The Happy Jaedong Project - Page 3

Thank you for this thread.

I have loved Jaedong since Ever OSL 2007. I have seen every televised game he has played since that tournament - almost every one of them live at 5 o'clock in the morning. When I didn't have internet in my apartment, I went out - at 5 o'clock - to internet cafés.

I don't know why I love Jaedong so much. Maybe it is because Jaedong seems to be everything I am not. When I was younger I wanted to become a professional athlete. I couldn't because I wasn't gifted enough. Especially I had a problem with nerves. I was afraid of fighting and competing. I was playing to become the best - not for the love of the game, and I was always afraid of losing. Since then I have looked up to people who thrive under pressure. People who compete because they love it, because they love the fight. I didn't have that. Jaedong has that. His games are not about perfection. They are about fighting and flowing with the rhythm of the game. He is before everything else a competitor.

I think when you compare Jaedong and Flash (which you almost automatically do since they are like the Kasparov and Karpov of Starcraft) their two most typical attributes shows the differences between them as competitors. Flash's attribute would be the ruler. He is precise and meticulous. Everything must go as planned. In the right conditions he is the perfect player. When I think of him, I think about controlling the game. Building 100 turrets is like saying: "It doesn't matter what you do, I will do my thing perfectly and you won't be able to touch me." Jaedong's attribute is the "death stare". He wants to fight you and he wants the game to become crazy. Jaedong is known to take huge risks and make game changing decisions in a split second. If I had to choose a game that symbolizes Jaedong's play. I would take the game against Midas in PDPop MSL 2010 on Dante's peak where Jaedong drone rushed off a 12 hatchery. A lot of people said afterwards that the game wasn't "perfect", that Midas could have held the rush. But they don't take into account the competition. No one attacks like that. Jaedong's stare is like the stare of a predator who is waiting for the slightest twitch to jump on his pray. He is like Tal - possibly the best natural attacking chess player in history. Like with Jaedong, people who don't understand the nature of competition are going back to Tal's games to refute his aggressive sacrifices with a computer.

I think that it is the love of the struggle that makes Jaedong so mentally strong. After the power outage in the Nate MSL, Jaedong calmly waited for the judges decision. He would have been perfectly content with a re-game even after having outplayed Flash on a very difficult map for zerg. For me that is integrity. Not hiding behind excuses and daring to fight when it really matters.

"Because the game is his whole world, it reciprocates his love. His hands produce and position units that pour over into his opponent's defenses like a whirlwind. Slowly, his intense stare changes into an affectionate gaze as the game rewards him with a moment of meaning in a meaningless world." - Pubbanana


This quote about Yellow applies as well for Jaedong. The important thing is the love for the game.

On April 29 2012 15:05 spiderface wrote:


Jaedong is my favorite player by far. He really shouldn't question his life choices when he has inspired so many people that love to watch him play. <3 Jaedong. You will rise again.

On April 29 2012 20:51 Jealous wrote:

I think a lot of us DON'T want to see JD playing SC2 (at least not as long as he can play BW). Why do these SC2 posts have to be so blatant now that there are rumors of SC2/BW league? Ugh.