Hi everyone! I recently made a short documentary on MMA's career in honor of his retirement and my hope is for the StarCraft community to remember and celebrate the unforgettable contributions MMA made to the game throughout the years.
To me, MMA had one of the craziest roller coaster careers in StarCraft 2 that made for a classic story of perseverance. Here is a man who was once vilified by the team that raised him, then revived his career through sheer will and battled his way back to the top. He showed us just what could be accomplished by working hard and maintaining a positive mindset at our darkest hours, and for that he will always have my respect.
Please let me your thoughts on MMA's story and help me to remember one of the game's all time greats.
Thanks for this. As a Terran player, you always had a favorite among MMA, MVP, MKP in WoL and they all such vastly different styles it was just a joy to watch. But beyond just his play, what really set apart MMA for me was that how much he interacted with his fans. I remember going to the Code S studios and watching him, getting pictures and autographs from 2010 all the way to 2015, he still remained the same kind of person. All the pro gamers talk about their fans and how important it is for them, but not to talk bad on Innovation, but MMA always felt like he was genuinely happy to meet you.
On February 21 2016 05:59 Chaggi wrote: Thanks for this. As a Terran player, you always had a favorite among MMA, MVP, MKP in WoL and they all such vastly different styles it was just a joy to watch. But beyond just his play, what really set apart MMA for me was that how much he interacted with his fans. I remember going to the Code S studios and watching him, getting pictures and autographs from 2010 all the way to 2015, he still remained the same kind of person. All the pro gamers talk about their fans and how important it is for them, but not to talk bad on Innovation, but MMA always felt like he was genuinely happy to meet you.
I remember meeting him at Blizzcon 2014 and he was full of smiles and upbeat even though he had just lost in the finals. He was definetly one of the friendliest and approachable players.
Also, thanks Stu and Aeromi for helping to spread the word!
MMA never really stuck me cause I dont follow the competitive scene when he was most promiment, in WOL. But this video was awesome, really well made! Only thing I miss is MC singing, but hey
Question though, does HSC count as premier tournamement? Or what else did he win in lotv?
Thanks bro, that means a lot! I want to keep making them as long as I have the time. After I come up with an idea, each one takes me about 15-20hrs from start to finish
well done. You can see there is alot of effort in it its just not random clips after each other it makes sense and there is a thought process behind it as well with the music. GJ!
:'( , MMA... I will always remember him, and also because my girlfriend liked him a lot and even went to see him playing in one of the WCS finals wears ago in Toronto.
Damn that was beautiful. MMA became my favorite player when I saw him in the gstl way back. I remember when he played Bomber for the first time in gstl. MMA clearly outplayed him up to the point of the weird base trade. He handled the game poorly after that point, but I was blown away at the amount of attention Bomber was receiving in comparison to MMA. That was not an amazing show of skill from Bomber, that was MMA's flub. He was a monster waiting for proper recognition. It would only be a matter of time before he would get it.
Will sorely miss MMA. He truly was one of the best people to work with, always so humble and expressive. Was a real pleasure to work with him for the past 3 years.
Brought tears to my eyes. One of the greatest to ever touch the game. Handsome, elegant, full of class, entertaining to watch, incredibly clever. And such awesome storylines. That 2014 Blizzcon run is something I'll never forget. Hands down in my top 3 favorite players of all time alongside Rain and Zest. Thanks for making such videos, they remember me why I love SC2 so much.
Nerd tears. Between the BlizzCon GSL victory chants, and the Wheat and Day9 reaction to the IdrA game in MLG, this video has reminded me of just how fucking awesome MMA is. Thank you so much MMA, and thanks for the video
XXTN, thanks for this great video. And reading people's love for MMA makes me miss this guy more. He's really the kindest person I've ever known. XXTN, hope you don't mind I share a never told story about MMA here.
It was in 2014 IEM Shenzhen. Many Korean players participated in that tournament, including MMA and inno. I was working there too, so I had chances to get closer to them.
On the quarterfinals day, there was an inno's fangirl taking 2 hours flight from another city to support him, but unfortunately inno lost. The girl was very sad; what made her more upset was inno's emotionless reaction to her. Btw, I don't think it's inno's right or wrong. It's just his robotic personality. He was truly not excited when facing fans, and didn't know to hide it. That girl cried after inno leaving the studio. Because she picked many gifts and wanted to give to inno another day. It's inno's birthday the next week. But he said he would not be in the studio tomorrow.
Anyway, I told MMA about this after dinner, and we laughed like "oh gosh it's just so inno". Then MMA said, "hey, I have a good idea. How about tomorrow we invite that girl to have lunch together?" We three were planning to take a tour the next day, so MMA suggested involving that girl too. And the following words he said I will never forget——
“Off course I will buy her lunch. But, please don't let her know it. Just tell her it is inno buy her food, and say inno want to thanks for her support. I guess it can make her feel better. How do you think about it?”
Guys, what else could I think about it, except that he's the nicest boy in the world? I mean, that's even not his fan, just kind of a stranger that he will never meet again. But he also would like to be kind, without taking credit. In case someone is interested, MMA is not a prodigal man. Buying an extra lunch may cost him around $15, which's nearly equal to the taxi fee from GSL studio to his team house. As far as I know, he rarely took the taxi in Seoul. He chose to take the bus all the time, even after 5 hours matches without eating, even when it would take him more than 1 hour on the road, even when it's already around midnight.
And it's not the end of that night's lovely story. When I back to that girl, I found she already rescheduled the plane to the next morning, because "I have no reason to stay here if I can't watch him anymore." Oh gosh……And she's so regret. I discussed with MMA again, and he quickly had another great idea, "how about we hold a specific fan meeting for them!^^"
There we go. So we four met at the hotel lobby. The girl brought all the carefully chosen gifts there, and inno was well educated by MMA to keep smiling and show gratefulness through the whole meeting. And since they two cannot communicate each other, MMA and I volunteered to interpret —— The girl asked questions in Chinese, then I translated it into English, then MMA translated it into Korean. And after inno answered in Korean, we translated it back. It was an exclusively joyful fan meeting. MMA was very patient in the whole one hour, often joking around to make everyone laugh and relaxed, although later he told me that actually his stomach was not feeling good all the night. But don't worry. MMA was happy too. He's very excited about the fact that he could become a Korean-English translator, lol. Btw, His English was not bad at all, but he's always not confident and was too shy to show it on broadcast. MMA said it's the very first time people trust him to translate (tbh we didn't have other choice at that time, haha), so at the end, he also said thanks to us too.
That's MMA. He helped you, but didn't want you feel you owe him. The boy has a heart of gold. He deserves the best in the world.
I'm really glad you shared this heart-felt story. It's a great memory that goes a long way to show the quality of MMA's character and how he could never have possibility been the type of cancer that Slayers portrayed him as. I think it's just such a shame that he had to go through that type of drama at the prime of his career. If it weren't for the Slayers drama, I feel MMA could certainly have won a few more championships.
On February 25 2016 04:45 mooncifer wrote: XXTN, thanks for this great video. And reading people's love for MMA makes me miss this guy more. He's really the kindest person I've ever known. XXTN, hope you don't mind I share a never told story about MMA here.
It was in 2014 IEM Shenzhen. Many Korean players participated in that tournament, including MMA and inno. I was working there too, so I had chances to get closer to them.
On the quarterfinals day, there was an inno's fangirl taking 2 hours flight from another city to support him, but unfortunately inno lost. The girl was very sad; what made her more upset was inno's emotionless reaction to her. Btw, I don't think it's inno's right or wrong. It's just his robotic personality. He was truly not excited when facing fans, and didn't know to hide it. That girl cried after inno leaving the studio. Because she picked many gifts and wanted to give to inno another day. It's inno's birthday the next week. But he said he would not be in the studio tomorrow.
Anyway, I told MMA about this after dinner, and we laughed like "oh gosh it's just so inno". Then MMA said, "hey, I have a good idea. How about tomorrow we invite that girl to have lunch together?" We three were planning to take a tour the next day, so MMA suggested involving that girl too. And the following words he said I will never forget——
“Off course I will buy her lunch. But, please don't let her know it. Just tell her it is inno buy her food, and say inno want to thanks for her support. I guess it can make her feel better. How do you think about it?”
Guys, what else could I think about it, except that he's the nicest boy in the world? I mean, that's even not his fan, just kind of a stranger that he will never meet again. But he also would like to be kind, without taking credit. In case someone is interested, MMA is not a prodigal man. Buying an extra lunch may cost him around $15, which's nearly equal to the taxi fee from GSL studio to his team house. As far as I know, he rarely took the taxi in Seoul. He chose to take the bus all the time, even after 5 hours matches without eating, even when it would take him more than 1 hour on the road, even when it's already around midnight.
And it's not the end of that night's lovely story. When I back to that girl, I found she already rescheduled the plane to the next morning, because "I have no reason to stay here if I can't watch him anymore." Oh gosh……And she's so regret. I discussed with MMA again, and he quickly had another great idea, "how about we hold a specific fan meeting for them!^^"
There we go. So we four met at the hotel lobby. The girl brought all the carefully chosen gifts there, and inno was well educated by MMA to keep smiling and show gratefulness through the whole meeting. And since they two cannot communicate each other, MMA and I volunteered to interpret —— The girl asked questions in Chinese, then I translated it into English, then MMA translated it into Korean. And after inno answered in Korean, we translated it back. It was an exclusively joyful fan meeting. MMA was very patient in the whole one hour, often joking around to make everyone laugh and relaxed, although later he told me that actually his stomach was not feeling good all the night. But don't worry. MMA was happy too. He's very excited about the fact that he could become a Korean-English translator, lol. Btw, His English was not bad at all, but he's always not confident and was too shy to show it on broadcast. MMA said it's the very first time people trust him to translate (tbh we didn't have other choice at that time, haha), so at the end, he also said thanks to us too.
That's MMA. He helped you, but didn't want you feel you owe him. The boy has a heart of gold. He deserves the best in the world.
How can you not miss this guy?
That's an awesome story - thanks for sharing! Mind reposting this to MMA's fanclub? I'm sure the guys and gals over there would appreciate it!
Thanks for taking the time to make this. It brought back a lot of very fond memories.
Watching MMA vs. Losira at MLG was what got me into SC2 and Terran. Watching MMA's multi-prong drop style slowly pull zergs apart made me realize the true depth of the tactical possibilities of SC2.
fuck.. slayers_mma i totally miss him. my fav terran player of all time
slayers_boxer protege so to speak. what happened to him? can anyone give a short history lesson about him? i stopped watch sc2 after WoL due to work. but i loved his rivalry with IMMVP, MkP, oGsMC, jesus typing this gave me goosebumps
just came by the website for nostalgia sake and saw this
EPT
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/pjTbZPt.jpg)
