Edit: Added Coach/Manager KIMDONGWOO's interview. Highly encouraged to read if you want to know when EffOrt will start being sent out in matches again.
EffOrt, during his time when he was with CJ Entus, went on a hot streak with his play that fit his sharp gaze and undertook the role of being his team’s ace player, and in the 2010 Korean Air OSL finals, defeated “Ultimate Weapon” Flash with an upset, and was a top class player that was able to win the finals.
In 2009, at that time, EffOrt had the most consecutive wins in ZvT with 15 straight wins, breaking YellOw’s record of 12 straight wins and set a new record, and that story is an account of EffOrt’s radiant days as a flourishing pro gamer.
But then, EffOrt suddenly announced out of the blue that he was retiring in order to take a new route of life, bewildering and shocking eSports fans who could not hide their pain and disappointment. However, “the Hawk that returned from Hell”, EffOrt’s nickname; had it been given to him because he was expected to return? After EffOrt had announced his retirement, after spending 183 days in retirement, he decided to change his mind with the intent to return.
In order to learn what made him come back and what kind of resolutions he had for becoming a pro gamer again, Fomos conducted a phone interview with EffOrt and listened to his story.
Next is EffOrt’s answers to his questions.
- You decided to change your mind about retirement and have announced your return. What kind of thoughts did you have? ▲ I was full of anticipation while at the same time full of anxiety. But truthfully speaking, I didn’t have any pressure to come back.
- It must have been a hard decision; what made you decide to come back? ▲ I had a lot of troubles. During that time, I just set the principle, “Follow your heart,” for myself, and it seemed that I found the answer to that principle. I decided to speak frankly about my troubles to Coach KIMDONGWOO, who listened carefully to my story and gave me the courage that I would be able to return to the pro gaming scene. The biggest reason why I decided to come back was because I had wanted to return without any regrets and find my spark again. I also missed living with my teammates at the practice house.
- Are you quitting your studies? ▲ In order to return to having the life as a pro gamer, I think that I will postpone my studies later.
- Hydra winning the MSL championship must have been a substantial motivation to you. ▲ Seeing Hydra, who lived together with me as a little brother to me win the championship, impressed me and made me very proud of him. The truth is that I recalled my time at the OSL finals and thought, “I want to stand on the stage again once more.”
- It’s inevitable that after you left the top of the ranks and were in a situation where your results weren’t that good, you’re making a comeback when your image has fallen. Do you have a burden because of that? ▲ I haven’t been getting a lot of stress because of that. I have the mindset that I’ll work hard to start again, and if I do my best, then things will work out.
- Is there a person who helped you out the most for your comeback? ▲ After I decided to retire, it looks like I went this way and that way for deciding if I should return, but Coach KIMDONGWOO and my teammates didn’t think that way and listened carefully to my troubles, which really helped me out a lot.
- Where do you think your current skill falls now, and when do you think you’ll be able to display your full, complete strength again? ▲ I want to think that by starting over again, my current skill is at around half of my past skill’s level. I can’t guarantee that I’ll return to my old skill soon, but I have confidence that I’ll be able to do well again in the future.
- We’ve heard that you’ll be immediately going into training for 3 months. ▲ This time, I really want to devote myself to gaming only. Even though I won’t be able to contact my friends that much, I hope they will understand my situation. I’ll practice on the same level as practice partners, no, I’ll practice even more than that and do my best. - Please say some words to your fans. ▲ Even during the time of my retirement, I knew that many people suddenly hearing the news were disappointed and got hurt. But just like that again, I’ve suddenly decided to return. I don’t know what to think of myself for doing that, but from now on if you watch over me, I will do my best to make it up to those I disappointed through my games. I will do my absolute best, so I ask for everyone’s support.
Coach KIMDONGWOO: “EffOrt’s return was a decision made without any regrets”
Coach KIMDONGWOO let us know that deciding for EffOrt to return took a great toll on him. Coach KIMDONGWOO, for the well-being of EffOrt, visited his dorm and knew that he could not abandon his lingering affection for EffOrt, and could no longer stand to see his pupil suffering from the route’s hardships he had taken on.
In the end, EffOrt, who wanted to end his sufferings, sought out Coach KIMDONGWOO and said to him, “I want to play games again,” and Coach KIMDONGWOO willingly accepted his decision, discussing with their company and driving forward the project for EffOrt’s return.
Coach KIMDONGWOO told us, “Even though I personally clearly knew what he wanted to do and if he could be able to do it well, it was a misfortune that he was continuously going through troubles. I am not concerned whether or not he will be able to stand on the stage as a pro gamer again, but EffOrt has made a decision without any regrets.”
Next is Coach KIMDONGWOO’s answers to his questions.
- From the standpoint of someone who had trained EffOrt since his days on the B-team, the news of EffOrt’s comeback should please you more than anyone else, but how what are your thoughts on his return? ▲ First of all, I feel good about it. EffOrt showed a lot of will that he wanted to play games again, but this kind of news doesn’t only apply to eSports, it’s like that in all other sports out there, no? There’s a difference between wanting to do something badly and not being able to put out those results. Right now, a similar case that relates to EffOrt’s is [T/N: The original article cut off the answer abruptly here, which is a shame… And Fomos never fixes their mistakes/typos in articles.]
- EffOrt said in his interview that you helped him a lot for his comeback. Truthfully, contrary to being concerned about EffOrt’s gap from being gone, your team has been doing well in both the individual leagues and in Proleague, but what is the reason why you willingly accepted him back? ▲ A team does not have to have a particular ace player in order to win the championship. With that meaning, because EffOrt used to be an ace player, even after the news of his retirement, I had confidence that he would be able to do well together with the remaining players. However, Movie and sKyHigh were players that I picked with my own hands the same way as EffOrt, and if he hadn’t had quit, because I knew well that he was a player that could go on to farther, greater heights, I also have a standpoint where I had many regrets. There’s a saying, “If you don’t like it, then stop,” but at that time, I was unable to prevent him from retiring. I also gave up on him, but for EffOrt to realize what he had done and say that he would return made me accept him back without any hesitation at all. EffOrt has shown that he has matured, and our company also understood that EffOrt’s return could give more energy and new vitality to eSports as a whole, and decided that letting him come back would be the right thing to do.
- Where does EffOrt’s current skill fall right now? We heard that he has been doing well, but if you could describe it yourself, what is it like at present? ▲ We definitely cannot ignore the fact that he was gone for 6 months. Of course, if another player had been gone for the same amount of time, they absolutely would not be in the same situation as this one, and just as I expected, EffOrt’s skill has not faded. Since he was a player that was at the top, if he just manages to prepare in a certain amount of time, then I think that he will be able to rise as a top class player again.
- When will we see EffOrt participate in matches again? ▲ Because we have to follow official procedures and rules, I’ll have to tell an exact time again later. This season’s Proleague seems to not be a possibility, so I will disclose to the public when he will be able to participate in the next Proleague season. Still, there’s a chance that you’ll be able to see him in the individual leagues first over Proleague, but I’ll tell you later when everyone will be able to see him again after we adjust and modify his schedule.
- Is there anything you want to see from EffOrt in the future? ▲ It was a hard decision to let him come back and start over again, and right now since there’s a possibility that quick results won’t come from him, it can be very hard to deal with. It will be hard because all the players who are still playing have been working hard while EffOrt was gone. What’s important to EffOrt is that he must not forget that he came back for the sake of doing what he himself had wanted to do. He has returned with having to start all over again, but if he shows performances that he has matured, I have firm belief that he will be able to become an even greater player than before, so I request to him that he works hard and tries his best.
as much as i love this baby 183 days of retirement in this day and age will set you far back in terms of skill level, honestly i hope he rambo's the scene again but truthfully that seems at this stage unlikely, still hoping for a miracle GOGO EFFORT
On March 21 2011 13:05 unionbank wrote: as much as i love this baby 183 days of retirement in this day and age will set you far back in terms of skill level, honestly i hope he rambo's the scene again but truthfully that seems at this stage unlikely, still hoping for a miracle GOGO EFFORT
well he's got like 130 days to practice without any pressure of any leagues, so ;p
Welcome back. I hate you for beating Flash, but bw is better when you're around. I believe you will rise to the top again, as long as you put in the effort.
If Effort still has half his skill, then 4 months of stress-free practice should be enough to recover it. I never had too much trouble recovering my skill after a week or so of playing. And though he has a lot more skill he needs to recover, he'll have progamers to help him.
And I thought that Effort was going to get an education and make something other than a progamer out of himself...
When I read the tweet/thread, I was like, "Whoa, no way, first Guemchi, now Effort!"
Well, once a progamer, always a progamer I guess . I'm sure he'll be tearing up Jaedong in no time haha. Really though, I think it'll be a tough road for him to make it back up in the ranks of the CJ house, especially if he wants to surpass Hydra. While I doubt he'll be able to make it all the way back up there to a Starleague finals (I'll probably be eating these words later on this year), I'm sure he'll do well in the lineup for Proleague!
Great news. I don't think he was near his peak when he retired. Undoing a wrong choice and not sticking with it "just because" takes a lot of guts. WB!
Effort will take a while to pick up his form, but he has the talent and there is no denying it, even if he stopped playing for a few years instead of half a year. Personally I think he should just stick to one decision and stop regretting.
It'll be a tough road ahead for Effort, starcraft requires a lot of practice. He has the talent though, so I think he'll be good again by the last quarter of this year.
For all I know he can still pwn most amateurs left and right after seeing nal_ra do it even after about 2 years of not playing regularly.
On March 21 2011 15:14 Archers_bane wrote: move the hell over hydra, the real ace zerg for CJ is here!
Oh hellz no son. Hellz to the no. You don't say that while I'm around. More like sit down and watch Hydra roll people's faces while back sweating in the practice house!
Umm....He does have 130 days to practice and he may have the advantage of renewed true passion for the game, one that many progamers may lack nowadays after years of grinding.
Considering that Effort entered the progaming in the same fashion as Flash and Oov did, namely with a big bang by taking down top players hardcore style as a rookie, this is a man of considerable natural talent.
I am starting to think Effort may be able to return to the top tier after all next year. We need someone like him who can go toe to toe against even Flash.
On March 21 2011 16:05 xarthaz wrote: Very nice but it seems dubious whether he can get back to being on the proleague lineup... entus is so fucken stacked
Effort was definitely better than any of the current lineup players at his peak, even if they are good.
Coach/Manager KIMDONGWOO's interview added. Highly encouraged to read if you want to know when EffOrt will start being sent out in matches again, and also answers a few more questions about EffOrt's current state.
Reading from the coach interview, Effort evidently had difficulty catching up with studying and apply to university. No surprise really.
Once you reach the height of progaming through reversing the tsunami that is Flash and snatching the golden trophy from the jaws of the monster, it becomes difficult to surpass the peak and maintain the standard your fans expect. There is a reason why many authors refuse to write again after creating the pinnacle of their work or decline after reaching the pinnacle. The pressure is immense and the result is sometimes unrewarding.
However, no matter what, Effort was SOMEBODY in progaming. He had fans, he had a huge contract, he had recognition, and he woke up everyday knowing he was an important person.
Yet, after returning to a normal life, going to school and studying for university, he was a nobody. Rather than on the top, he was lagging behind even the worst of students due to the years he sacrificed for progaming.
Indeed, there can be no comparison between the two lives. Sad as it may be, after you enter progaming, there is no going back. In case of Effort, at least he still had options and the freedom of choice. In case of many other retired progamers who completed lost their passion, sacrificed as much time as the top players, and yet accomplished nothing, their entire lives may indeed be permanently altered in a negative direction.
On March 21 2011 13:05 unionbank wrote: as much as i love this baby 183 days of retirement in this day and age will set you far back in terms of skill level, honestly i hope he rambo's the scene again but truthfully that seems at this stage unlikely, still hoping for a miracle GOGO EFFORT
well he's got like 130 days to practice without any pressure of any leagues, so ;p
After so much training, I expect him to walk the "Royal Road"
EffOrt!!! Too bad that he's late for the Zerg MSL. Effort vs Hydra might've been epic! I expect him to be in an individual league finals next year
Hite entus = 2 CJ zerg generations + other CJ players + Hite players = I expect epic rounds 5 and 6. Both Hite and KT looking good right now so matches between those 2 might be the most awaited matches of the next rounds .
On March 22 2011 00:05 mmdmmd wrote: Was money the main reason Effort left in the first place? Did he ask for a pay rise after beating Flash? Anyone know?
Pretty sure that is the reason. It's pretty obvious, I think. His team was in transition, and he wanted a raise after beating Flash. Hite didn't agree, so Effort left...
Now that Hite is not doing so well, they want Effort back...
On March 22 2011 00:05 mmdmmd wrote: Was money the main reason Effort left in the first place? Did he ask for a pay rise after beating Flash? Anyone know?
Pretty sure that is the reason. It's pretty obvious, I think. His team was in transition, and he wanted a raise after beating Flash. Hite didn't agree, so Effort left...
Now that Hite is not doing so well, they want Effort back...
On March 22 2011 00:05 mmdmmd wrote: Was money the main reason Effort left in the first place? Did he ask for a pay rise after beating Flash? Anyone know?
Pretty sure that is the reason. It's pretty obvious, I think. His team was in transition, and he wanted a raise after beating Flash. Hite didn't agree, so Effort left...
Now that Hite is not doing so well, they want Effort back...
Source? And, I'm glad that Effort's coming back. OSL final between himself and Flash was one of the first finals I saw. I hope he returns to and peaks his old form
when effort played he was the same like flash/jaedong/bisu stork. This guy is a freaking beast. Besides alot of sick plays by him i will also never forget his epic comeback in the osl. This guy has everything to get another gold.
On March 22 2011 05:43 skinnyrl wrote: when effort played he was the same like flash/jaedong/bisu stork. This guy is a freaking beast. Besides alot of sick plays by him i will also never forget his epic comeback in the osl. This guy has everything to get another gold.
He was the 3rd best player in the world for quite a while while bisu/stork were slumping.
On March 22 2011 00:05 mmdmmd wrote: Was money the main reason Effort left in the first place? Did he ask for a pay rise after beating Flash? Anyone know?
Pretty sure that is the reason. It's pretty obvious, I think. His team was in transition, and he wanted a raise after beating Flash. Hite didn't agree, so Effort left...
Now that Hite is not doing so well, they want Effort back...
Where are you guys getting this information from?
On October 19 2010 02:40 Selith wrote: The article tells me that the negotiation really didn't go very smooth.
Effort said: "I wanted to continue playing and enjoying the games with the fans, but during the salary negotiation process, CJ made me turn away from the team to the point, that made me think 'Why did I even bother to play hard for so long for this team?'."
On March 22 2011 00:05 mmdmmd wrote: Was money the main reason Effort left in the first place? Did he ask for a pay rise after beating Flash? Anyone know?
Pretty sure that is the reason. It's pretty obvious, I think. His team was in transition, and he wanted a raise after beating Flash. Hite didn't agree, so Effort left...
Now that Hite is not doing so well, they want Effort back...
There's 2 sides to this coin.
After his OSL win Effort felt entitled to a big salary bump (though we don't know the details), CJ didn't meet his number, he decided to call it good and focus on school. Maybe his entrence exams didn't go well? maybe he just regretted his decision? maybe he realized he wasn't in the mindset for school and wanted to restart negotiations?
Anyway, Hite isn't doing too badly, Hydra has more or less replaced Effort's position (and took an MSL as well). Movie is bouncing back finally, Horang2 is winning some non-vP games now, Snow is still solid and Leta/Skyhigh have their ups and downs. I don't think CJ (Hite) came begging to Effort with the salary demands he had before he left, I think at the very least it was mutual and they met somewhere down the middle.
Awesome news to have Effort back, BW really needs some more positive news bombshells like that =) Can't wait until he can actually play in proleague again, FPL is waiting! :D
I'm not sure we'll see Effort in games anytime soon. He says himself that his skill level is only half as high as it was, and Guemchi has only played one game in Proleague since his return.
I feel like EffOrt is going to suddenly break out after this. I mean, I think that break will actually end up doing him some good and after he gets his practice done he could very likely catch fire and obliterate people in a few months.
I hope Kwanro is inspired by this... But still; Effort's aggressive 2 hatch play was pretty sweet to watch, looking forward to eventually seeing his TvZ again! (Though I remember his ZvZ being pretty balling too)
There's kind of a negative undertone in this article about him leaving and returning. Sounds like there is still some lingering resentment surrounding it.
On March 23 2011 14:33 Craton wrote: There's kind of a negative undertone in this article about him leaving and returning. Sounds like there is still some lingering resentment surrounding it.
There is somewhat of a negative undertone about Effort's return, but the only lingering resentment in Effort's leaving and coming back are the fans who are still upset and haven't forgotten how much his sudden retirement disappointed them. Effort made sure to address them though so that it doesn't seem like he's just waltzing in as a progamer again.
But both him and Coach KIMDONGWOO saying that it was a hard decision to decide whether he should come back or not probably sounded like a negative undertone as well, but it's not that they were all like, "Damn Effort, you had the nerve to leave us out of nowhere, and now you have the freakin' nerve to just come back to us after leaving such a huge gap and hurting so many people?" but more like, "You should stick with what you chose to take on yourself, but if you really do want to come back, it will be hard, and we don't know if you'll be as successful as you were in the past again."
Not sure whether EffOrt will ever return to his original skill level. Didn't GGPlay retire because his carpal tunnel injury would have put him out of action for 6 months, which he thought would be too long for him to ever catch up again?
thanks for translating the managers part. I usual find those better than the player ones (unless the players are from stars. Come to think of it, I don't think I have ever seen a stars manager interview, so maybe those are just the best of all.).
Alien Zerg coming back to rape. Seriously hes gunna come back its gunna be him Hydra and JD on the top 3 sending Flash into a slump after hes TvZ gets pummeled. Also ty for translations.
On March 23 2011 22:57 writer22816 wrote: Not sure whether EffOrt will ever return to his original skill level. Didn't GGPlay retire because his carpal tunnel injury would have put him out of action for 6 months, which he thought would be too long for him to ever catch up again?
He is like 6 years older than Effort and was far, far from his prime when he retired. Not really comparable.
It's great for BW and for fans that Effort is back. But you have to feel a little sorry for Snow. He was supposed to be the next big thing from CJ but somehow Hydra overtook him and won a starleague first, Movie is resurgent again and Leta of course is a star player/captain. If Effort gets back to a level similar to pre-retirement, Snow will be bumped down the team's internal rankings unless he makes the final of an individual league.
Not to undermine Hydra since his potential has yet to be seen (though to be fair, he has yet to actually beat FanTaSy in a straight-up game, so imagine how he would fare against the likes of Light or FlaSh), but break or not, we all know just how scary effOrt can be when he's dead serious.
If there's any one single player out there right now that has a chance to actually break the influence of TBLS (moreso than FanTaSy at least), it's effOrt.
On March 31 2011 13:20 HitoriTomoyo wrote: Finally, Zergs finally have a chance again.
Not to undermine Hydra since his potential has yet to be seen (though to be fair, he has yet to actually beat FanTaSy in a straight-up game, so imagine how he would fare against the likes of Light or FlaSh), but break or not, we all know just how scary effOrt can be when he's dead serious.
If there's any one single player out there right now that has a chance to actually break the influence of TBLS (moreso than FanTaSy at least), it's effOrt.
IMO Fantasy already has broken the ranks of TBLS. Look at that past 12 months and tell me with a straight face that Bisu or Stork has done better.
Effort is IMO the closest we've seen to a real #2 Zerg. Yes there's Calm who was a monster for quite a while, but Calm's a little overly dependent on strategic plays... which would have worked for him 5-6 years ago but right now it shows that he lacks the fundamentals of (peak form) Effort.
Effort isn't stable yet, Hydra lost all his momentum and has yet to show any versus Terran strength, Leta has won a few matches after a a huge loss streak doesn't mean he's good, movie is stable but not great, snow hasn't done much after the PvZ with jaedong, and skyhigh hasn't done much at all since sniping jaedong on destination and the winners league finals. All of these players were at one time very strong, but not so much any more.
Cj....ahhhh....i remember the good old days. I hope that Efforts comes back to his best. He was quite a fantastic player when he left, I'm sure he'll comeback as solid as ever. We needed another Zerg to rise since Jae looks to be somewhere else in his mind.
Effort and Flash enjoys practising with off-race on bnet even when Effort retired. Effort is a T and Flash is a P. Flash's P style is like his T, aggressive and pressure play. These 2 player's off-race matches even attracts the attention of T/P main race players.
I hope he figures out what his problem was with vT. He was at 63% against Terran through the beginning of 2010, which is as about as good as any Zerg has done long term, but for some reason he was doing fairly awful against Terran in 2010 - 40% win-rate. And we need more than one Zerg who actually can play consistently against Terran.
I honestly think that some of his vT losses were suspicious, if not only for the timing of his dip in form (precisely when other matchfixing was confirmed to be happening, and the fact he was on Savior's team and probably knew him well). Still though i won't speculate further for no reason.
I'm looking forward to him coming back and hopefully being a clear number 2 Zerg again.
EPT
KIMDONGWOO's interview. Highly encouraged to read if you want to know when EffOrt will start being sent out in matches again.![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/scBVD.jpg)
Flash with an upset, and was a top class player that was able to win the finals.![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/12Hyt.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/NN4nV.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/BBKEA.jpg)
Movie and 
. I'm sure he'll be tearing up Jaedong in no time haha. Really though, I think it'll be a tough road for him to make it back up in the ranks of the CJ house, especially if he wants to surpass Hydra. While I doubt he'll be able to make it all the way back up there to a Starleague finals (I'll probably be eating these words later on this year), I'm sure he'll do well in the lineup for Proleague!
![[image loading]](http://desmond.yfrog.com/Himg615/scaled.php?tn=0&server=615&filename=io6gj.jpg&xsize=640&ysize=640)
![[image loading]](http://www.fomos.kr/board/issue/1301382697_5.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/PccHa.jpg)
