A big win is always better than many Almosts. I certainly see the argument for Midas over Casy, but one simply cant stay in the semis forever; they need to break out and show people that they can take it to another level.
On January 22 2007 16:22 Locked wrote: if i managed to nab every single second place in all the major starcraft leagues i think people would remember me
i mean if i was trying as hard for first place as i could it would be incredibly frustrating though
as the "never was able to win" rofl
Personally i find more worty 1 win than many participations and not wining, although getting far in tournaments is indeed good achievement. But for the example; who do you remember most; yellow or boxer?
if you win an osl, you can say - i won the most grueling starcraft tournament against the best players in the most avid progaming country in the world. i was, for one tournament, arguably the single best starcraft player in existence.
placing high in many tournaments shows that you're able, but never the champion who gets to taste what winning everything feels like. i would much rather be casy and be ridiculed for being a one-matchup lucky wonder who got good draws, than midas (as much as i love him) who chokes and chokes despite being extremely capable in every matchup.
but on the other side, i find myself having a lot of respect for those of you who picked the consistency. it seems to show more love for starcraft itself, gaming for the skill and art of it all, over glory and recognition.
blah whatever. i'll still think that i'm better than all of you guys with my one osl win against your hundreds of almost-close-nevers.
I voted YellOw. Even though he's never won a Starleague, he's influenced Zerg gameplay more than anyone except maybe [z-zone]byun. July himself said he just copied YellOw's style with some slight changes.
I voted Midas over Casy because Casy can't TvP XD naw, it's 'cause Midas has been around longer and Casy's win was because he had no protosses to fight. Like Silver's 2nd place was because he ONLY had protosses to fight. How strange.
I think what matters the most in the long run is your marketabliity, and hence your pay. Thus winning an osl is better than consistent performances. Yellow is an anomaly though, because he has gained great popularitly through looks and longevity rather than championships....
Nobody remembers 2nd place and down. Even if they do, there's too much of a difference. Besides, it seems like progamers' pay is decided mostly by how much they are liked. As long they aren't complete shit skilled.
I might trade 1st for three~five 2nd places if the finals are epic.
On January 22 2007 20:05 Heen wrote: Champion fo sho.
Nobody remembers 2nd place and down. Even if they do, there's too much of a difference. Besides, it seems like progamers' pay is decided mostly by how much they are liked. As long they aren't complete shit skilled.
I might trade 1st for three~five 2nd places if the finals are epic.
People remember YellOw because he has what? 6-8 second places? I lost count.
I still think he would trade three-five of his second places for a championship. And all of his finals were pretty epic. I especially enjoyed YellOw vs XellOs Olympus 2003. Except for the part where YellOw lost.
Not many people can ever be champion, so if you have this negative "only coming first matters" attitude, you're unlikely to ever be satisfied.
edit: also, as a poker player I'd take "every second place imaginable" in an instant :p.
edit2: it's also possible to win a Starleague and still not be as popular or recognized as a player who never won/hasn't won yet. eg Sync vs. Yellow or Midas.
There's no replacement for being a champion. 2nd place is hard to do, but only confirms that you weren't quite good enough and someone else deserve credit in that tournament over you.
Replace Casy with Xellos circa 2003 and I think the picture becomes clearer. He won a very memorable OSL by beating an in-shape Yellow in a Game 5 clifffhanger. He was already dubbed Perfect for having no weak matchups and was a killer of big names like Boxer and Oov. He won, and then dropped off with many group exits or semi final appearances for the rest of his career in both MSL and OSL. However, he DID win that one championship. Would you trade that for consistently placing 2nd?