Here's what happened in the Challenge League last and this week:
GROUP A -> Televised Friday, Nov. 1
1. Silent_Control (T) ("Na Do-hyun") > ProNT_Junitoss (P) ("Moon Jun-hee") - Gaema Gowon
2. IntoTheRainbow (P) ("Kim Sung-jae") > [Soul]Ace (Z) (aka Gyuntae) ("Lim Gyun-tae") - Gaema Gowon -> IntoTheRainbow qualifies for Duel Tournament
3. IntoTheRainbow (P) > Silent_Control (T) - Neo Bifrost
4. [Soul]Ace (Z) > ProNT_Junitoss (P) - Neo Forbidden Zone
5. [Soul]Ace (Z) > Silent_Control (T) - Avant Garde II -> [Soul]Ace qualifies for Duel Tournament
IntoTheRainbow was a cut above the rest in his group. Skills continuing to develop for IntoTheRain's young apprentice. Kim's been on a tear ever since Boxer's dad indirectly accused him of being an inadequate practice partner for Boxer leading up to the finals v [Oops]Reach in the SKY 2002 OGN Starleague. Showed some solid play against two quality opponents. Just needs to watch out for the Dark Side of the Force...
In contrast to the bam-bam stylish victories of IntoTheRain,[Soul]Ace marathoned it through the group with long, wretchedly miserable wins in all his matches. The poor fellow was exhausted at the end and looked very dehydrated. Perhaps the next ElkY...?
GROUP C -> Televised Tuesday, Nov. 5
1. Kingdom (P) ("Bak Yong-wook") > [Soul]Junior (Z) - Neo Bifrost
2. TheMarine (T) ("Kim Jung-min") > ggon (P) ("Lee Hyun-seung") - Neo Bifrost
3. Kingdom (P) > TheMarine (T) - Neo Forbidden Zone -> KIngdom qualifies for Duel Tournament
4. [Soul]Junior (Z) > ggon (T) - Avant Garde II
5. TheMarine (T) > [Soul]Junior (Z) - Gaema Gowon -> TheMarine qualifies for Duel Tournament
TheMarine squeaks through to the Duel Tournament by "Sparks Terraning" Junior into submission early. Slump or no, TheMarine is still one of the premier Ts in Korea.
Ok. I want to talk about Kingdom for a minute because we may be witness to the start of something pretty big with this guy. Bak's had a small, but steady following of fans since his memorable match v Grrr in the 3rd/4th place consolation game in the Hanbitsoft OGN Starleague (Yeah, the one that still holds the record for the longest televised match in OGN history). He took some time off from SC because of his studies, but recently turned pro and joined the mighty HanbitStars team. It's been said of Kingdom that he would have been where Reach is today in terms of skills if he hadn't taken time off to finish high school. Hey, they even have the same family name (tho I guess "Bak" is such a common surname that it's like saying, "Oh, look! Two players named SMITH - what a COOL coincidence!").
So, yes, he's good. But could he WIN again in real competition against the very best players?
Well, to be honest, I didn't give him much of a chance in this Group. TheMarine and Junior were the obvious class of the bunch and Kingdom would just have to consider himself unlucky and try again next time. Or so I thought. Man, I'm eating crow now. I knew something was up when he destroyed Junior on Neo Bifrost of all maps. A quality win against perhaps one of the best Zerg users around (Na helped Boxer with his game before the final v Yellow in the WCG, as did Chojja and TheWind). Then he goes on to dominate TheMarine in a rather longish affair that Kingdom really controlled from the start. Showed some patient game management and planning. Tactically came at TheMarine with the "Total Toss" style of play that only Reach (and Garimto before him) seemed to be able to do effectively: mass strats, great micro, rampant expoing, harrassing reaver drops, shuttles swinging everywhere, cannons, archons, carriers, shield batteries, and of course, temp storm (tho NOT mudang storm). Kingdom came prepared and put on a CLINIC v both Junior and TheMarine.
It's still too early to tell, but Kingdom may be the player to fill the gaping hole in the toss armor left by Garimto's departure. Watch for him.
(Fyi, if there's a match involving Kingdom on Neo Forbidden Zone, pick Kingdom to take it. The guy's practically invincible on it, at least so far.)