Although the individual leagues such as the OGN StarLeague were always the fan favourite, the sponsors were always more interested in creating the most fearsome ProLeague rosters, a great team to represent their brand to the masses.
I will look into the mightiest teams that ever graced the scene, which did not always mean the most successful, the most clutch, or the most memorable.
In other words, these were the teams that were most unfamiliar with the taste of defeat throughout the entire season. Clutch teams who were able to turn things around towards the end with a miraculous play-off run that ended in glorious triumph will not be mentioned in this blog.
To speak of a footballing analogy, the Mighty Magyars, the legendary Hungarian national team of the 1950s who were undefeated for over four years, may not be the most successful national team in terms of trophies, or the most clutch, but it cannot be denied that the team was one of the most mightiest sides the world had ever seen.
In the same vein, I will rank the top ten ProLeague teams of all time purely from their win rates within the entire span of a single ProLeague season. If there is a tie in terms of overall win rates, the side with the greater number of victories will be ranked higher.
Without further ado, here are the mightiest ProLeague sides of all time.
1. Pantech and Curitel Curriors of SKY 2004 ProLeague R2
Overall record: 21-4 (84.00%) Ace player: Silver Percentage of two versus two victories for the ace player: 100% Team dependence on ace player: 42.86%
Comments: Statistically speaking, the most dominant ProLeague side the professional scene had ever seen, yet one of the least celebrated in history compared to the heights this team managed to reach.
Although most well known for their franchise star NaDa, the team had a healthy balance of decent players such as GoodFriend, SiR@SoNi, and TheROCK. However, the unsung hero of this team was Silver, the cerebral zerg mastermind who managed to build up a fantastic 9-2 record whilst playing solely two-versus-two matches.
For his superlative contributions, Silver was given the ProLeague MVP award.
Although the man is mostly remembered for falling short versus sAviOr in the Pringles MSL S2 finals, there was a time when he was the driving force of statistically the most dominant ProLeague championship winning side of all time.
2. KTF MagicNs of SKY 2004 ProLeague R3
Overall record: 22-9 (70.97%) Ace player: Nal_rA Percentage of two versus two victories for the ace player: 44.44% Team dependence on ace player: 40.9%
Known as the Real Madrid of the Brood War scene, KTF MagicNs had gathered some of the most illustrious players of the time, Nal_rA and Reach, probably two of the greatest protoss players of all time at the time, YellOw and ChoJJa, arguably two of the greatest zerg players of all time at the time, as well as having other notable players such as Sync and TheMarine.
Some may remember this opening for this season of the ProLeague, the most impactful opening sequence of any Brood War tournament, at least in terms of securing a cool image of competitive Brood War for the youth of Korea.
KTF MagicNs was able to dominate their opposition during the regular season with their overwhelming firepower. Nal_rA in particular was able to juggle being a force in both one-versus-one matches, and two-versus-two matches, and was vital to his team's success.
In a cruel twist of fate, their flawless regular season form could not be replicated in the play-off stages, and this side ended up losing the finals to KOR by the narrowest of margins, with ClouD winning the seventh deciding game of the finals versus ChoJJa.
ClouD relishing his triumphant victory that gave the coveted ProLeague trophy to his team was a moment many fans of Brood War will never forget.
3. SK Telecom T1 of SKY 2005 ProLeague R1
Overall record: 35-17 (67.31%) Ace player: Midas Percentage of two versus two victories for the ace player: 87.50% Team dependence on ace player: 22.86%
Ironically, the mightiest SK Telecom T1 roster was formed when iloveoov was banned from the ProLeague for contractual complications. Midas, a newly signed player from GO, was able to fill the void left by iloveoov, and was able to lead his team to newfound heights.
The man responsible for the rise of the SK Telecom T1 as a ProLeague superpower. Midas was the clear ace of the SK Telecom T1 side that won three consecutive ProLeague half-year seasons.
4. Lecaf Oz of Shinhan 2007 ProLeague R2
Overall record: 60-30 (66.67%) Ace player: Anyime Percentage of two versus two victories for the ace player: 0% Team dependence on ace player: 30%
Comments: The only ProLeague side to make it into the list despite playing close to a hundred ProLeague games, the Lecaf Oz side of late 2007 was a complete side in almost every aspect. The protoss legend Anytime focused his entire efforts on leading his inexperienced teammates to greater heights in the ProLeague, and was assisted by first rate rookies such as Jaedong, and HiyA.
Before handing over the torch to Jaedong, Anytime was able to lead by example, and showed Jaedong what it was to truly carry a team on his back all the way to the championship.
5. 4U of KTF EVER Cup ProLeague
Overall record: 30-15 (66.67%) Ace player: iloveoov Percentage of two versus two victories for the ace player: 0% Team dependence on ace player: 29.17%
Comments: In the first ever ProLeague season, we saw the franchise player of 4U, BoxeR, show excellent results in both one-versus-one matches and two-versus-two matches.
However, the true engine behind 4U's success was the then rookie player iloveoov, who BoxeR vouched as the player that would change the face of Starcraft as a we know it.
iloveoov may not have been the best two-versus-two player like Reach, but his unprecedented one-versus-one prowess was pivotal in securing 4U the first ever ProLeague championship over the more favoured Hanbit Stars, lead by the protoss superstar Reach.
Afterthought
One may notice a trend in this particular list. All of the teams that made the list competed in an era where two-versus-two played a significant portion of deciding an elite tier team. After the ProLeague format changed to leave the two-versus-two matches behind in the history books, teams found it more difficult to dominate their rivals like the older generation of teams used to be able to.
On December 31 2017 20:04 Letmelose wrote: Afterthought
One may notice a trend in this particular list. All of the teams that made the list competed in an era where two-versus-two played a significant portion of deciding an elite tier team. After the ProLeague format changed to leave the two-versus-two matches behind in the history books, teams found it more difficult to dominate their rivals like the older generation of teams used to be able to.
The question is how important is that aspect, considering that as time went on, the professional scene became more and more competitive.
On December 31 2017 20:04 Letmelose wrote: Afterthought
One may notice a trend in this particular list. All of the teams that made the list competed in an era where two-versus-two played a significant portion of deciding an elite tier team. After the ProLeague format changed to leave the two-versus-two matches behind in the history books, teams found it more difficult to dominate their rivals like the older generation of teams used to be able to.
The question is how important is that aspect, considering that as time went on, the professional scene became more and more competitive.
Thanks for the blog, it's great as usual.
It's definitely not a simple matter for sure.
The ProLeague format changed so much over the years, that it is literally impossible to find a suitable comparison. Never mind how the play-off rounds were decided, never mind how the regular season was decided. The very inclusion of two-versus-two games, and how influential they were skews the comparison beyond reasonable bounds. However, I'm looking into the mightiest ProLeague sides of all time, not the strongest team man for man in purely one-verus-one situations. Being a strong ProLeague side in 2004 needed different qualities than being a strong ProLeague side in 2010, for example.
However, there was another team league that was somewhat similar in nature to the Winners League of the more recent times, that it is not entirely meaningless to compare and contrast the win rates.
MBC Game Team League from 2003 to 2005 had an all-kill format, and purely consisted of one-versus-one matches in a winner-stays-on format. It was MBC Game's answer to the ProLeague, back when the ProLeague was only broadcasted by Ongamenet.
Let's take KTF MagicNs of late 2004 that was ranked second on the list as a prime example.
KTF MagicNs had a plethora of two-versus-two specialists such as Reach, and YellOw, and it was one of the primary reasons why they were such a force in the ProLeague. It is why they were able to hit a win rate that surpassed 70% during the regular season, even if they faltered in the finals for KOR. They are ranked second on the list.
However, during the exactly identical period of time (late 2004 ~ early 2005), the very same side competed in the MBC Game Movies Team League, which had a format that was quite similar to the Winners League.
KTF MagicNs had a 50% win rate for this more one-versus-one focused team league, and ended up fourth overall. One of the most magnificent sides ever seen within the confines of the ProLeague (back when both one-versus-one games and two-versus-two games were important) was just one of the merely okay sides under an entirely different format.
What I'm trying to say is, it is not as simple as the scene getting more competitive as time passed by. Every single team on that list were able to achieve success through unsung heroes that did their duty in two-versus-two games, and that was what ProLeague really was back then, a mixture of one-versus-one and two-versus-two matches.
What constituted an exemplary ProLeague player in 2003, and 2010, for example, were entirely different. Players who were formidible in both one-versus-one games, and two-versus-two games such as Reach were orders of magnitude more essential for creating a strong backbone for a team than one trick ponies. Championships were won and lost based off of performance in two-versus-two games, and while the Pantech and Curritel Curriors may not have been the mightiest side if we were to change to ProLeague format to a more recognizeable format from a modern day perspective, it is undeniable that this team achieved unmatched success with the given circumstances.
It is also the reason why I cringe everytime somebody tries to judge older players based on their ProLeague records, when the criteria for success back then were entirely different. Silver was a supreme ProLeague player back in 2004 despite the fact that his one-versus-one prowess was nothing special. There is a reason why he won the ProLeague MVP over far superior players in terms of their one-versus-one capabilities.
Being a strong ProLeague team. Being a strong ProLeague player. The rules changed so much over the years that the more recent visualization of strong ProLeague teams such as KT Rolster, or strong ProLeague individual players such as Flash seems to be what people look for in past scenarios. Flash never won a single two-versus-two ProLeague match in his entire career. KT Rolster didn't have legendary two-versus-two partnerships like KTF MagicNs did. People don't associate Reach as a strong ProLeague player due to his mediocre one-versus-one records from a modern stand point, but the fact of the matter is that Reach was the first player ever to provide his team one hundred ProLeague victories (mostly off his two-versus-two prowess).
While I don't think any of these teams were particularly outstanding outside of the circumstances they were given, it is still unchanged in my mind that these are the mightiest ProLeague sides of all time. It's important to recognize what went on back in the days if people are going to harp on about the results and performance within the ProLeague as if it was a single unchanging entity.
I always enjoy reading these blogs! The Lecaf Oz team of 2007 holds a special place in my heart since that was the first proleague season I followed. And that is probably why I became a Jaedong fan.
On January 04 2018 09:42 Elroi wrote: I always enjoy reading these blogs! The Lecaf Oz team of 2007 holds a special place in my heart since that was the first proleague season I followed. And that is probably why I became a Jaedong fan.
This was a team that was dead last out of eleven teams just three years before. It was the perfect rags to riches Cinderella story.
Lecaf Oz was once a team that was named PLUS, and was a team that was down on its luck right as the ProLeague was starting to take place. They lost key players such as MuMyung, PuSan, and ZergMaN to other teams, and was left with literally nothing.
Lecaf Oz had three organically grown players from each of the three races that ended up with a major championship, Anytime from the protoss race, Jaedong from the zerg race, and fOrGG from the terran race. This is something no other team can boast apart from Greatest One (the team that would eventually become CJ Entus), probably the greatest team in terms of developing talent.
In a world where financial funds ultimately reigns supreme, it was good to know that a team can rise to the top without having to buy their way to the championship with mercenaries and financial incentives that only a well funded organization can manage.
Unfortunately, forcing greatness out of a dire situation takes its toll, and Anytime was too exhausted after suffering the burden of trying to make something out of nothing for years on end. The moment Jaedong won his first OGN StarLeague, Anytime's superlative performances for his team ended abruptly. It was as if Anytime knew it would be okay to let go, and be freed from something that was burning him out rapidly. The man who was always doing something fantastic whether it was in the individual leagues or the ProLeague from 2005 to 2007, knew that his team was in safe hands now that Jaedong matured into a legendary player.
It was the crossing of paths, a legendary protoss player not yet ready to let go of his enormous duties he had, and a future zerg legend that had yet to taste the full glory of being the best player in the world. The brief moment where both of these players were the ace players for their team was the time when Lecaf Oz saw the greatest success as a team. During the 2007 ProLeague season (Round 1, Round 2, and Grand Finals), this was the overall records of the best performing one-versus-one players:
Two Lecaf Oz players, one Woongjin Stars player, one Samsung Khan player, and one MBC Game HERO player. No other players were able to win more than thirty ProLeague one-versus-one games throughout the entire season. A large part of the reason why Lecaf Oz had so much success in the 2007 ProLeague season was because they were the only team to have two incredible one-versus-one aces on the team.
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