mousesports in Choosing Your Identity Text by TL.net ESPORTS 2013 WCS Europe Choosing Your Identity After its worst year in StarCraft 2, mousesports has decided to change.



by Waxangel



Quietly hidden amidst all of WCS system changes, player retirements, Jaedong silvers, and other storylines of 2013 was the decline of mousesports. Having been a part of the big-three of international teams alongside Evil Geniuses and Team Liquid since the beginning of StarCraft 2, 2013 was a year where mouz fell to the wayside, surpassed by teams like Axiom and Acer.



So, what happened? The short answer is that they simply suffered the same fate as the entire foreign scene: They lost to Koreans. In a year where Korean progamers won every single major tournament, it was little surprise that a team that defined itself as 'not-Korean' failed to keep up. Not when their competitors were being led by elite Koreans like TaeJa, INnoVation, and Jaedong.



And so, in a colossal signing, mouz . mouz had bit the bullet, but they had their world class player.



As for the longer answer....





Nope, no foreigners here.

-photo: silverfire

Back in May, mouz



Or at least, it seemed so at the time. As it turned out, things just wouldn't pan out for mouz in 2013. Former ace MaNa saw his form drop harshly in HotS, going from championship caliber to middle-tier. Illusion and hOpe didn't quite work out as planned. Germans HasuObs and HeRoMaRinE were able to win domestic titles, but neither could make a splash in international competition. Worst of all, VortiX and Lucifron failed to pay off after looking like sure things at the time of signing. Top eight finishes were all that Lucifron could manage, whereas his brother did slightly better with a top four finish in WCS Europe. After winning multiple titles in the years past, mouz didn't even come close to sniffing a major championship in 2013.



On one hand, there seemed to be plenty of reason for mouz to stay the course. Getting wrecked by Koreans was pretty much the story for all foreigners in 2013, save a few like NaNiwa and Scarlett. Even the best prospectors don't always strike gold, and mouz could still have chalked it up as a decent year when comparing themselves to the foreigner field as a whole. There was also enough past precedent to be patient with the roster – after all ThorZaIN had taken almost a year to deliver a second major title (he delivered one immediately on signing, but only because he had been signed directly before the TSL3 finals), while MaNa took nearly two.



On the other hand, mousesports had to see the writing on the wall. With the Korean All-Kill of 2013's major events, there was no way to deny that the Korea-World skill gap was increasing. In a worrisome trend, the same standard-bearers of foreigner hope in 2012 – Stephano, NaNiwa, and Scarlett – continued to shoulder the burden in 2013. Few newcomers showed signs of being able to follow in their path. Not only that, but more Koreans were competing at foreign events than ever before. All the other foreign teams had one or more elite Koreans on their squads who received generous flight support, while the Koreans stuck on domestic teams had mastered the workings of online qualifiers and were ready to seize any opportunity. Winning a championship with a non-Korean roster had ceased to be a viable strategy.



In the end, mouz had to keep up with the Joneses. When asked for comment, mouz.Max, head coordinator of mousesport's SC2 division, said the following:



"We really liked the idea of being the only true foreign team who could compete in most tournaments. For most of the time it was very successful as well. But 2013 has shown that we can't go on with it forever. We had an eye on the Korean scene for the entire year and when we had the chance to sign Dear, we went for it. He perfectly fits into our general profile and our team. Dear was the number one on our list and our very first choice.



We want the best of both worlds, the Korean and the foreign community. This was no decision against the foreign scene or our European players. We won't abandon our hopes and goals for the foreign scene."





In happier times.

-photo: silverfire

As Evil Geniuses' recent axing of



When push came to shove, mousesports could only preserve one part of their identity. They chose winning.



Quietly hidden amidst all of WCS system changes, player retirements, Jaedong silvers, and other storylines of 2013 was the decline of mousesports. Having been a part of the big-three of international teams alongside Evil Geniuses and Team Liquid since the beginning of StarCraft 2, 2013 was a year where mouz fell to the wayside, surpassed by teams like Axiom and Acer.So, what happened? The short answer is that they simply suffered the same fate as the entire foreign scene: They lost to Koreans. In a year where Korean progamers won, it was little surprise that a team that defined itself as 'not-Korean' failed to keep up. Not when their competitors were being led by elite Koreans like TaeJa, INnoVation, and Jaedong.And so, in a colossal signing, mouz acquired two-time WCS champion and top Korean Protoss Dear . mouz had bit the bullet, but they had their world class player.As for the longer answer....Back in May, mouz acquired the Spanish brothers VortiX and Lucifron, two of the top non-Korean players not signed to a "big" team. It was an obvious move for mouz, a team that had always been on the vanguard of the European scene. Starting with the mass acquisition of Brood War and WarCraft III players during the StarCraft 2 beta, mouz had rapidly built a reputation for finding and signing future European championships, with players like Morrow, Naama, ThorZaIN, and MaNa collecting silverware for the Germany-based team. Given the brothers' past success and high regard in Europe, few were surprised to see them become the newest players to don the crimson. Alongside some more speculative acquisitions in Illusion and hOpe, mouz was set for the future.Or at least, it seemed so at the time. As it turned out, things just wouldn't pan out for mouz in 2013. Former ace MaNa saw his form drop harshly in HotS, going from championship caliber to middle-tier. Illusion and hOpe didn't quite work out as planned. Germans HasuObs and HeRoMaRinE were able to win domestic titles, but neither could make a splash in international competition. Worst of all, VortiX and Lucifron failed to pay off after looking like sure things at the time of signing. Top eight finishes were all that Lucifron could manage, whereas his brother did slightly better with a top four finish in WCS Europe. After winning multiple titles in the years past, mouz didn't even come close to sniffing a major championship in 2013.On one hand, there seemed to be plenty of reason for mouz to stay the course. Getting wrecked by Koreans was pretty much the story for all foreigners in 2013, save a few like NaNiwa and Scarlett. Even the best prospectors don't always strike gold, and mouz could still have chalked it up as a decent year when comparing themselves to the foreigner field as a whole. There was also enough past precedent to be patient with the roster – after all ThorZaIN had taken almost a year to deliver a second major title (he delivered one immediately on signing, but only because he had been signed directly before the TSL3 finals), while MaNa took nearly two.On the other hand, mousesports had to see the writing on the wall. With the Koreanof 2013's major events, there was no way to deny that the Korea-World skill gap was increasing. In a worrisome trend, the same standard-bearers of foreigner hope in 2012 – Stephano, NaNiwa, and Scarlett – continued to shoulder the burden in 2013. Few newcomers showed signs of being able to follow in their path. Not only that, but more Koreans were competing at foreign events than ever before. All the other foreign teams had one or more elite Koreans on their squads who received generous flight support, while the Koreans stuck on domestic teams had mastered the workings of online qualifiers and were ready to seize any opportunity. Winning a championship with a non-Korean roster had ceased to be a viable strategy.In the end, mouz had to keep up with the Joneses. When asked for comment, mouz.Max, head coordinator of mousesport's SC2 division, said the following:As Evil Geniuses' recent axing of Oz, aLive, and Revival reminds us, winning by itself is not especially important in esports. In such an industry, few teams made quietly winning as much a part of their identity as mouz. Though its players weren't without their own brand of unassuming charisma, mouz was never a PR machine like EG or Liquid. The fact that their players won, and won a lot, was a large part of what defined mousesports and made them notable in StarCraft 2. That, and the fact that they had no Koreans.When push came to shove, mousesports could only preserve one part of their identity. They chose winning.

phipsL Profile Joined November 2012 Germany 189 Posts #2 Heromarine will be the next foreign hope... once he finishes school ... I'm a f*cking walking paradox.

JustPassingBy Profile Blog Joined January 2011 10617 Posts #3 Meh, for me the identity of mouz was never the one winning international tournaments. In my opinion, they just sold their identity for a better performance in teamleagues. I don't blame them, but I don't have to like that move one bit...

NeThZOR Profile Blog Joined November 2010 South Africa 5205 Posts #4 Dear in more foreign tournaments now. Domination. SuperNova - 2015 | SKT1 fan for years | Dear, FlaSh, PartinG, Soulkey, Naniwa

DinoMight Profile Blog Joined June 2012 United States 3331 Posts #5 I think the more Koreans that join foreign teams, the more foreigners will get to practice with Koreans and improve their skill. Like I've said before, Koreans are not born with StarCraft 2 skills...



Good pickup for Mousesports. Also it will be nice to see Dear at more foreign events now. "Wtf I come back and find myself in camp DinoMight all of a sudden, feels weird man." -Wombat_NI

Srontgorrth Profile Joined August 2012 United States 204 Posts #6 nice write up; this sentence could use an edit though

"Few newcomers showed signs of being follow in their path." "i think that message boards were created so that shy people could be assholes"

OPL3SA2 Profile Joined April 2011 United States 371 Posts #7 Good writeup. Good synopsis of the 2013 scene. Playoffs? You're talking about playoffs?

BigFan Profile Blog Joined December 2010 TLADT 24439 Posts #8 On December 20 2013 07:29 DinoMight wrote:

I think the more Koreans that join foreign teams, the more foreigners will get to practice with Koreans and improve their skill. Like I've said before, Koreans are not born with StarCraft 2 skills...



Good pickup for Mousesports. Also it will be nice to see Dear at more foreign events now.

pretty much this. I think this was a good move. As mentioned in the article, Mouz still has to survive as well and Dear joining the team will give me a top tier protoss player improving all of the team's members. Dear going to more foreign events should be good as well. Jaedong on a foreign team made a big difference in his improvements. pretty much this. I think this was a good move. As mentioned in the article, Mouz still has to survive as well and Dear joining the team will give me a top tier protoss player improving all of the team's members. Dear going to more foreign events should be good as well. Jaedong on a foreign team made a big difference in his improvements. Former BW EiC "Watch Bakemonogatari or I will kill you." -Toad, April 18th, 2017

Noocta Profile Joined June 2010 France 12095 Posts #9 On December 20 2013 07:29 DinoMight wrote:

I think the more Koreans that join foreign teams, the more foreigners will get to practice with Koreans and improve their skill. Like I've said before, Koreans are not born with StarCraft 2 skills...



Good pickup for Mousesports. Also it will be nice to see Dear at more foreign events now.



Koreans in foreigner teams = practice for foreigners is a myth.

Stop saying that. Both the Koreans and the foreigners do 99% of their practice time on ladder. Koreans in foreigner teams = practice for foreigners is a myth.Stop saying that. Both the Koreans and the foreigners do 99% of their practice time on ladder. " I'm not gonna fight you. I'm gonna kick your ass ! "

Aeroplaneoverthesea Profile Joined April 2012 United Kingdom 1954 Posts #10 On December 20 2013 07:29 DinoMight wrote:

I think the more Koreans that join foreign teams, the more foreigners will get to practice with Koreans and improve their skill. Like I've said before, Koreans are not born with StarCraft 2 skills...



Good pickup for Mousesports. Also it will be nice to see Dear at more foreign events now.



This isn't true at all.



People have been saying this since forever and despite the fact that more and more Koreans are on foreign teams than ever before the gap between foreigners and Koreans just gets bigger and bigger. This isn't true at all.People have been saying this since forever and despite the fact that more and more Koreans are on foreign teams than ever before the gap between foreigners and Koreans just gets bigger and bigger.

JustPassingBy Profile Blog Joined January 2011 10617 Posts #11



Oh well, I still wish you all well in your future way and I hope it will work out as you planned, mouz. I had always hoped the mouz would be the one to help the foreign scene to become competitive again funded by local sponsors because of their dominance in the local scene (like in Germany and Spain, though the latter scene is still very small), so much for my hopes.Oh well, I still wish you all well in your future way and I hope it will work out as you planned, mouz.

Aeroplaneoverthesea Profile Joined April 2012 United Kingdom 1954 Posts #12 On December 20 2013 07:44 JustPassingBy wrote:

I had always hoped the mouz would be the one to help the foreign scene to become competitive again funded by local sponsors because of their dominance in the local scene (like in Germany and Spain, though the latter scene is still very small), so much for my hopes.



Oh well, I still wish you all well in your future way and I hope it will work out as you planned, mouz. I had always hoped the mouz would be the one to help the foreign scene to become competitive again funded by local sponsors because of their dominance in the local scene (like in Germany and Spain, though the latter scene is still very small), so much for my hopes.Oh well, I still wish you all well in your future way and I hope it will work out as you planned, mouz.



The foreign scene is never going to be competitive again (was it ever?) Koreans will always dominate this game. The foreign scene is never going to be competitive again (was it ever?) Koreans will always dominate this game.

Ammanas Profile Blog Joined July 2011 Slovakia 2159 Posts #13 On December 20 2013 07:14 Waxangel wrote:



As Evil Geniuses' recent axing of As Evil Geniuses' recent axing of Oz, aLive, and Revival reminds us, winning by itself is not especially important in esports.



Which is exactly what is wrong with the foreign Starcraft scene and I would also (at least partially) blame it for foreigners being unable to match Koreans. Which is exactly what is wrong with the foreign Starcraft scene and I would also (at least partially) blame it for foreigners being unable to match Koreans. JangBi forever <3 || Classic! herO! Rain! Zest! | Rogue! Hydra! Solar! | Fantasy! Cure! Reality! Sorry! Journey!

SC2ShoWTimE Profile Joined April 2011 Germany 722 Posts #14 On December 20 2013 07:43 Aeroplaneoverthesea wrote:

Show nested quote +

On December 20 2013 07:29 DinoMight wrote:

I think the more Koreans that join foreign teams, the more foreigners will get to practice with Koreans and improve their skill. Like I've said before, Koreans are not born with StarCraft 2 skills...



Good pickup for Mousesports. Also it will be nice to see Dear at more foreign events now.



This isn't true at all.



People have been saying this since forever and despite the fact that more and more Koreans are on foreign teams than ever before the gap between foreigners and Koreans just gets bigger and bigger. This isn't true at all.People have been saying this since forever and despite the fact that more and more Koreans are on foreign teams than ever before the gap between foreigners and Koreans just gets bigger and bigger.



well, most koreans who join a foreign team stay in korea and practicing cross server doesnt make much sense. well, most koreans who join a foreign team stay in korea and practicing cross server doesnt make much sense. Progamer

Bagration Profile Blog Joined October 2011 United States 18112 Posts #15 On December 20 2013 07:25 phipsL wrote:

Heromarine will be the next foreign hope... once he finishes school ...



Don't say that. It's like condemning him to follow the path of Lucifron and Major. :\ Don't say that. It's like condemning him to follow the path of Lucifron and Major. :\ Team Slayers, Axiom-Acer and Vile forever

JustPassingBy Profile Blog Joined January 2011 10617 Posts #16 On December 20 2013 07:50 SC2ShoWTimE wrote:

Show nested quote +

On December 20 2013 07:43 Aeroplaneoverthesea wrote:

On December 20 2013 07:29 DinoMight wrote:

I think the more Koreans that join foreign teams, the more foreigners will get to practice with Koreans and improve their skill. Like I've said before, Koreans are not born with StarCraft 2 skills...



Good pickup for Mousesports. Also it will be nice to see Dear at more foreign events now.



This isn't true at all.



People have been saying this since forever and despite the fact that more and more Koreans are on foreign teams than ever before the gap between foreigners and Koreans just gets bigger and bigger. This isn't true at all.People have been saying this since forever and despite the fact that more and more Koreans are on foreign teams than ever before the gap between foreigners and Koreans just gets bigger and bigger.



well, most koreans who join a foreign team stay in korea and practicing cross server doesnt make much sense. well, most koreans who join a foreign team stay in korea and practicing cross server doesnt make much sense.



Agreed, so let's drop the talk about how foreigners will benefit practise wise if their teams sign a player living in Korea. Besides, why would a team order his players in Korea to train with players outside of Korea? that would obviously benefit the other player and a team plays no favourites. Agreed, so let's drop the talk about how foreigners will benefit practise wise if their teams sign a player living in Korea. Besides, why would a team order his players in Korea to train with players outside of Korea? that would obviously benefit the other player and a team plays no favourites.

HaRuHi Profile Blog Joined November 2010 1219 Posts #17 Hopefully they become better at marketing their players aswell. Quite ballsy to aquire a Protoss, at least Korean Terrans have something going for them (As Terrans aren`t made in other countries atm).

Bowzar Profile Joined December 2011 Sweden 727 Posts #18 On December 20 2013 07:46 Ammanas wrote:

Show nested quote +

On December 20 2013 07:14 Waxangel wrote:



As Evil Geniuses' recent axing of As Evil Geniuses' recent axing of Oz, aLive, and Revival reminds us, winning by itself is not especially important in esports.



Which is exactly what is wrong with the foreign Starcraft scene and I would also (at least partially) blame it for foreigners being unable to match Koreans. Which is exactly what is wrong with the foreign Starcraft scene and I would also (at least partially) blame it for foreigners being unable to match Koreans.

Thats a really bad example. EGs brand is huge, they dont need to win anymore in order to stay relevant. Other teams that are trying to establish their brands needs to win badly. Thats a really bad example. EGs brand is huge, they dont need to win anymore in order to stay relevant. Other teams that are trying to establish their brands needs to win badly.

Fusilero Profile Blog Joined July 2011 United Kingdom 29309 Posts #19 On December 20 2013 07:56 Bagration wrote:

Show nested quote +

On December 20 2013 07:25 phipsL wrote:

Heromarine will be the next foreign hope... once he finishes school ...



Don't say that. It's like condemning him to follow the path of Lucifron and Major. :\ Don't say that. It's like condemning him to follow the path of Lucifron and Major. :\

It is his destiny, all foreign terrans must face the day when they become overhyped. It is his destiny, all foreign terrans must face the day when they become overhyped. Glorious SEA doto

Ammanas Profile Blog Joined July 2011 Slovakia 2159 Posts #20 On December 20 2013 08:01 Bowzar wrote:

Show nested quote +

On December 20 2013 07:46 Ammanas wrote:

On December 20 2013 07:14 Waxangel wrote:



As Evil Geniuses' recent axing of As Evil Geniuses' recent axing of Oz, aLive, and Revival reminds us, winning by itself is not especially important in esports.



Which is exactly what is wrong with the foreign Starcraft scene and I would also (at least partially) blame it for foreigners being unable to match Koreans. Which is exactly what is wrong with the foreign Starcraft scene and I would also (at least partially) blame it for foreigners being unable to match Koreans.

Thats a really bad example. EGs brand is huge, they dont need to win anymore in order to stay relevant. Other teams that are trying to establish their brands needs to win badly. Thats a really bad example. EGs brand is huge,. Other teams that are trying to establish their brands needs to win badly.

I shall repeat myself:

Which is exactly what is wrong with the foreign Starcraft scene and I would also (at least partially) blame it for foreigners being unable to match Koreans. I shall repeat myself:Which is exactly what is wrong with the foreign Starcraft scene and I would also (at least partially) blame it for foreigners being unable to match Koreans. JangBi forever <3 || Classic! herO! Rain! Zest! | Rogue! Hydra! Solar! | Fantasy! Cure! Reality! Sorry! Journey!

1 2 3 4 5 Next All