The compLexity Academy is proud to announce its sixth tournament. Established to determine which one player from the Academy will receive an all expenses paid trip to go play at the MLG Summer Championship in Raleigh, North Carolina on August 24th, the tournament will be held on Monday July 23rd at 7:00 PM EST. The format of this tournament is standard double elimination and will feature a best of 3 for each match.

Brackets

http://challonge.com/mlgsummerqual

Congratulations to our winner: Fuzzy

Starting Map

The starting map will be determined by veto’s, the lower Seed veto’s first, then the higher seed. This will continue until there is one map left, this will be the starting map. After the first map, all maps become playable again. The winning player gets to veto one map and the losing player gets to pick from the remaining pool. No map can be played twice.

Map Pool 

MLG Antiga Shipyard
MLG Daybreak
MLG Entombed Valley
MLG Metalopolis
MLG Shakuras Plateau
MLG Tal’Darim Altar
MLG Cloud Kingdom

Commentary for the Academy tournament will be provide by our new coL.Academy casters David and Shawn from the Stoic Series. View the tournament LIVE on our Twitch.tv stream by clicking here.

For the fifth part of our “Meet The Academy” series, Academy commissioner Michael “Twixz” Shane sat down with Sean ‘vGEroSennin’ Gough. Being one of our newest members, we wanted to give Sean the chance get his name out in the community and let people get to know one of our rising stars.

Let’s start off with a little introduction about you, your background, and interests?

My name is Sean ‘vGEroSennin’ Gough, I’ve been playing StarCraft off and on since 1999. As I said previously in my blog A Little Bit About Me I started playing Brood War in 2001, beating my first Korean Progamer in 2003. Took a few breaks in between, and wound up finishing in two final four qualifiers for WCG 2010 with games off of Machine, Sheth, Slog, LastShadow, among others in the various qualifiers that I played in.

As for non-StarCraft related events, because of my teacher deciding to give me a ‘C-’ in a physics class for a final grade even though it shows as a ‘C’ online, I’ve had to retake the course in a span of six weeks this summer. After that I will receive my diploma with a BA in Athletic Training. I’ve already passed my national exams back in April, so once that is squared away I will have my license. For those of you who are unaware of the duties an Athletic Trainer performs, we do preventative taping; we provide acute care for athletes on the field, specializing in orthopedic injuries, muscle strains, ligament sprains, and all that fun stuff. We also participate in rehabbing the athlete to help get him or her back on the field as quick as possible.

I’m a pitching coach and instructor; I also play amateur Baseball, so those, combined with gaming, are my interests.

How long have you been into professional gaming? What other games have you played before SC2?

As I spoke about briefly in the previous question, I’ve been around the BW scene since 2001, with a couple year break from late 03 – late 05. Before StarCraft 2 came out it was all SC1. Sure I’d play around a bit with DOA4 for the 360 or Madden, but it was pretty much all SC1.

What have been some of you favorite moments with SC2?

I’m not sure I have many favorite moments, but I’ll mention a couple that stick out in my head.

I started playing SC2 in October 2010, and the second day my friend added Combat into our Skype chat and we played a 1v1 PvP on Lost Temple. I won, and he was ranked ~100 in the world at the time I believe.

To continue on that, about a month and a half later I beat RootCatz PvZ on Scrap Station in a tournament, which I thought, was cool because I had beaten a few people on teams before that point, but I was aware that Root wasn’t some no-named team, so I thought it was nifty, considering I still wasn’t taking the game that seriously. Not until after I got into compLexity Academy did I decide to start putting forth some effort into the game.

In the Spring of 2011 I won a chance to go to MLG Columbus 2011. It wasn’t all expense paid trip, just, competitor pass was paid for.

My first opponent reaches over shakes my hand, and goes, “Oh my God, I know you from Brood War.” I thought that was pretty cool.

Who are some of the SC2 players you follow closely/ take interest in?

To be honest? No one. I’ll keep an eye out for a well-known Protoss player, like a Sase or Bling, and if they’re playing in a MLG or something I might give a look or might download their replays from a Red Bull LAN. I’ll see how a coL member or a former teammate of mine is doing in a tournament, but other than that? I really don’t follow anybody closely.

There is a MLG qualifier coming up for the academy, how do you think you will fair? Who do you think will be your biggest competition?

I’m hoping to win it. I was hoping to win the last one but I wound up taking 3rd, so this time I better win it. As for the biggest competition, I’d say it’d be anyone who plays Zerg.

You recently beat qxc in the academy vs qxc showmatch. How did it feel to take a game off of him and get a win for the Academy?

It was nice to take a game off of him; he’s a really solid player who will capitalize on any mistake he sees in your play. It felt nice to step up for the Academy and potentially set the pace for a comeback. Most importantly, I just wanted 25 bucks, and there was no way for me to get my money unless I took a game off of him.

Any final words, shoutouts etc?

I would love to. I want to give props to Brood War, which is the greatest RTS ever and is the sole reason all of this is possible. I pray that nobody ever forgets that.

I want to thank compLexity for being amazing so far. From someone who literally spent 8 months out of a year training for 10 qualifiers in 09 and 2010 for Brood War, to have the scene grow as it is now and to have the opportunity to go to events like MLG, it’s still a shock. So, again, thank you for the opportunities.

Also I want to give a shoutout to Kyle ‘LRM)Semih’ Himes who is a fantastic gamer and a so-so friend :). Everybody should be pestering this man to start playing SC2 because he is one of the best foreigners to play Brood War. Any team that is lucky enough to take a chance on.

Today, Nick “Fuzzy” Degtiarev from the compLexity Academy will be playing in the WCS Nationals looking to represent Canada. He’s got a hard bracket ahead of him with players like Atttero, Firezerg, Huk, and Ostojiy in the mix. That said, Fuzzy is a great player capable of upsetting any of the established names in StarCraft II. Recently I had the chance to sit down with Fuzzy and get his thoughts on the tournament.

Well, first off allow me to congratulate you on qualifying for the WCS Canadian Nationals. Could you tell us a bit about the qualification process?

Well I qualified through I believe the 2nd or 3rd online qualifier for WCS and I beat Tubbythefat in the finals (he took out coLRyze in semis and I believe and beat Huk out of a MLG invite only online qualifier). On the day of the tournament though I had a horrible sleeping problem where I only had about 4 hours of sleep for the last 2 days and was extremely sick as well, so I thought I wouldn’t get far in the qualifiers that day but i ended up not dropping a single game. ^_^

Now that you’ve qualified for the Nationals and had a chance to look at the bracket, how do you think the tournament will go? Who would you say is your biggest competition?

I looked at my bracket and I predict that I should be  able to get through the first day.  I have to play a RL friend in round 1 so I’m pretty confident that I will take that game and I have been doing a lot of TvZ lately so I doubt I will lose round 2 (expecting Drewbie to make it out of r1).  In round 3 I will face Atttero or Firezerg and I’m confident that I can beat either one of them. I beat firezerg out of the last coL Academy MLG tournament and I was on Atteros team for a month prior to joining The Academy so I know his playstyle well and can metagame him.  My biggest concern is who I would play in Round 4 because I would have to play Huk or Ostojiy who are favored to win the whole entire tournament.

What is your main motivation for this tournament? Are you focused on the prize money or are you more interested in representing your country on the world’s stage?

My main motivation as of right now is to get a good fanbase behind me so that when I start streaming I will have a decent number of people already following me.  I also want to qualify for the finals so that I can attend summer MLG with a full expenses paid trip.  Prize money would be cool too :3 moneys never bad to have!

How have you been preparing for the WCS Nationals? What is the average training day for Fuzzy look like?

I have been doing 8-12 hours per day of StarCraft spread across a number of accounts on EU and NA servers (massing ladder), as well as custom games vs players like coLRyze and coLTrimaster.  Aside from that I watch all the GSL ZvX matches to stay fresh with new metagame and change my playstyle to whatever is more current.

Thank you for taking the time to talk with me. Are there any shoutouts or words for your fans before we finish up?

I don’t think I have any fans but if you’re interested in following me my twitter is https://twitter.com/FuzzySc2

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Again I want to thank Fuzzy for taking the time to answer my question. Please keep an eye out for him today as he takes on the best players from Canada in the WCS Nationals.

Today, Gage “Sasquatch” Dubose from the compLexity Academy will be moving into compLexity’s Gamma Gamer House in Houston, TX. With this move, Sasquatch becomes the first non-rostered compLexity player to reside in the house.

Earlier this week we at compLexity were able to sit down with Sasquatch, one of the compLexity Academy’s most promising players. Talking about his recent MLG/WCS US Nationals run, his seeding into the MLG Summer Arena, and his upcoming move to compLexity’s Gamma Gamer House, Sasquatch lets us know why he is a player you should be keeping an eye on.

Getting right into things, you’ll be moving into the new compLexity Gamma Gamer House soon. How does it feel to be the first Academy member to move into the Gamma Gamer House? Do you feel like there will be any extra pressure to preform well once you move into the house?  How long do you plan on staying there and what are your goals for the Gamma Gamer House? Also, what are you looking forward to most about moving into the Gamma Gamers House?

I’m really honored that I was chosen to go to the house first, outside of stuff like summer camp/vacations (although this almost does feel like that to me) I’ve never been away from home!  I should be staying there up until MLG Raleigh, with a small trip to NYC in between to take part in MLGs Summer Arena. I feel little to no pressure because this is the first time I’ve been able dedicate most of my time in a day to StarCraft, other players have had a head start :), but I do want to prove to the team and to everyone else that I can have a return on any investments made upon me. My main goal there is obviously practice, I plan to play as much as most Koreans do, I remember Dongraegu specifically saying 30 games a day was what he played, so I need to play more then that to catch up. I think I’m most looking forward to being somewhere where my only objective is literally to play as much of a videogame as I can, I never thought I would be in a position like that :D.

Moving across the country to live in a progaming house seems like a dream for anyone interested in eSports. That said, I’m sure it’s not all sunshine and smiles. What are some sacrifices you’ll have to make in order to move into the Gamma Gamers House? 

At this point I don’t think I’m really sacrificing anything. My dream is to get on to compLexity’s main team and I need to plunge in head first with no doubts in my mind if I’m going to have that happen.

Moving on from the Gamma Gamers House, you recently made you first appearance at a major LAN when you competed in the MLG Spring Championships and WCS US Nationals. You were able to take out some pretty notable players like Machine, Yata, and Haypro. How do you feel about your performance at the tournament? Are you satisfied with your results? What were your goals going into the tournament?

I was happy with that result in particular because I really didn’t have much practice before the event and did a lot better than I expected, it was the furthest I’ve gotten in a major tournament and I actually lost to my good friend and practice partner Suppy in both WCS and MLG, who I think is one of the nicest guys in eSports and deserves all the attention he gets.

Speaking of MLG, you recently qualified for the MLG Summer Arena. What was the process to qualify for this tournament? Did you run into any big names while qualifying?

I really didn’t expect to qualify for MLG Summer Arena, I got a bye versus sleep and then beat coLTrimaster and BinskiLight both 2-0 to qualify, It’s definitely my biggest result so far and while I only have limited time left to prepare, a week of it is going to be spent in the house so hopefully that will help.

The MLG Summer Arena is the kind of tournament that can define a player’s career. If you do well there, chances are a lot of doors will open for you. What are your goals for the Arena? What kind of results would you be satisfied with? How do you plan to achieve these results?

I have lowest seeding in the arena and it’s obviously one of the most if not the most stacked tournament outside of the GSL. That being said I’ll be disappointed if I don’t beat a couple people before getting knocked out, I’d be extremely satisfied if I got seeded into the championship bracket for Raleigh. I’m just going to practice as hard as I can for these next two weeks and hope for the best.

Thank you for taking the time to talk with me. Before we end do you have any shutouts you’d like to give?

Shoutouts to all the Team Liquid New York people who I always talk to in between games, BlitzDotA,  all my practice partners (Boyo, Suppy, Sandbox, Fitzyhere, AGIANTSMURF, Yata, Maker, Scarlett, and everyone else), r/starcraft for being my favorite sc2 website, all my friends from Back2Back Gaming, and of course to compLexity and their sponsors for giving me this opportunity!

—

Again, we at compLexity want to thank Sasquatch for taking the time out of his busy practice schedule to talk with us. To keep up with Sasquatch, you can follow him on Twitter and watch his stream.

UPDATE

Kevin ‘qxc‘ Riley was able to defeat the coL Academy members, 4-1. He was able to take out Fuzzy and Sasquatch, before falling to the hands of Ero-Sennin. He recovered and finished off the match defeating both FireZerg and NoCreativity. qxc will take home $100 while the Academy will have to wait until next time to see if they can slay a coL player.

The contest winner for the compLexity QPAD mousepad will be contacted within the next 24 hours!

VOD

compLexity Gaming is proud to announce a special showmatch featuring coL.qxc versus the compLexity Academy. Set to take place on Monday July 2nd at 7:00 PM EST, the best-of-7 series will feature a $100 prize pool. If qxc wins the series he’ll be pocketing the whole amount, however if The Academy takes the match, the four players who defeated qxc will receive $25.

We’re excited to present this show match and hope to deliver other such events in an effort to showcase some of America’s best up-and-coming talent.

As if a great showmatch isn’t enough, we will also be running a viewer contest where you can win a compLexity QPAD mousepad. In order to enter, all you need to do is leave a comment on this post predicting who will win (qxc or The Academy) and what you think the final score will be. If several people make the correct prediction, compLexity will randomly select one winner out of the correct entries.

You can watch the event on our Twitch.tv page here.
You can follow the coL Academy on its own sub-site here.

Thanks as always for your support!

qxc Twitter
coL Twitter
coL Facebook
coL YouTube

Deadline for applications will be July 13th!

A few days ago The Academy announced that Nick “Brobocop” Harvey and Ke “Lagragian” Li were leaving the team due to interests outside of StarCraft. While it’s sad to see such great players leave, we completely understand their circumstances and support their decision. This does mean, however, that The compLexity Academy now has two openings on the roster that need to be filled.

After much deliberation, we have decided that application videos would be best way to find new players. If you are interested in stepping your game up to the next level feel free to create a short video answering the questions below. Academy commissioner Michael “Twixz” Shane will view each video and select two players to be added to the roster. You must be 18 years of age or older, be in masters league or above, and reside in North America to apply.

Please answer the follow questions in your application video, as well as a link to your Battle.net profile and any other information or accomplishments you want to include.

1) Tell us about yourself. What race do you play? How much time do you dedicate to StarCraft? Are you a student? Let us know what your interests and goals are.
2) What have you achieved in SC2 so far (tournament wins etc.)?
3) What do you think you would you bring to The Academy that sets you apart from other players?
4) Do you think you’d benefit from the Academy atmosphere? If so why?
5) Do you stream your games? If so, please provide us with a link so we can see you in action.
6) What would be your goals for the Academy if you were selected?
7) Lastly, give us a short summary on why we should pick you.

Once you have your video made, please upload it to YouTube and email the link to [email protected].

If you are unable to make a video, you can still apply to The Academy. Just email Twixz ([email protected]) with the answers to the questions above and he will work with you through the application process.

If you are accepted into The Academy there are several perks. Aside from training with a highly motivated team, The Academy will also provide you with a Creative Sound Blaster headset as well as a mousepad from QPAD. You will also have the opportunity to win trips to MLG events, play in Academy sanctioned events (showmatches) and the opportunity to stay at the compLexity Gamma Gamers House in Houston, Texas.

Today the compLexity Academy is sad to announce that two of our players, Nick “Brobocop” Harvey and Ke “Lagragian” Li, will be leaving The Academy. Both Nick and Ke have decided to pursue interests outside of StarCraft. Nick will be using his new found free time to focus on his education while Ke has found a full time job. It is important to note that compLexity completely understands their decisions and wishes nothing but the best for them. We also want to thank both Nick and Ke for their time with The Academy.

While it is sad to see two of our players go, there is an up side to this. The compLexity Academy will be holding a tournament to find two players who can fill Nick and Ke’s spot on the roster. As of right now, we at The Academy are still working out all the details on the recruitment tournament. As soon as we have everything worked out, expect to see a post here on the compLexity site, as well as on TeamLiquid and Reddit.

The compLexity Academy is very proud to announce that our own Protoss Sean “EroSennin” Gough will be playing in the finals of the Alienware Arena Spring Invitational Tournament. After plowing through KurisuDeSu, Rotting, Yendor, and ThisIsJimmy, EroSennin will now have to play SeleCT in the finals.

With $800 for first place on the line, you’re not going to want to miss the final match. Kicking off at 9:30pm CDT on June 6th, the best-of-five will be starting out on ESV Cloud Kingdom.

This is going to be a hard match for EroSennin considering SeleCT is a world class player who has made a full time commitment to StarCraft II. That said, we are confident in Sean’s play and expect to see some great matches.

To watch the finals tune in here at 9:30pm CDT on June 6th.

Tonight the compLexity Academy went head to head versus vVv Gaming in the ESEA. After a hard loss versus Visionary Gaming, the Academy was eager to get a win on the board and start generating some momentum. Good thing our boys brought their A game and were able to beat vVv with a score of 3-1.

• Goswser vs Rocker – 0-2
• Boonrebu vs Glon – 2-0
• Sasquatch vs Seohyeon – 2-0
• Fuzzy vs Toxsik – 2-1

With this win The Academy now has a score of 3-4 for the ESEA season. While it may not be first place in the league, the team’s current standing makes the playoffs within grasp, so long as they keep winning. Hopefully this win will generate enough momentum so that they can make it to the playoffs.

For the fourth part of our “Meet The Academy” series, Academy commissioner Michael “Twixz” Shane sat down with Lucas “boonrebu” Chen. Being one of our newest members, we wanted to give Lucas the chance get his name out in the community and let people get to know one of our rising stars.

Hey Lucas first off welcome to compLexity and why don’t you tell us a little about yourself?

Hi! Well, I’m a college freshman at Cornell University studying Engineering. When I’m not studying I’m working on my StarCraft II game trying to get to the next level.

How long have you been playing SC2 and where do you see yourself in the future?

I’ve been playing SC2 since the Beta but very on and off. It wasn’t until only very recently that I started to take the game a bit more seriously. I was originally a Protoss player but just switched to Terran this January. Starcraft is such a volatile game so it’s impossible to see where I might be in the future but, hopefully, I aim to be one of the premier North American players.

You will be in Anaheim already thanks to the WCS qualifiers, but how do you think you will fair in booth the Blizzard event and MLG itself?

I’m really excited but also nervous. It will be my first live event so I don’t know how my nerves will come in to play. Also I won’t be going in to it with as much practice as I would like, as I still need to deal with college finals before I can go back to seriously playing. I think I have the potential to cause some serious upsets, but of course that’s with a bit of luck.

Are you excited to test out the upcoming Heart of the Swarm expansion at Anaheim?

I was never one to really care that much about testing out games before they’re released or anything. What I’m more excited for is the fact that there are gonna be the legendary Brood War progamers attending.

Once again thanks for your time and welcome to the family, any last words?

I just wanna thank compLexity for this opportunity to represent them and I hope to show some good results.

Once again, I want to thank Lucas for taking the time out of his busy schedule to talk with us about The Academy. We expect big things from him and are looking forward to seeing him develop into star player we know he will be.