EPTThe era of SK domination is slowly, but most certainly, coming to an end. This blog is not meant to discredit the amazing Starcraft II players who are SK, but rather the entire paradigm of the "foreigner".
The term foreigner is used to refer to anyone who is not SK, and this term goes largely unquestioned because of the assumption of SK centralization. While major centralization in SK was seen in SC:BW, the same cannot be said of SCII. People often like to cite the GSL as their source for SK domination. However people don't seem to make the connection between a Korean tournament and a Korean player base. The biggest problem is that there aren't many tournaments as large or exclusive as the GSL, so people just assume the best players in GSL are the best players, period.
But it would seem the game is rigged from the start. The major tournaments happen in SK, so the SK players are largely popularized, and the SK winners are then invited to other, foreign tournaments.
But, as Lindblom once said about the prison of Democratic Capitalism, there are "jailbreaks". Many great foreign players from around the world have shown their faces, and they are becoming more and more popular every day. Players like IdrA, Catz, InControl, HuK, KiWiKaKi, Sheth, mOOnGLaDE, Optikzero, qxc, Slush, Drewbie, Machine, TLO, White-Ra, Dimaga, Tyler, MorroW, MaNa, naama, Strelok, Naniwa, Socke, Adelscott, CrunCher, Stalife, Jinro, and many more, have proven themselves time and time again to be skillful, knowledgeable players deserving of much praise and attention.
Because of the large number of "foreigners" that are becoming popular due to their skill, many foreigner tournaments have been created. NASLis one great example of this, with a prize pool of ~$100,000. Furthermore the TSL, IPL, and MLG offer over that amount (combined) for their respective seasons.
Evil Geniuses also has plans to launch their own league, the EG Master's Cup, which will have a $10,000 prize pool.
What this all boils down to is that "foreigner" is a title that should apply to no one. Starcraft II has taken the world by storm, and the competitive gaming scene is about as decentralized as possible. Players who are located in Korea are now being shipped out to the States, and the EU to compete in our tournaments, instead of the other way around. FXO (Australian-based team) also has a tournament/league planned that, I have heard, will rival the GSL in size, prize, and skill required.
South Korea is becoming a pitfall trap for "foreign" players. They move to SK to play in tournaments, and are unable to compete in the numerous and bountiful tournaments held in the US and EU due to connection issues, or travel costs. The smart player would stick with the rest of the world, because it's only going to get better.
