a9arnn Profile Blog Joined July 2009 United States 1533 Posts Last Edited: 2013-04-27 13:46:16 #1



It isn’t hard to notice what’s going on in the StarCraft community on any given day. There are so many discussions about the game, major tournaments, and the overarching StarCraft community. From the the latest roster changes to the fluffiest details, everything seems to be covered, right? But what about the local, hometown communities?



So we've all heard of MLG, NASL, and WCS. What about the DC LANs, NESC2League events, or Gameclucks Monthlies? Clarity Gaming has been around for less than a year, and we are not only striving to see our team grow as a brand, but to see local communities grow as well. One of the things we commonly hear from people when going to a major event is, "they have a StarCraft community there!?" We are looking to change that, and this will be a new article series where every month we will be getting to know a little big more about a specific region of North American StarCraft. Welcome to the Clarity Community Highlight!



















This week we’re going to focus on one of the most active local communities in North America, the Washington, DC area! The DC area StarCraft community has been around for a nearly four years, since before the dawn of SC2. This community started off pretty big for Brood War, with familiar TL names like and (known as SuperiorWolf) initiating the first LAN. In Brood War, the community was much smaller, but the first event in 2009 drew in 21 people from around the area, comparable to small town events now.





The first DC meetup, you might recognize a few of these faces!



An interesting part about the first LAN was that it was not just the first LAN in the DC area, but it was the first LAN for many of its attendees. This shared interest was about to turn into one of the biggest, tightly-knit community in StarCraft. “I felt like everyone bonded a lot in DC,” said Conan “ Suppy” Liu, one of the organizers of the first DC LAN. “I had a lot of fun. The DC LAN went to another level when we all got dinner together and had





The Annandale area of Virginia is the home of a large Korean community, making it the perfect home of the DC LANs. There is a large amount of PC Bangs in the area, allowing for options when having a LAN when one closes down or when an owner gets too overwhelming to be around. After each event, the players all usually go out for Korean BBQ, making it a great time to hang out and relax in a non-tournament environment.



For the Brood War era, the



1: SuperiorWolf (better known now as Suppy)

2: LuckyFool

3: Orb





The first DC LAN winner licking some dollar bills kissing his trophy.





After the first DC LAN in the Summer of 2009, LuckyFool continued to organize DC LAN Events every few months. LuckyFool planned the events around the time a notable name or many notable names would be in the area. This was no exception when he held a



When Wings of Liberty was released, the DC area had its



The LANs provide an opportunity for the chance to talk about Starcraft with anyone there. From Nan “





The DC area is home to a lot of non-tournament meetups as well, including a Weekly Dinner, Barcrafts, finals meetups, and the occasional BBQ. Meetups are some of the best ways to get to know everyone in the area, as you’ll be able to just relax and talk without having a tournament environment when you have to focus on your games.





The most frequent event that happens in the DC area is the





Some of the awesome people that like eating food, thanks to CaucasianAsian for the picture!



as well as semi-regulars, and always some new faces that pop up! Jess “Zombiegrub”, player and DC event regular, stated, “Just check the thread, because we try and be religious about posting when we -won't- be going. Also, ask for a phone number cuz it's hard to find even with GPS.” New people are treated well, “especially if they answer that Brood War is the best game in the world”. Joking aside, the people at the dinners are like a family, and will welcome any newcomers with open arms.





Barcrafts are also a great place to meetup and meet some great people in and around Washington, DC. Not only do they have showmatches in hallways, they actually are a great way to meet up with other nerds!





Just LuckyFool playing for $300 squatting in front of a computer.



Joking aside, attending a barcraft will not only get you drunk, but you’ll meet some great people and have a good time talking about life, the universe, and Starcraft!





Don’t worry, food isn’t the only thing on the minds of the DC residents, as we all know everyone in the area is a gamer too! The game of choice in the DC area is Brood War, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have SC2 and Dota 2 action every once in awhile. “We try and play all the time,” Zombiegrub explained to me. They have mini Brood War tourneys “and play FFAs and [the like] often too.” Peter “d3_crescentia” Zhang stated, “there were points in time when SC2 wasn’t doing well that we had nostalgiatrips for BW.”



Other, less frequent events that happen in the DC area are Storrzerg BBQs, as well as Muffin Game of Thrones nights, which happen when they have free time. BBQs happen every few months, be sure to look out in the TL Community section for threads on those. Not only do you get to eat some delicious food, but you also get to play Mafia with some of the most devious players out there.





Any community would not exist without any people, and the DC area is like no other. “I think the connections made in DC were a really important factor in my success in Starcraft,” Suppy commented, “going to tournaments and knowing I have friends rooting for me is very motivating, especially when I go online and read them posting about me on Teamliquid and supporting me .”



Suppy isn’t the only one praising the DC community, it’s a sense of community that brings people together and get conversations going, and it just isn’t something you can get at any event. “The major difference between a major event and a local event is strong sense of community and how easy it is to get know the other people around you in your local scene,” said NanMan, caster and host of SC2 Up and Coming; he had been impacted in a big way when meeting DC locals, “I would say there is probably no way that I could be where I am right now as a caster if it wasn't for the chance that Rob[LuckyFool] gave me. I will always have a connection with the DC area because it's pretty much where I got my start.”



Meeting in real life also has benefits you might not think of right away, “meeting up and sharing esports gossip in person and saying stuff you wouldn’t say on forums, stuff like that is interesting,” said LuckyFool. Zombiegrub talked about her improvement as a player, “I was a diamond scrub when I first met them, and now I'm top masters. Just being involved with so many people, it’s so supportive, y'know?” it is really rewarding to become friends with everyone and meet some people you otherwise would never have met. As d3_crescentia mentioned, “Our delightful cast of characters will do our best to make your experience memorable so you keep coming back.”



To give some more detail as to how everyone got to where they are, I got to talk to each of them about their first DC LAN experience.



LuckyFool: He was the original organizer for the first DC LAN and was important in the continuation of events and organization of information.



It first formed in 2009, Suppy was in town and posted a thread on TL if people were interested in meeting up for a LAN. Surprisingly, 30+ people responded, which seemed really crazy considering this was long before SC2 times. We eventually ended up having a LAN that July.” In response to my comment about so many notable names from the area, LuckyFool replied with, “I think most of us would have continued what we were doing regardless of our local community, but it sure helped.



Suppy: The co-organizer of the first DC LAN, as well as the winner of it all had a bit to say about his local growth.



After the first LAN event, many of the people from DC and I continued to hang out. In 2009 I believe we did a couple of dinners together, but in 2010 is when the community really began to thrive and there was a dinner meetup at Il Mee Buffet (KBBQ Buffet) every week. When I went back to Berkeley I made sure to include things like a group dinner in LANs because of how essential I felt they were.



Hosting a LAN or building a community is so incredibly rewarding, and it is not so daunting a task once you begin to work on it. You might think it's hard because you're an introvert, or you are out of your comfort zone, but if anything this is the perfect opportunity to meet great people while strengthening your social skills as well. I made a lot of mistakes with my LANs, and had a lot of embarrassments as well.



I clearly remember when I called the LAN center for the first time, simply to ask if there was no event on the Saturday we were hosting the LAN. It took me a lot of prodding from my friends to make the phone call, and I was shaking during it because I was so nervous, and looking back it seems so nonsensical! But really, just go out there and start. It honestly all began when I made a Teamliquid thread asking if there was any interest, and then grew from there. So just take the first step! You'll find it is worth it indeed.



d3_crescentia: An attendee of the first LAN, and a DC Admin and occasional content producer, had some information on his path that led him to the DC LAN



I was a competitive SSBM player in college and went to some tournaments for that, but when Brawl came out in late 2007, I decided the game wasn't worth it and so I kind of quit altogether. In spring of 2009, Hazelynut started the CSL, and so I participated in that; after I got home we decided to look into some local area events.



The story behind attending the first LAN was that there was a Princeton student (who knew my sister through school) who had an internship in the area and had met with Conan[Suppy]. I wasn't that involved in the beginning; I just happened to know some people that were involved in putting on the first few. I think we really started to develop a community after the first few LANs when we were starting to do Korean BBQ dinners.



I think it was the regularity of the events that allowed people to start to develop relationships and friendly rivalries and things like that. There were some people in the community (that are still here today) that are just great people to hang around.





NanMan: Current caster for the DC LAN events, his experiences in the DC area shaped where he is today and what he continues to do in the DC community.







was the first LAN event that I had ever been to in my life. One of my friends and younger brother drove the hour down to the event and played in it. None of us made it out of our groups but we all had a blast. I remember watching other people play and just chatting with people about Starcraft. It had so much of an effect on me that I made sure to look up all future tournaments and made sure to tell everyone else I knew about them.



I had been playing at 3 different events and attending a few other ones to hang out with everyone, but the last event that I played in, the original caster of the events was upset by the lack of views that we were getting. The next DC event ended up having to switch PC Cafes and I remember chatting with Rob[LuckyFool] asking him if I could cast up that event after what happened. He was awesome enough to give me a chance and I've been casting the DC LANs ever since.



Thank you to everyone who comes out to the events or watches the stream. One of the reasons the DC area is one of the best communities is because of everyone involved not just guys that help set up and produce the event, but all the guys that come out to test their skills, meet new people, hang out with old friends, or just watch and see how everyone is playing in the scene. Everyone involved helps keep the scene alive and helps keeps these events going year after year. So thank you everyone! I got very lucky with stumbling across the DC LAN sign up thread on TL. This was the summer of 2011, about the time I had started up a clan with a group of friends/family; I was just looking for more tournaments for all of us to practice in. DC LAN #6 at Cyberground was the first LAN event that I had ever been to in my life. One of my friends and younger brother drove the hour down to the event and played in it. None of us made it out of our groups but we all had a blast. I remember watching other people play and just chatting with people about Starcraft. It had so much of an effect on me that I made sure to look up all future tournaments and made sure to tell everyone else I knew about them.I had been playing at 3 different events and attending a few other ones to hang out with everyone, but the last event that I played in, the original caster of the events was upset by the lack of views that we were getting. The next DC event ended up having to switch PC Cafes and I remember chatting with Rob[LuckyFool] asking him if I could cast up that event after what happened. He was awesome enough to give me a chance and I've been casting the DC LANs ever since.Thank you to everyone who comes out to the events or watches the stream. One of the reasons the DC area is one of the best communities is because of everyone involved not just guys that help set up and produce the event, but all the guys that come out to test their skills, meet new people, hang out with old friends, or just watch and see how everyone is playing in the scene. Everyone involved helps keep the scene alive and helps keeps these events going year after year. So thank you everyone!



Zombiegrub: Caster/Player, gave some insight on her involvement in some DC festivities.





I saw the thread [for DC] when I first found out about TL/esports being competitive (early 2011?), but it was so far away I never went. I went to a DC LAN mid 2012 and met some cool people, then to the dinner that Saturday. Annnnd the rest is history.



I was impressed with meeting LuckyFool after seeing he had his own Liquipedia (which I was amazed at), but didn't talk to many 'regulars' until the next dinner. My first impression was how cool it was I could literally sit eating Korean food (which I've never had before) and talking about nothing but Starcraft.



Come to the dinner. We had a newcomer our last dinner and he was very cool. He was a little star-strucked when we mentioned Illusion coming to dinner occasionally haha. It was the best decision I ever made to attend the dinner. It's seriously one of the best things you can do, getting involved in a community.





Unfortunately other community members were unable to comment, but there are many that are involved in other organizations in esports!



Be sure to check out





If you live around the Washington, DC area, here are some threads for a bit more information on them! There will be a DC LAN coming up sometime in May, as well as a dinner coming up soon! Attending a meetup will be an unforgettable experience and you’ll meet many new friends in the gaming community.



Weekly Dinner:

DC Area Archives:





Special thanks to everyone that made this article possible, be sure to check out everyone below!



Follow DC (And Suppy):

d3_crescentia: @d3_crescentia

LuckyFool: @LuckyFool88

NanMan: @TheRealNanMan

Suppy/Superiorwolf: @EGSuppy

Zombiegrub: @ZGGaming



Graphics Template and Content Gathering:

Insidia: @cinsidia

Winter: @WinterSC2



If any of you would like to have your community highlighted by Clarity Gaming, feel free to PM me here on TL or tweet





It isn’t hard to notice what’s going on in the StarCraft community on any given day. There are so many discussions about the game, major tournaments, and the overarching StarCraft community. From the the latest roster changes to the fluffiest details, everything seems to be covered, right? But what about the local, hometown communities?So we've all heard of MLG, NASL, and WCS. What about the DC LANs, NESC2League events, or Gameclucks Monthlies? Clarity Gaming has been around for less than a year, and we are not only striving to see our team grow as a brand, but to see local communities grow as well. One of the things we commonly hear from people when going to a major event is, "they have a StarCraft community there!?" We are looking to change that, and this will be a new article series where every month we will be getting to know a little big more about a specific region of North American StarCraft. Welcome to the Clarity Community Highlight!This week we’re going to focus on one of the most active local communities in North America, the Washington, DC area! The DC area StarCraft community has been around for a nearly four years, since before the dawn of SC2. This community started off pretty big for Brood War, with familiar TL names like LuckyFool and Suppy (known as SuperiorWolf) initiating the first LAN. In Brood War, the community was much smaller, but the first event in 2009 drew in 21 people from around the area, comparable to small town events now.An interesting part about the first LAN was that it was not just the first LAN in the DC area, but it was the first LAN for many of its attendees. This shared interest was about to turn into one of the biggest, tightly-knit community in StarCraft. “I felt like everyone bonded a lot in DC,” said Conan “Suppy” Liu, one of the organizers of the first DC LAN. “I had a lot of fun. The DC LAN went to another level when we all got dinner together and had Hazelynut [Mona] teaching us dance moves outside between games.”The Annandale area of Virginia is the home of a large Korean community, making it the perfect home of the DC LANs. There is a large amount of PC Bangs in the area, allowing for options when having a LAN when one closes down or when an owner gets too overwhelming to be around. After each event, the players all usually go out for Korean BBQ, making it a great time to hang out and relax in a non-tournament environment.For the Brood War era, the first DC LAN had an incredible turnout of 21 people, rounding out with a top 3 of some names you might know today:1:SuperiorWolf (better known now as Suppy)2:LuckyFool3:OrbAfter the first DC LAN in the Summer of 2009, LuckyFool continued to organize DC LAN Events every few months. LuckyFool planned the events around the time a notable name or many notable names would be in the area. This was no exception when he held a LAN one week after WCG USA Grand Finals in 2009, as well as in November of 2009 . The tournaments have been the gathering for some of the biggest North American names in BW, including names like Louder, Gretorp, Machine, etc. All of this set a foundation of a solid community going into SC2, when Wings of Liberty released in 2010.When Wings of Liberty was released, the DC area had its biggest LAN to date . With over 50 players, this DC LAN was a organizational beast, but LuckyFool managed the event well, having morning and afternoon group stages, as well as an evening bracket leading to the grand finals.The LANs provide an opportunity for the chance to talk about Starcraft with anyone there. From Nan “ NanMan ” Johnson, “everyone at the event had the same passion and interest in this game [StarCraft] as I did.” This is one of the biggest factors when attending a local LAN, that some areas are better than others at; not everyone has as open and passionate group of people as the Washington, DC area.The DC area is home to a lot of non-tournament meetups as well, including a Weekly Dinner, Barcrafts, finals meetups, and the occasional BBQ. Meetups are some of the best ways to get to know everyone in the area, as you’ll be able to just relax and talk without having a tournament environment when you have to focus on your games.The most frequent event that happens in the DC area is the Weekly Nerd Dinner , which happens almost every Saturday. There are a handful of frequent dinner-goersas well as semi-regulars, and always some new faces that pop up! Jess “Zombiegrub”, player and DC event regular, stated, “Just check the thread, because we try and be religious about posting when we -won't- be going. Also, ask for a phone number cuz it's hard to find even with GPS.” New people are treated well, “especially if they answer that Brood War is the best game in the world”. Joking aside, the people at the dinners are like a family, and will welcome any newcomers with open arms.Barcrafts are also a great place to meetup and meet some great people in and around Washington, DC. Not only do they have showmatches in hallways, they actually are a great way to meet up with other nerds!Joking aside, attending a barcraft will not only get you drunk, but you’ll meet some great people and have a good time talking about life, the universe, and Starcraft!Don’t worry, food isn’t the only thing on the minds of the DC residents, as we all know everyone in the area is a gamer too! The game of choice in the DC area is Brood War, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have SC2 and Dota 2 action every once in awhile. “We try and play all the time,” Zombiegrub explained to me. They have mini Brood War tourneys “and play FFAs and [the like] often too.” Peter “d3_crescentia” Zhang stated, “there were points in time when SC2 wasn’t doing well that we had nostalgiatrips for BW.”Other, less frequent events that happen in the DC area are Storrzerg BBQs, as well as Muffin Game of Thrones nights, which happen when they have free time. BBQs happen every few months, be sure to look out in the TL Community section for threads on those. Not only do you get to eat some delicious food, but you also get to play Mafia with some of the most devious players out there.Any community would not exist without any people, and the DC area is like no other. “I think the connections made in DC were a really important factor in my success in Starcraft,” Suppy commented, “going to tournaments and knowing I have friends rooting for me is very motivating, especially when I go online and read them posting about me on Teamliquid and supporting me.”Suppy isn’t the only one praising the DC community, it’s a sense of community that brings people together and get conversations going, and it just isn’t something you can get at any event. “The major difference between a major event and a local event is strong sense of community and how easy it is to get know the other people around you in your local scene,” said NanMan, caster and host of SC2 Up and Coming; he had been impacted in a big way when meeting DC locals, “I would say there is probably no way that I could be where I am right now as a caster if it wasn't for the chance that Rob[LuckyFool] gave me. I will always have a connection with the DC area because it's pretty much where I got my start.”Meeting in real life also has benefits you might not think of right away, “meeting up and sharing esports gossip in person and saying stuff you wouldn’t say on forums, stuff like that is interesting,” said LuckyFool. Zombiegrub talked about her improvement as a player, “I was a diamond scrub when I first met them, and now I'm top masters. Just being involved with so many people, it’s so supportive, y'know?” it is really rewarding to become friends with everyone and meet some people you otherwise would never have met. As d3_crescentia mentioned, “Our delightful cast of characters will do our best to make your experience memorable so you keep coming back.”To give some more detail as to how everyone got to where they are, I got to talk to each of them about their first DC LAN experience.: He was the original organizer for the first DC LAN and was important in the continuation of events and organization of information.: The co-organizer of the first DC LAN, as well as the winner of it all had a bit to say about his local growth.: An attendee of the first LAN, and a DC Admin and occasional content producer, had some information on his path that led him to the DC LAN: Current caster for the DC LAN events, his experiences in the DC area shaped where he is today and what he continues to do in the DC community.: Caster/Player, gave some insight on her involvement in some DC festivities.Unfortunately other community members were unable to comment, but there are many that are involved in other organizations in esports!Be sure to check out Hazelynut and the CSL Muffins with ONOG and Barcrafts Orb with ESV , as well as some active TL community members like CaucasianAsian, Storrzerg, Torenhire, EvilTeletubby, etc.If you live around the Washington, DC area, here are some threads for a bit more information on them! There will be a DC LAN coming up sometime in May, as well as a dinner coming up soon! Attending a meetup will be an unforgettable experience and you’ll meet many new friends in the gaming community.Weekly Dinner: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=129574 DC Area Archives: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=156671 Special thanks to everyone that made this article possible, be sure to check out everyone below!If any of you would like to have your community highlighted by Clarity Gaming, feel free to PM me here on TL or tweet @a9azn2 VOD finder guy for sc2ratings.com/ ! aka: ogndrahcir, a9azn2 | Go ZerO, Stork, Sea, and KawaiiRice :D | nesc2league.com/forum/index.php | youtube.com/watch?v=oaGtjWL5mZo