May , ah, May. The last month of spring, it is the very epiphany of change. School year ends, and we open our doors to the long anticipated summer. The season of the nature blooming metamorphoses into a season of nature booming on the background of unpredictable weather, fierce thunderstorms followed by brutal all-consuming heat, refreshing showers followed by mildly sunny days.
But when it comes to Russian Brood War scene, it is so much more than that. It is time for the return of monthly PlayGround’s Brood War tourney!
With the exception of Russian golden boy,
Advokate(who placed first) last installment of PlayGround's tourney was dominated by Zergs, who occupied four places right behind A2. Coming into this month, a question had to be answered: Was this all a fluke? Or did Russian Zergs fainally gain enough power to compete with the iron fist of terrans?May tourney gathered some twenty people competing for honor and a small prize purse of ~75 USD(2000 RUR). A lot of familiar faces, which have already became regulars for this event visited this tournament, and in the end the top four ended up being the same people, arranged in different order.
Final Standings
1st/2nd.  MCA[S2] ~63 USD/2 (1700 RUR/2)1st/2nd. NotForU[S2] ~63 USD/2 (1700 RUR/2)3rd.  mYm.Advokate[S2]-~11 USD (300 RUR)4th. fake.Mamon |
The winner bracket final and the grand final were not played because
MCA and NotForu as true friends decided to share the money and the fame. However hat did not stop them from beating poor Advokate into dust, and proving that Zerg revolution is in fact in motion! After the event, the organizer,
Odd_Ulvar[S2], was kind enough to answer a couple of my questions concerning the future of Playground tournaments and Brood War in Russia as a whole.
What does Playground have in future for us? Are there any plans to expand the tournament, maybe find sponsors?
Just today we determined top 16 of all four Playground tournaments, and we plan to hold a special Masters tourney for these players in June. We also have plans to separate the tournament in two- one for pro and one for amateurs. And then host a 16-man tournament where top 8 finishers from each will battle it out. For now all this is just on the paper, but i think soon enough we will start working on this. And yes, we are currently seeking sponsors.
When it comes to ASUS, Brood War there is on a brink of extinction. The upcoming ASUS is a kind of test, to determine if it is worth to host a tournament in this discipline. Do you believe BW players can pass the test?
If enough players will come (40-50) then Brood War will become an official [sponsored] discipline. I think for such a big country as Russia, its a very doable number.
What do you see in the future of Russian Brood War scene?
It is clear that in Russia the cybersport is evolving with mind-blowing speed. Such tournaments as ASUS with its one million RUR(~37'000 USD) prize pool, a gigantic tournament area, and a lot of spectators contribute a lot to the development of e-sports. Also the opening newly found NPCL is one step further towards the level of competition similar to this in Korea. So far NPCL is hosting only Counter Strike showmatches, but they definitely plan to expand to Brood War as well.
Links
reps.ru - Brackets(flawed)
cyberfight.ru - May Reppack.
gosugamers.net - News about PG.Ru April tournament
