EPT
I've changed things up and now have added relevant video links within the incident title (if they exist).
61) Boxer's Chat Rush
In 2005, Boxer played against Junitoss - an established veteran player of three years who had finally qualified for his first Dual Tournament in the Winners Match.
The map to be played on was Forte, known for its unique architecture with its small main bases and narrow choke points.
During the game, Junitoss had Boxer on the ropes with some early aggression. Boxer in response typed "좁아ㅠㅠ" (Narrow T_T). Boxer had a hidden base and used this to affect Junitoss' psychology. Junitoss eventually lost the game after a series of uncharacteristic mistakes and did not make it out of his Dual Tournament group.
At the time, many criticised Boxer for using a trick such as chatting to throw off Junitoss, but others criticised Junitoss for not scouting the map even though Boxer was in a bad position. The match also helped cement Boxer's legacy for his never-give-up attitude.
As for Junitoss, he would never ever reach this form again. Nerve issues, potentially stemming from this incident, would haunt him for the rest of his career. After losing to GoRush in the Proleague finals, he would lose his roster position to newer Protoss players such as Pusan and Bisu and eventually retired in 2007.
As for the ban of chatting in-game by KeSPA? This game is the reason why that rule is in place.
62) iloveoov's Secret Contract
In February 2005 with his contract with SKT expiring in April, iloveoov signed a contract to join KTF after the expiration of his contract with SKT without his team's knowledge or consent. However, when SKT renegotiated his contract with improved terms to KTF's offer, he decided to accept that contract and sought to cancel his agreement with KTF.
The issue in this case was not the contract itself, but the manner in which iloveoov negotiated without his team having knowledge of the situation which broke industry rules at the time.
Consequently for a short period of time, iloveoov was considered both to be a member of KTF and SKT while KeSPA hurried to figure out a resolution to the situation. KeSPA eventually rule in favour of SKT and decided to suspend iloveoov from playing in Proleague for the rest of the season for his actions.
This incident was one of the first instances of a superstar player looking to become their own agent, and while in the past negotiations between players/teams were a bit more relaxed, the introduction of KeSPA arbitration meant that players would now be forced to follow a more traditional sports model of negotiation/bargaining.
63) The Red Sniper removes his glasses
With his rapid rise to stardom and pretty looks, Hwasin quickly came a fan favourite. His trademark look was his red-framed glasses, with fans dubbing him the nickname 'The Red Sniper'.
The pinnacle of his career was making it to the semi-finals of the GOMTV MSL, where he had to face sAviOr, the undisputed best player at the time. Given Hwasin's top-tier TvZ, many looked forward to the series with them believing he was one of the few Terran players in the world with the ability to eliminate sAviOr in a best of 5 series.
In the opening match of the season, Hwasin was able to defeat sAviOr on Longinus to advance out of the group 2-0. With the 1st and 5th set maps being on Longinus for the semi-final, Hwasin was poised to advance, given the other maps in the pool were mostly Terran favoured.
With the series tied 2-2, both players were just one set away from advancing to the finals. Both players had a lot on the line. For sAviOr, it would be the first of two semi-finals in two days, as the next day he would have to face Iris in the OSL semi-finals. By winning the series, sAviOr would be one step closer to becoming the first player since Nada to attempt the Grand Slam of tournament wins. For Hwasin, victory would be the marquee of his career - defeating the undeafetable sAviOr would be the strongest statement he could make to everyone else.
However, one thing was uncanny. Hwasin took off his trademark glasses. Was it because the stakes were so high that he felt he didn't need to use them while playing? It was something relatively minor, but also interesting to note.
sAviOr won the series and Hwasin was sent home, very dejected. sAviOr would later on win his series against Iris the next night and while he won the OSL, Bisu stopped him in the MSL. As for Hwasin, he would become one of the most consistent Terrans of the next couple of years, but would never achieve the finals-level potential he may have been thought he had.
64) The Holy Wars
While everyone was fixated on sAviOr's rise to the top and his domination of the era, another story line to note was the revival of Nal_rA as a top-tier player. With Protoss players struggling against Zerg in general, Nal_rA was one of the only few Protoss players able to find success against sAviOr.
The match that exemplified the rivalry was their set on New Peaks of Baekdu in the Pringles S2 MSL semi-final series. A 45 minute slugfest with the map virtually mined out, the game led to an elimination race where Nal_rA won with a single pylon blocked above a ramp. While the series ended up in sAviOr's favour, Nal_rA proved that he was able to go toe-to-toe with sAviOr.
A dream rematch in the GOMTV MSL finals was looming to happen, with both players separated in the semi-finals. While sAviOr came up on his end, Nal_rA was swept by Bisu, and as they say, the rest is history...
65) Chalrenge types fuck
During a 2v2 match in Proleague, KTF was playing against the Sparkyz team of Chalrenge and Side. As the KTF team proceeds to win, Chalrenge accidentally types "아놔 씨발 (Ah fuck)" to all chat, before typing GG.
No doubt that the message was only meant to be sent to his ally, but this lapse of judgement was embarrassing for not only Chalrenge, but also for his team and the broadcaster. Chalrenge and Sparkyz were forced to apologise and the team was given a penalty point for the incident.
66) sAviOr plays Terran
During the GOMTV S2 MSL group selection ceremony, sAviOr was put into a group with GoRush. With GoRush being a senior to sAviOr in the GO team before his move to SKT, there was a lot of banter between the two players. sAviOr then joked that he would play Terran against his Zerg, much to GoRush's surprise.
A few days later, the joke became reality. KeSPA announced that sAviOr would indeed be playing Terran against GoRush in the group. The match was pretty uneventful to say the least however, with GoRush taking advantage of the double-gas mains on Desperado to crush sAviOr with quick defilers and guardians.
In iloveoov's retirement interview, he revealed that it was actually him that suggested sAviOr to play Terran against GoRush. During his peak, it was common for sAviOr to play practice TvZ games against practice partners in order to figure out tendencies from the other perspective. This recommendation was done by iloveoov as he noted that sAviOr had lost a lot of motivation to play the game and that changing his race may reignite his motivation. However, sAviOr stuck with Zerg afterwards and eventually began the slump that culminated in his expulsion from the industry for his role in the match fixing scandal.
67) EE HAN TIMING!
The EVER 2007 OSL saw two first-time finalists, the royal-roading Jaedong who looked so strong in Proleague yet was never able to qualify for an OSL and the ever-consistent Stork who after gradually climbing each round each season, finally made the OSL finals. This finals was one of the most anticipated in recent memory at the time.
With Stork taking the first set on Persona, the upcoming set would be played on Katrina, known as a Protoss paradise. With Stork heavily favoured, Jaedong would attempt a very ambitious build that would allow him to get mutalisks out before Stork was to be able to pool corsairs to defend.
"이 한 타이밍! - This one timing!" was repeated on and on by commentator Kim Tae-hyung. He recognised that Jaedong had a very thin window of time to win the game, and he did with some excellent scourge/mutalisk control to take out the corsairs, rendering Stork's defense useless.
With momentum on his side after this victory, Jaedong later took out the next two sets to win the series and his first ever OSL, royal roading in the process. For Stork, this would become one of many second place finishes for him.
68) sAviOr loses to PJ
Every year, the Korean players are expected to place well for their country and not lose to any foreigners. 2007 in Seattle would change that dynamic.
While PJ was a progamer with SKT during 2006, the language barrier would deny him from achieving his potential and eventually decided to go back to China. Despite living and training in Korea, sAviOr was still expected to roll over PJ in their quarter-final match.
With the series going to 1-1, the two played on Gaia and an insane game ensured with the map nearly mined out. Eventually PJ was able to secure the victory, with his career/archon/templar fleet running havoc over sAviOr.
Despite Stork eventually winning that WCG over PJ, the talk during and after in both foreign and Korean communities was sAviOr's loss to PJ in the quarter-finals. The loss arguably was one of the main factors contributing to sAviOr's downfall, along with the 3.3 revolution.
69) Rainbow goes to a Beyonce concert
In late 2007, SKT's Rainbow was demoted to the B-team due to lackluster performances in Proleague and individual leagues. Rainbow had requested personal leave, but had his request rejected due to SKT's poor performances during Proleague.
After losing a Proleague match, the team went to visit the hospital to see Midas' father who was ill and noticed that Rainbow was absent from the team house. Once Rainbow returned, manager Ju Hoon told Rainbow that he would be kicked out of the team house and sent home to think about his actions.
News outlets caught light of this and only mentioned that Rainbow was absent to "attend a foreign star's concert". Netizens did some research and found out that the concert that Rainbow attended was actually Beyonce. Many foreign fans mocked Rainbow for his decision to defy team orders to watch the concert and was given the nickname "Beyonce Toss" as a result of this incident.
70) Creation of Air Force ACE
In late 2006, the eSports world was saddened as its beloved idol Boxer was finally forced to enlist into Korea's two-year long mandatory military service. With Boxer away from the industry for such a period of time, many fans were wondering if he would ever regain the form he once had once he had returned.
The Korean Air Force, seeing the situation as an excellent marketing opportunity for the military, looked into Boxer's situation. With several other notable progamers also serving their military duty, it would seem possible that the creation of a progaming team of enlisted progamers could be feasible.
As such, the Korean Air Force created the Air Force ACE progaming team, the initial members being Boxer, Sunny, HOT_Forever, Clon, Rage, ChRh, Mumyung and fOru. The creation of the team meant that players had a bit more of an incentive to get their military service over and done with - as long as they were accepted into the team.
Stars of the past such as Reach, Yellow, GoRush, XellOs and Anytime were members of ACE during their military service. Unfortunately due to changing gaming trends, the Korean Air Force announced that it would disband the team after the Hybrid Proleague season.
