Amazing Tournament yet the Integrity of USA Teams Diminishes Further

It has been quite an exciting weekend in the tournament world. Unexpected by most, we saw some incredible displays of skill-level thought to be unreachable with the current build of WoW. I personally couldn't make it past the 8:00AM marker Saturday morning, but overall I hope you enjoyed the coverage early last week and the past three days; especially if you were awake for what was arguably the best come back and match of WoW tournament history.

A lot was at stake for many teams entering the tournament; SK-USA to put their money where one of their mouths was, Korean RMP's to show that they had the ability to still take the comp to the top, and the tournament in general to not end up as an epic failure due to WotLK and level 80. Needless to say, I don't think anyone was really all that disappointed with the results. It was unfortunate that America wasn't able to do as well as others, but from a viewer standpoint, the tournament was still ******* baller.

I'm really ashamed, albeit not surprised, at how some of the American teams chose to respond to their losses. It was pretty goddamn ridiculous, and throwing teammates on the chopping block is so deplorable in so many ways. In terms of SK-USA, calling out Realz as the deciding factor for falling out of the tournament is speaks volumes of the integrity of the team. Too many excuses for losing, and yet people are confused when it's blatantly evident as to why USA teams have been struggling at recent tournaments.

When you're facing Korean RMPs that have stuck with their same classes and makeups for thousands of games, have much better unity and friendship within the actual team, and haven't rotated sponsors 20 times with different players each swap, it's pretty obvious as to why they're successful. There's no doubt in my mind that all three players of SK-USA are quite good, but when you throw together a team seemingly last minute, barely practice in comparison to your competition, and have one player who has had limited experience playing one particular class, **** happens. That's not to mention that you picked the team, picked the comp, practiced the amount you chose to practice, had players use classes that they have less experience with in favor of others, and thought it sufficient in the end. Did broken classes, unbalance, and the lack of competitive RMP teams in the US really push you to a comfort level that high?

It's no wonder so many teams/players have been dropped from sponsorships, join others, or disappear entirely from the scene. There's really just no comparison in terms of overall attitude. Oh, you're an American team and you lost at the tournament? Inc. 500 excuses, finger pointing aka defacing one of your teammates in some disgustingly trashy manner, or talking **** about the team that just stomped you by telling bystanders that they played terribly and/or are terrible. And no, this isn't limited to this tournament or the players specific to this tournament; it's happened multiple times before. But really, does anyone wonder why EU trash talks so bad when specific USA teams lose?

Unless sponsors have their heads up their *****, I think the future of American representation is going to change. At this point, it's pretty safe to say that throwing 3 players together that on an individual level can be good, is completely hit-or-miss when it comes to LAN events. Not to mention, throwing three people together that are not socially comfortable with each other is usually counterproductive; clearly we've seen the real feelings surface when teams lose. Who can blame the sponsors though if they do decided to revamp how they sponsor here in the US? I can see why it's gotten to this point, and I'm sure you can too. Sometimes social etiquette and humility doesn't really matter as long as your teams perform well, but what happens when the performance is consistently not there? At this point the sponsors themselves are beginning to look bad simply because the very players smashing equipment, nerd-raging while trotting around the entire event floor, and boasting/****-talking legendarily (not a word) inappropriate amounts before the matches begin and falling apart every single time, are the players representing their names and companies.

Anyway, don't get me wrong; the tournament was amazing in itself just watching the RMP teams play. The skill level was just unprecedented, and who ever thought to see such a display when WoW is arguably in it's worst state of balance in terms of PVP. It's just ridiculous that Realz was practically blamed as the entire reason for SK-USA's lack of success. +1 if you agree.