Progaming takes its toll on people. It is a hard life which rewards few. After months, years of failing to perform and break the rut you are you in, sometimes you just have to call a quits. Within the last month, many players have thrown in the towel for hopes of a better life outside being a progamer. Some of these players are going to take up jobs within e-Sports, others may have to go to the army, but they with all be sorely missed.
Also within the last month there have been a number of prolific roster changers for a number of teams. With the large number of changes it becomes quite hard to keep up with it if you just follow the sceen casually. So, we’ve decided to make life easy for you - before the new season starts (sometime in April) these are the changes, retirements and recruits that have happened in the last 3~ months.
Retirements
Eliza
Eliza has been a member of eStro for what seems like forever. He was the rock in the team, despite him doing almost nothing in the world of progaming. To be more precise, his official record spans from 2003 right through to 2008. While he didn’t have the biggest fan club, it is a shame to see anyone retire. He held a special ‘brother’ position in eStro and was close to the coach of eStro. All the information regarding his retirement can be found here. Eliza will be moving on to do his compulsory military service.
In addition to Eliza, Bassen and Soha retired from eStro as well.
Garimto
For the second time Garimto has retired. His brief attempt to return to progaming ultimately lead to disaster for the old master. After around a year of trying to make it, he decided it was never going to happen and retired along with several other KTF members. The thread for his retirement can be found here, and a brief history of Garimto can be found here.
Chojja
Along with Garimto, Chojja also retired. Chojja was the only Zerg on KTF to ever bring home a trophy (CYON MSL) and held the number 1 position on KeSPA for a few months. He was the ZvZ rival to Savior in his prime, but in addition to that he showcased some great games. Also Tfeign gave Chojja somewhat of a stigma around tl.net, there was no denying his skill in the game. Here is a small tribute to Chojja’s epic games and his career and here is the announcement of his retirement.
Sync
In addition to Chojja and Garimto, Sync also decided to call it a day. Sync is probably most famous for his ‘Spark Terran’ build in which he would defy all logic and break sunken lines. This common theme in his play has since been immortalized as one of the great TvZ feats. Here is a little history lesson on Sync while here is the news about his retirement. Sync is training to be a progamer trainer.
Kingdom
As part of keeping fit, Kingdom participates in a sport very similar to Kendo. As time went on, his arm began to fall out of its socket more and more frequently. This problem forced Kingdom into surgery to continue his career. While he was recuperating he rediscovered his passion for Starcraft helping out his team, so when SKT1 offered him a full time job as a coach he jumped on the opportunity. Thus Kingdom, one of the greatest Protoss of all time, left us for the world of coaching. Here is the news of his departure and here is a series of blogs dedicated to Kingdom’s great play and monumental games.
Iloveoov
As should be rather common knowledge by now, the Monster Terran iloveoov retired. After cutting his wrist rather badly in a shower accident he couldn't practice for a period of time, this coupled with his waning passion lead to him contemplating retirement. He took up an offer from SKT1 to coach, and thus retired as a gamer. This follows on from the departure of Kingdom from SKT1. He will carry on working for SKT as one of their new coaches. All the details regarding his departure can be found here while a comprehensive account of his progaming career can be found in the article ‘I loved Victory’ (Part 1, Part 2
Silver
Silver’s greatest achievement was not his 2nd placing in Pringles S2 MSL, but his work on Monty Hall. Silver revolutionized ZvT on Monty Hall with a brilliant strategy which won him much respect amongst tl.net, a place where traditionally he was hated for his ‘gayness’ in Pringles 2. Nevertheless, Silvers innovation on Monty Hall allowed GGplay to come back from 0-2 against Iris and ultimately win Daum OSL. Thus, the Daum title is as much Silvers and it is GGplays. Here is the announcement of his retirement and here is an analysis of his build.
JJu
It was with great sadness that tl.net found out about the retirement of one of the great Zerg masters, namely JJu. JJu will be remember as a great captain of Samsung Khan and as one of the most unpredictable Zerg’s ever. One of his most famous games includes a 5-pool comeback against ever)P(Vical on Blitz. In addition to that JJu was loved by a large section of TL and will be sorely missed. His famous words “ZvP is easy!” will be remember for a long time to come. (He later retracted that statement and said ZvP was hard ). Here is the news of JJu’s retirement and here is a small recap of JJu’s career.
Sea.Jy
It’s tough to be a Zerg on the same team as the best Zerg there has ever been. Especially when you are hyped as the heir to his throne. Sadly, Sea.Jy never lived up his Saviors reputation and threw in the towel after being nuke rushed by Casy. While he was only young, he quickly gained a reputation as one of the next big Zergs (along with Jaedong). However, he did not deliver (and Jaedong did) and he decided enough was enough and quit. Here is the thread with the retirement information.
Jongmi
Jongmi has been on the OnGameNet Sparkyz roster for a long time now. She hasn’t really done anything since the LMSLs of 05, so it came as no surprise that she recently announced her retirement. JongMi will now become a caster meaning that she will still be around in the e-Sports family. This means (afaik) that TossGirl is the last remaining registered female progamer.
Team Switches
Goodfriend
After being told to get out by KTF negotiations began to transfer him to another team. As most you know by now, eStro bolstered their [depleted] lineup by taking in this former OSL finalist. The results were almost immediate; Goodfriend has already qualified for the MSL (defeating July in the deciding set). It seems that his transition has been smooth and well accepted by both parties.
Bisu
Bisu decided to trade in his MBC uniform for an SKT1 uniform and made the switch in February. The move follows his old team mate July, who also moved to SKT. This switch has been met with mixed reactions; generally MBC fans wailing in despair while SKT1 fans are rejoicing. Bisu made the OSL Semis and the GSI Ro8 so it looks like the transition was smooth and he will be up and running in time to improve SKT1’s abysmal Proleague record.
Lee and Joyo
With the absence of Bisu on MBC, they decided to pick up two old schoolers. JoYo and Lee are returning to MBC to aid in various areas. Joyo is on board to bolster the teams 2v2 team, while Lee is returning in a coaching position. Seems like a rather bizarre trade to me! Anyway, JoYo is coming out of retirement for this so it should be interesting to say the least.
GGplay
In a somewhat unexpected move, GGplay switched from Hanbit to CJ creating a formidable Zerg lineup over on the CJ camp while devastating the Hanbit lineup. This official ends the Hanbit trio of Free/Daezang/GGplay which scored Hanbit many wins. Now the trio is split up across three teams. Nevertheless, it will be a tough void to fill over at Hanbit who now lack a Zerg lineup. CJ on the other hand inherit another excellent macro/lategame Zerg to complement a slumping Savior.
New Additions
The yearly progaming draft also took place, these are the players that got picked up;
eSTRO
+ Show Spoiler +
Is[WHITE]
YoungA[KaL]
Melon[3.33]
NsP_Action
Say[jOin]
YoungA[KaL]
Melon[3.33]
NsP_Action
Say[jOin]
+ Show Spoiler +
KT.MGW)TossLove
n.Die_Soo
Mong_Lt
Seri[ScM]
Modern[fOu]
n.Die_Soo
Mong_Lt
Seri[ScM]
Modern[fOu]
+ Show Spoiler +
NsP_Raynor
TheName[fOu]
HanJo[S.G]
HoBBanG[3.33]
TheName[fOu]
HanJo[S.G]
HoBBanG[3.33]
+ Show Spoiler +
MvP[Name]
TuHon[jOin]
By.Real
TuHon[jOin]
By.Real
+ Show Spoiler +
By.Trap
김경호
Agape
NewFace[KaL]
Huskal
김경호
Agape
NewFace[KaL]
Huskal
+ Show Spoiler +
Lumpen[S.G]
NsP_rOrO
Shine[KaL]
Tomato[WHITE]
Rv.Rav
NsP_rOrO
Shine[KaL]
Tomato[WHITE]
Rv.Rav
+ Show Spoiler +
Chavi[Name]
HOn_Joon
NsP_JoJoBa
Robbie
NeP_Endless
HOn_Joon
NsP_JoJoBa
Robbie
NeP_Endless
+ Show Spoiler +
SaSin)Tazza
SaSin)HoRang2
SaSin)HoRang2
+ Show Spoiler +
Ace[S.G]
GGulGGul[S.G]
Dream.t)bajO
GGulGGul[S.G]
Dream.t)bajO
+ Show Spoiler +
By.Azang
Sea.Episode
Choya[KaL]
By.Hydra
Fi.re[Shield]
Sea.Episode
Choya[KaL]
By.Hydra
Fi.re[Shield]
+ Show Spoiler +
H_Falcon_W
PerfectMan[KaL]
PerfectMan[KaL]
And that should bring you up to date on the changes within each of the progaming teams. Stay tuned for Snowbirds excellent ‘News from Korea’ which will bring you the latest happenings in Korea. Remember, the Proleague format is up in the air as well the condition of ACE and Khan. There is bound to be more drama to follow, so stay tuned!!