Flash, who has received 99 votes from fellow progamers as the best terran in the scene in the recent survey carried out by dailyesports has been interviewed as the first part of the "relay interview" to be carried out on the 3rd generation of the "Four Kings", or more famously known, the "TaekBengLeeSsang" (Bisu, Stork, Flash and Jaedong) quartet.
Flash chose TheMarine (the widely known retired terran progamer, currently a commentator for OGN) to rate him as a player. This is TheMarine on Flash.
"Flash is an impressive player whose plays remind you of the greatest terrans of all time: Nada and Oov. He has both the brute force of Oov, and the inspirational genius of Nada, and I don't believe it's a stretch to say he is the best terran ever. He has no noticable weaknesses, and doesn't get content with himself, which makes me expect more from him in the future. He also has a great will to succeed, so I don't think he'll get into a slump too easily. If Flash can maintain his current success and aura of invincibility for the course of around 6 months to a year, it'll be a matter of time before he gets to be the greatest player of all time. From the perspective of a terran player, Flash's play is the closest thing to perfection."
What inquiries does "TaekBengLeeSsang" have on Flash? Stork, showing great interest in Flash, had not one, but three questions for Flash.
Stork: "I've heard that you were good at school. Did your parents forbid you from becoming a progamer?"
Flash: "I wasn't THAT good (laughs). At first, my parents were strongly opposed to the idea, so I asked them to give me just two months. Within that two month period, I succeeded in getting the licence, and got the permission of my parents. They have been supporting me ever since. I want to take this opportunity to thank them."
Stork: "Have you ever regretted giving up your studies to become a progamer?"
Flash: "Of course not. I wouldn't have succeeded in my studies to the degree I have managed to succeed in progaming. Anyhow, getting good grades doesn't guarantee success in life these days. I believe that becoming a progamer was the best decision I've made in my life."
Stork: "As the team ace, you always have a lot of matches to prepare for, and insufficient time to practice for them. How do you manage to maintain your level of success?"
Flash: "I think it's because of my confidence. Because of the mindset that I can win regardless of who the opponent is, the lack of practice doesn't become much of a problem. I can gain advantage by how I use my troops. It's also important to believe in yourself."
Flash answered the questions without any restraint. Despite being very young, he seemed to have great pride in being a progamer. Bisu was more interested in the other progamers' social lives.
Bisu: "Do you have a girlfriend?"
Flash: "I used to have one, but I don't anymore. It's going to be Valentine's Day soon and I'm sad because I have no girlfriend to get any chocolates from. I only have my fans to rely on (laughs)."
Jaedong, the player Flash considers as his rival. They've given us many great matches during their multiple encounters with each other in various leagues.
Jaedong: "How do you think of me as your rival? (laughs)"
Flash: "Our records used to be too lopsided in Jaedong's favour for us to be a rival, but I've caught up a lot now, so I think we can now be true rivals. I always envy Jaedong as a player. I envy how he keeps practicing a lot despite how tedious it gets, and his fast hands. I also envy how he always is in top condition, and his wide range of success in both the individual leagues and the proleague. I guess I'm envious of him in almost all aspects. I hope we keep meeting each other often to have some great matches, and be remembered as the greatest rival of all time."
Leta, also known as "the next Flash". The hottest player in the proleague and individual leagues has said that he wanted to play Flash in an interview. His dreams became true when Flash made it to the round of 16 in the Lost Saga MSL to meet Leta in the brackets. What did Leta have in mind as a player catching up to Flash?
Leta: "Tell me your secret on maintaining your success without getting exhausted (laughs)."
Flash: "The first thing is to have faith in yourself. By believing that you can win against all, playing the games becomes that much easier. It is also important to keep practicing hard. It is a simple thing, but they are not that many gamers who practice hard. It takes both physical and mental strength to endure the schedule. Also, it's important not to get over-confident when you're doing well. I used to do that back in the days, and my level of success dropped immediately. Of course, I don't believe you'll do the same, but I want to say that people shouldn't get over-confident when they're doing well."
Now it's question time for the fans. We took questions from the Flash fans who were on the scene. They were mostly interested about friendships and rivalry.
Fan question: "Who do you to get know closer?"
Flash: "Bisu. I'm friends with Stork and Jaedong but I'm not that close with Bisu. I used to be quite close to him before, but Bisu hasn't been on battlenet recently so we've drifted apart. Bisu! Let's be friends!"
Fan question: "Who among the six dragons do you consider your rival?"
Flash: "I think Stork is amazing. That's why I choose Bisu as my rival. My idea of a rivalry is when fans get really excited about a match between two players. It's fun to have both sides attacking each other non-stop. That's why I think Bisu is my rival."
Fan question: "Excluding yourself, who is closest to the 5th bonjwa?"
Flash: "I think it'll be difficult for anyone to become the 5th bonjwa. The skill of players has increased, so no one player wins everything anymore. Also, the fans get too harsh even if you only loose that one match. So my goal is the become the greatest player ever rather than become a bonjwa."
What are Flash's thoughts on Bisu, Stork and Jaedong? As rivals, and fellow progamers, we've decided to what Flash had to say about them.
Flash on Bisu: "This is the first time I've admitted this, but Bisu is the progamer who improved my skill level the most. This was back then when I was a practice progamer in the Pantech Curitel team. I was already number one in the team in practice tournaments, and beat most of the famous players during practice. I was getting a really big head from all this. Then MBC Game Heroes team contacted us saying that they needed a terran gamer to practice with to prepare for the Proleague Grand Finals. I was Bisu's practice partner on the map Longinus. I lost all six matches to Bisu. The shock was undescribable. I took a look at the replays, and was amazed at how his gateways were always in producton throughout the entire game. After realizing how there were players this good, I stopped getting complacent and practiced really hard. If I hadn't played Bisu back then, I might have been too full of myself to get to where I am today.
I'm also envious of Bisu because he is so handsome and has the potential to be a huge icon regardless of his talent."
Flash on Stork: "He has been getting good results for many years now. What amazes me is how he keeps coming back to the top. When I defeated Stork within the space of a week in the finals of an event league, and the Starleague finals, all my teammates, and my fans said that Stork would never overcome the shock. So I felt really bad for him.
But Stork eventually won the Starleague. His determination and passion really is something else. The way in which he overcame the long and winding road of slumps many times and got to the top really gets my respect."
Flash on Jaedong: "No words neccessary... he is my rival (laughs). If I have a match against him, I really want to win. Of course I want to win matches against other gamers as well, but with Jaedong, the feeling increases much more.
I want us to become the greatest rivals of all time. I said much about him before, so I'll stop here."
Flash mentioned time and time again that he wanted to be the "greatest", and how becoming the most dominant player of the period, "bonjwa", seemed to be not enough for him. We could all see Flash's great hunger for success that TheMarine mentioned.
Flash, who showed maturity beyond his age during the interview, made everyone laugh by saying "time really does fly by".
"It seemed like only yesterday when I've heard about the first "Four Kings" (Boxer, Nada, Reach and Yellow) and wanting to become like them, but now I'm part of the current "Four Kings". Time really does fly by. I won't stop here, and will try my best to be called the best player of all time."
Flash seemed to enjoy participating in this new style of interview that we've prepared. This is what Flash had to say to his fellow "TaekBengLeeSsang" quartet memebers as a last remark.
"As rivals, and as fellow progamers, I think we can all go a long way if we compete against each other. I want our generation of the "Four Kings" to have the best rivalry and drama.
Flash: "Of course not. I wouldn't have succeeded in my studies to the degree I have managed to succeed in progaming. Anyhow, getting good grades doesn't guarantee success in life these days. I believe that becoming a progamer was the best decision I've made in my life."
He probably learned a lot about himself becoming a progamer that will be important wherever his life ends up. Maybe more important than whatever he'd have learned in school. Stuff like having faith in yourself, haha.
Flash: "I think Stork is amazing. That's why I choose Bisu as my rival. My idea of a rivalry is when fans get really excited about a match between two players. It's fun to have both sides attacking each other non-stop. That's why I think Bisu is my rival."
??? Stork is amazing, so therefore Bisu is his rival? Or was that a typo?
Flash: "I think Stork is amazing. That's why I choose Bisu as my rival. My idea of a rivalry is when fans get really excited about a match between two players. It's fun to have both sides attacking each other non-stop. That's why I think Bisu is my rival."
??? Stork is amazing, so therefore Bisu is his rival? Or was that a typo?
I think he's saying he thinks Stork is too good to be considered his rival, but in reality he's sort of politely trying to say that Bisu is a better rival for him. That's just my interpretation though, maybe it was a typo lol.
Flash: "I think Stork is amazing. That's why I choose Bisu as my rival. My idea of a rivalry is when fans get really excited about a match between two players. It's fun to have both sides attacking each other non-stop. That's why I think Bisu is my rival."
??? Stork is amazing, so therefore Bisu is his rival? Or was that a typo?
I didn't know what the hell Flash is implying here either. But here's my take on things.
Flash is saying that while Stork may be the tougher opponent of the two, Bisu will be his rival, because playing Bisu gives him more attention, and Bisu's playing style leads to interesting games between the two.
It's kind of interesting how the very best players in the world have very different attitudes.
Stork, despite all his success, complains all the time how weak protoss is, how he loses all the time during practice, how he foresaw the recent zerg comeback against protoss, how he has no creativity and how he only started progaming because he sucked at school. He always puts himself down despite the fact that he is one of the most accomplished gamer to have played the game.
Bisu has an ego. With his good looks, flashy playing style, multitude of trophies and his legions of fans, who can blame him? Regardless of the results, we can always see how Bisu regards himself as the best in the scene.
His ego does show a lot on his interviews, such as this comment after his defeat against Jangbi in the proleague:
"Jangbi did show good skill, but that was on the small stage, and I am a far more accomplished player on the big stage."
Or the infamous "I felt good about facing Effort because I have never lost to zergs on Medusa", then after crashing out to By.Hero:
"I only lost the second game because of the shock. To be honest, I lost because of the maps, it's impossible to win with one gate play on Tears of the Moon."
And of course in this interview, he shows minimal interest in Flash and only asks him about his personal life. I've got a similiar feeling when Bisu only felt envious of Stork because he had a girlfriend.
Flash probably respects Bisu as a player, but probably didn't want to place him above Stork who he is closer with. He may have been a touch pissed off, because Bisu asked him about his girlfriend, when it was difficult not to know already as a progamer, especially considering all the rumors of Flash and his girlfriend troubles that were going on.
On February 12 2009 15:43 Last Romantic wrote: What's the second generation of the four kings?
1st generation: Boxer, Nada, Reach, Yellow
2nd generation: Oov, Nal Ra, Go Rush, July
3rd generation would have been Savior, Midas, Chojja and Nada (not sure if I got the list correct), but the difference between Savior and the rest was so huge that it never caught on.
So we have our 3rd generation of the "Four Kings" with the current quartet of Bisu, Stork, Flash and Jaedong.
Edit: ^ I didn't really get that impression. Maybe I didn't think they were on top of their game, but I thought it was still well-played.
On February 12 2009 15:56 Kunty wrote: Has there ever been an off-exhibition besides Battlenet attack... I want to see Flash's Zerg
His protoss is certainly dynamite. I remember watching an exhibition with him against Best, not realizing both were off-race. I was a bit disappointed at first, because it looked like Best was the "macro king" after all because the Protoss was just overwhelming the Terran with units. Little did I know
On February 12 2009 16:03 zobz wrote: Thanks translator!
Well it gives me something to do because my parents can't stand the sight of me playing starcraft and me writing stuff in english gives them the impression that I'm doing something productive.
Oh how I wait the night when everyone falls asleep.
Flash seems like a really cool guy. Regardless though he's amazing to watch in the games themselves. His control, reactions and sense of timing is just rock solid.
On February 12 2009 16:38 stack wrote: it all seems convoluted...wasnt savior recently apart of some 4 person named group? all these labels are tacked on too quickly
Actually these names have been on these guys for a while (4 Kings was decided by the fans pretty recently though, other than that everything else was there for a long time).
Savior part of a group recently? There isn't I believe.
On February 12 2009 16:38 stack wrote: it all seems convoluted...wasnt savior recently apart of some 4 person named group? all these labels are tacked on too quickly
Savior is part of a four member group. Boxer, Nada, Oov and Savior. It used to be a three member group of "LimLeeChoi" (Boxer, Nada, Oov), but Savior made his way in with his 2006 season performances.
The original "Four Kings" is probably one of the oldest tags in the scene. The 2nd generation tag is kind of "artificial" in that it was molded with the original "Four Kings" in mind. "TaekBeng" and "LeeSsang" were already terms commonly in use in Korean communities and it was only a matter of time before "TaekBengLeeSsang" got accepted as the most recognizable quartet in the scene currently.
Nice interview, I like how the koreans create all these legends and prophecies around the top players, and how the players go along with it and play their respective roles.
I lol'ed @ the part where he says "Bisu doesn't even need to win, he's so handsome he'll be famous anyway". Especially coming a few lines after Bisu asked him if he had a girlfriend... nice answer haha.
I hope Flash will win another OSL/MSL one of these days. Only one (not counting the GSI) is too little compared to his skill level, imo.
Awesome interview by flash. I doubt I can express myself as well as he does. Just great answers from the best terran around, and possibly the best terran player in starcraft, ever. Hope he takes another OSL and the MSL!
before, i honestly didn't like Flash that much. I admitted he was an amazing programmer, but I just didn't like the guy for some reason. But this interview really made me respect the guy. Jaedong is always going to be favorite as long as he leads the way for the Zerg, but im now officially a Flash fan.
I like that he has such a positive, healthy mindset. He knows he has to keep working hard and is already aware of the consequences of getting too big-headed... he really does show a lot of maturity for a '92. I hope he only continues getting better.
On February 12 2009 15:43 Last Romantic wrote: What's the second generation of the four kings?
omg i miss all of these guys T___T
It seems like a lot of them have made kind of a nice return lately. Reach has been playing well. Oov had a 3-kill a couple weeks ago (though he's been conspicuously absent since). July still has his niche to fill as a Protoss killer. Yellow/Gorush (I believe) are close to getting back with Ace.
Boxer hasn't been playing well, and Nal_Ra has retired, but there's still a lot of the old guard doing their thing, even if they aren't top players anymore.
Great interview thank you for the translation. I don't know, when reading these questions and answers i feel he takes the profession the right way. Professional. Like it's more than just a burden, it's a professional competition with rivalrys, drama and passion.
And I always thought that Flash's biggest challenge would be himself, as not only will he have to face the rigorous progaming training regime, but he will also have to face the problems of teenage and growing up.
He is really young for his impressive performances, and I'm really glad he shows signs of maturity and seriousness. I'm especially happy to see the kid's developing a healthy faith in his own abilities and limits, and that he's also ambitious. Trusting yourself and having a strong will are generally the worse problems a teenager has, along with identity crises. Flash seems to have mostly defeated such demons.
Cheap shot by Bisu asking if Flash has a girlfriend. Bisu has 100s of girls following him while Flash is the least attractive of the 4 Kings. I became a fan of Flash when the 6 Dragons started dominating.
On February 13 2009 09:01 [X]Ken_D wrote: Cheap shot by Bisu asking if Flash has a girlfriend. Bisu has 100s of girls following him while Flash is the least attractive of the 4 Kings. I became a fan of Flash when the 6 Dragons started dominating.
On February 13 2009 09:01 [X]Ken_D wrote: Cheap shot by Bisu asking if Flash has a girlfriend. Bisu has 100s of girls following him while Flash is the least attractive of the 4 Kings. I became a fan of Flash when the 6 Dragons started dominating.
On February 13 2009 08:03 minus_human wrote: And I always thought that Flash's biggest challenge would be himself, as not only will he have to face the rigorous progaming training regime, but he will also have to face the problems of teenage and growing up.
He is really young for his impressive performances, and I'm really glad he shows signs of maturity and seriousness. I'm especially happy to see the kid's developing a healthy faith in his own abilities and limits, and that he's also ambitious. Trusting yourself and having a strong will are generally the worse problems a teenager has, along with identity crises. Flash seems to have mostly defeated such demons.
On February 13 2009 08:03 minus_human wrote: And I always thought that Flash's biggest challenge would be himself, as not only will he have to face the rigorous progaming training regime, but he will also have to face the problems of teenage and growing up.
He is really young for his impressive performances, and I'm really glad he shows signs of maturity and seriousness. I'm especially happy to see the kid's developing a healthy faith in his own abilities and limits, and that he's also ambitious. Trusting yourself and having a strong will are generally the worse problems a teenager has, along with identity crises. Flash seems to have mostly defeated such demons.
GO soon to be best Terran ever!
He already is the best terran.
Who the fuck is that Leta kid o.O.
If people were to debate who the best Terran ever is I don't think Leta is one of the ones they'd be putting above Flash..
Flash: "I think Stork is amazing. That's why I choose Bisu as my rival. My idea of a rivalry is when fans get really excited about a match between two players. It's fun to have both sides attacking each other non-stop. That's why I think Bisu is my rival."
Flash is saying that while Stork may be the tougher opponent of the two, Bisu will be his rival, because playing Bisu gives him more attention, and Bisu's playing style leads to interesting games between the two.
It's kind of interesting how the very best players in the world have very different attitudes.
Stork, despite all his success, complains all the time how weak protoss is, how he loses all the time during practice, how he foresaw the recent zerg comeback against protoss, how he has no creativity and how he only started progaming because he sucked at school. He always puts himself down despite the fact that he is one of the most accomplished gamer to have played the game.
Bisu has an ego. With his good looks, flashy playing style, multitude of trophies and his legions of fans, who can blame him? Regardless of the results, we can always see how Bisu regards himself as the best in the scene.
Methinks Flash just respects Stork too much, after all stork's been around for quite a long time (but has a large bunch of silvers =p) and his PvT is monstrous. Might have been a jibe at bisu though.
Re:bold Maybe thats the reason for stork's mass of silvers. with a bit of creativity (and self-esteem) stork might be an unimaginable toss monster in the history of sc...
Flash: "I think Stork is amazing. That's why I choose Bisu as my rival. My idea of a rivalry is when fans get really excited about a match between two players. It's fun to have both sides attacking each other non-stop. That's why I think Bisu is my rival."
Flash is saying that while Stork may be the tougher opponent of the two, Bisu will be his rival, because playing Bisu gives him more attention, and Bisu's playing style leads to interesting games between the two.
It's kind of interesting how the very best players in the world have very different attitudes.
Stork, despite all his success, complains all the time how weak protoss is, how he loses all the time during practice, how he foresaw the recent zerg comeback against protoss, how he has no creativity and how he only started progaming because he sucked at school. He always puts himself down despite the fact that he is one of the most accomplished gamer to have played the game.
Bisu has an ego. With his good looks, flashy playing style, multitude of trophies and his legions of fans, who can blame him? Regardless of the results, we can always see how Bisu regards himself as the best in the scene.
Methinks Flash just respects Stork too much, after all stork's been around for quite a long time (but has a large bunch of silvers =p) and his PvT is monstrous. Might have been a jibe at bisu though.
Re:bold Maybe thats the reason for stork's mass of silvers. with a bit of creativity (and self-esteem) stork might be an unimaginable toss monster in the history of sc...
Stork does seem to put himself down a tad more than you should. He should be proud of the fact that he won an OSL, has been a runner-up to a bunch more, and was crowned the neo-toss-king by Boxer. He whines too much man.
I love Flash even more now. I liked him before for his SC mastery, but you couldn't judge his personality by it. He could be a great SC player and still some kind of prick or something like that at the same time. But after recent interviews with him, it seems that he is a really nice and mature person (especially considering his age).
Big respect for him...hope he will do well in the future.
EPT
![[image loading]](/staff/MrHoon/741252091_173c87e8_4B4EBvsBD.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://images.google.ro/url?source=imgres&ct=img&q=http://forum.gamevn.com/picture.php%3Falbumid%3D29%26pictureid%3D121&usg=AFQjCNHx8rDZFl7zc-u8wMVCTcimmMn87w)
