EPT
Kingdom, from a player to a commentator
Kingdom: "I will be a good enough commentator to receive praise from everyone."
![[image loading]](http://www.fomos.kr/board/issue/1246589024_1.jpg)
Kingdom: "I will be a good enough commentator to receive praise from everyone."
This interview was done on Arirang's e-sports magazine, 'Cross Talk', where Kingdom revealed his plans for the future after announcing that he will be an OGN commentator.
Kingdom, who will start commentating for the upcoming July's WCG Korea qualifiers, revealed his plans on this show, for which Fomos reporter Shim Hyun is in charge of. The interview was filmed on the 30th of June, 1400KST at the Do-san park, and will be aired as a two-part interview on the 11th and 17th of July on Arirang TV.
Kingdom made his debut in the 2001 Hanbitsoft Ongamenet Starleague, and discussed his encounter with Boxer back then. Kingdom said that "somehow, (he) felt that he shouldn't defeat Boxer", and after he won the first set, "(he) felt the angry glares of many fans", as he talked about his first ever Round of 4 appearance in the OSL. However, Kingdom revealed that "the memory (of the fans' glaring incident) helped (him) a great way".
Kingdom abruptly stopped being a progamer after finishing fourth in his first appearance. He said that "at that moment, (his) parents wanted him to take the test to be a civil servant", and that "whenever (he) had to play a match, (he) would lie to (his) parents while taking the bus to Seoul that there's a broadcast (he) needs to attend." Afterwards, Kingdom's parents and homeroom teacher agreed that Kingdom should at least graduate from high school before starting a career as a progamer, which Kingdom promptly followed.
![[image loading]](http://www.fomos.kr/board/issue/1246589024_2.jpg)
Even after taking a break from gaming for almost a year, Kingdom rose back quickly. By winning in the first ever finals held in a baseball stadium in the history of e-sports - the MyCube 2003 Starleague. His skills did not seem like those of someone who had taken a year-long break. Regarding his first win, Kingdom mentioned that "before (his) win, (he) had been continuously eliminated from preliminaries and was in a despair at times", adding on that if he had not produced any results after some time, he might have went to the army instead. "Luck was heavily on my side too," he added.
Kingdom was SK Telecom T1 Triple Crown's (T/N: it was originally typed as 'cripple crown', but I think it was a typo) number 1 confidence booster. He was the key member in the competition for top position between other teams. However, Kingdom revealed that his loss in his match against Hanbit Stars in the 2004 SKY Proleague finals remained the clearest in his mind.
The recent '6 dragons' have been burning out, but there was a period of time where Nal_rA, Kingdom and Reach headed the Protoss race. Kingdom said that at that point of time, they respected each other and competed heavily against each other, which benefited everyone, and that he was "very thankful to the other two players". Rivalry was created between the three players, and Kingdom revealed that "despite the fans saying that Nal_rA was (his) rival, (he) felt that (his) true rival was Reach." It is also a widely-known fact that Kingdom and Reach were good friends from a young age.
"If you look at my profile, most of my wins (between the three players) was against Nal_rA. It was always Nal_rA who defeated Reach, and me who defeated Nal_rA. It was always that pattern. But there was once it was completely reversed. I lost to Nal_rA, so it was really funny."
![[image loading]](http://www.fomos.kr/board/issue/1246589024_3.jpg)
Kingdom's career wasn't all that bright. Regarding his wrist and shoulder injury, Kingdom stated that "it can't be helped that his most often used body parts will wear out", and that despite taking injections and exercising, his wrists got only worse. He revealed that he had injured his shoulder when he was young. He feels that being a busy progamer, he neglected treatment and the injury eventually got too worse.
Kingdom gave advice to his juniors, telling them to take good care of their wrists and backs, and to follow the proper treatment procedures, adding on that they should do some stretching in between long periods of practice, and should there be any problem, they should seek the attention of their team immediately. Kingdom, who later on said that "the players' bodies are not just theirs alone," is still undergoing treatment for his shoulder.
In the end, Kingdom was unable to recover from his injury and decided to retire. At that time, Kingdom said that it was a difficult period where even after being unable to perform well due to his wrist injury, he still felt reluctant to let go completely of progaming. Because of that, he decided to retire as a player and instead, return as a coach for SK Telecom T1. There was one regret he revealed to have, which was not being able to win the MSL out of the two individual leagues available (at that point of time).
![[image loading]](http://www.fomos.kr/board/issue/1246589024_4.jpg)
Afterwards, Kingdom turned into a coach. SKTelecom needed Kingdom, and Kingdom wanted to help SKTelecom as well. However, what persuaded Kingdom to join their team the most was iloveoov's persuation, saying that "iloveoov targeted my weak points, so I had no choice but to oblige" as he laughed.
Kingdom devoted most of his life into maintaining the upbringing and well-being of SKTelecom T1's Protoss players. He stated that "Bisu, Flash and Jaedong know their own weaknesses very well, so (he) didn't have to attend much to Bisu", and because of that, he was able to tend more to BeSt, who "eventually produced great results", much to the joy of the coach.
Kingdom stated that his happiest moment was when BeSt made it into the finals of the EVER 2008 Ongamenet Starleague. BeSt lost the first two games in the semifinals against Luxury, but he kept coming back and won difficult games, eventually winning the third, fourth and fifth game and succeeding in getting into the finals. Regarding that moment, Kingdom replied that "I felt so happy that it was almost like I was (BeSt's) fan instead of his coach".
![[image loading]](http://www.fomos.kr/board/issue/1246589024_5.jpg)
Who does he think bears the closest resemblance to him in terms of playstyle? Kingdom answered by choosing Hite's Leta. His reason was that "his style of making his opponent's situation worse through harassment" was similar to his own. Kingdom continues to follow Leta's games closely.
Although he is going to become a commentator, he also expressed desire to be the head coach of a progaming team. "I want to focus on commentating for now and be the best commentator there is, but after achieving that goal, if there is a team that needs me, I want to attempt the challenge of being that team's coach," was what Kingdom said.
From the best player to the best coach and now, the best commentator. Kingdom is now taking on the new field in e-sports history by being a commentator. "When I got lazy, I wanted to start from the beginning, and after taking advice from other commentators and much hard work, I finally accepted the change", remarked Kingdom. He stated that the commentators understand the game the most, followed by coaches and lastly, the players themselves. Kingdom, having been a progamer and a coach before, will definitely be the best commentator.
Comparison between him and TheMarine, who was recently enlisted into the army will be unavoidable. Regarding this, Kingdom said that "although it is impossible for (him) to completely ignore it, (he) will think of it as a battle between (himself)", and confidently announced that he will "learn from the other commentators and show good commentary", while also expressing hope that people will look forward to him.
His rival during his career as a player, Nal_rA is already a commentator working for MBCGame. Because Kingdom will be working as a commentator for OnGameNet, these two will continue to face each other. Regarding Nal_rA, who is now his rival in commentary, he expressed that he hopes to go 'one-on-one' with him and compete against each other, and eventually compete in the highest and grandest stage possible. He added on by saying that since (Nal_rA) is his senior in commentating, he hoped Nal_rA can help him out in the future.
![[image loading]](http://www.fomos.kr/board/issue/1246589024_6.jpg)
He announced a good news for the fans. There will be a chance for them to catch 'Devil Toss' Kingdom's play first-hand. This will be possible during the e-stars Starcraft heritage league, where all the old kings will meet up and play against each other. Kingdom stated that despite having a headache because of this, he is thinking of this as his last opportunity to show him playing Starcraft, and he is preparing hard for this and for his switch to being a commentator as well, and revealed that he wanted to win at least two games. He continued by saying that he will "work hard to defeat Nal_rA".
Kingdom ended off by saying, "I was the progamer Kingdom, the coach Kingdom, but now I will be reborn as the commentator Kingdom", and asked his fans to "forget his old image, as he will be working hard and steadily to be the best commentator." He also revealed his determination to be a praise-worthy commentator, and hoped that fans will look forward to his commentaries.
From a player to a coach, and finally a commentator. We all hope for his great success as a commentator, as a person who has been living a life revolving around e-sports.
Long article, hope you guys enjoy the read. Feedback and corrections welcome as always!
Source: Fomos.kr
Kingdom I was just thinking about him, Really the newer people to the sc scene tend to forget the people from the era before.
