The infamy of second place weighs heavily on soO’s shoulders. The best zerg in the world is on the verge of collapse, and only he can pull himself out of the muck.
It’s more interesting to watch losers on the podium than winners. While the latter are naturally more fun, their range of emotions is naturally limited. Usually they fall into a strict dichotomy: the relative newbie overwhelmed by shock and elation, and the serene champion exuding professional cool. Meanwhile there’s a far larger spectrum for expressing disappointment, so runner-ups get to have a more nuanced take. There’s the abashed kid-on-the-playground waddle out of the booth, the immediate bawling after throwing off the headphones, and the cathartic laugh to release stress. We also have the classic eye roll thanking God that this shit is finally over, barely concealed anger, the other classic eye roll saying “I can’t believe I lost to a random 2 rax again”, and sighs of bemused exasperation. Some players never change their expression, adopting a stoic dignity that would make Marcus Aurelius proud. Others are so happy they got second place that they don’t care. Sometimes we even get the gift of unashamed tears.
Watching him receive his check onstage, I immediately recognized the look on soO’s face. It was the same numb daze that overwhelmed MMA after the Super Tournament, a thousand-yard stare so bleakly arresting you could mistake him for a Vietnam vet. soO wasn’t as keen to bore a hole through the screen but most of the similarities were present. He was completely disassociated from his surroundings, oblivious to the roaring of the crowd and the host’s voice. While Solar ecstatically ran around behind the stage, soO languidly stared at the floor and picked at his check. There was no focus in his movements or his reactions. He truly seemed to be one of the walking dead.
I was dumbfounded when I grabbed second place two seasons in a row. But after that third season, I was put in a state of disarray. Even right now I have no idea (laughs). All I can say is that I will do best.No one could blame him for the shell shock. Just an hour beforehand soO seemed poised to take Stockholm, dazzling commentators and viewers alike with his pristine play. Throughout the tournament the SKT zerg had run rampant over the opposition, not dropping a single game. By contrast Solar entered the finals in shaky form. The up-and-coming zerg lost a series to Snute in the group stage as well as dropping games in every BO3 leading up to the final. From an objective perspective this was guaranteed success. No pesky protoss to ruin his plans, no cunning strategies lurking in wait. It was as straightforward a ZvZ as you could get. soO, being a master of the mirror matchup, couldn’t lose. Of course the cynics knew better. After all, it was a tournament final. How could soO not lose?
The irony of this wretched saga is that it barely affects soO status among his own race. Normally a perennial choker could never qualify for the title of best zerg. Like in most sports, dominance and championships are assumed to be synonymous in SC2. After all, the symbiosis between the two is all but tautological. You can only win trophies by being better than your peers; by being better than your peers, you inevitably win trophies. On that front soO is a failure. With 4 consecutive second-place finishes in GSL and 5 total in premier tournaments, soO has only earned the right to wear a monkey suit and climb the Empire State Building.
What he lacks in awards he makes up in consistency, a trait sorely lacking in his brethren. On this front, soO has settled into the throne simply by holding his ground. The presence of zerg in HotS has been extraordinarily erratic, defined by scattered periods of relevance followed by a return to the mean. Various figures have stepped up promising to establish some kind of order within the ranks. At the beginning of HotS, Soulkey showed us that zerg could still connive its way to a title...and little else. TRUE momentarily wowed us with his wild and wacky style only to fall victim to his middling ZvT. Life showed signs he could return to his old world-stomping ways, and proceeded to drop out of Code A. The closest to a reliable threat is Solar, who recently demolished soO at Dreamhack, but he has yet to make it to the semifinals of a GSL. No one else can claim a string of results nearly as impressive as 2 GSL finals in a row. soO can claim 4 of them over the course of a year, only facing the strongest opponents in hostile metas. On those laurels alone, soO deserves a place among the greatest players of all time.
Even though I am a person to have made history, I feel like I am always a secondary character in these situations. This time, I want to become the main character.Such an accomplishment, as noble and uplifting as it sounds, loses its luster when compared to the big question. At this point, soO is an apocryphal figure in the public consciousness. His struggle taps into the primal tension of competitive play (Win or not win? Champion or second place?), and the propagation of that narrative has consumed his career like some abstract cancer. Few people care that he’s actually the opposite of the stereotypical stoic Korean, dull as dishwater and ineloquent to boot; even less recognize him as a cheerful competitor with a sense of humor. There’s no place to appreciate his strategic versatility, or discuss his eventual contribution to the zerg lexicon. His personality, his small accomplishments, his other dreams, they all pass through that same lens. soO’s Sisyphean task will be the hallmark of his career; his ability to overcome it will determine whether he’s remembered as an inspiration or a joke.
There are signs he is already cracking under the pressure. Dreamhack and the most recent GSL destroyed any notion that his failings were an issue of race, an odd inability to decipher protoss on the big stage. For a long time it was the most sensible explanation for his failings. soO never excelled at ZvP and frequently dropped individual games in GSL and Proleague; two opponents he met in the finals were widely acclaimed protosses on hot streaks, while Classic proved to be fairly solid after his breakout performance; he routinely trounced the other races in televised matches. However, his recent losses to Solar and INnoVation point to a more troubling issue. The SKT zerg, famous for his impeccable macro and cool under pressure, had seemingly lost faith in his ability to win the long game. His ugly loss at Stockholm was characterized by an unwillingness to play passively. Instead of bolstering his defenses to survive into the midgame, soO elected to go for risky plays like 10 pool and a bizarre 1/1 speedling timing. Against INnoVation, he attempted to exploit the terran’s infamous greed with a series of roach timing attacks. After all Soulkey had employed the same approach before and won with it. Then again, Soulkey was down 0-3 at a time when zerg struggled against widow mine pushes; soO had recently swatted away Flash’s pushes like a bug. Why did he persist with this gambit (while up 2-0) instead of using it as part of the mindgame? Why did someone with his build order depth insist on using similar variants? Was it overconfidence or a sign of quiet desperation?
All these answers will be partially answered by his performance at Blizzcon. Here, soO will undoubtedly pull any remaining tricks out of the bag if he can leverage them to a victory. He has always kept his cards close to the chest, and soO is a known master of many playstyles. Still, all the strategic originality in the world won’t help if he doesn’t believe he can take the title. soO has endured a vicious pounding to his ego over the past year. Such an assault leaves marks that crop up at the most inopportune times. For soO to win here, among the best in the world, he must arrive confident and fake it if he doesn’t. Otherwise, he’ll be condemned to watch the same movie play out before his eyes. No matter how many times he watches, he'll never like the ending.
soO has to make it to the finals of Blizzcon. No story this whole year has been bigger; so he has to take it to the highest stage. From then onwards, who knows if his victory would be a bigger thing, or his defeat.
soO stared at the screen. It was funny; how many times had he been in this position before? How many times had he sat at the cusp of victory? How many times had his fingertips brushed the edges of that trophy? After so long, you'd think it'd have become almost second nature...
4
But no, if his nerves had shaken the first time he entered this stage, they practically roared now. Before he had dreamed of being a champion. Now he needed it.
3
How long had he spent? How many hours, after all the others had gone to rest, had he poured out, refining every nuance in his play? With each defeat, he'd been cast down, but he fought back, working harder and harder again, each loss only fueling his desire. His desperation.
2
And so he fought. Not for fame. Not for glory or recognition. Not for money, pride, or the title of the best. Once, perhaps, but now he fought for something else entirely. He fought to quiet that little voice deep inside. The voice that whispered to him every night. No matter how you play, you will always be second. No matter how you succeed, you will always be a failure. No matter how you dream, this nightmare will always be your reality. 1
soO's hand quivered. Was he doomed to lose? Was that simply his fate, to be the stepping stone to others' dreams? To be trampled into the shadows while all the rest smiled in the light? He closed his eyes. 6 years and thousands upon thousands of games. His first Proleague appearance. A run to the OSL semifinals. Qualifying for MLG. Making it to the GSL finals...These accomplishments had seemed so meaningful at the time. But they were trivial now. Such stakes, his career and reputation, were nothing compared to what was on the line now. Now he was fighting for his very soul. soO opened his eyes. He grasped his mouse. If fate sought to chain him to the ground, then he would take those chains and break them apart. No more would he play second fiddle to any other force in this universe. He had been broken for the last time. Now he would show them what happens when you put steel through the fire. This time, things would be different.
He's got a long, long journey to the grand finals, but there's no one I'd rather see take that trophy. And to think... this time last year, I was actually upset that he was one of the finalists. How times change.
I have to admit of all the players at Blizzcon I think I want soO to win the most, If he could take blizzcon it could change the entire narrative of 2014 for him from "wow soO the biggest kong ever" to "WOW soO is a monster!! best player 2014!" I'm not sure if he has it in him now but I really hope he can do it!
On October 31 2014 13:51 ZigguratOfUr wrote: soO has to make it to the finals of Blizzcon. No story this whole year has been bigger; so he has to take it to the highest stage. From then onwards, who knows if his victory would be a bigger thing, or his defeat.
Oh fuck if he makes it to the finals, it won't matter who he faces, cuz the eyes will all be on him!
I don't care if soO steam roles one of my favourites (Polt, Bomber, MC) I will cheer for him louder than a fat drunk fan dancing at a baseball game.
This is by far the biggest storyline that everyone wants to see. My favourites have tasted gold before, albeit not Blizzcon gold, so they won't be too disappointed if they lose to soO. But if soO has another silver, I will shed a tear for that man.
soO is great but to think he can go through the bracket all the way to the finals.... Its just not going to happen.
I think he can edge out Taeja in a tooth and nail series, I don't think he can take innovation, even if he does Life, San or Zest could either of them knock out soO in the semifinals. If he reaches the finals he will sadly Bomb out
On October 31 2014 17:38 Shuffleblade wrote: soO is great but to think he can go through the bracket all the way to the finals.... Its just not going to happen.
I think he can edge out Taeja in a tooth and nail series, I don't think he can take innovation, even if he does Life, San or Zest could either of them knock out soO in the semifinals. If he reaches the finals he will sadly Bomb out
Buddy. soO is SICKMAKINGLY good. Life? San? SoO is almost certainly favored. Taeja comes close. Zest, Innovation are on par.
SoO is the best Zerg for over a year now. Don't write him off that easilly.
On October 31 2014 17:38 Shuffleblade wrote: soO is great but to think he can go through the bracket all the way to the finals.... Its just not going to happen.
I think he can edge out Taeja in a tooth and nail series, I don't think he can take innovation, even if he does Life, San or Zest could either of them knock out soO in the semifinals. If he reaches the finals he will sadly Bomb out
Buddy. soO is SICKMAKINGLY good. Life? San? SoO is almost certainly favored. Taeja comes close. Zest, Innovation are on par.
SoO is the best Zerg for over a year now. Don't write him off that easilly.
Hey buddy ^_^
You are right, soO is indeed favored. All I'm saying is: I'm not seeing it happen, soO in the finals that is. He will get knocked out and I would not be surprised to see him outed by any of the above mentioned even though the only ones on par with him on paper is Inno and Zest.
Calling him best zerg for over a year is exagerating a bit in my opinion, he has been best zerg the last 10-11 months. On that I agree, you expect him to keep on pawning, I don't. soO is going to be toppled from his zerg throne next year and the decline starts here.
On October 31 2014 17:30 BisuDagger wrote: Article on soO comes out second to last. Too predictable . If he gets second again I'll blame myself and post compelling proof why.
Post compelling proof + Bisu pictures, we can never have enough Bisu. In fact you can start now
On October 31 2014 17:38 Shuffleblade wrote: soO is great but to think he can go through the bracket all the way to the finals.... Its just not going to happen.
I think he can edge out Taeja in a tooth and nail series, I don't think he can take innovation, even if he does Life, San or Zest could either of them knock out soO in the semifinals. If he reaches the finals he will sadly Bomb out
soO might have trouble against Taeja and Zest, but no way against Life or San. soO can take out Life or San easy peasy
Every other storyline pales in comparison with soO's journey. Honestly I cannot imagine person, fan of Starcraft 2, who would wish soO anything than his ultimate accomplishment on the biggest stage of the game. On the other hand, I am quite sorry for other finalist and eventual victor other than soO in grand-finals. No matter if he lose or win, he will be the main figure of the final showdown and eclipse on the sun of fame, for whoever will best him in the finals. However, soO hwaiting!
I hope the winner of soO v TaeJa takes Blizzcon. I would love to see TaeJa to get his first MASSIVE win before military service and soO has put in more than his fair share of time at the top before becoming a champion! Either way HYPE!!!!
On October 31 2014 13:51 ZigguratOfUr wrote: soO has to make it to the finals of Blizzcon. No story this whole year has been bigger; so he has to take it to the highest stage. From then onwards, who knows if his victory would be a bigger thing, or his defeat.
This is by far the biggest storyline that everyone wants to see. My favourites have tasted gold before, albeit not Blizzcon gold, so they won't be too disappointed if they lose to soO. But if soO has another silver, I will shed a tear for that man.
I want soO to make it to the finals, and then Taeja win
On October 31 2014 13:51 ZigguratOfUr wrote: soO has to make it to the finals of Blizzcon. No story this whole year has been bigger; so he has to take it to the highest stage. From then onwards, who knows if his victory would be a bigger thing, or his defeat.
Oh fuck if he makes it to the finals, it won't matter who he faces, cuz the eyes will all be on him!
I don't care if soO steam roles one of my favourites (Polt, Bomber, MC) I will cheer for him louder than a fat drunk fan dancing at a baseball game.
This is by far the biggest storyline that everyone wants to see. My favourites have tasted gold before, albeit not Blizzcon gold, so they won't be too disappointed if they lose to soO. But if soO has another silver, I will shed a tear for that man.
With 4 consecutive second-place finishes in GSL and 5 total in premier tournaments, soO has only earned the right to wear a monkey suit and climb the Empire State Building
Damn, never been a big soO fan, but after this i feel so bad for him, and some part of me is hopeing that he will win this one, if he get's second again, i think i would destroy him completely. So Go soO i guess??
On October 31 2014 23:53 ZikMoZ wrote: Damn, never been a big soO fan, but after this i feel so bad for him, and some part of me is hopeing that he will win this one, if he get's second again, i think i would destroy him completely. So Go soO i guess??
Yep.
On October 31 2014 18:45 Ragnarork wrote: I so hope for a soO - anyone finals, lost by soO. That would cement such a legacy, my godness!