EPTThis blog will attempt to do a rough hierarchy of the accomplishments of these one time champions, judged strictly by their overall body of work within major individual leagues accumulated over the course of their professional careers.
I realize that there is more to professional Brood War than these two major individual leagues (namely the Ongamenet StarLeague, and the MBC Game StarLeague), but since the only constant that remained available for the active gamers throughout the course of the professional Brood War scene was the major individual leagues, I will judge these one time champions by their performances within those platforms, guided by the following point system:
Championship: 16 points
2nd place finish: 8 points
Round of four finish: 4 points
Round of eight finish: 2 points
Round of sixteen finish: 1 point
Of course there are arguments that results within tournaments such as GomTV Classics, ProLeagues, MBC Game Team Leagues, GhemTV StarLeagues, and iTV Ranking Leagues needs to be looked into, but the fact of the matter is that none of these tournaments had the kind of staying power the major individual leagues had, and were available for participation for all the members involved. Afterall, I am attempting to establish a hierarchy of players across various eras, and I cannot afford to have strong biases towards certain eras over others, otherwise, this list simply becomes a list of who I like the most, rather than an attempt at an objective list that I can add some flesh into with personal opinions and thoughts.
There were a total of nineteen one time champions throughout the history of the professional Brood War, and going by the above system, I will rank those twenty players from top to bottom. This list is purely to sort the hierarchy of these one time champions, not special cases such as GARIMTO who barely did anything (scored 36 points following the above metric) outside of his two championships, or players such as YellOw, who accomplished a great deal (scored 75 points following the above metric) despite having won zero major individual leagues.
In case of a tie, whoever achieved their career total first, will be mentioned earlier.
1. Stork
Number of championships: 1
Number of 2nd place finishes: 4
Number of round of four finishes: 3
Number of round of eight finishes: 4
Number of round of sixteen finishes: 12
Career points from major individual leagues: 80 points
Thoughts on the placement: Whether the metric is for non major individual leagues such as WCG, IEF, or GomTV Invitational, or based results gained in a more team based environment such as the ProLeague, Stork has been a model of longetivity and reliable excellence for years on end. His body of work within major individual leagues, is also reflective of his superlative productivity over the years as a professional gamer. This placement is such a no brainer I won't comment on it any further.
2. ChoJJa
Number of championships: 1
Number of 2nd place finishes: 3
Number of round of four finishes: 4
Number of round of eight finishes: 4
Number of round of sixteen finishes: 7
Career points from major individual leagues: 71 points
Thoughts on the placement: ChoJJa was a supremely gifted individual who was named as one of the three geniuses Flash had ever witnessed during his time as a professional gamer (with NaDa and Life being the other two). While he wasn't that focused on maximizing the productivity of his professional career, ChoJJa still managed to achieve extreme productivity and longetivity, especially within the confines of tournaments hosted by MBC Game studios. ChoJJa's most notable accomplishments outside of his major individual league results include his crowning as a champion for the 5th iTV Ranking League (a decently sized tournament that had 99 professional gamers participating if you include the qualifying stages), and top four placements in other decently sized tournaments such as GhemTV StarLeague Season 3 and WCG 2006 Korea.
3. Reach
Number of championships: 1
Number of 2nd place finishes: 3
Number of round of four finishes: 2
Number of round of eight finishes: 7
Number of round of sixteen finishes: 6
Career points from major individual leagues: 68 points
Thoughts on the placement: Reach never again reached (pun intended) the fabulous highs of being crowned the champion of SKY 2002 OGN StarLeague throughout his extremely long professional career, but he did cement his legacy as one of the greatest protoss players ever with his durable legacy as one of the very few protoss players performing well enough to challenge the championship for years on end. In the mean time, Reach also became the first player in history to get one hundred ProLeague victories under his belt, mostly thanks to his notoriously strong two-versus-two abilities (his team utilized him mostly as a two-versus-two card, not because he lacked one-versus-one prowess, but because he was such a force as a two-versus-two specialist, and KT Rolster, thanks to his servies partly speaking, is the all-time leader of two-versus-two victories as a team in all of history).
4. FanTaSy
Number of championships: 1
Number of 2nd place finishes: 4
Number of round of four finishes: 2
Number of round of eight finishes: 0
Number of round of sixteen finishes: 5
Career points from major individual leagues: 61 points
Thoughts on the placement: FanTaSy wasn't exactly lighting the world on fire in other smaller tournaments such as GomTV Classics or WCG Korea, nor was he head and shoulders above his contemporaries such as Leta and Light within the confines of the ProLeague. His MSL results have much to be desired for. However, when it comes to the OGN StarLeague, FanTaSy's record of reaching five finals spanning across four years has only been beaten by the Emperor himself, BoxeR, who reached six OGN StarLeague finals in his long and extensive career. FanTaSy's legacy was also cut short at the peak of his powers, when he was starting to blossom as the ProLeague ace of his team, reaching three consecutive finals for the OGN StarLeagues, as well as knocking out none other than Flash as the number one ranked player in the KeSPA rankings.
5. XellOs
Number of championships: 1
Number of 2nd place finishes: 0
Number of round of four finishes: 3
Number of round of eight finishes: 9
Number of round of sixteen finishes: 7
Career points from major individual leagues: 53 points
Thoughts on the placement: XellOs was a terran legend whose prowess of beating lesser opponents with ease was nothing short of extra-ordinary, espeically during the peak of his powers. XellOs was one of the few players in history to represent Korea multiple times during the WCG main stages (alongside legends such as GoRush, BoxeR, Silent_Control, Midas, Stork, and Jaedong), as well as being the all-time top performer (both in terms of overall number of victories and win rate) for the MBC Game Team Leagues, which was MBC Game studio's answer to the ProLeague which lasted from 2003 until 2005, when it was devoured by revamped ProLeague broadcasted by both broadcasting stations. XellOs was also the only two-time champion of the Challenge League in history, a tournament for the non-seeds to decide the 4th place seed of the upcoming season of the OGN StarLeague. Depending on how you define the metrics, XellOs could potentially be rated above FanTaSy as the fifth greatest terran in history, although he lags behind FanTaSy on this list.
6. Kingdom
Number of championships: 1
Number of 2nd place finishes: 1
Number of round of four finishes: 2
Number of round of eight finishes: 2
Number of round of sixteen finishes: 5
Career points from major individual leagues: 41 points
Thoughts on the placement: Kingdom was a uber-determined individual who wasn't blessed with the greatest of circumstances. Although his began his professional career as a prodigy, reaching the semi-finals of Hanbit OGN StarLeague only to be narrowly defeated by the eventual champion BoxeR (although Kingdom did manage to give BoxeR his only defeat in that tournament) at the tender age of 17, Kingdom was forced to walk away from his professional career temporarily to complete his studies due to heavy pressure from his parents. After returning to complete what he started, it didn't take long for Kingdom to taste glory, winning a thrilling finals over protoss legend Nal_rA in the finals for MyCube OGN StarLeague. Unfortunately, a series of crippling injuries forced Kingdom into an early retirement, but his legacy as one of the greatest protoss players to this date remain to this date. Kingdom also played a key role in the dominance of the early SK Telecom T1 line ups within the ProLeague, establishing SK Telecom T1 as the most successful team around with his efforts before his injuries took their toll.
6. GoRush
Number of championships: 1
Number of 2nd place finishes: 0
Number of round of four finishes: 3
Number of round of eight finishes: 3
Number of round of sixteen finishes: 7
Career points from major individual leagues: 41 points
Thoughts on the placement: GoRush's overall body of work outside of his major individual league accomplishments should probably have him placed over Kingdom, what with his early WCGC 2000 Korea exploits (back when international competition meant a lot both in terms of difficulty and prize pool), and 2nd place finish for the KT-KTF 2004/2005 Premier League, a side tournament that had its own qualification system and a ridiculously high prize pool for its time.
8. Calm
Number of championships: 1
Number of 2nd place finishes: 0
Number of round of four finishes: 3
Number of round of eight finishes: 3
Number of round of sixteen finishes: 2
Career points from major individual leagues: 36 points
Thoughts on the placement: While Calm's meticulous nature and visible mental acuity was best suited for individual leagues, Calm was actually a fantastic servant for his team within the ProLeague, especially for a zerg player, with only Jaedong and ZerO having more ProLeague one-versus-one victories over the course of their professional careers.
9. Sync
Number of championships: 1
Number of 2nd place finishes: 0
Number of round of four finishes: 0
Number of round of eight finishes: 4
Number of round of sixteen finishes: 7
Career points from major individual leagues: 31 points
Thoughts on the placement: Sync's NATE OGN StarLeague triumph was famously overshadowed by World Cup 2002, which took Korea by storm due to the unexpected performance from their footballing national team. However, what is also often overlooked is the consistency Sync brought as a veteran terran player, frequently qualifying for the major individual leagues even if he didn't place that highly.
10. Luxury
Number of championships: 1
Number of 2nd place finishes: 0
Number of round of four finishes: 2
Number of round of eight finishes: 1
Number of round of sixteen finishes: 2
Career points from major individual leagues: 28 points
Thoughts on the placement: Luxury was widely considered as the second best zerg after Jaedong, whether the metric was the major individual leagues, smaller tournaments such as WCG Korea, or a more team based setting such as the ProLeague. Luxury had two top four placements for WCG Korea, something no modern day zerg apart from Jaedong can boast, and if it wasn't for his involvement within the match-fixing business, he could have created a greater legacy as a professional player, even if he was consistently under Jaedong's shadow even at the peak of his powers.
10. Mind
Number of championships: 1
Number of 2nd place finishes: 0
Number of round of four finishes: 1
Number of round of eight finishes: 3
Number of round of sixteen finishes: 2
Career points from major individual leagues: 28 points
Thoughts on the placement: Mind was a prodigy of the high calibre, being compared to no other than Flash during the initial stages of their professional careers, but their actual productivty and legacy as professional gamers could not have contrasted more vividly. Mind's body of work as a professional gamer wasn't lackluster, but in contrast to Flash, his results after his initial consecutive top four placements within the MSL were thoroughly disappointing in multiple aspects. Mind was no where near the best performing terran players within the ProLeague, nor was he a force to be reckoned with in less important individual leagues.
10. Hydra
Number of championships: 1
Number of 2nd place finishes: 0
Number of round of four finishes: 1
Number of round of eight finishes: 3
Number of round of sixteen finishes: 2
Career points from major individual leagues: 28 points
Thoughts on the placement: Arguably the greatest player to make his professional debut after 2008 in terms of raw accomplishments, Hydra was an extremely refined player with terrifying zerg-versus-protoss (Shine said that he still reviews Hydra's past VODs for build order inspiration), and zerg-versus-zerg abilties, and while his zerg-versus-terran was kind of limited, it didn't hold him back enough as he had three top four placements within the major individual leagues during his relatively short lived professional career. He also had fairly decent performances within the ProLeague, although it wasn't anything out of the ordinary.
13. GGPlay
Number of championships: 1
Number of 2nd place finishes: 0
Number of round of four finishes: 1
Number of round of eight finishes: 0
Number of round of sixteen finishes: 7
Career points from major individual leagues: 27 points
Thoughts on the placement: GGPlay was the only player holding Hanbit Stars together in the ProLeague with his years of reliable service, and was a constant fixture for the OGN StarLeague for years on end. Interestingly enough, GGPlay never qualified for the MSL during his time as a professional, which a truly odd trivia considering the years of reliable results he had elsewhere as a top zerg gamer.
14. Casy
Number of championships: 1
Number of 2nd place finishes: 0
Number of round of four finishes: 2
Number of round of eight finishes: 0
Number of round of sixteen finishes: 2
Career points from major individual leagues: 26 points
Thoughts on the placement: Casy's professional career has certainly been interesting. His terran-versus-zerg abilities were simply majestic due to his incredible bionic micro-management that reminded people of prime BoxeR years. However he was also cursed with an abysmal terran-versus-protoss ability that failed him time and time again versus any half decent protoss he came across. Casy was the top performing player in SKY 2004 ProLeague Round 3, as his team triumphed over all the other teams, and saw great success within the OGN StarLeague especially during 2006, but like GGPlay above him, Casy never managed to qualify for the MSL, and after some serious inner turmoil with the management, faded away into obscurity after applying for Air Force ACE.
14. Anytime
Number of championships: 1
Number of 2nd place finishes: 1
Number of round of four finishes: 0
Number of round of eight finishes: 0
Number of round of sixteen finishes: 2
Career points from major individual leagues: 26 points
Thoughts on the placement: Anytime's entire legacy can be described as greatness from seemingly impossible situations within very specific confines at the cost of sheer productivity as a professional gamer. Anytime's efforts allowed him to reach that timeless status as a magical protoss remembered fondly by most, both within the major individual leagues, and the ProLeague, where he also spent time as the best performing player for extended periods of time. However, Anytime was a player prone to serious burnouts, and after dragging himself out of the gutter that was PLUS (one of the worst teams in the history of the game before he rose to excellence), he seemed to be fine with Jaedong taking that heavy burden of carrying the team, and left for the Air Force ACE seemingly without much regrets.
16. fOrGG
Number of championships: 1
Number of 2nd place finishes: 0
Number of round of four finishes: 0
Number of round of eight finishes: 3
Number of round of sixteen finishes: 3
Career points from major individual leagues: 25 points
Thoughts on the placement: fOrGG was a stylist with a very particular set of skills, and while he was a virtuoso in that specific regard, his was unable to evolve past the style that brought him much success in 2008, when he truly blossomed as a gamer. fOrGG was stubborn and refused to change his style even if the map pool did not favour his stylistic tendencies as a gamer, and retired from professional play for greener pastures in other gaming titles.
17. Grrrr...
Number of championships: 1
Number of 2nd place finishes: 0
Number of round of four finishes: 1
Number of round of eight finishes: 1
Number of round of sixteen finishes: 2
Career points from major individual leagues: 24 points
Thoughts on the placement: Grrrr...'s greatness in Brood War precedes professional Brood War based in Korea, which means that his placement here is bound to be lower than expected, since it does not take into account his success in tournaments held outside of Korea that brought him initial recognition as a superstar of the game. Although Grrrr... was able to find some major success in Korea, even outside of the context of his famed OGN StarLeague triumph, especially towards the earlier parts of his career that probably made him the most accomplished gamer of 2000, he quickly stagnated as a professional gamer due to his lack of work ethic and discipline.
18. EffOrt
Number of championships: 1
Number of 2nd place finishes: 0
Number of round of four finishes: 0
Number of round of eight finishes: 2
Number of round of sixteen finishes: 3
Career points from major individual leagues: 23 points
Thoughts on the placement: EffOrt was a sensational talent who was getting top four placements in smaller tournaments such as GomTV Classic Season 3 and WCG 2010 Korea, as well as being the ace of CJ Entus for two years in a row, and had surpassed Calm as the second best zerg on the planet right before his untimely temporary retirement. However, EffOrt took a break from professional play (which he never fully recovered from, unless you count his streaming years after the professional scene ended) after failing to come to terms with how his team rewarded him financially speaking. In terms of preserving his memory as a top performing zerg, it wasn't such a bad move as he quit the scene while he was firing all cynlinders, however, in terms of accumulating a decent body of work, it was a crippling move that places him near the bottom of the list since his journey to the top within individual leagues, while dramatic and captivating in nature, wasn't exactly long lasting or productive by any regard.
19. Freemura
Number of championships: 1
Number of 2nd place finishes: 0
Number of round of four finishes: 0
Number of round of eight finishes: 1
Number of round of sixteen finishes: 0
Career points from major individual leagues: 18 points
Thoughts on the placement: Freemura was the first ever champion of the precursor for the OGN StarLeague. While his accolades in 1999, before televised Brood War was a thing, was significant enough to place him as one of the top players of that year, he severely lacked staying power, and quickly faded away into obscurity with most of his accomplishments being achieved off air and before anyone truly took notice.
Closing Thoughts
After finishing this list with some technical difficulties (thanks to whoever cleaned up the mess I created with the multiple blogs with the same titles and zero content), I noticed a common trend for many of the players on this list. A productive career requires a player to build on his initial promise and momentum, without real life problems getting in the way, or unexpected turn of events altering the path of what could have been.
Players such as GoRush and Kingdom were teen prodigies who had to restart their professional careers due to their family's demand for them to finish their studies first. Casy and Anytime both had major disputes with the management, and basically botched their careers by applying for Air Force ACE, a system that was doomed for failure for literally any gamer wishing to fulfill his potential as a professional with the support of decent infrastructure. EffOrt literally sabotaged his professional career because he felt he could earn his worth doing other trades, when in reality his accumulated body of work was only beginning to blossom. Hydra was the first gamer to win a major championship out of players who made their professional debut after 2008, but the professional scene switched to Starcraft 2 as he was starting to grow as a gamer. Luxury ruined his own career by fixing matches, while others such as ChoJJa and Grrrr... had problems keeping up with the practice demands required for a top professional gamer.
Although I do believe truly great players create their own circumstances, these players all had what it takes to reach the very zenith of competitive Brood War, but the either magic recipe wasn't meant to last, or it came across an obstacle that eventually overpowered and consumed these legendary players. Perhaps under a different set of circumstances things may have turned out differently, or the smallest fine tuning of some character flaws or faults may have altered the course of history.
It takes a miracle for just the right set and circumstances and the necessary player attributes to align perfectly to create the greatest players of all time, who go on to show their worth across all platforms of competition, for years on end. I attempted a look at all the players who had what it took to claim the throne from hundreds of other players vying for the top spot, and look into their body of work within the major individual leagues, and why their overall body of work may not have matched their championship title ambitions and potential. I'll be looking to edit as time passes by.
