tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32238606195131044622024-03-13T08:47:59.744-07:00Gamer's DigestPeter Dagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625592810373531447noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3223860619513104462.post-8501396900823868122015-08-28T10:50:00.002-07:002015-08-28T10:50:57.681-07:00IHLs – FACEIT SEPTEMBER 1st<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Inhouse leagues are crucial for the
growth of any scene. They provide a place for players to hone their
skills, be creative, and have fun. A place where pro's and high skill
players can play with and against each other competitively. It's been
a few months since the FACE-IT league was seeing action but I'm
looking forward to it starting back up in September.</div>
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For
me personally I've always seen inhouse leagues as the premium place
to practice. Not only can I practice drafting and strategy without
the presence of my entire team but I also can learn from and adapt to the
dozens of drafters I find myself against throughout the month. I use
the IHL to make some generalizations about what works and what
doesn't. League games are incredibly useful during a new patch or
when I find myself a bit lost when it comes to understanding the
current “meta”.
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Take
a look at my team, we ALL played in the last iteration of FACEIT and
we won the International so obviously we're onto something. Look
around at the NA scene, who are the big names of today? Arteezy,
Sumail, Universe, PPD, Aui_2000, Fear, Yawar, Bulba, Zai(honorary American), TC,
etc. We all play in these IHL's because we want to be better. Of
course we have some fun along the way but our spirit for development
and progress is what pushes us to keep playing.</div>
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If it
wasn't for IHL's I don't know if I'd be doing what I'm doing. I
joined my first professional HoN team because I was noticed in a IHL
and someone saw potential in me. Same thing happened when Zai and I
joined EG after TI3 and yet again with Sumail earlier this year.
IHL's allow players to take their game to the next level, find
competitive games, and maybe even some teammates to compete in this
years upcoming Majors.
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I'd
like to say thanks to FACEIT for once again hosting the league and I
look forward to competing this September.</div>
Peter Dagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625592810373531447noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3223860619513104462.post-89401695094586908282015-08-18T04:59:00.000-07:002015-08-18T04:59:22.032-07:00POST TI5 blog <span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Okay so this has gone past the point of meaningless drama and in my opinion seems to be defaming me and my teammates character/brand. So I'm going to set things straight with my incredibly biased opinion.</span><br />
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Aui joined our team mid-January after Zai and Arteezy left after a disappointing Summit 2 and Dotapit result. We knew c9 was replacing 2 players for n0tail and misery but we were almost certain it was bone7 being kicked not aui. Originally we planned on trying out both Sumail and Yawar and finding a way to make that work because of how limited our options were. During the "mid-season" shuffle I lobbied around trying to find replacements and NOBODY was willing to give us a chance. They all viewed us as weak, the 'losers' in the shuffle and wanted nothing to do with us. When I was talking to EE he revealed that they were releasing aui not bone . It was destiny he just kinda fell into our lap. Aui and Zai had next to identical play styles and hero pools so it was the obvious choice. Still feel bad about Yawar but he'll be fine, sometimes you wish you could have more than 5 players on a team but such is life. </div>
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Then we won DAC, then we got 2nd at a lot of tournies, lost a MLG, and then we won TI. </div>
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This wasn't super surprising as the best thing about our team is confidence. We practiced hard, studied hard, and prepared ourselves mentally for the challenge of a lifetime. When secret lost to both ehome and vp we knew this was our TI for the taking we just had to do it. </div>
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Were we the best team? That I can't be sure of but the amount of satisfaction you feel from winning a tournament like DAC or TI is truly a unique and overwhelming experience. For all of this I thank my teammates including aui who worked incredibly hard to achieve a goal and dream of all of ours.</div>
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So let's talk about Aui's removal. Starting with some simple pro's and con's.</div>
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Pros: </div>
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1. Hard worker </div>
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2. Dedicated </div>
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3. Talented </div>
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4. Trustworthy </div>
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5. Malleable </div>
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6. he's just the nicest guy ever </div>
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Cons:</div>
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1. Not an effective communicator</div>
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2. Often makes mistakes under high pressure </div>
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3. Creates a stressful environment </div>
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I'll give a bit more info on the cons because let's be honest these are the only things people are going to talk about.</div>
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Aui is one of those guys who talks a lot but says very little, if you know anyone like this you'll understand what I'm saying. His ability to communicate effectively just isn't there and even though we worked on it all year long it didn't get much better. A lot of this falls on me for my ability to captain and direct effective coms but it's a lot of work and I wasn't always up for the task. </div>
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If you watch our games you'll see most of them turn into a 4 protect 1, but not to farm our carry. Instead we did this to find farm for Aui and have 4 farmed heroes and 1 underfarmed hero(mine) in the mid to late game. Whether this is how dota is played I'm not sure but we were pretty limited in style.</div>
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I'm not going to call out specific plays where maybe Aui's nerves got the best of him and I won't pretend it doesn't happen to all of us but it is something that we all have to work on especially aui because his comfort in game directly correlates to his level of play.</div>
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To touch on the stressful environment I don't think I have ever been more stressed out in my life than I had been the past 3 months. Hell I'm still stressed out trying to deal with all of this ridiculous backlash. The way aui handles his communication and his play made every game feel like the hardest game we had ever played. That could be on the rest of us but I have a feeling it isn't. Either way something had to change because no amount of winning was worth the stress I was going through. I would spend hours in my head preparing strategy and going through drafts with Sam only to have aui question our strategy as we sat down at the goddamn stage. <br />
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Let's also talk about the WB finals before we move on where Aui turned into the most cancerous player aside from CWM I had ever seen with an 18 MILLION DOLLAR TOURNAMENT LEFT TO PLAY. Honestly show some composure and don't whine on your teammates. We lost, learn from it and move on we've both played enough tournies to know how these things work. We literally went though the same exact thing at DAC. (A cancerous WB Rout from Vici into a following sweep through the lb and the finals) you learn more about yourself from losing and if you can't keep your composure at TI you're useless to me. Our strategy going into the final day was ppd talk more and aui talk less.</div>
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The international is by far the most stressful and most difficult tournament to win. It truly defines the kind of a player you are and it took me a TI to realize I no longer wanted to team with Aui. </div>
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So part two: </div>
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Why Artour and why not kick fear instead?</div>
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Artour is a clown but an amazing dota player first and foremost. He generates independent thought, works hard, and is undeniably one of the most dedicated players to the game. Also the way he handles himself just works with our team. Ti4 eg I had the most fun I've ever had with a team and we honestly missed it. This year EG felt so corporate, even though we were friends we weren't REALLY friends. You went to practice or played your matches then you just went your own way. </div>
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Side note: I'm pretty sure every team needs a clown to lighten the mood as dota is an insanely stressful experience. This year we hired in Bulba as our coach/jester. Thanks Sam for giving into to peer pressure drinking too much and still be the first one up in the morning watching replays.</div>
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Let's talk about old man Fear. This guys honestly THE MOST VALUABLE dota player out there. He can play any hero, any role, and with a little practice he can fit them into any play style. Also let's note that he basically co-captains the team and directs movement, maintains a positive attitude, and makes sure that I do my job as the captain. I know I have what it takes to lead my team to success but occasionally I need a kick in the ass to actually do it and fear is there to have our backs. He tells me to make decisions and enforce them. Without him I'd be half the captain I am today and THAT is why he is irreplaceable. </div>
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So that's it lets silence a few rumors and move on with our lives.</div>
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1. There's no such thing as a surprise kick, I told aui FIRST on skype via text I asked him if he would be more comfortable talking on call and he declined.</div>
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2. Sing sing did absolutely not know anything about aui being booted, he may have made an assumption or guessed but cmon no one talks about roster changes till after you get eliminated from TI for good reason. </div>
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3. You actually can't compare this to the niqua thing because he was booted right before to qualifiers and had no opportunity to do something else.</div>
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I know I'm an arrogant prick and I accept that but let's not pretend that I don't have my teams best interest at the top of my priorities. Thanks for reading.</div>
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-ppd </div>
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Peter Dagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625592810373531447noreply@blogger.com355tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3223860619513104462.post-90770084930910762382014-08-20T08:48:00.002-07:002014-08-20T08:52:59.624-07:00Post TI4 Blog<div align="LEFT" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0px;">
Hey everyone, ppd (EG's Captain/Support player) here. I haven't written a blog since before I left for <strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The Summit</strong> so this is long overdue. As you can probably imagine I was incredibly busy and just couldn't find the time to write even though I really did want to.</div>
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So for starters let's just go over our placements.</div>
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<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">1<sup style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">st</sup> place – The Summit – Ontario, California</strong></div>
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<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">6</strong></span></span><sup style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">th</strong></span></span></sup><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> place – Dreamhack Summer 2014 – </strong></span></span><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-style: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Jönköping</strong></span></span></span></em><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">, Sweden</strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">1</strong></span></span><sup style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">st</strong></span></span></sup><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> place – </strong></span></span><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">HyperX D2L Western Challenge</strong><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> – Online Tournament</strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">2</strong></span></span><sup style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">nd</strong></span></span></sup><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> place – ESL One Frankfurt – Frankfort, Germany</strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">3</strong></span></span><sup style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">rd</strong></span></span></sup><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> place – The International 4 – Seattle, Washington</strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Not too bad right? Every loss was disappointing but overall I still think we did an amazing job.</span></div>
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<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Breakdown</span></strong></h1>
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<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">1</span><sup style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">st</span></sup><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> place – The Summit</span></span></strong></h2>
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<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Winning this tournament was probably the biggest surprise for all of us. Going into this tournament we were all confident in our ability to succeed but winning the whole thing was probably a bit farfetched. Mason was just confirmed as our 5</span><sup style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">th</span></span></sup><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> for the summer and it was his FIRST LAN event ever. Talk about clutch, Mason over-performed for someone at their first LAN and the rest of team also played amazing. We had a rough group stage (bo1's have never been our thing), but we were able to make a run through the lower bracket against</span><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Fnatic, Navi, </strong><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">and</span><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> Vici Gaming. </strong><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">In the finals we met up against the one and only DOTA Kings, </span><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">DK</strong><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">, and somehow defeated them 3-2. After getting demolished at </span><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Starladder</strong><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> against</span><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">DK</strong><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> we weren't sure if we were up for the task so when we won the final game we were honestly a bit surprised. This was by far everyone’s favorite tournament of the season and</span><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">BTS</strong><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> did an amazing job hosting their first (hopefully not the last) event.</span></div>
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<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">6</span><sup style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">th</span></sup><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> place – Dreamhack Summer 2014</span></span></strong></h2>
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<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Not our best showing to put it lightly. After the </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Summit</strong></span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> we had a few errands to run which delayed our travel to Sweden. Mason had a date with the passport office in San Francisco and Artour had to rush home and finish his school's final exams. We arrived the day before the tournament (Artour the morning of) and got decimated by the eventual champions</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Alliance</strong></span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">. Late that day we lost to </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">mousesports</strong></span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> 0-2 and left the tournament with an astounding 0-3 record. Plenty of mistakes were made and we didn't deserve to win but still leaving with around $20k made us feel much better about placing so poorly.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">1</span><sup style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">st</strong></span></span></sup><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> place – </span><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">HyperX D2L Western Challenge</strong></span></h2>
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<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Our only online tournament of the summer we were able to play on LAN at the </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Inferno Online LAN cafe </strong></span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">in Stockholm, Sweden. In this tournament we dominated not only the group stage but the playoff as well. Our overall map record was 20-4 with 0 losses in the playoff stage. In the playoffs we skipped the quarterfinals because of our 1</span><sup style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">st</span></sup><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> place group stage finish and started the tournament off with a victory over the destined-to-disband </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">RoX`Kis</strong></span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">. Next up was </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Fnatic</strong></span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> followed up </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Navi</strong></span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> in the finals who lost 0-3. It was fun to win this tournament during our bootcamp, as a result we went out that night and celebrated with an expensive dinner and drinks.</span></div>
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<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">2</span><sup style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">nd</span></sup><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> place ESL Frankfort One</span></span></strong></h2>
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<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">This was probably our least favorite tournament behind </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Dreamhack</strong></span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">, but that’s only cause we placed so poorly. </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">ESL </strong></span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">did a great job of filling the stadium, treating the players nicely, and making the tournament something to be remembered. However they messed up big time and as a result this weekend LAN event turned into a one day affair for both </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Navi </strong></span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">and ourselves. It wouldn't have been as bad if we hadn't already been at the event all day waiting so in that regard the tournament was disappointing.</span></div>
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<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">This tournament was the only single-elimination tournament of the summer so it was important that we did not have our infamous “Day 1”. Lucky for us we started off strong with a 2-0 victory over </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Navi</strong></span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">, and then a nail-biting 2-1 victory over </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Fnatic</strong></span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">. As expected in the finals we met </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">iG</strong></span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> who were definitely not the same team we met at </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Starladder</strong></span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> a few months back. The first 2 games were pretty back-and-forth... not the 3</span><sup style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">rd</span></sup><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">. 22-0... lol? We lost 1-2 and with that </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">iG</strong></span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> snatched the biggest western prize pool before </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">TI4</strong></span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">.</span></div>
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<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">3</span><sup style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">rd</span></sup><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> place The International 4</span></span></strong></h2>
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<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">This tournament probably deserves its own blog but what the hell. This was my first </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">TI</strong></span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> so I wasn't sure what to expect. It was everything I imagined it to be, excluding the finals = ). The group-stage was hosted in the Westin Hotel in Bellevue, which was just a smidgen outside Seattle. The hotel was magnificent and the city around it was just as spectacular. Nice restaurants, shops, even an arcade; Bellevue had it all. The nicest part was being able to relax in the privacy of your own room which was just a flew floors up the elevator from where you were playing your matches, eating your meals, and socializing with all of the personalities.</span></div>
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<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">So for the actual tournament there was a 16 team round robin group-stage and a double elimination playoff bracket (in case you weren't following the biggest tournament ever).</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Day 1 – 3-2</span></h3>
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<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Day 1 was a major disappointment. We lost our first match versus c9 which was whatever. Then we beat </span><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Arrow</strong><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">, </span><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">LGD</strong><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">, and </span><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Fnatic</strong><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">. To finish they day we lost to </span><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Team Liquid</strong><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> which really put us on tilt. Not that they weren't a good team but we were so well versed against them when we lost I think everyone was devastated. Losing this game personally made me nauseous and I could hardly look at my teammates because I knew it was mostly my fault.</span></div>
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<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Day 2 3-1</span></strong></h3>
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<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Our first match of the day was against </span><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">iG</strong><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> who were looking strong. We were radiant and we tried one of our push-strats that we practiced during our boot-camp. It didn't work and we lost our lanes so badly the game wasn't salvageable. Our next games were versus </span><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Titan</strong><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">,</span><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Newbee</strong><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">, and</span><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> Navi </strong><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">who we defeated pretty easily. It was our first encounter with both the eastern teams and their idea of how to play against us didn't work out at all. </span><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Navi</strong><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> has always struggled against us and this game was no different.</span></div>
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<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Day 3 4-0</span></strong></h3>
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<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Best day of the group-stage by far, we felt great after this undefeated day. That being said we had next-to-no-business winning some of these games. We came out on top against</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Mouz</strong></span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">, </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Vici</strong></span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">, </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Empire</strong></span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">, and </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Navi.US</strong></span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">. The game against </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Vici</strong></span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> was pretty simple but the other 3 were a nightmare. In my honest opinion we had no business winning any of these 3 games and only won because of their inexperience. Either way we have been known to have great late-game decision making so I'm sure we did our best to make it difficult for them.</span></div>
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<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Day 4 1-1</span></strong></h3>
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<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">After a successful day 3 we only had one thing on our mind. A top 2 finish and a spot in the winner's bracket at Key Arena. Our first match was against our familiar friends </span><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">DK</strong><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> who beat us with their unorthodox </span><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Lanm </strong><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">support juggernaut. There was a bug that happened during this game that may have changed the outcome but either way </span><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">DK </strong><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">played great and definitely outclassed us this time. Our final match was against </span><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Alliance</strong><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">. If we won we were guaranteed a top 2 finish, if we lost we would have to play additional games against both </span><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">iG</strong><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> and </span><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">DK</strong><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> for the slot which is something we REALLY didn't want to have to do. Busting out our Omniknight/Enigma strat we were able to win but they certainly made it difficult. Rat Dota almost defeated us but in the end we pulled through. This game was definitely a must-watch if you happened to miss it. </span></div>
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<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Playoffs - DK</span></strong></h3>
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<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Our first match was against </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">DK </strong></span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">and we had developed two strong pocket strategies that worked wonders against them. In game one we used a strategy that we stole from </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Alliance</strong></span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> in one of our scrims. The idea was a jungle Ursa who could kill Roshan at any minute, 4 Roshans before 40 minutes was the goal. </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Alliance </strong></span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">did it a bit different using Wisp together with Ursa but we decided Enchantress + Ursa would be a better combination. We practiced this against</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> Fnatic </strong></span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">in a scrim who stole it and used it against </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Newbee</strong></span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> in the group-stage! The strategy worked rather well but I definitely should have banned Weaver with my last ban instead of Nature's Prophet. The game was much hard than we imagined it to be but we still came out on top which is the only thing that matters.</span></div>
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<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Game two was a bit more straightforward. Being on Radiant we knew we had to bring some early pressure or </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">DK </strong></span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">or they</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">would abuse late-game + Roshan like they did in our group-stage match. We started off with Razor and Furion. </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">DK </strong></span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">then saw the push coming and started picking a ton of de-push. They picked Windrunner for mid who matches up pretty well against Razor. When we saw this we decided to just put Razor in the safe-lane who does great against both Void and Timbersaw. When I saw them pick timbersaw I contemplated the idea of using Silencer as a support. Usually I play the Silencer but Zai said he was up for the task (I think it was his first official game on the hero). Originally the plan was to do dual lanes with Abbadon and Furion in the off-lane and Silencer + Razor in the safe-lane but they decided to aggressive trilane. I rotated bottom on Abbadon and they were forced to roam which did not work out. Eventually we were able to take racks by grouping as 5 and securing towers with a quick Mekanism on Furion and Silencer's Global Silence. The Silencer ultimate worked out pretty well against Void delaying the followup from his teammates during the Chrono.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<h3 align="LEFT" style="background: rgb(4, 8, 16); border-bottom-color: rgb(25, 38, 61); border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; font-family: SeravekLight; font-size: 18px; line-height: 36px; margin: 0px 0px 0in; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 10px; position: relative;">
<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Newbee</span></strong></h3>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">This was probably my least favorite part of the tournament where we forced to go into our next match instantly with nothing but a 10 minute break for the restroom. I still don't understand what Valve was thinking, why should </span><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Newbee </strong><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">have a 3 hour break when they were a lower seed then us coming into the tournament. Personally I think they should have scheduled some of the loser bracket and played the WB finals the following day. Either way</span><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">NB </strong><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">was not the same team they were during the group-stage and we played very poorly.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">That being said we definitely should have won game 1. Some unnecessary deaths allowed</span><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">NB </strong><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">to stay in the game and snowball over our towers. We almost pulled off a miracle in the late-game with some Naga Rat Dota but it wasn't enough.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Game 2 we were tilted I think and our draft was definitely not my best. I also died for FB which allowed Spectre to start with boots and a PMS which made the safe-lane impossible.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<h3 align="LEFT" style="background: rgb(4, 8, 16); border-bottom-color: rgb(25, 38, 61); border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; font-family: SeravekLight; font-size: 18px; line-height: 36px; margin: 0px 0px 0in; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 10px; position: relative;">
<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Vici Gaming</span></strong></h3>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">These games were some of the most disappointing ones of the tournament. All the games were relatively short but that’s just the way </span><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">VG </strong><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">plays, they generally win or lose in the first 10 minutes. Game one I think we suffered from our lack of hero pool and Rotk had some great bans up against us.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">By banning the razor in game two we made the laning phase a bit easier and were able to win quite quickly by fighting their pushes rather than dodging and being successful. Universe played a remarkable Void and I was able to repel their pushes with Acid Spray on the support Alchemist.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Game three is where we got into trouble. As team captain I am willing to take all of the blame. I let comments from my teammates affect our draft and strategy. When I started the game I had some good ideas in my head but as we progressed into the 2</span><sup style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">nd</span></span></sup><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> picking phase some indecision occurred. We picked Mirana when I should have known better. We did our best but there wasn't much we were able do to slow down the death ball from </span><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">VG</strong><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">. Congratulations to them they played great and definitely earned their spot in the finals.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<h1 align="LEFT" style="background: rgb(4, 8, 16); border-bottom-color: rgb(25, 38, 61); border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; font-family: SeravekLight; font-size: 26px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 52px; margin: 0px 0px 0in; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 10px; position: relative;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Moving Forward</strong></span></h1>
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<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Even though we didn't win I am still pleased with my team's performance. Personally I think came a long way this year. Placing on the podium at </span><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">TI4</strong><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> was not something I would have predicted 8 months ago but I did it. I learned what it takes to win and made plenty of mistakes along the way which will help me improve my ability to lead my team and play Dota this upcoming year.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">I earnestly want to thank everyone who supported my team and myself. This year has been one of the greatest years of my life and it wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for you.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The biggest of shoutouts to my little brother Alex, the Hunter St. guys, Monster, Razor, HyperX, T-Mobile, CyberpowerPC, BenQ, and Planetside 2.</span></div>
Peter Dagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625592810373531447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3223860619513104462.post-37984784793974140082014-07-24T21:06:00.003-07:002014-07-24T21:06:20.425-07:00Subscriber Blog #3
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Hey subs, quick update! Our boot-camp
in Germany was canceled so we are staying in Stockholm for those 7
days instead. I've been to Stockholm a couple times now and had a
great time so I am excited about that. It may be possible to set up
some sort of meet & greet if any of you are from the area, I'll
check our schedule and talk to the other guys and see if we can make
something happen.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Anyways, tomorrow I am waking up
earlier than I usually do in order to catch the first leg of my
summer trip to LA for <i><b>The Summit</b></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
The tournament is made up of 6 teams and is apparently going to have
a round robin group stage followed by your standard double
elimination style tournament. Thought it might be interesting to give
you my perspective for this tournament and my honest expectations for
not only my team but for the others as well.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Disclaimer:</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
These are biased opinions and not all of my opinions can be backed up
legitimate facts. Totally subjective so </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>CHILL
OUT!</b></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-style: normal;">1-2.
DK/EG – </span></b><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">This
should have been the finals at Starladder and I expect this to be the
final here as well. Apparently its an even bo5 so hopefully we'll get
to prove ourselves in a straight up series against the best team in
the world.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-style: normal;">3-4.
Fnatic/VG –</span></b><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Chinas in great shape I believe but VG makes a lot of silly mistakes
which is very “un-Chinese” of them and will probably cost them a
spot in the finals. Fnatic on the other hand is notoriously one of
the most inconsistent teams but they seem to always perform “pretty
well” on LANs. Their experience and unique play-style will guide
them most likely to a 3</span></span><sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">rd</span></span></sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
place finish but they could throw with some silly drafts and drop
down to 4</span></span><sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">th</span></span></sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-style: normal;">5-6.
Navi/NAR –</span></b><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Honestly we might see Fnatic down here if they are in really bad
shape, it really depends who shows up on the given day. Regardless I
think these are the two weakest teams in the tournament. NAR shows
signs of promise approaching TI4 yet they are still a new team and
their drafts seem a bit predictable. Maybe they are just saving some
stuff for LAN. Much to some of your disappoint Navi seems to be
struggling. They placed poorly at Starladder, failed to qualifiy for
Dreamleague, and the only tournaments they are playing this summer
are those they were invited to directly. Even though I'm one of the
biggest Navi fanboys out there I'm really worried about this team and
their motivation. All things aside they are still Navi and a top 2
finish is never something to rule out.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Tons of you have asked me my thoughts about this summer so I will try
and give you a short breakdown before each tournament. Might be
written through the blog or posted on the Youtube channel so stay
tuned!
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I don't mind if you share the blog with friends, more the merrier,
just remind them to subscribe when they can! Thanks for reading!</div>
Peter Dagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625592810373531447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3223860619513104462.post-61642723417202685732014-07-24T21:06:00.000-07:002014-07-24T21:06:01.225-07:00Subscriber Blog #2
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Ok guys its been two weeks already so
here's the second blog. Almost forgot about it!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
In the past two weeks EG was able to
finish strong in our qualification matches for<b> </b><i><b>The
Summit, ESL Frankfort, </b></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">and
</span></span><i><b>Dreamleague Season 1</b></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
When we started playing these leagues we were confident that we would
make it to the LAN finals so it was a big relief to qualify. Neither
the Summit or ESL qualifications were close in terms of us not
qualifying as NA had two spots for the BTS tournament and our only
competition for ESL was Liquid who we were confident in beating.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
Dreamleague qualifier was a bit more complicated. Coming into the
“Super Weekend” we were barely in the top 6 with a 6-4 score. It
seemed likely that it would come down to Navi, Fnatic, and ourselves
fighting for the 5</span></span></span><sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">th</span></span></span></sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
& 6</span></span></span><sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">th</span></span></span></sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
slot. That being said we had some of our toughest games of the league
coming up. The first day we played against Alliance and MYM which I
do not think had much of an impact on us securing a spot at LAN.
However the second day we played both Fnatic and Navi. Because Fnatic
defeated team DOG (current Mouz) we needed to win over either Fnatic
or Navi to advance. There was a million possible scenarios but we
were focused on just winning one of them. We were fortunate enough to
defeat Fnatic. Navi ended up forfeiting after a long drawn out
decision from the admins. That being said these were all Bo1's and we
had US East server for all 4 games; server Dota at its finest? We
ended the league in 3</span></span></span><sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">rd</span></span></span></sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
place somehow with a 10-4 record so we'll be playing Alliance in the
first round at Dreamhack.
</span></span></span><a href="http://wiki.teamliquid.net/dota2/DreamLeague/Season_1">http://wiki.teamliquid.net/dota2/DreamLeague/Season_1</a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br />We
also finished up our D2CL matches against Rox-Kis, VP, and MYM with a
6-0 score. We entered this tournament just for some additional
practice before summer so we are content with our 2</span></span></span><sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">nd</span></span></span></sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
place finish in groups playing all games on Lux. Luckily it turns out
the finals are going to be during our boot-camp in Europe so Lux
shouldn't stop us from winning!</span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
I know most of you are curious about our schedule for this summer and
people are constantly asking me about our boot-camp etc. Because you
were kind enough to subscribe I will give you some insider deets.
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<b>Here is our tentative schedule as of Today:</b></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>June
2nd: </b></span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Arrive
in LA for the Summit, set up with Kingston</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>June
3rd/4th:</b></span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Bootcamp with Kingston</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>June
5th-8th</b></span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">:
Summit Playdates</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>June
9th:</b></span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Zai leaves back to Sweden, Artour leaves to Vancouver for Exams,
Everyone else to San Francisco</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>June
11th:</b></span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Leave for Gothenburg</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>June
14th-17th:</b></span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Dreamhack playdates</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>June
18th:</b></span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Rest</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>June
19th:</b></span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Leave for Bootcamp in Germany</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>June
20th-27th:</b></span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Bootcamp in Germany</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>June
28th-29th:</b></span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
ESL Playdates</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>June
30th - July 5th (may change): </b></span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">More
bootcamp in Germany</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>July
6th (may change) </b></span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Leave
for Seattle</span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
As you can see we have a jam-packed summer. Unfortunately I do not
think I will be streaming during this time but I will still post
blogs and perhaps some v-logs of our travels.
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I
think I will be posting blogs more often than two weeks as well
because I often have a lot of things on my mind and writing them down
seems to help me release. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
- PPD</div>
Peter Dagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625592810373531447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3223860619513104462.post-10174072411581539232014-07-24T21:05:00.000-07:002014-07-24T21:05:01.069-07:00Blog Post #1
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
First off I want to say thanks for
subscribing. I've recently had a lot of time on my hands so I started
to stream and play NEL/MM so I decided to stream! I really appreciate
the number of viewers I have been getting after Starladder and I am
glad you enjoy my stream enough to susbcribe. I will do my best to
continue to stream regularly for you guys but do understand I am
incredibly busy.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Anyways onto the blog. What's going on
with ppd?</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />This week we have been super busy
with matches. Saturday we played for 9 hours straight and on Sunday
we played nearly 7. Luckily we were able to win all of our matches
against opponents such as Alliance, NaR, Liquid, RvG, SNA, and maybe
someone else.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Overall the drafts were pretty
standard, we've been playing around with offlane void and practicing
a TON of Io (Wisp). After losing to DK at SL we realized the
potential of this hero and I am looking forward to exploring his
capabilities.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
We just secured our trip to Germany for
ESL with a 3-1 victory over Team Liquid so we are all excited for
that. From what I've heard Germany is an amazing place and playing in
the World Cup Stadium will probably be a memory I will never forget.
In the next few weeks I believe we will be finishing up our
Dreamleague and Summit qualifiers. June will indeed be busy but we
are ready to prove ourselves on LAN after a disappointing 3<sup>rd</sup>
place at SL.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
This was kind of an introductory blog
post and I am doing this last minute after two busy days. Posts will
continue bimonthly (twice a month) so look forward to the next post!
#BLEEDBLUE</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Also I understand someone will probably
leak the blogs but o well. Exclusive first priority for my
subscribers! Also emotes will be up this week, maybe tomorrow.</div>
Peter Dagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625592810373531447noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3223860619513104462.post-82231224639503371492013-10-11T10:30:00.002-07:002013-10-11T10:43:14.857-07:00Update Blog - Dota 2<div>
Hey everyone, I've
constantly been asked what's going on so I'm going to try and explain
everything here.<br />
<br />
Over a month ago I was asked to tryout for the
soon-to-be Team Dignitas which comprised of 1437, Fogged, Inphinity, and
Korok. Trying out along with me was Bdiz the former EG support
player. As you may have or may not have seen both Bdiz and myself were
alternating games in MLG officials and were taking turns during practice
times. After nearly 3 weeks of tryouts I was told that the spot on the
team was mine.<br />
</div>
<div>
Similar to the time I was officially a part of the team
Fogged was offered a spot on Evil Geniuses after their initial 5th did
not work out. Fogged left the team which was probably the right move for
him as we were struggling having 3 support players on the same team.<br />
<br />
Then there was the WePlay tournament which did not go well. We we
forced to use a different stand-in for each day and the games did not go
well. The final day of WePlay we used Bleek and ended the day 3-1 with a
comforting 2-0 victory over EG.<br />
</div>
<div>
<div class="im">
Immediately following our first wins in
WePlay we were eager to begin practicing w/ Bleek as our 5th. After
about a week or two of solid practice we ended up taking a 3-day break.
Our first day back to scrimming we went 0-4 versus EG in scrims and I
was removed from the roster the next day.<br />
</div>
I did not play particulary well but I don't think performance
was necessarily the biggest issue. It's as simple as people weren't
willing to work hard enough to solve problems. The team isn't dedicated
and is surprisingly arrogant.<br />
</div>
<div>
Leaving Stay Free to join this team was one of the toughest
decision I have had to make in the past year (along w/ leaving HoN for
Dota 2). However before I left I talked to my teammates (Corey, Ensoe,
Tralf, Zai) and they all agreed that they would do the same in my
situation and I would be a fool to not try and take advantage of such
an opportunity.<br />
</div>
<div>
And with that I'd like to apologize to all fans of team Stay
Free. I'm sure they turned many eyes throughout the course of the MLG NA
Dota 2 League with their dominating play. Unfortunately they will not
be attending MLG Fullsail due to having two Europeans and not being able
to cover flights with the $2000 travel stipend.<br />
</div>
<div>
They gave up their spot to the Joikernaughts the day before I
was removed from Dignitas' roster and we were not able to get the spot
back. My ex-teammates were nice enough to allow me to rejoin the roster
and we will be playing in the final qualifier for MLG Columbus.<br />
</div>
<div>
I was very adamant to Dignitas about our roster being
finalized before I cut any ties w/ Stay Free so when I was cut it was
pretty devastating. I am incredibly disappointed that I will not be
attending MLG Fullsail, the showmatches in Korea, and potentially not
Dreamhack Winter. We, Stay Free, have high hopes for the MLG qualifier
and are working hard everyday to become a top tier team!<br />
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Also I'm streaming much more so check it out on my new URL twitch.tv/ppd *Thanks Dignitas for the name change*. Follow my twitter @ppdDota </div>
Peter Dagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625592810373531447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3223860619513104462.post-37609561784955108812013-09-02T13:57:00.000-07:002013-09-02T13:59:06.031-07:00Team USA Cycle 2 Hontour weekend Disaster<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Thought everyone involved in this whole debacle deserved
some sort of a response from us, so here goes nothing. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
First off I think it’s probably best that we start off with
an apology to everyone for letting them down this weekend and not being able to
complete our matches.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Secondly I think it’s fair to say that HoN’s competitive
scene will be entirely dead after HTS2 & Dreamhack Winter come to an end.
If you don’t believe that then you should probably just stop reading <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">now</b>. It’s no secret that my focus has
been switched to Dota 2, I barely pub and show up (sometimes) exclusively for
my HoNTour matches. However I have not given up on HoN. I still like HoN, it’s
a fun game and playing competitively for the past two years has been more fun
than anything else I could imagine. Most of this is just fluff before I explain
the events that occurred this weekend but I thought you might want to know
where my mindset is individually.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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Jumping to the events preceding this weekend – Immediately
after losing to team Xcet in the winners bracket I contacted our most likely
opponents of TMSR and told them of our upcoming weekend. Which included not
only HoNTour but also Big Point Battle (Stay Free was one of the invited 8
teams) as well as the NA MLG Dota 2 League Qualifiers. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">So looking at our raw
schedule:</b></div>
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<tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Saturday</div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sunday</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
12:00pm EST</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
BPB bo1 – Hontour bo3</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
BPB*if we won - *Hontour* bo3</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
1:00 pm EST</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
BPB bo1 - *hontour* cont.</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
BPB*if we won - *Hontour*cont.</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
2:00 pm EST</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
MLG bo1 - *hontour* cont.</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
MLG bo3 – *Hontour* cont</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
3:00 pm EST</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
MLG bo1 – Hontour bo3</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
MLG bo3 cont – Hontour bo3</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
4:00 pm EST</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
MLG bo1 - *hontour* cont.</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
*Hontour* cont</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
5:00 pm EST</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
MLG bo1 - *hontour* cont.</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
*Hontour* cont</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 14.35pt; mso-yfti-irow: 7; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 14.35pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
6:00 pm EST</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.35pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
MLG bo3</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.35pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What a schedule, nearly impossible right? Pretty much Big
Point Battle day 2 would have to be sacrificed but that’s ok because the odds
of us making it that far honestly weren’t that good. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">DOABLE</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After talking to both <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Handsken</b>
and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Moonmeander</b> on Monday we were
able to reschedule the first Saturday match to Friday at 1:00pm EST and the
second Saturday match to early Sunday morning at 9:00am EST.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On Wednesday the individual from JoinDota who invited us informed
me that the Big Point Battle had been rescheduled to Sunday/Monday. I told him
at first that we would try and make it work but instead decided it would be
best for us to just give our spot to another team. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>So let’s take a look at the new adjusted schedule w/o BPB:</b></div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Friday</div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Saturday</div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Sunday</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
9:00 am EST</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Hontour bo3</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
10:00 am EST</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Hontour bo3 cont</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
11:00 am EST</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Hontour bo3 cont</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
12:00 pm EST</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Hontour bo3 vs. Pew</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
1:00 pm EST</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Hontour bo3</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Hontour bo3 vs. Pew</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 16.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 16.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
2:00 pm EST</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 16.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Hontour bo3 cont</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 16.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
MLG D2 Qualifier bo1</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 16.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
MLG d2 bo3 ezwin</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 10.6pt; mso-yfti-irow: 7;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 10.6pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
3:00 pm EST</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 10.6pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Hontour bo3 cont</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 10.6pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
MLG D2 Qualifier bo1</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 10.6pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Hontour bo5 vs. SG</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.15pt; mso-yfti-irow: 8;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 13.15pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
4:00 pm EST</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.15pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.15pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
MLG D2 Qualifier bo1</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.15pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Hontour bo5 vs. SG</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 10.6pt; mso-yfti-irow: 9;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 10.6pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
5:00 pm EST</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 10.6pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 10.6pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
MLG D2 Qualifier bo1</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 10.6pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Hontour bo5 vs. SG</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.15pt; mso-yfti-irow: 10; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 13.15pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
6:00 pm EST</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.15pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.15pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
MLG D2 Qualifier bo3</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.15pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Hontour bo5 vs. SG</div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sunday looks disastrous but it does appear <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">do-able</b> based on a few things. The bo3
vs. Pew needs to end early and the MLG bo3 needs to be quick as well. We also
would probably have to use our 30 minutes of extended time before the SG bo5
and start around 3:30pm EST.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As you all know Sunday did not go as planned. So what really
did go wrong that prevented us from finishing the schedule as planned?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><b>Moonmeander</b>
was late for the agreed upon 9:00am match.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">a.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>They claimed they had a <b>Tankafett</b> ready to ring
5 minutes before the timer ran out but never once mentioned his name or that
they would need a stand-in in replace of Moon who simply overslept. With 20
seconds left on the timer they asked for 5 additional minutes to find Moon.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b>We
were forced to play TMSR at 12pm EST by a questionable admin decision by <b>Inklin</b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">a.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>In the winners bracket final of Cycle 1 our team
was 1-2 minutes late for our match and we were not allowed to re-host the lobby
because “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chessie</b> had already left to
go “house-hunting” at 10pm CET in Amsterdam”</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; mso-text-indent-alt: -9.0pt; text-indent: -1.5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span>i.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Everyone knew this was a lie as it was his last
night in Amsterdam and he wanted to go party, which is fine. We were late,
congrats.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; mso-text-indent-alt: -9.0pt; text-indent: -1.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b>We
lost the first game against TMSR (I’m going to blame the RNG 2 minute invis
rune which has ruined plenty of games over HoN’s history)</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">a.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>This made us 30 minutes late to our MLG match,
which made us 30 minutes late to our match against Team XceT</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b>We
were unable to simply forfeit<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>game 1
against Team Excellent and start down 0-1 </div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<br /></div>
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In the aftermath of all of this I had some time to think
about what we should have done. The right thing to do would be to forfeit the
HoN or Dota match and commit to one of them. But the penalty for forfeiting
HoNTour matches is just too damn costly. We did our best in a rough situation
and that’s that.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Before people say our Dota match wasn’t worth anything we
actually qualified for the MLG NA Dota 2 League if we place top 4 in, which is
likely, we will earn a spot at a LAN in Florida where we’d have a chance to
compete for 10k 1<sup>st</sup> place 5k 2<sup>nd</sup> place and a spot at MLG
Columbus against all the big name Dota teams across the world.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Anyways thanks for reading, I know it was long. Feel free to
leave comments below, avoid anything racist or homophobic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Feel free to tweet at me <a href="http://www.twitter.com/ppddota" target="_blank">@ppdDota</a>!</div>
Peter Dagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625592810373531447noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3223860619513104462.post-9212771810824113622012-07-15T09:21:00.000-07:002012-07-15T10:16:52.142-07:00Dreamhack Experiences + The Future<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
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I haven’t posted a blog in a long time, mostly due to the
amount of flame I get but if people are going to keep asking I might as well.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’d like to start by talking about Dreamhack and my
experiences before, during, and after. My
trip there was nothing but tragic, after waiting in the airport of my home city
for a delayed flight of 3 ½ hours it eventually canceled because of
thunderstorms. I was not able to leave until midday the following day which was
very demoralizing. So instead of arriving at my teammate Fajn`’s house on
Friday and getting a good night’s sleep before Dreamhack I ended up arriving at
the BYOC with no sleep around 2:00 pm CET. I never can sleep on planes, a
plague of mine = /.</div>
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Upon arriving at Dreamhack it was yet again an amazing
event, this time I attended the BYOC with my team AYYY Man which consisted of
(Nir, Chubbychris2, Fajn`, and Wille). Even though we had a very disappointing
loss to the 90s in an 80 minute match we still managed to have an amazing time.
It was incredibly fun to watch the top teams play against each other on a LAN
environment and see all the fans who love HoN and the competitive players. tdM
and fnatic had undoubtedly the most fan-base, shout-out to the Moonies. The
finals were slightly disappointed as they were a bit one-sided but it was
still fun to see my friends playing on the big stage trying to leave with that “big
check”. I wasn’t disappointed that
Fnatic won but it would have been nice to maybe see someone else win DH for a
change.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
After Dreamhack I went to Trondheim, Norway for 1 ½ weeks to
stay with a friend. Here I was able to see some of Norway. The mountains and
lakes WERE AMAZING! (Nothing like my home town in Indiana where we’re notoriously
famous for our corn fields) Everything there was so expensive, a medium pizza which would cost around $20 in the states cost me $42.00 in Norway... When the 1 1/2 weeks we're over I was definitely ready to go head back to the States. Luckily on my trip home I had
no hiccups in regards to delays or canceled flights, which was nice. I had my
dad waiting to pick me up with a cheeseburger, milkshake, and some fries. (I
know typical American, but it was sooo gooood.)</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwBZkP51eglVPZ8sO6nZVuYJEaRiP96grc6rb4Y7OHABB71Y992K5wymxpxa19mR5Wa6EPUPNaUpWR0d3PxfxysFWpIOd1M-wsToOo-79f5aywxhCnaQSpUsJ6zam0bsgF4re5EX8U3aun/s1600/037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwBZkP51eglVPZ8sO6nZVuYJEaRiP96grc6rb4Y7OHABB71Y992K5wymxpxa19mR5Wa6EPUPNaUpWR0d3PxfxysFWpIOd1M-wsToOo-79f5aywxhCnaQSpUsJ6zam0bsgF4re5EX8U3aun/s320/037.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD-AuYZ2ThuT_il_PQWHix7UVOe3JqZiogDoWECDPC7jvim2Q9ca28tN0P2l_vyWkCy9i4fXMWJhyphenhyphen1hlNuAMKvKLCMSFTBuDszmsCbUgCNdOw-wXd1gRhqkMwUus6X6QcOIMaXkbqfNctu/s1600/034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD-AuYZ2ThuT_il_PQWHix7UVOe3JqZiogDoWECDPC7jvim2Q9ca28tN0P2l_vyWkCy9i4fXMWJhyphenhyphen1hlNuAMKvKLCMSFTBuDszmsCbUgCNdOw-wXd1gRhqkMwUus6X6QcOIMaXkbqfNctu/s320/034.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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Upon arriving back home I had a few things going for me. I
was hired to work at my local gas station for a summer job to earn a little
extra spending money as well as taking a summer Sociology class at my University.
However in terms of HoN I was little lost. My teammate Chubbychris is moving to
America in the fall and couldn’t really commit to anything long term. Fajn` got
an offer at DH to join up with Insania for this rumored Dignitas sponsor, Nir
was going on vacation and wouldn’t be able to participate in upcoming
tournaments so team AYYY Man was obviously going to disband.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the middle of everything I found myself talking to none
other than the infamous Tralfamadore, one of my arch-nemesis in the HoN
community. As many of you know Tralf and I have had our differences on numerous
occasions. Starting with sGty, continuing with inhouses, and TMM, really
anywhere we could jab at each other we did. However in the months approaching
Dreamhack he seemed to really mellow out and appreciate the game for what it
is meant to be for, fun. Anyways off the rant, Tralf was looking to replace Sender and
told me I was their first choice. All I can tell you is that the personalities
of tdM didn’t work together, Sender wasn’t fitting in and that’s just how it
is. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Following that it seemed as if they were looking to replace
Zfreek as well, which to be honest I was a little surprised. I always respected
Zfreek in the jungle and could only compare him with Fly and my ex-teammate
Fajn`. I think maybe his 2-16 tempest or whatever at DH was probably the icing
on the cake but there’s a lot more to that story than I’ll ever know I’m sure. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Haxxeren is officially the 5th member of the team and Tralf will be swapping to the 2nd support/jungle role. However that is still subject to swap around as Bkid excels at certain 2nd support heroes such as Behemoth/Magmus. Hax is no doubt the best carry player out there behind Era who seems to have officially moved on to Dota 2 so we're happy to have him. </div>
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</div>
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</div>
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<br /></div>
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So here I am today, writing this blog. The Dreamhon Summer
Championships start on Friday and tdM is looking to practice harder than ever.
After dealing with some… annoying DoS issues which resulted in a forfeit loss
to TteS in the Clan Milk Tourny Finals we are more ready than ever to see where
HoN takes us.<br />
<br />
<i><b>The opinions of this blog are my own and do not reflect any of the attitudes of my teammates or sponsors. </b></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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A couple more pictures from my trip: </div>
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<br /></div>Peter Dagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625592810373531447noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3223860619513104462.post-73780633759125057012012-02-25T22:18:00.012-08:002012-02-26T11:05:13.420-08:00 Team Smart Went Crazy<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSVcZOzW73-kn0pO11m4plCneY0YPaz9r7vnfjGbg_GOv4rV3Bs-tLVK0eoHqv8TQkkp60kf6RTlHOFkibMpp0-zlKnbQXs38pvdOrcU93y6BVOLk8tfKweYuWfcfGC9RfySwTCPGLSAK_/s1600/SwC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSVcZOzW73-kn0pO11m4plCneY0YPaz9r7vnfjGbg_GOv4rV3Bs-tLVK0eoHqv8TQkkp60kf6RTlHOFkibMpp0-zlKnbQXs38pvdOrcU93y6BVOLk8tfKweYuWfcfGC9RfySwTCPGLSAK_/s640/SwC.jpg" width="640" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> Hey guys, PPD back with a long overdue blog, I have been pretty turned off to the idea of writing these but I was bored and felt slightly ambitious for some reason. As you all know Infused decided to drop HoN in order to invest all of their time and money into Dota 2. Even though we were disappointed, we understood their decision and couldn’t really blame them. This eventually led to our disband after having to use our 6<sup>th</sup> man + a ringer in the ESL finals vs. Trademark eSports. If you can’t get your main 5 to log on for a 5k euro tournament then there really isn’t much hope for future endeavors.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">What I’ve been up to lately (gaming wise):</span></b></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Playing Dota 2 in the NA Dota League</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Forming a new team under the tag of SwC/PMS</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Learning how to draft/change the metagame</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Dota 2</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">When I first loaded up Dota 2 and played my first pub matches I was disappointed as to what my great Warcraft 3 custom game experiences have become. However the more I played Dota 2 the more I adjusted to the engine, the new heroes, and items. Playing public games was and still is a rather painful experience but being able to play in the NA Dota League has allowed me to play alongside the best players the North American scene has to offer. Playing amongst big names like Snoopy, Jeyo, PIG, Bleek, and many more unmentioned. I’d like to thank Sender, Waytosexy, and Sneyking for vouching me into this league as it’s been a lot of fun when I’m not playing HoN.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">New Team</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Smart Went Crazy (SwC) </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">is the new team I am currently forming. As of now we have a solid 4 man roster including Chubbychris2, Fajn`, Semijew, and myself.The team name if you are curious is from one of my favorite bands, Atmosphere. If you've been watching me stream you have probably heard some of their music. Link to the song is here <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vV2u5RLAGOo">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vV2u5RLAGOo</a> .</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Chubbychris2</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> – Chubby has adjusted into our team’s main carry player from the ganker/tank role he played on former-INFS. Chubby is an incredibly strong player and can match up against any other top teams carry/mid player.</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fajn`</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> - I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Fajn is undoubtedly one of the best jungle players this game has currently. His tempest is pretty much auto banned every game we play and I would consider him in the league of jungle players with Zfreek and Fly. </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Semijew </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">– Semi is the heart and soul of this team, he is adamant about having good coms, keeping us positive, and having fun. Semi can play any role whether its suicide lane, carry, or even support. He’s the guy who plays the hero nobody wants to and can always be expected to do an excellent job. Overzealous at times his aggressive play style keeps all of our games active and interesting = ).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Learning How to Draft</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I’m not going to lie and say I’m a great drafter. I think I do an ok job and always give my team an opportunity to win. However through watching replays and re-evaluating our matches I have noticed many mistakes and have made note of them. My team is luckily very helpful to my decisions and it’s nice that they understand the difficulty of choosing the right heroes for the right situation. The tank meta-game is no doubt, annoying to say the least. I will do my best to change the meta-game and end this atrocious style of game play!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Summary</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> I think our team has a lot of potential. In this past week we finished 3<sup>rd</sup>/4<sup>th</sup> (no third place match) in both the Fnatic Play tourney as well as the Its Gosu Invitational. We’ve yet to break into the money but we’ve had some very strong wins over teams like LION, Its Gosu, and Jah & Friends. Fray has proven too been our nemesis defeating us 0-2 in the last 3 series we’ve played against each other. Once we solidify our 5<sup>th</sup> player (Still Searching!) and figure out the playstyle that best works for us I expect us to match up against top tier teams like Fnatic Raidcall, Frenetic Array, and HoN Portal.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Peter Dagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625592810373531447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3223860619513104462.post-88704391619532678192012-01-16T17:14:00.000-08:002012-01-16T17:18:01.441-08:00How to: Have fun while playing MOBA<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2jodzhH54mVv0rB13eHHJchfueS5izTYskyZ5W_jrqzCnxk-ZW9RpLheOqTUGdDhVLQLyG5PgaYwzL6LsNgNyAAaLF24cdU0hbRvn-mR98EQq5kSaedGWS1xCDRAusnOP3KgbYPBO_0tF/s1600/howtohavefun2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2jodzhH54mVv0rB13eHHJchfueS5izTYskyZ5W_jrqzCnxk-ZW9RpLheOqTUGdDhVLQLyG5PgaYwzL6LsNgNyAAaLF24cdU0hbRvn-mR98EQq5kSaedGWS1xCDRAusnOP3KgbYPBO_0tF/s320/howtohavefun2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Finding one’s niche in the gaming universe isn’t exactly the hardest thing to do but still some thought takes place. About two years ago I was playing World of Warcraft religiously and could only be forced to play HoN by my neighbor friend Ben; I never thought that I would be playing HoN practically every day as I currently do. </div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Back in my Warcraft 3 days, which came before WoW I played a little bit of Dota, strictly casual though. It was fun, but I preferred other games like Life of a Peasant (LOAP), and Lord of the Ring Wars (LOTRW). Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games never really interested me until I started to grow up. </div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Around the age of 18 I started to play a lot of HoN, I think it’s the competitiveness that spun my attraction. Being able to compete at an active pace for 15-60 minutes and then do it all over again in the next game with little downtime was amazing. Something I never experienced outside of WC3 ladder games.</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">However as of late I have grown increasingly frustrated playing HoN games and decided to draw up this guide to help ensure fun while playing MOBA games, no matter the title; Dota 2, League of Legends or Heroes of Newerth. </div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Here are a few guidelines to having fun when playing MOBA:</div><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">1.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>Queue in your own bracket.</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>Smurfing (playing on a lower rated account) which is becoming increasingly popular is often times a great way to dominate on your own, but the problem is that you are matched up with people of less skill. This will cause you to be frustrated at their actions as you are used to expecting a lot more from your teammates.</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">2.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>Queue with friends!</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>Not only does this decrease the issue of dealing with bad players but you also are able to communicate, build friendships, and have overall more fun than you would not queuing with friends. Also by playing with friends you can use your coordinated teamwork to help you win the match rather than dealing with new people every game.</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">3.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>Don’t take the game too seriously…</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>If you find yourself fuming, just take a deep breath and remember that it’s just a game. Countless times I have found myself being overly upset over something that in the end does not matter, a huge buzz kill to everyone’s fun is your or another person’s complaining.</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">I know I’m the biggest violator of some of these guidelines, often raging at my random teammates, and crying about things that don’t matter. That’s the main reason I took a break from HoN for a day and wrote this article. Because in the end, playing video games is about having fun and no one should ever forget that.</div>Peter Dagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625592810373531447noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3223860619513104462.post-68764837533972780112011-12-30T01:52:00.001-08:002011-12-30T19:23:05.016-08:00Balance: Casual and Competitive<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9KwuMqgp_u0/Tv51ANF-ASI/AAAAAAAAAGk/25dsMM5ue9U/s1600/balance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9KwuMqgp_u0/Tv51ANF-ASI/AAAAAAAAAGk/25dsMM5ue9U/s320/balance.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">It’s a damn shame I don’t work for $2. Admittedly I’ve never been easy on the company itself. Actually most of the people I’ve come into contact from S2 have been awesome, but enough is enough. It’s been about a month of dealing with the same bullshit every TMM game. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gemini – Monarch<br />
</b>You may argue, o Peter these heroes aren’t OP you’re just a big noob who is crying cause he lost a TMM game. For your first point, you’re entitled to an opinion as we all are, as for the second you’re absolutely right. I play this game for fun, it’s my hobby. I would rather play HoN than watch TV like a zombie, so I end up playing a lot of public matchmaking. </div><div class="MsoNormal">Maybe it’s my fault, maybe I shouldn’t expect so much from a company that fails us on a consistent basic. But let us get back to the facts, starting off with a hero we all love to hate.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gemini <br />
</b>Unfortunately all of my facts come from what I have played against or with, as I have not played the hero myself, nor will I probably ever. But honestly… a hero that doesn’t need boots? A hero that is designed so poorly that getting stats over your other abilities actually is proper? Are we dealing with a Hammerstorm here? I don’t think so. Time and time again I see this hero squatting in the middle lane waiting to hit level 6. Boom, there it is, the lane is now unwinnable, two dogs last hitting separately makes him nearly impossible to beat in lane. </div><div class="MsoNormal"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Level 6 (Fire and Ice):</b></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 1.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">370 Movement Speed (no need for boots)</b></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">5.5 Magic Armor (??????? Why?)</b></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Equal Stats to Gemini</b></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Two may recombine to from Gemini equal to the health of the lower unit</b></div><div class="MsoNormal">The idea of this hero is absolutely ridiculous (not even touching on his normal form escape), but let us keep going, my favorite hero is next!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Monarch<br />
</b>Ahh if it isn’t the familiar face Monarch, scummiest hero on Newerth. This hero angers me more than anything else $2 has cooked up, excluding possibly the 625 range on Emerald Warden. Not being an OP hero picker I have not played Monarch very much, believe I played it once or twice after a rage-game (you know what I’m talking about). <br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Crippling Pollen (lvl 1) </b></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 1.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"> -<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1.5s Silence/Immobalize + Ministun (why not)</b></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"> -<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">2s/2.5s/3s at higher levels (Basically a tundra ult jk 12s cd)</b></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"> -<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">50 Damage per second (yet another “why not”)</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> Chrysalis<br />
-4s Immobilize on allied hero</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> - 30/40/50/60% reduced damage (Similar to Glacius Freeze)</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> - 20/35/50/65 Health healed per second (Jk its better)</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> Noxious Cloud</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> -15/30/45/60 Magic damage/s </b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> -25/30/35/40% slow that </b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> -Spreads from 150 aoe to 550 aoe</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> -Lasts 5 Seconds</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">Now that we have defined the heroes abilities let’s make some generalizations. First skill is basically a 1.5s stun, so it’s like a ranged hero with a Blacksmith stun, I guess that’s not that too overpowered. However combo that with her third ability Noxious Cloud and you’re looking at a hero slowed for 3-4 seconds. Assuming they are hauling out of it while constantly getting railed with 600 range auto attacks that’s a lot of damage coming from this vicious butterfly. Don’t forget you have another brainless hero like Ra or Zephyr pounding away at you while you are trapped in Monarch’s endless disable. Just these two abilities make any lane nearly unwinnable against a combo like this. Playing against these combos just about every game I have been forced to find ways to fight effectively against it. Rampage works (just needs to auto attack); also Plague Rider helps a ton, keeping lane control and level advantage. Jereziah also is a very helpful tool to end the infinite disable.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">Now I have yet to see these heroes have that much impact on the competitive scene and frankly I am not even sure they will. Gemini I foresee as a problem as the better players begin to utilize all of his abilities and invincibility. However Monarch can be stopped, if you know it is coming. The sad thing is for the rest of the HoN community is that they will be consistently blindsided by this hero in TMM unless playing one of the banning modes. Having to forfeit your long lane to their monarch +1 is something that no one wants to do, but her power is unmatched and if you try and go against it you will most likely, unfortunately, feed. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">The saddest thing is that once these heroes do finally receive their overdue nerfs, another new hero will come out that will trump them. Because of this $2 will make lots of money from people purchasing it as an Early Access Hero and then will also make some more bank on its alt avatar. Fantastic, good for you, thanks in advance. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">Yours Truly,</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">Peterpandam</div>Peter Dagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625592810373531447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3223860619513104462.post-68351128554002337892011-12-19T14:25:00.000-08:002011-12-20T15:01:35.581-08:00Joining the Competitive Scene<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Here is the question that I am asked most often. "How does one make it into the competitive scene?" I won't lie, it is not easy. People think that it's all about sucking up to the bigger names, but it isn’t. Ask some of the top-tier players, sure it's nice to have a few fan-boys but in reality that is all they will ever be. It's like you and that girl you like, the one you do all the favors for and in return she just sticks you with how amazing her new boyfriends is = ). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">For my example I will explain how I made my way onto the competitive scene. I started playing HoN about a year ago when I was bored of playing WoW Arena. My real life friend Ben dragged me into this game as he did every game I've ever become passionate about. We played "Easy-Mode" which in terms is similar to today's casual mode but not quite as casual. Anyways after being kicked repeatedly from normal games, joining in with 99% EM did me no favors, the new matchmaking patch was being initiated. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">When the matchmaking patch came into play my friend and I took our "EM" skills into the normal mode games. What a surprise... we dominated. Straight to 1900 MMR which was relatively good for the early stages of TMM. I met good players, even got the chance to play with players I watched on Honcast, which I watched religiously at the time. I eventually snuck my way into a few inhouse games thanks to my good stats in matchmaking; many of the pro-players were playing in the IHL and were too good to TMM with the pubs. After the lack of players in IHL it eventually disintegrated, which made way for the emersion of the FRAG Inhouse League. I was vouched for this league by someone I met in TMM, bugs me that I can't remember but thank you! I was finally playing against the best of the best, the guys I watched on Honcast, the guys I wished I was as good as. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">This was during the tri-lane meta and I took a liking to heroes like Magmus and Hammerstorm. I played this role nearly every game and won. Not only did I win, but I dominated. I became a top pick when teams were being drafted on IRC, Rank 1 Frag Inhouse League Peterpandam. People were surprised and nobody knew who I was, Zaku made the joke that I was Vigoss and we all had a good laugh = D. As the league progressed I proved to be no fluke, continually winning games. I may not have proved to be the best player, but I was a winner. Somehow my team always found a way. Eventually Sneyking asked me to join his team (sGty) along with Swindlemelonzz, WaytoSexy, and China. That’s where it all started. I had a brief stint on some smaller sized teams like u5 beforehand but nothing big..</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> On a serious note getting into the HoN competitive scene is relatively difficult and here are a few reasons to note.</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> 5 Players</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">a.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Game is so dependent on every little move of every player; all 5 players must perform well in order to experience success. Because of this, building a successful team can be extremely difficult.</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Matchmaking</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">a.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">TMM has taken away many opportunities for people to Inhouse versus some of the top pro players. </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">b.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">However TMM has also allowed players the opportunity to play against the pros, as they will not often find seats in the aforementioned competitive Inhouses.</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Cliques</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">a.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Most clans are built on friendship, or at least I like to think so. It is really hard to break the barrier and find yourself in a new clique of players. Once a clique is established they will develop their own enemies and friends, share opinions, and collaborate on their thoughts.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">QOTD: What do you think the hardest challenge is when trying to join the competitive scene in any game? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Peter Dagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625592810373531447noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3223860619513104462.post-27699524975861068782011-12-10T18:59:00.000-08:002011-12-11T18:59:40.521-08:00Rosters change; HoN Continues<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjThsFqmup1qfQFo9aOThILiSPQpWBM5GI0fWFNOnkQGy1Tk4m_6IpaNO3ZXGiQ1pjfi9i4g6-1ISy-wS0T43JSQGBxj6HE8Zdpc_hFPpr8hafZ7eUFEHvio7k08fx0uAzCZEZs0_SAY8ym/s1600/rosterschange.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjThsFqmup1qfQFo9aOThILiSPQpWBM5GI0fWFNOnkQGy1Tk4m_6IpaNO3ZXGiQ1pjfi9i4g6-1ISy-wS0T43JSQGBxj6HE8Zdpc_hFPpr8hafZ7eUFEHvio7k08fx0uAzCZEZs0_SAY8ym/s320/rosterschange.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></b></div><div class="MsoNormal">With the rise of Dota 2 and the seemingly dismal future of HoN, players are looking to new horizons. However their horizon varies between many options. Many of HoNs faithful have decided instead to stay with the game they love and see what comes up next. Hontour, Dreamhack Summer, possibly even an NASL season 3 spot? Players similar to myself are looking forward to HoN’s future and are excited to see what the future holds.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Examples of players switching include (but not limited to):</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 67.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">1.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>Trixi – Msi-HoN to Mouz-Dota2</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 67.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">2.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>Xoynoznu – Infs-HoN to Dota2</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 67.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">3.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>DirgeSnoopy – Fray-HoN to Dota2</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 67.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">4.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>Loda – OK to Dota2</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 67.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">However because of transitions new players will be introduced and teams disbanding, the teams open themselves up for new players and new teams. I have yet to see any new top tier teams be formed but almost every single one has made some sort of roster change following NASL.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Roster changes include (but not limited to): </div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">1.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>Bkid – EZ to tdM</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">2.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>Msi’s unannounced new player as of now</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">3.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>N4ruto – TMM to Fray</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">4.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>Moonmeander – TMM to tdM</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">5.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>Reelo – PORT to LION</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">To sum this up I would like to announce the new Infused team that I will be participating in. After Xoynoznu left the team and Buch went to the military we had no choice but to develop a new team. Astonl will be the new leader of Infused as we welcome our new roster as follows.</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">1.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>Laurence “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Astonl</b>” Aston</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">2.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>Sebastian “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ChubbyChris2</b>” Lund</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">3.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>Jonathan “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">fajN</b>`” Rauthing</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">4.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>Emil “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">getviolator</b>” Thunberg</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">5.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>Peter ”<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Peterpandam</b>” Dager</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">6.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>Malte “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">PabloMcDad</b>” Strid</div><div class="MsoNormal">“If Chris doesn’t feed so much it’s gonna be nice.” – Malte “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">PabloMcDad</b>” Strid</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Peter Dagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625592810373531447noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3223860619513104462.post-56351113174165695632011-12-09T09:11:00.001-08:002011-12-09T09:16:56.386-08:00The S2 Meta-Game<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For those of you who do not understand what meta-game is will explain it before starting on my rant. Meta-game is basically the word used to describe what strategies are being used in the current state of the game. For example a few months ago it was trilanes every game, whereas now it is filled with a bunch of cheesy S2 heroes and dual lanes, sometimes including a jungle hero.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> What the old trilane meta provided:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1. Boring farm games</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2. Same heroes picked up every game</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3. Skilled 1v1 matchups</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4. Dominance of top tier teams </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What the new Meta provides:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1. Variety in hero selections</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2. Game based 50% on picks/lanes</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3. Annoying no skill push strats</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4. Success of lesser skilled teams</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Obviously I will not be touching on every single one of these individual points but I would like to address a few of the important ones.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the old trilane meta we saw a lot of 1v1 matchups. It was always 1v1 mid and either 1v1 in a side lane for 3v1, and 1v3. Occasionally trilanes met for some entertaining early game but end quickly once one side picked up a few kills. In this meta we saw amazing players like n0tail and scandal dominate in the 1v1 mid situation. In the current meta it is rarely ever 1v1 mid and although they are still amazing players their dominance does not shine like it used to because the game is more based on team play. Because of this top tier teams dominated because they had solo players who 9 times out of 10 won their lanes.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Although I am glad to see the variety of hero selections increasing as S2 continues to implement more and more ridiculously strong heroes I cannot help but be frustrated by the meta evolving from it. With additions of heroes like Amun’Ra, Midas, and the annoyance of existing heroes like Zephyr I find myself almost always banning these annoying heroes because of their ability to win games regardless of player skill/intelligence. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Because of this Meta you will find teams winning games against teams they have no business beating. The strategy is stupidly simple.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">- Make sure the tanky hero (Ra, Zephyr, Kraken) gets next to free farm.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">- Surround him with annoying heal heroes (DS, Nymph, Jereziah, Midas)</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">- As soon as said tanky hero farms a vanguard, begin the 4-5 man push.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As a result of this play you will find yourself at a serious gold advantage, and if the other team tries to combat you at the tower (one of the few ways to salvage the game) they will most likely lose the team fight because of your healing abilities which will progress your lead in both gold and more importantly experience. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I despise when people play like this, but in the end you play to win when it comes to tournament matches. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">PS: wtb 5<sup>th</sup> ban = /.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div></span></div>Peter Dagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625592810373531447noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3223860619513104462.post-9921778616979156062011-11-30T09:18:00.000-08:002011-11-30T09:18:37.701-08:00Video Blog ProblemsFor some reason a lot of the film that I took is in horrible quality and blurred. I am going to instead upload a slideshow with the pictures I took along with other people's photos. Will sync some music to add some entertainment value. Perhaps the song we sang drunk on the way home from the bar? Shoutout to Diva, Semijew, Fujiapples, Skyzoe, Liv, and Buch.Peter Dagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625592810373531447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3223860619513104462.post-37268251673953619312011-11-22T08:53:00.000-08:002011-11-22T08:53:44.634-08:00Video BlogHey everybody! Just wanted to let you know that I will be video blogging most of DHW and my travels. Being a US player traveling across the Atlantic for the first time I am bound to have some fun. I will be getting exclusive footage of my team, Infused, and show you the side of our team that you won't find on Honcast. I'm doing this for a school project as well so don't try and discourage me = P.<br />
<br />
<br />
I will post it after DHW is complete. Thanks for reading!Peter Dagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625592810373531447noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3223860619513104462.post-45017484329450701472011-11-12T18:56:00.001-08:002011-11-12T19:15:04.501-08:00Tell me how you really FEEL<div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><b><br />
</b></div><div class="MsoNormal">Met my old team in tmm tonight. Looking forward to a competitive game etc, GL HF’s went out and that’s when it all began. Yea we got dumpstered, I lost short lane elect to swindles pharaoh, really bad. Embarrassing to say the least but w/e. That’s all beside the point.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Upon my death the other team (tdM) queing up on their Saturday night getting ready for the big DHW tourney (SATURDAY NIGHT TMM PRACTICE GUYS B THERE). Anyways match ID is here : <b>68696511</b>. Don’t really feel like going over it all but it’s basically just swindle and tralf verbally abusing the fact that they are winning a TMM match as a clan versus me. They used this as a platform to spout any other nonsense they deemed fit. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Points of interest, in-game timer: 3:15, 12:00-14:00</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I know we have a bad history, but as I said in the NASL interview I am very happy with the way things turned out. It was a really bad situation and bad blood was bound to be spilled. I get that, I’m over it. I just wish the other guys would grow up. They may call me immature, bad-mannered, etc, w/e I don’t care. I have fun when I play HoN and that’s all it really comes down too. It’s just a game, the odds of you making a living are impossible and this game cannot be taken for anything more than a hobby after school/work.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Anyways something else I want to bring to attention, a few months ago sGty placed fourth in the Twitch TV tournament. We were forced to forfeit because they refused to continue to play with me when the admins made their ruling about the leadership of the team (all that leaderpandam business etc.) Anyways old news. With the payouts finally being distributed, our $350 going to Swindle to distribute amongst our 5 members who played in the tournament (PPD, Sender, Sneyking, Swindle, and Tralf). Unfortunately Sneyking and I have never received this money. You’d think someone who has been stolen from before would understand… (tehgosu_ situation at DYA). But nope, and after not replying to my emails I confronted him in game after my verbal abuse.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Screenshots: <a href="http://i855.photobucket.com/albums/ab115/pdog1121/SwindleGosu1.jpg">http://i855.photobucket.com/albums/ab115/pdog1121/SwindleGosu1.jpg</a><o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://i855.photobucket.com/albums/ab115/pdog1121/Swindlegosu2.jpg">http://i855.photobucket.com/albums/ab115/pdog1121/Swindlegosu2.jpg</a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>Peter Dagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625592810373531447noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3223860619513104462.post-38278331860145170392011-11-07T20:26:00.000-08:002011-11-07T20:26:07.645-08:00Correspondence Bias and HoN Griefing<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 12pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“The correspondence bias is the
tendency to draw inferences about a person's unique and enduring dispositions
from behaviors that can be entirely explained by the situations in which they
occur.” –American Psychological Association, 1995.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Translation: People tend to overestimate internal factors and
underestimate external factors. You often blame others for their faults
regardless of the situation. You think you’re better
than you really are, and that you are never, ever wrong.<br />
<br />
Being a college student, I have had the privilege of taking general education courses.
While I was sitting in my Social Psychology class today, my professor began to
ramble on about the correspondence bias. Instead of applying it to the normal
things that I am sure my classmates were thinking about, I began to think about
all the people in HoN who blame their teammates and never themselves when
things go wrong.<br />
<br />
"Elitist." "A**hole." "Ignorant f***." All
these words describe this character that we have come to know so well when
playing public matchmaking. Even I will admit to being this character from time
to time, although I have been trying to learn about that EU chill that we all
know and love. Let us take a deeper look into the four factors that make
up the aforementioned correspondence bias.<br />
<br />
1. Lack of Awareness<br />
<br />
Let’s assume that the elitist we talked about is in the middle lane and you die
in your sidelane/jungle. He has almost no clue how it happened, but because it
happened it is your fault. If we do not know why a person acts as he does, we
attribute his behavior to him and not the unique situation or environment he
finds himself in. Therefore, according to the griefing elitist, your death is
always your fault and yours alone. I'm sure the griefing elitist will let you
hear about it.<br />
<br />
2. Unrealistic Expectations<br />
<br />
Just as this elitist expects to dominate the game with his awesomely amazing
talent, he expects you to follow suit. Any performance less than that of his
will be considered inferior. Once again, you will hear about it...<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">3. Inflated Categorizations<br />
<br />
After explaining yourself to the elitist, who should now have a better
understanding of what went down, you would expect his grudge to be forgotten.
However, this is not the case due to his inflated categorizations. The
situation you find yourself in will be enough cause for him to complain. You
will begin to hear quotes such as but not limited to “It’s your fault he’s fed,
deal with it.” This is often an impossible task after getting behind.<br />
<br />
4. Incomplete Corrections<br />
<br />
The bias will continue to occur whenever there is a mismatch between the
elitist's expectations and the other player’s behavior. If the observer, the
elitist, calculates the value of either of these elements, a mismatch will
occur which will result in non-stop (for lack of a better term) b****ing.<br />
<br />
Well this was my rant for the day. I am going to try to post a blog every
Monday and Friday, or maybe whenever I feel like it. I did some amateur
broadcasting last night for the </span><a href="http://cyber-sports.net/"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Cyber
Sports Network</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> with </span><a href="http://twitter.com/#!/fourcourtjester"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Fourcourtjester</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> (the links are on my
</span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Peterpandam/199293263450082"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Facebook
page</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">). If you have any suggestions for topics you would like for me to
discuss, send me a tweet! </span><a href="http://twitter.com/#!/peterpandam"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Twitter.com/peterpandam</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">.<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">QOTD: Does being yelled at by the so-called elitist help or
hurt your in-game performance?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>Peter Dagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625592810373531447noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3223860619513104462.post-80011487672299320332011-11-03T18:52:00.000-07:002011-11-04T10:18:57.418-07:00S2 and Honcast concerning Complexity<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> For the last few days the forums have been flooded with threads surrounding Complexity dropping their team and whether or not Honcast had some sort of involvement in their decision. We all know this community sucks (derived from the nature of the game), but it’s silly that people are going to go against the one organization fighting to keep HoN’s competitive scene alive.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> It has been proven time and time again that S2 is a lack luster company that is always 4 steps behind LoL, Dota 2, etc. Reacting rather than pro-acting, a definition used to describe the difference between a 1700 player and a 1900+ player. PAINTITGOLD brought up some good points about the poor admin work done by Breaky and Phil. I cannot agree more, they have been terrible admins and in a text conversation I had with Breaky on Skype he agreed.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b>Peter “Peterpandam” Dage</b>r: well... you guys are bad admins </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b>Nick "breakycpk" Caras:</b> let me ask oyu this peter</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b>Nick "breakycpk" Caras</b>: do you thikn us being bad admins</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b>Nick "breakycpk" Caras:</b> legitimately screwed over col for the whole NASL season?</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b>Nick "breakycpk" Caras:</b> trying to get an unbiased opinion here</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b>Nick "breakycpk" Caras:</b> and well he doesn't even show anywhere close to the whole story / tells lies for his benefit</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b>Nick "breakycpk" Caras:</b> but from what you know, how would u answer that</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b>Peter “Peterpandam” Dager:</b> No.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b>Peter “Peterpandam” Dager:</b> But you were obviously too "busy" to serve as admins atleast for the first 3 weeks on NASL.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b>Peter “Peterpandam” Dager:</b> You were unable to do the job you signed up for and for that you should "man up" about.</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b>Nick "breakycpk" Caras:</b> see that is ultimately the unfortunate thing</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b>Nick "breakycpk" Caras:</b> I never did sign up to be an admin</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b>Nick "breakycpk" Caras:</b> I never wanted to be one.. but was basically forced too because of the situation</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b>Nick "breakycpk" Caras:</b> but for what was on the table, I thought IW as around and did all I could</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b>Nick "breakycpk" Caras:</b> its just unfortunate that isn't as noticable I guess</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b>Nick</b> <b>"breakycpk" Caras:</b> put it this way... If I didn't step into the role I did with being the event organizer / head admin... the NASL most likely would not have happened at all</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b>Nick "breakycpk" Caras:</b> I am not saying that is a good excuse btw, I know I wasn't the best admin and I never honestly have pretended to be... but I feel like I did a lot more than paintitgold clearly tries to portray</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> I’m not trying to throw anyone under the bus, but I do feel bad for Complexity, even Se busca, because this is a devastating turn of events for these guys. Similar to their position when I found out I had lost my spot on tdM I was crushed, everything I worked for pulled out from underneath me at the last minute. Luckily I found my new team INFS, but for the coL guys they’re unfortunately just out of luck.</span></div>Peter Dagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625592810373531447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3223860619513104462.post-89936951690610685822011-11-02T09:33:00.001-07:002011-11-02T10:20:20.120-07:00Being a “Gamer”<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Hey guys Peterpandam (PPD) here with my first blog post. I currently am a professional Heroes of Newerth player playing for Infused Tt eSports. I have been an avid competitive gamer my whole life. No matter the game, whether it was Counterstrike, WC3, World of Warcraft, Callof Duty, or currently Heroes of Newerth, I find myself competing against the best the game has to offer. It's funny to think that someone can be inherently good at video games but it seems to prove true when talking to my online friends who also exceed in these competitive environments. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When I talk to or see successful gamers they come off as intelligent people who are able to develop the ever important “game sense” with relative ease. Aside from muscle memory and the mechanics of playing a video game they seem to just understand what needs to be done to compete and outthink their opponents.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As pertains to real life, I perceive myself as a hardworking intellectual with a bad habit of gaming holding me back. This might be my ignorance making excuses for my sometimes lack luster performance on tests, but it helps me sleep at night. I spend way too much time playing video games as do most of us who are probably reading this, but I do my work, study when necessary, and like to think I have my life somewhat put together. Sometimes I make some sacrifices when it comes to appeasing my gaming addiction but it’s the little things that make us who we are and what we represent. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gamers</b>.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Today is also my 20th birthday so Happy Birthday to me = )!</span></div>Peter Dagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625592810373531447noreply@blogger.com2