CJ Shirt Essay Winners - Page 4

I'll be honest, i'm not a huge CJ fan. But, I love the look of the shirt and i think its mega cool. The ultimate reason i want is so that i can wear it out to korean clubbing places so i'll be able to find it easier to talk to korean girls. I have a hard time talking to korean girls and just girls in general and i figured with this shirt, the final link will be set and i'll be able to talk to them once and for all. This shirt will be my saviour in every sense of the word. Imagine the respect i'd earn walking into a netcafe? korean club? oh man.

vAltyR

The Final Game

My drop was fairly successful. The ultralisk cavern was down, as was his spawning pool. He managed to deal with the dark templar before they could do any more damage, but it would have to be enough. I could still win this game, but I could not afford any mistakes. Knowing I could do nothing more with the dark templar, I abandoned them to their fate and returned to my base to macro.

I tried to decide what unit composition I needed. What was he building? I had killed off the Ultralisk Cavern and the spawning pool, so he wouldn't have any ultralisks or zerglings for a few minutes at least. That left hydras, mutas, and scourge. I queued some high templar to deal with the hydralisks and mutalisks, along with corsairs, zealots, and a reaver for good measure. I sent what was left of my corsair fleet out to scout.

I checked the usual expansion points from his position. Nothing new. My wave of zealots finished. As he was still probably rebuilding his ultralisk cavern, I still had some time before the ultralisks actually hatched. I queued another wave of zealots. Checked the scouting corsairs. Nothing at the main at 3. Sent them to 7 to check there. The high templar were done. I decided I still had time before the ultralisks were out, but I started mixing in dragoons so I would have enough to deal with them if I misjudged the timing. The reaver finished, so I loaded it into a shuttle and moved it to meet with my army. I started moving to the middle of the map for better mobility.

To my complete shock, they were met by a seething horde of ultralisks. I thought I had destroyed the cavern! How had he gotten that many so quickly?! Storms would be no good now, I desperately started merging my templar into archons. Luckily enough I had semi-countered the ultralisks by countering the hydralisks and mutalisks. Unluckily, I needed more archons. A lot more archons. My army was no match for his ultralisk and zergling force. I attempted to storm the zerg mass to thin it out. I managed a few good storms, but it was too little too late. The archons were killed before they were even finished merging. Back to the base. I needed... What did I need? Archons. Templar. Dragoons would help too. I mixed the two, dragoons and high templar. Where was that reaver? I selected the hotkey just in time to see it destroyed. Damn! What a huge waste of resources! Fool!

My units were hopelessly outnumbered by just the ultralisks, let alone the zerglings that accompanied them. Before I knew it, he was at my natural, tearing into the nexus. I tried to run the probes to my main. I caught my units finishing from the gateways. Missed timing. My natural expasning was leveled. I was too far gone. There was nothing to do but accept the inevitable.

GG.

Something to Cover it Up.

Well, here I am. Standing with my hands in my pockets.
I'm not too sure what to say, what do you want me to say? We're all
here, standing in a circle, looking at the mess on the carpet. How'd it
ever down come to this...

I can't say that I can really identify with these people. I feel bad,
but not enough to turn into some sort of sub-human thingy. They
asked me to say a few words though, so here it goes...

As I gather myself and clear my throat, I realize how pathetic this
situation really is. It's time we moved on with our lives.

"Ahem, we are gathered here on this bitter september morning,
to stand around and stare at this once beautiful carpet, now soiled.
None of us are intelligent or even human enough to know how to deal with
this dramatic situation, so I propose that we share a moment of
silence, to remember the good times we lived together."

The people standing around me lower their heads and close
their eyes. Their expressions are all so sincere. I feel a tad guilty. After all,
I just decided that I don't care anymore. In truth I am not worthy of being here.

One person starts to sob quietly. I feel a stab of annoyance,
I mean it's really not the end of the world, for crying out loud,
it's just a damn carpet! Sigh, but it isn't just a carpet.

"Thank you, the question we now face is, what are we to
do with the er, the remains of the carpet."

"Obviously we will simply let it be and hope it gets well! The question
should not even be posed!" A few people voice their agreement.

I look at the man who spoke, a wreck of a man he is. His vest is
untidy and his eyes have deep, dark lines beneath them. Poor Herb,
he's been driven mad with grief and runs a weekly newsletter on how
the carpet has been doing since the accident.

"Listen Herbert", I speak gently as if to a child. "It's over son,
we gotta move on, we need to buy a new carpet."

"Buy a new carpet? Have you lost your mind? Do you know what
carpet this is? Winner of the Orange Soprano's Linen trophy, three
times winner of the Most Sexy Lion trophy, a carpet that
reinvented what we call foot comfort, a subtle, elegant, velvety
texture that truly caresses-"

Flop!

Herb stops recalling the carpet's accomplishments to locate
the source of this noise. He looks down and sees a shirt placed on
the carpet where the stain was located.

"We will leave the carpet here, with this shirt on it." I speak
in a very sexy and awesome voice, damn. "It shall hide it's
horrible deformation while reminding us of how amazing it was
in the past. Really, it's the perfect solution. Now, let's go play some
gameboy advance!"

As the cheering people start moving past me, I feel relieved that
everything is finally alright. It's like that shirt magically fixed
everything,, everythin,, everyth,,,

I wake up with a start. I look down and see that I slept only in
boxer shorts the night before.

I release an ear-shattering scream of rage.

(turn it up...)

Perfection

Since I had started playing Starcraft, my main race was Protoss. Recently however, I had decided to switch my main race to Terran. There had been many reasons to this switch. One of these is inspiration from watching Terran players play. MNM micro, tank pushes and a huge Terran ball, all used by progamers have inspired me to play Terran. Unfortunately, even progamers are human and perfection is difficult, if not impossible, to achieve. One particular Terran though, had caught my eye since I was a Protoss player and has always made me doubt my decision to play Protoss. This Terran my friends, is none other than The Perfect Terran, Seo Ji Hoon; AKA Xellos.

At the start of his career, Xellos has faced several encounters, the biggest of which is his mother. Like most parents, Seo Ji Hoon’s mother wanted to see her only son excel in his studies and get a secure job with good pay to support his family and so on. Many parents would be disappointed if their only son decided to play video games for a living. Seo Ji Hoon’s mother is no different. Ever since his father passed away, Xellos and his sister were taken care of by their mother. In a family without a father, the only son was expected to support the family as soon as he could. Xellos decided to do this through the game Starcraft. His mother resented this and had resorted to beating him many times. Seo Ji Hoon didn’t let his mother stop him though, and continued to play. His mother soon gave up trying to stop him and spitefully sent him off to his team as soon as he got his progamer’s license. On July 13, 2003, Xellos finally solved his conflict with his mother, dedicating all his hard work to her by winning his first OSL beating Yellow 3-2 in the finals bringing tears to the eyes of his fans, and most importantly, his mother.

“I am here because of you. I love you Mom.”
-Xellos

So, what is Seo Ji Hoon’s role in CJ Entus? Back before CJ Entus got its name, it was called “G.O.” Their star player: Xellos. Their sponsor: None. Most other teams had their own sponsors to support them such as Samsung, SK Telecom, and Pantech & Curitel. G.O. had to support themselves from their players’ own winnings. Xellos, being the star player, contributed the most to his team’s funds. Winning the Olympus OSL in 2003, WCG in 2004 and WCG Korea in 2005, Xellos was able to keep G.O. alive until they finally got CJ Foodsystem as their sponsor. Without Xellos, G.O. wouldn’t have been able to survive. Without Xellos, no company would want to sponsor the team. Without Xellos, there would be no CJ Entus.

Unfortunately, once you have reached perfection, the only move left leads to imperfection. Xellos is no longer one of CJ’s stars. However, he will always be the legend known as The Perfect Terran.

You Could Be Happy

      The turbulent seas erected a great fierce wave, clashing and crashing against sharp jagged rocks. The walls withstood thousands of pounds of force slamming against it. The waves were thunderous; it shook the entire kingdom as if it was a fragile piece of paper; wind flapping against it's very being. The waves continued to pound, the continuous horror to many eyes of Man. Our jaws dropped, and our eyes widened. The unspeakable horror filled our beating hearts and yet, it calms. The dominance of Terrans were astonishing. The havoc they have wrecked continued to leave wakes in the hearts of many. Zerg fell to the amazing multitask and macro of their ill-fated enemies. Protoss trembled in fear as they get out-macro'd by a race which they should abuse in their cold-hearted sleeps.

      In a breath, in shallow sleep, a hero emerges; but for the rest of us, we do not see him as the hero. In fact; he is the anti-hero. Ma Jae Yoon: Maestro of Zerg. A symphony of his valor, a symphony of death, harmonics tuned to it's own accord. sAviOr was born. Out of the far reaches of space, in the darkest and coldest regions, he thrived, and consumed. His assimilation of every player was known; his thirst was insatiable. He climbed, and crawled his way on top of the ladder -- knocking anyone who stood in his way down.

      His reversal of Longinus II was legendary. Lee Yun Yeol, open-jawed, could not believe it himself. Wave after wave of his own forces ended up only in defeat and decimation. Temple shook as sAviOr just overwhelmed it. It was his time, it was his dominance and no one else will take it away from him.

      A cold and starry night, a night not to be forgotten. The statistical analysis gave MJY the win, but a no-name will quickly change that. MSL finals - finished ending. The reversal of Longinus II was nonexistent. The Temple withstood the thunderous waves. Blitz X will not be forgotten as the desolate days of MJY finally collapses. 93%... 80%... 70%... 60%... the statistics dropped deeper and deeper into the abyss. His decline was rapid; his fans were left scattered and scathed. All in all, this would be his last chance to redeem himself. In an ace game, MJY was to go up against YellOw[arnc] in an epic ZvZ, coming out on top was sAviOr... the Maestro, an emotional and intense game - his redemption - last requiem.

If you turn to your left, you'll see one of our most popular exhibits here at the Progaming Museum. Ma Jae Yoon, also known as Savior, donated these two pages of the diary he kept while a progamer on CJ Entus. They paint a picture of a talented but troubled gamer, in the throes of a well documented slump. They also mark the beginning of a return to form for the Zerg legend. The second entry shown here was written shortly after his stunning tear through both major leagues, capped off by two spectacular final set dismantlings of FireBatHero and Bisu. Solidified as one of the greatest Starcraft players of all time, fans today often forget that even Savior had his struggles. Sometimes, the greatest thing you can find out about your heroes is that they're human, just like you.

09/20/08

Dear Diary,

Well, I lost again. I think I almost expected it this time. He played like I knew he would. I was able to stop it. I am able to stop it. I just didn’t stop it. I think even he was surprised at how easy it was. I don’t understand any of it anymore. The macro is easy, the micro is easy, and the builds are easy. It’s all easy. So why is it so hard to win?

I owe my team. I owe my fans. I really owe myself.

I can’t promise my team yet. I’m not ready. I can’t promise my fans yet either. They’re not ready. But I can promise myself, and I can promise you, diary. I can promise you I will win. One day, I’ll write, “I told you so”.

MJY

08/02/09

Dear Diary,

I told you so.

MJY

The Son and the Shirt

The very start of my life is a perfect example of how miserable it has been for me in this world. As soon as I was out of the wet, dark world of my mother, I was thrust into the very wet and very dark world of Seoul in a thunderstorm. The birth certificate and I were wrapped in a shirt and left at a door. That was the last time I saw my mother. My birth certificate tells me that my mother is Alice Henry and that my father is Park Yeong Min. My mother lied about her name, but I know who my father is. I'm the illegitimate son of the professional StarCraft player Much. The shirt I was wrapped in was one of his jerseys. Yes, he's definitely old enough to be my father.

The orphanage that I was raised in was full of kids who were cooler, smarter, and better looking than me. I spent most of my early years roaming the streets, squabbling with kids who had real homes. I stole to feed myself and begged to get money to pay off The Bullies. The Bullies were led by Kim, the greatest street kid around. His dad owned a telecom company and he made a point of telling everyone. I lived in dumpsters and he lived in a mansion, and he still had to go around stuffing kimchi down my shirt. Eventually I decided to stop paying him to stay away, that was around the same time that all of us were introduced to computers.

It started with Kim, of course, when his daddy gave him a computer of his own. Then the other kids started getting them and started going to the game cafes on dates. Soon after they began to recognize my shirt. It was the shirt I was born in, the shirt I was born to wear, the only shirt I owned, my father's old jersey. I was made fun of constantly, they made fun of my dad, calling him “Gramps” and his micro “the old man's twitch.”

Now I spend all of my time on my computer, hiding from The Bullies. All the cool kids have good computers, their StarCraft runs like a dream, I found my computer in a dumpster, my StarCraft doesn't have zerglings. The marines also walk backwards. They have a hard time shooting. My only friend is my jersey, tattered and stained.

Please, you could be the first nice person to ever look my way, the bearer of the first gift I've ever received (other than the numerous gifts from my favorite dumpster). I couldn't afford your first contest and now is my only chance to replace the dying companion that I wrap around myself when I dream on cold nights and wear proudly under fire from kimchi projectiles. Please, with your jersey and my genetic micro, I would have a chance to make something for myself. Even if I've never seen a zergling.