DeKay Debrief: StarLadder DMCAs, Complexity controversy, CR4ZY remain underrated We have reached the New Legends Stage of the StarLadder Berlin Major and before we talk about what\u2019s to come, let\u2019s take a look back at key moments from the New Challengers Stage. StarLadder vs. Streamers I can\u2019t help but feel the first stage of the Major was marred by the fact that StarLadder went on the offensive by filing DMCA takedown notices against a number of Twitch streamers for streaming GOTV without permission. Everyone involved has had their infraction revoked, but then were met with either having to insert advertisements into their stream or pay money to gain GOTV streaming access. Each day that passes without a statement from Valve clarifying the situation leaves me fearing that they have in fact given full control over every broadcast medium to StarLadder. Less than 24 hours remain until the New Legends Stage starts, so if they\u2019re going to say something it needs to be today. 600Right now, we know that in April of 2018 Valve explicitly told a streamer that broadcasting via GOTV was allowed. The question is, has that changed? If it has, why did it change? This wasn\u2019t even an issue in the past because most organizers realize the added value streamers bring to the viewing experience. Despite most Majors having the best talent in the world with experienced members of production, that style isn\u2019t for everyone. If I\u2019m honest, I actually prefer watching the Major through a secondary stream. It\u2019s more mellow and allows me to tune out from time to time while getting work done. If I was in charge of a Major, I\u2019d be shouting from my social media that as many streamers as possible should stream GOTV. StarLadder is concerned about what they are getting in return rather than what they should actually be focusing on: getting as many people as possible watching the event. The Major should always be a celebration of the game and this definitely doesn\u2019t feel like one. I\u2019m tired of Valve giving Majors to organizers that spend all of their time focusing on the bottom line instead of the overall product and getting eyes on the game. Jason Lake goes off Just moments after the 1-3 performance from Complexity in the New Challengers stage, Jason Lake published a tweet that exploded. It was met with praise and equal amounts of criticism, due to the timing and nature of his sentiment. I think there is an argument on both sides, but let\u2019s step through what happened and what\u2019s actually possible. As for the tweet itself, I don\u2019t particularly think it was an issue but there is a chance that it may have scared off a handful of candidates. I\u2019m not easily offended though. There are fragile star players out there that probably don\u2019t want to play for someone who is capable of saying something like that right after a poor performance. The thing is, I don\u2019t think Jason Lake wants a player that fragile. In that case, it\u2019s a win-win. I love our players as individuals but these results won\u2019t be tolerated. If you\u2019re a Tier 1 player looking for a fresh start at the best facility in the world, HMU. I\u2019ll pay your buyout and give you the world\u2019s highest salaries. Let\u2019s build a juggernaut. Spread the word. \u2014 Jason Lake (@JasonBWLake) August 25, 2019 What I did like about the tweet is it shows a sense of urgency and is likely the tipping point from where Complexity become big spenders instead of trying to get \u201cthe best bang for the buck\u201d type players. If you\u2019re a fan of the organization, you probably loved it. Sure, there are ways to get the point across without saying something like that, but trust me his inbox is now full of players who are interested in signing up. That shit worked. I think it would have been met with far less criticism if he tweets it following the end of the Major and had discussed the future of the team with his players in depth. Fans shouldn\u2019t be asking if Complexity can afford some of the world\u2019s best players because they absolutely can. The question instead should be, which players are available to grab and will they mesh well together? If I had to guess, I\u2019d wager that Owen \u201coBo\u201d Schlatter is the only safe player on the team. Shahzeeb \u201cShahZaM\u201d Khan has played well, so there is a case that can be made for him, but I\u2019m not so sure. In every team that forms, players make sacrifices in their roles and spots they like to play. Do three or four tier one players exist on the market right now that are willing to do that? If so, are they willing to move to the United States (if they don\u2019t live there already)? Assembling the pieces of the puzzle here is the difficult part and that will take some time. I don\u2019t expect much to happen for a couple of weeks. CR4ZY set to go even more crazy If you follow my work you\u2019ll know that I\u2019ve been on the CR4ZY hype train for months now. I\u2019ve written about their two star players here and here. I\u2019ve considered them one of the most underrated teams in the world and I still believe they might be underrated in the New Legends Stage. As I write this, many people do not have them advancing to the playoffs, but I do. The unfortunate part is that they play Team Liquid for their first match-up, which is just about the hardest opponent. I wouldn\u2019t write them off entirely though, as Liquid has yet to play an official match yet. If they can get the ball rolling early, it might be too much to handle as Liquid gets warmed up. I still see CR4ZY making it through though, even with a loss against Liquid. They can hang with and beat teams like ENCE, FaZe Clan, NiP, and MIBR.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DeKay Debrief: StarLadder DMCAs, Complexity controversy, CR4ZY remain underrated We have reached the New Legends Stage of the StarLadder Berlin Major and before we talk about what\u2019s to come, let\u2019s take a look back at key moments from the New Challengers Stage. StarLadder vs. Streamers I can\u2019t help but feel the first stage of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37999\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}