In 'Stork's silver path of courage' I've laid out the career of legendary Brood War Protoss Stork so SC2 and more modern day fans can get an idea of the context of his epic, and at times tragic, path through professional BW from 2005-2012.
Stork is an OSL champion, three time OSL runner-up, MSL runner-up, WCG gold medalist, two time WCG silver medalist, Proleague champion, Proleague MVP and finals MVP and a member of the TaekBangLeeSsang (along with Flash, Bisu and Jaedong).
On Stork's legacy:
For all his critical moments of failure, days of heartbreak and times of self-doubt Stork has carved out a distinct place amongst BW's greatest ever players and can rightly be considered a legend, one of the best to ever play. His failures were numerous and well documented, coming in the most conspicuous of moments, and yet one cannot help but love and admire Stork for his perseverance, his daring and his heart. This knight-errant stood toe-to-toe with the game's monsters and, valiantly as he fought, paid the mortal price, yet found a way to put himself back together each time.
The early breakthrough in 2005:
Stork's third consecutive Ro16 appearance had come over the next month or so, and he had caught the eye of many in the scene. It was not only his individual league play which had earned him such attentions, as in the Proleague, Korean BW's team league, Stork had put up the most wins by a Protoss player in Round 2 and in doing so helped his team, Samsung KHAN, grab a playoff spot and eventually finish runners-up.
Named Rookie of the Year for 2005 by the coaches, he was also dubbed one of the 'Three Neo-Kings of Protoss', along with Anytime and Pusan. That showed the kind of expectations people had for his play, being as the previous generation to hold such a moniker, 'The three Kings of Protoss' (Reach, Kingdom and Nal_rA), had all been Starleague champions.
Reaching his first OSL final:
Despite being eliminated from the Ro16 of the next MSL by sAviOr 2:1, strong individual form continued to mark Stork's play as he finished top of his Ro16 group in the EVER2007 OSL. In the quarter-final he defeated Flash 2:1 and in the semi-final he gained his revenge over Bisu by sweeping his MSL foe 3:0 to reach the first OSL final of his career. Stork's opponent in the final would be Jaedong, a Zerg playing in the first OSL of his career and who Stork had beaten in the Ro16.
Capturing gold at last:
Stork got off to his best finals start ever, winning the first two maps. Only one map away from clutching the coveted OSL trophy he found himself pushed back by Fantasy, who took the next two to send it to a fifth and final map. Twice before Stork had faced deciding maps and both times he had fallen. Everyone awaited the inevitable choke, the moment when Stork would panic and make a vital mistake, sending the title across the other side of the stage. Instead this would be the best day of his life.
The courageous path:
It could be said that true courage is when one enters into a situation where one doesn't know if they can win, and perhaps can not, and yet continues on regardless, because the quest is worth the risk of failure. In the grail romances of Medievil Europe it is often stated that the knights who sought the grail all entered the forest alone, apart from their fellow knights, and at the place where there woods were thickest and there was no path.
Love stork so much, has always been my favorite player. One of the first times I saw him play was in the Sambo(?) Classic where he lost to Flash after only needing 1 map -_- lol
Wow! I couldn't tell who was winning. The SC2 interface with the observer panel is really useful for supply comparisons etc... I thought the Zerg had the game in the bag after the big win in the center. Don't know how the toss came back from that.
By the way, do they not have air conditioning? Why the heck is that guy sweating that much? Man, having your heart rate up so much while sitting down and playing a computer game definitely doesn't seem healthy.
Wow! I couldn't tell who was winning. The SC2 interface with the observer panel is really useful for supply comparisons etc... I thought the Zerg had the game in the bag after the big win in the center. Don't know how the toss came back from that.
By the way, do they not have air conditioning? Why the heck is that guy sweating that much? Man, having your heart rate up so much while sitting down and playing a computer game definitely doesn't seem healthy.
Oh my goodness, it's weird seeing this post lol. I forgot that some people didn't come from BW so they wouldn't know those things.
He's sweating because they kept the booths pretty warm because playing while cold sucks. I think some might have used heaters as well.
Wow! I couldn't tell who was winning. The SC2 interface with the observer panel is really useful for supply comparisons etc... I thought the Zerg had the game in the bag after the big win in the center. Don't know how the toss came back from that.
By the way, do they not have air conditioning? Why the heck is that guy sweating that much? Man, having your heart rate up so much while sitting down and playing a computer game definitely doesn't seem healthy.
Sometimes they had a supply/resources overlay at the bottom right, but sometimes they didn't. Was never entirely clear why.
Wow! I couldn't tell who was winning. The SC2 interface with the observer panel is really useful for supply comparisons etc... I thought the Zerg had the game in the bag after the big win in the center. Don't know how the toss came back from that.
By the way, do they not have air conditioning? Why the heck is that guy sweating that much? Man, having your heart rate up so much while sitting down and playing a computer game definitely doesn't seem healthy.
I thought you were being a bit silly with the sweat comment, but then I skimmed through the game. Sweet mother of god, I've never sweat that much before...
Stork. He is such a legend. Hopefully, whatever he pursues next, be it continue SC2 or move somewhere else, he repeats that kind of success, if not surpass it altogether.
EPT
Stork so SC2 and more modern day fans can get an idea of the context of his epic, and at times tragic, path through professional BW from 2005-2012.
Flash, 
Jaedong).
