EPTAll the people wishing for koreans to lose don't understand the mental superiority of our asians overlords (jk). I think of myself as primarily a broodwar fan. When i see the foreign scene, i say to myself those pro-players are just the same guys that were struggling hard to attain the A rank in Iccup.An A-ranked player in the ICCup server plays at the equivalent level of a B-player on the Brain (korea) servers. At that level, you would be lucky to pass the first round of a Courage tournament.
The Elephant in the Room article already explained this point. But it failed to mention the effect it has on the foreigners mentality. You have to keep in mind they were broodwar players for a far longer time than their SC2 carrier. Koreans amateurs smurfing rolled over them hundreds of time. After fighting countless battles in their countries, the best foreign players died to Koreans using scouts, one rax pressure or a control group of zerglings at the WCG. When they play against a korean player, their confidence is already shaken by all these past experiences. They know it is a new game, but they can't forget how mechanically superior korean players were. On the other hand, koreans players may seem cocky (MC, Moon) but that's one of their strength. They think they are the best. With that confidence, they don't have second thoughts. They just go for the kill. And the competitive environment of the korean scene keeps them as finely attuned killing machines.You could also say the korean players were pretty bad at BW. It is true. Nestea, arguably the best player today, was terrible. oGsMC was also bad. But they are now used to bet their an entire month of competition in just one B.O. With one hundred invitational tournaments per month, how many foreign players may say that?
The gap between foreigners and koreans in both mechanics, creativity and strategy is in fact thin. Koreans have created a lot of the "flavor of the month" strategies and have teched us the proper usage of some units (marines by MKP) or the hidden possibilities of some races (Zerg being agressive). But in fact, there's a lot of interesting ideas being created and explored in the west. As for mechanics, the game is made in a way it is very difficult to differentiate players on this basis alone. But koreans own white people from a mental point of view. Foreigners fold to the pressure of fighting the scary koreans they knew from the times of Broodwar, and playing on the big stage in front of thousands of persons. Koreans are mentally prepared to take the tournaments.
I wish to see some good games and i'm sure koreans will deliver. But i'm also hoping for foreigners to overcome the past and show they can can win in a clutch environment. I think that the european ex-WC playershave a better chance to. They are really good (even if Naniwa didn't exhibit the best control of his nerves at TSL3) and they never felt the korean domination in WC3. Or who knows? Maybe a new generation of SC2 players without a BW background?
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