by Christelle

To grow old is to see your own memories grow smaller and smaller on the distant horizon. When you turn to look back on your life you see a thousand faces of the people you have been, and the thousand faces of the people you have met.

And if you are SK_MC, you also see the hundreds of thousands of dollars you have won.

Starting his StarCraft 2 career with the very first GSL Open in August of 2010, MC has been by far the most successful Protoss-player in the history of the game. While his form has gone through a series of inevitable ups and downs over the course of three years, his long-term consistency has been nothing short of remarkable. He has dozens of top four finishes in major tournaments with plenty of championships among them.

That kind of consistency brings in a lot money. By taking second place at WCS Europe and finishing in the top eight of the Season 3 finals, MC became the first SC2 player to break through the $400,000 prize winnings barrier to extend his lead atop the rankings. Perhaps not enough to be set for life, but more than enough to say that his time as a progamer has been quite lucrative. But no sooner had MC earned the title of the four-hundred-thousand dollar man than he looked ahead to the next goal.


Oh well, then.


There is one very nagging concern for the BossToss as he heads to the goldmine called Blizzcon: He hasn't actually won a tournament for over a year. Ever since he took first place and $15,000 at Red Bull Battlegrounds Austin in May of 2012, MC has failed to win another championship.

Which is not to say the money stopped flowing in, far from it. A jam packed tournament schedule and consistently high finishes has seen MC collect a steady stream of paychecks. But at the same time, his trophy display case has probably gotten a bit dusty, waiting for a chance to welcome in some new hardware.

No one can question MC's ability to sniff out a payday, but one must now wonder how much of the old "championship MC" remains alongside "prize-money hunter MC." BlizzCon doesn't just mean playing on the biggest stage of his career, for the biggest prize pool of his career. It also means playing against fifteen top class players in what might be the most difficult tournament he has competed in. MC may be the only three time GSL finalist Protoss in history, but that last final came in the middle of 2012. The bitter truth is that MC is no longer a player you expect to tangle with the best his homeland has to offer.

Maybe MC is okay with all of that. The money is still very good, and he seems to enjoy his role as crowd-pleaser and entertainer supreme. His English is improving, and he now joins the announcer's desk with enthuisiasm instead of apprehension. Of all Korean progamers, he seems to best understand the compromise between entertainment and competition that has been reached in the West. Hence the trash talk. Hence the Murloc dances.

At the same time, we hope MC also understands the other stakes. He is the first Protoss great of StarCraft 2, but victory at Blizzcon will make him not only first but unsurpassable by all future comers. Alongside Mvp and Nestea he is one of the three best players of StarCraft 2, but a victory at Blizzcon would reduce it to a two-way conversation with him and Mvp at the top. Perhaps MC thinks differently, but for us those are bigger differences than the one between $400,000 and $500,000.

No matter what happens at Blizzcon, MC will be remembered as a legend of the game. But as of now, it seems like the legend has already ended, and the book of MC is merely being filled with an extended epilogue. MC, show us there's more than just checks left to sign. Show us there are still chapters to be written.

Writers: Christelle.
Photos: Silverfire.
Editor: Waxangel.