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StarCraft in esports

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The computer game StarCraft has an active professional competition circuit, particularly in South Korea. The two major game channels in South Korea, Ongamenet and MBCGame, each run a Starleague, viewed by millions of fans. Starting in about 2002, pro-gamers started to become organized into teams, sponsored by large South Korean companies like SK Telecom and KTF. These organized teams are like teams from professional sports such as football, basketball, etc. StarCraft is also the most popular computer game competition during the annual World Cyber Games thanks to its Korean fanbase, and it is overall one of the world's largest computer and video game competition in terms of prize money, global coverage and participants. [1][2]

KeSPA Player Rankings

KeSPA stands for Korean e-Sports Players Association and publishes a monthly calculation of rankings based on a point scale. It is a rolling system based on the past three months of performance in both major and minor events, awarding points based on winning percentage.


The current October 2007 KeSPA ranking is:

Oct 07 Alias Score Race Sept 07
1 Stork 1728.3 P 2
2 Bisu 1725.9 P 1
3 sAviOr 1570.5 Z 3
4 Iris 1387.8 T 4
5 Hwasin 1307.2 T 5
6 Sea 1202.9 T 7
7 NaDa 1193.5 T 6
8 GGPlay 1173 Z 8
9 firebathero 1130.3 T 9
10 Jaedong 1031.1 Z 12
11 free 1012.6 P 11
12 Light 973.3 T 10
13 YellOw[ArnC] 953.6 Z 13
14 Flash 891 T 16
15 iloveoov 879 T 15
16 UpMagiC 878 T 14
17 Reach 830.3 P 17
18 DarkElf 828.8 T 18
19 Anytime 750.6 P 19
20 Calm 745.7 Z 23
21 Much 737.5 P 20
22 Pusan 722.4 P 21
23 July 709.8 Z 22
24 Nal_rA 652.6 P 27
25 XellOs 646.8 T 24
26 GoRush 641.6 Z 25
27 Midas 615.8 T 26
28 Luxury 593.6 Z New
29 fOrGG 579 T 30
30 Casy 578.3 T 29

Notable Professional StarCraft players

Known as the "Terran Emperor", Boxer is the most popular StarCraft player in Starcraft history due to his highly creative play. He is also one of the most successful - he's the only StarCraft player to win the World Cyber Games (WCG) twice. He has also won the OnGameNet Starleague (OSL) twice (only 5 players have achieved that). He holds the record for being number 1 in KeSPA's rankings for 17 consecutive months. Boxer made a comeback in 2005, making it to the finals of the So1 OSL 2005, but had to retire from professional gaming to join the Korean military service, which is mandatory for all Korean males. On 3 October 2006 he played his rival [NC]...YellOw in "Superfight", which he won 3-2. His total record of televised matches before he joined the Korean Air Force was 500 wins and 338 losses. Recently, Boxer became one of the first members of the Korean Air Force progaming team ACE (an acronym of Air Force Challenges E-sports), where he continues playing as a progamer. He made the GomTV 2 MBC Game Starleague in 2007, but was eliminated in the group stages.
The most successful Zerg player around 2002-2003, Yellow, the "Storm Zerg", is known for his aggressive and harass-style play, and for his rivalry with Boxer (who has never lost to him in a Starleague final). He also seems to suffer from a certain degree of angst due to continued strong showings (6 second place finishes at major events) combined with failure to win one of the major leagues. He was the 2nd place finisher to many top players' first events. Yellow finally won the Snicker's All-Star league vs. Nada in 2005 (in fact, Yellow is noted for his success in such special events, having won MBC Winner's Championship and the OGN King of Kings tournament) and won the first BlizzCon invitational tournament. Yellow once again suffered defeat at the hands of eventual champion Casy in the semi-finals of the Shinhan 1 OSL in 2005, but claimed 3rd place. However, due to a poor performance in the following OSL, YellOw has had a slump from which he has not yet recovered. He will always be praised by starcraft fans for his godlike defence vs. iloveoov, the play usually referred as "Jangpanpa," where he defended oov's 30 mms and 20 tanks with only one lurker egg and a single darkswarm.
Canadian player from Quebec who won two early tournaments, the Spring 1999 AMD Professional Gamers League StarCraft tournament[3] and August–September 1999's Battle.net StarCraft: Brood War Tournament World Championships[4][5]. A Zerg player initially, he was widely believed to be the world's best player before 1999 due to his performance on Battle.net. He then moved to Korea and became one of the best players there for some time in 2000; he was able to win an OSL. As the game became more popular, Patry faded away from the scene as other players surpassed his skill. Patry finished 3rd in WCG 2003.
Elky is a gamer from France that played in Korean Starcraft leagues. Grospellier was second in the World Cyber Games in 2001 which BoxeR won. He has since stopped playing StarCraft professionally, and is now playing in competitive poker leagues.
One of only five players to win the OSL twice, Garimto, nicknamed "The Zealot" was notable for succeeding even during Boxer's height of dominance. He also innovated heavily with Protoss build-orders, making frequent use of "hidden" tech buildings and other tricks. Garimto had to quit SC in order to do his Korean military service, but now regularly acts as a commentator for games. In his commentary he is known for criticizing current Protoss players for playing sloppily and hence not achieving the potential of the race. Garimto completed his military service on December 21st, 2006 and has rejoined the e-sports competition as part of KTF.
Reach, nicknamed "MANTOSS" or "Hero Protoss", is the Protoss player who has been most consistent in the long term, beating Boxer in an OSL final near the height of his dominance, and generally placing well in tournaments. As his nickname suggests, he is generally known for his standard/solid/safe style of play, with flawless macro and use of Psi Storm (the latter of which earned him the other nickname "Mudang Protoss", meaning shaman Protoss in Korean, owing to the uncanny accuracy of his Psionic Storm use), although he has been leaning away from this slightly in recent times due to changes in the playing style of the other races. Reach is known for his PvP and PvT skills, with his PvZ being inconsistently brilliant. Park is captain of the KTF progaming team. Reach has been absent from the Starleagues and KeSPA rankings for 18 months but has recently returned to StarCraft pro-gaming tournaments, successfully qualifying for the 2007 Season 1 OSL. As of July 2007 he is ranked 28th in the KeSPA rankings.
The 'Genius Terran' started his progaming career by beating ChRh (Choi In Kyu) on the "Amateur vs Pro" TV show. Statistically, he's the best player in history, having achieved the highest KeSPA score of any player before it was re-scaled. He has a consistent and dominating style, backed up with excellent macro. At this point, he also has the best micro among all Starcraft players (ex. Nada's Vultures). He has been on the team IS, KTF and now the Pantech EX, formerly known as Toona SG. Nada has won 3 OSLs, 3 MSLs, and the first KT-KTF invitational tournament. He is the only player to have won the OSL 3 times, winning the "Golden Mouse" trophy awarded for this feat after a resurgent OSL victory in late 2006. As of July 2007, he is 3rd in the KeSPA rankings. He also ended up first in PGTour Season 3.
The 'Dreaming Protoss' is often considered to be a Protoss version of Boxer due to his highly creative and daring play. He frequently hides his buildings in other parts of the map and is one of the best players to use corsairs and reavers in tandem against Zerg opponents. He won an OSL and MSL in the same season and does exceptionally well in team tournaments, playing for KTF. He has won the Blizzard WorldWide Invitational tournament during early 2006. He has recently recovered from a severe slump; as a result, he has qualified for ShinHan Bank 2 OSL and made it to the Pringles MSL finals by defeating Kingdom, only to lose 3-1 to sAviOr. He also made it to the Semi-Finals of the subsequent Pringles 2 MSL, only to lose again at the hands of sAviOr. Nal_rA is currently ranked 23rd in the 2007 KeSPA rankings.
Considered the best PvP player in history, Kingdom has only won a single OSL but is noted for his fantastic unit control. Nicknamed the 'Devil Toss', he is famous for using his scouting probes to effectively harass enemy workers. He is also known for his frequent use of (and excellent micromanagement with) reavers and carriers. He plays for SK Telecom T1 and was ranked 25th on the April 2006 KeSPA rankings and outside the top 30 in June and July rankings. After Boxer's move to the army, Kingdom is the new captain of the team.
The next on line of successful Terran players after Boxer and Nada, iloveoov's macro is even better than Nada's, leading to him being jokingly known as the "Cheater Terran" due to his ability to create large armies in a short span of time. He is also somewhat more aggressive than Nada and seems to have a more varied playing style, and possibly a somewhat better strategic grasp of the game, which may account for his greater overall success. He has won the MBCGame Starleague (MSL) three times in succession, an amazing feat, and in November 2004 finally won the OSL, cementing his place as one of the strongest players of the game. He won his 2nd OSL title in March 2006, defeating JulyZerg in the 1st ShinHan Bank tournament.
He has an interesting relationship with Boxer (who was on the same SK Telecom T1 team with him), as he sees Boxer as a kind of "older brother" or mentor (Boxer brought iloveoov to the professional scene after seeing his talent in amateur leagues), and as a result, was somewhat regretful for beating him (3-2) in the finals of EVER OSL in November 2004. He is the WCG 2006 winner.
Currently ranked #23 in KeSPA, JulyZerg (or simply "July"), the "God of War", is credited with revitalizing what had been stagnant Zerg play, and of leading the way for a kind of "Zerg renaissance" with his highly dynamic and aggressive style, incorporating a strong understanding of his opponent's weaknesses and fantastic unit control. He is the first Zerg player to win an OSL; having accomplished this feat in 2004, and he also won the second KT-KTF Premiere League. In July 2005 he won a second OSL, something that to date only four other players have accomplished. July is known for being closer to the amateur community than the typical professional player, having played in amateur leagues such as the WGTour Speed Ladder in the past, and was one of the players on the Asian team for the friendly Blizzard Invitational Tournament held in early 2005. July also placed second in WCG 2006, losing 1-2 to iloveoov in the championship.
XellOs is nicknamed the "Perfect Terran" for his standard and safe play, not having any weaknesses in any match ups, and considered the best player of TvT in the world. He was the 2004 WCG Champion, and though heavily favored to defend his title in 2005, was upset by fellow Korean player Silent_Control in the elimination rounds. Despite a heavy slump, XellOs made a reappearance in the 2006 Pringles 2 MSL, reaching the quarterfinals. He also made the recent GomTV 2 MSL in 2007, but lost in the round of 16.
The best female starcraft player in the world. Her name suggests she plays the Protoss race, but lately she switched to the Terran race because she finds it more fit to her playing style. She rarely loses to a female player in professional competitions. Tossgirl has had limited success in starleague competition. She recently defeated Saferzerg 2-0 in GOM MSL 3 qualification but subsequently lost to zerg[Alive] and did not qualify for the main league. She saw limited playing time in the late season of the 2006 Shinhan Proleague after STX Soul had been eliminated from playoff contention.
The winner of the 2000 WCG, GoRush played in the early days of StarCraft, before dropping off the radar for several years. In 2005 he returned to win an MSL and finished 3rd and 4th in two OSLs. He is known for a relatively economy-heavy/late-game-focused style compared to other Korean Zerg players. GoRush has recently made a resurgence from his slump by making the GomTV 2 MSL in 2007.
sAviOr (previously known as IPXZerg) has won three MSLs and one OSL. Nicknamed the Maestro for his incredible play, timing, and game sense, he is viewed as one of the most successful and fearsome Zergs of all time, having defeated BoxeR, iloveoov, NaDa, Midas, Nal_rA and many other top players. He is well-known for his perfect defiler usage, particularly in the ZvT matchup. He is currently ranked #3 in the KeSPA rating. Recently, sAviOr surprisingly used Terran against GoRush in a match in which he lost.
Bisu, nicknamed "Ninja Toss" for his creative dark templar use, is a relatively new player at the highest level of progaming. He had moderate success in Shinhan OSL 2 where he made it to the sweet 16 playoff round, playing against Goodfriend in a best of 3 for a spot in the elite 8. Although he defeated Goodfriend in Game 1, he lost the next 2 games by a close margin. Subsequently fans criticized his inconsistency in winning big games. Fortunately for Bisu, he resoundingly silenced his critics with his 3-0 win over sAviOr in the March 2007 GOM MSL. Since then Bisu has continued to play extremely well and is currently 2nd in the KeSPA rankings. He also recently won the July 2007 GOM MSL 2 by defeating Stork 3-2. Bisu is the first Protoss player to reach the 1st spot in Kespa history.

History of pro-level tournament winners

All listed from oldest to most recent. Note that many of the Starleagues are named after the corporate sponsor for that year and that the other finalists are given in descending order of their finish. The players are from South Korea except where noted.

Winners of the Ongamenet Starleague:

  • FreeMuRa over TheBoy, Ssamjang (99 Progamer Korea Open)
  • Grrrr... (Canada) over H.O.T-Forever (Hanaro Communication Tooniverse Starleague 1999-2000)
  • Garimto over Skelton (Freechal 2000)
  • BoxeR over JinNam, Grrrr... (Canada), Kingdom (Hanbitsoft April - June 2001)
  • BoxeR over YellOw, V-Gundam, Tis)Issac (Coca-Cola July - September 2001)
  • Garimto over BoxeR, TheMarine, YellOw (Sky 2001 October - December 2001)
  • Sync over H.O.T. Forever, ChRh, Oddysay (NATE April - June 2002)
  • Reach over BoxeR, YellOw, ElkY (France) (Sky 2002 July - October 2002)
  • NaDa over ChOJJa, YellOw, Junwi (Panasonic November 2002 - February 2003)
  • XellOs over YellOw, BoxeR, Junwi (Olympus April - June 2003)
  • Kingdom over Nal_rA, Junwi, Reach (MyCube August - October 2003)
  • Nal_rA over ZeuS, Silent_Control, JJu (NHN Hangame December 2003 - March 2004)
  • July over Reach, iloveoov, Silent_Control (Gillette April - July 2004)
  • iloveoov over BoxeR, Reach, YellOw (2004 Ever August - November 2004)
  • NaDa over July, GoRush, GooDFriend (IOPS December 2004 - March 2005)
  • July over GooDFriend, XellOs, GoRush (2005 Ever May 2005 - July 2005)
  • AnyTime over BoxeR, iloveoov, PuSan (So1 August 2005 - November 2005)
  • iloveoov over July, PuSan, Casy (2005 Shinhan December 2005 - March 2006)
  • Casy over ChOJJa, YellOw, JJu (2006 Shinhan 1 April 2006 - June 2006)
  • NaDa over Anytime, Midas, Goodfriend (2006 Shinhan 2 September 2006 - November 2006)
  • sAviOr over NaDa, Iris, Casy (2006 Shinhan 3 December 2006 - February 2007)
  • GGPlay over Iris, Stork, Flash (Daum May 2007 - July 2007)


Winners of the MBC Starleague:

  • Boxer over YellOw, IntoTheRain, ChRh (KPGA 1st Tour)
  • NaDa over YellOw, Black, ChOJJa (KPGA 2nd Tour)
  • NaDa over Reach, BoxeR, ChRh (KPGA 3rd Tour)
  • NaDa over ChOJJa, kOs, JinNam (KPGA 4th Tour)
  • Nal_rA over NaDa, Zeus, ChOJJa (Stout May - August 2003)
  • iloveoov over YellOw, NaDa, GooDFriend (TriGem September - November 2003)
  • iloveoov over NaDa, TheMarine, Nal_rA (HanaFOS January - March 2004)
  • iloveoov over Kingdom, Nal_rA, GooDFriend (Spris May - August 2004)
  • GoRush over NaDa, XellOs, ChOJJa (You're the GolfKing July 2004 - February 2005)
  • sAviOr over Reach, ChOJJa, iloveoov (UZOO April 2005 - August 2005)
  • ChOJJa over sAviOr, iloveoov, MuMyung (Cyon October 2005 - January 2006)
  • sAviOr over Nal_rA, Kingdom, Midas (Pringles I April 2006 - July 2006)
  • sAviOr over SiLvEr, Nal_rA, JJu (Pringles II August 2006 - November 2006)
  • Bisu over sAviOr, Nal_rA, HwaSin (GOM TV I December 2006 - March 2007)
  • Bisu over Stork, GoRush, Hwasin (GOM TV II April 2007 - July 2007)


Winners of the World Cyber Games in Starcraft: Brood War:

  • GoRush (South Korea) over I.LOVE_STAR (South Korea) (2000)
  • BoxeR (South Korea) over ElkY (France) (2001)
  • BoxeR (South Korea) over YellOw (South Korea) (2002)
  • Ogogo (South Korea) over FiSheYe (Germany) (2003)
  • XellOs (South Korea) over Midas (South Korea) (2004)
  • fOru (South Korea) over Androide (Russia) (2005)
  • iloveoov (South Korea) over JulyZerg (South Korea) (2006)
  • Stork (South Korea) over PJ (China) (2007)


Winning Teams of the Proleague:

2003:

  • KTF Ever: Tong Yang Orions over Hanbitstars
  • Neowiz Pmang: Greatest One over Toona SG

2004 SKY:

  • Round 1: Hanbitstars over SK Telecom T1
  • Round 2: Pantech & Curitel Curriors over SouL
  • Round 3: KOR over KTF MagicNs
  • Grand Final: Hanbit Stars over Pantech & Curitel Curriors


2005 SKY:

  • Season 1: SK Telecom T1 over KTF MagicNs
  • Season 2: SK Telecom T1 over Samsung KHAN
  • Grand Final: SK Telecom T1 over KTF MagicNs


2006 SKY:

  • Season 1: SK Telecom T1 over MBC Game Hero
  • Season 2: MBC Game Hero over CJ Entus
  • Grand Final: MBC Game Hero over SK Telecom T1


2007 Shinhan Bank:

  • Season 1: Samsung KHAN over Lecaf Oz



Winners of the KT-KTF Premiere League:

  • NaDa over BoxeR (2003)
  • July over GoRush (2004)


KBK winners:

  • TheMarine over I.LOVE_STAR (1999)
  • [GG99]Slayer over I.LOVE_STAR (2000)
  • TheMarine over PRO_NT.SONJJANG (2001)


Winner of the Snickers All-Star league:

  • YellOw over NaDa (2005)


Winners of the OGN King Of Kings tournament:

  • Grrrr... over TheBoy (2001)
  • YellOw over V-Gundam (2002)


Winners of the MBC Winner's Championship:

  • MuMyung over YellOw (2002)
  • YellOw over BoxeR (2003)


Winner of the Shinhan Masters tournament:

  • NaDa over sAviOr (2007)


Winner of the CKCG (China-Korea Cyber Games)

  • iloveoov over NaDa (2005)


Winners of BlizzCon:

  • YellOw over Reach, NaDa, Nal_rA (2005)
  • sAviOr over Nal_rA, Iris (2007)


Winners of Blizzard Worldwide Invitational:

  • Nal_rA over YellOw (2006)
  • Bisu over sAviOr (2007)


Winner of IEF (International e-sports Festival):

  • NaDa over iloveoov (2006)
  • Bisu over sAviOr (2007)


Winners of WEF (World e-sports Festival):

  • sAviOr over iloveoov (2005)
  • sAviOr over NaDa (2006)

See also

References

  1. ^ World Cyber Games
  2. ^ Rise of the e-sports superstars BBC Click article
  3. ^ Choteau, Garth (1999). "AMD Professional Gamers' League Crowns Spring '99 Season Champions". Total Entertainment Network. Retrieved 20 May. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "X'DS~GRRR... CROWNED STARCRAFT: BROOD WAR TOURNAMENT CHAMPION". Blizzard Entertainment. 1999. Retrieved 20 May. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ "Battle.net Tournaments - Starcraft: Brood War Tournament World Championship Brackets". Blizzard Entertainment. 1999. Retrieved 20 May. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
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