EPTAuthors note: Just an idea that popped into my head. Will talk more at the end. Warning, it's a long read.
It is August 2013. Relations between the Korean eSports Association and the eSports Federation have become incredible strained as of late. There is a significant scheduling conflict between Proleague 2014 and the next season of GSTL. In addition, there has been an issue raised over who gets control of WCS Korea Season 3. It was agreed to be GOM, but Blizzard is finding it far more profitable to partner with KeSPA over GOM, the casual Brood War fans getting more and more hooked on StarCraft 2 because of OSL and Proleague, tournaments they are very familiar with. However, Blizzard's lack of any decisive action on the issue is resulting in anger between KeSPA/OGN and eSF/GOM to hit an all-time high. Seo Jin-woo, the Chief Executive Officer of KeSPA, has always been bitter that he does not have the same dominance over StarCraft 2 that he did over StarCraft 1. He sees Mr. Chae and all of eSF as nuisances, and for more than a year he has been plotting their demise.
Meanwhile, Mr. Chae has been working tirelessly with Blizzard and the eSports Federation to peacefully resolve the issue, but finds himself incredibly frustrated by the stubborn attitudes he encounters with KeSPA. He can see only one solution. KeSPA has to go. He calls for a meeting between himself, Seo Jin-woo and Mike Morhaime, the President of Blizzard Entertainment for the next week. At the meeting, tensions run high as the three sit down in an isolated office. Mr. Chae has brought John the Translator along to aid Mike Morhaime. It quickly becomes clear that Jin-woo and Mr. Chae have very differing opinions on the future of StarCraft 2 as an eSport. Morhaime tries to serve as a peacekeeper between the two, but even he can see that the situation is about to explode.
"Enough is enough!" Jin-woo barks. "KeSPA has been held down by your endless deliberation, Mr. Morhaime, but moreso by the fools at GOM.TV and the eSports Federation! I will stand for it no longer! If you will not comply with our demands, then there will not be another Proleague or another OSL!"
"Sir, I assure you that we can fix this i-" Morhaime tries to reply.
"Fine." Mr. Chae says suddenly. "It is clear as day that at this juncture, the Korean eSports Association and the eSports Federation, as well as OGN and GOM respectively, simply cannot co-exist with one another. There is only one solution."
"And that is?" asks Morhaime, intrigued.
"A final battle between KeSPA and the eSF. We shall settle this the way scores have been settled on our respective broadcasts for years. Inside StarCraft II."
"I see." Jin-woo says with a smile. "You propose we each select a team of our top players and have them battle. Winner take all."
Mr. Chae nods. "Precisely. It will be the ultimate team league match. We shall each pick 8 players. A best of 3. The first 'set' will be Proleague rules. The second set will be GSTL rules, Best of 9. And the third set, should it proceed that far, will be a final Best of 7 between a selected player from each side. The winner gets the broadcasting rights for StarCraft 2."
"I agree to this." Jin-woo says. "However..."
Chae frowns. "Hm?"
"However...the stakes need to be higher for this kind of a match. Do you really think KeSPA would allow players who tried to take them out of business in OSL? I don't think so. The players we select for each team, and our selective broadcasters...the ones on the losing team must retire from eSports FOREVER."
Mr. Chae feels a cold sweat down his back, but knows he has little choice. "I accept." He says, before shaking Jin-woo's hand for likely the last time.
"Very well." Morhaime said, finally taking charge. "On November the 1st, this final battle between eSF and KeSPA will take place. The players on the losing team as well as the broadcasting company associated with them, must forever quit eSports. This meeting is adjourned."
As soon as he got home, Mr. Chae held a meeting between all the eSF team coaches and all the executives at GOM. He explained exactly what was on the line for all of them.
"Who will you select for this team, Chae?" The StarTale coach asked, worried. "Many players will not be willing to compete with the risk of retirement! The fact that we're playing against KeSPA players, who have dominated us as of late, is bad enough, but with a stipulation like that, I fear eSF may not be able to field a full team!"
"Hold on, Sir StarTale." the IM coach spoke up. "Will Life accept this challenge?"
"Well of course. Life has never backed down from a challenge in his life, and I don't imagine he will start now." the StarTale coach replied.
"Then that is all that matters. I can tell you, Mr. Chae, as well as my fellow coaches, that all of my players will be more than willing to accept this challenge. Even if you have no one else to turn to sir, know that Incredible Miracle stands together with you."
The room suddenly filled with applause. The other coaches stood up, shouting their support to Mr. Chae as well.
"Thank you so much, my friends." Mr. Chae said with a tear in his eye. "In one week we will be revealing our respective players. That is enough time for us to pick. I shall visit each of you individually to inform you of my choices."
Over the next week, Mr. Chae looked through all the volunteered players. He was pleased to see that nearly every player on an eSF team, and even players from some foreign teams, were willing to put their careers on the line in order to save GOM. He looked at the list carefully, before making his choices.
ONE WEEK LATER
The player reveal was broadcasted by both GOM and OGN. Tastosis are casting it for GOM, despite realizing that their professional careers as casters are finished if Team eSF loses. Wolf and Khaldor betrayed GOM when the news broke out, and are now OGN's top English broadcasters.
"Let's get this over with, Chae." Jin-woo sneered. "Show me your players. Show me who was foolish enough to accept a death sentence for their career."
"Ladies first." Chae replied, earning "Ooohs" from the fans spectating.
"You are a funny man, Mr. Chae." Jin-woo chuckled. "It is good to see you can maintain a sense of humor even as you are run out of business. Fine, I shall go first. Look upon my team, the elite of the elite, and despair."
KT.Flash
STX.INnoVation
T8.TY
Woongjin.sOs
Samsung.JangBi
SKT.Rain
Woongjin.Soulkey
Samsung.RorO
The KeSPA team was not far from what most predicted. It was the eSF team that everyone truly wanted to see.
"Ever so predictable, Jin-woo." Chae said with a smirk "Let me show you now, my team."
ST.Life
LG-IMNesTea
FXOLeenock
"Has-beens." Jin-woo said with a smile. Chae ignored him and continued.
Alliance.NaNiwa
Liquid'HerO
Liquid'TaeJa
CMStorm.Polt
"Hold on!" Jin-woo shouted. "These players are not on eSF teams! They cannot play!"
"So foolish, Jin-woo." Chae said, smirk still on his face "The agreement was any player willing to represent us. There was nothing in the contract we signed about them having to play for eSF teams."
"It matters not!" Jin-woo spat. "This is your team? Pathetic, together they would be last place in Proleague. Not even fit to clean a B-Teamers boots. A foreigner? Are you attempting to insult me?"
"Calm yourself, Jin-woo. We still have one player left."
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/GWtE6.jpg)
LG-IMMvp
A look of fear quickly passed along Jin-woo's face, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared.
"Ah yes, the man who left Korea for Europe because he couldn't cut it. Heh, he changes nothing. Your team is still far, far inferior to mine. It would take a miracle for them to beat my team."
"WE WILL MAKE THE MIRACLE."
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/HawaiianPig/SPL/hybrid/park.jpg)
"Because I am going to be coaching the eSF team."
"PAAAAAAAAAAARK!" Jin-woo screamed, "YOU'VE MADE A BIG MISTAKE, PARK. YOUR CAREER IS OVER, DO YOU HEAR ME?! YOU'LL NEVER COACH AGAIN!"
The eSF and KeSPA players ignored the ravings of Jin-woo, and walked forwards to face each other. Each player looked into the eyes of the one opposite and saw zero signs of fear. Each knew that when they were playing against an opponent here, they were getting the real thing. No excuses, no distractions, just the best of the best.
INnoVation and Mvp stood across from each other. INnoVation was the first to speak.
"Truly a shame, Jung Jong Hyun. A man of your talent could have been great on a KeSPA team. Perhaps the greatest."
Mvp ignored him and took to higher ground. "SILENCE!" he shouting, grabbing the attention of all in the room, including the still raving Jin-woo.
"KeSPA representatives, hear me. As you all know, I have been plagued with injuries in both of my wrists for some time now. My performances in Korean leagues have not been the greatest for a while now. But every single time the people begin to doubt me, I fight my way back to the top. You haven't seen much of me in Korea lately, because I have been conquering Europe. You may not think much of me due to what you have seen from me recently, but know this...I am coming for you with everything I've got. Even if my wrists fail on me, I'll play with my feet. You are not just getting Jung Jong Hyun. You are getting the Game Genie Terran, the Triple Crown Champion, the King of Wings, the FOUR TIME GSL Champion! You are getting Mvp!"
October 19th
"Can you believe it?" TaeJa spat. "KeSPA tried to bribe me. One hundred thousands dollars to forsake eSF and join them."
"They did the exact same thing to me, and the others as well." Leenock said. "So much money. I was tempted, but then I remembered my teammates at FXO. I thought about my family. I thought about how everywhere I would go, the fans would only see a sell-out. It would be something I would have to shoulder for the rest of my career. I couldn't handle it, no matter how much money they offered me. Turning my back on the fans, turning my back on my friends, I could never."
"They didn't make such an offer to me." NaNiwa chimed in. "Perhaps because I'm a foreigner they see me as a big joke." He smiled "I will make sure they change their opinions very quickly."
November 1st
The day of reckoning had finally arrived. Millions tuned into the stream while thousands were in attendance of what would be the biggest and most important StarCraft event ever. Tastosis were casting for the stream while the Korean commentators for KeSPA commentated live. Before the games, each player aired a video, sharing their thoughts and feelings, as they prepared to head into perhaps their final competitive games ever. Every StarCraft fan around the world began to realize that perhaps this event wasn't worth it. The stakes were too high. Whoever won, eSports lost. The talent that would be forced into retirement was just too painful to bear.
The players started to make their entrances, they all had their own entrance music and pyro as they made their way through thousands of cheering fans.
The stage was set. Proleague format was the first round. Despite the hard training from eSF and Coach Park's best efforts, it was a 4-0 sweep for KeSPA, with Leenock, HerO, Polt and NesTea all losing their matches. The KeSPA training appeared to be too much.
GSTL was the next round, which started with a decisive loss for TaeJa against Flash. Life was sent out next, and managed to defeat the God of Brood War. However, Life was sniped by Soulkey, who had used the KeSPA training to prepare a build specifically for every possible opponent...except for one.
NaNiwa was sent out next, and it became clear that KeSPA had not bothered to train against him. Chae knew this, and reacted accordingly. Jin-woo appeared as if he would die laughing when NaNiwa entered the booth.
One kill. NaNiwa somehow defeated Soulkey.
Two kills. NaNiwa outplayed and crushed TY.
Three kills. sOs had no idea how to react to NaNiwa's strategy.
Four kills. Rain was down, Rain was down! NaNiwa had brought eSF to 5-2 victory over KeSPA! It was down to this, one last Best of 7. Mr. Chae hugged Park and the eSF players, smiling with relief.
"Don't get carried away, Chae" Jin-woo said with a crazed look in his eye. "Abandon all your hopes, for your victories up until now were a farce."
INnoVation was sent in as the ace player for KeSPA. He was going to be facing none other than Mvp.
"I GOT NERD BUMPS ALL OVER MY BODY, TASTELESS!" Artosis screamed on commentary, as millions of StarCraft fans around the world steeled themselves for the final battle.
INnoVation vs Mvp was the greatest series ever seen. The games were all amazingly close, as the tide turned from minute to minute, everyone, no matter what side they were on, forgot about their hostilities for the moment and remembered the common love they all shared. StarCraft.
Finally, it came down to 3-3.
Mvp and INnoVation were squaring off on Whirlwind. Hundreds of thousands of minerals worth of units lost, the map almost mined out but none of the excitement lost for a minute. Finally, FINALLY, after an almost two hour game, the greatest game of StarCraft ever played, Mvp broke through INnoVation's final defences.
"INNOVATION'S TANKS, ARTOSIS THEY'RE ALL GOING DOWN! IT'S OVER, ARTOSIS, IT'S OVER! ESF HAS SURVIVED! INNOVATION HAS NOTHING LEFT!" Tasteless screamed, more passion in his body than ever before.
The world sat on the edge of their seats, about to bear witness to the death of KeSPA, until...
Mvp got up and left his booth.
The admins (who were hand-picked by Blizzard and included both sides so as to ensure no bias) immediately disqualified Mvp.
"Mvp has been disqualified, your winners are the Korean eSports Association! As a result, eSF and GOM.TV are out of business." the announcer shouted.
Fans were in shock at what they had just seen, the live crowd was silent, unsure of what just happened. The questions of everyone in the arena and everyone watching at home was answered when Mvp walked up to the KeSPA team and hugged Seo Jin-woo.
Mvp had sold out.
Everyone was motionless and silent, except for NesTea. He ran up to Mvp and grabbed him, punched him to the ground and screamed in his face, losing his temper like he never had before.
"WHY, JONG HYUN?! YOU SOLD US OUT, YOU ENDED OUR CAREERS! DID OUR YEARS OF FRIENDSHIP MEAN NOTHING TO YOU?! TELL ME WHY YOU DID IT, JONG HYUN! TELL ME WHY!"
Mvp calmly got up and brushed himself off. "This is why." Mvp declared as he flashed a cheque for one million dollars. Everyone gasped as they realized exactly what had occurred. "Why would I make thousands with the eSports Federation...when I could make millions with KeSPA?"
NesTea flew into a fury, but was held back by security as Mvp was carried away by his new KeSPA friends.
Artosis, still commentating the stream with Tasteless, finally found his voice again. He spoke his final words as a professional StarCraft 2 commentator.
"What we've just seen here...I can't describe it. eSF was screwed. GOM was screwed. Tasteless and I were screwed. But worst of all, the fans. The fans were screwed. Fuck you, Mvp. Fuck you."
Epilogue: From that point StarCraft 2 proceeded mostly as Brood War did, with complete Korean domination and a KeSPA monopoly on StarCraft 2 in Korea. Over time fans came to terms with how things were now, particularly Brood War fans who had been living with it for years. But they never forgot those games, and they never forgot what Mvp did.
Authors Note: This was pretty fucking long. I wrote it just because I had the idea in my head and I thought it was kinda epic. I hope you read the whole thing and I hope it was entertaining to you. This story was not intended to demonize KeSPA, Mvp or anyone else. The fact that KeSPA are portrayed as the bad guys here is because I am a child of GOM, essentially. I never watched Brood War and so what GOM offered was my first foray into eSports, and so many good memories. Also, KeSPA are the big corporation, they're the ones with the money, so it's a lot easier to portray them as bad guys as well.
I do think StarCraft eSports needs to be more like wrestling, which is partly what this story was inspired by. Not in terms of matches being fixed, or in terms of hitting people with steel folding chairs obviously, but in terms of the storylines. In terms of hype. In terms of grandeur. But even as it is know, I love StarCraft, and I love eSports. If you read the whole thing, thank you. Love you guys. Follow me on Twitter @ETLSoundwave
BTW I can take any potential criticism about the story you may have, but it was written completely for my own fun and to hopefully have others enjoy it, it wasn't a serious attempt at an amazing piece of literature. I'm aware there's probably some issues with tense and grammar, but it's all in good fun ^^
