Robert Botha will face off against Silviu “NightEnD” Lazar, a Protoss player from Romania currently playing for world renowned gaming organisation Fnatic, in an officially sanctioned MSSA match at the StarCraft 2 Invitational Tournament hosted by Megarom and Internet Solutions. This match will be the Feature Match of the event which our country’s twelve best players will attend an 16 March. Let’s take a look at one of South Africa’s most prolific StarCraft 2 player’s profile.
Biography: Robert Botha is South Africa’s first ever StarCraft II Grandmaster and the highest achieving South African player in International tournaments. He is considered by many as South Africa’s first ever Professional gamer.
Age: 22
Province: Gauteng
Race: Protoss
Team: CMStorm
Sponsor: CMStorm
Years playing StarCraft: 3
Tournaments competed in: International e-Sports Federation World Championships (IeSF), World Championship Series (WCS), Electronic Sports World Cup (ESWC)
Achievements: Top 16 IeSF, Top 8 IeSF, Top 8 WCS Europe Combined Nationals, Top 8 ESWC 2012
League: Grandmaster
Facebook page: Robert “PandaTank” Botha
Online StarCraft II Profile: Battle.net
Last Updated: February 26, 2013
AndriyP
February 26, 2013 at 14:07
LOL
Race: Protoss
I was like What kind of race is this in South Africa…dafuq did i miss
Haha brain is slow today
GeoffChisnall
February 26, 2013 at 14:21
HAHAHA!
Admiral Chief Erwin
February 26, 2013 at 15:07
Well played!
Sir Captain Rincethis
February 26, 2013 at 14:16
MOAR details! How did he break into the industry? Luck? Or was he ‘scouted’ kindda thing?
Robert Infy Hart
February 26, 2013 at 14:39
He was invited to compete at ESWC and using his own cash, he flew over and finished top 8. His fame took off from there.
In other words, he invested a lot of time and money into developing his gaming career. A lot more than I think any other person in SA is willing to do.
Sir Captain Rincethis
February 26, 2013 at 14:40
That is damn sweet. Good for him.
ElimiNathan
February 26, 2013 at 22:32
I disagree, I think allot of gamers who are serious would pay for this opportunity
Robert Infy Hart
February 26, 2013 at 23:00
That might be true, but to my knowledge only Pandatank has done it.
ElimiNathan
February 27, 2013 at 08:37
Ye but how many other guys have been invited to compete at ESWC ?
Michael Matusowsky
February 27, 2013 at 09:29
None Eliminathan. Literally none. Not even the top DotA clans have been considered.
ElimiNathan
February 27, 2013 at 10:25
There we go
Sir Captain Rincethis
February 27, 2013 at 12:35
Is there a reason for that? They hold a grudge or something?
Michael Matusowsky
February 27, 2013 at 22:15
The reason is simple: As good as you may think SA players are… Our best clans are average at best compared to the world.
Competitions in South Africa, worthwhile ones with nice prize pools, are virtually non-existant. Thus the will to become very good is very small too. PandaTank wanted to become a professional gamer and he had a big passion for it, enough to put it in a ton of his own money in it before anything else.
Sir Captain Rincethis
February 27, 2013 at 22:22
Agreed, hadn’t thought of it that way. Even MOAR good for him 🙂 We CAN do it!
Robert Infy Hart
February 27, 2013 at 16:44
There are plenty big events such as dreamhack, where you can make a name for yourself and dont need to be invited to compete. ESWC is one of the few where you need to actually hold an invitation.
Colin Webster
February 27, 2013 at 12:30
Rob ;’PandaTank’ Botha competed in MSSA events in 2011. As a result, he qualified for National Team Trials and from there was selected to represent South Africa by the MSSA at the 2011 IeSF Championships. Through participating again in MSSA events in 2012, PandaTank was again selected to represent SA by the MSSA in the 2012 IeSF Championships.
Magiel de Lange
February 28, 2013 at 11:09
This is true Collin but it didn’t put him in a ESWC seat. He played the online qualifiers that blizzard had made available to the public and he toped the tables earning a seat at ESWC. Pandatank then had to choose will he spend his own money to go since no local sponsor or team even his federation was willing to give him the money to go overseas. He took the gable and it paid off. Making a name for yourself is a few tournament wins on the international level away . As Infy stated he is the first played to take the gable on him own with no help from others and made it big time.
invited to AM razer academy house ? international team/sponsor CMStorm
http://www.ges-sa.co.za/Gaming/news.php?post_id=204
http://oovoo.tv/news/pandatank (rebroadcast gameplay)
what local player / clan can say that ?
magiel “enjoy” de lange
ElimiNathan
February 26, 2013 at 22:31
Awesome, so glad someone from SA finally got exposure cos there are ALLOT of good “underground” gamers here
Alwyn Venter
February 26, 2013 at 23:43
Like a boss! Backing you all the way dude. Go for gold!
Tyron Bennett
February 27, 2013 at 07:41
Can anyone link some replays of his. I would love to watch them.
Yolanda Green
February 27, 2013 at 09:53
Here are some HoTS replays he’s made available: http://www.mediafire.com/?snu73ukwu3rpst8 🙂
FreeStanler
February 27, 2013 at 14:26
Does anyone know whether heart of the Swarm will release with a discount for Wings of Liberty?
Cooler Master South Africa
March 2, 2013 at 19:38
We’re proud to sponsor PandaTank and look forward to a beautiful relationship.