13 May - The News

What have I been doing recently? Well of course I've had my birthday, and although I didn't officially hold a party, nearly all my close family came to visit (most of it in surprise). It turned out to be very fun.

New practice structure
I've also been trying to create a new practice structure; I can't reveal exactly how, but it's safe to say that there's more to practice than just "playing a lot of games" and "watching replays". The "how" matters just as much. I'm practicing every day to achieve targets that I've set for myself. If I don't reply as much to queries, don't stream at the moment or if I'm not on-line on MSN as much - it's because I'm trying to get into the zone for WC3L Finals and what's beyond.

For the rest, I haven't read news the whole day yesterday and took a quick look to get a summary.

The news

• I just read that 4Kings is acquiring a new team for CounterStrike:Source. It strikes me as odd that they are hiring new teams (whether for some, low or no salary - it doesn't matter. Even sponsorship for travel means expenses)... when they still have so much debts to the old 4Kings.wc3 team. And it's not like they paid off even one single euro since we left the team.
  

• EPS Germany coming to a close - SoKoL and dArk doing well for themselves, currently residing at 2nd/3rd place. XlorD dominant as usual, with a flawless season comprised of only victories. Say what you want about the level of EPS.DE, but I think it's definitely not low. And even then, getting straight wins every season implies a consistency of gameplay and level that's admirable nonetheless. HLA at unexpected 4th place (I thought he was half-inactive?) and HasuObs sharing that 4th place with him.

• ReiGn playing Orc against Top Undeads FoV & TeD (both of whom I will play in the next playday), winning 3 out of 5 maps. He was always good with Orc against Undead ever since many years ago, as UD's would help each other practice by playing Orc against the other (especially on LT). That's how FoV developed some of his special strategies back in the day, because Undeads have more patience with each other than an Orc and Undead have with each other (don't ask me why).

• Team Giants - a new WC3 contestant for Team Leagues. Interesting constellation of players and obviously I wish SocceR the best of luck in this new team. They have the potential to break into WC3L if they can stick together and play to the best of their abilities. Suggested 2v2 team; SocceR & Elfi.