EDIT - I'm including Slugbreath's awesome OP (sorry GTR!) from this thread. Enjoy!
Today marks the 29th birthday of Lim Yo hwan, known and loved by us all as SlayerS_`BoxeR`, the Emperor.
While technically he doesn't turn one year older today due to the way the korean age system works, I still wanted to take this chance to say happy birthday.
It may not be original nor unexpected to state BoxeR as one's favorite progamer, but the truth is that there really is noone quite like him.
I bought StarCraft back in the early first few years of the new millenia, and played it casually. At first I had no idea that there existed such a thing as a korean proscene and I thought that StarCraft was a game just like every other one. How wrong I was.
Then in 2005 I got a job at a local newspaper station and I met a fellow StarCraft player who had a lot more insight in the game than I had. We talked a bit about how good the best StarCraft players might be and he mentioned someone I would come to remember as [Slayer], pronounced Box Slayer.
Now that I think back on it I understand that it must have been SlayerS_`BoxeR` that he mentioned. I had jokingly asked if the best gamers of the world could defeat me with just using SCVs. My work colleague had replied: – He has SCV-rushed his opponent and won.
Never before had SCVs seemed so powerful.
Indeed he has. Boxer, the largest StarCraft innovator of them all, has done many a thing in StarCraft. The Emperor has always been thinking outside the box(er), if you do pardon the terrible pun.
In 2009, I rediscovered StarCraft and with it, the progaming scene. Thanks to YouTube channels such as nevake and the GOMTV homepage, I quickly fell in love with watching the professionals play.
I saw the massive macro machine that is Flash, I saw the incredible powerhouse that is Jaedong and I saw and heard Tasteless talking about progamers of old. But no matter how much StarCraft I watch and how many players make their mark on my memory, nobody comes near the Emperor.
He seems to be playing, not only to win, but also to create entertaining games for his viewers.
Some games where short and intense
while others where long and epic
but they all had one thing in common: You never knew what to expect.
With Boxer, one can only expect the unexpected. He's playing style is so unique, so innovative and so, if I may say so, crazy that it's almost a surprise when he plays standard play!
If he wins or loses doesn't really matter. As long as I get to see him play, I'm happy because I know that it will be a fantastic game.
The outcome doesn't really matter. Boxer makes StarCraft an art.
To me, Boxer represents many things in StarCraft. He represents innovation and evolution of the game, better than any other player does.
Boxer also represents a time past. A time where gamers laughed and actually showed emotion when they won. One of my favorite StarCraft games is in fact a casual game between Boxer and JinNam where the aim was to use micro to win. Boxer started with seven Vultures and a Siege Tank while Jinnam stared with eight Dragoons.
Just look at them laugh and look all excited.
I guess I could go on and on for ever just posting VODs of great Boxer games, but time has come to wrap this all up.
So in conclusion I just want to say happy birthday, Boxer, and thank you for all the entertaining, crazy and innovative games you have brought us all through out the years. I may be a Protoss player, but I still bow down to the Emperor.
/Slugbreath
GTR's OP:
One more year and you become the first 30 years progamer (in Western standards).
Not gonna lie, watching his micro clips from way back in the days really got me into the SC scene. I don't think I'd be here on TL if it weren't for Boxer.
I really wish that he would have one more dominating season or period of time, where he just rapes everything an everyone in his way like in the old days.
The first SC footage I ever saw was your perfect SCV rush against Yellow. It sparked my interest in bw and I wouldn't be the same if I never found out about you, and therefore E-sports.
Boxer is the reason why I'm watching the proscene. I still remember when I first heard his name. This guy I know was called for the military (in Vietnam, if you reach a certain age and you are not studying at any university or institution, you'll be bound to military service ... there's more but you get the point). So he was like "Damn I'm so fucking unfortunate. Is there a way to avoid this", asking another friend of mine. And the other dude was like "STFU dude, even the Emperor Boxer had to join the army, you have no fucking right to complain". And i was like "huh? Emperor Boxer?". And I got back home that night, and youtube'd the name. 30 minutes later, I realized he was God =)
p/s happy birthday Boxer ... looking forward to seeing much more of you next season ...
I wish him the longevity and spirit of Hideyuki Fujisawa who won his last major Go title (Oza ~$173,000 prize) at the age of 67, and was still actively playing and teaching in the decades after.
On September 04 2012 12:55 Savi[wOk] wrote: Happy birthday, SlayersBoxer. You were an inspiration to all things E-sports.
What do you mean 'were'? He still is! Maybe not quite so much as a player nowadays, but his presence and dedication to e-sports is still second to none.
Happy Birthday Lim Yo Hwan! You will always be the Emperor in our hearts and minds, BoxeR hwaiting!
Happy birthday and all hail the almighty Boxer! I have great pride on being born on the same day as the great Emperor of Terran and the most influential StarCraft player of all time.
Happy birthday and all hail the almighty Boxer! I have great pride on being born on the same day as the great Emperor of Terran and the most influential StarCraft player of all time.
"I dream of being a ProGamer in my 30's. " HE HAS DONE IT!
Happiest of Birthdays Emperor, I do hope you read this, for it is with pride I pick the Terran race. Others want cheap points, with no soul or moral scruples, and pick such lowly things as Protoss. But when I am tempted, I think of my Terran icons: Boxer, NaDa, and FaTasY. Wishing and trying to emulate their micro, to imitate my favorite players, is why I have always played Terran, and I am proud!
Watching the games in the OP are a great way to remember how inspiring Boxer is. Seeing the entertaining matches he produced and his mastery over the game always makes me want to be better at everything I do. Thank you to the community for keeping the memory of his contributions - I know none of this would be the same without Lim Yo Hwan.
Happy Birthday Boxer! You have been one of the greatest inspirations to me during my entire starcraft career. You will always be that untouchable, mysterious, powerful being to me and I hope that one day we will be able to shake hands. Once again, happy birthday!
Does anyone remember Boxer vs Hiya on where he used bio and all the commentators were saying he'd lost "it"? What a game. I specifically remember that one and his game vs Oov with floating Rax <3
EPT
SlayerS_`BoxeR`, the Emperor.![[image loading]](http://boxerforever.com/images/img_memorable2.jpg)
Jaedong and I saw and heard Tasteless talking about progamers of old. But no matter how much StarCraft I watch and how many players make their mark on my memory, nobody comes near the Emperor.![[image loading]](http://osimage.freechal.com/Data/Image/2008/12/22/200812221647553100_1.jpg)
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![[image loading]](http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm205/ac204/hbboxer.png)
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