At one of the most exciting events of the Blizzcon weekend so far, the crowd was wowed as underdog SlayerS_MMA took the Global Starcraft II League Championship title and prize in a crushing 4-1 defeat of opponent IMMvp. If MVP had won, this would have been his fourth GSL Championship win. For first place, MMA took home the equivalent of over $42,000 US and what must have been giant feelings of pride and accomplishment.
The finals took place after the main Blizzcon events, an overwhelming thousands of roaring spectators completely filling in two of the largest stage areas at the Anaheim Convention center, as well an area at the LG booth where fans were able to view the matches in stunning 3d using LG's 2d to 3d conversion technology. Having all of these events viewable in 3d was the cherry on top of the fabulous sundae of competitive SC II this weekend.
This year is the first time in GSL history that any league match has taken place outside of Korea. Technical difficulties at the beginning held up the festivities, but time was expertly filled with banter and crowd-hyping from the legendary commentation team Tastosis.
MMA started off strong in the first match with proxy barracks and factory siege tank push/contain, following with a second win using bio play. The third win went to MVP after MMA was locked down with a contain maneuver. Game four we saw MMA come back strong after some base trading and siege tank obliteration.
The fifth game, which capped the title for MMA, was massively exciting with constant drops, tons of nukes, and relentless pressure on MVP with timed siege pushes. Followed by a round of base trading, MMA pulled a fleet of vikings out and cleaned house, taking the win. The excitement in the air was palpable, the crowds in all areas of the packed convention center chanting MMA's name during a standing ovation as he accepted the trophy and monetary prize.
We're all hoping fervently that Blizzcon in years to come will be the home of more GSL matches! With the popularity of e-sports massively on the rise, we expect to see more giant events like this growing and diving into the mainstream. For more information and statistics about the competitive world of Starcraft II, check out http://www.sc2replayed.com/
Comments
Sweet write up! I wish I was there!