During my trip to the Philippines this past July, I had a chance to not only relax, kick back with the fam, but help setup a few local tournaments (SC & DotA) and got in a few interviews. One with a radio DJ that didn't know jack about gaming and my 2nd interview I sat down and talked Starcraft / Starcraft 2 with PlayGround Magazine, a local Filipino gaming mag based out of Manila.

Below is a scan from the issue featuring moi ^^ I've also transcribed the interview:

click for larger
scan thx to Paolo Bernardo

Lambs & LIONS

Leon Gaban, known to his friends and the Starcraft Online Community as "Lipton", put aside his keyboard and mouse to share with us a little history about him.

Aside from being part of the Soda Clan (hence his moniker "Lipton") he is also founder of the go-to site for anything Starcraft-Starfeeder.com. Also part of his resume' is playing a major role in the formation of the Valor Tournament, a competition that pits the best Starcraft players from around the world for a chance to win up to a thousand dollars in prize money.

STARCRAFT LOVE AFFAIR

Before being an icon among Starcraft fans, Lipton was just another gamer in the growing gaming world. "I've been gaming since the Atari consoles," he said, "but I'm really a PC gamer." So what was his favorite PC title? "King's Quest. I've beaten all the King's Quest games." That was until Starcraft arrived of course.

"No competition. Nothing compares to it," he answered when asked what he thought of Starcraft. He went on about how well it has evolved. "The fact that people are still coming up with new tactics and strategies like the Templar drop a few years ago, shows how much work Blizzard has placed into it" Not bad for a game that was released over a decade ago.

Having found his digital love, their bond gave birth to his blog site, Starfeeder. What was once a lowly Starcraft news feed, Starfeeder became the go-to site for the latest Starcraft and Blizzard updates.

"Other starcraft blogs just 'reported' the news. They get what was released by Blizzard and then posted it on their sites" he explains. "I like to include my opinion about the news - share what I think about it. I also post about what's going on in the online community." His candid nature and passion for anything Starcraft not only caught the attention of the Starcraft community, but of Blizzard's as well.

What is every Starcraft blogger's wet-dream became a reality to Lipton. His blog earned Blizzard's support, which means a lot of freebies and free passes to Blizzcon. Beta keys for upcoming Blizzard titles weren't out of the question too. So does that include Starcraft 2 beta keys? You betcha!

UP TO THE CHALLENGE

It was his run in with professional Starcraft players Nick "Tasteless" Plott and Daniel "SuperDanielMan" Lee that jump-started the Valor Tournament. Featured on GOM-TV, a famous streaming video site for Starcraft competitions, the Valor Tournament had players from 15 different countries to not only compete for cash prizes but also win the opportunity to challenge Korea's finest professional players.

With the success of the Valor Tournament resting firmly on his sleeve, Lipton begins his next quest: "I want to show that Filipinos are just as good as all the other professional Starcraft players in the world"

His base of operations will be Insomnia Planet, a 24/7 network café to be built in San Juan. As of this writing, Lipton is currently working with pinoystarcraft.com to organize a local Starcraft tournament. Initially dubbed as Pinoy Starfeeder, "it was changed to the 'Pinoy Star League' because we have to represent the Philippines. Other countries have their own Star League so we should have one too." With Lipton at the helm, it's safe to say that the Philippines will be represented well.

From popular blogger to major tournament organizer, and then spearheading the Pinoy Starcraft league, Lipton has gone a long way from how he first started out as your everyday Starcraft fanatic. So if you have that extra dose of passion for that game you love, a simple website, a little bit of dedication and naming yourself after a beverage may take your places.

Thanks again to Jason Moll who interviewed me, a few things are a little over para-phrased hehe, like SuperDanielMan being a pro player, but over all I think he got my thoughts right.


PlayGround Magazine
Starfeeder on Twitter