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Roffles
Pitcairn19291 Posts
I don't usually write for a living, so please forgive me if I have any grammatical issues or some sort. I just thought I'd churn out something for my 5k post
Watermelons in July
Eleven years after its release, the game of Starcraft still stands atop the mighty ladder of RTS games. With its spectacular balance, quick and exciting gameplay, Starcraft has become a game for all to enjoy, from casual gamers to professional gamers to the mere spectators of the eSport. Over the years, the game has vastly changed, from a micro-oriented gameplay to nowadays the standard macro play that everyone seems to use. In the progaming scene, the old have slowly come to fizzle out into mere shadows of their old self. From Yellow to Boxer to iloveoov, the old era has slowly come to an end, not able to keep up with the younger, quicker generation. One by one, these old gamers are reduced to either playing in the Air Force for the Ace team, or relegated to retirement due to injuries or lack of results. However, one progamer stood strong against the newer brood. One chubby, loveable zerg player by the name of JulyZerg aka the God of War.
![[image loading]](http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww151/Selffor/JulyHair-1.jpg) It's SuperJuly!
JulyZerg burst into the spotlight in late 2003, early 2004, showcasing some of his wicked sick play against Terran and Protoss. Known for being one of the most aggressive zergs, July made a name for himself with his trademark mutalisk micro, unparalleled at the time by other zergs. JulyZerg: "I think my strong point is my control. my weak point is, I do all-in plays often, causing me to have a weak economy therefore its hard for me to play in the late parts of the game. In contrast, instead of control, I play the game focusing on the later parts of the game."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVnPZqBGT40
The God of War shows no mercy against the Red Sniper
With some of the best small unit micro of his era, JulyZerg went on a sick run, abusing Namja Iyagi in the Gillette OSL to defeat the gorilla iloveoov in a spectacular semifinal. At the time, Oov's TvZ was simply unstoppable as Oov had recorded 27 straight wins in TvZ heading into the finals. Yet July, with his trademark aggression, managed to take down the beast en route to his first OSL victory. While July often fell unnecessarily due to overboard aggression, his trademark aggression perfectly countered Oov's greedy Terran style. Eventually July would go on to defeat Reach 3-1 with his watermelon colored hair and cape to win his first OSL in July.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl8y34NfJKE&feature=player_embedded
Reach is left helpless against July's ZvP
Victory would not stop for July though. July would make another deep run in the IOPS Starleague, defeating his nemesis GoodFriend in a spectacular comeback in the Semis. However, victory was out of reach for July, as he was stopped in the finals by Nada in rather disappointing fashion. This minor setback would not stop JulyZerg from achieving success. In the next OSL, the EVER 2005 OSL held in July, July ran through the quarters and semis playing ZvT exclusively, dispatching Iris and Xellos to set up another date with GooDFriend. As the two traded games in the first four sets, the match eventually wound up going to the final game on Forte, a map on which GooDFriend had already won on.
As the game started, July opened with a 3 hatch muta build against GoodFriend's 2 rax, 1 fact opening. As GoodFriend quickly pushed and applied pressure on July's nat, July hastily erects sunken colonies to stall for his mutas. With July's third falling to MnM and Tank fire, July is reduced to simply a handful of mutas against 3 tanks and a control group and a half of MnM. Despite being under constant pressure the entire game, July manages to fend off the GoodFriend's aggressive pushes with some spectacular mutalisk micro and an eventual mutaling attack. As July cleared, the crowd cheered, and devastating finishing blow of stop lurkers, GooDFriend could only sigh and cry and watch as his shot of winning the OSL just went down the drain.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkwzAauHRXw&feature=player_embedded
Victory is snatched from the jaws of defeat
With another OSL in the bag, July sought out the prestigious Golden Mouse in the Shinhan2005 OSL. However, he would be stopped short by his archrival iloveoov in the finals. With the arrival of a new bonjwa in Savior, JulyZerg's reign as the premiere zerg player of the day came to a halt. July would experience a brief slump in the individual leagues, but still managed to be a productive player in Proleague. In a decisive match against iloveoov in the SKY Proleague Grand Finals, July would defeat his archrival with simply speedlings. As always, July's aggressive style had always given Oov issues. Opening with a quick CC after rax, Oov was punished by an aggressive ling attack by July, forcing Oov to eventually tap out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdIlgp0LGNY
Who knew? July can be BM too
Aided by July's critical win against SKT's Ace player, MBC was able to win the Proleague Grand Finals over SKT. As time went by, July's success overall began to dip, as he could no longer ZvT hold his own in ZvT or ZvZ. However, his ZvP still remained top notch, which allowed him to eventually secure his golden mouse in the EVER 2008 OSL, also held in July.
Playing almost ZvP exclusively on his way to the finals, July dispatched PvZ failures Rock and Backho with ease to set up a date in the finals against the red hot Best. The red hot Best had just come off his spectacular come from behind victory against Luxury in the semis, coming back from an 0-2 deficit to win 3-2. Deemed as the Devil's Apprentice with almost god like macro, many wrote off the old schooler July, saying that had no chance at keeping up with Best in a macro game. However, with experience on his side, July sent Best on the rollercoaster ride of his life. Opening with a 5 pool against Best on Othello in Game 1, July sent Best into a state of disbelief, messing with his mindset. Despite Best playing rather well in response with dual proxy gates, July popped mutas and defended against zealots, forcing Best to type out.
Whatever confidence Best had after game 1 soon disappeared as July quickly shattered all of Best's confidence in the second game on Troy with the legendary drone drill, leaving even the revolutionist in shock.
Yes Bisu, even you would have gotten raped
With two unordinary wins, people began bashing the God of War, claiming that he had to resort to gimmicks cause he can't macro straight up. That notion quickly changed, as July began to deploy his spectacular ZvP in the third game on Andromeda. Opening with what now is a common build in 5 hatch hydra, July quickly put pressure and deflected Best's Sair/DT/Reaver attempts. Stalling for ultras, July flanked left and right, dropping and constantly putting pressure on Best. As Best rolled out, looking to be in a somewhat decent position after killing off most of July's tech with a DT drop, the observer scrolled over to the natural revealing a control group of ultralisks. With zerglings and ultras and units flooding in over and over, protoss units were decimated into piles of blue goo as the Tushin attacked his way to a third OSL and the prestigious Golden Mouse.
In an era where macrobots prevail almost every game, July has shown that he can still hang with the newer players. However, the glory days have come to a dwindling end, as he no longer gets much playing time on STX. Nowadays, you can see him in his skinny jeans on the STX sidelines as he munches on some food and roots for his teammates and watches as his zerg teammates Calm and by.hero attempt to carry on his legacy. With the dominance of the swarm these days, and the emergence of a new zerg hero in Jaedong, JulyZerg and his fellow swarmmate Savior are assured that the swarm is in good hands and that they are no longer needed. July's time might have come and gone, but forever he shall be known as the God of War.
+ Show Spoiler [Fun Facts] +All three of July's OSL wins came in the month of July. July was known to be a POS before his time on MBC. July's favorite drink is Mango Juice July thinks the sexiest progamer alive is Boxer. July lost to FakeSteve in 1v1 by forfeit. FS so gosu. July has been on MBC, SKT, and STX. Skinny jeans do NOT look good on July. ![[image loading]](http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww151/Selffor/JulyJeans.jpg) July once crushed Chojja offrace TvZ in a televised game. Sync would have been proud of his sunken break.
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nice writing! i enjoyed the last paragraph in particular
never knew about those fun facts, funny that he won all OSLs in july ;o
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Hehe, I remember July's sparks terran sunk-break vs Chojja.
Well written article!
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July is my all time fav, thank you for this. But his days aren't over just wait for 2010.
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didn't july used to be some sort of little league baseball star?
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why hasnt he gone to the military yet? too fat ?  !
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Katowice25012 Posts
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roffles you are awesome as always, really well writen
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On January 05 2010 07:39 Xeris wrote:why hasnt he gone to the military yet? too fat ? !
Thats harsh :D
Doesnt really matter, they will probably PT him till he gets to the appropriate standards.
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good write. You made me miss July again :-/
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JulyZerg<3
Too bad he he is passing away from active progaming ;/
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somewhere near the top of the article it says EVER 2008 with xellos and goodfriend etc.. you should change that to EVER 2005 because EVER 2008 was against mostly protoss but nontheless i love the article. i still think July can still play good starcraft today. his run to the semi finals at GOM was pretty good even if it was mostly vs protoss players. he gave Flash a run of his money and beat skyhigh.
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awesome article  Thanks!
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I miss him 
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whats sad is that as late as July 2009 he still had quite competent ZvT (just watch his games vs Skyhigh). He ZvZ has been lacking for a while but I think he worked on it quite a bit and it shouldn't be THAT bad... He even reached the Ro32 of the MSL and lost in the finals of his OSL prelim group to RorO(who isnt exactly S-class but no pushover either) 1-2.
I used to just tell myself that July wasn't in Proleague any more because he was solely focusing on Indivivdual leagues (which I'm sure was the case in spring 09), but nowdays I just dont know why he's not playing maybe if he were on a team with a worse zerg lineup he'd get to play but I guess Calm/Hero are just too much better than him overall now
although Hero has been pretty shaky lately in PL so MAAAAAAAAYBE July will finally get some PL time sometime soon, especially since he's not in a league right now and with Winner's League coming up he can do some good Protoss sniping.
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hopefully july will return with some more juice in PL soon. Like others I thought he was focusing on gom, etc. And I think that was true, at least for a while. His 4th place in gom showed he had good zvp/zv/t/zvz only a few months ago. Since then though, from what play we have seen, he has dropped. I can only imagine its more noticeable in practice, as well. I know this sounds like a dick thing to say, and while I DO want to see july play more in PL, I do NOT want to see him play if hes just going to lose zvz/zvt. Too many players- specifically zerg- are absolute beasts, only to slump as they age and end with horrible records. Its a blight on their history.
Chojja ended with a negative zvt rate, and I doubt anyone that doesnt have an intricate knowledge of his career looks at his page and thinks anything other than "oh, seems like a good zerg, but is shit in zvt". It just invalidates their career, almost. So if july is going to suck, let him not play, so he can have that dignity of 50+ in all mu's.
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Nice writeup! That July's TvZ reminded me my worst nightmares ;D
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Roffles
Pitcairn19291 Posts
I used to play zerg because of July. Nowadays, I hate the swarm, but I still have a soft spot for July. Such aggression, but such good macro. His game vs Rock on RoV where he Sauron'ed like 7-8 bases is still amazing.
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As soon as I saw the title I thought of this picture
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iNfeRnaL
Germany1908 Posts
nice writeup, unfortunately nowadays July is only good in ZvP imo 
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Aww JulyZerg, the reason of me starting to play with Zergs. See guys the difference between JulyZerg and Shine is that JulyZerg's late game macro/management is just as good as his early aggression. Sauron Zerg FTW!
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He probably has the worst Fanbase : Success ratio.
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The trivia about winning all 3 osl's in july is kinda funny. Always enjoyed julyzerg, but since stx gave him skinny pants.... what has been seen, can't be unseen... :'(
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really nice article with your 5k post :D July is a cool guy no matter how his weight is
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July my favorite zerg of all time! His games are always epic and just so fun to watch ... he can 5 pool , drone drill or just kill you with epic macro in zvp and he basicly invented muta micro.
TUSHIN FIGHTING ! pls send him at proleague STX
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On January 05 2010 07:47 Kenpachi wrote:
o_o july won in july 3x
Nice find.
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july is actually the only reason my favorite team is stx
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konadora
Singapore66155 Posts
om nom nom watermelons
July vs GoodFriend game 5 is so memorable
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Roffles
Pitcairn19291 Posts
On January 05 2010 09:34 Garnet wrote:Nice find.
You didn't read the Fun Facts, did you? =(
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july was the one who is probably why i love playing zerg so much even though im a t player. Just the way he attacks a t army head on with lurkers. Just that confidence and his lurk ling flanks just perfect.
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July has died now but stork hasn't and stork debut only few months after july, how good is stork?
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Nice write up, enjoyed reading, I've always had a soft spot for July, he maks me want to change my race to Zerg.
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On January 05 2010 11:42 MuffinDude wrote:
July has died now but stork hasn't and stork debut only few months after july, how good is stork?
You mean years? and the answer is nowhere near as dominating/successful as July was
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On January 05 2010 11:42 MuffinDude wrote:
July has died now but stork hasn't and stork debut only few months after july, how good is stork? stork was a no body while july was winning osl's. Career's were sort of different.
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after watching the Hwasin vs July on RH3 I have to ask "is hwasin stupid?"
No attempt to route the scv to nat, and sends like what? 8 marines against 8 mutalisks?
rape for free it seems.
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Wow, lots of cool facts. : D Didn't know he thought Boxer was the sexiest lol.
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Roffles
Pitcairn19291 Posts
On January 05 2010 11:50 anch wrote:
after watching the Hwasin vs July on RH3 I have to ask "is hwasin stupid?"
No attempt to route the scv to nat, and sends like what? 8 marines against 8 mutalisks?
rape for free it seems.
Well, it was in the era where mutalisk micro was still unrefined.
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Question:
Why isn't July considered a Bonjwa while Savior is?
He defeated Oov during his prime, and Oov is considered a Bonjwa.
He has the Golden Mouse, something even Savior couldn't get.
Is it just because his OSL wins didn't come in a string of close seasons, but rather over years?
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On January 05 2010 11:50 anch wrote:
after watching the Hwasin vs July on RH3 I have to ask "is hwasin stupid?"
No attempt to route the scv to nat, and sends like what? 8 marines against 8 mutalisks?
rape for free it seems.
old games do that to you
we're spoiled
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Bonjwa = 3 MSL wins followed by at least 1 OSL
and July also lost 0-3 to Nada in an OSL finals
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On January 05 2010 12:04 siv00 wrote:
Bonjwa = 3 MSL wins followed by at least 1 OSL
and July also lost 0-3 to Nada in an OSL finals
Boxer = 1 MSL (and I don't think it was even called the MSL)
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On January 05 2010 12:07 jalstar wrote:Show nested quote +On January 05 2010 12:04 siv00 wrote:
Bonjwa = 3 MSL wins followed by at least 1 OSL
and July also lost 0-3 to Nada in an OSL finals Boxer = 1 MSL (and I don't think it was even called the MSL)
He was special.
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On January 05 2010 12:04 siv00 wrote:
Bonjwa = 3 MSL wins followed by at least 1 OSL
and July also lost 0-3 to Nada in an OSL finals
Is this definition just because it's Savior's record, and he was the one that people first started calling Bonjwa?
Because to me, a Bonjwa is simply someone who is a dominant, repeat OSL or MSL winner.
Why does it have to be 3 MSLs and 1 OSL? Why can't it be 3 OSLs (Golden Mouse) and an MSL? Or 4 OSLs? Or 2 and 2?
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On January 05 2010 12:17 madcow305 wrote:Show nested quote +On January 05 2010 12:04 siv00 wrote:
Bonjwa = 3 MSL wins followed by at least 1 OSL
and July also lost 0-3 to Nada in an OSL finals Is this definition just because it's Savior's record, and he was the one that people first started calling Bonjwa? Because to me, a Bonjwa is simply someone who is a dominant, repeat OSL or MSL winner. Why does it have to be 3 MSLs and 1 OSL? Why can't it be 3 OSLs (Golden Mouse) and an MSL? Or 4 OSLs? Or 2 and 2?
Nada, Oov, and Savior all followed the exact same pattern of 3 consecutive MSL wins followed by an OSL win, so it's considered the "path of the bonjwa".
This is a good post about it: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=105232
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When I read the title, I immediately thought of the power rank of January 2009 for Firebathero, talking about his loss to July:
July (Ok, maybe this one is a little funny, but July has balls the size of watermelons)
I insist you incorporate it.
On another note, I believe NeverGG once posted that Bisu frequently "gawps" like he did during the drone drill game, so maybe Bisu wasn't that awed by the move. I personally thought the drone drill was brilliant, but I'm no PvZ strategist. Maybe you should reconsider you comments about that moment.
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On January 05 2010 12:04 siv00 wrote:
Bonjwa = 3 MSL wins followed by at least 1 OSL
and July also lost 0-3 to Nada in an OSL finals that was just a coincidental pattern [sae with being born in November], its not a req...
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On January 05 2010 12:20 siv00 wrote:Show nested quote +On January 05 2010 12:17 madcow305 wrote:On January 05 2010 12:04 siv00 wrote:
Bonjwa = 3 MSL wins followed by at least 1 OSL
and July also lost 0-3 to Nada in an OSL finals Is this definition just because it's Savior's record, and he was the one that people first started calling Bonjwa? Because to me, a Bonjwa is simply someone who is a dominant, repeat OSL or MSL winner. Why does it have to be 3 MSLs and 1 OSL? Why can't it be 3 OSLs (Golden Mouse) and an MSL? Or 4 OSLs? Or 2 and 2? Nada, Oov, and Savior all followed the exact same pattern of 3 consecutive MSL wins followed by an OSL win, so it's considered the "path of the bonjwa". This is a good post about it: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=105232
Savior didn't win three consecutive, so it's more of a general coincidence than a set rule.
Not to mention Boxer.
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July is my favorite progamer. When he's on, every game of his is exiting to watch. People talk about how high level play is great to watch because of the nuances, but when you watch July, it's just fun seeing him make aggressive plays.
But on the downside, because he's so aggressive, when he loses, it looks pretty bad.
Anyways, July is the reason I started watching starcraft.
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On January 05 2010 12:45 Avidkeystamper wrote:Show nested quote +On January 05 2010 12:20 siv00 wrote:On January 05 2010 12:17 madcow305 wrote:On January 05 2010 12:04 siv00 wrote:
Bonjwa = 3 MSL wins followed by at least 1 OSL
and July also lost 0-3 to Nada in an OSL finals Is this definition just because it's Savior's record, and he was the one that people first started calling Bonjwa? Because to me, a Bonjwa is simply someone who is a dominant, repeat OSL or MSL winner. Why does it have to be 3 MSLs and 1 OSL? Why can't it be 3 OSLs (Golden Mouse) and an MSL? Or 4 OSLs? Or 2 and 2? Nada, Oov, and Savior all followed the exact same pattern of 3 consecutive MSL wins followed by an OSL win, so it's considered the "path of the bonjwa". This is a good post about it: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=105232 Savior didn't win three consecutive, so it's more of a general coincidence than a set rule. Not to mention Boxer.
It's definitely not a coincidence. Sure if Flash won both leagues this season and then made gold with a close silver finish in the MSL he could be considered bonjwa, but nothing even close to that has happened other than Bisu's consecutive MSL finishes which would've fit the pattern if he hadn't lost to Mind.
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On January 05 2010 12:00 madcow305 wrote:
Question:
Why isn't July considered a Bonjwa while Savior is?
He defeated Oov during his prime, and Oov is considered a Bonjwa.
He has the Golden Mouse, something even Savior couldn't get.
Is it just because his OSL wins didn't come in a string of close seasons, but rather over years?
boxer, nada, and oov werent even called bonjwas until savior came out. Its a word that people called savior and then just called the other 3 after. Theres no specific req that makes a bonjwa except you just know they are. They just have this dominant aura around them. They are the one to beat. Anyone they play they are a favorite. They just dont lose and win everything. When july was in his prime he was top 1 for awhile but even when he was top he wasnt the favorite vs everyone. Dont get me wrong he was really good but wasnt dominant. He just didnt have that feeling to him. I think someone said this before. If you have to argue about it then they arent a bonjwa. Its just something you know when you watch them play.
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MrHoon
10183 Posts
Savior was bonjwa with 2 MSL golds and 1 MSL silver. He didn't even need the OSL.
like ils said, there is no specific requirement to be a bonjwa. A bonjwa is when someone is ALWAYS a favorite (excluding rapid fanboism). Like 9:1 odds against anyone. The dominant aura flows all around their body! No matter how much you hate them, you can feel it.
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On January 05 2010 12:57 MrHoon wrote:
Savior was bonjwa with 2 MSL golds and 1 MSL silver. He didn't even need the OSL.
like ils said, there is no specific requirement to be a bonjwa. A bonjwa is when someone is ALWAYS a favorite (excluding rapid fanboism). Like 9:1 odds against anyone. The dominant aura flows all around their body! No matter how much you hate them, you can feel it.
So kinda like how Flash is now?
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Roffles
Pitcairn19291 Posts
On January 05 2010 13:03 Xiphos wrote:Show nested quote +On January 05 2010 12:57 MrHoon wrote:
Savior was bonjwa with 2 MSL golds and 1 MSL silver. He didn't even need the OSL.
like ils said, there is no specific requirement to be a bonjwa. A bonjwa is when someone is ALWAYS a favorite (excluding rapid fanboism). Like 9:1 odds against anyone. The dominant aura flows all around their body! No matter how much you hate them, you can feel it. So kinda like how Flash is now?
We'll wait until he wins something before anointing him with that status.
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On January 05 2010 13:03 Xiphos wrote:Show nested quote +On January 05 2010 12:57 MrHoon wrote:
Savior was bonjwa with 2 MSL golds and 1 MSL silver. He didn't even need the OSL.
like ils said, there is no specific requirement to be a bonjwa. A bonjwa is when someone is ALWAYS a favorite (excluding rapid fanboism). Like 9:1 odds against anyone. The dominant aura flows all around their body! No matter how much you hate them, you can feel it. So kinda like how Flash is now?
Nah, more so. Jaedong and Bisu recently went on tears like the one Flash is on and the B word came up then too. So really, As long as the three coexist I don't think any of them will become a bonjwa.
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bonjwas are like super saiyans. Players can often play a perfect game or even a few but they cant sustain it for long. But i think what every bonjwa has done that they do have in common is they just completely raised the level of everyone else. Like to beat them everyone else had to work twice as hard. Each one revolutionized the game in their own unique ways.
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Roffles
Pitcairn19291 Posts
On January 05 2010 13:23 Athos wrote:Show nested quote +On January 05 2010 13:03 Xiphos wrote:On January 05 2010 12:57 MrHoon wrote:
Savior was bonjwa with 2 MSL golds and 1 MSL silver. He didn't even need the OSL.
like ils said, there is no specific requirement to be a bonjwa. A bonjwa is when someone is ALWAYS a favorite (excluding rapid fanboism). Like 9:1 odds against anyone. The dominant aura flows all around their body! No matter how much you hate them, you can feel it. So kinda like how Flash is now? Nah, more so. Jaedong and Bisu recently went on tears like the one Flash is on and the B word came up then too. So really, As long as the three coexist I don't think any of them will become a bonjwa.
But when JD and Bisu were on their tears, the other two still could take games off them. Flash on the other hand looks pretty much indestructible right now. Holy shit he looks invincible with his star sense, map hacks, mechanics. Sick. But yes, it's still too early to tell.
And holy shit ils that profile pic. So damn good.
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On January 05 2010 09:20 dcberkeley wrote:
He probably has the worst Fanbase : Success ratio.
Yes, I never understood that. Fans love the old school players, and the ones who actually remained competitive have huge fan bases that show up at their games. Well July is in an extremely elite club, owning a Golden Mouse, and having been around for most of Broodwars history and yet nobody seems to care about him. It's sad.
That series against Goodfriend was what got me into pro SC, I had watched casually a bit but that comeback sparked a lifelong passion, and I always root for July whenever he plays.
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Roffles
Pitcairn19291 Posts
I used to love watching July's all out aggression. Although it'd look nasty at times when he loses, but when he won, it was a sight to behold.
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EPT![[image loading]](http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww151/Selffor/BisuO.png)
![[image loading]](http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww151/Selffor/JulyMouse.jpg)
