News Feed

Asia's elite teams to fight for $500 in Razer Mini Madness

READ MORE>>>

...................................................................................................................

DK shoots for G-League Grandslam against iG

DK will try to get their third consecutive G-League Title when they square off against iG this coming August 12, 2012 (12 CET)

READ MORE>>>

...................................................................................................................

VIDEO: EG discuss TI2 and bootcamp development
READ MORE>>>

...................................................................................................................

Character profiles now available (Diablo 3)
READ MORE>>>

...................................................................................................................

GEST July: XcN to replace Ritter ART-Gaming
READ MORE>>>

...................................................................................................................

Morhaime addresses the Diablo III community 
READ MORE>>>

...................................................................................................................

Naga Siren added to Dota 2
 READ MORE>>>

...................................................................................................................

MSI Philippines with €3,800 offline finals next weekend

READ MORE>>>

...................................................................................................................

Gems, dyes and other commodities come to the RMAH.

READ MORE>>>

...................................................................................................................

A Month of Diablo: June 2012

READ MORE>>>

...................................................................................................................

VIDEO: Killing Elites - Tactics for the Undergeared

READ MORE>>>

...................................................................................................................

VIDEO: 27-minute long Wizard in Inferno guide
READ MORE>>>

...................................................................................................................

The 'Art of Blizzard' art book coming this October

READ MORE>>>

...................................................................................................................

On-song mTw beats EYES to sprint to top of GosuLeague
Gosuleague: You don't change a winning team.

...................................................................................................................

Pacific Badburn are GEST June Champions
by Kai Chua

...................................................................................................................

syndereN: 'Being unpredictable is going to be crucial'

...................................................................................................................

Losers Bracket for Filipino Team 

...................................................................................................................

Interview: A Loda Tale

...................................................................................................................

The East Qualifier Brackets 

...................................................................................................................

AGL (Asian Gaming League Season 4) Announced - Sign Ups Open!

...................................................................................................................

"twiSta" quits competitive DotA after alleged mouz betrayal.

...................................................................................................................

Winter: 'I wish there were organizations like Mineski in Malaysia'

...................................................................................................................

DotaTalk Interviews Sp

...................................................................................................................

GEST: GoDz predicts GIGABYTE E-Sport Tournament group stage 

...................................................................................................................

The mysterious Shanghai Team; Polo: 'We started the team out of passion.'  

...................................................................................................................

PlaymatE Quits Playing DotA

...................................................................................................................

JLK general manager confirmed the Copenhagen Wolves disband 

...................................................................................................................

$500 E-Sports Republic Open: First Qualifier

...................................................................................................................

M5 and MUFC last Invites for The International 2 

DotA News 8/10/12

DK goes for G-League Grandslam against iG on Season 1 Finals
by Ren "Pacific.Ren" Vitug

After an intense Season, we will see back-to-back Champion DK go for their Third Consecutive G-League Title as they face iG this coming August 12, 2012 (12 CET). 

iG entered the Finals by defeating Group B leader and last season’s finalist LGD 3-0. And despite narrowly winning their Semi-final match against For.Love, DK is still considered as the strong favorite heading into the match. After all, they have defeated iG 2-0 on the Group Stages. This time though, they will be having a best-of-5 match to determine the winner of G-League 2012’s First Season. 

Dota will have the lion’s share of the price pool of China’s first e-Sports TV league, where the Champion will receive 200,000 RMD (~$31,500), while the runner-up will receive 50,000 RMD (~$7,900).

G-LEAGUE 2012 SEASON 1
Semi-Finals
For.Love	2 - 3	DK
iG	3 - 0	LGD
Finals
iG	vs	DK

Stream links can be found on the Gosubet page.

Links:
Gamefy.cn - Official Site
GosuGamers - G-League '12 Announcement
GosuGamers - Gosubet

DotA 2 News 8/8/2012

Asia's elite teams to fight for $500 in Razer Mini Madness

by Chirag "crashlite" Samtani

The creators of It's Gosu Monthly Madness presents another DotA 2 tournament dubbed the Razer's Mini Madness. The event will feature eight of Asia's most exceptional teams which includes EHOME, LGD, DK, Orange, and others for a cash prize of $500 USD.

The teams will compete in a best of three series. However, the grand finale will be contested in a monumental best of five series. All the eight teams will battle out for five days, starting from the 12th of August to the 16th of August. Six out of the eight teams will be competing in the International at Seattle.

Here's a closer look at the participating teams:

EHOME

The Dynamic Unit - One of the most dynamic forces in DotA 2 scene today, EHOME will definitely be a force to be reckoned with. By already conquering over Absolute Legends, and Complexity Gaming at Beyond the Summit, EHOME has maintained a strong performance. Although they suffered several losses to Chinese teams: iG and LGD, EHOME should still be looked out.

LGD Gaming

The Powerhouse - The runner-up of It's Gosu Monthly Madness Asia, LGD looks to finish what they started in Razer's Mini Madness. Suffering a 3-0 loss to Zenith in the IGMMA finals will definitely ignite LGD's enthusiasm to win this one. The powerhouse who recently won against Absolute Legends at Beyond the Summit will look only at being the champions of this tournament.

Team DK

Team Recovery - Yet another strong Chinese team will contend for the $500 USD cash prize. Team DK who has a strong line-up has had numerous wins up their sleeve, by already beating Asian teams MUFC and iG at Beyond the Summit. However, after falling short against MUFC at It's Gosu Monthly Madness Asia, will DK be able to bounce back?

TongFu

Chinese Corroborators - The last of all Chinese teams participating, the winners of the East qualifiers for the International, TongFu enters this tournament as well. TongFu's run has not been very great, as they only recently picked up a win against Darer. However, still being fairly new to the DotA 2 scene, TongFu has a chance to prove themselves as a wild contender for the $500 USD cash prize.

MUFC

The Darkhorse - The Malaysian participants, MUFC has a lot to prove in this tournament. Entering as a darkhorse, MUFC has had a decent amount of wins and losses. They were recently successful against DK, but not against German team, mousesports. Will this be time where MUFC proves their validity in the upcoming grand tournament, The International?

Orange

Diamond in the Rough - The next Malaysian team participating Orange eSports who's definitely not had a great run as of late. They endured losses from top teams such as mousesports, CLG, and iG. Although being unable to march against them, coming into the tournament as an underdog is always something to look forward to. Orange has all the tools to succeed in this tournament, but the question is will they be able march to victory?

Mineski HyperX

Familiar but Deadly - Certainly a familiar team name, Mineski HyperX team will be the only Philippian team to participate in this tournament. Mineski HyperX has not had much notoriety in the DotA 2 scene. After having Mineski PowerColor stand-in for them, Mineski will take their place as the organization's main team, and hopefully pull off an upset.

Harrosh

Singaporean Wildcard - Last but not least, the only team to be representing Singapore is Harrosh. A lackluster performance by Harrosh in It's Gosu Monthly Madness Asia really makes Harrosh a wildcard in this tournament. Being quite new to the scene, Harrosh will need to establish themselves in this tournament to be deliberated as a top contender in the South East Asian scene.

For LGD, DK, EHOME, TongFu, Orange, and MUFC. This tournament will be a tutelage, and an opportunity for them to intimidate their fellow opponents. Likewise, for Harrosh and Mineski HyperX, their rise to stardom may be followed up by a win from this tournament. So don't miss the action on the 12th of August onward.

You can catch the matches on Own3d.tv where the casters: Andrew 'Zyori' Campbell and Jarrett 'Kawa' Robinson will be bringing you in all the updates for this tournament.

Source: It's Gosu

Diablo 3 News 8/7/2012

Character profiles now available

by Markus "pyr" Sjoland

View your heroes' gear, stats, and skills. How high have you raised your characters' attributes?

Blizzard explains:

Yup, they're ready.

All you need to do is log in with your Battle.net account (look for the log in box in the upper-right hand corner of your screen) to access character profiles from any page on the Diablo III community site. Profiles give you the power to:

• View your heroes' gear, stats, and skills. How high have you raised you characters' attributes? What are they wielding in each slot? What are their most prominent gear bonuses? What skills comprise their current build? Nuance awaits you in the Heroes tab.

• Track your game progress. How many acts have you cleared? What bosses have you shredded in each difficulty? How far have you leveled up your hardcore and normal artisans? Find out in the Career tab. You can also check your play time (by class) throughout your entire Diablo III career, and learn how many monsters and elites you've slain.

• Share with your friends. The Friends tab lets you check out your BattleTag friends' characters, so that you can quickly compare notes on gear, skill and rune choices, and everything in between. You can also click on a BattleTag in the Diablo III forums to go directly to that player's profile.

We like that profiles provide for easy sharing, comparing, and refining of your heroes as you pursue monster-slaying mastery. In fact, we like profiles so much that we plan to add even more functionality to them as Diablo III evolves, including detailed statistics and tabs for achievements and artisans.

If there is something else you'd like to see appear in a character profile, please make sure to let us know in the comments below or on our website forums.

Happy Clicking!

~Blizzard Web Team

Source: Battle.net

Dota 2 News 8/7/2012

VIDEO: EG Discuss TI2 and Bootcamp Development

by Chirag "crashlite" Samtani

Evil Geniuses, one of the contenders for the The International presents a video all the way from their bootcamp location in Denmark. Maelk, Universe, and Fear are all interviewed by Demon as they speak out regarding their progress in their preparation for The International, and also discusses about the tournament itself.

It's 5 am in the morning, and it was the conclusion of Evil Geniuses' day of bootcamping at Denmark. As they walk from their net-cafe to their accommodating location at Rye's apartment, Demon pulls out some questions to ask his fellow team-mates.

One in particular is when Demon asked Maelk on how the bootcamp is progressing so far, Maelk replied:

"It has ups and it has it's downs... In comparison to the Dreamhack bootcamp, it's going rather fine."

The Evil Geniuses members also jokingly talked about complexity Gaming, and POTM Bottom, as well as a playful riff on predictions if the International 2 were to happen tomorrow.

Source: DotaDemonTV

DotA 2 News

Naga Siren added to Dota 2

» Naga Siren is the newest hero implemented in the Dota 2 Test patch.There will now be a message when the Aegis gets denied.

Patchnotes 18 July Patch Testclient:

Added Naga Siren!
Added new stats dropdown feature when spectating!

GAMEPLAY
- Enabled Naga Siren in Captain's Mode.
- Disruptor: Fixed Glimpse affecting Warlock Golem and Spirit Bear.
- Silencer: Fixed Curse of the Silent affecting Warlock Golem and Spirit Bear.
- Storm Spirit: Fixed Static Remnant blocking creep camps
- Templar Assassin: Fixed Refraction being dispellable.
- Undying: Fixed a case where early game zombies could sometimes get stuck with an earlier or invalid level of Deathlust into the late game.
- Beastmaster: Fixed the path that Wild Axes take. It should now work the way it was originally intended.
- Fixed Shadow Word refreshing its debuff version when stolen and cast as a buff.
- Fixed Dazzle's Weave refreshing its debuff version when stolen and cast as a buff.
- Fixed restealing an ability (stealing another ability in-between) not restting its cooldown.
- Fixed Diffusal Blade stopping Force Staff movement.
- Fixed Refraction and Pipe causing Blink Dagger to not get disabled.

UI
- Sellback times no longer expire when moving items to the courier.
- Fixed item stocks not restoring correctly when multiple items are sold back within the sellback time.
- Added a message when a player denies the Aegis.
- Added confirmation dialog before starting a practice lobby with a league set but one or more teams not set.
- Added client-side console variables allowing spectators to locally disable certain announcer lines. Especially useful for broadcasters. The cvars are:
- cl_dota_speech_spec_towerattack, cl_dota_speech_spec_towerfalls, cl_dota_speech_spec_barracksattack, cl_dota_speech_spec_barracksfalls, cl_dota_speech_spec_ancientattack, cl_dota_speech_spec_enemybasefalls, cl_dota_speech_spec_idles .
- Set any of them to '0' to prevent that line from playing. (Broadcasters will almost always want to set cl_dota_speech_spec_idles 0 ).
- Multiple players who have the same announcer equipped in the same game should now hear the same speech.

Diablo 3 News

Morhaime addresses the Diablo community: On D3's launch, online only and coming changes.

by Radoslav 'Nydra' Kolev

Co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment Mike Morhaime addressed the Diablo III community today in a lengthy post. Morhaime talks about the ups and down the game had and the future Blizzard are shooting for.

Below you can find the full post from Mike Morhaime, the highlights of which are Diablo III's launch and the resulting issues, patch 1.0.4., RMAH, the online-only experience, PvP and revamped legendaries.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Diablo Players,

Now that Diablo III has been out for two months, I would like to take a step back and discuss the launch, the feedback from the community, and talk about what the future holds for the game.

We’ve had an enormous amount of feedback since the launch. I speak for everyone at Blizzard when I say that we appreciate the passion and affection many of you have for the Diablo series. We truly believe “Every Voice Matters,” so I want to thank you for sharing your experiences in an effort to help us improve the game. Your support makes it possible for us to continue doing what we do, and we never take that for granted.

The launch week of Diablo III was memorable for many reasons — some positive, and some not so positive. We were thrilled that Diablo III had the biggest PC-game launch ever, surpassing the lifetime sales of Cataclysm (the previous record holder for biggest PC-game launch) in a matter of weeks. We’ve been floored by the response.

However, the launch had many challenges as well. It has always been difficult to forecast how many players we will have. With World of Warcraft, it was a challenge to handle the immediate demand when we launched back in 2004, and that was just in North America. We eventually expanded to other regions and reached nearly 5 million players by the end of the first year, and there were a lot of growing pains with that. However, we’ve never gone from 0 to more than 6 million players across multiple continents within a few days with a brand-new game. For Diablo III, we looked at historical sales for Blizzard games and other top-selling PC games and watched preorder numbers. We even upped our estimates to ensure we had additional capacity, or so we thought. In the end, it just wasn’t enough, and that is something we will work hard to conquer for future releases.

In response to the immediate and overwhelming demand for the game, the team worked around the clock to support all regions, increase capacity, ship additional hardware to our datacenters, and troubleshoot and fix bugs as they sprang up. While things have by and large been running smoothly for several weeks now, various game-related issues have come up that we have either already responded to or are continuing to investigate (such as the latency issue some of you are experiencing) and make adjustments for. Rather than address every subject individually, I’ll just say that even as we work to address or resolve current issues, it’s always possible that further issues will crop up. We hope that our actions in the past have demonstrated that above all else, we’re committed to delivering an awesome game experience, and we hope you’ll have faith that we will continue to keep that commitment and respond to any new or outstanding issues quickly.

We are not satisfied with breaking launch records; we want people to continue playing and enjoying Blizzard games for a very long time. The Diablo III team has made an epic, entertaining, and beautiful gaming experience. That being said, we know that it isn’t perfect. Our teams are working hard to improve the game balance, build on our design, and listen to what players are saying to make it the best game it can be.

You’ve seen some of that work already in patch 1.0.3, and you’ll see additional improvements with patch 1.0.4. On the game balance front, this update will contain changes designed to further deliver on the team’s goal of promoting “build diversity,” with buffs to many rarely used, underpowered class abilities. Another topic we’ve seen actively discussed is the fact that better, more distinct Legendary items are needed. We agree. Patch 1.0.4 will also include new and improved Legendary items that are more interesting, more powerful, and more epic in ways you probably won’t be expecting.

We’re also working on a number of interface updates, including social improvements that will allow players to more easily view their friends’ achievements, more quickly join games, and more efficiently communicate with each other. In addition, we’ll be making updates to the auction house in the future to provide players with better information through tooltips and notices, offer improved search functionality, and more.

Regarding the real-money auction house, our primary goal for including this in the game was to provide convenience and peace of mind for those players who might otherwise turn to third-party services to buy items. Black market trading sites can put accounts at risk and create many customer service challenges. We felt that the players themselves also deserved the opportunity to benefit from the extra loot they found, as opposed to having all of the benefit go to the black market/illegal trading organizations. We know the auction house isn’t perfect, but with your help and feedback, we’ll be able to continue making it a better experience for those who choose to use it. On the flipside, we are also committed to ensuring you have a great experience with Diablo III without feeling like the auction house is mandatory, which was never our intention. Thank you for all the feedback about that.

One other common topic we’ve seen in the forums is the always-connected experience, and the perception that the online requirement is nothing but an ineffective form of copy protection that has already been cracked. While we’ve never said that this requirement guarantees that there will be no cheating or game cracks, it does help us battle those problems (we have not found any fully functional cracks). More important to us is that the online requirement is critical for the long-term integrity of the game experience. I fully understand the desire to play Diablo III offline; however, Diablo III was designed from the beginning to be an online game that can be enjoyed with friends, and the always-online requirement is the best way for us to support that design. The effectiveness of the online elements — including the friends list and cross-game communication; co-op matchmaking; persistent characters that you can use by yourself, with others, and in PvP; and some of our customer support, service, and security components — is tied directly to the online nature of the game. These and other online-enabled features are essential to our design for Diablo III. That said, there are still improvements we believe we can make to expand the online experience and make co-op play even more rewarding, and this will remain one of our priorities moving forward. Overall, while there are some downsides to the online-only approach, I still believe this was the best long-term decision for the game.

I know many of you are also looking forward to patch 1.1, our PvP update, which will provide new experiences and give you a whole new way to apply the skills you’ve picked up while battling demons. This patch will also build on the social and auction house changes I mentioned above, and the team will continue to fix bugs and further tune game balance as well.

We’re also working on a gameplay system that will provide players who have max-level, high-powered characters new goals to strive for as an alternative to the “item hunt.” We’re not ready to get into specifics just yet, but I can say that we’re actively taking your feedback into account as we plan out the future of the game.

As always, we appreciate your candor and passion. Your constructive feedback and thoughts are valuable — they will continue to help us be a better company. I just want to reiterate that while we can’t claim to have ever shipped a perfect game, we are committed to supporting our games relentlessly and making improvements where we can. Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Mike Morhaime

XcN News

XcN to replace Ritter ART-Gaming in GEST July

by Patrik "Raistlin" Hellstrand

Indonesian side Ritter ART-Gaming will not be able to take part in this weekend's GIGABYTE E-Sports Tournament International DotA Cup. Replacing them will be the fellow Indonesian team XcN.

XcN, with a fresh Playcybergames Indonesia DotA Tournament victory in their backs, will hop in to Group C where they are paired against MSIEvoGT, G7, StarsBoba and SVR_Es.

We would like to remind you of the GEST GosuBet Championship - place your tangos on this weekend's matches and you have the chance to win GIGABYTE motherboards and DotA 2 beta keys.

XcN roster:
Farand 'Koala' Kowara
Brando 'easy-XLR8'
Muhammad 'Lordbubu' Damar
Wendy 'PPPmyt^^' Chandra
Ruby 'Straight' Gunawan

MSI Philippines with €3,800 offline finals next weekend

by Patrik "Raistlin" Hellstrand

MSI Phillipines is hosting their finals of their 200,000 PHP (€~3,800 EUR) DotA tournament MSI Overdrive next weekend, July 6-8. The 4/F Annex Event Area will be the venue for the 30 teams taking part.

The tournament will feature internationally top ranked teams like Mineski, MSI EvoGT, Pacific.Revitalize, Izone^125, Badburn and Dreamz Ledion SS. Have you followed the GIGABYTE Esport Tournament you have surely heard of them and seen the top notch performance by the Filipino sides.

The grand final winner will walk home with a 75,000 PHP (~€1,425 EUR) check as well as a SteelSeries QcK MASS Gank Edition mousepad. The runner-up will have to settle with 25,000 PHP (~€475 EUR).

The champion of each of the open qualifiers will be getting the first ten seeds, and the runner-ups of the six open qualifiers will get the first 16 seeds in the 32-team single elimination tournament.

When teams reach the quarter finals, they will be split up in two groups of four in which the top two will advance to a playoff.

As a special all-star game, the ten players with the most likes in this photo albumwill form two teams. The two with the highest number of votes will be the captains of the two teams and will draft their team mates among the pool of the other 8 "all-stars". The prize for that all-star game is a 5,000 PHP (~€95 EUR) and five SteelSeries Sensei mice.

Source: Gosugamers.net

The 'Art of Blizzard' art book coming this October

by Radoslav "Nydra" Kolev

352 pages of Blizzard artwork will be released this fall for company's fans to enjoy and follow the creation of their favorite worlds.

-"An epic volume of art and behind-the-scenes insights, The Art of Blizzard celebrates the studio's genesis by examining the creative forces behind these games and showcasing their artistry through more than 700 pieces of concept art, paintings, and sketches. Commentary on the art is provided by Blizzard Entertainment's own Nick Carpenter, Sam Didier, and Chris Metzen, who've each played important roles in shaping Blizzard's game universes over the years.

The meaty hardcover art book (published by Insight Editions) currently sells for $45.88 on Amazon with the list price being $75.00. The release date is set on October 10, 2012.

VIDEO: 27-minute long Wizard in Inferno Guide

by Patrik "Raistlin" Hellstrand

Check out this 27-minute long guide for Wizard. If you want to learn how to beat Inferno and want explanation of the gear, skill and passive spec and playstyle tips including kiting and stutter step techniques, this one's for you.

VIDEO URL (CLICK HERE)

Source: Diablofans.com

VIDEO: Killing Elites - Tactics for the Undergeared

by Radoslav "Nydra" Kolev

Kripparrian comes out with a video full of useful advises about how to approach unique and elite pack while undergeared. Check the VOD and try the strategies before spending millions on the auction house.


CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEO

Source: Gosugamers.net

A Month of Diablo: June 2012

by Radoslav "Nydra" Kolev

Although nothing could top the month of May when Diablo III was actually released, June was quite the eventful four weeks as well. There were good moments like the world first hardcore Diablo Kill, some awesome farming guides and Patch 1.0.3, and there were also bad moments like lawsuit threats, a disappointed community and Patch 1.0.3.

Source: Gosugamers.net

Gems, dyes and other commodities come to the RMAH

by Radoslav "Nydra" Kolev

In a good Blizzard tradition, "soon" is set as the date for when commodities will arrive at the RMAH. Gold, however, will not be available until later moment.

Community manager Cerunya wrote:
"The following commodities will be available for trading in the real-money auction house:

• Gems
• Dyes
• Crafting Materials
• Blacksmithing Plans and Jeweler Designs
• Pages of Training

The ability to trade gold as a community won't be included in this initial update, but we hope to enable it in the near future. Keep an eye on this thread for further updates."

Source: Battle.Net

On-song mTw beats EYES

by Patrik "Raistlin" Hellstrand
written by Bruno "shostakovich" Tomaz

You don't change a winning team: That's the philosophy behind mTw right now, which allowed them to show strong performances and reach the top of the Gosuleague standings with their win against EYES.

"You don't change a winning team" is also their philosophy on the picks: No surprises, only good and solid picks, with Invoker, Windrunner and Enchantress being there to control the lane and create space for Juggernaut to farm, with the Crystal Maiden as his back-up if necessary. On EYES squad, we have a good mix of disables and damage. Chaos Knight and Queen of Pain are there, hoping that their team mates are able to control the fights and give them room to unleash the damage. If mTw show no surprises, EYES does: they're fielding the perceptive player slasher, legendary for his Murana in WC3 DotA, playing Beastmaster.

As lane goes on, mTw shows why they're one of the most aggressive teams around. Instead of trading lanes with the opponent, they contest it, exploring the strength of Bladefury and Crystal Nova at level one, not to mention Enchantress' creeps. The action is all in the bottom lane, while Queen of Pain fights against Invoker for mid and Beastmaster against Windrunner on top. First Blood goes for mTw, but EYES get a score lead of 3-1 around the five minute mark, and Chaos Knight is getting every single creep kill on his lane.

Both teams continue to trade kills, with no one managing to get a decisive lead. A farming period goes until close to the 12 minute mark, where EYES lose Beastmaster and Queen of Pain in a fight, losing map control and the first tier mid tower. From this point, mTw starts getting the best of all the trades, winning a massive team-fight around the 14 minute mark. The score is 10-11, but mTw have a small lead. A sneaky Roshan snipe and a tower deny around the 17 minute mark furthered their lead, giving plenty of space for Juggernaut to farm. Despite his excellent farm in the beginning, Chaos Knight isn't landing the impact needed for EYES to regain the advantage. They're not that behind however: They just need one successful team-fight to recover map control.

A gank on Chaos Knight in the 21 minute mark solidifies even more mTw lead. Minutes later, EYES tries to trade towers, but mTw contest it and gets a kill and even bigger lead. With more map control and ites, mTw is just waiting for more items to kick in a while controlling EYES jungle and Roshan, trading some heroes inbetween around the 25 minute mark.

BADBURN CHAMPS

Pacific Badburn are GEST June Champions
by Kai Chua

After two days of intense competition, Pacific Badburn and iZone found themselves as the last two teams standing. In an extremely close Best of Three series, Pacific BadBurn managed to edge out iZone 2-1 and earn the right to proclaim themselves GEST June Champions.

SyndereN

syndereN: 'Being unpredictable is going to be crucial'

mTw gears up for Dreamhack this weekend after clinching the West wild card for the International.

Interview Link Click Here.

Sentinel Agility (Syllabear)

LONE DRUID
Syllabear

Strength: 17 + 2.1

Agility: 24 + 2.7

Intelligence: 13 + 1.4

ADVANCED STATISTICS
Affiliation	Sentinel	Attack Animation	0.33/0.53
Damage	46-50	Casting Animation	0.5/1.17
Armor	3.36	Base Attack Time	1.7
Movespeed	315	Missile Speed	900
Attack Range	550	Sight Range	1800/800

SYLLABEAR ‘The Lone Druid’
v6.72f	Fixed a bug with Spirit Bear's Return
v6.72d	Spirit Bear can no longer use Return if it has taken damage from a player unit in the last 3 seconds
v6.72d	Undid melee hero collision change from 6.72c
v6.72c	Melee hero collision size now reduced from 24 to 12
v6.72	Spirit Bear's Demolish decreased from 60% to 40% bonus damage versus buildings
v6.71	Fixed some rare bugs on Spirit Bear death
v6.71	Fixed a bug with Spirit Bear and Bashers
v6.69	Leash range increased to 1100
v6.69	True Form movement speed from 270 to 280
v6.69	Spirit Bear attack point improved
v6.69	Fixed common scenarios where Spirit Bear would miss its attack as the target was moving
v6.69	Casting Summon Spirit Bear while the bear is still alive will restore that bear's health instead of not allowing you to cast.
v6.69	Fixed a rare bug with Spirit Bear losing track of his items
v6.67	Fixed some minor issues with Javelin with spirit bear and invisible units
v6.66b	Fixed some potential Basher bugs on some levels of Spirit Bear
v6.64	True Form movement speed decreased by 35
v6.64	Hero movement speed increased by 10
v6.64	True Form transformation time increased from 1.45 to 2 seconds
v6.64	True Form armor increased by 2
v6.64	Spirit Bear's leash range reduced from 1500 to 925
v6.64	Spirit Bear no longer returns to Syllabear when he attacks out of leash range. Instead the bear will not attack.
v6.63b	Fixed a bug with Spirit Bear's entangle and overgrowth
v6.63	Spirit Bear's entangle no longer prevents the target from attacking
v6.63	Spirit Bear's entangle damage increased from 40/sec to 60/sec
v6.60	Added Battle Cry to all level of True Form and scaled the bonus damage/armor (20/2->20/2, 40/4, 60/6) and lowered duration (10->8 seconds)
v6.60	Changed Spirit Bear's ability progression (Lv1->Adds Inventory, Lv2->Adds Return, Lv3->Adds Entangle, Lv4->Adds Demolish and Spell Damage Reduction)
v6.60	Improved True Form's melee attack range (100->150)
v6.60	Rabid now goes on both the Spirit Bear and Lone Druid when casted instead of requiring a target
v6.60	Removed One from True Form
v6.60	Spells now last the same duration on Spirit Bear as they do on heroes
v6.58	Improved Spirit Bear's Entangle from 16 to 20% and cooldown from 6 to 5 seconds
v6.52b	Fixed an old rare bug involving Sprout and Spirit Bear
v6.52	Improved cooldown progression on Spirit Bear
v6.51	Minor bonus armor in True Form
v6.50	Improved Spirit Bear's Demolish

Hero Introduction:

The Lone Druid must command his trusted Spirit Bear with pinpoint and tactical orders just as well if not more so than his own actions. While the druid is fragile, his companion is the furthest thing from, and can keep him safe by being on a constant counter offensive. Becoming Rabid, they can gain a boost in their movement and attack speed, both useful for retreat and reentering a fight--a pattern the Lone Druid must master. The bear itself can equip items, and passively Entangle foes it attacks at times. The Druid can eventually metamorphose from his ranged, less durable state, into a melee, sturdier bear form.

Background Story:Syllabear was spared a time of great strife due to the deeds of his people. Sensing their settlement's impending destruction they turned their child into a bear and sent him into the wild. Syllabear grew up strong and savage, like the bears that inhabited the forests of his home. Using druidic powers, he can enter a state of almost rabid frenzy, and even call powerful bear companions to aid him. Awakened into his elven heritage by Furion the Prophet, Syllabear has regained his true elven form, and brings the bestial spirit of the bear to the battlefield.

SOUNDS/SAYS

1 - The Sleeper has awaken. 2 - In Nordrassil's name! 3 - I'm awake, I'm awake. 4 - Our time is short. 5 - Where shall I strike? 6 - My strength is yours. 7 - My path is clear. 8 - At once. 9 - Of course. 10 - (Yes4) 11 - Victory is at hand! 12 - Bear arms! 13 - I'll make short work of them! 14 - Only you can prevent forest fires. 15 - I'd rather be hibernating. 16 - He wasn't fuzzy, was he? 17 - Da Bears. 18 - Got any gummy humans? 19 - Can't...stop...dancing... 20 - Quit clicking on my bear ass.

SKILLS:

Summon Spirit Bear

Summons a powerful Spirit Bear companion. It randomly Entangles enemies that it attacks.

Ability Type: Active
Targeting Type: Instant
Ability Hotkey: B

Skills Table
Level	Mana Cost	Cool- down	Casting Range	Area of Effect	Duration	Allowed Targets	Effects
1	75	180	N/A	N/A	Until Killed	N/A	Summons Spirit Bear w/ 1400 hit points and inventory
2	75	160	N/A	N/A	Until Killed	N/A	Summons Spirit Bear w/ 1800 hit points – adds Return
3	75	140	N/A	N/A	Until Killed	N/A	Summons Spirit Bear w/ 2300 hit points – adds 20% Entangle
4	75	120	N/A	N/A	Until Killed	N/A	Summons Spirit Bear with 2700 hit points – adds Demolish and 33% spell resistance

Notes:

• Spells last as long on Spirit Bear as they do on heroes.
• Can attack up to 1100 range away from Syllabear. If it attacks further away, its attack will stop.
• If the Spirit Bear dies, Syllabear will take 100 mixed damage per level of Summon Spirit Bear, from the unit that killed the Spirit Bear.

Return

Immediately teleports the Spirit Bear back to Syllabear. This skill is acquired when the Spirit Bear is at level 2.

Ability Type: Active
Targeting Type: Instant
Ability Hotkey: R
Cooldown: 5
Effect: Returns the Spirit Bear back to its owner.
Notes:
• Spirit Bear cannot use Return if it has taken damage from a player unit in the last 3 seconds

DemolishCauses attacks to do 1.4 times normal damage to buildings.

Ability Type: Passive
Targeting Type: N/A
Ability Hotkey: None
Allowed Targets: Enemy Building
Effect: Attacks will deal 40% more damage against buildings

EntangleAttacks randomly cause roots to burst from the ground, immobilizing a target enemy unit for 3 seconds, and dealing 60 damage per second.

Ability Type:Passive
Targeting Type:N/A
Ability Hotkey:None
Cooldown: 5
Duration: 3 seconds (9 seconds on creeps)
Allowed Targets: Enemy Unit
Effect: 20% chance to entangle, 60 damage per second
Notes:• Damage type: physical
• This skill is an Orb Effect that's also a Buff Placer when it procs.
• A unit can't Blink or Metamorphose when affected by this skill.
• You can bash and crit at the same time Entangle is applied.
• If the target is affected by this skill and activates an invisibility spell you'll be able to see him for Entangle's duration.

Spell ResistanceSpirit Bear gains resistance against spell damage.

Ability Type:Passive
Targeting Type:N/A
Ability Hotkey:None
Effects: Gives 33% Spell Resistance

Rabid
Syllabear can create an intense combative fury in himself and his Spirit Bear Companion.

Ability Type:Active
Targeting Type:Instant
Ability Hotkey:R

Skills Table
Level	Mana Cost	Cool- down	Casting Range	Area of Effect	Duration	Allowed Targets	Effects
1	50	30	N/A	N/A	10 seconds	Seld/Spirit Bear	Increases attack speed by 10% and MS by 5%
2	50	30	N/A	N/A	10 seconds	Self/Spirit Bear	Increases attack speed by 20% and MS by 10 %
3	50	30	N/A	N/A	10 seconds	Self/Spirit Bear	Increases attack speed by 40% and MS by 20%
4	50	30	N/A	N/A	10 seconds	Self/Spirit Bear	Increases attack speed by 40% and MS by 20%

Notes:
• It affects both Syllabear and the Spirit Bear without targeting required.

Synergy
Increases the Lone Druid's synergy with his Spirit Bear and himself with each level, upgrading spells.
Ability Type:Passive
Targeting Type:N/A
Ability Hotkey:Y

Skills Table
Level	Mana Cost	Cool- down	Casting Range	Area of Effect	Duration	Allowed Targets	Effects
1	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Self / Bear	Adds +10 damage and MS on Spirit Brat, Increases Rabid duration by 10 and True Form HP w +100.
2	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Self / Bear	Adds +20 damage and MS on Spirit Bear, Increases Rabid duration by 20 and True Form HP w/ +200.
3	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Self / Bear	Adds +30 damage and MS on Spirit Bear, Increases Rabid duration by 30 and True Form HP w/ +300.
4	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Self / Bear	Adds +40 damage and MS on Spirit Bear, Increases Rabid duration by 40 and True Form HP w/ +400.

True Form
Syllabear learns to morph himself into a brown bear. Morphing into Bear Form causes Syllabear to lose his ranged advantage, by making him melee. He can morph freely between druid and bear form.
Ability Type:Toggle
Targeting Type:Instant
Ability Hotkey:F

Skills Table
Level	Mana Cost	Cool- down	Casting Range	Area of Effect	Duration	Allowed Targets	Effects
1	25	0	N/A	N/A	Until switched back	Self	Morphs into Bear Form; 250 bonus health and 4 bonus Armor and has Battle Cry
2	25	0	N/A	N/A	Until switched back	Self	Morphs into Bear Form; 250 bonus health and 4 bonus Armor and has Battle Cry
3	25	0	N/A	N/A	Until switched back	Self	Morphs into Bear Form; 600 bonus health, 8 bonus Armor, has Battle Cry

Notes:
• Has a 2 seconds transformation time.
• You can dodge stuns while transforming.
• While in this state, Syllabear will have a Base Attack Time of 1.6 seconds.
• Syllabear has base movement speed of 280 while in bear form.

Battle Cry
Adds damage and armor to nearby units controlled by Syllabear.

Ability Type:Active
Targeting Type:Instant
Ability Hotkey:C

Skills Table
Level	Mana Cost	Cool- down	Casting Range	Area of Effect	Duration	Allowed Targets	Effects
1	50	30	N/A	1000	8 seconds	Self / Spirit Bear	Adds +20 damage and 2 Armor
2	50	30	N/A	1000	8 seconds	Self / Spirit Bear	Adds +40 damage and 4 Armor
3	50	30	N/A	1000	8 seconds	Self / Spirit Bear	Adds +60 damage and 6 Armor