Here is a real quick share of some pictures I took Sunday October 20th at Red Bull HQ for the WCS Season 3 America Finals. This was a free admission event hosted in Santa Monica California that featured the top 8 Americans (Read: Koreans). Unfortunately I was only able to attend Sunday, but felt right at home with a, small, hyped crowd and a bunch of friends from NASL and the SoCal scene. Personal highlights of the day included the copious amounts of free Red Bull, Gretorp hugs, Jaedong remembering me, and a Polt W.

I hope everyone in Toronto is excited for this weekend. Knowing a itsy-bitsy part of what is in store for you makes me envious I can not attend. You guys are going to have a blast.

Fingers crossed that I will be making it out to Blizzcon for some good times.
Have a good one yo,
Leaf~

First a little bit of house keeping. Bringing the site out of “beta” today with some graphical and miscellaneous updates. No longer scared to link people here. Looking forward to the pointers I get on improving the place.

So I got a VIP invite from Rob Simpson and Sean Plott to attend the “Open House” final day of the Red Bull Training Grounds event. For the third of fourth time red bull opened the doors of their socal headquarters to the Day[9]tv squad to host a starcraft event. Two red bull sponsored startale Korean players, joined two Europeans, and four NA players for a three day production. Training grounds allowed these players a lot more than just the opportunity to play in an invite only tournament. These eight players were being put up for an entire week in Los Angeles and given the opportunity and tools to practice in preparation for MLG Anaheim next weekend. You can find the liquipedia recap of the event [here].

[If you are just interested in seeing my album from the event you can click on this big ‘ol link.] 

This was my first time visiting a production at the red bull HQ. I have only ever seen pictures from their previous events, even though I live rather close to Santa Monica. I arrived at about 1pm and the show was scheduled to start at 2. When I got onto campus I was greeted by some nifty cubicles and a massive wooden ramp spanning the length of the warehouse. The party was going on towards the back of the complex. Security escorted me through the cubicles and to the set. Everyone was just hanging out and I learned that the show was going to be delayed until home story cup was over for the day. The interwebs gave them a lot of love for this decision, and I agree. At the end of the day it was far and away the best business decision they could do tho.

Behind the set I found out that most people were actually gathered in a theater room. Here the other VIPs were hanging out and watching the conclusion of HSC. We all had catered food from a local taco joint, enjoyed the open bar in the corner, and had access to limitless amounts of red bull.

After Taeja won everyone gathered around the desk outside to skype Germany and say “HI!” to HSC. It was a maniacal cross-promotion between the two events; but I think there was a noticeable difference in viewers from the lead in from HSC.

The production was getting ready to go live and I was hanging out on the set instead of watching the action in the theater. Here is a little better of an idea for what the setup was for the cameras:

I climbed up the, rather steep, wooden ramp structure and snagged a picture of the entire setup. It’s one of my favorites from the day. I had a lot of fun sliding down the ramp like a little kid.

Demu and Sound was the first semi-final of the day. Ben did a great job of making sure that his monster bottle was in every shot red bull wanted to take. His games were not executed as well as his bottle placement and dropped the series to the Korean. Instead of watching the games I played a resounding game of table shuffleboard with one of the other camera men.

The players who were not enjoying the open bar were sitting on the set playing and watching some starcraft. Everyone had their designated station and computer for whatever they wanted to do. Grubby, who was out of the tournament on day 3, was the most disciplined practicing for MLG next week.

Day[9] casted the entire show with help from Husky and Mr Bitter. Bitter had more of a host / analysis desk role but he did cast the ZvZ.

Sometimes silly things go on with casters when the camera is in game. With that being said I fucking love Ben.

It wasnt a super long day of starcraft, but it was flying by. I spent a lot of time just chatting with random people and old friends. The second match was between Kane and Golden. Found out that Kane was not just a super gosu NA player, but a fun guy who is always smiling.

Kane fought hard and did take a game, but Golden did advance to the finals.

Sound and Golden. The two Koreans, the two startale players, the two people sponsored by red bull. They played an exciting final and people were getting hyped. More exciting than the games, and the 40/40 jokes, was the trophy these two were playing for. Seriously, this thing looked sick. A mock disk hard drive with a weighted disk, California magnet, bull reader, and circuit board back is the coolest eSports trophy I have ever seen.

Golden was super happy to win and get his trophy. He was radiating happiness. After doing his little post tournament interview/ceremony he took his trophy and went to KBBQ with his teammate to celebrate. I was sad I couldnt get to do a little interview with him.

I stuck around after most of the other people left. We sat and joked and enjoyed some drinks with Day[9], MrBitter, and the players. Everyone took it upon themselves to play a micro tournament while the crew was tearing down the set. I believe they intended to stream this earlier in the day but because of the HSC delay they never got to it. I recoded the players while they were partaking in their micro tournament. Turned out to be 20 minuets of unusable B roll that I can never upload because of the beer in the shot with the red bull logo, and the banter between players and casters that really shouldn’t be hosted online. Grubby was going to win before the power cut out.

The party moved to K-town in downtown Los Angles. Puck, Vibe, Kane, Select, Demu, Bitter, 9, Tyler (of day9tv and Lone Star), and I drove about 15 miles through not ideal LA to get to a place that Sean proclaimed is the “best KBBQ in LA.” We waited a little while for our table because they place was not supper big but we joked around outside. We were trying to get Select to teach us korean, and tell us jokes in English. For 5 minuets of my life I knew how to ask a girl if she wanted to go to bed in Korean.

We got inside and had to split the party up because the tables were not big enough. I ended up sitting and having all you can eat with Bitter, Demuslim and Tyler. While the other table talked about games and light hearted issues, we had a serious conversation about love and life. The meat was uber good.

After stuffing ourself I bid the other fellows adieu and drove back home. All in all it was one hell of a good Sunday.

Hope you enjoyed my recap and pictures for the day. I am excited to be going to MLG Anaheim next weekend and I will be shooting significantly more pictures and have a lot more to chat about. I still have an E3 blog to throw up soon from the time I spent on the floor there. I am most excited about putting regular content on this site.

kbai <3

a href=”http://imgur.com/4RtkrG9″

A little introduction about myself: My name is Joey “Leafeator” Thimian, and I got into competitive gaming in 2005. Day of Defeat 1.3 was my lifeblood. I was 12 at the time, and I was competitive at every single thing I did. I did not care if I was bowling, playing basketball, or even a casual game of connect four; I wanted to win. Always. When I learned I could compete at DoD, the drive to be the best was overwhelming. This FPS gaming carried on into DoD:S, CoH, TF2, and Star 2. Aside from CAL, I learned about eSports on TV when I was stuck in a motorhome camping. I flipped through the channels and found djWheat casting a CSS game. I was hooked. I have been watching Lo3 since episode 1, and have a real admiration for Marcus. I got into Star 2 by going to launch night with friends. I never played a Blizzard game before, but I just won 60$ in a poker game, and decided that I would try this out. I felt the need to get better, found Husky, found HD, found Justin.tv. I was drawn into the scene because of the community, and I wanted to help grow eSports. My first chance to really do so was when Xeris gave me the opportunity to work as Assistant Commissioner at NASL. That started the ball rolling, and ever since then I have been shaking more hands of players, casters, and back stage workers. The more I network, the more I realize that I need to be working along side these awesome people in our growing industry. #eSports

And now for the real reason you all are here, the pictures. Everything shown was shot on my Canon T1i, with either the kit or telephoto lenses. I have always loved photography, but never been able to budget myself to get better lenses. I keep telling myself “one day.”
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MLG Anaheim 2012

MLG’s set up for starcraft seating at Anaheim. Many many rows of chairs with two different tiers of screens for those sitting back. Caster view in the middle with player views on each side. Most chairs I have ever seen at an MLG, and the extra screens accommodated it nicely.

Adrian, KawaiiRice, playing on the featured stage vs Idra. Team Light fighting~~

During the game, Idra’s computer took a shit. They brought out a new one, and then everyone was watching the replay to see the status of the game. In the end the game was replayed as the game was inconclusive as to who would win. Idra went on to 2-0 Kawaii. I think this could have been a much bigger story of Adrian went on to win this game, as from my perspective Idra would have won the first game pre-crash.

The Twitch player lounge was the best this event. Players and VIPS had a really cool place to hang out, complete with food, drink, tvs, couches, arcade cabinets, pc’s, and fooseball.

Liquid Players, and HuK in the player pit. It is really obvious at events the love that Liquid and HuK still have for each other as friends.

MC loves his foreign audience. I wish more Koreans would be silly like him.

Socke had arguably one of the hardest groups. He did one hell of a job this weekend.

Idra draws a crows everywhere he goes. Here he is sitting in the player pit with his fans all around. The majority of them couldnt even see what was going on.

The KESPA players did signings on Saturday and Sunday. Both days people lined up 2 hours early to meet them. The line was unreal to see them, and I think they had a great time interacting with their audience from oversees. I was never into the broodwar scene, so I did not have the admiration that others had for these men. It was really obvious tho how many people adored them all.

DRG is a fucking boss.

TT had awesome bags. I am happy to own one myself. All of their sponsored players have one, which includes KawaiiRiceLight. Kawaii is a rather small human, and I enjoy the comparison of this bag to his body.

Ret and Sheth playing an elimination match in the player-pit. Sheth won. I was sad. Damnit Jos, win something so you can take me to dinner.

Day[9] was not casting this event. At the start he got quite a bit of shit for it. What he was doing tho was walking around with blizzard and their cameras doing promotion for HOTS. Sean interviewed this little guy on film asking him how he got into starcraft.

Sean interacting with his people. He spends so much time being able to shake everyone’s hand and listen to them. I had the pleasure of eating dinner with him, and I hope to be able to do this again. The man is an inspiration.

Alicia. Who knew. Going into the weekend I would not have put money on him being in the grand finals. In fact I had to ask others to point out which Slayers player was who. Sure I know an MMA or Boxer, but now I know Alicia’s face.

Grubby is a cool guy. He spent a bunch of time taking to his fans, and his fans love him. Here he is pointing out something ridiculous on the main stage to others. His expression was amazing, and I did not go a great job capturing it.

I met SaSe in an after party for Red Bull Orlando. He is one funny guy, and he went on a tear in MLG. So many great players were eliminated by him.

Stephano on the main stage. No idea what he was doing on his iPhone. Probably sexting Bling.

I got to hang out with Ostojiy at CSL. I really enjoyed his company and sense of humor. He had a decent run this MLG, but I have a firm belief that he (along with Illusion) are going to be in the limelight soon.

Dat’ Smile

Idra doing an interview. I snagged a picture of him and think it turned out good. I have never really met Greg, but heres hoping.

Incontrol. I worked with Geoff in the NASL office. I feel awkward at events because I feel like he has no fucking idea who I really am. If you read this Geoff, Hi. We should have a drink. I think you’re cool. Sunday Night Barcraft was funny.

Grubby has a big face, and is very expressive. Here is one of my favorites of him.

Hot_Bid. I was hanging out in the Liquid room at E3 with Jos when he walked in. He got really close to my face trying to figure out who the hell I was. We precoded to joke around the rest of the night and watch the Thunder win the West. I really enjoyed meeting him, and would like to think we are on our way to becoming friends. He introduced me to Maffia (ALONG WITH HANNAH, ONOGBEE. I LOVE YOU BEE) , and I must have done a good job, as I prompted him to give me the bird after he killed me.

People decided to bring their own chair to MLG.

Ridiculously Photogenic Tyler. I also met him in the Liquid E3 hotel room and shared some laughs.

H to the usky Husky, playing some street fighter. He was super enjoying himself.

djWheat and MamaWheat. Marcus <3

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW YEAHHHHHHHHHHH. DRG wins MLG.

I think this explains itself, but in person this felt like a super powerful moment.

DRG holding up his trophy.

The Kiss.

CSL Grand Finals at UCF

Want to win a headset? How about a push up contest hosted by Day[9]. On a side note, I can not spell Sergeant.

StarcraftAlaska casts for Playham and CSL. He is one of my absolute favorite people in eSports. He is working on his phd right now, and still finds the time to be an eSports badass. If you ever get the chance to meet him, please do. Also follow his work. He just might be the next big caster.

I can not believe this is the only photo I have of Spanishiwa. I had the pleasure of picking him and his girlfriend up from the airport. I look forward to seeing him at future events, as he is one chill dude.

North Texas getting in some reps before their big finals series. They won.

Adrian grips the mouse weird.

Sleep is a precious commodity at esports events.

Ostojiy played one hell of a series vs KawaiiRice. LOOK AT THAT INTENSITY. Chris, you’re a cool dood. If you show up at NASL3 I am buying you a drink.

QXC was playing in the All-Stars tournament. He used my laptop for a few hours to listen to some KPOP and play some custom games. I enjoyed the time I spent joking with him, as we both are rather sarcastic and dry.

Day[9] and the CSL crew saving the day after the streaming computer crashed. This story blew up on reddit, and I was happy to report what happed. I was quite surprised that it took a positive spin, as Shane was quite literally holding the webcam for the stream pointed at the second ref’s laptop screen. It was really ghetto.

Chris being cool some more.

KawaiiRice was shaking after winning a 70+ minuet game to put him in the grand finals.

University of North Texas winning a game. They had a group hug celebration on stage, and it was quite the powerful sight.

Lawrence Dean Vanderpool. Arguably the reason UNT won CSL. He was sent out aganist CaliberLight and won the “upset.”

Carnegie Mellon winning a 2v2 on stage.

BinskiLight won an ace match vs his teammate KawaiiRiceLight to take home the win for his team, and the CSL Championship Title.

The teams watching the final games of the CSL Grand Finals. Emotions were running wild.

UNT emotions as they are losing Game 6 of the Grand Finals.

Your CSL Champs in their winning interview.

QXC won the RaidCall All-Stars tournie, beating KawaiiRice in the finals. What a stud.

Red Bull LAN Orlando

This is me pandering to redbull. I like the picture. :3

The crowd at Full Sail Live. Really awesome venue that was outfitted nicely for the event.

Parting and Nani doing some practice games and talking about strats.

Thorzain and HasuObs playing some games on stage. This picture shows its aged based on Thorzain’s shirt alone. I did not spend much time talking to Thorzain, but at the after party Hasu proved to be quite the cool cat.

Redbull and Cigarettes. Jos, Nani, and their women practicing.

djWheat is someone who you should go talk to if you ever get the chance. I would not be writing this post today if I never heard him shoutcast years ago. It is crazy to be able to meet the people you have looked up to, and I am still in awe that this man is now a friend of mine.

Sean putting on a clinic of how to sneeze when you are casting.

JYP looks displeased with me trying to take his picture. Lo siento por favor.

Jos in the booth. I was giving him quite a bit of shit about how he was going to get wrecked in the tournie.

Marcus playing games on stage with the pros, he was excited to do some monobattles.

The next big thing. Illusion.

Redbull had a twitter wall projected behind the stage. Thousands upon thousands of people tweeted in, and sheth was reading the support for him between games.

The Redbull booth was really cool. Locking both of the players in one room is probably my favorite setup.

Marcus watching Marcus. They have the same name. That is the joke.

Morrow and I could not be in SaSe’s hotel room when room service delivered 40 bottles of Heineken. I enjoyed talking to him and his mentality of being better than everyone.

HasuObs practicing. He follows me on twitter now. Makes me feel special.

Ret went through Nani, SaSe, and Parting to win RedBull. What a sick nerd baller. One of my favorite parts of Red Bull was getting to hang out with Jos during the event, so him winning was need for much celebration. Those 1’s.

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I hope you enjoyed what I posted here. If you would like to see more, I have been uploading practicably everything I take to my imgur page (leafeator.imgur.com). If this trial blog is a success I will definitely be taking the time do be doing more of these. If you want to use any of these pictures for anything, feel free to contact me at leafeator@gmail.com. Or a PM. Or on Reddit.

Thanks again,
Joey “Leafeator”

Adrian, KawaiiRice, playing on the featured stage vs Idra. Team Light fighting~~