EPTAlright, time for a rant about esports. Maybe less of a rant and more of a babble, since I'm not sure that I'm upset and a rant is usually about being mad.
Anyhow, my favorite SC2 player is Huk who has, recently, edged out MC to be the guy I watch and want to play like and really cheer for. Huk is a guy who basically started giving SC2 his all during Beta last year, got off to a solid but slow start, and really exploded over the past year to become not just the best foreign SC2 player, but one of the best Starcraft 2 players in the world.
He got his first big break during last year when he was sponsored by fan favorite Team Liquid. They run the top community of english speaking SC2 players on the internet, basically the SRK of SC2 (though they would of course say that SRK is the TeamLiquid of Street Fighter). Though they are a relatively small, dedicated Starcraft website they managed to get some sponsors and get their players some good opportunities to travel. These players weren't able to get paid what they probably realistically deserved, but they were a part of the fan favorite team and knew that what they had was more than just a team, is was a family.
Of course, this is from the perspective of an outsider. Pro Gamer salaries are kept hush hush outside of the press releases announcing million dollar contracts. Most people are probably paid enough to rival minimum wage jobs, and the contracts are kept secret for fear of embarrassing the companies who run them I'd imagine. But alas nobody really knows. Considering the major sponsor of Team Liquid is The Little App Factory, a small studio making iPhone apps, there's definitely not a lot of money to go around.
What they lacked in money, they made up for in clout. Their brand recognition allowed something amazing happen in SC2 that had never really been seen before: partnership with a Korean SC2 team. oGs (Old Generations) was a solid SC2 team filled with professional koreans who lived in a house training 12 hours a day to compete. Even though Team Liquid couldn't afford such accommodations, Team Liquid partnered with oGs to provide housing and training for their players and a chance to compete in the most prestigious Starcraft 2 tournament in the world, the GSL (Global Starcraft League). Thanks to the Korean training regiment, and sitting shoulder to shoulder with the best players in the world for advice, two Team Liquid players stood out above the others and placed impressive results: LiquidJinro and LiquidHuk. They both managed to snag and stay in Code S, which is equivalent to the top 32 players in the world. This was pretty much entirely dependent on 2 things: Their dedication to improving themselves and practicing hard, and the environment in the oGs house giving them the best practice partners they could have.
Last night, however, a bombshell dropped in that Team Evil Geniuses has acquired Huk from Team Liquid and will now be playing as EGHuk.
EG, in my eyes, is almost polar opposites to Team Liquid. They're a for profit company that sponsors players to get their brand out there, while getting big name companies to put up money and sponsor their team like Intel and Monster Energy Drink. While Huk was putting up hardcore practice hours in the oGs house training for the glory of the GSL tournament, EG's top player Idra left Code S behind in order to move back to America in search of easy money in American and European tournaments. After all, GSL was hard and the payouts were way top heavy; the top person wins 100k a month but the rest was considerably less. Why not take the skill he gained from living and playing in Korea, move back home, and make some cash? But it didn't work out that way. The rest of the world kept practicing hard and improving, and Idra just got left behind. From the best foreigner in the world to a middle of the pack player, able to make top 8 consistently but never win. And to me, this is the EG downfall; they get good players, but don't provide them with good opportunities. They have deep pockets, but all they care is that the player wears their jersey and gets them exposure, they don't have anywhere near the ability to nurture players like Idra or Justin Wong to the top level they deserve to be.
They've said they're going to be building a gaming house in Korea to train, where Idra, Huk and Puma will be playing and getting ready for Code S, but without deeper talent I think they're going to fall short. Hopefully Huk can use his oGs relationships to keep up the practice because he's going to need it, otherwise he's going to become just like Idra, shuffled into the middle of an ever growing pack of improving players.
Really, the goal of eSports is to be seen as legitimate competition in which it's players are able to showcase their skills for fans all over the world, much in the same way we tune in for MLB or NFL games. In these sports, trades and signings happen all the time. Tiger Woods plays for Nike, but if he announced tomorrow that he was instead going to be playing for Adidas, would anybody really care? Some people might, but I wouldn't bat an eye. Of course he'd go where the money is that is what sponsorship is all about.
So then why, when Huk jumps from Liquid to EG, did it make me throw up my arms and question why he could do that to Liquid? I'm still trying to figure it out. I think it has to do with how personal the whole eSports ends up feeling. Even though I cannot hope to compete at the level these players do, through my support of them by buying NASL finals tickets, GSL season tickets for every month, or buying shirts to support my players it feels like I'm vested in them on a way more personal level than I ever could hope to be with somebody like Tiger Woods or the NFL. It's that personal feeling of being vested into a persons career that is both the blessing and downfall of the SC2 scene right now.
We're in a lucky spot where people are so passionate about a game and players they know only on a superficial level that they blow up the internet with rage, but if we're not careful we might not channel that passion into the right avenues.
It was reported by Team Liquid that Huk was willing to stay with Liquid for a considerably less sum of money than other teams just to stay loyal, however Evil Geniuses offered a "Life Changing" sum of money to get him to join. The fact that a team is willing to pay somebody that much money to play Starcraft, what I am presuming must be a 6 figure salary, is good overall for the sports. Other teams will take note, and work harder to get sponsors which will in turn improve the life of their players down the road.
Even though this is a good step in the long run for eSports and SC2, in the short term is feels a bit like getting punched in the gut. In the meantime, I'll still be watching Huk play in the GSL as one of the strongest contenders for winning it. He's truly grown from not just a top foreign player, he's a top player period. Good luck Huk and I will try to work on not getting a tinge of pain from watching you wear the EG blue over the Team Liquid Blue.
