It has been a busy past few weeks for the compLexity Academy in the ESEA. Last time we heard from them, our boys were able to defeat the team My Intent way back in April. Since then, The Academy has played several key matches versus Its GoSu eSports, Convergence Gaming, and Monomaniac Esports.

Starting off the season with a record of 1-1, The Academy was looking to make a big splash right away. Unfortuantly, after their win versus My Intent, they suffered loss at the hands of Its GoSu eSports. With a score of 1-3, The Academy was disappointed with their play. Vowing to do better in the next match, The Academy moved on to play Convergence Gaming. Unfortunately our boys never got to test their skill against them because they forfitted the match. After pocketing the free win, coL.Academy went on to play Monomaniac Esports, formally known as Visionary Gaming. It was a close match but ultimately The Academy fell in the Ace Match bringing their record to 2-3.

Tomorrow The Academy hopes to even up their record as they take on Team Legion. It should be a thrilling game considering how hungry our boys are for a win. Be sure to root for them when they take to the field tomorrow evening.

Meet The Academy: Michael “Twixz” Shane

by Alex “Yuenanimous” Yue

For the third part of our “Meet The Academy” series, we at compLexity wanted to put the spotlight on someone who may not be as well known in the community as our players. This is why I was very happy to be able to sit down with The compLexity Academy commisioner Michael “Twixz” Shane to talk about his role with The Academy, his history with eSports, and what he likes to do when hes not finding the next star player.

First off Michael, how did you get involved with eSports? Which game drew you in and what kept you interested?

My involvement in eSports started with World of Warcraft. Up until that point I was aware of eSports, but not involved in it in any shape or form. I was always intrigued by World of Warcraft’s arena system and had some of the highest rankings online in arena season 3 and 4. When arena season 5 started and Blizzard put up their annual arena tournament realm, I knew it was our chance to take it to the next level. After we qualified for North American Regional Finals from that tournament realm, the rest was history. What keeps me interested in it is the competitive side of eSports. I am a very competitive person, I love the rivalry’s and upsets, and everything eSports brings to the table on a competitive front.

How did you become part of compLexity? When you joined, were you aware of their history with games like Counter-Strike etc?

If I made one mistake in my eSport career it was not getting involved with compLexity sooner. I was one of the players who was winning events left and right but trying to find funding on my own. After joining compLexity and having the stress of finding funding, every thing became much smoother. The management they had (and still have) in place is really top notch, and the companies who support compLexity really know what they are doing and were amazing to play for and now work with. When I joined compLexity, I was fully aware of their history and if anyone has not seen “Redemption” yet, I’d recommend that you take some time to check it out here.

Outside of eSports and compLexity, what do you like to do with your time? Do you play other games?

Outside of eSports and compLexity I like to watch and play most sports. I enjoy playing some poker too. I have a girlfriend that takes up most of my time though when I’m not involved in eSport matters. Oh, and I am playing in an adult basketball league and we are dominating!

Getting back to The Academy, could you explain to the readers what exactly your role is and what are your responsibilities?

In The Academy my role as the commissioner is to pretty much scout the up and coming talent. I also organize all of the events for our Academy players to play in, and pretty much help them in any way I can in order for them to reach their full potential.

Building off the last question, what are your goals for the Academy? What interests you about The Academy? How do you feel about the current roster and how have their results been?

My goals for The Academy are to make it something appealing for all players to get a foot in the door with compLexity. It obviously is just a first step in a team with really no limitations. The interesting thing about The Academy is that it reminds me a lot of myself, when I was first getting involved with eSports. For most of the players this is the first contract they have ever signed, and most of them have really good online results and are just trying to get a chance to prove themselves to the rest of the world. I feel our current roster is actually our strongest yet by far, and with each season we are getting more and more high level players wanting to become a part of the program. The best result we have had in The Academy so far was Goswser being promoted to a “pro” contract and joining the main team while receiving a gaming pc from our sponsor Origin. That is the ultimate goal for The Academy, but outside of that result we have seen some good things popping up here and there.

compLexity Gaming:  YOUR source for professional gaming news and entertainment!

The compLexity Academy is proud to announce its fifth tournament. Established to determine which one player from the Academy will receive an all expenses paid trip to go play at the MLG Spring Championship in Anaheim on June 8th, the tournament will be held on Monday May 14th 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/mlgana

Congratulations to our winner and the Academy representative at MLG 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

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 Justin.TV stream by clicking here.

Recently compLexity Academy commissioner Michael “Twixz” Shane had a chance to sit down with Academy member Eric “NoCreativity” Albensius to discuss his progress as a player as well as his recent MLG trip.

What’s up Nocreativity! How has your stay in the academy been up to this point?
Its been great so far! Everyone is so positive and willing to help each other out. I can really see my game improving. With the new recruits and the new things coming to the academy,  I’m sure we’ll be putting one some big results.

How do you feel about taking the academy crown away from Lizzuma, and do you think you can defend it against this upcoming class?
The  moment I got into the academy I made a promise that I would be the best in it, dedicating myself to improving my game. I plan on keeping it that way.

So far you have been to two MLG events representing the academy. What have you taken away from these events, and how do you feel about the games you played at them?
I’ve been very lucky with the opportunities compLexity has given me with theses two trips and I have enjoyed them a lot. Getting to meet everyone and see different parts of the country is a dream come true. While MLG is obviously an amazing experience, they come with a depressing side. The lack of results and missed opportunities are obviously disappointing. That said, these losses help motivate me to become a better player so I can make my move at the next MLG.

You where in Orlando when Goswser was tearing through the bracket how did it feel to share that weekend with your teammate?
It’s always great to see a fellow teammate do well and even better when he was a follow academy member like me. It was great to see Goswser get promoted out of the Academy and added to the main coL roster. You can’t help but be happy for a friend (and fellow Zerg) when these amazing opportunities come along.

The new ESEA season is up and running what do you feel the chances are that the Academy team can make it into the playoffs?
We were close last season but we lost a few teams that we could have easily won. If we pull ourselves together this season I can see us making the playoffs no problem.

Tell us a little bit about you outside of StarCraft, hobbies, favorite foods, etc.
I don’t really play any other game besides StarCraft, but as far as hobbies go I weight lift and enjoy movies from anywhere. The rest of my spare time is pure StarCraft.

If you could play against anyone in SC2 who would it be and why?
I don’t really want to play one person in particular I just want to play good players.

Thanks for your time Eric, the podium is yours if you would like to say anything!
I would like to thank  Complexity gaming for everything they’ve done so far. Without the support of compLexity and the Academy I wouldn’t have been able to attend those MLG events and meet all the great people in the organization.

Keep an eye out for NoCreativity as he, and the rest of the Academy take on Did You See That Gaming tonight in the ESEA.

Last night the compLexity Academy went head to head against the team My Intent in the ESEA. After a hard 1-3 loss versus i7 the Academy was eager to get a win on the board, and last night our boys did just that. With a score of 3-1 the Academy defeated My Intent. The individual match ups were:

• NoCreativity vs PZFTaCtQorG – 2-1
• Goswser vs FTaCtFiery – 2-1
• Fallen vs MYiMcleod – 1-2
• Gensulitor vs MYiSenSei – 2-1

We at the Academy are extremely proud of this result and expect to see many more like it. Hopefully our boys can continue the streak when they take on Did You See That Gaming on 4/18.

Tonight the compLexity Academy will be playing its first match of the ESEA season. Going up against team Infinity 7, the Academy will have to bring it’s A game. These two teams have quite a bit of history; i7 knocked out the Academy of the playoff run last season with a score of 3-2. Tonight our boys are looking to exact a little revenge.

The map pool for tonight’s match includes:

• ESV Cloud Kingdom
• ESV Ohana LE
• Metropolis
• Day Break
• Korhal Compound
• Atlantis Spaceship
• Metalopolis
• GSL Antiga Shipyard

The match ups for tonight’s game are:

• Axslav vs Goswser: Goswser wins 2-0
• Pyre vs Nocreativity: Pyre wins 2-0
• Sanddox vs Fallen: Sanddox wins 2-1
• Jecho vs Brobocop: Jecho wins 2-0 

For those of you who are not familiar with the ESEA format, it’s pretty simple. “Each match consists of 4 – 1v1 Bo3 matches; AvsA, BvsB and so on. In the event of a 2-2 tie, there will be an ACE match. Team Leaders are responsible for picking any rostered paid player to play the ACE match. This ACE match will be the ‘tie-breaker’. The first map of each match will be preset by League Admins and put on the Schedule. The loser of the first map will pick the second map and the loser of the second map will pick the third map. The same map cannot be picked twice in one match. You may veto 1 map per match up that is not map of the week.”

Tonight’s match will be streamed here and is set to kick off at 9:00 PM EST. Be sure to tune in so you can root for compLexity’s best and brightest up coming gamers.

compLexity Academy Expulsion List and Recruitment Tournament

The compLexity Academy is a program that features ten up and coming StarCraft II players as they develop their skills in an attempt to become true professional gamers. The members will compete for LAN travel, prizes and coveted pro contracts. They also will need to fight to maintain their status in the academy during Expulsion Tournaments.

For the role of Commissioner Michael “Twixz” Shane, eSports leader and former compLexity.Black star will be returning for a third season. Mr. Shane handles all facets of the academy.

1) To identify and support potential future stars of StarCraft 2 by providing them with the gear, training partners and travel opportunities needed to elevate them to professional status

2) To foster an environment necessary to ensure the continued growth and development of the professional StarCraft 2 eSports scene in North America.

1) An internal ranking system will be implemented. The initial ranking will be determined by a Ranking Tournament amongst the players. Every 3 months the bottom 4 players in CA will compete in our Expulsion Tournament with only the winner remaining in CA. The other 3 spots will be filled via an Open Recruitment Tournament (3 spots) and by an invite from Mr. Shane (1 spot).

2) If a player is given a professional contract, his spot will be filled during the next CA Open Recruitment Tournament.

3) One month before each MLG LAN event, CA will hold a Qualifying Tournament from which the Top 1-2 players will be given airfare and hotel to the next MLG event. 

Over the past few months the compLexity Academy has hosted four academy MLG tournaments and a tournament to get into the academy. We have given ten players the opportunity to become professional Starcraft 2 players. A few of them took it and ran with it, while others fell towards the bottom.

The Current Standings are as follows:
Nocreativity
Gensulitor
Lagrangian
Fallen
Brobocop

The tournament will be taking place on Saturday April 14th at Noon EST. The requirements to participate in the tournaments is one must be 18 years of age or older, reside in North America and at least have a masters level account in Starcraft 2. The format of the tournament is a best of three, single elimination. The top four finishers in the tournament will receive a spot in the academy.

In addition to the tournament, one player will be hand-picked by none other than the compLexity Academy commissioner, Michael “Twixz” Shane based soley on the application process. Participants are welcome to play in the tournament and send in an application in an effort to increase their chance of being recruited.

The five players who are selected will receive a compLexity QPAD Mousepad and a Creative Headset. They will also sign a 9 month option contract. If said option is exercised, the member will be given a full pro gamer contract and a new gaming computer from ORIGIN PC.

Academy member Goswser, who has since been signed on to the main compLexity roster, spoke about his experience with the Academy:

I joined The Academy in August 2011 following MLG Columbus. Later I qualified in one of The Academy tournaments to be sent to represent The coL Academy at MLG Orlando, where I competed in the open bracket. The event was amazing! While there I met the team and compLexity management, and found that everyone was friendly and supportive. It was a very positive experience because everyone on compLexity is awesome! I would definitely recommend The Academy to any aspiring players who want to take their play to the next level.

Academy member NoCreativity had this to say about his experience with the Academy: 

My name is Eric/Nocreativity, and I’ll be going to my second MLG event  thanks to the compLexity Academy. The free travel to the MLG events is an amazing opportunity, but aside from the trip you also gain excellent practice partners and friends plus an environment to evolve into a better player.

To sign up head over to http://www.z33k.com/games/starcraft2/tournaments/6280-complexity-academy-recruitment-tourney.

Applications can be emailed to Academy Commissioner Michael “Twixz” Shane at: [email protected]

Best of luck to all competitors, and be sure to check out the sub-site of the compLexity Academy is officially LIVE. Here you’ll find up to the minute rankings of the top 10, as well as the latest news, forum threads, blogs and information about the compLexity Academy. To visit the sub-site, click here.

Hi Fallen, could you introduce yourself to the members of the community who may not be too familiar with you?

My names Eric and I’m from Albany NY. I am currently studying Criminal Justice and Political Science at SUNY Plattsburgh and I should be graduating in May with two Bachelor degrees. After I graduate I’m either going to Korea for a year to teach English or going to law school and studying at Syracuse Law. I’ve also been in the Army for four and a half years.

How do you feel about StarCraft II and the growth of eSports?

Well I enjoy SC2 as a game but I was a hardcore BW player, so the game is a bit stale for me (at least up to this point). I feel like the SC2 has a limitation on skill cap because of all the built in mechanics. I do love SC2 though because of the amount of exposure and growth it has seen since it came out. I feel like SC2 is going to be the game that makes “gaming” much more acceptable in society because somebody can watch it and understand it on some level. It has potential more than any other game to be broadcast on American TV and be understood to a degree.

What has been your favorite moment regarding StarCraft II up to this point (be it something you where involved in or something you saw)?

Fallen: One of my favorite moments so far was seeing Hero win Dreamhack Winter 2011 and get the amazing roaring cheer from the crowd afterward. Being a bit of a Hero fanboy, it was awesome to see him win a major tournament because he had so many doubters before that. Also, my friend came over and we made a bit of an event out of it by watching all the championship day matches and betting on various matches to make it really fun to watch.

Now that we’ve gotten to know you as a player, lets start on some Academy questions. How do you feel heading into the MLG qualifiers next week?

If you had asked me that question about a week ago I’d say extremely confident. Right now, my confidence in PvZ is a bit shaken and PvP is always a bit of an experiment. I am hoping that in the next week I can iron out some of my PvZ problems and give a really good showing. I will definitely place better than I have in the past, that much I am confident of.

Who do you feel is the biggest competition for you in the academy?

My biggest competition is without a doubt any of the Zergs. Obviously Nocreativity won the last event and I’m pretty thankful goswser got promoted out of the Academy because that’s one less Zerg to have to face. Brobocop always proves to be good competition as well, so hopefully I don’t get many or any Zergs in my path 😀

Well Eric we wish you the best of luck in the qualifier, is there anything you would like to add?

I’d like to thank compLexity and all of its sponsors for the opportunity! I look forward to meeting everybody who attends at MLG Columbus next month! 🙂

For anyone who wants to check out Fallen’s gameplay you can download his replay pack here: http://www.complexitygaming.com/downloads/view/1367/.

Congratulations to Nocreativity for taking 1st place and winning a trip to MLG Columbus!!

Today the compLexity Academy is proud to announce its fourth tournament. Set to begin on Tuesday March 6th, the coL Academy tournament is used to determine which player from the Academy will receive an all expenses paid trip to go play at MLG Columbus on March 23. The format of this tournament is double elimination and best of 3 for each game. Also note, if you are an up and coming commentator, we are still accepting applications to be the voice of the Academy.

Seed Determination:
Seeding for this tournament will be randomized. All of the points from the previous compLexity Academy tournaments have been reset giving the players a fresh start. After thinking about last year’s Academy tournaments, we have decided to start off 2012 with a new point system. This point system will be used to determin in-house rankings and possible expulsion from the Academy. The new point system is:

1st = 40 points
2nd = 34 points
3rd = 28 points
4th = 20 points
5th = 15 points
6th= 10 points
7th = 8 points
8th = 6 points
9th= 4 points
10th = 2 points

Player List:
Nocreativity
Lizzuma
Brobocop
Gensulitor
Nineteen
Fallen
Lagrangian
Pride

Starting Map:

The starting map will be determined by veto’s, the higher Seed veto’s first, then the lower 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 Dual Sight
MLG Entombed Valley
MLG Metalopolis
MLG Shakuras Plateau
MLG Tal’Darim Altar

View the tournament LIVE on our Justin.TV stream by clicking here.

A new year is upon us and with it comes a new season of the compLexity Academy. Much like last year, we at the compLexity Academy are searching for shoutcasters to help commentate our in-house qualifiers. If you think you have what it takes to be the voice of the Academy, the details are below.

Job Description:
Your job would be to be the main caster of the compLexity Academy.  From time to time you will be joined by others, but you will be the main shoutcaster.  As with the Academy itself, we are looking for someone who is eager to get experience and exposure in the professional scene.  You should be talented, dedicated and willing to work with Mr. Shane and his team. You should be technically savvy with a solid internet that is able to broadcast smoothly to our Justin.tv account.

Please note that this is a 3 month commitment. At the end of your term we will conduct another shoutcaster search to allow other commentators an opportunity to make a name for themselves.

Previous Academy commentator Adebisi reflected on his time with the Academy saying:

Casting for the Complexity Academy was a great opportunity to me, for many reasons, but a couple really stick out. First off working with Complexity has been great, they have a very supportive staff, and are without a doubt one of the leading eSports Teams out there, as well the Academy program itself is something very exciting to me, as it puts Complexity on the cutting edge of finding and developing new talent, being involved with that is just awesome.

Adebisi’s co-caster Wombat added:

Complexity Academy really allowed me to get some great exposure and experience, make some awesome friends, and see some amazing up and coming players. Casting with Adebisi was a rare pleasure that is generally reserved for turn of the century opium dens in Beijing and for that, I must give my deep thanks and appreciation to Complexity.

Compensation:
For your 3 month commitment you will receive the following products:
1) SoundBlaster Tactic3D Sigma headset
2) compLexity Mousepad
3) Exposure to a wide audience

How to Apply:
To apply please email the CA Commissioner, Michael Shane by clicking here. Include YouTube video links showcasing your shoutcasting ability and any other information you feel is relevant.

It is our sincere wish that this opportunity would help develop the talent and exposure of a dedicated shoutcaster.  Applications will be accepted until March 6.

Thanks and best of luck to all the applicants!