In accordance with true StarLeague protocol, four players earned seeds, and the group selection begun!
The Seeds
Group A: Liquid`Drone
Group B: Liquid`Nazgul
Group C: Legionnaire
Group D: Waxangel
-Group Selection-
First up to the podium was our beloved Liquid`Drone, sporting a tutu and a battleaxe. He ponders over the superb list of players for a moment, then selects Rekrul.
"I chose Rekrul because I ALWAYS random Zerg versus him, and he ALWAYS loses."
Group A: Liquid`Drone > Rekrul
Next to choose was the not-so-beloved Group B seed, Liquid`Nazgul. On his way to the podium he punched out 3 audience members, and a cameraman. He then selected uhjoo.
"I picked uhjoo to show our less intelligent poll voters whats up."
Group B: Liquid`Nazgul > uhjoo
At the plate next was Australian Sensation, Legionnaire. He sealed his fate by choosing the obvious favorite for the tournament, FakeSteve[TPR].
"I pick Steve because its his first time in the StarLeague. I've seen his preliminary games and he did very well, i want to see what he's made of. Was it Reach that chose Nada's and iloveoov's cards, then chose iloveoov? Players like that are the only ones who get my respect."
Group C: Legionnaire > FakeSteve[TPR]
After a brief pause to wake him up, Waxangel took the stand, nearly breaking it under his eight hundred pounds. A small tree hung out of his mouth as he chewed thoughtfully, then selected ToKoreaWithLove.
"I was going to choose Rekrul, but Liquid`Drone did it first, backstabbing bastard! So I'll choose ToKoreaWithLove because he's the only player left that I know."
Group D: Waxangel > ToKoreaWithLove
With a high-five to Waxangel on the way, ToKoreaWithLove steps up. He quickly chooses Liquid`Meat.
"I've never seen Meat play, but I think he's good."
Group D: Waxangel > ToKoreaWithLove > Liquid`Meat
A surge of heavy metal music and screaming fangirls filled the arena as our hero FakeSteve[TPR] moonwalked up to the podium. After an electrifying guitar solo, and a series of magic tricks, he selects Bill307 to his group.
"I picked Bill because I'm the best Zerg in the universe, and he's the best Zerg killer in the tournament. We'll see what happens."
Group C: Legionnaire > FakeSteve[TPR] > Bill307
Next up was the timid korean boy, uhjoo. In a flagrant show of national pride, he selects [BoyGiRl]ShaRp.
"Korean-on-Korean violence is best. And he doesn't use hotkeys."
Group B: Liquid`Nazgul > uhjoo > [BoyGiRl]ShaRp
After tripping over Legionnaire's errant foot and landing flat on his face, Rekrul limps up to the stand. He laughs madly, then selects GroT.
"I lived with V-Gundam for two months, so I know all of GroT's strategies."
Group A: Liquid`Drone > Rekrul > GroT
Next up was the Belgian (need I say more?), GroT. He chose Klogon, and explained why in that crazy accent of his.
"I picked Klogon because his ling micro is very close to perfect, and beating a good zerg gives me the most pleasure."
Group A: Liquid`Drone > Rekrul > GroT > Klogon
Barely able to see over the podium, [BoyGirl]ShaRp prepared to make his selection. After a moment of consideration, he chose XaI)CyRiC.
"I chose CyRiC because I like his name."
Group B: Liquid`Nazgul > uhjoo > [BoyGiRl]ShaRp > XaI)CyRiC
After a break so he could yet again use the washroom, Bill307 was ready to choose. He grinned widely, and chose Manifesto7.
"I chose Manifesto7 so that us three canadians can gangrape that pathetic australian!"
Group C: Legionnaire > FakeSteve[TPR] > Bill307 > Manifesto7
Taking a break from his neverending work on this website, Liquid`Meat chose next. He chose travis with no hesitation.
"If it looks like he's winning, I'll just ban him. Then he won't be staff, and therefore is disqualified."
Group D: Waxangel > ToKoreaWithLove > Liquid`Meat > travis
Like a blue monkey humping a huge banana, travis took a break from strangling tiny birds long enough to choose another member for his group. He picked Liquid`Daaman.
"Daaman has the best TvP I've ever played against. If I'm going to lose, I might as well lose to it."
Group D: Waxangel > ToKoreaWithLove > Liquid`Meat > travis > Liquid`Daaman
The announcers asked Liquid`Daaman for his thoughts.
"My group has a lot of character in it, each of my opponents being spectacular individuals. Frankly, the whole tournament is a great mixture. It's going to be shitloads of fun! May the player with the best hairpiece win, and hopefully I can stir something up."
Like some great, beer-bellied dinosaur, Manifesto7 lumbered up the stage. He downed twelve beers in about four seconds, then chose FrozenArbiter.
"FrozenArbiter has two choices... Winning, or keeping his post count."
Group C: Legionnaire > FakeSteve[TPR] > Bill307 > Manifesto7 > FrozenArbiter
FrozenArbiter was allowed some time for comments.
"It is with the utmost sense of pride that I accept this invitation, to play with players of unmatched power such as Lord of Legion, or the legendary FakeSteve. Glad to be here, get another TLT going so i can log another million games or so under some obscure ID on europe!"
The last player to choose for Group B, XaI)Cyric took center stage. He chose the clogging Zerg, ret.
"I picked ret to help us beat the Koreans in the group, as he has experience playing with them. Plus, I think Nazgul and Twisted played each other in a prelim, and I don't think i've seen any games between ret and Nazgul. ret and Nazgul's experience will come in handy if I suspect some progamers are playing for uhjoo and sharp. You never know...[/b]
Group B: Liquid`Nazgul > uhjoo > [BoyGiRl]ShaRp > XaI)CyRiC > ret
After he promised not to devour anyone (A promise he unfortunately did not keep), ret was allowed out of his cage long enough to comment.
"I fear uhjoo, sharp, and cyric.. but I will make Nazgul my bitch."
Klogon took over the show with his chiseled good looks and boyish charm. He chose Twisted to be the last member of group A.
"I'm very happy with my group, which I think is the easiest of the four. I have confidence I will make it past the group stages. My fans have waited a long time for my appearance and I won't disappoint them. Yesterday, I just reinstalled StarCraft so I feel prepared to dish out my pain. Grot picked me with confidence over the other guys, but he'll see he made a mistake next week."
Group A: Liquid`Drone > Rekrul > GroT > Klogon > Twisted
Through much stuttering and drooling, Twisted conveyed his thoughts.
"FakeSteve is my hero. He's way better than me. I'm just glad I dodged his group."
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So the groups look like this:
A: Liquid`Drone > Rekrul > GroT > Klogon > Twisted
B: Liquid`Nazgul > uhjoo > [BoyGiRl]ShaRp] > XaI)CyRiC > ret
C: Legionnaire > FakeSteve[TPR] > Bill307 > Manifesto7 > FrozenArbiter
D: Waxangel > ToKoreaWithLove > Liquid`Meat > travis > Liquid`Daaman
The Group Stage games will be played this Sunday. Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Finals will be held each week progressively, with Liquibets and replays for each match.
Good luck to all players, but especially me!
-FakeSteve