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Another feature from Polygon on the EGTL Proleague team by Rob Zacny.
http://www.polygon.com/features/2013/7/17/4517846/starcraft-supergroup-korea-evil-geniuses
Nobody expected that competing in Proleague, the oldest and most elite Korean StarCraft team league, would be easy. The Korean teams who call Proleague their home have been playing professional StarCraft for a decade, ever since StarCraft: Brood War became a surprise sports phenomenon in Korea, and they routinely recruit and train the best aspiring pro real-time strategy players.
But in their worst nightmares, the owners of the two strongest StarCraft teams in North America and Europe didn't think their combined Evil Geniuses – Team Liquid (EGTL) "dream team" would find itself in last place by a humiliating margin. A daring attempt to steal a Proleague title out from under the Korean teams' noses, one that could vindicate a Western StarCraft scene suffering from low morale and weakening tournament results, was a full-blown debacle by the halfway point of the season. For foreign StarCraft fans, it was as if the 1980 U.S. men's hockey team had gone to the Olympics, forfeited to the USSR, then offered themselves as hostages to the Ayatollah.
With their credibility on the line, the heads of both teams tried to salvage their season by talking to one of the most accomplished Korean coaches in the history of Proleague: Park Yong Woon. In his career as a coach he had never failed to lead a team to the postseason and helped create an eSports dynasty with the SK Telecom T1 team. Now he had to find a way to save EGTL's season and, along the way, teach a pair of Western eSports organizations exactly what it takes to compete at the pinnacle of Korean eSports, where greatness has become a science.
I didn't know too much about the backstory behind EGTL hiring Coach Park, and the reasons surround that, so it was a super interesting read.
Also, the photos are pretty nice too cough.
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Yeah nice write-up all the way!
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really nice writeup and the photos of players and profiles are really neat, it's actually a nifty article ! ^_^
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Hopefully next season they will bring their A game along with some new faces!
~EG-TL FIGHTING ~
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This was I think the most amazing article on Proleague I have read. It was seriously amazing, I think everybody should be reading this. So much backstory on coach Park and how awesome he really is...
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That's a pretty nice read, especially the TL translation that is linked in that article. Anyone trying to figure out the gap between foreigners and Koreans should read this, shit's really well explained.
Edit: That last part is a bit scary. EG-TL can't afford the team house and/or Park? They're both so good for the team, I think another year would really propel them to be on par with Kespa teams.
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On July 18 2013 04:51 Incognoto wrote:
Edit: That last part is a bit scary. EG-TL can't afford the team house and/or Park? They're both so good for the team, I think another year would really propel them to be on par with Kespa teams.
Well, if the coach park really costs much more then Stephano and/or Huk as indicated in that interview, I am not surprised they cannot afford him ^^
imo they should pay him for some more time and send Incontrol over to learn how to become a proper coach...
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On July 18 2013 05:46 Ammanas wrote:Show nested quote +On July 18 2013 04:51 Incognoto wrote:
Edit: That last part is a bit scary. EG-TL can't afford the team house and/or Park? They're both so good for the team, I think another year would really propel them to be on par with Kespa teams. Well, if the coach park really costs much more then Stephano and/or Huk as indicated in that interview, I am not surprised they cannot afford him ^^ imo they should pay him for some more time and send Incontrol over to learn how to become a proper coach...
I wouldnt mind Incontrol as a coach but most players over there are korean. Im sure there will be a language barrier. So what would be the point of Incontrol becoming a good coach if he cant really coach the team that EG-TL has.
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So when Snute started his stream at 10 pm in Korea and finished at 4 am he played more than 12 hours in a day ? :o
That's huge.
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Great article, Coach Park is more amazing than I'd thought
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wow, very nice writeup. I really hope they will stay for at least one season.
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i expect great results next season, please do not back out or falter away from this path!
we TL'ers have been dreaming of such days since the birth of proleague, EGTL in proleague has been the best thing happened to me in sc2.
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I wasn't expecting EGTL to shock the world its first season as a team and win the league or even be one of the top teams, last place has been a disappointment but I think it's just growing pains.
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That was a good read, thanks.
I dread the day we'll hear news about whether EGTL will continue to play in PL or not. Hate it when financial realities get in the way of things, but I still keep hoping it just might not somehow happen 
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Truly was a great article
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I don't think team leagues are that great. It shows a strange kind of competitivity level.
Like, a player would only need to train for a predefined matchup, on predefined maps, against only one oponent/race.
This lead to "cheese" plays a-galore, we didn't see any inovative play from anyone, just more of the same. Add that the fact that we were overwhelmed by unknown players we could not relate to.
PL has NOTHING on GSL or MLG
GO TL AND EG!!!!
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On July 18 2013 08:08 JP Dayne wrote:
I don't think team leagues are that great. It shows a strange kind of competitivity level.
Like, a player would only need to train for a predefined matchup, on predefined maps, against only one oponent/race.
This lead to "cheese" plays a-galore, we didn't see any inovative play from anyone, just more of the same. Add that the fact that we were overwhelmed by unknown players we could not relate to.
PL has NOTHING on GSL or MLG
GO TL AND EG!!!!
Predefined match-ups and predefined maps aren't unique to any competition. Unless you're a sniper, you'll need to train the given match-up that week, which may be different from before due to picks, just like in a regular tournament.
I picked out more timing attacks and innovative plays in Proleague than in the WCS OSL so far. I'd like to see hyvaa doing all the goddamn stuff Hydra has been doing so far in PL.
Whine less about not knowing players and watch the game.
Maybe if your definition of skill was something like "winning a lot of games in Starcraft no matter what the circumstance" your view of different competitions wouldn't be so messed up.
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On July 18 2013 08:40 ymir233 wrote:Show nested quote +On July 18 2013 08:08 JP Dayne wrote:
I don't think team leagues are that great. It shows a strange kind of competitivity level.
Like, a player would only need to train for a predefined matchup, on predefined maps, against only one oponent/race.
This lead to "cheese" plays a-galore, we didn't see any inovative play from anyone, just more of the same. Add that the fact that we were overwhelmed by unknown players we could not relate to.
PL has NOTHING on GSL or MLG
GO TL AND EG!!!! Predefined match-ups and predefined maps aren't unique to any competition. Unless you're a sniper, you'll need to train the given match-up that week, which may be different from before due to picks, just like in a regular tournament. I picked out more timing attacks and innovative plays in Proleague than in the WCS OSL so far. I'd like to see hyvaa doing all the goddamn stuff Hydra has been doing so far in PL. Whine less about not knowing players and watch the game. Maybe if your definition of skill was something like "winning a lot of games in Starcraft no matter what the circumstance" your view of different competitions wouldn't be so messed up.
^ Pretty much. If you're FlaSh or JD back when they were super-aces, you had to put up with the fact that every team would train some specialist (map or matchup) to fight you. When they have over 100 of your games to study while you have like 5 of theirs, life isn't easy but these guys managed to do really well in these circumstances regardless. Team games are pretty important because it means that you HAVE to take the ONE game, and can't screw around with BoX mentalities, so you have to plan out a specific game perfectly for a week. In Bo series at least the map can change so you don't have to face up against those sorts of specialists right?
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On July 18 2013 08:40 ymir233 wrote:Show nested quote +On July 18 2013 08:08 JP Dayne wrote:
I don't think team leagues are that great. It shows a strange kind of competitivity level.
Like, a player would only need to train for a predefined matchup, on predefined maps, against only one oponent/race.
This lead to "cheese" plays a-galore, we didn't see any inovative play from anyone, just more of the same. Add that the fact that we were overwhelmed by unknown players we could not relate to.
PL has NOTHING on GSL or MLG
GO TL AND EG!!!! Predefined match-ups and predefined maps aren't unique to any competition. Unless you're a sniper, you'll need to train the given match-up that week, which may be different from before due to picks, just like in a regular tournament. I picked out more timing attacks and innovative plays in Proleague than in the WCS OSL so far. I'd like to see hyvaa doing all the goddamn stuff Hydra has been doing so far in PL. Whine less about not knowing players and watch the game. Maybe if your definition of skill was something like "winning a lot of games in Starcraft no matter what the circumstance" your view of different competitions wouldn't be so messed up.
ah, the internet
everybody is tough in here
you sure talk a lot of shit about me without knowing me, m8
I just expressed an opinion, you don't have to nerdrage me out
oh, and yes, the best player is the one that can beat the other on more than one aspect.
but since PL is about the best team, I don't really care much about it.
hence my last post
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Coach Park might be expensive, but im pretty sure IdrA left a good chunk of change with his departure. So to not continue this Korean venture would be an incredibly daft decision. Besides, wasn't the ProLeague entry fee something teams get back after completion ?
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For foreign StarCraft fans, it was as if the 1980 U.S. men's hockey team had gone to the Olympics, forfeited to the USSR, then offered themselves as hostages to the Ayatollah.
Lol
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Didn't know KeSPA were the ones to try and set up a deal with Coach Park, interesting.
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Excellent write up. Incredibly interesting!
10/10
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Great article, totally worth taking the time to read. Lot of little gems of information
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I don't get the hype...
It was a bunch of Koreans taking on Koreans... not like some huge step forward for foreigners even if they had take first.
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It's awesome that Polygon is writing these articles this week, hopefully they stay pretty involved in competitive gaming in the future. (Unless i'm just ignorant of their previous work.)
Much better researched than most of the 'articles' that come out of the general gaming press.
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That article was pretty amazing, and I thought I was fairly well-informed on how EG-TL acquired Coach Park. Seems the other way around really. Thank you Coach Park. /bow
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Awesome article, great read! Write more please!
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On July 18 2013 11:23 sc2superfan101 wrote:
I don't get the hype...
It was a bunch of Koreans taking on Koreans... not like some huge step forward for foreigners even if they had take first.
Foreign fans are desperate. When the last time a foreigner won a Premier tournament? (It was Snute at HSC VI back in December 2012, in WoL).
That's why even though what you pointed out was true (the only foreigner that made a positive impact for EGTL was Stephano; Huk, Thorzain and Snute have been dead weight), people will still consider EGTL to be a foreign team, so the foreign team looks better. It's the same with Mvp and Jurgen. Sure, it's all in jest, but it is set against an undertone of desperation for the foreign scene, when even Europe cannot hold.
When you can't beat 'em, assimilate 'em and claim 'em as your own.
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Very nice read. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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EPT
