I've been watching professional Starcraft for roughly a year now, and I've been loving it. But I've never really been a fan of that many players, mainly because outside of the game they all seem the same. Practice 8 hours a day, sleep, repeat. I've read as many interviews as I can and the pros all seem really... I'm not sure how to describe it, but they don't say that much significant stuff, while still being really polite. It's alright I guess, but I've always wanted more.
I think there's about 4 players I find interesting disregarding their gameplay:
-Firebathero. Yeah those ceremonies are very lame and all, but he does it to entertain the fans, and I appreciate the effort. Sometimes they're so bad they actually are funny.
-go.go. This guy is a straight up asshole sometimes, but hey it's fun to watch. Can't have all nice without some bad to make it interesting, ya know?
-Boxer. Short, cute interviews aren't exactly my thing, but wow this guy has an autobiography! Now that's interesting. Oh and let's not forget that he's Boxer, who really helped make e-sports what they are today.
-NaDa. From what I understand, he's gone through a lot of emotional distress and slumps, and has managed to overcome them. Now that shows some good fighting spirit, it's no wonder he's the most prolific Starcraft player ever.
Something else I wanted to mention is that I've never been a fan of any particular team - except the night that I liquid bet them. The corporate named teams just don't do it for me, they don't really represent that much imo. So I guess I'm left to marginally liking the teams with my favorite players a bit more than the rest.
So tell me why you guys are fans of certain pros that you follow. Oh and teams as well.
I'm a fan of Jaedong, because its just so awesome to see him dominating. Also Nal_rA and YellOw, even though they probably won't ever really come back I like those two because of their ingenuity/creativity. Boxer too of course, but that should be implied. I'm curious about something though; why are all of your favorite players Terran? Sheer coincidence?
Well mainly Play style, but of course coolness, dunno. Some people like cheering for underdogs so they are ace fans, or some people like winning teams.
I like CJ because of it's story, the whole GO deal with players leaving the team and XellOs staying and paying from his prize money to keep the team alive. The coach is very smart when choosing players.
You have saviOr who was a monster and now even if he doesn't win you know he puts entertaining games (watch replay section awd vs nbs!).
DarkEfl ermm kkk, not the coolest looking guy, but he had a solid TvT.
Jy i followed him since he was an amateur, played very agressive and ballsy before going pro (same with aMeBa and AnomiA) but i guess you can keep that style against top tier players unless you are mad good. He was pretty good 2v2, very good defence with little units and nice muta micro.
Mania is weird, he has an awful 1v1 record but he can sniper good players, I really like his 2v2 because even as terran he usually plays solid, but agressive, like Jy did. Watch last season's 2v2 playoffs against MBC, the 2v2 with Jy/Mania is sick good, you will see why Mania is fun to watch.
NBS.... i didn't like him at the start, he fucked up a couple of 2v2 games with SaviOr but nowadays he plays very solid 2v2, he just comes out of nowhere and rapes in every recent 2v2 i have seen of him.
IriS has a very fun to watch TvP, he's a sniper in important games. Kwanro is fun to watch too, with low econ bulds usually.
I guess overall i like the team because they don't rely just on 1 or 2 good players (hello last season's lecaf), even when SaviOr was winning everything he didn't get picked for all ace games. You get to see most of the players, you see players changing the maps they play on proleague, you see lots of new faces too. NBS is new, SkyHigh played some games too, EffOrt too. I'm hoping to see Devil, Jojoba, movie and Style next season. Their minor team looks promising. It's a pretty balanced team cept for Toss players. They really need a new good P player, though much is cool too!
Also CJ has an awesome aura around them girls automatically get wet when they get close.
Wow I didn't know XellOs put up his prize money for the team, that's really awesome.
Hmm I'm not sure why all my favorites are Terran lol. The only Terran match-up I play is TvZ because I feel like I'm playing Starship Troopers: the game.
I guess I could see myself being a Yellow fan, I read a really great article about the Storm Zerg on this site, about how he sort of seemed like a thug lol. And overall he had a really cool journey through the SC world. But Yellow seems to have fallen off the map, so bleh. I don't really care for 2v2. He's going to ACE right? If so hopefully he gets in some 1v1.
On July 25 2008 16:10 teh.pwnerer wrote: Wow I didn't know XellOs put up his prize money for the team, that's really awesome.
Hmm I'm not sure why all my favorites are Terran lol. The only Terran match-up I play is TvZ because I feel like I'm playing Starship Troopers: the game.
I guess I could see myself being a Yellow fan, I read a really great article about the Storm Zerg on this site, about how he sort of seemed like a thug lol. And overall he had a really cool journey through the SC world. But Yellow seems to have fallen off the map, so bleh. I don't really care for 2v2. He's going to ACE right? If so hopefully he gets in some 1v1.
i love terran so i like all the big wigs, hwasin, boxer, nada, flash, oov, sea, fbh etc. i also like the lesser known players like leta, darkelf, lomo
but my favorite team is wemade because it has NADA and baby and everyone else. and everyone knows nada will always come back, no matter what. he always comes back
i also like cj entus but not totally sure why. just a big fan of savior/darkelf
i used to dislike fbh for his ceremonies and his cocky attitude but i saw him do battle.net attack and i just couldnt stop laughing its kinda lame to see him cry when he loses but hes alot of fun
i like hwasin because he seems really mannered. plus hes cute
On September 18 2004 09:39 Ack1027 wrote: For those of you who have doubts about Boxer ever becoming great again, let me just say one thing.
Before I went to Korea 3 months ago, I always ALWAYS wanted to meet Boxer in person, for my age it was like one of my life goals, I was only 9-10 when I saw his first plays on Game-Q on a ghetto ass computer and ever since then he has inspired me, not only through starcraft but because of the amazing dedication he has.
I used to go to Korea every summer for 4 summers straight, and the very last time I went, the seeds of starcraft were planted. When I got back to America I was introduced to Starcraft and omg I fell in love with this game, and when my cousins were like ' Omg have you heard of Eem Yo Hwan?!? ' and they showed me his amazing plays I was in fucking shock.
I watched him climb up all the way through the competition and tear through his opponents.
And just 3 months ago, I was excited as BALLS to get to fucking Korea, because my family had financial issues I didn't continue my Korean vacation every summer so I hadn't been there in 5 years. And now I was fully aware of Starcraft's prestige.
As soon as I got on the plane all I could think about was ' Wow maybe I can meet Boxer/Yellow/Garimto/Other players and maybe even get a autograph and a picture.
The first match I was able to attend was Boxer vs Nal_Rock in the past challenge league [ I think that was it ] and I'm even in that VOD, in the best seat possible I went 3 hours early and the only reason I didn't get 1st row is because that's reserved for his fan club.
He left promptly after the match and I soon realized that, that was going to happen every time and I'd NEVER get to meet with him.
But that all changed when the Tucson league came about and the match between SKT1 and Hanbit began.
I realized my terror as the teams came in because I was sitting on the Hanbit side - _-v
But I said fuck it, and as soon as Boxer was about to leave to go buy a drink or something I stopped him and said ' Hi I'm from America, can I get your autograph? '
He smiled and said sure, what's your name?
I still have that paper in the Boxer DVD box and I look at it from time to time.
I've followed him pretty well and I can tell you he is a humble guy only trying to do his best in the one thing in life he has found that is FUN and earns him money while meeting great people. My previous thoughts about him were only further affirmed as I watched him play in real life, not only in VODs and his grand amount of concentration.
Boxer never lost his greatness, he will always be great.
On February 07 2008 22:48 Ack1027 wrote: Favorite Players 1. Boxer 2. Nada
Boxer, if you visited this site and followed progaming at all about 2 years ago I was all over the boards raving about Boxer. When I actually met the man it was more than I expected and one of the most exciting times of my life. Nothing will ever replace this emperor.
My #2 has changed over the years, and some of you oldies may seem surprised that Nada is my #2 after all the hate I used to pour into threads with his games. After the incident with his father, and the pure will he has to win, not to mention cementing himself as the most accomplished bw player of all time, he has become one of the last standing pillars of old-generation brood-war progamers. I am just genuinely happy to see this man win now, whereas before I wanted nothing less than him being crushed so Boxer could take the throne of most accomplished player.
Favorite Team 1. SKT1
SKT1 is a monster, and always has been. I don't follow progaming lately but I heard July was picked up. Oov was born from this team, the player with arguably the greatest domination period in progaming. Kos, intotherain's student, Kingdom, Canata, AnomiA, GoRush. Just an incredible team with players I loved to watch. Boxer's team always produces great things.
Most Hated Player 1. Yellow[Name]
Not specifically him, but in my mind he marked the beginning of a ridiculous bm era. When I realized what the name clan was for I was outraged, why the fuck would you take the name of a legend. Not to mention ceremonies followed shortly after, and general attitudes of progamers changed from humble to overconfidence.
BackHo. He's an inspirational figure. He's somehow really good at Starcraft despite playing exactly like a C- icc player. If you strip away the flawless micro, macro, timing, builds and multitasking he's a C-. But somehow without any decision making skill he's a pro. You watch him play and you're like "yeah... that's kind of like my play, maybe one day I could be like him".
Oh, and he doesn't play to anybodies rules but his own. He's stubborn and will sacrifice a win for a moral point.
I like the zerg twins. They seem to be really good mannered and shy, despite being the best players on their wacky team. I also like Zeus, he's not afraid to look stupid in his ceremonies.
I like the lecaf team cuz they seem really driven to do well. Just look at their individual league performance. BackHo makes two semis, ForGG makes a final and the Ro8, Lomo made the Ro8 twice, Jaedong make two finals, and I think HiYa made a Ro8 as well. Scaaaary good. Also the way they act outside of games, they always look prepared and ready to make a fool of their opponent
XellOs is my favorite because of what he did for GO. sAviOr is probably second because he so easily raped the two players I had always thought of as the best (BoxeR and iloveoov) before him. Nal_rA because of his personality and crazy play style. By extension because of the first two, anyone doing well on CJ, notably Much and Nbs[gm] lately.
I'm not sure why I like Anytime so much, but I think a big part of liking Jaedong comes from watching him learn to play right before our eyes. Those games vs. Stork were just something else.
I like old-schoolers Old-school guys had characters, cuz there weren't so many starcrafters back then.
Long time ago, somebody from teamliquid translated this for me, so I'll try to write up what i remember
#1 It's about Junwi and how he doesn't practice with anyone. But Chojja says that he practised with him and Silent_control goes like "wtf? and with me you dont?" or smth...
#2 JJu is smelling Kingdom and saying its a smell of a champion (Kingdom had won previous OSL)
#3 Reach telling something about his swollen fingers or smth, and Gundam says "I had my fingers broken", dont really remember...
#4 Boxer is watching his own interview (?) and Chojja says "Lie! Lie!" Boxer replies with "I never lie on an interview", later adds "you're just jelous, cuz i beat you without practise" or smth
#5 Silent_control bullying Junwi and asking to stay and practise with him
#6 They are desiding who has to go and get Ha Risoo's autograph (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harisu) by rock,paper,scissors. Zeus repeating "i'll kill you if you dont!" and then loses himself
I started playing Starcraft when I was 17. Yellow and Boxer were the top players at the time. I was a Zerg user so naturally Yellow just became my number one player. Watching his games were amazing... Unless he was getting bunker rushed by Boxer haha. Poor guy...
Well actually I'd say ChoJJa eventually took my number one spot over Yellow. ChoJJa seemed much fast than Yellow, and his play style was different. I don't know what else to say really. His odd game style, and his speed really made him my favorite player.
But other than those two guys.... Meh, no other progamer has really caught my eye. Excluding some of the very obvious, TheMarine, Boxer, Nada, and Xellos. (Never liked any Toss players though.)
Long time ago, somebody from teamliquid translated this for me, so I'll try to write up what i remember
#1 It's about Junwi and how he doesn't practice with anyone. But Chojja says that he practised with him and Silent_control goes like "wtf? and with me you dont?" or smth...
#2 JJu is smelling Kingdom and saying its a smell of a champion (Kingdom had won previous OSL)
#3 Reach telling something about his swollen fingers or smth, and Gundam says "I had my fingers broken", dont really remember...
#4 Boxer is watching his own interview (?) and Chojja says "Lie! Lie!" Boxer replies with "I never lie on an interview", later adds "you're just jelous, cuz i beat you without practise" or smth
#5 Silent_control bullying Junwi and asking to stay and practise with him
#6 They are desiding who has to go and get Ha Risoo's autograph (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harisu) by rock,paper,scissors. Zeus repeating "i'll kill you if you dont!" and then loses himself
I like OGN caues they have those little Chicken Plushie things they give away when they win. I also like Bisu Savior and Midas for reasons i don't understand.
On July 25 2008 15:51 teh.pwnerer wrote: But I've never really been a fan of that many players, mainly because outside of the game they all seem the same. Practice 8 hours a day, sleep, repeat. I've read as many interviews as I can and the pros all seem really... I'm not sure how to describe it, but they don't say that much significant stuff, while still being really polite. It's alright I guess, but I've always wanted more.
Agreed, it's pretty disappointing when you find out that the two players in the finals of some MSL have already played eachother like 50 times as practice. Firebathero and go.go are marketable personalities, however, and I think they help the e-sport as a whole.
XellOs - XellOs was one of the first pro gamers who appealed to me in the way he plays and acts. I think a lot of the interest came with the NG documentary which was based not entirely but heavily on XellOs.
EPT
I like those two because of their ingenuity/creativity. Boxer too of course, but that should be implied. I'm curious about something though; why are all of your favorite players Terran? Sheer coincidence?
