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WCS 2016: The Life and Death of the Foreigner Narrative

Forum Index > SC2 General
205 CommentsPost a Reply
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WCS 2016: The Life and Death of the Foreigner Narrative

Text byTL.net ESPORTS
Graphics byshiroiusagi
December 19th, 2015 03:54 GMT


The changes to the WCS system for 2016 are the biggest since the transition from 2012 to 2013. On top of that, the announcement was convoluted and difficult to understand. After conferring with others, I tried to analyze and clarify what will likely happen in WCS in 2016, and the implications of the new system on the larger narrative of SC2. The following is purely my personal opinion.

The premise of this year’s WCS seems to be that they want BlizzCon as an event to change. Instead of being the best 16 players from a united WCS system, it will be split in half between Korea and the international circuit. The thing was, previous iterations of BlizzCon didn't necessarily result in the best 16 players in the world at the time, but this year’s BlizzCon gives a definitive split. A compromise between fans that want to see foreigners at BlizzCon and fans that want to see the best players at BlizzCon. This waters down the competitive integrity of the tournament, but the argument is that GSL/SSL were already the hardest tournaments in the world anyway. Whereas BlizzCon will now give fans who want to watch foreigners play more a glint of hope in the yearly finals and give fans who want to see the best play each other a chance to watch that in the later rounds.

After that, WCS will be split into four parts.

WCS Korea:
Korea now has 2 seasons of GSL/SSL and whatever KeSPA/Hot6ix Cups are made (only one KeSPA Cup has been announced so far).

WCS Circuit:
The WCS Circuit will have 3 Championships with regional qualifiers as well as 8 circuit tournaments as of this time (according to Apollo here, there are currently about 11 planned. Assuming 3 are the Championships, that leaves 8 others being IEM/DH/RB: http://apollosc2.tumblr.com/post/135405158638/my-thoughts-on-wcs-2016). These are essentially repurposed DH/IEM/RBs.

WCS Global:
Tournaments under this brand are open to everyone and are non-region locked. However they have much larger restrictions to set up as a tournament organizer and based on some of them I’m expecting maybe 1-3 of these at the most next year. Requirements here: http://wcs.battle.net/sc2/en/articles/2016-wcs-details-and-requirements

Non-WCS Events:
While there are multiple benefits to running a WCS event as you get Blizzard to sponsor your prize pool, not all events have to fall under the WCS umbrella. TaKeTV for instance found that region-locking Koreans out of HSC wasn’t something he was willing to do whether because it goes against the natural spirit of what HSC stands for (Can it really be called home, if half the SC2 players in the world can’t come?) or some other undisclosed reason (Source - Richard Lewis: http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2015/12/11/blizzard-reportedly-radically-overhauling-world-championship-series-of-starcraft-2/).


Here are the overall positives:
  • More prize money overall
  • Travel/support for qualified players for events, meaning more chances for lesser known foreigner players to make it to an event.
  • There are more foreigner-only tournaments for foreigners to compete in (boosted from 3 to at least 11 this year)
  • Foreigners will definitely be playing during BlizzCon opening weekend, with 8 spots assured.


Negatives:
  • Doesn’t address raising skill level in local regions.
  • Region locking of the ladder for international regions.
  • Fewer GSL/SSL leagues with only one KeSPA Cup confirmed (but no details) and no confirmation of Hot6ix Cup
  • Doesn’t address support for mid-tier Korean players. (Not particularly Blizzard’s fault as GSL/SSL are still top heavy and are setting the prize pools).


I’ll skip the positives as those should be self evident as to why those are generally good things. I will note that it's very good for fans that want to watch more local heroes.

Now onto the negatives. The system doesn’t address one of the main reasons it was initially created: to foster local growth. This is directly connected to the ladder system. Here is the exact quote:
"Participants are required to play all tournament and ladder games required of them from the country listed on the account during the tournament season."

This affects NA/CN/SEA the most. NA server is bad, mostly because NA players on the West Coast can play a decent amount on the KR server to raise their skill and then play on the NA server to get some practice at ladder conditions. Players on the East Coast can do the same thing, but play on EU instead of KR. At the same time CN/SEA players can play on KR to help their practice. That clause directly forces those players to play on their own ladder, which is worse than Korea. The fastest way to improve as a player is to constantly play against better players over and over and Korea has by far the most depth of any server—that’s inarguable. It’s a great tool for anyone to practice on and one of the reasons as to why Koreans are always so sharp. With the lock down, players that had access to such a tool will naturally devolve.

TotalBiscuit had a proposed solution here, a repurposed ShoutCraft America that incentivizes the ladder for local regions. You can listen to his thoughts here: https://soundcloud.com/totalbiscuit/wcs-2016-rumours-and-na-ladder

Of course this could be temporary and be fixed depending on the details of what the Regional Cups do, but it’s something to think about.

The next bit is about the GSL/SSL. There are only 5 guaranteed tournaments (there could be multiple KeSPA Cups but only 1 has been confirmed). Fans that want to see more high level SC2 are worried because Korea will have 2 fewer tournaments compared to last year. The argument that is constantly brought up against this is that there is plenty of high level SC2 already, perhaps too much.

First of all, that’s a personal preference and as we shouldn't judge fans for wanting to watch foreigners, I also don’t think we should be judging fans for wanting to watch more high-level SC2. Another argument that’s brought up is oversaturation. In that case, no one has to watch every tournament and fans can pick and choose what they want rather than be starved for a lack of content. A third quibble people bring up is that it dilutes storylines.

From my perspective, more tournaments increases the strength of story-lines and narratives. The reason soO is considered a God is because he got to 4 consecutive GSL Finals. The reason Dream was incredible was because he was able to get to 2 SSL Finals. herO was an incredible player because he did so consistently in every Korean LAN. ByuL was considered the best Zerg at the end of HotS because of his multiple second places in SSL and GSL. If you start cutting down tournaments, you also decrease the value of a story. It's always more impressive when a champion consistently wins and places well against the entire field multiple times rather than just the once. That's why we still glorify NesTea and that's why no one remembers Seed.

[image loading]


Finally there doesn’t seem to be any plans to help low to mid-tier Korean players, so we should probably be getting another wave of retirements again as GSL and SSL continue to be top heavy.

Another major concern is that the success of WCS this year largely depends on outside organizations (ESL and DH, as well as Red Bull/Gfinity/etc) creating more SC2 events. Global events have too many requirements and if I were an organizer I'd just make WCS Circuit events as they're easier to make. Similarly, if I was a non-WCS event like, say Gfinity, I don't see the point in helping pay for flights for a small LAN with some Koreans in it, when you can kick out the Koreans and get support/money from Blizzard and make a WCS Circuit event instead. I think the point of the circuit is to return to the form of 2011/2012 where there was a plethora of international events. However there are distinct differences between then and now, which comes to my final critique.

The foreigner narrative in SC2 can never be as strong as it was in the past because of the region-lock. It seems counter-intuitive as there will be more events with foreigner-only events, however in the case of the best foreigners, the book has been closed. The reason is simple. While some people are trying to equate the region locked 2016 tournament circuit to the 2011/2012 circuit, that is simply disingenuous as it ignores one simple facet. Almost all of the LANs from 2011-2015 weren’t region-locked so foreigners could play against the best and prove they could beat the best. WCS 2012 was the only region locked tournament, and it ran side by side with international LANs. In 2016, that will no longer be possible except for a few Global events and the Ro16 before Blizzcon. In that kind of arena, we had rivalries and storylines such as:

Idra vs Jinro, Idra vs HuK, HuK vs NaNiwa, NaNiwa vs ThorZaIN, Stephano vs Korea, Stephano vs Polt, Scarlett vs Bomber, Snute vs herO, Snute vs SSL/GSL Champions, Nerchio vs MaNa, NaNiwa vs NesTea.

[image loading]


The reason these rivalries had so much depth and meaning was not just because they met time and time again; not only were they playing at the top of their game, but at the top of SC2. Jinro vs Idra is legendary because they met in the Ro8 in a GSL. MaNa vs Nerchio was incredible because both were dark horse EU players that could (and had) won tournaments with Koreans in them. Stephano vs Korea is still talked about in reverence in his one man campaign to take tournaments from Koreans time after time after time. What made this possible was that there was a multitude of events where foreigners could participate in (numbering about 40 on average each year until 2015). Going into 2016, a foreigner only gets BlizzCon, and however many Global/non-WCS events that have top tier competition, to prove that he ranks among the best players in the world. Even Stephano, unarguably the greatest foreigner ever, got to attend around 30 international LANs in his prime to make his name. When a foreigner now hits their prime, they'll get a handful of times per year to compete against the best.

[image loading]


Going into the future, no foreigner will ever get the chance to match the achievements of the past because those chances will not exist. Make no mistake, winning a WCS Championship is a feat, but that will never match NaNiwa’s run at Providence in 2011. It can never shock you like when Jim beat both Life and Taeja at IEM. It won't ever be as incredible as Sen saving 2014, won't be as heart pumping as Scarlett playing Bomber at Red Bull or IEM, will never resound in your soul in the same way as Sjow upsetting Life at DH, can never awe you like Snute beating Rain and Classic right after their GSL/SSL victories.

With this system, we are to a degree closing the book on how successful a foreigner can ever be in SC2. You will get more local narratives, build up more appearances and recurring stories about players in the international scene and give players that had very few chances their opportunity to shine. But for those few players, the ones that don't just want to be the best locally, but be the best ever, they will never get a chance to outshine someone like Snute. This is because Snute got the chance to prove his mettle by beating players like: herO, sOs, Classic, Rain, Solar. Most of whom were in their primes. Now if a foreigner reaches that level again, they just won’t get to meet the same level of competition except for once a year at BlizzCon and the occasional Global event (there could be none, there could be 3, there could be more, no one knows).

There is a give and take here. I agree that this system is far better for foreigners, but you just won’t get these kind of narratives for foreigners in SC2. They will never get he chance to build these kinds of stories across multiple tournaments in multiple meetings over a series of tournaments.

Heyoka told me that stories like these just don’t happen anymore. Maybe he's right, maybe I'm too optimistic about giving future foreign players the chance of living up to and surpassing the past. Stories like these may not have happened in a while, but with the system as it is now, perhaps they never will.

Writer: stuchiu
Graphics: shiroiusagi
Editor: lichter
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TL+ Member
lestye
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States4159 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-12-19 03:57:13
December 19 2015 03:57 GMT
#2
Small typo: "aonly"
"You guys are just edgelords. Embrace your inner weeb desu" -Zergneedsfood
HugoBallzak
Profile Joined November 2015
700 Posts
December 19 2015 04:07 GMT
#3
Good article. Foreigner pros in favor of this lack dignity.
kottbullar
Profile Joined August 2012
Australia489 Posts
December 19 2015 04:19 GMT
#4
Agreed with most of this article. We don't support foreign hopes just because of their nationality/race whatever. It's because they manage to compete with the best from Korea despite not being part of the Korean training wheel. This is the narrative that I think will be lost with the introduction of the new system.
wptlzkwjd
Profile Joined January 2012
Canada1240 Posts
December 19 2015 04:23 GMT
#5
I'm really sorry but I've tried hard to make sense of this new WCS system since HotS. Could someone explain to me with comparisons to BW? It was so much simpler back then when it was just

1. OSL
2. MSL
3. Proleague
4. WCG

in terms of importance.
Feel free to add me on steam: http://steamcommunity.com/id/MagnusAskeland/
lichter
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
1001 YEARS KESPAJAIL22272 Posts
December 19 2015 04:25 GMT
#6
this article isnt at all about "competitive integrity" or whatever. it's about how the narrative of foreign sc2 has been shaped in the past and what will happen to that narrative in the future.
AdministratorYOU MUST HEED MY INSTRUCTIONS TAKE OFF YOUR THIIIINGS
Clonester
Profile Joined August 2014
Germany2808 Posts
December 19 2015 04:28 GMT
#7
On December 19 2015 13:23 wptlzkwjd wrote:
I'm really sorry but I've tried hard to make sense of this new WCS system since HotS. Could someone explain to me with comparisons to BW? It was so much simpler back then when it was just

1. OSL
2. MSL
3. Proleague
4. WCG

in terms of importance.


GSL has pretty much standing of OSL
SSL has pretty much standing of MSL
ProLeague is still ProLeague
WCG does not exist anymore.
WCS Global Finals have been pretty much a much bigger and harder Blizzard Cup played at blizzcon. It is meant to determine the world champion in Starcraft.

WCS Events outside of global Finals cannot compared to anything of BW, also because they changed in format every year.
In 2016 all WCS Events will be foreigner only events, only so called WCS global Events will be open to koreans, these events can be compared to other weekend tournaments you had during BW.
Bomber, Attacker, DD, SOMEBODY, NiKo, Nex, Spidii
.Aar
Profile Joined September 2010
2177 Posts
December 19 2015 04:36 GMT
#8
That's a really good point. Under the new system there won't be a place for an obvious underdog narrative. I hesitate to make the comparison, but it's a little like affirmative action in academia.

When Jinro and IdrA were in Korea during the first GSLs I instantly became a huge fan simply because they were outsiders. I hadn't really kept up with Jinro before that, and IdrA was, well, IdrA. The underdog factor made me not only a supporter for individual players but more interested in the scene itself as a result. However, the new system will allow more opportunities for players to grow as a more uniform global community which could potentially seed positive returns at the cost of limiting the tail end of Korean players.

I'm still undecided on whether I'm in support, but I'd make the argument that whether to agree with the new system depends on exactly what an individual considers the purpose of WCS and e-sports in general.
now run into the setting sun, and suffer, but don't mess up your hair.
ShambhalaWar
Profile Joined August 2013
United States930 Posts
December 19 2015 04:39 GMT
#9
Great article, and well written.

I think I agree with all your points. IMO something about the new system feels off to me, I couldn't quite put it into words, but I feel as though you said it well.

Lilbow making it into blizzcon by the skin of his teeth, was amazing to watch in 2015. I really admired his spirit and making the seemingly impossible possible.

I don't think story lines like that can happen in the 2016 system, but yes it allows for more foreigners at blizzcon. Foreigners making a career seem much more viable as well.

I think maybe I will disagree in that I think the system of 2015 really did (for the most part) make blizzcon a tournament of the best players in the world. That is my belief.

One thing I am sure of, is that I will not be able to say the same thing for the blizzcon of 2016.
ZigguratOfUr
Profile Blog Joined April 2012
Iraq16955 Posts
December 19 2015 04:41 GMT
#10
Very well written article with solid arguments against the current system. Much better than all the buzzword-filled, hyperbolic rhetoric that the most vehement detractors of the 2016 WCS system have been spouting.

I wholeheartedly agree with the article though I'll note that the amount of WCS Circuit events and WCS Global events isn't quite clear as of yet. If (and this is admittedly looking very unlikely as of now) it turned out that WCS Global events were a major part of the system, I'd view it in a much more favourable light.
lestye
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States4159 Posts
December 19 2015 05:03 GMT
#11
I think I'll overall have to disagree with the author. I don't think we were close to those epic stories in the last few years.

Ultimately it will have to depend on how many Global Tournaments there are.

I think the foreign region lock is needed, because it's so incredibly difficult to get exposure to be a pro foreign player. And I think that's been a problem for foreign players for quite some time now. I kinda get sad when I see the big esports orgs pick up players from much less established games, because they get so much value and exposure out of them, something they can't really do with Foreign SC2 players, (and buying up Korean ringers isn't useful either, there seems to be an expiration date on them where they'll inevitably get taken over)


I think building up storylines in bubbles could be a solution, although it might blow up in my face. I think these storylines can exist, but there will be asterisks attached to it. I think the ends justify the means, because this idea that foreign sc2 can "grow" by having koreans come over (Another Con i think of, is when a Star korean player stomps foreigners for money instead of being awesome in better leagues like GSL/SSL/Proleague, Come back Jaedong!) and stomp on foreigners for years on end is going to make NA SC2 more appealing is straight up not gonna happen.
"You guys are just edgelords. Embrace your inner weeb desu" -Zergneedsfood
chipmonklord17
Profile Joined February 2011
United States11944 Posts
December 19 2015 05:05 GMT
#12
While I completely agree with this article there will always be the State's of the world, the people who live and train in Korea because its the best. And I guess people like him are where that narrative will go.

I guess you could argue that there probably won't be another foreigner to pack up and move to Korea again but those guys would be the ones to follow for a similar story line. Just imagine the day where a player like State qualifies for the GSL/SSL, this place would explode with hype
HugoBallzak
Profile Joined November 2015
700 Posts
December 19 2015 05:08 GMT
#13
On December 19 2015 14:05 chipmonklord17 wrote:
While I completely agree with this article there will always be the State's of the world, the people who live and train in Korea because its the best. And I guess people like him are where that narrative will go.

I guess you could argue that there probably won't be another foreigner to pack up and move to Korea again but those guys would be the ones to follow for a similar story line. Just imagine the day where a player like State qualifies for the GSL/SSL, this place would explode with hype



He would by default be the best foreigner in the world just for qualifying. Crazy, huh.
KrazyTrumpet
Profile Joined April 2010
United States2520 Posts
December 19 2015 05:53 GMT
#14
I'm not actually sure less "Korean" tournaments is necessarily a bad thing. In 2015 with, what, 3 GSL and 3 SSL seasons plus proleague, a lot of the top tier players literally did not have time to go to international events. It's entirely possible that with fewer premier Korean leagues, that there will be more chances for more players to travel abroad and hit up the Global events. And if that's not the end goal, I seriously don't see Blizzard providing/incentivizing a billion western tournaments and then only give Korea 5. There will almost certainly be more if the end goal is to provide more opportunities for Korean players in Korea.

I honestly think all the "omg Korea is getting butt buggered so hard" rhetoric is insanely overblown, especially since we don't even know the full list of tournaments for next year, and which will be Circuit vs Global.
www.twitch.tv/krazy Best Stream Quality NA @KClarkSC2
cutler
Profile Joined March 2010
Germany609 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-12-19 06:14:33
December 19 2015 06:14 GMT
#15
to me Starcarft is a esport. I dont need drama or forced story...i want the best players to compete on the same stage. Most foreign players that already trained for years will now stop to get better cause they can secure their wcs spot easily.
Diabolique
Profile Joined June 2015
Czech Republic5118 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-12-19 06:23:40
December 19 2015 06:20 GMT
#16
Great article, thank you Stuchiu for not pretending like the A(ss)pollos do.

I am just a bit more pessimistic, as after IEM announced to become a B-level tournament and the "World Championship" in Katowice becoming a ridiculous and uninteresting event, it seems that there will be 0 (ZERO) Global events.

And how you described the problem for mid-tier Koreans, this will not be problem only for them, but also to the top-tier Koreans, who do not show the consistency. So no more BlizzCon with sOs, maybe even no more BlizzCon with Life. The TOP tier Koreans have 4 shots per year to become 1st or 2nd in GSL and SSL. Who does not, will not qualify for BlizzCon. Instead of a reasonable WCS point system, as this year, this is becoming a lottery.

For me, after these announcements, all foreign players celebrating this development completely lost my respect. Mana, Nerchio, DesRow, I am never going to cheer for them again. Any other foreign player, celebrating on Twitter, how great it is to fuck up with Koreans in this way, is becoming the anti-hero.
sOs | Rogue | Maru | Trap | Scarlett | Snute | MC
Diabolique
Profile Joined June 2015
Czech Republic5118 Posts
December 19 2015 06:21 GMT
#17
On December 19 2015 14:53 KrazyTrumpet wrote:
I'm not actually sure less "Korean" tournaments is necessarily a bad thing. In 2015 with, what, 3 GSL and 3 SSL seasons plus proleague, a lot of the top tier players literally did not have time to go to international events. It's entirely possible that with fewer premier Korean leagues, that there will be more chances for more players to travel abroad and hit up the Global events. And if that's not the end goal, I seriously don't see Blizzard providing/incentivizing a billion western tournaments and then only give Korea 5. There will almost certainly be more if the end goal is to provide more opportunities for Korean players in Korea.

I honestly think all the "omg Korea is getting butt buggered so hard" rhetoric is insanely overblown, especially since we don't even know the full list of tournaments for next year, and which will be Circuit vs Global.

Wake up. There are no global events.
sOs | Rogue | Maru | Trap | Scarlett | Snute | MC
munch
Profile Joined July 2014
Mute City2363 Posts
December 19 2015 06:22 GMT
#18
On December 19 2015 14:53 KrazyTrumpet wrote:
I'm not actually sure less "Korean" tournaments is necessarily a bad thing. In 2015 with, what, 3 GSL and 3 SSL seasons plus proleague, a lot of the top tier players literally did not have time to go to international events..



IEM Taipei - herO, HyuN, Polt, Rain, Classic, Life, Soulkey, PartinG, Maru, TRUE, Hydra
IEM WC - 16 top Koreans
DH Tours - Rain, PartinG, MC, FanTaSy, GuMiho, MMA, TRUE, Hydra, HyuN
HSC XI - PartinG, Rain, GuMiho, HyuN
DH Valencia - Pigbaby, Terminator, HerO, FanTaSy, GuMiho, TaeJa, TRUE, HyuN, Leenock, Curious, Symbol
IEM Shenzhen - Losira, TY, SuperNova, Classic, Rain, YongHwa, herO, PartinG
IEM gamescom - soO, MMA, INnoVation, FanTaSy
MSI - INnoVation, Hydra, PartinG, HyuN, sOs, Solar, Jaedong, viOLet, Polt
DH Stockholm - HerO, Hurricane, sOs, Rain, FanTaSy, TRUE, Jaedong, Curious, Leenock, HyuN, Solar, Dark

That's just the premier tournaments; it's not even counting PartinG, Solar, KeeN and Departure winning Gfinity, or Losira at ASUS ROG.

Of the 15 Koreans at Blizzcon, ByuL and Dream were the only two who did not attend a foreign event.
WriterForm is temporary, MMA is permanent || http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/508630-article-archive
Diabolique
Profile Joined June 2015
Czech Republic5118 Posts
December 19 2015 06:26 GMT
#19
On December 19 2015 15:22 thecrazymunchkin wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 19 2015 14:53 KrazyTrumpet wrote:
I'm not actually sure less "Korean" tournaments is necessarily a bad thing. In 2015 with, what, 3 GSL and 3 SSL seasons plus proleague, a lot of the top tier players literally did not have time to go to international events..



IEM Taipei - herO, HyuN, Polt, Rain, Classic, Life, Soulkey, PartinG, Maru, TRUE, Hydra
IEM WC - 16 top Koreans
DH Tours - Rain, PartinG, MC, FanTaSy, GuMiho, MMA, TRUE, Hydra, HyuN
HSC XI - PartinG, Rain, GuMiho, HyuN
DH Valencia - Pigbaby, Terminator, HerO, FanTaSy, GuMiho, TaeJa, TRUE, HyuN, Leenock, Curious, Symbol
IEM Shenzhen - Losira, TY, SuperNova, Classic, Rain, YongHwa, herO, PartinG
IEM gamescom - soO, MMA, INnoVation, FanTaSy
MSI - INnoVation, Hydra, PartinG, HyuN, sOs, Solar, Jaedong, viOLet, Polt
DH Stockholm - HerO, Hurricane, sOs, Rain, FanTaSy, TRUE, Jaedong, Curious, Leenock, HyuN, Solar, Dark

That's just the premier tournaments; it's not even counting PartinG, Solar, KeeN and Departure winning Gfinity, or Losira at ASUS ROG.

Of the 15 Koreans at Blizzcon, ByuL and Dream were the only two who did not attend a foreign event.

Wooow, great list! And I add the new list for 2016:

1.
2.
3.

Well, this was a short list. No events and no Koreans. SC2 destroying itself.
sOs | Rogue | Maru | Trap | Scarlett | Snute | MC
Wrath
Profile Blog Joined July 2014
3174 Posts
December 19 2015 06:28 GMT
#20
Thanks for the great article.

And special thanks for not glorifying this retarded system. Big shout out to you guys.
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