IntoTheStarCraft

The Scarab Whisperer

2009-03-21T20:01:00.000-07:00

IntoTheRainBOw Highlights

IntoTheRainBOw is one of my favourite StarCraft players. Ever since I saw his unbelievable shuttle and reaver control I have seen nothing else in this game that entertains me more. His style is unlike that of any other protoss player in this game and it is truely unique. RainBOw is the van Gogh of StarCraft and every game is his canvas.

I hope everyone enjoys the video. I tried my best to make it a good quality video, but I am certainly no pro at movie making.

New ICCUP Season

2009-03-02T23:48:00.000-08:00

A new ICCUP season has begun.

I haven't been too active in the StarCraft scene as of late, mainly due to work, school, and the girlfriend. I'm going to try and get high up on the 1v1 ladder and I found a cool 2v2 partner from Germany that I'm doing good with. Surprisingly, I'm doing pretty OK with Terran. All the games that I was Terran we have won.

I may or may not release a rep pack after this season, as I don't think anyone cares to watch a mediocre player. I will try to have some good games, micro intensive games, my favourite.

I am also working on a small project for StarCraft, nothing too big, as well as an article for the end of the StarCraft era as StarCraft II is just over the horizon.

My Replay Pack

2008-12-09T20:35:00.000-08:00

The pack consists mostly of PvZ reps, because that is my favourite matchup so I usually have the better games in it. There is a few PvT, a couple really good ones, and only two PvP. I also added in two bonus replays of famous players playing against eachother. You'll see who they are if you download it :)

Enjoy.

Download.
My alias: IntoTheAiur, rushz0rz, [immunity]

Note: This is only for fun. I am not a pro gamer and I don't recommend you use my strategies.

Rep pack

2008-11-25T15:06:00.000-08:00

I'm going to release a rep pack pretty soon. I'm only C- iCCUP and I don't use the most up to date strategies, mainly because I don't watch pro SC as much anymore. They might be of some use to some people anyway, or just fun to watch.

IntoTheRainbow is back!

2008-11-02T13:24:00.000-08:00

I didn't even notice, but IntoTheRainbow has played a few televised series in GOMTV Season 2. For his televised games, he beat Notice 2-1 and AzAng 2-1, both of whom are newcomers. Rainbow had some inspiring moments with his micro, moments that made you actually scream with excitement and shock. They were some exciting games, and he shows off his amazing Reaver micro once again. Unfortunately, his comeback was shutdown by GGPlay, both of which were quite unimpressive, and I felt bad for IntoTheRainbow.

All of his games can be found here.

Best games:
Notice vs. IntoTheRainbow on Andromeda (Game 2)
AzAng vs. IntoTheRainbow on Medusa (Game 1)
AzAng vs. IntoTheRainbow on Chupung-Ryeong (Game 2)
AzAng vs. IntoTheRainbow on Destination (Game 3)

BlizzCon 2008

2008-10-13T16:15:00.000-07:00

I've been very inactive! Sorry guys, but I don't even think anyone reads my blog so whatever. I've been very busy with school and I got a job.

Anyways.

BlizzCon sounded like it was awesome. I've seen the videos and read a few articles. I wish I went, I really do, I would have got to meet all the Teamliquidians and various other people from different fansites. The only thing that has upset me is the apparent imbalance with Zerg- they seem totally weak and the videos I saw gave me no sign of a horde of Zerg units that would devour anything in their path.

The decision to make StarCraft II a trilogy also upset me. It just seems like Blizzard is doing what Activision wants, and working only for the money. I don't doubt that StarCraft II will be any less awesome, but one full game would have been enough. I don't even play single player, so this won't actually affect me- I guess it doesn't matter to me, as long as I get to on multiplayer and pwn noobs.

Check out Yellow vs. Sonkie*:

Game 1
Part 1:

Part 2:

Game 2
Part 1:

Part 2:

Sonkie: A WarCraft III pro gamer from the USA.

Sea doesn't approve of MBS!

2008-09-01T05:13:00.000-07:00

We've got a progamer on our sides, fellas.

lilsusie:
multiple building selection 은어떻에생각해?
What do you think of MBS?

Sea[Shield]:
팀리퀴드에서 반대한다고 들었는데. 건물에서 유닛 한번에 찍히는거 말하는거아니에여?
I heard that TL is against this. You’re talking about how from each building, the units can be selected all at once?

lilsusie:
엉
Yeah.

Sea[Shield]:
저도반대에요. 그거 너무 안좋은듯 ㅡㅡ;; 팀리퀴드에서 건의해야되요 ㅋㅋ 미네랄도 5로됬어여 8로 바꾸게~~
I’m against that too. I don’t think it’s good at all. TL needs to petition that. Keke. Also to change the mineral count from 5 back to 8.

Rest of interview here.

Sea[Shield] is awesome, interview was great.

Blizzard makes deal with AMD

2008-08-13T12:31:00.000-07:00

"The semiconductor company also said today that it has entered into a partnership with Blizzard Entertainment, purveyor of arguably the most popular PC game in the world, World of Warcraft. As part of the development-partnership deal, AMD will also begin bundling unspecified Blizzard Entertainment games with all ATI Radeon graphics cards."

Rest of the article.

This also probably means we will see those cinematic ads when you start up a game: "Works Best with AMD Graphics Card!" All I know is after this deal I'm probably going to put a Radeon card into my new PC.

Community Event!

2008-08-05T17:19:00.000-07:00

Karune made a post on the battle.net forums today about some kind of upcoming community event in which we all judge the in-game models.

"We have a planned community event around the Dark Templar in which we hope to get much feedback about the models in-game of these units. More info will be available as we approach closer to BlizzCon." - Karune

I wonder what it could be. We will find out closer to BlizzCon, which I am probably going to!

Esports News Article in Australian News

2008-08-03T10:05:00.000-07:00

"In fact, competition has never been stronger. In the world of video games, electronic sports, or "eSports" are on the rise, and have been for years. Numerous organisations are attempting to push competitive video game play through to the mass market, but they face an uphill battle."

Rest of the article

It's always great to see esports in the mainstream news. StarCraft 2 is really going to help esports grow in the west, and Blizzard is going to be riding shotgun on this goldmine. The only tragedy is that the west is becoming more accustomed to console games; Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 are now gaining popularity and esports have already started to take off. Hopefully Blizzard can shift all these gamers back the PC with StarCraft 2.

Legionnaire's Advice to Beginners

2008-08-03T02:37:00.001-07:00

Legionnaire's alive and well, and even posted at Teamliquid.net in a thread of a beginner asking for help; how nice of him.

Anyways, some of his good advice includes:

"1 - Load up a replay of yourself. Click on the nexus/CC (harder with Z - but click on hatchery and watch the larvae / minerals) and just watch the probe production. The nexus should never stop building. It should always have 1 queued. Particularly early -mid game. If you need to ask 'when do i stop building them' you aren't at the stage in skill to EVER stop!

2 - Hotkey buildings. more improtantly, hotkey Production buildings. and learn the unit production keys.

3 - Watch your mineral count. If it gets high, utilize step 1 and 2!

4 - Scout. i always scouted late, but i pretty much knew what most ppl would do. You do not. You must scout. Scouting provides information, and information provides counters to builds. So many people build canons, or build things just for the sake of doing it. Why waste lots of money building something you dont need? When you can build something you do need!
For beginners, just learn the 2-3 most common strats that your opponsition race uses. And scout for it. If you see 1 fact or 2, your basic build should switch over to a better counter. etc. The counter doesn't need to be 'huge' it just needs to take advantage of what you've learnt. If you see a 2nd upgrade going at a fact, you can expect vulture/mines soon! Get goons! etc etc

5 - When you get an advantage, expand.

6 - Learn early game builds. Late game doesn't matter, early game is where it counts. This used to mean a lot more until everyone became replay whores, but the point still stands.

7 - Macro well. this is all hotkeys, mineral expenditure, and expanding." -

- Legionnaire

This is actually first class advice, from one of the best foreigners of the game. The rest of his advice can be found here. Some of it actually helped me, especially since I'm just returning after a four month break.

Happy gaming, guys.

One of the Last Great Games

2008-08-02T22:47:00.000-07:00

sAviOr[gm] vs. IntoTheRainBOw on Peaks of Baekdu

Quite possibly one of my favourite PvZ games of all time. Brilliantly played by both players; RainBOw putting up a superb fight against the Maestro, sAviOr, at the height of his dominance. RainBOw shows off his fancy micro with reavers and high templars, obliterating the Maestro's everlasting stream of units. The game bounces back and forth and it is hard to tell who is going to win throughout the game.

Hanbit pulls sponsor for the Stars; ItemMania jumps to the rescue

2008-07-31T17:01:00.001-07:00

I was considerably worried when Hanbit announced they were pulling the sponsor, especially since the Hanbit Stars are my favorite team, and Free is my favourite player. But, ItemMania has decided to pick up the team. ItemMania is a gaming-related company that deals with MMORPG transactions.

A new team name may be announced soon or they will just keep their old name- Stars.

RIP Hanbit Stars. Welcome ItemMania Stars (?).

UPDATE: KeSPA has rejected Item mania as a sponsor. KeSPA said they can take over the team until the new proleague season and if they do not find a sponsor the team will dissolve. Bad news for the head coach, since there is no team for him to go to.

Full article.

BlizzCon on DirectTV

2008-07-30T13:23:00.000-07:00

That's right. BlizzCon will be broadcast live on DirectTV. BlizzCon is being held in Anaheim, at the Anaheim Convection Center on October 11th and 12th. It is a special pay-per-view event and will need to be ordered- it's not free. More information here.

Now, remember in one of my earlier posts I wrote:

"Blizzard had mentioned there may be a deal forthcoming regarding broadcasting their games on television in North America"

This quote was taken from an old Gamespy article just after StarCraft 2 was announced. It has come true so it seems. Could this be exactly what they were talking about or do they have bigger and better plans with this as a test? Time will tell.

Gameplay Videos and Mar Sara

2008-07-25T14:31:00.000-07:00

Zerg (FP) vs. Protoss

These guys aren't exactly candidates for SK Telecom but the videos showcase gameplay like no other and without the constant shakiness of the camera. The Zerg interface is reminiscent to the old interface and it looks fantastic in its new graphics engine. As I observed the beautiful graphics and interface, noting the new models and units, I saw something very odd... barely ever witnessed in the ten years before... it was... THE QUEEN! Yes the Queen is being used and it is a low tier unit and walking instead of flying! It also built some static defenses, which fended off the Zealot attackers. Other than that, the Zerg player didn't really want to leave his base and was.. well... absent from the game.

Protoss (FP) vs. Zerg

Ah, we get to see the mighty Protoss played in first person. Again the interface looks the same as in StarCraft but in the new 3D engine and looking great of course. The Protoss player opts for a two gateway rush, pumping zealots and rallying them to the Zerg base (something Zergs saw a lot of on iccup, am I right?). The Zerg never stood a chance against the omnipotent Protoss forces; should have learned his place on iccup.

Also, StarCraft2.com was updated with a new planet: Mar Sara.

The Naked Macromanagement

2008-07-15T17:08:00.001-07:00

The macro aspect of StarCraft 2 is quite a mystery to us players who remain on the sidelines, hearing of these glorious stories of fans playing the demo at BlizzCon and WWI. The introduction of MBS (Multiple Building Selection) brought on a mass uproar of dislike from the fans and Blizzard seems to be at a loss of what exactly to do about it. MBS is a feature that allows you to select all of your gateways, barracks, hatcheries, or whatever you have that builds units and build from all of them at once. That means that even Killer56720 can have macro skills like the Monster Terran, iloveoov.

The argument for MBS is that StarCraft shouldn't be a click fest, and winning a game shouldn't be based on who can click faster. I disagree, obviously, mainly because it is a skill; being able to keep up your economy and production whilst microing your units is a very difficult thing to do, or even to achieve understanding of and how to execute properly. Without the constant going back and forth between your base and units the game could get stale. Even after 10 years on StarCraft, about every year a new player with incredible macro skills comes to the scene and blows everybody away. Macro is something that can take years to master, or even improve, which gives gamers a long lasting task.

After much debate on whether MBS should stay or go, Blizzard decided to add a new feature. This was new to the build and only at World Wide Invitational and it is subject to change at any time. Vespene geysers (Assimilator/Extractor/Refinery) now have the ability to double the amount of workers who are mining gas to increase gas intake, which is supposed to divert more focus into macro. This feature is under much debate and could be taken out within the next build of the game or event.

In my opinion, Blizzard seems to be really lost at what to do, and is just trying to find a way to improve focus on macro after MBS took so much out. I think it's a really bad idea. I remember reading about Testie (Canadian SC player) trying to explain to Dustin Browder about how MBS takes out so much macro in the game and he just didn't understand. I don't blame him of course, such understanding might take years of experience in playing StarCraft at a high level. Macro should be more fluent within the game, not a feature that you add to substitute for the lack of but to the developers, adding MBS would give us more free time to micro units, which isn't exactly what we, the players, want.

Just look at WarCraft 3, in many opinions, and even in some pro-gamers opinions, the game is micro intensive and doesn't need much focus on macro. This game wasn't as successful as StarCraft in the e-sports department. But there are many other factors to why the game failed where StarCraft flourished, not just purely because there was less need for attention to your macro and economy.

In my opinion, StarCraft 2 would be better off without MBS and these bizarre substitutions for macromanagment. Of course, I am no game developer, especially on the level of Blizzard, so my expertise is extremely limited.

ZERG RUSH KEKE

2008-07-14T15:18:00.000-07:00

In my absence, the Zerg have been announced... obviously, we all knew it was coming.

They look kinda... swarmish, which is exactly what he Zerg is all about. I love to see that the Hydralisk is back and it looks beautiful in the new 3D engine. Not quite sure what the flying creatures are doing to the Battlecruisers, disabling it or mindcontrolling it or whatever, but they look fascinating.

Also, we have here, Bisu (P) vs. sAviOr (Z) on StarCraft 2:

Ah, the Zerg swarm controlled by the Fuhrer, Ma Jae Yoon, unfortunately isn't enough to stop the Revolutionist, Kim Taek Yong.

Diablo III Unveiled!

2008-07-14T15:14:00.000-07:00

Another installment to the Diablo franchise is upon us.

Check it out!
www.diablo.com

"And the heavens...
....shall tremble"

Reaver is out!

2007-08-06T04:55:00.000-07:00

I know nothing is final, and that units are taken out and put in weekly, and without the Reaver StarCraft could possibly lose some of its flare. I know that not all of the original units will not make it into the sequel; but the Reaver is so special, it probably is my favorite unit and watching it in action was thrilling. The Colossus has taken its job though, as a dominator of splash damage, killing small units quickly and effectively. Having two units for one job is kind of a waste, and unnecessary, especially when there is only a limited number of units that can go into the game without having some serious balance issues.

The Reaver is hands down the most entertaining unit to watch. Whenever I watch pro games I almost pray for the Protoss player to do some Reaver harassment. When they do, I watch avidly and become very excited as it's beautiful sight to see the Reaver release a scarab into a group of unknowing SCV's and watch as 5 or 8 of them explode.

Some players in the history of StarCraft e-sports have used the Reaver in almost mythical ways, using it to truly destroy the opponent's economy and claiming victory. Most have used it in a guerilla warfare sense, unloading the Reaver onto mineral lines and watching as it unleashes total destruction onto unsuspecting mineral gartherers, effectively wiping out any cash flow. The devastation of the Reaver is fierce, on the front lines and as a guerilla warfare tool. Players like IntoTheRainBOw have created whole strategies based on this unit alone, using it in a beautiful fashion.

Of course, when posting videos of Reaver harass, one cannot truly leave out IntoTheRainBOw, for he is the true father of the Reaver unit

The is an assortment of players, Nal_rA, Kingdom, Pusan and IntoTheRainBOw

Lack of Activity

2007-07-19T12:13:00.000-07:00

I've been quite inactive and not posting information or articles, but tomorrow will be the end of my schooling so I will be writing a few articles up that should interest anyone that reads this. Particularly the Guillaume Patry era of dominance, Boxer's rise to super stardom, and even thoughts and speculations on StarCraft II. Hopefully anyone that does read this blog comes back, since I will probably have an article every 2-3 days posted up. Heck, anyone can even submit some type of article that regards StarCraft, StarCraft II or the e-Sport's scene surrounding them.

2007-07-12T12:27:00.000-07:00

StarCraft 2 producer Rob Pardo gave a short interview at E3, which was on a live feed. I chatted with a bunch of people on mIRC and the channel was quite crazy before it went on. As soon as we realized that no new information or gameplay demo was going to be shown, it went quiet and people were mad saying this was a waste of time. It was basically a recap of information thats been released since WWI.

The good news is that a bunch of screenshots were released and IGN even has a tad bit of new information.

"Micromanagement has been made a little easier for these guys as their Interceptors can be auto-built with a right click. This is in contrast to the Reavers and Carriers from the first game, whose Scarabs and Interceptors had to be built with a click for every one."

As a veteran of StarCraft, I can see myself keeping the auto-cast off. I am so used to building scarabs and Interceptors manually. After all those reaver drops, it's safe to say that I never forget and I'm faster than auto-cast.

"Finally there's the Twilight Archon, which can be constructed by fusing together two High Templar, two Dark Templar, or one of each flavor."

I am completely against this. It can be molded from 2 Dark Templars? But what happened to the Dark Archon with Maelstrom and Mind Control? Now there will be no fun counter to Carriers (Tempests -_-;;) in StarCraft 2. I'm sure Kingdom will be very unpleased about this.

There is also new screenshots from IGN, which is 1 - 13.

Dustin Browder has also started posting on Battle.net StarCraft forums under the alias Cavez. His first post was his introduction and his second post was a short Q&A about comments and concerns of the community. He went on to state that they actually read the posts from communities and see what people like and don't like.

Those Funky Shields on Marines

2007-07-06T21:00:00.000-07:00

-----StarCraft II Q&A Batch 5-----

1) Will you be increasing the max players beyond 8?

We are exploring this possibility, though currently it is defaulted to 8 max players.

8 player FFA or race wars quite fun. Imagine if they implemented a max of 12, or even 16. Just imagine those FFA's or race wars.

2) If you have multiple casters selected when you cast a spell, will they all cast it or only one? (ex. will 8 ghosts all use lockdown on a unit or only one?)

Currently, unit abilities are set as smart casting, meaning when you have a group of casters selected, each time you wish to cast a spell, you will either have to click the icon or press the hot key and follow it with a click on the designated place on the map for it to cast. This will obviously prevent locking down a single unit with more than one ghost, though we are also still exploring possibilities to have different methods of casting for casters in which players would want to have multiple casts executed in a single command.

Great! But I believe Boxer developed his own smart casting.
Reference

3) Will building placement still be grid based?

Building placement will be grid based.

Brilliant piece of information. I can finally sleep at night without worrying whether building placement will be grid based or not.

4) What races will be playable at BlizzCon?

This will be revealed at BlizzCon! See ya there!

I think it's only Protoss. Unless Blizzard releases new information on Zerg and Terran before they open up the demo stations.

5) Why do marines have shields now?

The shields seen on marines in screenshots and videos are an upgrade that can be purchased through research, increasing the marines' overall hit points.

This could mean that Marines will have a more significant role in TvP other than a Marine rush. Who knows though.

Airforce ACE vs. CJ Entus

2007-07-03T14:11:00.000-07:00

The last time these two teams met, it ended 3-2 in favor of CJ Entus. Of course CJ Entus needed the win a lot more than ACE, but a winning ACE is always great to see. CJ has a great line-up, Iris, Savior, TheMania, and Xellos, so ACE had to bring their A-game.

Airforce ACE > CJ Entus
fOru (P) > DarkElf (T) on Python
Boxer (T) < Much[gm] (P) on Nemesis
HOT-Forever (Z)/Rage(P) > Savior (Z)/Nbs[gm] (P) on Chariots of Fire
Clon (Z) < Iris[gm] on Shin Peaks of Baekdu
Rage (P) > DarkElf (T) on Monty Hall

It was a final score of 3-2 in favor of ACE. It was a pretty back and forth match overall. ACE takes one, then CJ, all the way until the ACE match. fOru played a great game and was pushed back into his base until he took advantage of DarkElf's lack of detection with some nasty Dark Templars. HOT-Forever and Rage played an amazing game where they eliminated Savior quickly and simply, and easily steamrolled Nbs[gm]. Clon tried an early Guardian rush, but couldn't do any real hurtful damage to Iris[gm], and eventually Iris[gm] just waltz into his base with Marines and Medics. It was shocking seeing Rage being put up to the ACE match, especially since he is 0-3 in 1v1 statistics. But he played a great game and Rage never let DarkElf get ahead. Eventually, Rage got into DarkElf's main and destroyed all his factories while DarkElf was pushing his base, but reinforcing troops put an end to whatever DarkElf tried to do.

Boxer also won the Proleague Monthly MVP.

Airforce's ACE next match is on Saturday at 10:30pm.

IntoTheRainbow: The Reaver Hero

2007-07-02T17:54:00.000-07:00

The Reaver drop, quite possibly the most famous Protoss strategy used against Terran. This strategy has been around since the beginning of competitive play in StarCraft. It quickly became one of the most used strategies for the Protoss to use against Terran, and even Zerg. It was a great manuever, a quick in and out, guerilla style used to kill mass SCV's and get yourself ahead in terms of macro. Some players could create miracles with the Reaver and Shuttle alone. Players like IntoTheRainbow quickly fell in love with this strategy, using this strategy almost every game.

Kim Sung Jae, aka IntoTheRainbow is known best for his amazing Shuttle and Reaver control. He drove fear into the hearts of Terran players everywhere. A simple drop of the Reaver meant destruction to any economy in the hands of Rainbow. Kim Sung Jae won games with the Shuttle and Reaver alone. He was dangerous with any high tech unit, especially the High Templar and Dark Templar. His storm drops against GoodFriend, like quick and steady jabs, were pure genius and examples of some of the best High Templar control the audience has ever seen. His clever repertoire with his trademark unit, the Reaver, gained him the title of 2006 Korea E-Sports Award for Best Display of Talent & Skill.

One commentator stated, "It seems that the reaver, when conjured up by Protoss users, only listens to Rainbow perfectly. He is its true owner."

Though recently, Rainbow has slipped off the radars into the forgotten abyss of old school pro gamers. He failed to qualify for the last two MSL's and last two OSL's. Rainbow's only win in Proleague was in a 2v2, and his record in 1v1 is 0-2. He doesn't play often either, but when Rainbow does play, he has quite the crowd and always has the biggest banners.

IntoTheRainbow vs. GoodFriend @ CYON MSL

IntoTheRainbow Highlights

Airforce ACE vs. MBCgame

2007-06-29T23:22:00.000-07:00

Quite the matchup. Airforce ACE is in dead last and MBCgame is in fourth. MBCgame needed the win more than ACE, because in all reality, there is no hope for ACE even coming close to making a comeback to the top this late in the league. MBCgame just dominated in every game.

Air Force ACE < MBCgame
BoxeR (T) < Light[aLive] (T)
Rage (P) < PuSan (P)
fOru (P)/Clon (Z) < n.Die_Jaehoon (P)/TheZerg[HyO] (Z)

Boxer looked to have a good start, delayed Light's expo, but fell behind in terms of macro. The second game was quite pitiful to watch as Rage tried to cheese, but failed. Then he tried to proxy DT rush, but the DT's did some damage, destroyed an assimilator and gateway, but fell behind in terms of macro and PuSan steamrolled over him. fOru and Clon played a great 2v2 against Samsung, but just couldn't get in sync for this match.