Article by Peter Zhang

Re-live the two 2009-2010 CSL Seasons with us, beginning with Peter's recap of Season 2!

This past year in CSL was a tension-filled drama with heart-pounding highs and tremulous lows, all played out on the familiar turf of Starcraft: Broodwar. The release of Starcraft 2 draws ever closer, signaling an end of an era - and so it is as well with the Collegiate Starcraft League. What will the future hold?

If the past is any indication, there will be growing pains for an ever growing league; surprises and suspense as players and teams struggle against one another; familiar rivalries, unknown upsets. Above all, though, we'll see the fierce competition that has grown to characterize this league - the triumph of those dedicated few with the hunger and resolve to win.

A New Beginning

Season 2 began amidst confusion and change. Among the differences between seasons were not only new players, new teams, but also a new tournament format and an entirely new league. Disagreements at the administrative level of CSL split the league into two different tournaments (CSL, Inc. and CSL+) - with the split came new ideas and new organization for CSL+. As for CSL, Inc. - well, who knows what happened to them?

For CSL+ teams were separated by region into round-robin divisions, as opposed to the Swiss format of the previous season. Seven weeks of divisional play meant seven games against teams of all skill levels; it meant seven opportunities for top teams to showcase their skill, seven chances for the underdog to shake things up and seize a playoff spot.

The format not only created more opportunities for competition but also fostered the growth of our local rivalries. Teams quickly distinguished themselves under the new format and often in pairs, snatching up playoff spots reserved for the top-two in each division - Princeton and Rutgers, Duke and Georgia Tech, UCSD and UC Irvine, to name a few. In some cases, players took things to a whole new level and decided to face-off, face-to-face.

Other teams distinguished themselves not only in the game but elsewhere...

I fell in love with UVic after hearing this.

My stomach fell in love with UChicago after seeing this.

As the season progressed from divisions to playoffs, we saw our share of chaos and coincidence - a floundering MiT narrowly edged out Tufts for the playoff spot only to be knocked out by UToronto, while Chicago, undefeated in divisions, mysteriously dropped out of the tournament - both in the first round.

In the West, we saw the rise and dominance of a pair of rivals - having emerged from the same division, both UCSD and UC Irvine saw themselves facing off again in a duel of the fates in the finals of the Western conference. Destiny, it seemed, had something greater planned for these two.

More surprising than all of those, however, was the emergence of two teams in the East that defied all expectation. The stunning upset by Princeton against Duke and UToronto, both teams that fielded an impressive lineup of players, including Duke's Nony and Toronto's Iefnaij, was unprecedented. At the same time, there was the University of Waterloo, a relative unknown and newcomer to the league quietly dispatching solid teams such as Georgia Tech and McGill.

Who would emerge victorious between UCSD and UC Irvine? Who would triumph between Princeton and Waterloo? In the end, it was UCSD who once again cast down their rivals - now and forever, they seemed to declare - and Waterloo had dictated the course of history for Princeton, just as history had for Napoleon's desperate gambit in 1815.

Finals Recap

Both Waterloo and UCSD fielded their respective all-star lineups, drawing upon the skills of their players and the depth of their teams to bring us, the spectators, what appeared to be a thrilling series. Names like uW)jackass and uW)gerbil had started to gain recognition amongst CSL fans, while players UCSD's Xeris_Xeris and Xeris_RandomKr were already known in the Starcraft community. Despite UCSD's valiant efforts, Waterloo's Michael 'Assault' Petrashko led the attack on UCSD, with his teammates following in hard-won sets to bring them to a dominating 3-0 lead. To UCSD's favor, however, their ace player, David 'Jaeyun' Kim threatened to turn the tide in the decisive game 4 on Ride of Valkyries against Waterloo's man of mystery and star player, 'Master'. Jaeyun's brilliant and inspired late-game attack overran Master and provided that glimmer of hope for UCSD to bring the series back... but would they?

Alas, it seems that fate was not on their side this time, as UCSD's prospects of victory were quickly shut down in the following set. In the end, Waterloo won, and took its place in the history of the league as a legend in its own right - from newcomers and underdogs to stealth killers and, at last, champions. But what would happen the next season...?