+ Show Spoiler [Prelude] +

Battle Reports by Kwark

Game One - Eye of the Storm - VOD
+ Show Spoiler [Battle Report] +

Game Two - Polaris Rhapsody - VOD
+ Show Spoiler [Battle Report] +

Game Three - Grand Line SE - VOD
+ Show Spoiler [Battle Report] +

Game Four - Flight-Dreamliner - VOD
+ Show Spoiler [Battle Report] +

Game Five - Eye of the Storm - VOD
+ Show Spoiler [Battle Report] +


Winner Interview
Full Tournament History

OnGameNet made a daring move by holding the OSL finals overseas for the first time in Korean e-Sports history. It was too bad that TL didn't have the resources to fly me over there, though they did offer to ship me there in a container with a few thousand TL T-shirts. Fortunately, e-Sports has amazing fans in all parts of the world to relate the tale.



First, I'd like to direct you to endy's amazing blog post. In it, Endy writes about his quest to see the OSL final live in Shanghai, and captures all of the glory that comes from being a crazy, blessed fool known to others as an e-Sports fan. Seeing as it's on the Pulitzer prize shortlist for 2010, you should probably read it.


Also, our resident Bisu fangirl and Chinese BW expert Emlary (although I have to say, not as cool as endy because she skipped the finals when she found both Bisu and Stork were eliminated) chimed in with her view on the successfulness of the final:

When the curtains rose, the initially pessimistic outlook was forgotten. Yes, it could have been more magnificent if was held in a bigger venue like the famous People's Stadium which seats 80,000. However, from what I read in Chinese BW communities, most people enjoyed it nonetheless. Many spectators posted threads, photos, blogs and reports to describe how excited they were when they watched a live StarLeague final for the first time in their own country. More seats were given to fans instead of some officials who had no clue about video games or e-sports. Thousands of spectators also watched the final outside of the venue without tickets. Flash fans shouted out loud "Jiao Zhu" (Flash's nickname among Chinese community, literally it means a cult leader) to cheer for him and his gold mouse.

The Tyrant lost again but in my opinion this time the biggest loser is Korean Air. During the WCG grand final last year in Chengdu, posters of the tournament and Samsung were everywhere around the city. Game results and gamer interviews made local newspaper every day. But all I can find after OSL final is two short reports on local newspaper (except gaming communities). No pictures, no credits of the sponsor. The Korean Air OSL was totally missed. It's understandable OnGameNet wants to expand business overseas so they chose the Oriental Pearl Tower - the landmark of Shanghai. It just seems Korean Air did not get enough exposure for marketing in China.

In the end, it seems like all went well. OGN showed that they're at the top of the game in e-sports production and broadcasting, and they don't have to be at home to serve the fans with the best Brood War has to offer. Still, when you think about what happened at WCG 2009, you have to stop and wonder what could have been... After all, with a sponsor as supportive as Korean Air, wasn't the sky the limit?

by WaxAngel

I’ve always been amazed at how readily the foreign community accepts Korean e-Sports culture, and how accurately they understand it. While I think culture can speak for itself most of the time, there are a few things that need to be accompanied by some supplemental information. The following is a series of strictly personal observations, and I do not claim to be any kind of ultimate authority.


Let’s talk about the word “Bonjwa.”

During 2005~2006, Savior (now the recipient of a lifetime ban and on trial for match-fixing) had an incredible run in the professional Brood War world, crushing opponents and winning tournaments with alarming ease. He put the formula of Terran > Zerg on its head, while taking its sister formula of Zerg > Protoss to new heights on his way to three MSL titles.

Had Savior played during the nascent stages of Korean e-Sports, the fans would have accepted his exceptional display of skill without condition, at face value. By 2006 however, e-Sports had escaped its wild formative days and settled into a regular rhythm, having formed a real sense of history and legacy in the process. For better or for worse, Savior would be the first player to be judged heavily in the context of the past, as much as his influence in the present.

There was much controversy at first over where Savior stood, but eventually he went on to win his first OnGameNet Starleague after three previous MSL gold medals. This turned out to be the tipping point for most fans, and there was an amazing, unprecedented general consensus that Savior was amongst the best to play the game, at roughly similar level with long time veterans Nada or iloveoov (who was also a subject of much comparison with Nada and Boxer, but more so as one of their contemporaries than in a historical sense).

Though there was a basic agreement on Savior’s lofty place in history, there was an unspoken need to codify things into something more simple and definable. Categorization and sorting is an overindulged pleasure for all sorts of nerds (try reading tvtropes.org or any social sciences textbook), and Brood War is no exception. Bonjwa theory (as it came to be called) may have had a short history before Savior, but it was his OSL win that planted it deeply into the heart of e-Sports culture.

It’s hard to say whether the word or the criteria came first; it’s likely that they came about simultaneously and reinforced each other. Starcraft fans co-opted the word Bonjwa (본좌), which had been floating around the internet for a while as a term for one who has mastery over some field.

As for the first criteria of Bonjwa theory, it came from an all too convenient bit of coincidence. Nada, Oov, and Savior all had four or more league wins, and at least one MSL and OSL win each. That bit of coincidence led many to try in vain to figure out further objective criteria for Bonjwa theory, but no other statistical criteria could be agreed upon by the masses.

The second criterion of ‘force’ was used to explain away the loose ends, but would also cause controversy in the future. Force indicated the aura, presence, or any intangible feeling of dominance a player exuded. It was by nature a subjective standard, and it would later be seen that only under the special circumstances of Bonjwa theory’s invention could people come to an agreement that the first four Bonjwas had the requisite force.

Bonjwa theory’s arbitrary and subjective nature became apparent from the beginning, with the induction of Boxer as the first in its line. Boxer had only three league wins to his name, and perhaps some people thought, not quite the air of dominance of the succeeding three Bonjwas. However, Boxer’s incredible influence in the formation of the e-sports industry made him too respected a figure to leave out of any historical pantheon, and it was a simple matter to shoehorn him into the Bonjwa line.

For a few years, the theory stayed popular and stable, mostly untroubled until a new generation of great players came along. When Bisu and Jaedong started to approach the league win criteria in 2009, things became very ugly in a hurry.

With both players a win away from fulfilling the gold medals condition, fans began some of the most vicious and heated arguments in the history of the community over whether or not Jaedong or Bisu should be inducted into the Bonjwa line if they were to get that fourth tournament win. It quickly became apparent that the ‘force’ criterion was something no one would ever agree upon again. It had been a near miracle that Savior carried so much popular support at the time of his coronation, something the newer generation would be hard pressed to repeat. By the time Jaedong fulfilled the Bonjwa win quota, the constant bickering over Bonjwa theory had caused a lot fatigue. While diehard supporters of specific players continued to argue their cases, Bonjwa theory for the most part had devolved into typical internet trollbait.

Bonjwa theory was already on the way down, and Savior’s involvement in the 2010 match fixing scandal was a near finishing blow. Bonjwa theory had been in ways a revisionist history created in order to honor Savior at the height of his career, and Savior's fall put the very need for Bonjwa theory to exist in question. By the time the Nate MSL Final came along, Bonjwa theory was only a minor point of interest. Instead, the Lee-ssang rivalry itself took center stage.



Long preface for a short statement: It doesn’t matter if Flash is Bonjwa or not.

I once compared the concept of Bonjwa to the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was an honorary title with no rhyme or reason to it, only created to fit a specific need at a certain period in time. People have and will continue to try and invoke it in the future, but it will never have its original meaning and or be recognized in the same way again.

There’s no need to try to fit Flash into some ancient rubric. In the end, Flash will be Flash, and he’s writing his own history.

As the TL writing staff assembled to write this report, there was one thing that amazed me. I tried to find someone who wanted write Flash’s victory tribute piece, but I couldn’t find one. Seriously! Maybe all the Flash fanboys are on vacation with KTF in the Philippines, but I couldn’t find any volunteers in time. As a Jaedong fan, I knew it would be unfair to leave this task to anyone but the most committed Flash supporter. There are some very good arguments for Flash being the greatest player of all time, but I don’t want to be the one to stir up that s***storm. Rest assured we’ll find someone to work TeamLiquid’s famed hyperbole mill and cook up a great TLFE for Flash.

Since I've denied Flash a Bonjwa coronation in this report, here's a little something to make up. The latest Korean BW trend, as introduced by Milkis:

+ Show Spoiler [Starcraft is a Monotheistic Religion] +

by Milkis

There is no doubt that OGN took this current Starleague extremely seriously. After all, OGN reached its 10th year anniversary and 30th season of the Starleague and they did their best to do something special, with the first finals to take place outside Korea, in front of Shanghai's most significant landmark. There's no doubt that there are significant changes looming for e-Sports, and we now wonder what punctuation to place -- a period, or a comma?

First, some background. Midway through the OSL season, Gretech came to hold the exclusive rights to broadcast Starcraft (and all Blizzard games) in Korea, and one of their stipulations for sub-licensing these rights was that the broadcasting stations sign a contract with Gretech for every contest held. When that announcement was made, OGN was quick to negotiate a contract with Gretech for the rights to broadcast the Korean Air Starleague Season 2.

However, because OGN needs to sign a contract for each individual season, the future for the OSL still isn't very clear. The relationship between Gretech and OGN was really good at one point -- even to the point where OGN originally had plans to broadcast the GomTV Starcraft II League with their own commentators. This meant that, if things went according to plan, Koreans would have heard the GSL commentated by Kim Carrier, and Commentators Jun and Uhm.

Things did not go to plan, as the heads at OnGameNet changed their plans for GSL. OGN suddenly scrapped their plans to broadcast the GSL without notice soon after Gretech and KeSPA failed to negotiate rights for the Proleague. The negotiations between Gretech and KeSPA may have taken an emotional turn, with SK Telecom's representative issuing a statement soon after saying that the progame teams must stick together and have a unified stance against Gretech. If this story is accurate, one might deduce that OGN, from the board of directors level, has cancelled the plans to broadcast the GSL. Because as we know, KeSPA is essentially an association of progaming teams, and OGN is bound to them somewhat as a member.

For the direction OGN is taking, we have the slightest of hints from an interview with OGN's Director Kwak. He commentated that the original Starcraft has extended its lifespan over the last 10 years because it has become a spectator sport. However, he also commented that "But 10 years is a long time, and I believe it is now a time where a transition is needed".

But he also shared more cautious thoughts on Starcraft 2. "To see what kind of effects Starcraft 2 and its leagues will have, we need to observe it a bit more". He specifically pointed out that "No matter what game, in order to succeed in the beginning, many variables need to come together and support the game, and out of them, the most significant is the reaction of the fans".

There is no doubt that Korean Air Starleague Season 2 marks a point of transition. Will it be a radical transition requiring a period, or just a mild transition only requiring a comma? We can only wait and see.


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