I believe the general consensus is that the NA server is a joke.
The prevailing wisdom is that if you want to be good, play on KR/go to Korea.
3/4 players mentioned have done this.
What impresses me is that Stephano seems to have done well without substantial KR training.
I'm not really a fan, but I will be watching his GSL games with interest.

Atlant

Moldova1 Post

October 11 2011 08:53 GMT

#42

The real korean jedi masters never leave korea to play foreign championships (mvp nestea july....)

lacho_u

Bulgaria535 Posts

October 11 2011 09:05 GMT

#43

Let's not forget that the best koreans at competetive level are still playing brood war

seansye

United States1722 Posts

October 11 2011 09:07 GMT

#44

The day a foreigner wins GSL is when I will vote significantly changed.

nailseater

France9 Posts

October 11 2011 09:08 GMT

#45

Who's stephano face to jaedong / flash? Chobo.

Sitinte

United States499 Posts

October 11 2011 09:14 GMT

#46

On October 11 2011 17:53 Atlant wrote:
The real korean jedi masters never leave korea to play foreign championships (mvp nestea july....)

MVP was the winner of MLG Anaheim and he as well as Nestea are going to Blizzcon. I believe July played in the NASL as well as play in MLG Columbus (also getting invited to MLG Orlando) and went to Dreamhack in Sweden.

You mean want some better examples :p (I get what you're trying to say though)

red4ce

United States7313 Posts

October 11 2011 09:21 GMT

#47

My initial thought was yes, but has it really? Or is it just Stephano? It's not like there haven't been some successes in the past. Jinro making the Ro4 of the GSL twice, Dimaga beating Nestea and Huk's various accomplishments. Ret beat alive but Alive, like Nada, tends to lose to foreigners a lot. White-Ra beat MMA but then lost easily to TheSTC and Puma.

figq

12519 Posts

October 11 2011 09:41 GMT

#48

It's significant, because Stephano/Idra now, unlike Huk/Jinro in previous tournaments, have not prepared in Korea during the last couple of months. They won, based on playing mostly EU/NA ladder.

Xcobidoo

Sweden1871 Posts

October 11 2011 09:41 GMT

#49

On October 11 2011 17:53 Atlant wrote:
The real korean jedi masters never leave korea to play foreign championships (mvp nestea july....)

Congratulations, your first post was wrong :D

Goibon

New Zealand8185 Posts

October 11 2011 09:48 GMT

#50

One tournament won't change my opinion. And one pretty damn well hyped Zerg isn't going to change it either. I've finally got a Zerg now i can happily put up there with Thorzain and Naniwa.

I do eagerly await future events though with more interest, that's for sure.

Ouga

Finland645 Posts

October 11 2011 09:52 GMT

#51

No change. IEM had too few top koreans, it basically lied in Puma to take it. Koreans dominated IPL too, Stephano was the only one able to really take them. Sure Idra could've been in top4 too, but still it was dominated by KR.

Apollo_Shards

1210 Posts

October 11 2011 09:56 GMT

#52

Well, I now know foreigners have a chance. But Koreans are still leagues ahead.

pPingu

Switzerland2892 Posts

October 11 2011 10:04 GMT

#53

Stephano didn't beat any code s or even a korean (except lucky, but zvz is his worst mu) so...

The only ones to have beaten code s or a players are ret and whitera (if I didn't forget anybody). Everybody already knew that ret is a beast and mma wasn't prepare to play agaisnt whitera style.

So koreans are still "way" ahead imo

deathly rat

United Kingdom911 Posts

October 11 2011 10:28 GMT

#54

I am starting to think that the main difference in skill is just the quality of the all-ins by koreans and their ability to defend vs all-ins. I'm not saying koreans don't /can't play long games, but when it does go to a long game then non-korean pros have a good chance to win.

BigLighthouse

United Kingdom424 Posts

October 11 2011 10:30 GMT

#55

very little change, but i feel a little more affirmed in the position ive been holding

bbm

United Kingdom1320 Posts

October 11 2011 10:41 GMT

#56

On October 11 2011 19:04 pPingu wrote:
Stephano didn't beat any code s or even a korean (except lucky, but zvz is his worst mu) so...

The only ones to have beaten code s or a players are ret and whitera (if I didn't forget anybody). Everybody already knew that ret is a beast and mma wasn't prepare to play agaisnt whitera style.

So koreans are still "way" ahead imo

in IPL3 (not including the qualifiers since they were online) stephano beat:
code s: huk
korean: thestc, lucky, boxer, violet, inori.
I don't mind people trying to downplay his accomplishments based on the skill levels of his opponents, but don't just ignore the entire championship bracket (except for kiwikaki + lucky who you mentioned). Dont mistake his easier route than some for a complete cakewalk versus nobodies or something.

---

Overall, I think the results do change a bit. Whereas skill-wise, I've always thought the top players are able to compete in the lower end of code a, I've never seen them as being capable of actually taking a tournament with koreans in. These have showed me that there's a possibility of this, which excites me immensely. While, say, a foreigner in code A always gets me going "Oh maybe they'll be able to pull through and win this one!" when it's a foreigner-korean match in, say, MLG, I just think "well koreans will sweep this as always".

These latest tournaments have gone some way to dispelling that image in my mind.

Robinsa

Japan1333 Posts

October 11 2011 10:48 GMT

#57

It hasnt really changed. We always knew we had a couple of good players that could compete at the top. The pool of skill they have is still totally different from what we have. They have 10 or more top tier players for every top player we have.

eoLithic

Norway221 Posts

October 11 2011 10:50 GMT

#58

Why should it change when stephano has a good run?

Shouldn`t change anything imo.

bartus88

Netherlands491 Posts

October 11 2011 10:56 GMT

#59

Koreans are still way better than foreigners. IPL3 is just an isolated incident, it was just one foreigner who beat several Koreans. MLG tells the true story in my opinion.

A foreigner will probably never win the GSL, although statistically it may happen once.

fams

Canada731 Posts

October 11 2011 11:06 GMT

#60

On October 11 2011 14:43 Waxangel wrote:
Hmm, considering that I always thought the BEST foreigners have a good shot against mid-level Koreans, and they still have almost no chance against the BEST Koreans, I don't think much has changed for me.

Look at me, replying to my own poll o/

Such a badass Wax