EPTXsportsnews - Reporter Park Sang-Jin
Original article: http://game.xportsnews.com/?ac=article_view&entry_id=676339
This is a fan translation - corrections are appreciated.
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A cold winter day. My interviewee for today insisted that he would make the trip here to Gangnam. The restaurant I entered before the interview was, coincidentally, scheduled to close its doors after the year was over. It left a bitter taste in my mouth. It was a good establishment in the neighborhood, one that I visited frequently - it made me sad to see it go. It was then that my interviewee came into view.
Jung Myung-Hoon. Heir to the famed T1 Terran throne, continuing the legacy of BoxeR and iloveoov. The champion of Bacchus Starleague 2010, the contender who faced off against Protoss JangBi in the final matches of 2011 and 2012, the Last Terran of Brood War. Since joining SK Telecom T1 in 2007 until his departure in 2014, he was a consistent presence in his home team; this year, he announced his undiminished caliber playing for his new team, Dead Pixels. But then came the sudden news of his retirement.
"I've been thinking about this for a long time. There were many reasons, but in the end I felt that it would be difficult now to achieve the "best" I've always aspired to. I've lost much of my passion for gaming. Still, I have enjoyed my experiences in a foreign team, and I felt that this was, in a sense, a good time to retire.
"Dead Pixels didn't try to dissuade me from my decision. I have often said that I have no fixed plans for next year, and with the changes in WCS policies, the Korean players in foreign teams are in an unclear position. Also, if you're eliminated from a tournament, you're out of a job for a long time. Of course, new tournaments have been introduced, such as the Cross Finals, but I wasn't confident that I could make it up that high.
"That said, the new WCS system was not necessarily the reason for my retirement. Even if the system had stayed the same, I would still have been thinking about retiring. My results were top 16 at best, so my income wasn't very good - when I joined Dead Pixels, the contract focused more on tournament opportunities rather than pay. I thought long and hard before I came to a decision, and retirement was my final choice."
FanTaSy had initially planned to retire last year. But he did not feel that his lackluster performance in 2014 was a satifactory end to his career. FanTaSy did not go to another Korean team after making his departure from his home team. SK Telecom T1 had started his career, and had been the seat of his highest honors as a Progamer - FanTaSy felt that he could not don the uniform of another Proleague team.
"I still love SK Telecom T1. It was thanks to T1 that my younger self, who loved gaming, could start his path as a Progamer. I sometimes feel guilty that I couldn't contact the team more often after I left. This reminds me of the day I joined SK Telecom T1. The team held its first official recruiting tournament, and the bracket was expanded from a 1024-player to a 2048-player bracket because there were so many competitors that day. Luckily I made it to top 4, and got a place in the team. It was early 2006, and I was a ninth grader then, so I entered the team house the next year after I finished middle school."
When FanTaSy entered the team house, the SK Telecom Terrans consisted of iloveoov, current Head Coach for SK Telecom T1; Canata, current commentator for SPOTV Games; and midas (Jeon Sang-Wook). FanTaSy built his skills looking over their shoulders. FanTaSy spoke about being scolded by iloveoov in his early days in the team house, and how he couldn't beat Canata for 6 months after joining the team.
"Life in the team house is, more than anything, communal, so etiquette is very important. I got scolded a lot at first because I didn't have much experience living with other people. For example, you have to say good morning to the senior players when you go to work, but I just met their eyes and didn't say anything. I got scolded for that, but after the scolding they were kind to me.
"In-game, Canata was the biggest challenge for me. I couldn't beat him once, even after 6 months in the team house. I watched his games from the back and his play was very efficient. It took me some time to beat Canata for the first time in practice games, and I still remember the exhilaration of that moment."
Spurred on by the disappointment of being left out of the Proleague Arena after a poor performance in an internal ranking match, FanTaSy practiced hard, and began to distinguish himself after a year had passed. These early efforts were the foundations for his second place title in the 2008 Incruit Starleague, which was followed by another second place in the Batoo Starleage. In 2011, FanTaSy finally won a championship title in the Bacchus Starleague. In the following Jin Air and TVing Starleagues FanTaSy achieved two more consecutive second places against JangBi. In the last days of Brood War, he defeated Flash, "The Ultimate Weapon," taking his place as the best Terran player.
"In my early days as a Progamer, Canata felt like a wall to me, and I got the same feeling later on from Flash. However I hit him I couldn't make him crumble. And even when I found a weak spot, he recovered quickly. He was just that, an unbreakable wall. When I played against Flash the game got completely different from the other gamers. It was really fun.
"On the other hand, JangBi gave me a lot of frustration. We're both from Busan, so I knew him from old days - whenever I played against JangBi, the game got out of control for some reason. And throughout my Progaming career, Protoss have held me back, and when this happened in the finals two times in a row, it was completely devastating. Now that some years have passed I can laugh about it, but back then it was like a nightmare. So much that I thought I would be better off starting Starcraft 2."
In 2013 FanTaSy began Starcraft 2 in earnest, earning good results in Proleague. FanTaSy played according to his Brood War style, eschewing the standard Starcraft 2 gameplay of the time, giving FanTaSy many victories over opponents unfamiliar with his style.
"Back then BoxeR was the Head Coach. He gave me a lot of Proleague opportunities, and because of that I got many wins. I had some stress when I was in a losing streak, but on the whole it was a satisfying year. At that time I was the only Terran on the team, so BoxeR was at my back 24 hours watching over me, which got really exhausting (laugh). But BoxeR listened to me whenever I had a complaint, and didn't take anything personally - he was a great Head Coach."
But FanTaSy had become tired after participating in too many matches, and in 2014 FanTaSy gave up many of his Proleague opportunities to newer gamers. This decision proved to be a mistake. Lack of exposure to televised matches slowly atrophied his gaming instincts. Coupled with the unfavorable game balance for Terran, it made FanTaSy begin to picture retirement in his mind. There was nothing he could do. Thus FanTaSy declared his intentions to his team as soon as the 2014 season was over. He had decided to leave the team.
"I had my arguments organized, and when I told the team, they said they understood. I think they knew I wouldn't take no for an answer. So I tied up my loose ends and left. I meant to retire right then, except that I really didn't like my results in 2014. There were also the fans who were in tears when they heard that I was rumored to retire. I thought that I couldn't end it like this, so I started looking for a foreign team.
"Even before I started actively looking, Dead Pixels contacted me as soon as the news appeared that I had left SK Telecom T1. I was doubtful because the team was so new, so I turned them down. But then TRUE, who had joined the team first, assured me that it was a good team, so I accepted when Dead Pixels contacted me again. I wanted opportunities to participate in foreign tournaments, rather than a high salary. Dead Pixels supported my plans, and this year I really did go to many foreign tournaments."
In 2015, his eighth year as a Progamer, FanTaSy began to participate in foreign tournaments on his own terms. FanTaSy recalls that he was "very happy" during this period. It was an opportunity for FanTaSy to expand his perspective, and he could enjoy sightseeing after the competition was over. The passionate support from foreign fans also moved FanTaSy's heart.
FanTaSy gradually regained his form, and by October had good chances of qualifying for the WCS Global Finals. But with his WCS points dangerously close to the cut-off point, FanTaSy could not rest easy. The results of the Dreamhack Open: Stockholm would decide it all.
"I would have been safe if I had made the round of 16 at Dreamhack, but just then I had to be knocked out of the tournament early by HyuN, my major competitor for WCS points. I thought then, 'is this the end of my gaming career?' but then suddenly Dark was eliminated, giving me another hope. But then the situation changed again when HyuN went to the finals. Luckily, in the end, Solar defeated HyuN and became the champion, and I got my final chance.
"I thought this was definitely an opportunity sent from heaven. And in the WCS Global Finals playoffs, I beat HyuN 3:2. So I made it onto my last big stage. Later, I treated Solar to some beef as a show of thanks."
Regretfully, FanTaSy was eliminated from the round of 16 at the WCS Global Finals. The Blizzcon main stage was only reserved for the top 8, and at this moment FanTaSy agonized over whether he should postpone his retirement yet again and remain a competitor for another year.
But FanTaSy steeled his resolve and informed his team of his decision. His retirement was announced in late December. FanTaSy felt indifferent about the decision until he saw the community response to his retirement article. FanTaSy recalls that reading through his fans' response stirred up feelings of sadness. However, the decision was final, and FanTaSy has now laid his regrets to rest.
Following the likes of BoxeR and iloveoov, Canata and midas, FanTaSy was the ace of the famed T1 Terrans. I asked FanTaSy who would be the next "Crown Prince" in his place.
"Crown Prince? That's actually a really embarrassing nickname (laugh). Still, it gave me a name during my first Starleague, when I didn't have a character yet. Embarrassing, but at the same time it's a cool nickname. It means that you're the ace of the best team in the world.
"When BoxeR started Starcraft 2, MMA got the nickname "The Emperor's Son," and a lot of people asked me if he'd taken over my position. Actually, I was glad that MMA was successful and earned that nickname. I've been on the same team with him, and he was a very hardworking player. Even before I started playing Starcraft 2, I was always glad to hear of MMA's achievements.
"The SK Telecom T1 roster has changed so much in 2015 that I'm not sure who can inherit that nickname. I think it'll probably end with me, or I'm hoping that Sorry, who's been with the team for a long time, can earn that title someday.
"And my other nickname, "The Terrorist," I really hated at first. Because they were saying that I was ruining the bracket. During the Batoo Starleague, Commentator Um Jae-Kyung suggested using the nickname as my persona in the finals, but I adamantly refused. But now, thinking back, it has a lot of meaning for me. I'm strong against tough opponents, though of course I was also weak against weaker opponents (laugh). "The Terrorist" reminds me of challenging a strong opponent. Like a Terrorist of Justice."
FanTaSy states that the period he most regrets during his Progaming career is early 2014. If he had practiced harder then, if he had been more active in Proleague, might not he still have been playing for SK Telecom T1? Hadn't he disappointed his fans then? However, 2015 has been a happy year for FanTaSy, so he no longer feels regret. He might have regretted his last match at the Global Finals, but he was happy to have made it onto that stage.
"When I moved to a foreign team, my fans were sad because there weren't many chances for me to see them anymore. So I wanted to have an annual occasion to meet my fans - I held a fan meeting not so long ago, and I'm sorry that I had to retire so soon after that. But in January I'm definitely going to make time to greet my fans one last time. After that I'm planning to study English, and I also want to achieve the dream I had before I became a Progamer.
"My childhood dream was becoming a game developer. I put that dream on hold when I started gaming professionally, but now I want to apply that experience into becoming a good game developer. To do that, I plan to try out many other different games. People have been speculating about streaming or League of Legends, but I have no plans to stream yet and at the moment I'm not interested in League of Legends. Speaking of LoL, I usually played as a Jungler, and while I played I think I was pretty good."
As I brought the interview to a close, I thought of a question I had never asked him before. Why did Jung Myung-Hoon name himself "FanTaSy?" It was really quite simple: he wanted to play his games in a fun, really fantastic way - that was his reason. FanTaSy himself, looking back on his career, feels that as a Progamer he has lived up to his ID. A career not free of regrets, but on the whole satisfying; a Progamer who has achieved everything that a Progamer can achieve. FanTaSy feels especially proud that he has put in his best efforts to the very end.
"The Starcraft 2 scene hasn't been very cheerful lately, and I feel sorry to add my retirement on top of that. But I decided to break the news now because I thought it was better to keep the bad news confined to 2015 rather than starting off the new year with a retirement. Now I am no longer a Progamer, but nonetheless I wholeheartedly hope that Starcraft 2 continues to prosper. To my colleagues who contacted me after my retirement, I have asked to keep Starcraft 2 in good company. Also, as a former Progamer, I will work hard to be a person who will not be a burden on my remaining colleagues, the e-Sports community, and the fans who love Starcraft 2. Thank you for all your love during the last 9 years."
