Season 2 Champion picked INnoVation and was placed in Group A with Solar and aLive. The first series started out well, with GuMiho beating INnoVation in a close TvT series. Highlights include GuMi stealing one of his opponents build, which seemed to work out pretty well. His next match was up against the Zerg player Solar. Despite being the favorite, GuMiho was unable to defeat the Splyce Zerg and fell in a quick 0-2. This sent him to the losers match where he had to face INnoVation once again. He lost the first map on Ascension to Aiur, despite a decent doom drop into his opponents base, he was unable to deal enough damage while also losing his tank count. After defending, INnoVation simply leap-frogged his tanks until GuMiho GG’d out. On the second map, Odyssey, GuMiho was able to create an early advantage with some cyclone harass, this continued until starport tech which gave him the opportunity to jump into his opponents base, disrupting his mining and dividing his attention, all the while he expanded and prepared the death push. INnoVation’s forces were spread too thin and he was unable to defend his natural from a flood of marines. 1-1. On the final map, Whirlwind, it started out all even, with little to no early game shenanigans. Going into standard tank-marine vs. tank-marine, INnoVation decided to produce more vikings and gain air control, with this advantage, he was able to find a better position for his own tanks and slowly picked off Gumiho’s. Losing slowly in tank count, he was unable to keep up in supply and slowly died off, forcing a GG and ending his Season 3 run.
PSISTORM At IEM Shanghai & Cheeseadelphia 5
We had another busy weekend with players competing on two different continents. We had GuMiho compete in IEM Shanghai while TRUE, PiLiPiLi, JonSnow and PengWin played at Cheeseadelphia 5.
At Shanghai, GuMiho was placed in Group B with iAsonu, Stats and Rogue. He first faced the Zerg Rogue, despite losing the first map on Odyssey, he was able to take the second map on Ascension to Aiur. Being only one map away to advance to the winners match, Rogue was somehow able to create some advantages and took the map and the series. Knocked down to the losers match, he faced the Chinese Zerg iAsonu, being on his opponents home turf, GuMiho was unable to break the zergs defenses and strategies and lost the series 0-2. Having flown from Germany straight to China, we do understand that GuMiho might not have been playing at his best, but this is still an upset and a disappointing result. We hope he will take these two or so weeks before GSL to rest up and come back in top shape. GGs!
Back in America, all 4 of our players playing at Cheese were able to make it to the Ro16 without any problems. Collectively, they lost 9 maps (PengWin contributing 6 of those losses) and won 31, with TRUE not dropping a single one. In the Ro16, we had the amazing luck of PiLiPiLi facing off against PengWin, while JonSnow played Cuddlebear and TRUE played omgabanana. JonSnow won 3-0 versus his Terran opponent, PiLi showed no mercy towards his manager and 3-0’d him and TRUE 3-0 his Protoss adversary. In the Quarterfinals, JonSnow defeated Bails 3-0, PiLiPiLi dispatched PandaBearMe 3-0 and TRUE took out Semper 3-1 in closer-than-they-looked games.
In Semi-finals, JonSnow faced off against the formidable MaSa, up until this point, he only dropped a single map against Suppy in the previous round. Despite great effort and some close moments, JonSnow was unable to overcome the Canadian-Korean Terran and lost the series 0-3. Meanwhile, TRUE and PiLiPiLi had to face off after cleaning up their sides of the brackets. PiLiPiLi started off strong taking the win on Odyssey, but then TRUE decided there was no time for fun and games and took the next three maps in quick succession, taking the series 3-1 and moving on to face MaSa in the finals.
In the Bo7 series, TRUE had a tough opponent ahead of him, to reach the finals, MaSa went 15W-1L in maps while TRUE only went 15W-2L. These two players were the obvious heavy hitters of the tournament and their series should be an interesting one. Well that’s not what happened. MaSa completely dominated TRUE and took the series 4-0. Somehow, someway, the Canadian-Korean Terran simply knew how to deal with TRUE in every single aspect, not a single timing or a all-in worked. Despite the shut-out score, the series was not as one-sided as one would think, TRUE did have moments where it seemed he could take a map, but MaSa always found a way to crawl back in it. With PSISTORM taking 2nd, 3rd and 4th at Cheeseadelphia 5, it was still a successful event for us, even without the win. GG’s!
We are glad our players enjoyed their weekend at Cheese, they even had a very welcoming AirBnB host
Our airbnb host just left us a 12 pack. Weow. pic.twitter.com/yeyVefxAAh
— Stefan Mott (@psiPengWin) July 28, 2017
PSISTORM at HomeStoryCup XV and at Dreamhack Atlanta BYOC
Starting the 20th up until the 23rd, we had players compete in tournaments on two continents. We had Zanster and GuMiho play in Krefeld, Germany at HomeStoryCup XV, while PengWin, PiLiPiLi, TRUE, jheffe and Sugar played in Atlanta, USA at Dreamhack Atlanta BYOC.
In Germany, Zanster was placed in a group with Snute, HeRoMaRinE and Mythic. Unfortunately, he lost to HeRoMaRinE 0-3 in the first series, won 3-0 vs. Mythic and was finally 0-3’d by HeRoMaRinE once again, ending his tournament run. Meanwhile, GuMiho was placed in a group with Dns, Lambo and the last second replacement RotterdaM. He first played against Rotti and quickly went 3-0 against him. He then faced DnS and took the series in a convincing 3-0.
In the second group stage, GuMiho was placed in Group D with uThermal, PtitDrogo and TLO. First off against TLO, Gumi took the series in a clean 3-0. Next up against PtitDrogo, he seemed untouchable and went 3-0 once again. Moving on to the Playoffs, GuMiho faced off against Zest, this time, the Korean Protoss showed us Gods can bleed. Zest took the first game on Sequencer in some quick action. Seemingly angering him, our Korean Terran took the next two maps, Proxima Station and Abyssal reef with some proxies and some drops. Unfortunately, on the next two maps, Ascension to Aiur and Odyssey, Zest won them both, with some proxy stargates and some cheeky Protoss play.
With GuMiho out, all our players have been knocked out of HSC, it was a fun 4 days of Starcraft, not without its high jinks.
Super sorry @PsiZanster i shot him with a nerfgun ????? Fuck my life ??? #onlyathomestorycup pic.twitter.com/pk6bMrYk70
— Dennis Gehlen (@TaKeSeN) July 20, 2017
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On the other side of the pond, we had TRUE, PiLipiLi, jheffe, Sugar and PengWin compete in the Dreamhack Atlanta BYOC.
In the open bracket portion of the tournament, jheffe was able to claw through the loser’s rounds and qualified to the second day going 7-2 in matches losing only to Honeybear.
Sugar, on his end, went 7-5 through the losers’s and winner’s bracket, knocking out PengWin, but ultimately getting knocked out by jheffe. His last chance was the 8th seed match where he faced the Zerg Tambi. In a clean series, he took it 2-0 and advanced to the second day.
TRUE and PiLiPiLi qualified to the second day, having won the Road to Atlanta qualifiers put on by BasetradeTV with help from Dreamhack ad Blizzard. Sugar played MaSa who seemed unstoppable taking him out 2-0. jheffe had the unfortunate luck to play TRUE and was defeated 2-0. PiLiPiLi played SirRobin whom he defeated 2-0. In the semifinals, TRUE played PiLiPiLi, in a good series that seemed closer than it was, our Korean Zerg took out fellow teammate 2-0 and advanced to the finals. TRUE faced MaSa in a best-of-five series to take home 2 025 USD and all the bragging rights. Despite great effort, MaSa was too strong, taking the series 3-0, he won the tournament without losing a single map.
TRUE finished 2nd, PiLiPiLi 3rd-4th, Sugar and jheffe 5th-8th and PengWin 9th-16th. Overall, not bad results.
We even had co-owner JD visit and mingle with our players.
The legendary @PiLiPiLi96 eagerly awaiting his bracket #DHATL17 #Starcraft2 @psistormgaming pic.twitter.com/S12KFAX8TZ
— JD 'Archnog' (@archnog) July 22, 2017
PSISTORM at Dreamhack Valencia – Day 1 : Pass the Torch
Earlier today, the first day of Dreamhack Valencia was played out. In the first of three Group Stages to be played out, we had Zanster and Strange battling it out in Group G. They were somehow placed together along with the Polish Protoss Indy and the German Protoss ReiGn.
As expected, they both advanced, with Zanster going 4-0 in the group, while Strange went 4-3. Zanster’s run started off with a 2-0 over ReiGn, followed by a 2-0 over teammate Strange. Meanwhile, Strange went 2-1 against Indy, lost 0-2 vs Zanster and finished it off with a 2-0 over Indy.
In the 2nd Group Stage, Strange was seeded into Group B with Cloudy, Denver and ShoWTimE. His first opponent was the dangerous German Protoss ShoWTimE. While losing the first map, he was able to bounce back and take it 2-1 in an upset. Next up he faced off against Cloudy, despite great games, he lost the series 1-2. He then had to face Denver, hot off a 2-0 versus ShoWTimE. In the opening game, Strange was able to play his type of map and took the win. On the second map, all was looking well, until he overextended in the middle of the map and lost his small but substantial lead. He was unable to keep hold of the flow and lost. On the deciding map, a failed all-in left him behind economically and he was unable to keep up with the Zerg’s army, forcing him to tap out. With this, he was eliminated from Valencia with a great showing.
Meanwhile, Zanster was placed in Group G with Optimus, Majestic and SouLeer. Playing at his best, Zanster went 2-0 over SouLeer and kept the momentum going 2-0 versus the Dutch Terran Optimus. Without dropping a map in the first two group stages, Anton powered ahead to the Ro.32 aka Group Stage 3.
In this third Group Stage, Zanster was joined by TRUE and JonSnow who were seeded directly there by placing 3rd and 4th respectively in the NA Online Qualifiers.
Zanster was set in Group B along with Serral, Nice and Arctur. His first series went well, with a 2-0 over Nice, despite what some would say. In a close ZvZ, Zanster lost to the Finish Serral seeding him to face off against Arctur. Opening the series with a win on Sequencer, Zanster started the series off strong, but was unable to keep up the momentum in Game 2, his opponent was simply too much on Proxima Station. On the last map, Anton was able to eek out the win and advances to the Ro.16 and Day 2.
Next up, we had JonSnow in Group F along with Cloudy, Lambo and Elazer. His first series was versus Cloudy, whom he was able to dispatch in a quick 2-0. His next opponent, Elazer, proved to be a much harder opponent, he lost the series 0-2 despite great lurker positioning. Finally, he had to face off against Cloudy once again in the Loser’s match. This time, Cloudy seemed to have his number, with clever timing attacks, our King of the North fell 0-2 against the onslaught of Protoss. Although he has been eliminated from the tournament, we believe he showed great games and this can only be stepping stone to better results.
Finally, we have TRUE in Group G with Probe, Harstem and Optimus. Everything started off with a 2-1 against the Dutch Terran Optimus. In a back and forth series, TRUE was able to take the win 2-1 and was matched up against the Australian Protoss Probe in the winners series. Somehow, Someway, Probe was able to beat TRUE with his weird foreign play from down-under 2-0, forcing our Zerg into the Losers match against Harstem. Despite the upset from the previous series, our Zerg had no mercy for the other Dutch of the group and defeated Harstem 2-0 in a very quick series. Completing his journey to Day 2 and the Ro.16.
For tomorrow’s games, we have TRUE and Zanster to carry on the torch from their fallen teammates. TRUE will face off against the French Protoss player PtitDrogo while Zanster will play his match against SpeCIal aka Major. Both tough matches, but we believe in our boys!
Don’t miss our players action at approximately 13:35 CEST for TRUE vs. PtitDrogo and around 21:05 CEST for Zanster vs. SpeCIal.
Catch it all here -> https://www.twitch.tv/starcraft/ <-
PSISTORM at Dreamhack Valencia – Preview
On the 13th of July, the WCS Circuit makes its third out of four stops at Valencia. With 100 000 USD, a BlizzCon seed and 11 000 WCS points up for grab, it’s going to be another intense weekend of StarCraft.
At this Dreamhack event, we have four players participating, Strange, Zanster, JonSnow and TRUE.
Strange and Zanster were unable to make it through the Online qualifiers and have signed up into the Open Bracket. Somehow, among the 64 players in the first group stage, they ended up in the same group. Zanster finds himself as the only Zerg with Strange and the two Protoss players Indy and ReiGn. Although a teamkill series is very likely, we think it should be an easy 1st and 2nd finish for both our players.
TRUE and JonSnow were able to qualify through the NA Online qualifiers, where they were able to take 3rd and 4th respectively. They will wait in Group Stage 3 for the rest of the competitors to play out the first two Group Stages.
We eagerly await the event to take place and can’t wait to see what our boys can do! #GoPSISTORM
PSISTORM at Dreamhack Austin : Aftermath
The 30th of April was the last day of Dreamhack Austin. We had TRUE looking strong going into the Ro4. He went through the Ro16 going 3-0 over uThermal, he went through the Ro8 going 3-1 over Cham. It was set to be a good series against the tough Nerchio.
Game one started off well. In the early game TRUE was able to get the better end off small speedling and baneling skirmishes. With small leads stacking up, he was able to create an economical lead. He kept at the small skirmishes, a group of burrowed roaches here, a ling run by there. With every moment he was able to create a lead out of nothing. He had more resources in the bank, more bases, yet Nerchio kept up in army supply and upgrades. It all came down to a single engagement that TRUE took magnificently. Better arc, better biles. He took it decisively.
Game two saw a little bit of a curve ball by TRUE. Again, after winning most of the small ling skirmishes, he was able to transition to mutas unbeknownst to Nerchio. He was unable to transition to hydras fast enough and was only able to use spores and a few fungals to defend against the massive muta flock. TRUE was relentless in his attack, completely overwhelming his opponents main base, Nerchio went for a desperate counter-attack and he found the bases completely undefended. TRUE sunk every single resource into mutas, he had no ground army. With the spawning mutas he tried to defend but it wasn’t enough and he called the GG.
After some early speedlings and baneling shenanigans by Nerchio, the game went late. With each player on five bases, on hive with a roach, ravager and infestor army, it became a game of small steps. Responding to an earlier attack, TRUE was able to snipe the evolution chamber researching +3 for Nerchio. His opponent then traded his army for TRUEs’ and both players remaxed to max with roaches and a new round of infestors. Meanwhile, our Zerg was able to saturate a 7th base and with the extra income started to tech up to ultralisks. When his ultras were halfway complete, Nerchio attacked TRUE’s 4th, killing it and most of his opponents army. He backed off only once he saw the 6 ultras that finally hatched. While TRUE tried to counter-attack, his opponent was able to tech up to lurkers and destroy what remained of his opponents army.
Economy devastated and with no army, TRUE GG’d out.
The fourth game was uneventful, after standard openings from both players and some ling/baneling skirmishes here and there, they both went into roach ravager and macroed. From there, TRUE tried an attack into the area between the third and the natural. His army was split in two parts, as the first wave hit, it was sandwiched by a group of roaches and ravagers to the north. The first wave of TRUE’s army lost about half of its forces while it retreated to the other half, the slower ravagers were picked off first and this spelled the beginning of the end. As he retreated back home, he was down a little more than half in army supply. Even at his base, he did not have enough resources or units to push Nerchio back and he sadly typed out GG.
With that, we were out of the tournament. It was still a great event for us.
■ TRUE – finishes 3rd-4th
■ JonSnow – finishes 9th-16th
■ PiLiPiLi – finishes 17th-24th
■ PengWin – finishes Group Stage 1
■ jheffe – finishes Group Stage 1
■ WarreN – finishes Group Stage 1
■ Silky – finishes Group Stage 1
■ sLeet – finishes Group Stage 1
All pictures by Troyseph
Dreamhack Austin: Day 2
On this second day of Dreamhack Austin, we had two players in the Ro16 ; TRUE and JonSnow. [Read Day 1]
The first series to be played out was TRUE vs uThermal. Going into the match, our Korean star was feeling confident, having had a nice run through the 3 bracket stages. He started the games off with a bang. Some early ling pressure gave him just enough breathing room to adequately defend the hellbat pressure follow-up. From there, it was a macro game where he was ahead, granting him the resources to build up to ultralisks and run over his opponent. Game two was similar, the Terran opened like the previous game with a hellbat which was successfully defended by queens and speedlings. It then snowballed into a macro lead, into an army lead and finally into a map win. Game 3 was a whole other story. TRUE wanted to win quickly, so he opened with a 1.5 base roach ravager cheese. While looking promising, it ultimately failed when he walked up his opponents ramp and lost his entire army. Forced to play roach/ravager with some infestor support, our Zerg was able to defend his bases long enough to transition to a ultralisk, crackling and infestor based army. Even despite losing his entire army near the end, with an upgrade lead and economical advantage, TRUE win the 3rd game. In the Ro8, he then faced the ROOT Zerg Cham.
Meanwhile we JonSnow against the ever so frightening Polish Zerg Nerchio. With a best-of-five against such a strong opponent, our american hope had to pull out his best play yet. The series was played on BasetradeTV and sadly it was a quick 0-3 loss for our King of the North. Despite great effort, he was simply outclassed by the his opponent. Finishing top 16 at such a big event is nothing to scoff hmat, we are very happy with such an amazing performance.
In the Ro8, TRUE played against the Mexican Zerg Cham. Hot off a 3-0 against uThermal, our korean zerg was playing his very best. He started off strong with victory, overwhelming his opponent with strong macro and excellent micro when it counted. In the second game, Cham had the best of him with superior opener which gave him the economical lead which translated to an overwhelming push. Despite great harass, TRUE lost the game, but not his spirit. The third game went late. Both players maxed out on a roach, ravager and infestor composition. With a slight economical advantage, TRUE danced around Chams’ army and eventually decided to go for a basetrade instead of defending his fourth. At that moment, TRUE portrayed his superior decision making and split his army just enough to wipe out his opponents 4 bases while protecting his own bases just enough to evacuate a good number of drones. After a few skirmishes TRUE had the superior force and walked over what remained of Cham. Like with uThermal, with a single game to win, he went for a quick speedlight and baneling attack. Through superior micro and better macro, our zerg was able to force Cham into submission.
Watch the final moments of TRUE vs uThermal
In the semi-finals, TRUE will have to face off against either Kelazhur or Nerchio, a tough match no matter who he plays. Yet, with his performance throughout the tournament, it is very possible he can win the series and propel himself into the finals.
His match will be played tomorrow. Don’t miss out on the amazing series to come #GoPSISTORM
PSISTORM At Dreamhack: Day 1
Day one of Dreamhack Austin concluded not too long ago. 6 players went into the First Stage with hopes of defeating strong opponents.
We had PengWin, WarreN and sLeet, TRUE, jheffe and silky competing in the hopes of advancing until the playoffs.
After three hours of intense games, the competition was whittled down from 64 contenders to 32. Unfortunately we lost 5 players in the bloodbath. Despite good games, PengWin, WarreN, Silky, sLeet and jheffe fell in their respective groups. Only TRUE was able to make it out of his group, even finishing in first place with a perfect 4-0 record.
Every single player was close to advancing, finishing either in 3rd place or in Group L’s case, finishing 3rd and 4th. Despite the losses, we are proud of our players who have shown they can battle it out with good players, they simply need a little but more to be able to drive it home.
In the second group stage, TRUE was seeded into Group B with TLO, Pandabearme and FeaR. he first played against the german protoss quickly winning in a 2-0. He then had to face Doctor Dario himself. He lost the first map on abyssal, but was able to mount a comeback and won 2-1. Topping the group 4-1.
The next group stage saw TRUE join JonSnow and PiLiPiLi, having been seeded through the qualifiers.
Our american zerg saw himself the only North American in group A with Harstem, Serral and Optimus. Losing the first match 0-2 to harstem, it started off poorly. He was able to grab on to hope with a flawless 2-0 win against Optimus and had to have a rematch against the dutch protoss. The first game went late, hydras, banelings and finally broodlords saw the game until his forces overwhelmed his opponents. In the second game, Harstem was able to quickly end it with some adepts and oracles. In the last game, JonSnow was once again able to dance around the map long enough to bring out broodlords, granting him the win.
In group E, PiLiPiLi had to square off against Cham, NonY and Namshar. Matchup against the veteran NonY, he was able to take it 2-0. Now against Cham, it was close series, but in the end, he wasn’t able to score and lost in a close 1-2. In the loser’s finals, he had to defeat Namshar to advance to the Ro16. Despite a promising Game 1, his attack failed and it lost him the game. On the second map, after defending some muta harass, he bet it all on a attack against his opponents 3rd with blink stalkers, immortals and a few disruptor. The swedes defence was too tight, as he held off the attack long enough with roaches and ravagers that his remaining mutas were able to pierce PiLi’s bases, killing all his probes forcing him to GG.
TRUE was placed in the hardest group of the three. With Snute, SortOf and TIME, it was going to be a tough battle. Faced off against the chinese terran player TIME, he lost the first map, but was able to bring it back with clever play and his famous multi-pronged harass. The 2-1 victory lead him to play against the formidable Snute. Once again, despite losing the first map, he was able to win the second game in a long game which saw TRUE send wave and wave of ultra and crackling into Snutes’ lurker defence until he fell to mutas, having most of his anti-air destroyed by cracklings and ultras. The third game was the story of a perfect defense. Snute went for a 1 base speedling and baneling all-in. TRUE was able to defend it perfectly despite not having any banelings of his own. With his massive economic lead , our Korean Zerg flooded his opponent’s base, forcing a GG.
Starting with 8 players, only 2 remain. It was a brutal day of StarCraft, our players did their best and we are happy with the result.
Don’t miss out on the the games on the 29th! It starts at 11am CDT!