WC3 FFA Shoutcasts by FML

[ex0duz]

I'm not sure if money was the main determining factor in how they chose to play.. and when i say 'chose, i mean how they ended up playing.. because IMO they probably didn't actively choose to play the way they did. They just did what they thought of on the fly, and i'm guessing a lot of that is just solo hero harassing(like if you get AOE channeling hero) on peon lines, or creping till level 32(for good creeping heroes, like summoning heroes). So yeah. Imagine you just started a game, then you have a couple seconds to decide what strategy to do/play and what units to make. Even just playing solo would be hard enough to come up with a strategy on the fly like that, let alone with a partner, and let alone to co-ordinate timings also if they are playing online(i assume it's online), and i also assume that not every team has mic/skype/live-chat etc..

And yeah. I think the FFA format would suit the Random Hero format the best, because like you said, the maps are greatly limiting in regards to strategies chosen and the freedom it allows players who want to try different strategies and still prioritize winning.. heh

This is why i don't like to watch ladder maps, because players know the ins and outs of it so well that doing anything other than the cookie with the most common heroes will usually result in a quick loss.

Even someone like Axslav would be hard pressed to come up with a viable/interesting strat on the fly like that with random heroes(unless he gets a hero that he has already has experience with). So basically if you wanna do something 'funky' and win, you would have to theorycraft every possible combination before the game even starts, and even then, you can refine/tailor it even further to each individual map. And sadly, i really doubt any of the players would be doing anything like that in this day and age of war3(along with there being way too many combinations.. IIRC, it also even allows duplicate heroes). Someone like Axslav probably would, but i think he's the exception rather than the rule. But that's why we <3 him. The players are probably just lazy and 'winging' it without actually doing any 'theorycraft' at all. :P

Maybe if the prizemoney was huge and the interest was there, then players would put the effort into doing the above and coming up with funky/winning strategies. So yeah, i don't think the money is really a factor in all this, the only way it would be is if it was big money(along with there being a huge viewership) and then they would go the extra mile and do the extra 'prep' that would be needed to pull off the interesting/innovative strats that we all wanna see..

And thanks for the new links. I will watch it now as i have my dinner

EDIT: the HLA game you linked has decent volume co-ordination(although you're still a tad loud) compared to the other VOD i saw.

[ex0duz]

Actually, i'm watching the HLA game now, and UD might not be too bad. Why? Because ORB. HLA's DH is a beast, with like 2 elven agility boots(or whatever they are called), a claw, and orb..

I really REALLY want to see a decked out BM with claws and orb. Maybe some bloodlust, and unholy frenzy, and gloves of haste too(ok maybe not, since already have lust and unholy frenzy, so replace with claws+). That would literally be a one man army.. then you get some stun, entangle, and i don't think any hero is gonna survive that stun + BM focus.

That's literally been my most fun strat to ever do vs comp, but i would have to possess an orc and build orc t3 and get BM for my third hero and for lust.. lol. Anyway, will watch the rest of the game now. It's been really interesting so far, i kinda had a feeling though that the 2 DH's were gonna own after since KOTG is good for early game, since after destro comes entangle is pretty much useless and kotg sux compared to DH lvl 6, especially 2 of them lol

EDIT: wow, nice game.

Spoiler

Surprised that the winner took it too. that BM/bladestorm was beastly.. but i think HLA stuffed up abit by not fighting with metamorphis, otherwise he woulda owned i think. along with the BM having invuln and them not having one.. it basically came down to the battle of the one man armies since they both had like +30 dmg at least on each hero.. the BM > DH this time lol

I wish all games could be like this. There definitely needs to be at least 1 UD for orb of corruption. Orb of Corruption rocks. But that just might be my bias as a 'pure' UD player.. UD 4 lyfez y0! heh. They really need to experiment with unholy frenzy + orb and DH/BM like i said(or on a Pitlord with cleave.. + AOE stun so he can cleave good, and also lust/frenzy/orb on alchemist with rage!). ALong with lust.

I forgot to mention, but one man armies are the MOST interesting thing for me by far.. lol. That game came close, and that's why it was such a fun game to see. The orc however, wasn't creative enough to go lust and buff HLA's DH(along with getting unholy frenzy and getting worms), but yeah. I guess it's not a BM and i guess i'm asking for a bit much here lol).

[practicemage]

As always, thanks for the feedback exo!

FML Custom Game

Map: Sanctuary

Players
:USA: :ne: Seksi
:Bulgaria: :ud: Magadansky
:Canada: :hu: Renaud
enmark: :hu: zTsoso
:USA: Alien
:France: :hu: Valefort
Fetta
:ud: 21102012

Casters
:USA: Mage
:USA: Mog

[practicemage]

FML Season 20 Q9

Map: Deadlock

Players
:USA: :ne: Mog[Skynet]
:USA: :ud: Fow
:USA: :ra: AlienWareOwnz
:USA: :ra: Seksi

[practicemage]

FML Season 20 Semi-Finals!

Map: Emerald Isles

Players
:Hungaria: Tyrant66
enmark: zTsoso
:World: :ne: CallMeImba
:Sweden: :ra: DkH.No1cansaveu

[ex0duz]

Wow, is that really a 4+ hour game? haha

And yeah. If you're gonna list a few, can you give a little description or let us know the 'selling point' of that particular replay? Because yeah. I don't think everyone has the time to look through every replay(not even you mage! :P), so telling us what the good thing about it is.. maybe also do it under spoiler tags if it's something like "really close finish". But other than that, i'm looking for stuff like what the hero comboes are(i think maybe just this description would be enough), and if they are high level or not, the races involved, and also the map would be enough. Thanks.

So yeah, just put the races/map in the title, and maybe put more details in the youtube description(like high level heroes, close finish, unit comboes like mass griff/gargs, chippo, towers/tanks, etc etc..

[practicemage]

Hmm, you're actually the first one to suggest this, but its a good idea. I'll work on adding better descriptions to the video and possibly coming up with a template for the graphic that could help. As for this one, don't waste your time. The last 5 minutes of it are somewhat amusing but its an awful game that I only uploaded because we spent so much time live casting it.

[practicemage]

FML Showmatch #2

Map: Silverpine Forest

Caster
Mage

Players
(Human) Hawk
(Human) htrt.
(Undead) Magadansky
(Orc) Ostone



Very good action packed game, highly recommend it!

[practicemage]

PlayFFA Cup V Finals

Map: Market Square

Casters
Mage
Kenostrikesback

Players
(Orc) Ostone
(Hu) htrt
(Ud) Alien
(Hu) Shaved

[practicemage]

FML Custom

Players
(Hu) htrt
(Ud) Magadansky
(Hu) zTsoso
(Ud) DNIWE-Vova

Caster
Mage

[practicemage]

PlayFFA Cup V: Round 1

Casters
Mage
Persuade

Players
(Undead) Lucifer
(Undead) Mamrot
(Elf) Tinkertinker
(Undead) Yodastar

[ex0duz]

^^Is that THE lucifer?

[practicemage]

Yup