Unbelievable Legend

So no fek wrote:
Shuttle isn't the best player by any means, in fact, he's quite rough around the edges. He frequently makes mistakes and has a fondness for running his goons into mines. With that said, he's got quite a lot of raw, unrefined power; if he were ever able to improve upon his faults, I know that he would be a truly great player. As it is, he's a PvP monster with a 71% win rate in the match up and he has amazing macro.

His other match-ups are pretty mediocre, but he has showed signs of brilliance. Though he has a 1-7 record versus Flash, all of the games have been exciting and could have easily gone into Shuttle's favor. My favorite Shuttle game was against Flash, during GOM Season 3 on Heartbreak Ridge. Though he loses, he manages to challenge Flash in a long game. It was very back and forth until his inability to do damage near the end lost him the game. While Flash wasn't at the height of his dominance at the time, it was still a very impressive display, and it bred my love for Shuttle. http://www.gomtv.net/classics3/vod/929

I started to like Shuttle because of the exciting games he showed. Yeah, he didn't win all the time, but it was still always exciting to watch him play. He even managed to dominate a bit in the most recent Winners League. But the reason I came to love Shuttle was due to the emotion he displayed. Most players seem to have a very conservative display when it comes to emotion. But look at Shuttle after a big win or loss, and you just know that his face is going to be streaming in tears. The first time I watched Shuttle cry with joy was when I knew he was something special.

538 wrote:
Not much new can be said about everyone's favourite smug-toss. Kal has been one of the strongest protosses in the world for years now, and he has been a powerhouse ace for STX, riding in tandem with Calm to give Soul the second seed in the playoffs.

As for the question, why do I love STX's Red Shuttle? Why would anyone ever dislike him is beyond me, however, I provide you a quick list of my reasons: I love his well tailored builds, his unusually brave, enthusiastic and agressive shuttle use and harass, his insane multitasking, the ability to take games off practically anyone on the scene, the willingness to try unorthodox and risky moves, the ability to fight until the end in bleak situations, and the heart to fight for his team again and again, cherishing the wins and standing up after each defeat.

And above all: the fact that even from across the globe, you can feel a real person and character shining through. Kal is the progamer next door. While some players impress - or even frighten - me with their impeccable macro and winstreaks, their poker/gameface and their polite intreviews, Kal is a guy who hugs his opponent and good friend on stage, smiles smugly after some silly moves he just pulled off, and sometimes fumbles around awkwardly on the big stages, just like most of us would, then looks heartbroken and keeps apologizing to his fans. And we forgive him, because we know he's going to be back, to entertain us again.

Even if you happen to root against him, the least you can expect from Kal during these playoff games is some entertaining Starcraft.

+ Show Spoiler [recommended viewing] +
With Calm stumbling back to cheesy mediocrity lately, it looks clear that Kal's performance is going to make or break STX's playoff run. With his recent slump STX also failed to put up results, and showed a disgraceful performance (2-8 or so?) in Round 5, but with some luck they were still able to keep their playoffs seed, giving them a much needed rest at the end of the season.

Take Kal's recent shaky results, add some stage freight that he could never really overcome in his 4 years of professional carreer, a pinch of bad luck, and he will be sniped by some random scrub. But should he wake up to a good day, he will carry STX on his back to the top of Proleague, smiling all the way.
... Hell, it's about time!

Kim Ku Hyun fighting!

hyst.eric.al wrote:
Though recently underwhelming, Calm is an undeniably potent player in the STX lineup to both his occasionally masochistic fans and shellfish-allergic opposition. Chock full of Vitamin Ballsy, Motherfucking Aggression, The Cerebral Zerg's ability to mindfuck his opponents into laughable pulp of confusion rivals Hyuk's ability to do it to himself. All of the time until this semifinal match has made Calm a ticking time bomb, as he has undoubtedly concocted numerous strategies for the inevitable dismantlement of the SKT Protosses. You will laugh, you will cry, your mind will be blown to bits as Calm sits on four gas with 6 zerglings and 111 drones while Fantasy is left quivering in his natural behind a wall of bunkers, turrets, and soiled pants. You may detest his play or fucking hate his play, but at the end of the day, you will be awe-stricken by the Brain Zerg's fear-inducing triumphs.


STX FIGHTING!

Carnivorous Sheep wrote:
Calm is awesome. Calm will destroy you without practice, just by using the power of his mind. Calm will 12 Hatch and beat your 5 Pool and then laugh in your face. Calm will overcome JvZ with a build order disadvantage..



People will rage at Calm for cheesing, but Calm will laugh at them as he’s in the Ro8 and his opponent left to face Prelims next season. People will dismiss Calm as an undeserving Starleague winner as he makes the MSL gold, OSL Ro4, MSL Ro4, MSL Ro8 at the minimum in consecutive seasons.



And then Calm will lead STX to win the 2009-2010 Shinhan Bank Proleague. And it will be good.

Ideas wrote:
I used to hate Modesty. Ever since STX used him for an ace match vs Jaedong last May and he failed horribly. In the beginning of Modesty’s career, it was already apparent that he was a ZvZ sniper, with his 1st TWELVE games being ZvZs, almost all of them on battle royal or God’s Garden. Although at first he had a very big case of nerves and performed quite poorly, over the last year he has improved a lot and actually has a near 60% winrate in ZvZ now. What makes modesty so lovable to me is that he is a cold-blooded killer in ZvZ for the most part, with incredible micro and decision-making, but then just an absolute helpless little puppy in ZvP (career 4-12). His ZvT ins’t too hot either and I think relies too much on his muta micro (which is really good btw), but in the end he’s made for some great ZvZs and really funny ZvPs. Part of my hates modesty for his humiliating lose to stork last playoffs season (and had he won, STX would of won the 1st 2 series without a need for the super ace match) but part of me also loves him for making one of the funniest PvZs I’ve ever seen. No matter what matchup this boy gets, it’s going to be a good watch (or maybe unbearably aggravating).

Ideas wrote:
My 1st experience with hero was watching him completely dismantle Boxer in GOM season 2. I didn’t care for him much during that time. Then I watched this game of his vs Bisu later that year, and I became a fan (fake drop into nexus snipe into real drop? yes please). Then he played a few more games and I became an even bigger fan. Hero has 2 styles: unbelievably aggressive (the true by.hero) and unbearably standard (for when he wants to play it safe and win “for sure”). Hero’s aggressive style is the closest one can get to JulyZerg in the modern era, and although hero has great mechanics, they are still not honed properly and he seems to suffer in multitasking in crucial games. Despite that, he can macro like a beast and micro like one too.