I'm kind of new to the whole SC scene; I've been watching on and off for a little under a year, now. I don't know all of the players and can only identify a few by sight, but the pros are hella fun to watch, and I'm getting a feel for things around here.
My first experience watching pro players came from old videos of July on VioleTAK's page, including some of his against iloveoov. The friend who introduced me to the videos played Zerg, and my 20-30 APM self played Terran; naturally, we each took a liking to the player of our respective races.
Since then, I've read up a little on the history of the SC pro scene, and I've accumulated a more proper respect for these two legends.
I'm a college guy and thus susceptible to midterms and projects, so my time watching Starcraft took a hiatus. When I emerged from my hole once more, the aforementioned friend (let's call him Phil, for the sake of convenience) had discovered English commentary on games that were being played on a regular basis! I got hooked on Cholera's vids, and naturally became a fan of Reach as a result, especially since I had joined the Khala at some point during midterm season (and, incidentally, gone all the way up to 40 APM). Unfortunately, I'd missed his prime by a few years, and I'm a fair-weather fan at heart. I still root for him whenever he plays, though.
It didn't take too long to learn who the top players at the time were (Jaedong, Bisu, Flash), and over the following weeks, I became a Bisu fan. Since then, however, I realized that his attitude annoyed me. My favorite players then became:
My intro to ZerO was his match against Kal when he went all Infested Terran on him. I came, I saw, I laughed, and then I rooted for ZerO ever after (especially when I put him on my PL fantasy team, which worked out well).
As I said before, my first SC videos from the past 12 months were Cholera's, and that guy could hardly go a match without making some joke about "Hyukking" something up. When he went on a hot streak and beat Jaedong, my smile for the little Zerg that couldn't-but-then-could was so big that it hurt my face.
I hate this guy in the most loving way possible. He's the "bad guy" I love to root against, if that makes any sense. In a general sense, I want him to continue to do well (even against my favorite players), because if he doesn't, he won't make much of an antagonist. I also root for him when he's up against players I don't really know very well. I'll stay up for hours, however, to watch him lose to a fav (incidentally, he usually thrills and disappoints me by winning).
At first, I didn't like him because he had an annoying habit of beating Bisu. Later, I stopped liking Bisu, but I saw no reason to change my thoughts for Stork. Over time, however, I've realized that most everyone everywhere loves the guy. I can't figure out why. I'm a Protoss player, and I really need a favorite Protoss progamer. I'd like it to be this guy, but I need a reason why.
To anyone who responds to this entry, please include a reason you like Stork. If you don't like Stork, please make one up.
Sweet i like your recap. However my personal progamer love hates are like this:
Love jaedong, and savior. They are (were in saviors case) the Rulers of the swarm and i love everything about them.
Love Yellow- because hey that guy is a freaking zerg pimp! He made zerg look really really sexy.
Love Flash, Boxer, FBH, UpMagic, Sea, oov- I don't know why but only those terran players i respect and would die for.
Love to Hate- The current Protoss majestrate Bisu. Hate it when he beats a favorite player of mine, Hate it when he loses.
Love Sashin Toss and Reach and Stork- If i had to pick only 3 favorite Protoss players those would be it. Sashin Toss because of the old school, Reach because he made protoss spirit what it is today, and stork- because damn he knows how to use my favorite unit so well lol
On December 25 2009 17:33 BanZu wrote: Woooooow...
Like the player you like because you like him. Getting people to give you reasons why you like someone is stupid.
I like the guy already, but I would like to be able to justify it. Right now I can't, especially because I don't really watch many of his games.
Alternatively, you can see this entry as an open invitation for people to discuss why they like Stork rather than a desperate gambit on my part to dot my i's and cross my t's?
I'm a big Flash/Stork fan. I love how they approach the game and their styles. Yes, they dont have the most interesting styles like bisu and shit do, but to me it's absolutely fascinating. Their styles both require a huge understanding of the game and require them to get really good reads on what is going on for them to be successful. Otherwise they crash and burn. Both have excellent preparation for their games as well..
I'm a big Bisu/Jaedong antifan. They are like the opposite to Flash/Stork imo. They tend to be more aggressive/harass oriented and tend to try and dictate the game to their opponent. I don't really enjoy this style because it makes them look a lot better than they really are (as opposed to the subtle style of stork/flash). At the same time, they're not balls to the walls aggressive like Kwanro so I dno, I just really really don't like their playstyle.
Fantasy/Calm are pretty awesome as well. Both are strategical players with a great mind. I don't think they'll ever be successful over the long term, but when they're in form they can bring a really unique game (and sometimes spark a revolution !).
I personally think I'm just a T1 anti-fan these days, with the exclusion of Boxer and Oov, of course. I'm a big Bisu anti-fan, and for whatever reason, I just don't really like Fantasy, even if his games can be entertaining at times.
Love the rest of the players you mentioned, though, excluding Hyuk, but he's fun to laugh at.
And I absolutely find myself loving Zero more and more. Every game he's either using Queens, or trying some quirky new thing, even if it isn't successful, it's a lot of fun to watch. Really looking forward to the rest of his set with Movie tonight.
On December 25 2009 17:27 Huanir wrote: To anyone who responds to this entry, please include a reason you like Stork. If you don't like Stork, please make one up.
Merry Christmas, TL!
[1] Are you familiar with the story of Stork and his Silvers? Stork made three individual league finals, facing Bisu, then Jaedong, then Flash, and lost each one of them. A lot of people thought his series against Flash would be the downfall of his career --- it was a painful 0-3 thrashing and the shortest OSL final to date. But Stork bounced back and made it to the Incruit OSL Ro8. He defeated Bisu in the Ro8, beat the SKT PvP monster BeSt in the Ro4, and made it all the way to the finals for the fourth time. A lot of people thought that Stork would just choke and let Fantasy grab an easy gold, but Stork came out with guns blazing, leading the series 2-0. Fantasy managed to even things up though with some sick push timing on Return of the King and dropship play on Plasma.
The next game would be the defining moment of Stork's career. To lose that game would be a crushing failure --- would he be perpetually second-best, always lying down and letting some new hotshot champ walk all over him on their way to the trophy? Fuck that. Stork whipped out a can of his old-school, best-in-the-business PvT in the most clutch situation possible and showed Fantasy who was boss. How can you *not* be a fan of someone who gets crushed three times, and yet just keeps picking himself back up again and eventually overcomes his demons and triumphs after everyone thought he was finished?
[2] Stork's interview answers are fucking hilarious. When he was tearing up the WCG 2009, when interviewers asked him how he'd practiced, he'd tell them he had been offracing and watching anime. He thanked Jaehoon for a build, saying something like "I am glad my DT drop build worked. Jaehoon told me the build but I never tried it out until just now on stage. So I'm glad it worked." Obviously I'm paraphrasing, but it was just great. Read his interviews.
[3] Stork has S-class PvT, and PvP, always. He practically wrote the book on how to play modern PvT. For a long time Bisu was not as good as Stork in PvT. But what's awesome is that Stork has always had a unique PvZ style whose strength never seems to fluctuate much with PvZ balance trends. It's not his best MU, but he just kind of hovers at 55% PvZ no matter who he faces, no matter what shape he's in, no matter how well or poorly other Protosses are doing. Goon/Reaver pushes just own and are totally fun to watch.
[4] Stork is ripped.
So Merry Christmas, and cheer for Stork. I remember, right after he won Incruit, thinking to myself: It doesn't matter if he loses every single game he plays from here on out --- he made it. He finally made it. He's in the hall of champions, the short list of SC legends, and no matter how many silvers he surfs, nobody can ever take that away from him.
i love stork because hes just so fucking good and has always been good and + watching him pvt in 2007 was mind blowing the things he was doing to terrans back then i couldn't believe
On December 25 2009 17:32 blabber wrote: Stork is great because you can always count on him to provide entertaining games, whether he wins or loses
This, and because he's a good combination of sometimes cockiness, sometimes good manner. He has some of the most intelligent builds of any protoss player (with really good timings). He's been incredibly consistent (at least, he keeps on managing to emerge as being good, even after a slump). Also... http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=106063
Nal_rA: The Protoss Dreamer, and the first PvZ source I came across.
Bisu: Korean friends: "Savior is so good, he's the 4th race! Just unbeatable". *browsing teamliquid...* "GOMTV S1 MSL Finals. Bisu 3 - 0 Savior". Bisu build, the Protoss Revolution. The best 6 months of PvZ ever ensued. All hail the Revolutionist!
BoxeR: First progamer I ever saw vods of. Go micro!
iloveoov: Gamesense, planning, and control > micro
On December 25 2009 18:10 FragKrag wrote: that game probably made more people hate stork -_-
although some parts of the game were stale and it dragged on, he mindcontrolled a drone and attempted to tech zerg (gave up at pool but w.e) and he mind controlled defilers and used them better then ggplay.
oh an props to stork and flash as well, i hope for an epic osl final match between the two with stork barely scraping it 3-2 against flash's new tvp build
Same for me. I used to like Bisu, but then I realized how awesome stork was. His games are 20x more entertaining than Bisu's. Bisu just wins but Stork wins in style.
On December 25 2009 17:27 Huanir wrote: At first, I didn't like him because he had an annoying habit of beating Bisu. Later, I stopped liking Bisu, but I saw no reason to change my thoughts for Stork. Over time, however, I've realized that most everyone everywhere loves the guy. I can't figure out why. I'm a Protoss player, and I really need a favorite Protoss progamer. I'd like it to be this guy, but I need a reason why.
To anyone who responds to this entry, please include a reason you like Stork. If you don't like Stork, please make one up.
On December 25 2009 17:48 Plexa wrote: I'm a big Flash/Stork fan. I love how they approach the game and their styles. Yes, they dont have the most interesting styles like bisu and shit do, but to me it's absolutely fascinating. Their styles both require a huge understanding of the game and require them to get really good reads on what is going on for them to be successful. Otherwise they crash and burn. Both have excellent preparation for their games as well..
I'm a big Bisu/Jaedong antifan. They are like the opposite to Flash/Stork imo. They tend to be more aggressive/harass oriented and tend to try and dictate the game to their opponent. I don't really enjoy this style because it makes them look a lot better than they really are (as opposed to the subtle style of stork/flash). At the same time, they're not balls to the walls aggressive like Kwanro so I dno, I just really really don't like their playstyle.
Well put. Yeah I feel the same about the Flash/Stork - Bisu/Jaedong contrast, although I'm a definite Bisu fan, and enjoyed watching his game over any other progamer for the past few years.
About a year back, I never really understood Stork's meaning when he claimed he's just not fast enough. That he felt limited in practice sessions. He was playing so well! and I just wasn't sure what it was he felt he was missing. I mean yes, he got all those silvers, and jokes aside -that makes him an amazing progamer and only says good things about his abilities (to be honest I had a disliking for Stork since this, SKT eventually won of course, but still my disliking remained).
And btw Stork adores Bisu in a way that (at least from what progamers reveal) I see no other progamer talks about another. He looks up to Bisu, according to JangBi he calls him "our Bisu" in Khan HQ, constantly mentions him in interviews in a manner that can almost be described as awe.
There's a definite change in Stork's play, I recall an interview a few months back where he said something in the style of.. 'In the past I used to prepare for matches very differently, and if you'd ask me my secret back then it would be a different answer than now. Now its practice practice practice.'
Anyway, point being that I'm really starting to cheer for Stork, for the first time ever. Today's OSL spoiler + Show Spoiler +
I was angry and upset earlier... :-(
Maybe a couple years ago, any room was too small to contain both Bisu and Stork at the same time. But there's I now feel that Stork and Bisu coexist peacefully, and should fight the Zerg menace to the ground :-)
EPT
July on VioleTAK's page, including some of his against 
iloveoov. The friend who introduced me to the videos played Zerg, and my 20-30 APM self played Terran; naturally, we each took a liking to the player of our respective races.
Reach as a result, especially since I had joined the Khala at some point during midterm season (and, incidentally, gone all the way up to 40 APM). Unfortunately, I'd missed his prime by a few years, and I'm a fair-weather fan at heart. I still root for him whenever he plays, though. 
