EPT
GomTV STAR Invitational - The Players (Article Highlight)
The GomTV STAR Invitational is almost here.
Do you know the players?
Do you know how they will win? What they have done? Where they should finish? Why they are loved?
This is a collection of contributions made by members of our own community here at TeamLiquid. For each player participating in the upcoming invitational, there is an article included about them, hand-picked just for them. The articles are a mix of Final Edits, blog entries, live reports, and an interview showing off the diversity in forms that writing takes here at TeamLiquid, making this collection in some ways, a celebration of the excellent work done in this community.
(I just realized I might have linked to some deathly old threads, discussion would probably be more easily seen in this thread as opposed to bumping an older one especially if your point considers more recent events than the article has covered.)
Additionally, any interested starcraft fan looking forward to the tournament should definitely have checked out:
- The Official Website
Filled with lots of content already, including VODs with Tasteless - 'GomTV Star Invitational Group Preview' by Plexa
A collection of predictions from various teamliquid members. - 'GomTV Invitational Preview (spiritual)' by HonestTea
An entertaining lyrical preview of each of the players.
GROUP A
[red]sAviOr[/red]A Tale of Two S-Class
Written by HotBid on June 05 2007 01:47
It is that “zone” where a player can do no wrong, where a player knows that he will win because he knows, without a doubt, that he is simply better than his opponent. Many casual and semi-competitive gamers have been in that zone, all Starleague winners at one point have been there, but for the past year or two, up until that MSL Final, Savior has lived there. He camped out in that perma-win area, pissing all over it to mark his territory. It was like he owned a reserved space in victory parking lot, and he can get all the other players’ cars ticketed and towed whenever he wished.
[blue][b]Flash[/blue][/b]OSL Semifinal, July 13th 2007, Flash vs GGplay
Written by infecteddna on July 17 2007 05:48
Saying the Nadaesque unyielding spirit, zen-like acceptance of setbacks and undeniable skill were marks of a true champ might sound a bit cheesy, and would most of all be premature. After all, the kid *is* only 14. Everything about him could be just a consequence of novelty, excitement, the innocence of youth. He might start feeling the pressure of it all eventually, and by the time he actually reaches puberty may turn into a nervous wreck, with the occasional embarrassed victory ceremony now and then. Or he might become too good too fast, quickly winning all there is to win in progaming, start wearing an unbuttoned shirt with a constantly flashing gizmo around his neck and rest on his laurels until he'd only get called up for the odd proleague 2v2, but never let off the team because of his past glory. But should that not happen, the future does indeed look bright for the golden mouse making company.
[b][green]Anytime[/green][/b]Anytime - Return of the death god
Written by lakrismamma on November 03 2007 22:25
My feelings for Anytime is stronger the for most progamers. I started following the proscene around 2004 at a time when protoss was the inferior race. I realize now that I must have arrived just when the old generation consisting of Nal-Ra and Reach was fading away. Terran and Zerg was dominating with Oov, July and Savior and tosses going far in tournaments where rare.
Because I was playing protoss I thought the game was unbalanced and was rooting for every protoss gamer I could find a battle-rapport on. For me when Anytime showed up it was a revelation. It him who showed me a way to beat the horde of zergs and the metal of terran.
[b][blue]Mind[/blue][/b]Gom TV MSL S3 Finals Battle Report
Written by thedeadhaji on November 21 2007 10:48
Mind's timing was impeccable in all three of his wins, his control and placement stronger than any of could have imagined. Our worst fears of having a boring and uninspiring set of games (July vs oov anyone?) couldn't have been more unfounded, as these two put on a spectacle for the fans.
He defeated iloveoov, Savior and Bisu - all three time champions of this event - to claim the title. Already called post-Lee Yoon Yeol by fans of the game, his impact on the scene in the coming years will be one to pay close attention to. As a fan I would like no more than for Mind to flourish, and would like to think that his best years lie ahead of him.
GROUP B
[red][b]Jaedong[/red][/b]Heir Apparent
Written by Hot_Bid on December 28 2007 15:16
The Zerg master-apprentice relationship is merely a bond forged through common skill, knowledge, and circumstance, crossing team boundaries and player friendships. It is an unforgiving, adversarial link between two individuals who know deep down that ultimately, there is only room at the top for one. And amid the crowd of hungry Zerg players learning from Savior’s triumphs and mistakes, Lee Jae Dong stands above them all.
Lee Jae Dong is a Starcraft genius at the age of 17. He has the best ZvZ on the planet at an astounding 25-9 (73%), but his play versus Terran draws the most attention. Jaedong’s ZvT produces July-micro, Savior-management, and fourteen game win streaks. In 2007, the difference between his #1 ranked ZvT ELO and the #2 ZvT (Savior) is actually greater than the difference between #2 Savior and the average professional Zerg. Jaedong is so far ahead of his peers in ZvT that there is Jaedong, and then there is everyone else.
[blue][b]NaDa[/blue][/b]Letter to the Sky (Nada)
Written by Plexa on January 29 2008 21:51
Nada's Shinhan 2 OSL run is something legendary. He 3-0'd his group (containing Light, Zergman and Jy). Went 2-1 against TT, 2-0'd Zergman, 3-0'd Goodfriend and found himself in the finals for a Golden Mouse. His opponent? Anytime[gm] - a protoss abusing the legend of the fall to get to the finals.
After one of the most intense finals in a long time, Nada walked away victorious. He had achieved his goal and won in his fathers name - he had answered his Letter to the Sky.
To me, this story remains one of the the most touching in progaming. After stumbling across Nada's poem, i was overcome with emotion and knew that this blog needed to be written for all the Nada fanboys out there.
[green][b]Much[/b][/green]ODT - Examining the Protoss Players
Written by thedeadhaji on April 02 2007 01:33
A part of what could be called the "third generation" Protoss players (consisting of Much, Bisu, Free and perhaps Tester), he has already shown his abilities in OSL, MSL and proleague throughout the latter half of 2006. He has experienced a meteoric rise in both exposure and skill level it seems, as he manhandled top Zergs and Terrans such as GoRush and Nada during OSL with a particular expertise on HitchHiker.
Preferring the Fast Expansion in PvZ (*but certainly not afraid to 2 gate rush or proxy gate/cannon) and Specialty builds in PvT, I am not exactly sure what to expect from him during a dual league format especially against a Terran. If I had to place my money, I would expect him to advance.
[b][blue]BoxeR[/blue][/b]TeamLiquid, meet the Emperor
Written by Manifesto7 on October 14 2006 23:49
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/uhjoo/boxertl.bmp)
GROUP C
[green][b]Stork[/b][/green]Song Byung Goo: The Little Protoss That Could
Written by ManaBlue on July 18 2007 18:59
Stork plays so well and works so hard, that it would be foolish not to acknowledge him as a great player. However, that is only part of the reason I admire him so much. His style is undeniably strong and aggressive. From his goon heavy, perfectly timed tank wall breaks to his zealot heavy, in-your-face PvZ, Stork presses the action and reacts exceptionally to his opponents. Many Protoss players achieve success with cute builds, claiming to be “strategists”, but eventually fall apart when their luck runs out. Stork will throw odd proxy builds at you, but only as any other pro would, to keep the opposition guessing. Against anything but the absolute best competition, Stork’s decision making and timing is so superb it’s all that is necessary to win him game after game. He plays Protoss like a Terran player. Multitasking, maximizing unit effectiveness through timing and smooth micro, and macroing his face off to steam roll unsuspecting opponents with Oov-esque waves of units. He does it all, giving his style a notable depth that I can only describe as strength. It is this solid quality that shows in game after game, giving him the consistency to simultaneously stand as a dominating force in the three most competitive SC tournaments in the world.
[blue][b]Iris[/blue][/b]SaviOr vs Iris - OSL SemiFinal #2
Written by Manifesto7 on February 18 2007 06:07
Iris has been consistently good, but a bit shaky in television games. His Zerg teammate gets all the attention, but he has definitely stepped out of Xellos' shadow as the premiere Terran player on CJ Entus. He now has an opportunity to accomplish something no Terran has done for years: beat Savior in a Bo5.
...This game was for everything. Top four doesn't matter in OGN history, nobody remembers or cares. The fate of both players rested on this final game, and it was a game that will go down as one of the greatest ever. When people make threads in the coming years about their favourite pro games, this one will join the ranks of the greatest ever. The tension and atmosphere of the studio surpassed anything I have seen before. For thirty minutes Iris threw his SK Terran skills at saviOr on Arkanoid, devising and executing a devastating campaign which eliminated from now on any criticism of his TvZ skills.
[b][blue]Hwasin[/b][/blue] Hwasin vs Bisu [spoilers]
Written by Oxygen on October 22 2007 10:55
I realize I seem to be putting down Hwasin a lot this game, but he isn't bad; he is a formidable player. An excellent example of his technical skill and precision is his reaction to some DT harass at his newly secured expansion: Bisu sends in two DTs to kill some SCVs, but notices a comsat and two goliaths. He decides to take care of the goliaths first so that he may rape and pillage freely. However, as he approaches the two goliaths, he notices some tanks, so he pulls back - but not before one of his DTs swipes a goliath once. Hwasin's scan is near-instant; the tank fires a shot at the DTs, and the goliaths volley off some rockets to an overhead observer. So, Bisu is not dominating this game because Hwasin is a poor player - Bisu isn't even actually dominating. But he controls; up until now, the tide of battle ebbs to his will, and to his will alone.
[green][b]free[/b][/green]2007 GomTV3 MSL - Oct 25 - Ro8B
Written by Live2Win on October 27 2007 15:23
Savior makes the first move as mutalisks take flight, to which Free answers with corsairs and cannons. The balance of the game seems to teeter back and forth as both introduce different units with each passing second, until Free unleashes himself. With reavers, templars, zealots, goons, sairs as his mixed force, Free takes the offensive. Savior decides to try another route and attack Free’s base, but fails to do any critical damage while Free delivers a critical blow to Savior’s expansion.
Drops and cracklings fly around the map, Savior desperately trying to level the field again, but Free finally proves why he remains confident in his skill, and receives each blow with a powerful blow of his own. Savior’s forces slowly wither away, and as Free adds Arbiters into his unit mix, Savior admits defeat.
GROUP D
[b][green]Bisu[/green][/b]Revolutionary Magic
Written by Hot_Bid on July 18 2007 20:51
Bisu is the most talented Protoss to come along in the history of professional Starcraft. His macro is the best. His micro is among the best. He has no weak matchups. He has one extremely strong matchup that is so far above every other Protoss in terms of quality and consistency that it’s laughable. Bisu has perfect, relentless scouting. Bisu successfully pushes the line between victory and defeat like no other player outside Savior.
But most of all, Bisu posseses the highest Protoss multitask ability. It is not even close. I have said this countless times but I will re-iterate. The "Beesuit Build" itself is not special. The build that beat Savior, the build that is basically a modified Protoss FE that slightly delays its storm and intermittently cuts probes for early DT/Corsair, is only good because Bisu does it. Other players have tried it and failed where Bisu succeeded. His Corsairs do not die. His DTs act like there is someone watching them at all times, finding holes that no other player can find. You could just drop the "-Build" part of that designation altogether and simply call it "Bisu," because it's all him.
[blue][b]Sea[/blue][/b] Have You Met Yom Bo Sung?
Written by FakeSteve[TPR] on July 17 2007 07:34
A large part of why I like Sea so much is that I can see my own emotions reflected on his face. When Sea wins in ProLeague, he calmly and confidently struts out of his booth with a sly grin. He walks around like he owns the place. He's a giant, ten feet tall, and nobody can stop him. There's nothing shy or meek about Yom Bo Sung, which is refreshing in a profession that has a general air of humility and good grace. His wins speak for themselves, and when he high-fives his teammates he absolutely fills the room he is in. He seems just that much more aware than other players that he is in the eye of the ProGaming world, and he is completely comfortable there. I get genuinely excited and delighted when Sea smashes his opponents, and its a great feeling.
[red][b]GGPlay[/red][/b]Fighting the Curse (GGPlay)
Written by Plexa on February 14 2008 12:32
Winning an OSL is easy, according to Andyetter, but staying on top afterwards is hard... bloody hard. Every player who has won an OSL has slumped immediately after it, there are a couple exceptions like Jaedong and Nada (and Boxer if we go back far enough) but they are in the vast minority.
Many of these players never make a resurgence at all, Sync for example never posted strong results after his OSL Victory. Casy was looking like a very likely candidate for this fate until last week heh . Some players fight back, and post average results like Kingdom. Others rock the scene and dominate like crazy like Oov, July and Nada.
GGPlay is at a very sensitive time in his career. Either he will bounce back and become something great, or slump miserably and never be seen again.
[blue][b]Light[/b][/blue]Light[aLive] - Lee Jae Ho
Written by Plexa on July 09 2007 03:41
Through his efforts in the latter half of 2006, Jae Ho earned the nickname "Dark Sorcerer" for his unparalleled multitasking which could only be achieved through some kind of dark magic. It was this amazing multitasking that Coach Ha originally saw in Jae Ho when he signed him onto P.O.S and this feature of Jae Ho was brought out very nicely by him. Using his amazing multitasking, he was able to turn the TvZ balance on Arcadia from deeply in zerg's favor to strongly in terran's favor. This also was considered an amazing feat, and his methods on the map were copied extensively by other terrans.
...Jae Ho is currently only 17 years old and has had an explosive career thus far. With his trademark multitasking he is a terran user that is to be feared by all and has a bright future ahead of him.
![[image loading]](http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/2495/nadaibelievelc4ym3.gif)
. Although I guess your statement could be interpreted as an offtopic comment to Plexa saying that this is a nice article, and that his blogs will on forever.
