HomeStory Cup IV
In all honesty, my selfish heart of a fanboy wanted all the HomeStory Cup series in this but my colleagues wouldn’t let me so we agreed – just one! And that one is HSC IV, played out a long time ago but still very vivid in our memory.
HSC IV, as all HomeStories, passed under the sign of friendly chatter, homely atmosphere, camaraderie and StarCraft. It also had MC dancing (that’s always unforgettable) and co-casting with MKP in one very indiscernible duet. Not to mention GG.net was also there, represented by our charming leader Raistlin, who shot pictures and talked to people, delivering a very special portion of unique content.
DreamHack Winter
DreamHack has always been special to European fans as it’s the biggest event at the end of the year, putting a full stop to the long ode of open tournaments throughout the year.
The avid SC2 fans that know scene’s history by hard will remember all the stories that DreamHack delivered in 2012: from the first ever home turf champion to the increasing European domination. So when the final iteration of the event came, people wondered “What would be next”.
Who would’ve suggested that it’d be one of the oldest, most golden stories of all: a champion defending his crown. HerO hailed in strong, crushed everybody, almost humiliated his teammate and opponent Taeja and became the first player to ever win two DH titles. Who said clichés can’t be good?
IEM Worlds
Like DHW, IEM Worlds marks the end of long string of tournaments under the same tag. And IEM Hannover did it in style, though all came with the cost of a long-time rivalry coming seeing its finale.
On German grounds, MC and Puma completed the circle of IEM, playing the exact same grand final match as in Cologne where IEM Season VI began. At that time, the president protoss and the predator terran were at each others’ throats, the former having lost to the latter twice already.
So what made IEM Hannover so great? Was it the fact that MC finally won against Puma in a grand final? Was it the power of his revenge which cursed the EG player to never anything anymore and erased him from the scene? Whatever the reason, the end result is there – a moment of grandeur for the boss toss.
WCS Europe
In the entire palette of WCS tournaments, nothing could possibly beat the WCS Europe, not even the grand finals and Shanghai. Not a huge surprise, seeing how the latter ended up with your usual South Korea hegemony which, at the end of the year, possessed little to no interest to the broad viewership.
On the other hand, WCS Europe was everything that the other WCS tournaments weren’t. Many countries were represented, swag covered the Stockholm Globe, brother went against brother, Grubby pushed the Grubby line a bit higher, underdogs triumphed where champions fell. A true carnival of eSports experiences.
MLG Spring Championship
No other MLG event even came close to the Spring Championship which burdened itself with the task to bring a bucketful of treats for the StarCraft 2 fans.
Three tournaments happened in that weekend, each one bigger than the latter. The United States crowned their WCS national champions. Foreigners fought tooth and nail against the Korean opposition, making deep runs but falling in the end. And last of all, the KeSPA elite presented itself in full magnificence to the foreign public, an absolute precedent since the launch of StarCraft 2.
Seeing the likes of Flash, Jaedong, Bisu and Stork and sitting amidst the thundering roars and applauds of the fans was something every attendee will never forget (trust us, we were there). Getting the chance to taste the first installment of the HotS beta was just a pleasant bonus.
IPL 4 + GSTL Season 1
IPL 4 might not have reached the stature of MLG Spring but it did give its best to deliver quality entertainment. Those who followed the competition in Vegas will remember the sensation Scarlett; Squirtle’s mind-blowing performance that even overshadowed Alive’s own championship run; and, of course, the drama that was the GSTL final where a disconnect and a remake crippled PartinG to have StarTale lose the grand finals to Prime.
This incident would later go on to cause one of the loudest “We want LAN!” community outcries for 2012.
GSL Season 2
The degree to which this year’s GSL circuit was stacked is almost unbelievable. In days when champions falling to Code A or underdogs winning championships are considered just mildly amusing stories, one veteran made a break for yet another record.
Fighting his wrist pains, Mvp started GSL S2 shakily, barely coming out of groups in which he was the underdog every single time. Once in the playoffs, IM’s ace had even more challenges waiting: he had to fight foreigners’ champion in Ro8, the best PvT-er in the world in Ro4, a resurged protoss star in the grand final and community’s disbelief throughout the entire bracket.
Like a true champion, Mvp gave approximately zero ****s and helped produce one of the best grand finals in GSL’s entire history.
GSL Season 4
The story of a royal roader has always been special for the StarCraft scene, especially since such stories do not come that often. In fact, after fifteen seasons, GSL was still awaiting its first.
It was not until 2012 Season 4 that one such royal roader would be found in the form of the 15 y/o kid-wonder Life. Compared to Flash every step of the way (an analogy every SC player should be proud of), StarTale’s youngster blazed through everybody, pinning a 14-2 score before the grand final. An astounding performance by all measures and one that would untap Life’s inner champion, putting him on a path to two more gold medals by the end of the year. Mvp’s seventh Code S grand final must also be mentioned, as the Game Genie once again defied all expectations of early exit and conquered his Nth record.
