Every Korean pro-gamer's career has an expiration date. And that is mandatory military service. Puma once called it a death sentence. A ticking clock. One that inevitably ends the career of all Korean pro-gamers. It is something that looms in the back of their minds. A constant plague, a sword that hangs above them ready to strike down at any moment. As the days, weeks, and months pass by the pressure to retire now and do military service grows as they realize that they are inevitably taking loans on their own future.
They are as falling stars. They burn with a bright intensity as they burn their youth in search for the fulfillment of their dreams, ambitions and ideals. But once they crash, once the sword drops, once military service comes in, it is lights out. It is more than just 2 years of life; for many it is the end of youth. A hard reset of their lives knowing that all they have built up must be put on halt and the world marches on.
It is fitting then that M18M changed his name to StarDust upon the end of his BW career and the end of his tenure at Air Force ACE. His star had already burned out during his BW career. 4 years with little to no results. He had burned out and all that was left was Stardust.
For other players, military service is the end. For StarDust it was a rebirth. Near the end of his military service, KeSPA finally picked up SC2. And StarDust’s career hasn't been the same since.
The first time we saw StarDust was on opening day of SPL. It was Air Force ACE against Samsung Khan. And StarDust played RorO on Ohana. In that game, StarDust befuddled RorO as he went for a mass air army. Anything that could be made out of a Stargate was made. Phoenixes, void rays, carriers. It was a strange game in a strange time when all of protoss had given up on any other strategy beyond Soul Train and 3 base timing attacks. And while RorO’s inexperience contributed to StarDust’s win, I can’t help but think how symbolic this game was.
On the map most favorable for Soul Trains, in a meta that had given up on air-style protoss, in a match where his entire team had lost, StarDust won with a strategy of his own devising in a way unique to him. And that is the story of StarDust. A man who cut across the heavens to make a path all his own. Who’s very way of playing made you know StarDust was a man born to fly. From his debut against RorO, to his shocking finals against Jaedong, and his countless battles in WCS EU, you could see it in all his games. His burning passion for the game, his burning passion to win, to fly.
And StarDust did fly. First to America for a brief stint under team LighT. And then he joined mYi upon realizing how many more tournaments there were in the EU scene. Since then the fates of mYi and StarDust have been intrinsically linked. It was mYi’s biggest pick up to date and StarDust rewarded their faith as he immediately won his first ever Dreamhack in one of the great finals of HotS.
Both in and out of game, you can see StarDust’s passion and drive. He is constantly trying to improve his play. Since winning his first ever Dreamhack, Stardust has never hit a slump as he is constantly practicing and working on his play. Outside the game, he has become a paragon of what a pro-player should aspire to be. He interacts with his fans, learned English, even created his own talk show. Even spiteful names like CheeseDust were taken and twisted into an ironic epitaph. StarDust in his talk show once said that he was living his dream right now. That all he wanted to do was play the game and eventually work in eSports. And you can see that passion, that drive in him in everything he has done from the beginning of his career until now. Whether it be in Brood War, on LighT or on mYi, StarDust is a man who knows what he wants and does everything in his power to achieve it.
And this weekend he wants to win. In his SC2 career, he has achieved everything he has already set out for. When he left for America from Korea he wrote:
After that, I was not sure whether I should keep playing BW or SC2 as a pro or I should stop doing it. I loved playing BW much more than playing with textbooks in school, but I was not sure I can still do a good job in this area. However, after a long time of pondering, I decided to come to US and play SC2.
Where other players had given it up, StarDust had pushed on. When StarDust had left America for mYi, he wrote:
While living in NA I realized that EU has more tournaments, both online and offline...I needed to go EU. My goal is simple: To win a major tournament like Dreamhack or WCS.
He has now won both. Upon losing in the ro16 for the first time in WCS EU he wrote:
Tomorrow has come today. Two years ago, StarDust left Korea for America and joined LighT to become a pro-gamer in SC2. One year ago, he left America for Europe and joined mYi to win his first Dreamhack and WCS EU. In November, he goes to Blizzcon to challenge the best in the word for a chance to win Blizzcon and memorialize his career forever.
this "StarDust in his talk show once said that he was living his dream right now. That all he wanted to do was play the game and eventually work in eSports."
After hearing him say this, it was clear to me that he is truly passionate about the game and esports in general. i always respected his play but after that statement in is talk show, I realized Stardust had become one of my fav players.
anyways great article, cant wait to read the upcoming ones.
I can't help but think this DOES look like these articles are going from the least favorable players to win blizzcon to the most ... I was actually betting on stardust for #4 and here he is.
But still, great writing, very respectful and inspired.
his mention about defeat is intriguing, too. For many of us losses hurt way more than victories make us happy. But think about pro players that play 30+ games a day. They've lost more games than we've played... thinking about how many times these pros' confidences were shattered in SC2 makes me want to practice harder.
On October 21 2014 10:44 ZigguratOfUr wrote: Great article. His tarot card is broken though: all there is a grey back.
Not sure what to tell you. :x Either you internet is bad or the browser you are using isn't rendering out the stuff right, If the cards are all grey they are showing the back of the cards. Grey cards mean they haven't been revealed yet. Not sure what else to tell ya.
On October 21 2014 10:44 ZigguratOfUr wrote: Great article. His tarot card is broken though: all there is a grey back.
Not sure what to tell you. :x Either you internet is bad or the browser you are using isn't rendering out the stuff right, If the cards are all grey they are showing the back of the cards. Grey cards mean they haven't been revealed yet. Not sure what else to tell ya.
Man I was on the fence on whether or not I really wanted to root for Stardust in Blizzcon, as he goes up against MMA and I wasn't sure exactly how I felt about him. But I realize now that I do love that guy, and this article convinced me. What a great story of a person who chases his dreams, who (quite literally) reaches for the stars.
Thanks stuchiu for writing an amazing article, you always have such a way with words.
Like all the other write-ups this is also great. I for example did not know much about Stardust before him joining mYi. He looks more like a fighter now in my eyes.
Make sure to check out the strategy articles at the end of each of these articles! If you don't see the link when you first read it, check back a little later for it. It's up now on this one.
To me Stadust is kinda the Protoss Polt, not the best at start bug such strength of will and cleverness that he ends up competing with the best in the world.
Honest question. Can TL print the player's tile cards and sell them in the TeamLiquid store? I'd actually be so down to buy them. I think they would be excellent to get autographs on when going to Blizzcon.
On October 21 2014 16:52 Brutaxilos wrote: Honest question. Can TL print the player's tile cards and sell them in the TeamLiquid store? I'd actually be so down to buy them. I think they would be excellent to get autographs on when going to Blizzcon.
TL should do a Blizzcon Cheerful contest, winner gets a pack of player cards in the post.
On October 21 2014 20:32 SoSexy wrote: This korean military thing is really starting to annoy me :/ stealing so many great players... wish they would remove it
Yeah, its all the fault of that Kim guy. That... Supreme leader David Kim.
I think stardust is the player I'd WANT to see win the most!! He's just such a charismatic guy. I remember after him being eliminated in ASUS ROG (summer 13 iirc) he had no problem doing an interview with one of the Russian streams that was live at the event - smiling and laughing the whole time! Been a huge fan of him since.
Stardust is my favorite player at Blizzcon. The way he played the Series against Flash was amazing. If he can use a similar form on that day, he should have a good shot at beating MMA. Gread write up, thats exactly who Stardust is. The most charasmatic Korean we got in SC2.
I was a little too young/out of the loop for Brood War, so most of what I know is from these amazing tales of a by gone era. But one thing that has always stuck with me was the idea of Air Force ACE. Obviously it didn't mean the amenities of teams like Rolster, SK and the like, but it was still a viable option for career players to fulfill their service. Honestly from my knowledge it did seems to be a kind of final resting place for a lot of careers, but it was still a better option than "I am now done for good."
I'm really curious to see how this will adapt in the modern age. As StarCraft 2 and other games gain more and more momentum and prominence in Korea, and main stream culture, will we start seeing teams like AF ACE again? Or is it going to play out how it has for the past few years, a Korean player must make his/her name and career in time before service inevitably ends it. It's a very interesting idea looming over S. Korean player's heads, very few foreigners have that guillotine (of sorts) waiting for them.
On October 22 2014 07:21 SourApplez wrote: I was a little too young/out of the loop for Brood War, so most of what I know is from these amazing tales of a by gone era. But one thing that has always stuck with me was the idea of Air Force ACE. Obviously it didn't mean the amenities of teams like Rolster, SK and the like, but it was still a viable option for career players to fulfill their service. Honestly from my knowledge it did seems to be a kind of final resting place for a lot of careers, but it was still a better option than "I am now done for good."
I'm really curious to see how this will adapt in the modern age. As StarCraft 2 and other games gain more and more momentum and prominence in Korea, and main stream culture, will we start seeing teams like AF ACE again? Or is it going to play out how it has for the past few years, a Korean player must make his/her name and career in time before service inevitably ends it. It's a very interesting idea looming over S. Korean player's heads, very few foreigners have that guillotine (of sorts) waiting for them.
With how young most korean league players seem to be when they hit their peak and retire (from what I've heard), I don't think the korean LoL scene will need to push for an ACE-team for a while.
Thank you for this awesome article, this is my favorite so far. Very well written and I really liked taking some quotes and tweets from SD himself to show off his personality and his feelings. A very enjoyable read! =D
So glad this article mentioned Stardust's crazy SC2 debut, the air-toss game against Roro. It was a totally ridiculous game, an artifact of that weird period when the KeSPA pros were playing televised games before they knew what they were doing in SC2. But it's still a game that sticks in my memory two years later.
With how young most korean league players seem to be when they hit their peak and retire (from what I've heard), I don't think the korean LoL scene will need to push for an ACE-team for a while.
That's an interesting point, and I think you are very correct. I'm curious as to what will happen when careers are extended however. I'm sure in the future we will start seeing careers last up to 10 years as games stabilize and the scene makes it more viable. I don't know much about LoL though, so I could be completely blowing smoke...
On October 22 2014 07:21 SourApplez wrote: I was a little too young/out of the loop for Brood War, so most of what I know is from these amazing tales of a by gone era. But one thing that has always stuck with me was the idea of Air Force ACE. Obviously it didn't mean the amenities of teams like Rolster, SK and the like, but it was still a viable option for career players to fulfill their service. Honestly from my knowledge it did seems to be a kind of final resting place for a lot of careers, but it was still a better option than "I am now done for good."
I'm really curious to see how this will adapt in the modern age. As StarCraft 2 and other games gain more and more momentum and prominence in Korea, and main stream culture, will we start seeing teams like AF ACE again? Or is it going to play out how it has for the past few years, a Korean player must make his/her name and career in time before service inevitably ends it. It's a very interesting idea looming over S. Korean player's heads, very few foreigners have that guillotine (of sorts) waiting for them.
I think you are looking at this through foreigner bifocals. What you refer to as "final resting place" and "guillotine", the S. Korean players view as another stage in life, that requires a big decision. Many will move on, but some will continue to compete.
Its wise to move on from esports. Although the money is lucrative, but the competition is fierce. I think many of them came to the conclusion that sometimes its better to have a steady and decent wage, as opposed to a roller coaster model.
StarCraft 2 and other games gain more and more momentum and prominence in Korea, and main stream culture,
I hate to nit pick your choice of words, but I need to place some attention to this phrase in your post. You refer to Korea as if its not part of main stream culture. It may have a different main stream culture. One that already adopted video games into their culture long before anyone else in North America or Europe. We are playing catch up.
And foreigners have a vastly different culture, but we will see what North American and European players do after a certain age. Some will retire at a young age, but will continue in the industry; others will play to retirement. Someone like Catz looks very comfortable as a coach.
With how young most korean league players seem to be when they hit their peak and retire (from what I've heard), I don't think the korean LoL scene will need to push for an ACE-team for a while.
That's an interesting point, and I think you are very correct. I'm curious as to what will happen when careers are extended however. I'm sure in the future we will start seeing careers last up to 10 years as games stabilize and the scene makes it more viable. I don't know much about LoL though, so I could be completely blowing smoke...
Another important aspect to consider is the games that will stabilize in the future. Which games will be made that manage to offer enjoyment in playing and watching? These games will turn into a cash cow that will bring floods of marketing.
Take a look at the LoL championship series, just passed, that had big sponsors like Coca Cola.
These LoL players aren't going to quit anytime soon. That scene is stabilizing immensely, but it has been an artificial growth. Riot has invest millions to sponsor LoL championship series (LCS), but it has paid off. SC2 started as a grass roots community, and only recently has Blizzard invested in creating the WCS. Regardless, both are stabilizing, although LCS took only a year.
Its impossible to guess how long these games will maintain success and attention, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that video games maintain the comparable audience numbers to NFL or NBA.
Probably the one player I really felt not angry for taking off a JD tourney back in the days, I mean - I was kinda mad, but when saw his face, posture, and attitude - immediately became a fan :D
Close amongst the crowd, and a miracle.. He might be my favourite this year though..
EPT
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/lichter/WCSEU/2014/Season2/wcseus2finals.jpg)
