EPTA small breeze has begun in Starcraft II, a wind of change that is making its way to the east. While in Korea the players and tournaments have continued chugging along, they no longer completely dominate the hearts and minds of the game’s spectators. In the last couple of years “foreigners” have started to invade the Land of the Morning Calm and impress with increasingly strong runs in tournaments. The thriving WCS scene is pulling impressive numbers and more people are returning to the game or discovering it for the first time. Korean players still hold the throne, but one starts to wonder how long this will last. It seems that their once unquestionable grip on the game is starting to loosen, and for how long they will able to maintain leadership of the competitive scene.
Whether you supported it or not in its initial inception the WCS region lock has had the desired effect of both maintaining progaming as a viable path for players in the West and fostering a scene which nurtures talent. With Korean players now being funneled into the extremely stacked GSL and a few occasional overseas events their ability to earn a living through competition alone comes into question. Some may have other forms of revenue, such as streaming or salaried work, but these cut into the ludicrous amount of practice time required to maintain form in such shark infested waters. As seen with the recent retirement of ByuL, once most players hit a slump there is no longer the safety net of a teamhouse to catch them, and sponsors may start to lose interest. As the realities of passing through your mid-twenties start to dawn on some of the older pros, as well as the omnipresent reality of mandatory military service, we may see players who are not showing results bowing out sooner than ever before.
And where are the players to replace them? There are very few fresh faces in Korean Starcraft, and even the younger players have been competing in tournaments for years. The easiest answer to the question of their absence is to point to gaming culture and trends in Korea. A visit a few PC Bangs (Internet cafes) or chatting to a few teenagers will quickly reveal that there is little interest in StarCraft among the youth. League of Legends took control back in 2012 and has held sway ever since, barring a couple of recent trends such as Overwatch and PUBG. It is telling that more people, usually in their late 20’s or older, play Brood War. The kids talk of Starcraft as something from their parents’ generation, gone the way of the VHS tape or flip phones, outdated and since replaced. There is no incentive to become brilliant at Starcraft II when there are other socially inclusive games to play with your friends.
Even if you had the burning desire to start playing competitively you are but a human squaring off against titans. And while it is very difficult for Koreans to travel overseas to live and compete due to language barriers and finances, the same cannot be said for any foreigner willing to spend some time training in Korea. If you’d suggested to me five years ago that one day there would be a teamhouse full of the best foreigners in the world living, practicing, and competing in Korea I would’ve raised my eyebrow. However the reality is that the Project Unity team house, managed by its only permanent resident NoRegreT, has had a huge influence on foreign Starcraft. Its residents are a veritable who’s who of WCS champions, GSL players, and IEM contenders. Those who visit have a brilliant opportunity to focus on improving and like a Hyperbolic Time Chamber it’s showing great results for young players like Lambo, Reynor and Neeb. With Jin Air as the only team still in operation Korean players have been cast out into the cold as the foreigners reap the benefits of a support structure which fostered excellence in Korean Starcraft for years.
As I see it the mastery of the West Is inevitable if we continue on this path. It will not be for some time, and players like Maru and Solar still have many more years of gaming in them. But Korea is lacking the interest and infrastructure to generate and rear new talent, and as the game continues to grow elsewhere in the world the sheer numbers of foreign players will begin to overwhelm. Teenagers like Clem and Reynor are showing their raw potential as Korean veterans start to run out of gas. Fingers are aching, wrists failing, and with no reserves to carry the flag an uncertain future is slowly and relentlessly coming. When Starcraft was struggling outside of Korea steps were taken to assist it, and one starts to wonder if Korea will receive a similar shot in the neck, and if, by that point, it will be too little too late.
