MBCGame HERO Update 12 (25th May '12)

Update: 18th June

(P)

Lazy has been playing a fair bit of LoL lately. I don't know if he's taking this seriously or it's just a past-time.

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Hi,

A little more than a year ago, I started this series of updates about the adventures of the MBCGame HERO team, to document all the fun activities the players (and their Korean fans) were up to outside of official matches. Sadly, in July 2011, MBC Media+, the company that owned MBCGame, decided to dissolve both the channel and team in order to start their own music channel. By the end of July, the players were asked to move out of their practice room and by September, their hostel. Some players who lived in or around Seoul went back home in July. Others whose hometowns were too far from Seoul went to live with friends for awhile during the off-season period. Jaehoon stayed at a friend's house. Others like Lazy, Zerg[kal] and at one point, even Tyson, stayed behind at the hostel for a few weeks in August. Those who stayed behind had no PCs to practice on, so they went to nearby PC bangs to practice. It was an extremely agonizing and uncertain period for the players, who received little to no news about the future of their progaming careers. They received their last paycheck from MBC in July 2011.

The team may be officially disbanded now, but MBC fans have not given up rooting for their players. The HERO Gallery on dcinside is still in operation and MBC fans there use the gallery on a daily basis to talk about their favourite players. The cheers "HERO fighting!" and "HERO I love you!" are still being used by Korean fans who post in that forum...

In this 12th installment, I'll update you on what the former HERO players have been up to in the last 2 months...

Where Are The Former HERO Rookies Now?

The Rookies Meet Up

From left to right: (P)

Lazy,

wOw,

check,

Sang, and the 1.90m tall (P)

Gwak

Around 18th March, the MBC rookies from the 2010-2011 season had a meet-up. In attendance were Check, Sang, Lazy, Wow and Gwak. Above are two pictures from that meet-up. It's very nice to know that they're still in contact with one another.

Check

After

check joined Team 8 in late February, he didn't appear on TV until the OSL Prelims in April. Although the circumstances were far from ideal, it was very nice seeing him again, since the last time I saw him on TV was some 9 months before that.

Wow

The last I heard, Yonghyuk is currently living at home in Cheonan. In the months after the team disbanded, he lost some weight, spent time learning to drive/getting his driver's license, while also still practicing in the hope that he might one day be able to join a team again. I don't know if that's still the case but he hasn't enlisted in the military yet. There used to be stories from Korean fans about how bright and talkative he was during fan meetings. I miss (Z)

wOw.

I hope he is doing well.

Lazy

Lazy joined STX as an online practice partner in late 2011 and was dropped by STX along with 5 other rookies in early 2012. After that, he began practicing with Team 8 for awhile but with a future in progaming becoming increasingly uncertain, he decided to quit in March. In a message to his fans on his cyworld, he mentioned that being a teamless player was simply too difficult and frustrating. Although he felt it was a huge pity, he thought he needed to move on.

Tiny

I'm not sure if (T)

Tiny has been working or studying since the team disbanded. But in April his friends posted a picture of him at their gathering. Tiny is on the right in this picture.

Tiny seems to have put on some weight and looks healthy.

If you remember, Tiny suffered from a slipped disc in his neck in 2009 and had to spend 1 year away from progaming. And regularly in 2010 and 2011, he continued to suffer from pains and aches, which sometimes forced him to withdraw from OSL/MSL preliminaries.

Zerg[kal]

During his trainee days, (Z)

ZerG[kaL] was transferred from one team to another before being picked by Woongjin Stars in the 2007 draft. But for personal reasons he declined to join their team. However in 2009, Coach Park drafted Zerg[kal] into SKT. In August 2010, Zerg[kal] transferred to MBC, after SKT decided to release most of their rookies during the off-season. In the winter of 2010, Zerg[kal]'s father tragically passed away after being involved in a car accident on an icy road.

In late September 2011, Zerg[kal] decided that it was time for him to move on and he handed in his application for enlistment into the military. In September, he also posted this picture of himself onto his cyworld. At that time, he was staying at home.

Since then, there had been no news about him other than word that he had entered the military in November.

However finally, a few weeks ago, Zerg[ka] received his first extended holiday and he uploaded this picture of himself.

This is good news because he had to undergo the first few months of military training during a rather harsh winter.

Saint

I have very little news about (Z)

Saint, other than that he's still in contact with some of his former teammates. Sea once mentioned at a fan-meeting that Saint will enlist in the military in September. I wish Saint would update his facebook more often.

Coaches: Mumyung and Pusan

Pusan is still streaming on Afreeca. (Z)

MuMyung is now managing a karaoke/club of some sorts in Gangnam:

Shark’s Prague Vacation

Before his enlistment in April, (Z)

Shark went on a back pack trip to Prague on 22nd March.

A couple weeks ago, Shark's mum tweeted this from Shark's account:

"This is Kyungjong's mum^^To help Shark to do well in military life, please write him letters of support ㅋ ㅋ I wish everyone good health and happiness^^"

Shark's mum was referring to a daum cafe where friends and families of recruits staying at the camp that Shark is currently in, can write letters at the cafe which will be read by the recruits.

Here are some pictures from Shark's Prague vacation:

Sea’s Birthday

Sea's birthday was on 29th March and so a few days before that, his fans held a small birthday party for him. These pictures are from his fancafe:

Team 8 also gave him a cake for his birthday:

Progamer Education Seminar and Off-season Football

During the off-season, the players attended a mandatory progamer seminar and also played lots of football.

These are some of the pictures from the seminar. Sea and Tyson look cute, kind of like they're wearing couple-tees. lol

There were no pictures from the football matches but here's an old picture from late summer 2011. I believe this is one of the last times MBC played a football match against Oz.

Media Day with Coach Han

A sad-faced Jaehoon.

Makes me sad too.

Light’s new haircut, a return to 2005?

During the off-season, Light decided to cut his hair really short in preparation for the new season. He did this in part because of the poor previous season he had. This reminds me of Light's haircut in 2005, when he was still an MBC trainee.

An old picture of Light, with Jaehoon (wearing a cap) and (Z)

dOkSa next to him. August 2005, Kespa Cup:

The HERO Center, Then and Now

In March, a couple HERO fans visited the HERO Center to have a look at what's become of their beloved team's practice room as well as the MBC studio. Actually, this is the 3rd or 4th time that fans have done this since the team disbanded. They're that passionate about the HERO team.

Early 2011, MBCGame HERO practice room:

March 2012, after the transition to a music channel:

Supposedly, they're using the former HERO practice room to store equipment.

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The former MBCGame studio, now empty:

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Graffiti by MBC fans:

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Download Links for some HERO Variety Shows

Last but not least, the TV shows.

The wonderful people at HERO gallery posted download links (thank you!) to some variety shows and documentaries starring former HERO players. The majority of these can be found in the MBC torrent but I thought you might be interested in these if you just want to download only a few shows or haven't downloaded the torrent yet.

These downloads will expire in about 2 weeks time. So if you're keen, please download them asap.

Sungchun Show: Sea and Ruby. Late 2011.

The Sungchun Show was a variety show hosted by (P)

IntoTheRain and Jung Inho. There's a talk show segment, a lie-detector segment and an avatar game segment where one person gives all the instructions to the other person playing against an audience member on Bnet.

DOWNLOAD

Sungchun Show: Ruby. Late 2011.

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DOWNLOAD

Sungchun Show: Jaehoon and Tyson. Spring 2011.

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DOWNLOAD

Sungchun Show: Shark and Saint. 2011.

DOWNLOAD

Sungchun Show: Sea and Saint. 2011

DOWNLOAD

Sungchun Show: Shark and MBC commentator.

DOWNLOAD

Sungchun Show: Sea and Hyun. 2010.

DOWNLOAD

Sungchun Show: Coach Ha Tae Ki and Shark. 2010.

DOWNLOAD

I love esports: Coach Ha and Sea. 2006.

Esports news show. Quality of the VOD is not good.

DOWNLOAD

G-ppl: Sea. Early 2006.

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An old OGN documentary on Sea, during the days when MBC was known as Pirates of Space.

DOWNLOAD

HERO Excursion. 2009.

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MBC workshop/vacation 2009.

DOWNLOAD

Supper Drop. 2009.

MBCGame commentators and TV Hosts drop by the HERO hostel to visit.
Quality of the VOD is better than the one in the torrent.

Part 1:
DOWNLOAD

Part 2:
DOWNLOAD

Star Quiz: Light. 2007.

Light takes part in "Star Quiz". He doesn't say very much though.

Part 1:
DOWNLOAD

Part 2:
DOWNLOAD

MUST HAVE HERO. 2007.

[image loading]

The cameras follow the HERO team around as they prepare for their big match against CJ Entus in the 2006-2007 Proleague Round 2 Final.
Quality of the VOD is better than the one in the torrent.

DOWNLOAD

Phuket Vacation. 2007.

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As a reward for winning the 2006-2007 Proleague Grand Final, the HERO team traveled to Phuket, Thailand for a vacation/workshop.
Players who were on the team back then- Sea, Jaehoon, Bisu, Saint, Shark, July, Pusan, Light, Hyun, TheZerg, 910 etc.
Quality of the VOD is better than the one in the torrent.
Was not uploaded properly though so the last minute or so of part 2 was cut off.

Part 1:
DOWNLOAD

[image loading]

Part 2:
DOWNLOAD

HERO goes to manner school. 2008.

DOWNLOAD

The Hero. 2006.

An MBCGame TV crew documents the daily activities of the HERO team during the early days after the founding of the team in 2006.
Quality of the VOD is better than the one in the torrent.
Last episode, episode 10 is missing.

Ep.1:
DOWNLOAD

Ep.2:
DOWNLOAD

Ep.3:
DOWNLOAD

Ep.4:
DOWNLOAD

Ep.5:
DOWNLOAD

Ep.6:
DOWNLOAD

Ep.7:
DOWNLOAD

Ep.8:
DOWNLOAD

Ep.9:
DOWNLOAD

That's all for this update, have a good day.

MBCGame HERO Update 12 (25th May '12)

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