• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 17:24
CEST 23:24
KST 06:24
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL22] Ro16 Preview: Holy Diver5[ASL22] Ro16 Preview: Rough Waters10[ASL22] Ro24 Preview: Siren's Call8[ASL22] Ro24 Preview: Summer's End9Serral wins HomeStory Cup 2915
Community News
Weekly Cups (Sep 7-12): SHIN, ByuN, MaxPax double down1StarCraft open world shooter announced at BlizzCon98Weekly Cups (Aug 30-Sep 7): herO thrives amid growing schism10Official StarCraft website teases new content ahead of BlizzCon?179Stellar Fest TWO the Moon (Dec 16-20)9
StarCraft 2
General
Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool Has online-only competition during the pandemic changed your enjoyment of pro SC2? How do you feel about the StarCraft shooter announcement at BlizzCon 2026? Weekly Cups (Sep 7-12): SHIN, ByuN, MaxPax double down StarCraft open world shooter announced at BlizzCon
Tourneys
RSL Revival: Season 6 - Qualifiers and Main Event RSL goes to London! 2026 Offline Finals Nov 21-22 SC2 AI Tournament 2026 Fall Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament KSL Week #92
Strategy
[H] ZvP Mid-Late Game: Stalkers Collossi HT
Custom Maps
Nexus Wars 2021 GUIDE [M] (2) Industrial Park
External Content
Mutation # 543 Enhanced Defenses The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 542 The Ascended Mutation # 541 Binary Choice
Brood War
General
Syncronization issues and can't find games Remastered crash fix suggestions a Announcement on the JEDI Ringing ASL22 General Discussion BW General Discussion
Tourneys
[ASL22] Ro16 Group D The Casual Games of the Week Thread Small VOD Thread 2.0 BWCL Season 65 Announcement
Strategy
Replay Review Process - What do you do? Simple Questions, Simple Answers Odyssey Mineral Stack Saturation Game Theory for Starcraft
Other Games
General Games
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne Nintendo Switch Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread EVE Corporation Diablo IV
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
[TL LoL EUW IHs] Teemo shall perish
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread Post Your Watch!
Fan Clubs
MarineLorD Fan Club The Creator Fan Club The ShoWTimE Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Movie Discussion! Diablo Animated Series on Netflix
Sports
Football (Soccer) Thread TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 MLB/Baseball 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List Northern Ireland Global Starcraft
Blogs
[meme] I finally understa…
LUCKY_NOOB
Virtual Romance, Real-Life C…
TrAiDoS
Regacy Esports:Our Goa…
regacyesports
Dreaming of BW patches (mod…
c3rberUs
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 6784 users

Has Foreign Skill finally caught up with Korea? - Page 17

Forum Index > Closed
Post a Reply
Prev 1 15 16 17 18 19 Next All
setzer
Profile Joined March 2010
United States3284 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-04-06 19:39:08
April 06 2012 19:38 GMT
#321
On April 07 2012 04:09 Mr Showtime wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 07 2012 00:17 jj33 wrote:
On April 07 2012 00:04 Mr Showtime wrote:
There's a handful of Koreans at the very top that nobody can compete with on a regular basis, but in general, the top foreigners can compete with the top Koreans now.



top foreigners can't even make code A. so your statement is not true.

Stephano and huk / naniwa can take series off top Koreans, but others have shown jack nothing.

so if you mean by top foreigners by those three I mentioned sure.

but koreans have like 12312321 players and up and comers you've never heard of.


Please show me the long list of foreigners who dedicate their career to making it in GSL. Nobody does. The top foreigners are defeating the top level Koreans (with exception to the few at the very top) regularly enough that the skill level seems similar.


Lol okay so there are 5 people who can regularly compete with the top50 Koreans and that somehow means the skill level between the Korean scene and foreign scene is similar?
blizzind
Profile Joined February 2010
United States642 Posts
April 06 2012 19:39 GMT
#322
caught up? the skill gap has increased even more.
Jisall
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
United States2054 Posts
April 06 2012 19:40 GMT
#323
On April 07 2012 04:32 heyoka wrote:
For what it's worth Wax set over/under for "number of nonKoreans in top 8" at 0.5 and no one we have talked to at IPL has taken the over yet.


I wouldn't take the over either. the Mental barrier is still there for foreigners
Monk: Because being a badass is more fun then playing a dude wearing a scarf.. ... Ite fuck it, Witch Doctor cuz I like killing stuff in a timely mannor.
Natespank
Profile Joined November 2011
Canada449 Posts
April 06 2012 19:41 GMT
#324
The skill gap is growing, not shrinking. Have you seen the MLGs recently? When the GSL players show up almost all the foreigners just lose. We cheer and go crazy if a foreigner beats ONE of them!
0neder
Profile Joined July 2009
United States3733 Posts
April 06 2012 19:41 GMT
#325
No, if anything Koreans are starting to pull away. Any chance foreigners have competing (beyond the top 5 or so) is due to SC2's flaws in game design and map design.
iamahydralisk
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
United States813 Posts
April 06 2012 19:44 GMT
#326
On April 06 2012 17:07 Kennigit wrote:
Really depends how you want to look at the sets of players. Can the top 1% of foreigners compete with the top 1% of koreans? On average probably not. Can the top 50% of foreigners (pros) compete with the top 50% of koreans? I'd argue yes, and it's shown regularly in show matches, clan leagues etc. Ret 3-0ed Ganzi the other night in a show match. Ganzi is not MMA, but he is high level. Huk regularly beats excellent koreans, stephano, thorzain etc etc.

It's funny because I actually feel exactly the opposite. I think the top foreigners can compete with top Koreans, but after that, there seems to be a big dropoff in foreigner skill, with a much smaller dropoff in Korean skill. Really interesting how two people can see something so differently.
"well if youre looking for long term, go safe, if you expect it to end either way, go risky. wow. just like sc2" - friend of mine when I asked him which girl to pick
Jisall
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
United States2054 Posts
April 06 2012 19:45 GMT
#327
On April 07 2012 04:41 0neder wrote:
No, if anything Koreans are starting to pull away. Any chance foreigners have competing (beyond the top 5 or so) is due to SC2's flaws in game design and map design.


lolI'm pretty sure you just made some1 foam at the mouth
Monk: Because being a badass is more fun then playing a dude wearing a scarf.. ... Ite fuck it, Witch Doctor cuz I like killing stuff in a timely mannor.
Jeremy Reimer
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
Canada1220 Posts
April 06 2012 19:47 GMT
#328
On April 07 2012 04:38 setzer wrote:

Lol okay so there are 5 people who can regularly compete with the top50 Koreans and that somehow means the skill level between the Korean scene and foreign scene is similar?


It means the Korean scene is so much bigger that they can field 50 players who dedicate the same time, effort, and structured practice as the five foreigners who do the same.

Where are the up-and-coming foreign players?

Why have the top Koreans always been in a state of flux, whereas the top foreigners are the same people they were in Beta?

"Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere." -- Carl Sagan
TeslasPigeon
Profile Joined March 2012
464 Posts
April 06 2012 19:52 GMT
#329
I was about to post this reply in another thread but it closed. Seems like this thread is better, so here it is in it's c&p glory.

Most foreigners are able to get by on personality alone and become very marketable. Think of people like Incontrol. People don't watch Destiny or Catz or Dragon because they are Starcraft Gods, they watch them because they are entertaining. Which is what they are selling, entertainment. It's much easier to stand out in an assembly of aluminum robots when you have a golden face.Perhaps some foreigners are becoming complicit and reaching their own plateau when they realize you can get by with subpar practice regimes while still making money. Whereas in Korean the competition is extremely fierce, forcing you to practice 12+ days just to stay with the local competition.

Or perhaps it would be better to compare Starcraft to another industry. Such as the Hollywood Machine vs cinema from other countries. What attributes make Hollywood/LA the premiere geographical location to both write, finance, cast, film, and edit a movie or create a TV show? It has ideal weather for shooting. A supportive local government (getting permits to film, closing roads, etc). Most importantly, it has a very large specialized labor pool ranging from actors to prop makers to writers to cinematographers to editors to anything you need. Sure there are certain production companies, notably Peter Jackson or George Lucas, that are able to produce content on their own in different countries/states; but these are the anomalies not the norms. The fact is, if you want to make it in the entertainment industry 999,999,999 out of 1,000,000,000 you need to move to LA.

The analogy to Starcraft is that Seoul has the infrastructure and sufficiently sized talent pool attributing to its success as the capital of SC. If you want to become better at SC on a professional level, you move to Korea. Which is why HuK, NaNiwa, and Idra practice there. Of course you have people like Stephano, but he is an anomaly.

The same question can be ask of Silicon Valley or Wall Street or The Triangle or Scotland Yard.
WolfintheSheep
Profile Joined June 2011
Canada14127 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-04-06 20:05:23
April 06 2012 20:05 GMT
#330
On April 07 2012 04:38 Angel_ wrote:
you arent even staying consistent to your own argument at this point. it's your own fucking example. and your second section doesn't even make sense.

I'm perfectly consistent. Most foreigners get a paycheck that's worth less than a team house. And the ones that get a big paycheck have put in a huge amount of time and effort.

The lie that "foreigners get paid more for less work" is complete bullshit.
Average means I'm better than half of you.
AgentChaos
Profile Joined July 2011
United Kingdom4569 Posts
April 06 2012 20:05 GMT
#331
NO!
IM & EG supporter
rift
Profile Blog Joined September 2007
1819 Posts
April 06 2012 20:07 GMT
#332
Of the millions of copies of Starcraft sold, nearly HALF were sold in Korea. For every Huk there are 10 or more Korean players as good or better. The 12-year history of e-sports there has fostered the highest level of competition possible in an extremely concentrated region. Add to this a culture that has developed a near-obsession with accomplishment through hard work (think of the educational system) and you get an environment incomparable to any other.

The End
vanhio
Profile Joined November 2010
Niue1017 Posts
April 06 2012 20:16 GMT
#333
Go go Scarlett
m2e
Profile Joined April 2011
United States108 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-04-06 20:22:47
April 06 2012 20:22 GMT
#334
On April 07 2012 05:07 rift wrote:
Of the millions of copies of Starcraft sold, nearly HALF were sold in Korea. For every Huk there are 10 or more Korean players as good or better. The 12-year history of e-sports there has fostered the highest level of competition possible in an extremely concentrated region. Add to this a culture that has developed a near-obsession with accomplishment through hard work (think of the educational system) and you get an environment incomparable to any other.

The End

Pretty much my thoughts exactly.

Also, we haven't seen the best of the best in regards to RTS enter the Starcraft 2 world yet such as JD, Bisu, Flash, Stork and all the other top BW pros which is when this conversation of foreigners and the skill gap will really show it's true colors.
RavenLoud
Profile Joined March 2011
Canada1100 Posts
April 06 2012 20:32 GMT
#335
There's probably a hundred super good guys in Korea that we never heard of, plus the average skill level is definitively higher there.
Ventor
Profile Joined February 2011
United States336 Posts
April 06 2012 20:33 GMT
#336
On April 07 2012 05:05 WolfintheSheep wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 07 2012 04:38 Angel_ wrote:
you arent even staying consistent to your own argument at this point. it's your own fucking example. and your second section doesn't even make sense.

I'm perfectly consistent. Most foreigners get a paycheck that's worth less than a team house. And the ones that get a big paycheck have put in a huge amount of time and effort.

The lie that "foreigners get paid more for less work" is complete bullshit.

You have no idea so I hope you stop making yourself look like an idiot. 90% of foreigners are lazy and dont practice as much as koreans. Plain and simple as to why koreans are better. So please move along.
oGsMc - EGHuK - White-Ra - SlayerSBoxeR - STBomber Fighting!~
Oboeman
Profile Joined January 2011
Canada3980 Posts
April 06 2012 20:36 GMT
#337
There's a bunch of skill gaps.

People like huk and stephano may be nipping at top korean heels, but the vast majority of the foreign pro scene is still being left completely in the dust.
Swift118
Profile Joined January 2012
United Kingdom335 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-04-06 20:41:20
April 06 2012 20:39 GMT
#338
I wonder what Koreans would think if they knew you guys refer to people from your own countries as foreigners. They would probably think what a bunch of retards the non Korean SC community is.
Mr Showtime
Profile Joined April 2011
United States1353 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-04-06 20:55:33
April 06 2012 20:51 GMT
#339
On April 07 2012 04:38 setzer wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 07 2012 04:09 Mr Showtime wrote:
On April 07 2012 00:17 jj33 wrote:
On April 07 2012 00:04 Mr Showtime wrote:
There's a handful of Koreans at the very top that nobody can compete with on a regular basis, but in general, the top foreigners can compete with the top Koreans now.



top foreigners can't even make code A. so your statement is not true.

Stephano and huk / naniwa can take series off top Koreans, but others have shown jack nothing.

so if you mean by top foreigners by those three I mentioned sure.

but koreans have like 12312321 players and up and comers you've never heard of.


Please show me the long list of foreigners who dedicate their career to making it in GSL. Nobody does. The top foreigners are defeating the top level Koreans (with exception to the few at the very top) regularly enough that the skill level seems similar.


Lol okay so there are 5 people who can regularly compete with the top50 Koreans and that somehow means the skill level between the Korean scene and foreign scene is similar?


Nobody made that claim. You should read first. There's far more than 5 foreigners that can compete. Do some research, and stop making ignorant claims.
jinorazi
Profile Joined October 2004
Korea (South)4948 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-04-06 20:54:32
April 06 2012 20:53 GMT
#340
On April 07 2012 05:39 Swift118 wrote:
I wonder what Koreans would think if they knew you guys refer to people from your own countries as foreigners. They would probably think what a bunch of retards the non Korean SC community is.


its only natural, modern starcraft esports we have now originated from korea and serious foreigners went to korea to play (grr, smuft, elky, idra, etc.). i'm not sure why you think non-koreans being called foreigners is a bad thing.
age: 84 | location: california | sex: 잘함
Prev 1 15 16 17 18 19 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 36m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
mouzHeroMarine 371
Nina 52
Nathanias 36
StarCraft: Brood War
NaDa 33
League of Legends
Doublelift2514
Heroes of the Storm
Grubby3672
Liquid`Hasu426
Other Games
summit1g12616
Gorgc2126
Liquid`RaSZi1978
fl0m815
shahzam453
B2W.Neo288
C9.Mang0181
Livibee180
ToD74
Mew2King71
XaKoH 70
UpATreeSC66
JuggernautJason30
NeuroSwarm18
ViBE13
SteadfastSC9
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick1707
StarCraft 2
WardiTV579
[ Show 15 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• davetesta4
• intothetv
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• Azhi_Dahaki29
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• C_a_k_e 4106
• WagamamaTV499
League of Legends
• TFBlade1230
Other Games
• imaqtpie738
• Shiphtur83
Upcoming Events
OSC
36m
Replay Cast
2h 36m
IntoTheTV X SOOP
13h 36m
RotterdaM Event
18h 51m
Replay Cast
1d 2h
GSL
1d 13h
Replay Cast
2 days
GSL
2 days
Shopify Rebellion Sundays
2 days
Spirit vs Mixu
Replay Cast
3 days
[ Show More ]
Afreeca Starleague
3 days
Shine vs Rush
WardiTV Weekly
3 days
Monday Night Weeklies
3 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
4 days
Afreeca Starleague
4 days
Light vs EffOrt
PiGosaur Cup
5 days
Kung Fu Cup
5 days
The PondCast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-09-16
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Big Dog Cup 2026 Div 1

Ongoing

KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 3
K-JUNGMAN
ASL Season 22
Super Anchor Qualifying S3
CSL 2026 AUTUMN (S22)
Acropolis #5
Calamity Invitational
Logitech G Play Connect 2026
SL StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #3
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026

Upcoming

Acropolis #5 - GSA
Acropolis #5 - GSB
Acropolis #5 - GSC
SC4ALL II: Brood War
HSC XXX
Stellar Fest 2: Lunar Cup
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
RSL Offline Finals
Copium Cup
PGL Major Singapore 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 6
BLAST Rivals Fall 2026
IEM Beijing 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 5
PGL Masters Bucharest 2026
1win Private Club #2
Thunderpick World Champ. '26
ESL Pro League Season 24
Stake Ranked Episode 4
1win Private Club #1
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.