• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 00:42
CEST 06:42
KST 13:42
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
Code S RO4 & Finals Preview: herO, Rogue, Classic, GuMiho0TL Team Map Contest #5: Presented by Monster Energy4Code S RO8 Preview: herO, Zoun, Bunny, Classic7Code S RO8 Preview: Rogue, GuMiho, Solar, Maru3BGE Stara Zagora 2025: Info & Preview27
Community News
Classic & herO RO8 Interviews: "I think it’s time to teach [Rogue] a lesson."2Rogue & GuMiho RO8 interviews: "Lifting that trophy would be a testament to all I’ve had to overcome over the years and how far I’ve come on this journey.4Code S RO8 Results + RO4 Bracket (2025 Season 2)12BGE Stara Zagora 2025 - Replay Pack2Weekly Cups (June 2-8): herO doubles down1
StarCraft 2
General
I have an extra ticket to the GSL Ro4/finals Rogue & GuMiho RO8 interviews: "Lifting that trophy would be a testament to all I’ve had to overcome over the years and how far I’ve come on this journey. Classic & herO RO8 Interviews: "I think it’s time to teach [Rogue] a lesson." Code S RO8 Results + RO4 Bracket (2025 Season 2) Code S RO4 & Finals Preview: herO, Rogue, Classic, GuMiho
Tourneys
[GSL 2025] Code S: Season 2 - Semi Finals & Finals $3,500 WardiTV European League 2025 Sea Duckling Open (Global, Bronze-Diamond) SOOPer7s Showmatches 2025 RSL: Revival, a new crowdfunded tournament series
Strategy
[G] Darkgrid Layout Simple Questions Simple Answers [G] PvT Cheese: 13 Gate Proxy Robo
Custom Maps
[UMS] Zillion Zerglings
External Content
Mutation # 477 Slow and Steady Mutation # 476 Charnel House Mutation # 475 Hard Target Mutation # 474 Futile Resistance
Brood War
General
ASL20 Preliminary Maps BW General Discussion BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ Recent recommended BW games FlaSh Witnesses SCV Pull Off the Impossible vs Shu
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [BSL 2v2] ProLeague Season 3 - Friday 21:00 CET Small VOD Thread 2.0 [BSL20] ProLeague Bracket Stage - Day 4
Strategy
I am doing this better than progamers do. [G] How to get started on ladder as a new Z player
Other Games
General Games
Path of Exile Nintendo Switch Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Beyond All Reason What do you want from future RTS games?
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine UK Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Vape Nation Thread
Fan Clubs
Maru Fan Club Serral Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Korean Music Discussion [Manga] One Piece
Sports
Formula 1 Discussion 2024 - 2025 Football Thread NHL Playoffs 2024 TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
A Better Routine For Progame…
TrAiDoS
StarCraft improvement
iopq
Heero Yuy & the Tax…
KrillinFromwales
I was completely wrong ab…
jameswatts
Need Your Help/Advice
Glider
Trip to the Zoo
micronesia
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 34627 users

Statistical Bonjwa Theory: the History of BW - Page 5

Forum Index > BW General
Post a Reply
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next All
Yoshi Kirishima
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
United States10323 Posts
August 01 2012 07:03 GMT
#81
On August 01 2012 15:55 Mataza wrote:
Actually, if Savior is being called a Bonjwa, then Jaedong and Flash might both be Bonjwas.
Look at the length of Saviors dominance. It wasn´t very long, or clear. (Neither was iloveoov)
[image loading]

It seems to me the title of Bonjwa was given to people who discovered a playstyle and dominated with it. That´s why Flash isn´t a Bonjwa, he is the ultimate weapon.


Wow interesting, you are right, from that graph it's only 1 year for both about, which is the same as jaedong. Though it seems that people considered iloveoov/savior to dominate for a bit longer than a year? I think if jaedong kept it up for half a year there would be little doubt he would be considered a bonjwa.
Mid-master streaming MECH ONLY + commentary www.twitch.tv/yoshikirishima +++ "If all-in fails, all-in again."
nebffa
Profile Blog Joined February 2009
Australia776 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-01 07:24:55
August 01 2012 07:13 GMT
#82
On August 01 2012 12:15 Crisium wrote:
God > Bonjwa

Statistics are fun, but there's the subjective value of the games. Which is why Power Rank always held such a deep spot in my heart.

Flash: Back-to-back-to-back dual finals in 2010, winning 4 of the 6. Such dominance was never achieved before, nor after. He also dominated SPL in 2010. And even as recently as late 2011 and early 2012, Flash was virtually unstoppable in SPL.

It's the general talk of things that truly define a bonjwa. I remember that even after he made his third and fourth consecutive finals (losing to Effort, and defeating Jaedong) Koreans still denied him Bonjwa status. Several months later, Flash defeats Jaedong twice and they proclaim him God.

How could they not? Flash and Jaedong were both far better than anyone else in the scene during this time. And Jaedong was helpless before Flash in the end. God > Jaedong > all. At this time, Bisu was considered slumping and not a top toss, and even Stork was only the #3 Protoss behind Kal and Free. None of these Protoss did anything notable in 2010. Effort couldn't follow up his success with another individual league run ever again. Flash and Jaedong were the only real men, and even Jaedong looked like crap when he got 3-0'd by a 14ccing Flash.

TTT just can't express this dominance. Jaedong may have been second to Flash statistically by only a bit, but in late summer 2010 Flash was subjectively so much better it was scary.


Really true. Flash has always been my favourite player since I knew about the scene in early 2009. Even though Flash had been rolling through everyone in almost every single match he played (this is where he was having a 90% win-rate lol) there was still a palpable hesitation in naming him a bonjwa. Bonjwa is not a light term and the community knows it - it is the highest honour that the fans can bestow on a player.

In 2009, Jaedong was dominating the opposition and there was a lot of discussion at the time as to whether Jaedong was a bonjwa. The domination, however, was qualitatively less comprehensive and consistent than Flash in 2010 and the conditions were never 'right' to call Jaedong a bonjwa.

This explains the great hesitation in labelling Flash a bonjwa in early to mid 2010, but yes as ore0z linked, by the end of the Korean Air Starleague 2, in September 2010, Flash had made his THIRD-IN-A-ROW. DOUBLE. MSL/OSL finals plus cleaning up everyone in proleague plus comprehensively beating the 6 dragons in T's hard matchup (Z>P, P>T, T>Z) over an extended period of time. Though some would argue as to whether it was the greatest 'ever', no-one disputed that it was the greatest since Savior's decline in 2007, a full three years prior.

The right conditions had been created.

As some people have stated, he might have been called 'God' by the Koreans - or bonjwa. If we disregard which of 'God' or 'bonjwa' he was called, at that point he had garnered more accomplishments than any other bonjwa that had come before him, and that was the important thing.
GhostOwl
Profile Blog Joined July 2011
766 Posts
August 01 2012 07:35 GMT
#83
On August 01 2012 12:15 Crisium wrote:

And Jaedong was helpless before Flash in the end. God > Jaedong > all.

TTT just can't express this dominance. Jaedong may have been second to Flash statistically by only a bit, but in late summer 2010 Flash was subjectively so much better it was scary.


It's unfair to say Flash was so much better since, when they versed each other, it was a TvZ. Needless to talk about the nature of the MU, even though JD lost, the amount of resistance he put up playing as ZERG verse a TERRAN makes me feel like he was the better player.
ymir233
Profile Blog Joined June 2010
United States8275 Posts
August 01 2012 14:49 GMT
#84
On August 01 2012 16:35 GhostOwl wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 01 2012 12:15 Crisium wrote:

And Jaedong was helpless before Flash in the end. God > Jaedong > all.

TTT just can't express this dominance. Jaedong may have been second to Flash statistically by only a bit, but in late summer 2010 Flash was subjectively so much better it was scary.


It's unfair to say Flash was so much better since, when they versed each other, it was a TvZ. Needless to talk about the nature of the MU, even though JD lost, the amount of resistance he put up playing as ZERG verse a TERRAN makes me feel like he was the better player.


It's not even necessarily TvZ, it was actually the maps. Case in point: Bigfile MSL. Do you know how painful it was to see top Zergs like EffOrt and JD lose 50 units to like 3-5 nicely placed tanks on Triathlon, both on the ground and via drops? Pure mech wasn't even that innovative or the most-refined strategy during that period, and Zergs still got stomped to the curb.
Come motivate me to be cynical about animus at http://infinityandone.blogspot.com/ // Stork proxy gates are beautiful.
Xiphos
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
Canada7507 Posts
August 01 2012 14:55 GMT
#85
On August 01 2012 23:49 ymir233 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 01 2012 16:35 GhostOwl wrote:
On August 01 2012 12:15 Crisium wrote:

And Jaedong was helpless before Flash in the end. God > Jaedong > all.

TTT just can't express this dominance. Jaedong may have been second to Flash statistically by only a bit, but in late summer 2010 Flash was subjectively so much better it was scary.


It's unfair to say Flash was so much better since, when they versed each other, it was a TvZ. Needless to talk about the nature of the MU, even though JD lost, the amount of resistance he put up playing as ZERG verse a TERRAN makes me feel like he was the better player.


It's not even necessarily TvZ, it was actually the maps. Case in point: Bigfile MSL. Do you know how painful it was to see top Zergs like EffOrt and JD lose 50 units to like 3-5 nicely placed tanks on Triathlon, both on the ground and via drops? Pure mech wasn't even that innovative or the most-refined strategy during that period, and Zergs still got stomped to the curb.


Should have went Guardians.

Guardians must be the most underused unit in the Zerg arsenal.
2014 - ᕙ( •̀ل͜•́) ϡ Raise your bows brood warriors! ᕙ( •̀ل͜•́) ϡ
yOngKIN
Profile Joined May 2012
Korea (North)656 Posts
August 01 2012 15:06 GMT
#86
Saviour is the only bonjwa. The others we can call legends or something.
Bloody awesome article by the way!
Apolo
Profile Joined May 2010
Portugal1259 Posts
August 01 2012 17:17 GMT
#87
Does anyone know what's the reason players decline forever after their peak ?
Xiphos
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
Canada7507 Posts
August 01 2012 17:36 GMT
#88
On August 02 2012 02:17 Apolo wrote:
Does anyone know what's the reason players decline forever after their peak ?


Primary reason: Other players catching up and younger and more talented guys outplaying you
Secondary: Military
2014 - ᕙ( •̀ل͜•́) ϡ Raise your bows brood warriors! ᕙ( •̀ل͜•́) ϡ
DrHiggins
Profile Joined April 2012
United States26 Posts
August 01 2012 17:38 GMT
#89
I would like to tell you as an English major that you have better English than most Americans. It was really impressive and until you said your native language was Korean, I didn't even notice! Thanks for the post, it was really informative!
SuperPro
Profile Joined February 2012
99 Posts
August 01 2012 18:04 GMT
#90
Its fitting that the mathematician who writes this thread is named djikstra, famous for his algorithm titled djikstra's algorithm. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dijkstra's_algorithm. I myself prefer A star to his algorithm, but nonetheless he is an important fellow.
]343[
Profile Blog Joined May 2008
United States10328 Posts
August 01 2012 18:09 GMT
#91
On August 01 2012 23:55 Xiphos wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 01 2012 23:49 ymir233 wrote:
On August 01 2012 16:35 GhostOwl wrote:
On August 01 2012 12:15 Crisium wrote:

And Jaedong was helpless before Flash in the end. God > Jaedong > all.

TTT just can't express this dominance. Jaedong may have been second to Flash statistically by only a bit, but in late summer 2010 Flash was subjectively so much better it was scary.


It's unfair to say Flash was so much better since, when they versed each other, it was a TvZ. Needless to talk about the nature of the MU, even though JD lost, the amount of resistance he put up playing as ZERG verse a TERRAN makes me feel like he was the better player.


It's not even necessarily TvZ, it was actually the maps. Case in point: Bigfile MSL. Do you know how painful it was to see top Zergs like EffOrt and JD lose 50 units to like 3-5 nicely placed tanks on Triathlon, both on the ground and via drops? Pure mech wasn't even that innovative or the most-refined strategy during that period, and Zergs still got stomped to the curb.


Should have went Guardians.

Guardians must be the most underused unit in the Zerg arsenal.


Jaedong has a really hard time winning with guardians...
Writer
Prince_Stranger
Profile Joined November 2010
Kazakhstan762 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-01 18:25:57
August 01 2012 18:22 GMT
#92
What the hell! Every time I see the list of bonjwas I have only one question: Where is Jaedong!
Look at this graphics. I don't know the definitions, but as far as I understand bonjwa is who dominated through the era.
I remember when Jaedong was first who has more than 3000 points in the Kespa rank and made an absolute record 3460, while others had maximum 1700 I guess. He was number one zerg for more than 3 years. For those years there were so many great players, but he wins almost everything. He has so many records. So many times he was in the finals, semifinals I guess nobody has such records.
I think we should give Jaedong other status than bonjwa and higher ). Maybe something like Legend, The Greatest, Legendary Tyrant =)
"To all eSports fans, I want to be remembered as a progamer who can make something out of nothing, and someone who always does his best. I think that is the right way of living, and I'm always doing my best to follow that." - Jaedong
JieXian
Profile Blog Joined August 2008
Malaysia4677 Posts
August 01 2012 18:33 GMT
#93
Forget bonjwa, Flash was called God right? Why isn't that not enough?
Please send me a PM of any song you like that I most probably never heard of! I am looking for people to chat about writing and producing music | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noD-bsOcxuU |
Prince_Stranger
Profile Joined November 2010
Kazakhstan762 Posts
August 01 2012 18:37 GMT
#94
On August 02 2012 03:33 JieXian wrote:
Forget bonjwa, Flash was called God right? Why isn't that not enough?

Actually, I am talking about Jaedong.
"To all eSports fans, I want to be remembered as a progamer who can make something out of nothing, and someone who always does his best. I think that is the right way of living, and I'm always doing my best to follow that." - Jaedong
jinorazi
Profile Joined October 2004
Korea (South)4948 Posts
August 01 2012 19:26 GMT
#95
if flash = god, doesn't that leave the bonjwa door open to jaedong? since people argued there can't be two bonjwas at the same time, they couldn't title jaedong or flash but since flash is god, jaedong is bonjwa. no?

boxer, nada, oov, savior, jaedong
age: 84 | location: california | sex: 잘함
Fydor
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Canada43 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-01 19:52:10
August 01 2012 19:51 GMT
#96
On August 02 2012 04:26 jinorazi wrote:
if flash = god, doesn't that leave the bonjwa door open to jaedong? since people argued there can't be two bonjwas at the same time, they couldn't title jaedong or flash but since flash is god, jaedong is bonjwa. no?

boxer, nada, oov, savior, jaedong


The 5 prophets and their God?

edit: hmm seems to diminish the others too much, disregard.
lFrost
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
United States295 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-01 20:10:53
August 01 2012 20:01 GMT
#97
i remember reading a long time ago back around the time bisu had just won his 3rd msl in 2008, that the term bonjwa was originated when koreans began to notice a strange pattern among the most dominant players in the game. the pattern shared only by nada, savior, and iloveoov was that they were able to win 3 msl's within a short period of time, and then win an OSL title immediately following the 3rd msl win. thus the term bonjwa was created for those exclusive players. back when bisu won his 3rd msl, everyone was talking about how he might become a bonjwa but then he choked on the following osl so he was never able to make it. for the same reasons thats probably why most koreans were hesitant to term flash and jaedong as bonjwas. not sure why people termed boxer as a bonjwa when he didnt fulfill those terms but i guess it may have been honorary title for the father of starcraft
Yoshi Kirishima
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
United States10323 Posts
August 01 2012 20:25 GMT
#98
On August 02 2012 05:01 lFrost wrote:
i remember reading a long time ago back around the time bisu had just won his 3rd msl in 2008, that the term bonjwa was originated when koreans began to notice a strange pattern among the most dominant players in the game. the pattern shared only by nada, savior, and iloveoov was that they were able to win 3 msl's within a short period of time, and then win an OSL title immediately following the 3rd msl win. thus the term bonjwa was created for those exclusive players. back when bisu won his 3rd msl, everyone was talking about how he might become a bonjwa but then he choked on the following osl so he was never able to make it. for the same reasons thats probably why most koreans were hesitant to term flash and jaedong as bonjwas. not sure why people termed boxer as a bonjwa when he didnt fulfill those terms but i guess it may have been honorary title for the father of starcraft


Thanks for sharing, didn't know about that! Makes things more interesting and now I have a better understanding
Mid-master streaming MECH ONLY + commentary www.twitch.tv/yoshikirishima +++ "If all-in fails, all-in again."
GolemMadness
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
Canada11044 Posts
August 02 2012 00:14 GMT
#99
On August 01 2012 23:55 Xiphos wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 01 2012 23:49 ymir233 wrote:
On August 01 2012 16:35 GhostOwl wrote:
On August 01 2012 12:15 Crisium wrote:

And Jaedong was helpless before Flash in the end. God > Jaedong > all.

TTT just can't express this dominance. Jaedong may have been second to Flash statistically by only a bit, but in late summer 2010 Flash was subjectively so much better it was scary.


It's unfair to say Flash was so much better since, when they versed each other, it was a TvZ. Needless to talk about the nature of the MU, even though JD lost, the amount of resistance he put up playing as ZERG verse a TERRAN makes me feel like he was the better player.


It's not even necessarily TvZ, it was actually the maps. Case in point: Bigfile MSL. Do you know how painful it was to see top Zergs like EffOrt and JD lose 50 units to like 3-5 nicely placed tanks on Triathlon, both on the ground and via drops? Pure mech wasn't even that innovative or the most-refined strategy during that period, and Zergs still got stomped to the curb.


Should have went Guardians.

Guardians must be the most underused unit in the Zerg arsenal.


Guardians pretty much never work. Especially against Flash.
http://na.op.gg/summoner/userName=FLABREZU
RowdierBob
Profile Blog Joined May 2003
Australia13004 Posts
August 02 2012 00:37 GMT
#100
Great post.

I'm a massive JD fan, but even I'd concede Flash was the last of the Bonjwas. Both players had the best rivalry in BW since Nada and Savior but Flash came out the better player in the end.

No one will ever beat Savior though.
"Terrans are pretty much space-Australians" - H
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Cheesadelphia
15:00
Cheeseadelphia 2025
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
PiGStarcraft365
Nina 255
Ketroc 61
StarCraft: Brood War
Leta 375
Sharp 168
Noble 41
eros_byul 2
Dota 2
monkeys_forever544
League of Legends
JimRising 699
Counter-Strike
Stewie2K981
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King109
amsayoshi47
Other Games
summit1g7580
C9.Mang01412
WinterStarcraft478
ViBE308
Organizations
Dota 2
PGL Dota 2 - Secondary Stream3357
Other Games
gamesdonequick532
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 15 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• practicex 50
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• RayReign 30
• Diggity7
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Doublelift6575
• Stunt427
Upcoming Events
GSL Code S
3h 18m
Rogue vs herO
Classic vs GuMiho
Sparkling Tuna Cup
5h 18m
WardiTV Qualifier
11h 18m
BSL: ProLeague
13h 18m
Bonyth vs Dewalt
Cross vs Doodle
MadiNho vs Dragon
Replay Cast
19h 18m
Wardi Open
1d 6h
Replay Cast
1d 19h
Replay Cast
2 days
RSL Revival
2 days
Cure vs Percival
ByuN vs Spirit
RSL Revival
3 days
herO vs sOs
Zoun vs Clem
[ Show More ]
Replay Cast
3 days
The PondCast
4 days
RSL Revival
4 days
Serral vs SHIN
Solar vs Cham
Replay Cast
4 days
RSL Revival
5 days
Reynor vs Scarlett
ShoWTimE vs Classic
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
5 days
SC Evo League
6 days
Circuito Brasileiro de…
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2025-06-11
BGE Stara Zagora 2025
Heroes 10 EU

Ongoing

JPL Season 2
BSL 2v2 Season 3
BSL Season 20
KCM Race Survival 2025 Season 2
NPSL S3
Rose Open S1
CSL 17: 2025 SUMMER
2025 GSL S2
Murky Cup #2
BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 7
IEM Dallas 2025
PGL Astana 2025
Asian Champions League '25
BLAST Rivals Spring 2025
MESA Nomadic Masters
CCT Season 2 Global Finals
IEM Melbourne 2025
YaLLa Compass Qatar 2025
PGL Bucharest 2025

Upcoming

Copa Latinoamericana 4
CSLPRO Last Chance 2025
CSLPRO Chat StarLAN 3
K-Championship
SEL Season 2 Championship
Esports World Cup 2025
HSC XXVII
Championship of Russia 2025
BLAST Open Fall 2025
Esports World Cup 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall Qual
IEM Cologne 2025
FISSURE Playground #1
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.