EPT
Every Korean male dreads military service. For many it spells the end of a phase of your life, the end of your adolescence. After you come out you’re a man, and expected to pick up on your life as a fully grown up and matured adult. The time for youthful antics is now long gone. For progamers prior to 2006 military service spelt the end of your career, a depressing but very real fact. With Boxer’s military service enviably approaching the entire progaming world was worried about what would happen. But then something miraculous happened.
![[image loading]](/staff/Plexa/Coming_Home/ace1.jpg)
On the 21st of March 2006 the Korea Times reported that they were planning to form a progaming unit within their ranks. The purpose of these progamers being given a position within the Air Force was that their skills on the computer could be used to aid the military in their efforts. The dream became a reality as they actively went about recruited 5 members for their newly formed team. The first three were recruited fairly quickly; H.O.T-Forever, Clon and ChRh became the first members of the unnamed Air Force Team shortly after the announcement. Later on in the year Mumyung and Boxer joined the team, making the 5 gamers the team required to enter Proleauge. The following season the team was named “ACE” and the veterans returned to the stage to do battle against the more youthful teams in Shinhan Bank Proleauge 2007 Season 1.
![[image loading]](/staff/Plexa/Coming_Home/ace2.jpg)
With the conception of ACE progamers were given a way of extended their use by dates and no longer needed to fear military service. ACE placed last in both 2007 Proleague seasons and the original five were quickly doubled to 10. Despite placing last they still kept a strong fan base, but more importantly were able to steal the odd win; like being able to 3-2 MBCGame in season 1.
Something miraculous happened in the 2008 season. Despite being a team of on the verge of retiring gamers they finished 11th out of 12. For most teams this is a shameful result, but for ACE, it’s a miracle and a huge accomplishment. However with the end of the 2008 season comes a very strange time for the team. Their first recruits are going home.
Hot, Clon and ChRh will all have completed their military service before the start of the next Proleauge and they will be free to leave. Boxer and Mumyung will have completed their duties soon as well, in fact Boxer finishes in November. But the important question is; what is life going to be like for these retired gamers coming home from the military?
H.O.T.-Forever
![[image loading]](/staff/Plexa/Coming_Home/kdkhe2.jpg)
Surprisingly, it is the gamer that never played a single 1v1 match in his time in ACE who has the most certain future of the returning gamers. Hot entered the Air Force from Hanbit in February 2006 and it was not long before he was snatched up in the Air Force’s progaming schemes. Having posted very few results in a long time, Hot was not the most skilled gamer in the world – but he was very experienced. He was given the role of “Player-Coach” on the team because of his longevity.
His battlefield was not the glorious field of 1v1 but rather the complex struggle of team play. Hot made a name for himself as half of the most feared 2v2 team in existence; the lethal Reach/Hot combination which was only ever matched by Sigamari/Rainbow. It was only natural that Hot be assigned the team play duties within the team. Hot played 20 games during his stay, and sadly lost most of them. By 2008 he was fazed out of 2v2 play all together and all his efforts were concentrated on coaching the team.
It was only natural that Hot was offered the job of coach once he was ready to leave. For Hot, ending his military service means a relatively secure job in e-Sports working with some of the biggest names in Starcraft history. With an influx of new talent on the way, Hot will in a charge of turning them into a functioning team which hopefully can build upon 2008’s success. Hot has a bright future ahead of him, and will serve ACE well.
ChRh
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Plexa/Coming_Home/1211804097_1.jpg)
ChRh’s stay on ACE has been unique to say the least. ChRh suffered a rather serious wrist injury and took leave from progaming to recover. During his time off in 2005 he took a visit up to Canada amongst other things. However it was not long before he rejoined Khan in late 05 and subsequently received his letter for military service. By this stage ChRh’s play was sloppy and much of his former skill had been lost in his time off. Nevertheless, the Air Force invited him to join the progaming program and he accepted.
In May 2007 ChRh won his first Proleague for ACE against none other than Bisu. It was a game that brought progaming to a stand still and shocked everyone. Bisu, without doubt the best player in the world at that point, lost to ChRh, possibly the worst progamer in all of progaming. In beating Bisu, ChRh broke his 1042 day losing streak and earned the daily MVP award. It was a momentous occasion that meant so much to ChRh, you could see his elation in his eyes after the game.
But sadly, ChRh has probably played his last game of professional Starcraft. Unlike Hot who has a security blanket of a coaching job, ChRh has nothing to fall back on and will leave the army a free man. In all seriousness there is no progaming team that would hire ChRh with his weak wrists and lack of skill. For the second time in his career ChRh will have to hang up his coat; but this time he must enter a world without e-Sports. ACE gave ChRh a chance to play Starcraft again, and for his games to mean something. Now with ACE taken away from him, he has nothing and now must enter the real world; ending his e-Sports career.
Clon
![[image loading]](/staff/Plexa/Coming_Home/1108655636.jpg)
Clon is a true gamer and has done immensely well on ACE. Clon retired in December 2005 after losing in Survivor 0-2 to Hwasin. In his farewell speech he simply said that his motivation for playing the game was “I just wanted to play Starcraft”. He never wanted to aspire to anything big, he simply wanted to play the game he loved so much. After retiring he had the simple ambition of completing his military service then returning to his studies. Ironically, entering the military service would give him some of the best results in his career.
Upon being offered the position in ACE, Clon snapped it up eager to get back into the one thing he loved beyond all else. It was a tough road though and was initially used by ACE as a 1v1 player. Early on in the second half of 2007, Clon’s position in the team changed, and assumed the 2v2 duties that Hot could not fulfill. Clon found immediate success. He paired with Daezang and Rage primarily and went 9-9 throughout the season. He produced some amazing games on Hwangsanbul which gave fans hope of Ace climbing the ranks.
In 2008 Clon paired Foru and ended up the most successful 2v2 team out of all the progaming teams. ACE’s 2v2 team was feared amongst the likes of JiHyun/TT and Yarnc/Zeus. For two “washed up veterans” they put on an amazing show and were integral to ACE’s brilliant performance over the season.
What’s so sad about Clon is that he has retired already, declaring his intent to study, meaning his 2v2 talents will go to waste. In a world where the future of 2v2 games is uncertain, Clon may not be the most attractive investment for a team. But if team games were to stay, Clon’s undeniable talent will probably be overlooked by many teams once he walks out the door. Hanbit, Clon’s former team, would be wise to invest in him to bolster their 2v2 lineup. But will it happen?
Upon leaving ACE, Clon will leave behind the magic he created during his stay. He will become just another face in the crowd. And that is a very depressing thought.
Hot, ChRh and Clon are the first set of gamers to return from ACE. They return to a world where their progaming career is essentially over. If they had been playing in any other team they would never have been playing on TV as they would be on the B team. ACE was special; it gave them a chance to show off their skills one last time for their fans. Now that the journey is over things are abruptly set back to normal. While these three are the first, Boxer and Mumyung will follow soon after. Boxer, of course, has nothing to worry about due to his fame and contract with SKT1. Mumyung on the other hand is in the same boat as Clon/ChRh/Hot. Foru and Rage will also abide by a similar fate.
In coming home they are leaving behind a team that will become legendary. For just one moment, a bunch of retired gamers came together and made something beautiful happen. That thing was ACE. Now that they are off home it’s all over, and reality will set in hard.
![[image loading]](http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a59/distant_voice/htm_200612061318210601000006010100-.jpg)
Progaming is a fairly tale, and in this fairy tale the members of ACE will never get their happy ending. Their prize for their service is just a ticket home and an escape from progaming, and somehow I just don’t think that’s enough.
P.S if you like this, let me know and ill post it in broodwar as well
