The fans call it 각본없는 드라마 (A drama without script). Players call it "The Dream Stage". Most people know it as OnGameNet Starleague.
On the 10th, I decided to spend the whole day at OGN stadium to watch OSL Semifinals between Jangbi and Zero. To be more precise, I arrived at the stadium at 3PM, watched few Proleague games between CJ and Khan before lining up at 4PM (People were not allowed to enter the stadium until 7PM for OSL, as they kicked people out right after Proleague then started changing the stage for Starleague). With couple of new friends that I made while watching Proleague, we waited about 3 hours on line to watch the semifinals at the very front.
Oh, by the way, if you ask me "how packed was the stadium" for semifinals match, it's nothing compared to GSL. And by nothing, I mean fully packed. So packed that people who couldn't enter were asked to leave due to safety concerns.
So I'm not going to talk too much about the games here (except game 4), as you should know what happened. If you haven't watched the series and have the time to do so, go watch the whole series right now. One of the most intense/amazing PvZ series I've seen in a long time. If you really don't have time, go watch games 4 and 5. If you don't have time to watch either of those games.... well now you're just making an excuse.
Mandatory Shoutout?
Oh, right. I want storms
So the games go on, and we're in despair after Game 3. Sure, we know that Sniper Ridge was good for Protoss, but given that Jangbi would have to play set 5 to win the whole series, we were kind of disappointed. Heck, one of my friends told us "I might switch to Zero and start cheering for him in set 4". Luckily, he didn't switch, as we saw our Protoss hero... get hydra busted again.
Every Zero fan was waiting to start cheering for Zero as soon as Jangbi typed gg. I almost packed my stuff and was ready to leave the stadium as soon as the game was over. Jangbi, being a typical OSL player, stayed in the game to avoid elimination as long as possible. However, he knew that the game was over.
+ Show Spoiler +
When asked about his "amazing storms" in set 4 during QnA session with fans, Jangbi responded: "I didn't expect much. I was actually going for one final rush to type 'gg', but it just worked out well"
Kim Carry: It's still hard to pull this off
I'm going to quote Mr. Kim now.
"NOW, THERE'S ONLY LAST PROTOSS'S ONE FINAL HANBANG RUSH. SCREW TAKING ANOTHER EXNAPSNION, HE NEEDS TO FINISH THE GAME WITH THIS ARMY. IN THE SCENARIO, NEAR THE END, THE LAST PROTOSS WAS THIS TRAGIC. CAN HE CHANGE THE FATE WITH THIS TRAGIC HANBANG PUSH?"
The commentators were doing their usual "he's eliminated" speech at this moment. I was just sitting in my char going "ahh....". And then suddenly...
HUH???!?!?!!?!?!??!?!?!??!!?!?!?!?!?!?
!?!?!?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can write down many sentences, words, and letters to describe how I felt after this. But I think this video sums up the situation very well:
Oh and by the fact that I was the only one of the two guys standing up after Set 4
HEY FATASS, SIT DOWN. WE CAN'T SEE THE SCREE... oh well, screw it. HEO YOUNG MU! HEO YOUNG MU!
Set 4 passes by, and everyone's excited. At the beginning, there weren't huge "Heo Young Mu HWAITING" cheers or anything. Maybe the crowd wasn't hyped up, or maybe they just didn't have hope in Jangbi. But if you listen to VODs, the crowd is very excited at the beginning of Set 5.
Then.... another issue of the night.
At the beginning of the set 5, many fans were holding up signs that said: "Can't we just continue with this game?", "STARLEAGUE FOREVER". At this point, Kim Carry stopped talking. Everyone in the audience didn't notice. The main caster found it weird and turned to Kim Carry, and then this happened.
Some people were speculating that it was for Protoss. Is that so? Maybe its mixed in there a little. But what people don't realize is that two of these three guys have started commentating BroodWar since 1999.
Remember PKO 99?
He's been casting for over 13 years, and now he has to suddenly let go of the game that has helped shape Korean e-Sports today. Without BW, there would be no Proleague, no Starleague, no StarCraft 2 scene. He devoted his life for e-Sports, and he cherished all those moments. With BW given its final tournament, but with fans still wanting to see BW, it broke down Kim Carry emotionally. But none of the fans were mad that he cried during broadcast, nor yelled at him for being unprofessional. Everyone was also sad. We chanted "Don't Cry", but I think most of us were crying inside that this beautiful game was coming to an end, and we cannot continue anymore. It also showed us how Kim Carry loves the e-Sports scene, and I truly admire him for that (I might write separate blog about him later).
Please keep commentating in the future with amazing commentary. Thank you
Anyways, the match goes on, and it finishes (screw analysis of game 5, GO WATCH IT)
Ending (spoilers):
HEY I TOLD YOU TO SIT DO... oh wait JANGBI WON!!!!!!
I might go to the 2nd semifinals, I might not. But what I know at this moment is that we're set for amazing finals with Jangbi vs Flash/Fantasy.
EXTRAS: