Lee "Flash" Young Ho debuted in April of 2007 at fourteen years of age, becoming the youngest StarCraft: Brood War progamer to compete in a televised match.1 The youngster proved to be a prodigy, qualifying for the OnGameNet Starleague—one of Brood War’s most prestigious individual tournaments—in his first attempt. A shock run to the final four followed, with Flash even eliminating #1 Protoss player Bisu along the way. Though Flash was narrowly eliminated by GGPlay in the semi-final match, the entire Brood War scene was already enamored with his potential. Flash's in-game style was reminiscent of many notable Terran players of the past: a foundation of rock-solid, textbook play, mixed with devious all-in tactics to keep opponents on their toes.
Within a year of his debut, Flash won his first major championship in the 2008 Bacchus Starleague. Despite a killer bracket that put him against elite opponents such as Bisu, Jaedong, and Stork, Flash overcame the odds to become the youngest Starleague champion in history at the age of fifteen.
Already, Flash had earned himself a mention in Brood War history. Unlike StarCraft 2’s scattered scene, only two major tournaments truly mattered in Brood War’s individual circuit: the OnGameNet Starleague (OSL) and MBCGame StarCraft League (MSL). Their lineages could be traced back to 1999 and 2002 respectively, and at the time of Flash’s win, the combined number of OSL-MSL tournaments was just forty. With his OSL finals win, Flash entered the rarefied company of twenty-two other players to have ever won a major title.
Flash’s momentum from the OSL carried over into team competition as well, and he took the following Shinhan Proleague 2008 season by storm. As KTF MagicN’s undisputed ace, Flash won the most games of any player, compiling a 17-8 record in a shortened season.2 Even though a mediocre supporting cast left KTF short of a playoff berth, Flash was still awarded the regular season MVP for his individual brilliance.
After so much early success, it was only natural for fans to anoint Flash as the top Terran in the game. Furthermore, he was heralded as a next-generation superstar, a player who would be at the forefront of StarCraft for years to come.
However, expectations were much more easily set than met.
The Drought
Immediately after winning his first individual league title, Flash crashed into a brick wall. In the following twenty-two month period that comprised eight OSL and MSL tournaments, the best result Flash could attain was a single semi-final appearance. Frequently, Flash saw himself failing to even progress out of the round-of-16/32 group stages.3
2008 EVER OSL: Lost 0-2 to Luxury in the quarterfinals 2008 Arena MSL: Lost 1-3 to ForGG in the semifinals 2008 Clubday MSL: Eliminated by YellOw[ArnC] in the Ro32 2008 Incruit OSL: Lost 1-2 to GGPlay in the quarterfinals 2009 Batoo OSL: Eliminated by Best and UpMaGiC in the Ro16 2009 Lost Saga MSL: Lost 1-2 to Leta in the Ro16 2009 Bacchus OSL: Eliminated by Jaedong and YellOw[ArnC] in the Ro16 2009 Avalon MSL: Lost 1-2 to Kwanro in the Ro16
To some extent, Flash’s losses were understandable. A few eliminations were due to unlucky draws which pitted him against difficult foes. On other occasions, he suffered one of StarCraft’s great inevitabilities: getting cheesed out by the underdog. And sometimes, he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time during someone else’s run-of-destiny.4
Yet, there was no avoiding the big picture implications: Flash was consistently failing at the highest level. Hype turned to skepticism, and fans had to wonder if Flash had prematurely hit his ceiling as a player.
As Flash stumbled, others emerged as the headlining players of the period. Bisu—the revolutionary strategist who had “solved” the Protoss vs. Zerg match-up—solidified his position as the top Protoss player in the world. Jaedong—a rising Zerg star since 2006—came into his prime and tore off a series of impressive tournament wins.
Flash’s struggles in individual leagues even shone an unfavorable light on his team-level performances. On paper, Flash had a stellar ‘08-’09 Proleague season, tying for most wins at 54. Only KTF's failure to make the playoffs kept him out of MVP consideration. Yet, Flash could not fight his growing reputation as a player who excelled at steamrolling the rank-and-file of Proleague, but was unable to take on the Jaedongs and Bisus of the world.
Apotheosis
If Flash were a lesser player, his will would have been sapped by such a chain of setbacks. By the mid-2000s Korean Brood War had become an industry optimized for identifying, grooming, and squeezing every last ounce of performance out of young talent. While this produced amazing games played by increasingly skilled pros, there was a price to be paid: players burned out fast. A pro might hang around the scene for several years through force of will, but one's peak—the window to win a championship—was one, maybe two years long at best. Anyone who could contend for longer was a freak of nature.
For Flash, three years was merely preparation.
In October of 2009, the beginning of the 2009-2010 competitive circuit, a new Flash emerged armed with refined strategies and reinvigorated play. By January of 2010, Flash had reached the finals of both the OSL and MSL. It was an achievement in and of itself, as only four players had previously reached the finals of simultaneous OSL and MSL tournaments.5 As it turned out, it was also the beginning of the most dominant run of all time.
Flash’s 2009-2010 season
January 17: 1st place EVER OSL (3-1 vs Movie) January 23: 2nd place NATE MSL (1-3 vs Jaedong)6 May 22: 2nd place Korean Air OSL (2-3 vs EffOrt)7 May 29: 1st place Hana Daetoo MSL (3-0 vs Jaedong) August 7: KT Rolster win the 2009-2010 Proleague championship (4-2 vs SK Telecom T1) August 28: 1st place Bigfile MSL (3-2 vs Jaedong) September 11: 1st place Korean Air OSL II (3-1 vs Jaedong) October 3: 1st place World Cyber Games 20108
In a single year, Flash upped his individual title count from a lonely one to a phenomenal five, opening up the gates into Brood War’s pantheon.
The road to Brood War greatness went through four legends: BoxeR, NaDa, iloveoov, and sAviOr.9 Three-time champion BoxeR was included for his status as the original Brood War superstar, with his immense popularity being the catalyst behind the modern esports revolution that started in Korea.
As for the other three, they were revered for their sheer dominance and overwhelming weight of accomplishments. Of all the progamers to have ever played, they were the only ones to have won four or more major championships. sAviOr, the brilliant strategist who had defied ridiculous Zerg vs. Terran odds in the mid 2000’s, had four (sAviOr was later stripped of these titles for his involvement in the 2010 match fixing scandal). iloveoov, a pioneer of macro-centric play, had five. Finally, there was the timeless NaDa, who held the all-time record with six.
Based on Flash’s title count alone, there was no questioning that he deserved to be called one of the best to ever play the game. The debate was in where exactly Flash ranked in the top five, and there was a strong case that he had surpassed his forebears.
No one in the history of StarCraft had been as consistently dominant as Flash in his prime, where he performed at a championship level in every single competition. Before Flash, only four players (Reach, Chojja, sAviOr and NaDa) had managed to reach the OSL-MSL finals simultaneously.10 In 2010, Flash did so three times in a row, meaning he competed in every single grand finals that year.
Moreover, the previous dual-finalists had competed in an era where Brood War was centered around the OSL-MSL, with team competition taking a second seat. By the time Flash came along, Proleague had become Brood War’s new focal point, forcing both teams and players to shift priorities. For other progamers, this could be a detriment. sAviOr, the strongest player in the era preceding Flash, had always been noticeably worse when playing in Proleague. Three-time champion Bisu had failed to win additional titles after signing with the notoriously Proleague-driven SK Telecom T1, and had even blamed his team’s narrow fixation on team competition for holding him back.
In Flash’s case, his monumental year in individual leagues was simultaneous with his best season of Proleague ever. At the end of the Proleague 09-10 regular season, Flash outshone all of his peers with the most games played (73), won (57), and the highest win rate (57-16, 78%),11 to become the runaway winner of the regular season MVP award.
To top things off, it was a season where KT Rolster finally managed to assemble a strong supporting cast around their star player. This allowed Flash’s astonishing run to peak during a short stretch in August and September, where he became the first and only player to ever achieve a triple-crown of OSL, MSL, and Proleague victories. In an eventful career where he had gone from being called “that cheesy brat”12 to “the ultimate weapon,” Flash had a new nickname: “God.”
Title count wasn't the only statistic that showed Flash's dominance. During the competitive season that lasted between October of 2009 and October of 2010, Flash recorded an obscene 139-40 record for a 77.65% win rate. A long-term win rate of 70% was typically reserved for the defining players of an era, while 75% was a line that had only been approached by players of legendary stature—the NaDas, iloveoovs, and sAviOrs.13 Flash had not only surpassed his predecessors, but had done so over significantly more games.
The fact that Flash won more games at a higher win rate than anyone ever naturally revealed itself in ranking systems. In both KeSPA’s official points system (he claimed the #1 spot for 14 straight months) and TeamLiquid.net’s Elo ranking, Flash broke records for highest point totals and time spent at the #1 spot.
But for some fans, Flash's garish stats and gaudy collection of trophies were merely a reflection of the tour de force they were witnessing night after night: Flash was winning with unprecedented ease.
Already a top tier player before, Flash had doubled down on his strengths without fundamentally changing his style. He had improved his late-game macro play to be virtually unbeatable, while shoring up his defenses and minimizing his vulnerability to cheese. At the same time, Flash became the craftiest player in the game. Knowing full well that his opponents were terrified of him in standard play, Flash had learned exactly when to pull out unorthodox strategies of his own for effortless wins.
StarCraft’s God didn’t need numbers to prove his supremacy—he did so by utterly destroying his opponents.
The Rival
There were many remarkable things about Flash’s prime, but there was one defining factor that separated him from the bygone greats. Flash wasn’t just winning championships—he was winning them by beating a player who may otherwise have become the greatest of all time: Jaedong.
While Flash struggled in 2008-2009, Jaedong rose to the apex of competitive StarCraft, claiming championship after championship. When the dust settled after the controversial Nate MSL finals,14 it was Jaedong who seemed destined to enshrine himself alongside the legends. His victory against Flash—even with the figurative asterisk beside it—had brought his championship total to five. One criticism against Jaedong was that he didn’t exude the same aura of utter dominance as a NaDa or sAviOr. But with enough additional titles, such objections would cease to matter.
Unfortunately for Jaedong, Flash’s awakening abruptly brought his era to an end. After the Nate MSL finals, Jaedong reached three more grand finals in 2010. All three times, Flash wrested the championship from his hands.
Had just one of those series swung in Jaedong’s favor, he could have proudly thrown his hat in the ring for the title of #1 StarCraft player of all time. Had Flash not existed at all, there’s a solid chance that Jaedong would have taken that title undisputed. There’s no guarantee that Jaedong would have otherwise won those three finals, but given that Jaedong and Flash were rated to be in a tier of their own, he would have been favored against most of his theoretical replacement opponents.15 Jaedong would have had a realistic shot at winning seven or even eight titles.16
Even though NaDa, iloveoov, and sAviOr had all faced off against formidable finals opponents in their time, none of them could claim they had consistently gone up against the second best player in the world. Finals bouts such as NaDa vs. iloveoov (2003) and NaDa vs. sAviOr (2006) had occurred, but neither featured both players at the height of their powers. Flash fought the very best version of Jaedong four times, and went 3-1.
At the end of the 2009-2010 season, it was clear that the title of “God” wasn’t being used in vain. Flash had left Jaedong and sAviOr coughing in the dust. He had matched iloveoov with five titles, but surpassed him by all other measures.
There was just one, six-peak mountain left to climb.
From Great to Greatest
In many ways, NaDa was the proto-Flash. When he debuted in 2001 at the age of sixteen, he was hailed as a prodigy. His macro play was without peer, and he seemed to conjure units out of thin air to cruise to effortless victories. NaDa was nigh invincible at his peak, with his four championships in five finals between 2002 and 2003 (these include the aforementioned simultaneously MSL-OSL wins) standing as the most dominant one-year run ever, at least until Flash came along.
NaDa even possessed one thing Flash could never match in the short term: uncanny longevity. NaDa remained a championship contender well after his prime, winning his fifth and sixth titles in 2005 and 2006 respectively. His tenth and last finals appearance came in 2007—even though it ended in a loss to sAviOr, it marked an incredible five year span between his first and last finals.
Yet, even the reigning greatest-of-all-time couldn’t help but seem lacking compared to the young Terran. Flash had been more dominant at his peak, winning more games at a better rate. Flash had won multiple Proleague MVP awards and had dragged his team to a championship; NaDa had no such accolades. Flash had triumphed over the second best player of his era to attain greatness; NaDa had been challenged, but not to that extent. In spite of NaDa’s immense stature, the facts suggested that he who shined brightest had eclipsed he who shined longest.17
Still, the argument could not be settled as long as NaDa held the ultimate trump card: a sixth title.
Flash began the 2010-2011 season with a jarring crash back down to earth. In the first OSL and MSL tournaments of the year, Flash was eliminated from the group stages by players who would have needed minor miracles to beat him only a few months prior. A free-for-all ensued in wake of Flash’s return to the mortal realm, with the formerly oppressed rushing to snatch up titles and awards.
After a year where he had reached every single grand finals, Flash earned just one finals appearance in 2011. There, in the ABCMart MSL finals, he was pitted against ZerO, a top-class Zerg vs. Terran player. In the past, ZerO was one of the few Zergs who had been able to make god-mode Flash break a sweat. Against the diminished Flash, ZerO had even won a decisive victory in a macro-game, something that would have been a near impossibility in 2010.
The match-up looked to be close. In theory.
In the end, the result was all but a foregone conclusion. ZerO, a first time finalist, could not summon the confident, powerhouse Zerg vs. Terran that was his signature. For Flash, the finals stage was as familiar as his seat at KT Rolster’s practice facilities. Flash prevailed in a 3-0 sweep.
With his sixth title, Flash took his place as the greatest StarCraft: Brood War player of all time.
What Could Have Been
In 2012, professional Brood War came to an end. MBCGame shuttered its doors in January, a result of continuously declining ratings in an era where Brood War had lost much of its luster.18 In the summer, Blizzard and KeSPA finally reached an agreement at the end of a years long intellectual property rights dispute,19 opening the way for an official transition into StarCraft 2 that was completed by the end of the year.
It’s hard to say what Flash could have achieved if professional Brood War had continued. Though Flash won his sixth title in 2011, he faced tough competition from the likes of JangBi and FanTaSy to be the best player that year. Flash continued to excel in 2012, but JangBi improved even further to reinforce his status as the new top dog.
Yet, one has to wonder what could have been if Brood War’s greatest player had more time. Flash’s tenacity and ability to reinvent himself was what allowed him to emerge from a two year slump and utterly dominate in 2010. It was that combination of determination and talent that saw him overcome a rocky start in StarCraft 2 and win a long-awaited championship at IEM Toronto 2014. When looking at Flash’s career in its totality, that is one of his most underrated achievements: he won championships in two entirely different games, three years apart. What might Flash have achieved if he had kept playing the game he was the best in the world at?
Endnotes
TY would later break the record for Brood War at twelve years old. ↑
At the time, Proleague was changing their schedule so that seasons would begin in October and end in August. The 2008 Shinhan Proleague was a transitional season, shortened to roughly half the length of a normal season. ↑
Flash did find success in the short-lived GOM Classic series of tournaments, reaching two finals and winning one championship during his OSL-MSL drought. However, the GOM Classics are not recognized as "majors" by players or fans.
Launched in 2008 in an attempt to break the OSL-MSL duopoly, the GOM Classic ultimately folded in 2009 after three tournaments. Even though the GOM Classic offered a prize pool that surpassed its competitors, it struggled to gain legitimacy. The lack of cable TV broadcasts, temporary lack of official KeSPA recognition, and sporadic boycotts by professional teams contributed to its failure. ↑
Notably, Flash was one of the victims of ForGG's championship run in the 2008 Arena MSL. For three short months, ForGG played like the best player in the world before sharply regressing to the middle of the pack. ↑
Though the OSL and MSL initially operated on independent schedules, the two came to reach a degree of synchronization over time. Each tournament was held roughly three times a year, with the finals typically falling within two to three weeks of each other. ↑
In the NATE MSL finals versus Jaedong, a freak power outage crashed both players out of a critical game three as the series was tied 1-1. Jaedong held the lead at the time of the disconnect, but the extent of his advantage was up for debate. Rather than call for a re-game, the referees made an extremely controversial decision to award Jaedong the victory after lengthy deliberation. It’s hard to say how much Flash was affected by the disruption, but in any case Jaedong closed the series out in game four to hand Flash a 1-3 loss.
The controversy stemmed from exactly how large Jaedong’s advantage was, and how large an advantage has to be for referees to correctly decide in favor of a player. The Korean community was extremely negative about the decision, while it was a more closely debated issue in the foreign scene (this TL thread sums it up nicely). ↑
To this date, the Korean Air OSL goes down in history as one of Brood War’s most bizarre upsets.
Although EffOrt was an excellent player who had earned his chops in Proleague, he was generally considered to be rung below the “true” top flight of StarCraft, and Flash was expected to win easily.
The finals went predictably at first, with Flash easily stepping ahead to a 2-0 lead. Flash then proceeded to display an incredibly uncharacteristic series of mental lapses, and gave up a 2-3 reverse sweep after failing to respect EffOrt's aggressive tactics.
Even now, there’s no way to fully explain how a player as solid as Flash could suffer such a complete collapse, especially considering near-flawless play at the time. ↑
Although WCG wasn’t in the same competitive tier as the OSL-MSL, it held symbolic value as the only serious international tournament in Brood War.
For top Korean pros, bringing home Korea’s rightful gold medal was simultaneously a duty, honor, and rite of passage. For Flash in particular, it was a storybook ending to an amazing competitive season. ↑
Around 2007, these four players became commonly known as the “bonjwa line” of StarCraft. There was fierce debate around whether or not Flash and/or Jaedong deserved the title of “bonjwa,” and it became one of the defining issues of the StarCraft community between 2008-2010.
“Bonjwa” eventually fell out of popularity as a term for a variety of reasons, but it still sees occasional use today (especially when referring specifically to the original quartet of BoxeR, NaDa, iloveoov, and sAviOr). For a more detailed write-up on the history of “bonjwa,” please check out this related article.↑
Reach: Won the OSL and took second place in the MSL in the autumn of 2002.
Chojja: Finished runner-up in both leagues in the winter of 2002-2003.
NaDa: Won dual championships in the winter of 2002-2003, defeating Chojja twice. In the spring of 2005, NaDa reached simultaneous finals for the second time in his career, and ended up winning the OSL and losing the MSL.
sAviOr: Won the OSL and took second place in the MSL in the winter of 2006-2007. ↑
Technically First (1-0, 100%) had the best win rate that season. ↑
Early in his career, Flash had a somewhat justified reputation of relying on cheesy builds against tough opponents. In fact, the first time Flash received significant spotlight after his debut was when he cheese rushed the enormously popular Bisu out of the Daum OSL quarterfinals. ↑
When defining the time frame of a player’s prime, it’s much easier after 2008 when the OSL-MSL-Proleague schedules started to align in October-to-August seasons. For players active before then, any time frame chosen is inherently subjective. With that disclaimer, here are some comparative records.
Some potential finals opponents for Jaedong if Flash is removed from the brackets: FanTaSy, free, Calm, ZerO, Leta, Mvp, HiyA, ForGG, Hwasin. ↑
It has to be said that Flash and Jaedong give each other a ton of credit and respect for being their motivation to improve. Could they have reached the same heights without their rivalry? ↑
This is a simplified version of the NaDa versus Flash debate. When you count second place and semi-final finishes, and throw in throw in non-OSL-MSL tournaments (Premier League, GhemTV, Gom, WCG, etc.), things are not so clear-cut. There is definitely an argument to be made that NaDa is the superior player due sheer weight of aggregate achievements.
To make a basketball comparison, most fans, players, and journalists agree that Michael Jordan was the greatest player of all time, but some still make compelling cases for Bill Russell or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. ↑
For those who were hardcore Brood War fans between 2007-2010, the story of Brood War's greatest player is something they're more than familiar with. But for everyone else, I've always felt that Flash's greatness was something more assumed than understood, pushed forth by constant reassurances from the old-timers.
With all of the recent buzz around Flash's retirement and personal stream, I felt that it would be a good time to try and recap his career for those who weren't around to witness his rise to the top, to explain explain the historical context behind Flash's achievements and illustrate why they were without precedent.
I've intentionally kept this article on the short side for readability. There's plenty of major and minor details I've had to omit in the process, and I'm sorry to the BW fans for that. Many times while writing, this article threatened to spiral out of control into a comprehensive history of Brood War. That, I decided, would have to wait for another day.
Really awesome read, particularly love all the footnotes explaining context behind various turning points.
I came into BW late and never saw Boxer/NaDa/oov/savior in their prime, so Flash stands out in my mind as the only time I saw a player dominate so much it actually made BW kind of boring. TvZ in particular, it was a totally foregone conclusion whenever he faced pretty much anyone but Jaedong because he would just destroy them so easily it was hardly worth watching.
aye, its a good read. whats interesting to note regarding his "low" times was that he was actually transitioning his playstyles from a cheeser to a super greedy player. His 14cc spam over that time finally did pay out for him, despite taking that long to do so
Oh the feels....Thanks, I really enjoyed that stroll down memory lane. Even though for me Boxer will always be the one with the magic touch.... Flash was the one, who besides Boxer and Nada gave me goosebumps.
On March 22 2016 01:36 amazingxkcd wrote: aye, its a good read. whats interesting to note regarding his "low" times was that he was actually transitioning his playstyles from a cheeser to a super greedy player. His 14cc spam over that time finally did pay out for him, despite taking that long to do so
yah, a breakdown on his strategical adjustments between the 08-09 and 09-10 seasons would be worth an article on its own.
Thanks for that read! As I came pretty late to the StarCraft party (with #2), I only knew about Flash through his reputation and after skimming briefly through his LP page. I did not know about the real stories behind his SC journey.
Great article. I followed BW since about the finals of Boxer vs iloveoov and I am still following it daily. I remember how hard it was to find a stream to watch it live (I used yaoyuan or how it was called and the others I can't remember). Everyday I downloaded the VODs from the tracker and for some games I woke up at 5 a.m. in the morning. What a great time =)
Bisu still holds the record for most wins in a season. And his accomplishments as a protoss player far exceed any accomplishment by any player of any other race. Just saying, did you see any other protoss player mentioned?
edit: just in case you nick pick, Stork was mentioned once (once!).
The road to Brood War greatness went through four legends: BoxeR, NaDa, iloveoov, and sAviOr.9 Three-time champion BoxeR was included for his status as the original Brood War superstar, with his immense popularity being the catalyst behind the modern esports revolution that started in Korea.
As for the other three, they were revered for their sheer dominance and overwhelming weight of accomplishments. Of all the progamers to have ever played, they were the only ones to have won four or more major championships.
Strictly speaking - incorrect. By the time Flash started his miracle run at the start of 2009, Jaedong already had 4 golds and golden mouse. He also had 5th gold merely week after Flash's 2nd gold.
On March 22 2016 02:17 BisuDagger wrote: Bisu still holds the record for most wins in a season. And his accomplishments as a protoss player far exceed any accomplishment by any player of any other race. Just saying, did you see any other protoss player mentioned?
edit: just in case you nick pick, Stork was mentioned once (once!).
There are 3 protosses with 2 golds so not so far from Bisu: GARIMTO who - in retrospect - denied Boxer Golden Mouse, completely irrelevant to the story. Then Nal_Ra who was strong enough to justify saying that sAviOr's ZvP wasn't just statistics but actual quality. And JangBi who dominated Brood War when Flash perhaps didn't care anymore.
Also Stork was also mentioned but he really was a Bomber of the era.
As obviously FlaSh's biggest fan, I'd like to say thank you for such a well written article about him. It's hard to believe everything he's accomplished in such a short (and I say short because he went on that incredible run in a span of 12 months) time period, but you managed to put it into words how dominant he was.
One thing I'd like to mention, it would have been nice to tell everyone how HARD WORKING FlaSh was and put a lot of emphasis on it. No doubt, every progamer is an extremely hard working player, but I'd put FlaSh in the lights of someone like Kobe Bryant, no real gifted abilities, just straight hard work and determination. Think about how hard he worked to bring himself out of that hole where most players would have been forgotten, but he climbed the steep slopes and clawed he way harder and faster than his peers on his way to the top.
So between 8th March and 14th March he was holder of the title of current champion in all three competitions even if he was sure to not defend his OSL title in this period.
Thank you Waxangel! It really helped me to put some actual numbers and context to the "Flash in God mode 09-10" line.
Still, I have difficulties painting the picture of Flash in God mode. The Flash I know is predictable, stubborn, and makes the most painful wrong calls... I wish I was around here during that time to watch it live -.-
Such a great read! Thanks a lot for this one. I wonder how much his time away from from BW deteriorated his skill level. I saw some VODS from his stream but I cannot judge such a thing :-)
Even though I mostly follow SC2 I recently got interested in watching BW again and I feel like the entertainment value in it is still really high and it's really awesome that he streams. Reading a piece like this really makes me wish BW was as big as in the day
he was still a teenager when he left SC1. real shame he had to switch to SC2, the last OSL might have looked different if he wasn't practicing for Hybrid Proleague
I started following BW on TL just before the EVER OSL in 2009, and as luck would have it that was the beginning off Flashes dominant run. The game vs Calm on fighting spirit is still my favorite BW game ever, at that time once zerg got to like 4 base gas you were pretty fucked as sk terran, no one was doing pure mech switches, flash did the next best thing, just massed a shit ton of tanks and then kept moving his marines up and down with vessels, picking off defilers and whatever he could, to soften the sledge hammer blows that Calm would keep throwing at him. Here is the vod for anyone that might be interested.+ Show Spoiler +
The road to Brood War greatness went through four legends: BoxeR, NaDa, iloveoov, and sAviOr.9 Three-time champion BoxeR was included for his status as the original Brood War superstar, with his immense popularity being the catalyst behind the modern esports revolution that started in Korea.
As for the other three, they were revered for their sheer dominance and overwhelming weight of accomplishments. Of all the progamers to have ever played, they were the only ones to have won four or more major championships.
Strictly speaking - incorrect. By the time Flash started his miracle run at the start of 2009, Jaedong already had 4 golds and golden mouse. He also had 5th gold merely week after Flash's 2nd gold.
I state later on in the article that Jaedong had four championships before Flash. There's two main reasons I didn't write about Jaedong in the specific section you quoted.
1: Even with fourth and fifth titles, Jaedong never achieved consensus bonjwa status (which partially contributed to bonjwa theory falling apart). I really wanted to avoid going on a long tangent about bonjwa theory and the furious debate over whether or not Jaedong qualified.
2: I wanted to keep the narrative focused on Flash. Flash and JD are inextricably intertwined, and perhaps the best way to tell either of their stories is as a pairing.. But for the sake of this article, where conciseness was one of my key concerns, I chose to tunnel-vision somewhat on Flash.
wow what a great article. Flash was the greatest no doubt about that. Too bad he didnt try out lotv for a year or two- considering his perfomance in the last couple of months in hots. I will never forgive him for abandoning us
I started following korean bw in 2008. To me bw is Flash and flash is bw. Also i remember when flash won the GOM TV tourney without losing a single game, but JWD still didn't put him on top of the power rank that month. Shame on you, never forget!
On March 22 2016 04:31 Diabolique wrote: Nice read about how Flash was becoming good. But at the end, he did not become that good when even iAsonu has beaten him :-)
I think you should read what the last section implies
Great write-up, I especially like the fact that you managed to keep it short despite the huge history and achievement list, serving indeed the purpose of being a great introduction for those who didn't follow BW back in the day, and a pleasant serving of nostalgia for us.
Watching Flash play at his peak was almost surreal, his dominance filled me with that special kind of awe that only the biggest legends of any sport or competition could. Glad to have been following the scene when he was around.
On March 22 2016 04:31 Diabolique wrote: Nice read about how Flash was becoming good. But at the end, he did not become that good when even iAsonu has beaten him :-)
and a few weeks before that he almost all killed jinair. so what? he had already decided to retire by then
Despite not following BW I was aware of most of the things mentioned in the article (although not so much the dates or the exact timeline I guess). This was however an excellent summary of Flash and his dominance. Great read, and bonus points for the interesting annotations.
@ footnote 7 -- don't forget there was a technical delay / power outage here. I *think* it was after Flash went up 2-0. I was at that particular finals and there was definitely a funny mood after Effort won game 3. I think it really threw Flash off his game and allowed Effort time to regain his focus.
On March 22 2016 02:17 BisuDagger wrote: Bisu still holds the record for most wins in a season. And his accomplishments as a protoss player far exceed any accomplishment by any player of any other race. Just saying, did you see any other protoss player mentioned?
edit: just in case you nick pick, Stork was mentioned once (once!).
There are 3 protosses with 2 golds so not so far from Bisu: GARIMTO who - in retrospect - denied Boxer Golden Mouse, completely irrelevant to the story. Then Nal_Ra who was strong enough to justify saying that sAviOr's ZvP wasn't just statistics but actual quality. And JangBi who dominated Brood War when Flash perhaps didn't care anymore.
Also Stork was also mentioned but he really was a Bomber of the era.
The thing about Protoss was that the race was more map dependent than Terran or Zerg. Protoss also has to (at some level) innovate and trick opponents with openings where as Zerg and Terran can open the same way every game and be completely fine. Protoss is harder to find consistent streaks, where their style dominates for a period of time until it's figured out. You'll see seasons where Protoss dominates thanks to maps and they fix that the season after. This is a big reason you see so many Terran and Zerg player Bonjwas who were dominant over a period of time instead of Protoss. The other fact is that the best players in Starcraft: Broodwar have truly played Terran and Zerg (mostly Terran). Bisu is great, obviously, but I agree he is not the best ever.
P.S. I basically discount everything after 2010 in terms of greatness because SC2 was out and the scene truly changed and skill level dropped TREMENDOUSLY as top players transitioned to SC2 and stopped practicing SC:BW.
On March 22 2016 02:17 BisuDagger wrote: Bisu still holds the record for most wins in a season. And his accomplishments as a protoss player far exceed any accomplishment by any player of any other race. Just saying, did you see any other protoss player mentioned?
edit: just in case you nick pick, Stork was mentioned once (once!).
There are 3 protosses with 2 golds so not so far from Bisu: GARIMTO who - in retrospect - denied Boxer Golden Mouse, completely irrelevant to the story. Then Nal_Ra who was strong enough to justify saying that sAviOr's ZvP wasn't just statistics but actual quality. And JangBi who dominated Brood War when Flash perhaps didn't care anymore.
Also Stork was also mentioned but he really was a Bomber of the era.
The thing about Protoss was that the race was more map dependent than Terran or Zerg. Protoss also has to (at some level) innovate and trick opponents with openings where as Zerg and Terran can open the same way every game and be completely fine. Protoss is harder to find consistent streaks, where their style dominates for a period of time until it's figured out. You'll see seasons where Protoss dominates thanks to maps and they fix that the season after. This is a big reason you see so many Terran and Zerg player Bonjwas who were dominant over a period of time instead of Protoss. The other fact is that the best players in Starcraft: Broodwar have truly played Terran and Zerg (mostly Terran). Bisu is great, obviously, but I agree he is not the best ever.
P.S. I basically discount everything after 2010 in terms of greatness because SC2 was out and the scene truly changed and skill level dropped TREMENDOUSLY as top players transitioned to SC2 and stopped practicing SC:BW.
Agreed with mostly everything you said, except this only applies to Terran. Many "zerg bonjwas"? There's only ever been one (savior).
The level of dominance Flash displayed in his prime was indeed God mode. His games looked so easy, and it was always expected for him to win. In the rare events when he lost, it was like some big event happened. Everybody would rush to re-watch the game and analyze it. And when Effort managed to reverse 2-0 into 3-2 on him it was like universe imploded. He had no weakness. In any match-up it was inconceivable he could lose. Hard times for all the other-player fans, indeed.
So it was, the good old times of the MSL, OSL finals. When my heart was pounding so hard I could hear it. I was glued to the screen like a hypnotized monkey.
On March 22 2016 02:17 BisuDagger wrote: Bisu still holds the record for most wins in a season. And his accomplishments as a protoss player far exceed any accomplishment by any player of any other race. Just saying, did you see any other protoss player mentioned?
edit: just in case you nick pick, Stork was mentioned once (once!).
I think it was done to reduce the amount of reading. Bisu was and is a controversial player, inconsistent and brilliant and lucky all at the same time.
I think Stork was a more consistent underachiever if you ask and also Stork is the only toss who holds the best win/lose record against the greatest: 13:14 against Flash, 14:13 against Jaedong, 5:3 record against Bisu himself.
And if you really ask for who I would consider the best toss, it would be and should be Jangbi. Jangbi 8:4 Bisu, Jangbi 5:0 Stork, Jangbi 5:6 Flash, well with Jaedong 1:11 but PvZ was always his weakest matchup while Bisu excelled in PvZ. Jangbi, who was something of an enigma. Being on a most horrible loss streak of 14 matches and then slowly recovering into being the last legend of the fall, OSL champion over dominating everyone and everything Flash, in a nail baiting series. Would Bisu win over Flash after such a slump, would he even recover? I say never. He can take one two games of Flash, like he did in PL due to preparation and SKT steel back support, he simply does not have the guts, never had, that is why his only championship is against Savior and hadn't it been Savior but some other zerg like YellOw[ArnC] he would never be considered the top dragon but rather a decent toss with great PL record. Bisu is the Sea of tosses.
On March 22 2016 17:19 letian wrote: [...] that is why his only championship is against Savior and hadn't it been Savior but some other zerg like YellOw[ArnC] he would never be considered the top dragon but rather a decent toss with great PL record. Bisu is the Sea of tosses.
uh what? You know Bisu won 3 MSL's and made another final, right? He just didn't got shit done in OSL.
On March 22 2016 17:19 letian wrote: [...] that is why his only championship is against Savior and hadn't it been Savior but some other zerg like YellOw[ArnC] he would never be considered the top dragon but rather a decent toss with great PL record. Bisu is the Sea of tosses.
uh what? You know Bisu won 3 MSL's and made another final, right? He just didn't got shit done in OSL.
yeah, and wcg korea 2009 and after that nothing, NOTHING. Come on, it's a fact, Bisu never delivered when it mattered except for PL, hence my rant about him being a toss of all times who didn't live up to his promises.
That, of course, does not mean he was lacking in the fanbase division, quite on the contrary, and this is what actually makes me irritated: the bonjwa aura ppl keep constructing for this player. Not living up to his level and constantly, constantly losing when it mattered most. And, hey, nothing changed, he lost to Effort in the last finals with a 3:1, when everybody considered him favourite. Pathology.
Anyway, I like Bisu and his playstyle, I just don't like exaggerations and he is one of those overpraised players.
Amazing article Wax. Your endnotes are a thing of beauty. I started playing BW for fun early on, and once I found out about the top Korean professional scene, began to watch PL and the OSL/MSL regularly. Never knew about TL until a few years ago, so never had any quality resource to examine the actual statistical achievements and data.
Have only seen limited VODS of the greats before the golden era of BW. And the early pioneers deserve immense credit for creating the metas and play-styles for future generations from scratch. But their level of play/competition was so much lower than when the game really matured w/ the rise of Flash, Jaedong, Bisu, Fantasy, Jangbi, Stork, etc. Which is why I don't like to compare (equally) Starleague titles from the early-mid 2000s, since the challenges faced by Flash and Jaedong were so much tougher.
Flash is so far and away the GOAT, it's not even worth discussing. Carried (literally the KT strategy for years was to have Flash win his initial match, and then try scrap together the remaining 1-2 wins necessary to force an ace match, where Flash was the only option bar none), a largely average KT squad year after year in PL to victory against more talented teams. Being able to thoroughly dominate PL, while excelling in OSL/MSL simultaneously, during the mature stages of a game where the quality and quantity of talent has never been higher, is the greatest sports achievement I've ever witnessed.
Flash could have easily rested on his laurels and gone out on top when KESPA transitioned to SC2. His body physically was clearly in trouble and his mental exhaustion must have been unimaginable. But he's a champion in the truest sense, and needed to know how he would fare in the unknown.
Watching the live stream of him finally winning that elusive individual title at IEM Toronto was so satisfying. But my favorite SC2 memory of him by far (staying up till an ungodly hour as I always do to watch PL GF) was crushing a heavily favored, and on fire Parting (w/ the greatest PvT of all-time) in the pivotal and ultra-hyped G2 of the 2014 Proleague Grand Finals. He truly channeled his BW form for that one game. Kicking the soccer ball far into the crowd in celebration, and later holding the trophy high aloft with his teammates behind paying respect to their great leader, while the legions in attendance chanted his name, and his mother and father were crying on camera. Watching that was absolutely magical.
I'm proud to say I was there to witness Flash's career firsthand. I stuck with this kid even diring his slump and his haters were partying. I watched him win his second title, which in my opinion was his most emotional one. After that was four more titles. From cheesy bastard, to ultimate weapon, to one hit wonder (during his slump), to god. What a great career.
His year making every finals, often playing two in the same week, was utterly ridiculous. Barring that implosion vs effort he might've even gone 5-1 + the proleague title. Thanks for the read. He was the GOAT.
Thanks for the article Wax. I will admit I only followed BW cursory back in the day and only knew guys like Boxer, so reminders of why people like Flash are so respected and given the title of God is context I missed out on.
On March 23 2016 10:42 Orr wrote: Watching the live stream of him finally winning that elusive individual title at IEM Toronto was so satisfying. But my favorite SC2 memory of him by far (staying up till an ungodly hour as I always do to watch PL GF) was crushing a heavily favored, and on fire Parting (w/ the greatest PvT of all-time) in the pivotal and ultra-hyped G2 of the 2014 Proleague Grand Finals. He truly channeled his BW form for that one game. Kicking the soccer ball far into the crowd in celebration, and later holding the trophy high aloft with his teammates behind paying respect to their great leader, while the legions in attendance chanted his name, and his mother and father were crying on camera. Watching that was absolutely magical.
The feels!!! (And I'm not even a BW fan!)
Hopefully Flash decides to return to KT as a coach. Hopefully we can witness another magical moment like this, and get another chapter from Waxangel on Flash's career
As a resident BW enthusiast, I was actually extremely excited for SC2. I thought it came at the right time and had great potential in the earliest previews. Lots of crazy cool ideas at alpha level too. It just didn't capture the core of BW enough to make a player like Flash and what he excelled at possible in SC2. Both are great separately, I just wish the games had more in common then lore. Flash, imo, should have never left BW after seeing the massive difference in games.
As a resident BW enthusiast, I was actually extremely excited for SC2. I thought it came at the right time and had great potential in the earliest previews. Lots of crazy cool ideas at alpha level too. It just didn't capture the core of BW enough to make a player like Flash and what he excelled at possible in SC2. Both are great separately, I just wish the games had more in common then lore. Flash, imo, should have never left BW after seeing the massive difference in games.
the forced switch should have never happened either, but the moneys took over
As a resident BW enthusiast, I was actually extremely excited for SC2. I thought it came at the right time and had great potential in the earliest previews. Lots of crazy cool ideas at alpha level too. It just didn't capture the core of BW enough to make a player like Flash and what he excelled at possible in SC2. Both are great separately, I just wish the games had more in common then lore. Flash, imo, should have never left BW after seeing the massive difference in games.
As a resident BW enthusiast, I was actually extremely excited for SC2. I thought it came at the right time and had great potential in the earliest previews. Lots of crazy cool ideas at alpha level too. It just didn't capture the core of BW enough to make a player like Flash and what he excelled at possible in SC2. Both are great separately, I just wish the games had more in common then lore. Flash, imo, should have never left BW after seeing the massive difference in games.
Wouldn't. have SC2.protoss fit him tho?
That's a reasonable thought if you take how Classic changing to protoss impacted him. I think for someone who achieved a mastery of brood war though, that there were a ton of mechanical differences that worked against his habits. Bisu suffered this too. His micro control may be the best of any RTS player ever, but the faster battle pace of SC2 and micro capabilities in those battles worked against him.
As a resident BW enthusiast, I was actually extremely excited for SC2. I thought it came at the right time and had great potential in the earliest previews. Lots of crazy cool ideas at alpha level too. It just didn't capture the core of BW enough to make a player like Flash and what he excelled at possible in SC2. Both are great separately, I just wish the games had more in common then lore. Flash, imo, should have never left BW after seeing the massive difference in games.
Wouldn't. have SC2.protoss fit him tho?
That's a reasonable thought if you take how Classic changing to protoss impacted him. I think for someone who achieved a mastery of brood war though, that there were a ton of mechanical differences that worked against his habits. Bisu suffered this too. His micro control may be the best of any RTS player ever, but the faster battle pace of SC2 and micro capabilities in those battles worked against him.
He chose the wrong race. He should have played Terran.
Same thing with Flash, he should have played Protoss.
Just my own observations based on the games I've seen from both BW and SC2 of them both. Though I haven't watched enough of Flash's old BW games and a strong enough sense of the meta to understand why he was so much more successful with his greedy style, but that certainly wouldn't work in SC2.
That said, those race changes wouldn't have guaranteed success for either of them, especially Bisu who had no interest for the game or the scene. Flash's biggest weaknesses in SC2 wouldn't have been covered by playing Protoss.
Flash is overated he dominated bw in his decline. Bw golden era was in 2004-2007 (after that servers were dead wcgtour, iccup, gaema, even west and east servers). Nada and savior are the true and only gods after them bw died. That time is coincident with the golden era of non koreans (draco, testie, mondi, assem, pj, etc). I believe that after those players retired a third level player like szisky became the best player in the world.
As a resident BW enthusiast, I was actually extremely excited for SC2. I thought it came at the right time and had great potential in the earliest previews. Lots of crazy cool ideas at alpha level too. It just didn't capture the core of BW enough to make a player like Flash and what he excelled at possible in SC2. Both are great separately, I just wish the games had more in common then lore. Flash, imo, should have never left BW after seeing the massive difference in games.
Wouldn't. have SC2.protoss fit him tho?
That's a reasonable thought if you take how Classic changing to protoss impacted him. I think for someone who achieved a mastery of brood war though, that there were a ton of mechanical differences that worked against his habits. Bisu suffered this too. His micro control may be the best of any RTS player ever, but the faster battle pace of SC2 and micro capabilities in those battles worked against him.
Just my own observations based on the games I've seen from both BW and SC2 of them both. Though I haven't watched enough of Flash's old BW games and a strong enough sense of the meta to understand why he was so much more successful with his greedy style, but that certainly wouldn't work in SC2.
I watched Flash throughout his prime when he transcended to God tier. Yes, his micro was incredible, but I never thought that was what separated him from the other greats (like others here are saying).
His 'star-sense' as it was frequently termed back then was what made him the GOAT. The meta during his reign was very mature, and since BW didn't have balance updates/patches, you were stuck with what you had (maps did their best to fix obvious unit design issues, but there were still clear flaws). As BW became increasingly figured out during the golden years where Flash, Jaedong, and the other greats pushed the basic game design (of something conceived in the late 90's) to the absolute max of human ability, there were relatively few viable strategies and the meta was understood almost down to a science at the highest level.
Flash had incredible micro (notably in his constant mech ball control and positioning of tank lines) coupled w/ amazing nonstop macro. But neither was flawless. And wasn't good enough from pure mechanics alone to accomplish anywhere near what he did. He did perfect the fast two-base, into turtling till you secure a third, while getting quick double armory and researching dual vehicle weapon upgrades, and then moving out w/ the deadly mech ball that hits right when 2/2 upgrades come online (lots of tanks supported by vultures laying mine fields, w/ typically limited goliaths for anti-air).
But the key to his immortality lay in possessing that singular extra sense, where he seemed to always know exactly what his opponent was doing (even before they did). It was almost as if he was an AI that was playing against itself. He somehow would know exactly where the hidden stacked lurkers on hold command would be, and at the last second right before having all his marines sliced up, would split and stim in while scanning. When many tried to cheese him or do crazy builds hoping for a cheap win, he would sniff it out like a bloodhound hot on the scent and send the scv scout to places on the map it would never otherwise go. Flash just had an eerie ability to see moves before they materialized.
BW was a far more technically challenging game than SC2, but there were less variables. One of the greatest things about SC2 is the fundamental game design (skewed towards amateurs), w/ all the crazy unit options/strategies/maps that give anyone a fighting chance to beat someone far better in a single game or short series. BW at its core didn't offer that constant unpredictability, and Flash was able to construct a play-style and general build that all but eliminated the minute possibilities of losing early.
As far as I could tell, Flash simply understood the game on a deeper, more intuitive level than anyone else. At the end of the day, Flash at his best, was better at Starcraft than I've ever seen anyone else at anything. Which is why a non-religious, non-believer like myself, will always consider him God.
As a resident BW enthusiast, I was actually extremely excited for SC2. I thought it came at the right time and had great potential in the earliest previews. Lots of crazy cool ideas at alpha level too. It just didn't capture the core of BW enough to make a player like Flash and what he excelled at possible in SC2. Both are great separately, I just wish the games had more in common then lore. Flash, imo, should have never left BW after seeing the massive difference in games.
Wouldn't. have SC2.protoss fit him tho?
That's a reasonable thought if you take how Classic changing to protoss impacted him. I think for someone who achieved a mastery of brood war though, that there were a ton of mechanical differences that worked against his habits. Bisu suffered this too. His micro control may be the best of any RTS player ever, but the faster battle pace of SC2 and micro capabilities in those battles worked against him.
Just my own observations based on the games I've seen from both BW and SC2 of them both. Though I haven't watched enough of Flash's old BW games and a strong enough sense of the meta to understand why he was so much more successful with his greedy style, but that certainly wouldn't work in SC2.
I watched Flash throughout his prime when he transcended to God tier. Yes, his micro was incredible, but I never thought that was what separated him from the other greats (like others here are saying).
His 'star-sense' as it was frequently termed back then was what made him the GOAT. The meta during his reign was very mature, and since BW didn't have balance updates/patches, you were stuck with what you had (maps did their best to fix obvious unit design issues, but there were still clear flaws). As BW became increasingly figured out during the golden years where Flash, Jaedong, and the other greats pushed the basic game design (of something conceived in the late 90's) to the absolute max of human ability, there were relatively few viable strategies and the meta was understood almost down to a science at the highest level.
Flash had incredible micro (notably in his constant mech ball control and positioning of tank lines) coupled w/ amazing nonstop macro. But neither was flawless. And wasn't good enough from pure mechanics alone to accomplish anywhere near what he did. He did perfect the fast two-base, into turtling till you secure a third, while getting quick double armory and researching dual vehicle weapon upgrades, and then moving out w/ the deadly mech ball that hits right when 2/2 upgrades come online (lots of tanks supported by vultures laying mine fields, w/ typically limited goliaths for anti-air).
But the key to his immortality lay in possessing that singular extra sense, where he seemed to always know exactly what his opponent was doing (even before they did). It was almost as if he was an AI that was playing against itself. He somehow would know exactly where the hidden stacked lurkers on hold command would be, and at the last second right before having all his marines sliced up, would split and stim in while scanning. When many tried to cheese him or do crazy builds hoping for a cheap win, he would sniff it out like a bloodhound hot on the scent and send the scv scout to places on the map it would never otherwise go. Flash just had an eerie ability to see moves before they materialized.
BW was a far more technically challenging game than SC2, but there were less variables. One of the greatest things about SC2 is the fundamental game design (skewed towards amateurs), w/ all the crazy unit options/strategies/maps that give anyone a fighting chance to beat someone far better in a single game or short series. BW at its core didn't offer that constant unpredictability, and Flash was able to construct a play-style and general build that all but eliminated the minute possibilities of losing early.
As far as I could tell, Flash simply understood the game on a deeper, more intuitive level than anyone else. At the end of the day, Flash at his best, was better at Starcraft than I've ever seen anyone else at anything. Which is why a non-religious, non-believer like myself, will always consider him God.
Very true. Although Flash did have eerily fantastic macro and micro despite his relatively low apm, his star sense really was in certain ways supernatural. Flash was probably the player most jokingly accused of cheating in-game because of how many times he would scout proxies or just flat out guess what his opponent was going for even without seeing anything. I remember this TvZ game, I think this was the ace match of a PL game, where flash didnt build a turret (cant remember whether he even made an eng bay) but opted for a bunker in his natural even though from his perspective, there was absolutely no indication that his opponent went 2hatch lurks instead of mutas. Someone commented after that if he did that in an iccup game, he wouldve gotten himself banned for hacking.
We have to consider the fact that it's easier to be dominant as a pioneer in any competition because later there are a lot tougher competitors. A great write-up.
On March 24 2016 06:31 [F_]aths wrote: As much as I respect, yes, revere Flash. He is not the greatest StarCraft: Brood War player of all time. Not even Jaedong is.
It is JulyZerg.
haha! internet high-five to you! July vs Best OSL finals is etched in my memory forever, was able to watch it live + Show Spoiler [non-live] +
That OSL was shortly before I began to follow Starcraft. When I couldn't get enough and watched old VODs (most of them in bad 240p resolution) I was most impressed with July, because he often seems to win with the force of will.
Of course, Flash is an outstanding player as well. I watched the MSL livestream when the power outage occurred. I watched (from VODs) the GOMtv invitational which Flash won. And many random games. Good old days
Flash... what would have happened indeed, if SC2 didn't enter the picture? I was really hoping for him to reclaim the best terran title since it felt he wasn't 100% when Fantasy started dominating.
On March 28 2016 14:32 Caladbolg wrote: Flash... what would have happened indeed, if SC2 didn't enter the picture? I was really hoping for him to reclaim the best terran title since it felt he wasn't 100% when Fantasy started dominating.
I'm pretty sure every player's career has it's ifs. If MSL started the same year BoxeR accumulate more than just 3 titles between the two leagues? Would YellOw win something? If maps were more balanced, would sAviOr be even more dominating during his era? If NaDa wasn't hit by family tragedy in the middle of his career, would he transcend the limit of 3 wins? etc.
On March 28 2016 14:32 Caladbolg wrote: Flash... what would have happened indeed, if SC2 didn't enter the picture? I was really hoping for him to reclaim the best terran title since it felt he wasn't 100% when Fantasy started dominating.
I'm pretty sure every player's career has it's ifs. If MSL started the same year BoxeR accumulate more than just 3 titles between the two leagues? Would YellOw win something? If maps were more balanced, would sAviOr be even more dominating during his era? If NaDa wasn't hit by family tragedy in the middle of his career, would he transcend the limit of 3 wins? etc.
If Bisu wasn't so pretty, would he have won an OSL?
On March 28 2016 14:32 Caladbolg wrote: Flash... what would have happened indeed, if SC2 didn't enter the picture? I was really hoping for him to reclaim the best terran title since it felt he wasn't 100% when Fantasy started dominating.
I'm pretty sure every player's career has it's ifs. If MSL started the same year BoxeR accumulate more than just 3 titles between the two leagues? Would YellOw win something? If maps were more balanced, would sAviOr be even more dominating during his era? If NaDa wasn't hit by family tragedy in the middle of his career, would he transcend the limit of 3 wins? etc.
If Bisu wasn't so pretty, would he have won an OSL?
Thank you so much for writing this... As someone who wasn't aware of the Korean pro scene while it was happening, this sort of reminiscent shit was amazing for me to read. I love Flash, but only after the fact; I hopped on the bandwagon late. The depth oh my Lord, you did an amazing job it took me like 2+ hours to read all this and go through the wiki links and see things like that power outage loss vs Jaedong that I never would have known were it not for you brave internet knight.
As a rabid Bisu fan, I rooted against Flash relentlessly. And yet, when I look back on it all, I just can't deny that Flash was the best to ever play the game. With Brood War sidelined to its current role esports, he may forever remain the best to play the game.
On April 04 2016 14:20 HawaiianPig wrote: As a rabid Bisu fan, I rooted against Flash relentlessly. And yet, when I look back on it all, I just can't deny that Flash was the best to ever play the game. With Brood War sidelined to its current role esports, he may forever remain the best to play the game.
Excellent article as always, Wax.
Well broodwar broodwar popularity hits back up again day by day, you can clearly see that Flash alone ususally reaches up to 20k viewers and i think he peaked at 28 k about. Starcraft 2 tournaments dont have those numbers nowadays. ICCUP popularity incrasing. Well it's not surprising. Blizzard kinda f*ckd up great potential of starcraft 2 and made this game way too easy and less challenging (balance plays a big role too). Nowadays watching sterams of players playing at grandmaster level is nothing special. While watching flash playing broodwar is like wow how can he do that. Blizzard best shot is to finally relase Starcraft remastered, or maybe slowly shift the direction of which starcraft 2 is heading, because right now every single patch makes the game too easy. Pylon cannons, nydus worms, Liberators, ravagers...
I have to admit I wasn't the biggest fan of Flash initially. I did not change my mind till his amazing streak around his first OSL title. At that time I found the way the kid won games just jaw-dropping. It just seemed like he was playing a different game. And so I became an avid fan of Flash.
But then came the bad days... Flash would steamroll average players but would always lose to top dogs in proleague, not to mention his early exits in starleagues... I still saw the flashes of brilliance here and there but there was no consistency. I would still wake up (or stay up) to watch him play in proleague/starleague but it was often disheartening to see him lose again and again...
And then came the memorable 2009/2010 season. If I remember correctly, Flash started it by winning GomTV Season 3 against Iris, and it brought some hope to me. it definitely boosted his confidence. But what followed was unbelievable. Anybody remembers the Winner's League? Flash would come up at freaking all-kill top teams, one after the other. And the ease with which he was doing it against top pros was unbelievable. It seriously seemed as if he solved the game at that time.
One of my happiest memory of my PhD was waking up at 4am to watch Flash dismantle Jaedong 3:0 in Hana Daetoo MSL. What a dominating performance that was. I stayed up till almost 9 am chatting online with other on TL forum
On March 24 2016 21:58 Cele wrote: nice article, wrong section as always
How flash became a top player has zero relevance to Starcraft 2.
no it's perfect, we the sc2 players are the one that need info on this.
For instance I kinda new all this, but I didn't quite realize how recent it was,to me Flash reign was old memories, instead it actually occured when sc2 beta was about to start...
On April 08 2016 08:27 Lebesgue wrote: Anybody remembers the Winner's League? Flash would come up at freaking all-kill top teams, one after the other. And the ease with which he was doing it against top pros was unbelievable. It seriously seemed as if he solved the game at that time.
I remember connecting the pc to my tv for the KT vs MBC winners league final. MBC was up 3-1 and everyone knew that the real games were only just about to begin. And KT was very well still the favorite, coz Flash hasnt played yet. I still remember the PR writeup: MBC had three chances to try and take down Flash, and they threw everything they had at him. Sea, DT cheese, Carrier cheese. It all failed. Flash was absolutely indestructible.
But on the brightside it left a aura of myth and wonder around BW proscene. We can only fantasize what would have happened. It's like when Firefly was shut down and became a legendary sci-fi show.
Call me a homer or old but NaDa will always remain the greatest for me. It was a great article and very convincing which is the highest praise I can give you as someone with the staunchest of allegiances. I will never forget the grand slam of him winning OSL, KPGA( what became MSL) and GhemTV SL, or going 15-1 in KT-KTF to cruise through Boxer to a win.
Guys like NaDa and Julyzerg are timeless man because time and time again they would rise up when people thought they were done especially in the BW days.
I'd like to point out that during his 2010 run Flash gave us what I consider to be the greatest TvT series of all time against Fantasy, who actually managed to give God a run for his money. If you still think it's a boring matchup, check out this nail-biter.
Yet, even the reigning greatest-of-all-time couldn’t help but seem lacking compared to the young Terran. Flash had been more dominant at his peak, winning more games at a better rate. Flash had won multiple Proleague MVP awards and had dragged his team to a championship; NaDa had no such accolades. Flash had triumphed over the second best player of his era to attain greatness; NaDa had been challenged, but not to that extent. In spite of NaDa’s immense stature, the facts suggested that he who shined brightest had eclipsed he who shined longest.
I think this paragraph in particular rubs off the wrong way. It's simply flawed logic.
1) Flash had been more dominant at his peak, winning more games at a better rate.
The best season that Flash had saw him reach levels that no player had ever reached before, but are we simply going by the number of championships and pretend that Flash had accumulated a career that is similar to NaDa's, and have him win by default due to his peak being more memorable?
Even if we go by what happened purely in OGN StarLeagues and MSL, it is painfully clear that NaDa outstrips Flash in every single measurement possible except for the number of titles. That's right. More finals reached. More round of four appearances. Same goes for every single bracket stage possible, made more impressive by the fact that it was harder to sustain that level of excellence in the past due to the relative shortage of seeds in NaDa's era. Hell, there were MSL tournaments you were punished for dropping out of the round of 16 by not being able to enter the following MSL. Flash played in an era where you started off the round of 32, and were seeded automatically into the next MSL if you got to the round of 8.
Now it is true that NaDa did it over a much longer time frame, and it is entirely possible that Flash would have gone on to achieve more before being rendered to a mere shadow of his former self like NaDa during his latter years. However, I believe that we should be dealing with tangibles here when we're discussing such lofty titles like the greatest player of all time. Otherwise we can make believe ourselves into just about anything.
It's simply not fair to disregard all the accomplishments that NaDa had over Flash.
2) Flash had won multiple Proleague MVP awards and had dragged his team to a championship; NaDa had no such accolades.
Really? Are we going to judge everyone by modern standards? That's like me saying NaDa had won over a dozen individual tournaments outside of his six majors, compared to the measly five that Flash managed over his entire career. Flash played in an era where ProLeague performances greatly determined how you were judged as a player. NaDa played in an era where the ProLeague MVPs were claimed by the likes of Zerglee and SiLvEr. Hardly the stellar trophy everybody longed for like the modern era.
In comparison, NaDa's greatest year in 2002 saw zero ProLeague or Team League format available, and the subsequent years had him split time between one versus one games, and two versus two games. Even so, his record in these leagues are not that shabby. He was the third most successful player in terms of individual wins in the Team League, only behind XellOs and JJu, and ahead of the likes of iloveoov and ChoJJa. He had the most number of one versus one wins in the ProLeague ahead of any other player until Jaedong displaced him in an era where you could get like 50 wins in a season due to the massive inflation in the number of matches available. I haven't even begun to mention the fact that NaDa boasted a two versus two win rate of over 80%, and hard carried his team with his one versus one and two versus two prowess, and this article is horribly reducing his past performance to basically nothing, when by the same harsh standards NaDa's contemporaries (such as BoxeR, and YellOw) would pale even further in comparison to the impressive accomplishments that the modern ProLeague setting allows.
3) Flash had triumphed over the second best player of his era to attain greatness; NaDa had been challenged, but not to that extent.
No. Flash played in the era of Taek-Beng-LeeSsang. NaDa brought an end to what was then thought to be the greatest domination the world had ever seen (BoxeR's era), and battled hard to challenge, and sometimes overcome the likes of Nal_rA, iloveoov, July, and sAviOr. This article tries to make it out as if one single rival is an accurate portrayal of a player's overall worth. It simply is not so. Flash may have lost out on titles due to the resistance that his contemporaries were able to put up, but it's the same for NaDa. In fact, I don't think it should be a slight to NaDa that he managed to accomplish so much battling against great players who were from entirely different eras. I actually find it even more impressive.
I remember coming to TL as a wide-eyed little Terran player in late 07 / early 08, and seeing all the "Flash vs Mind" debates of the time. I don't remember why I decided I liked Flash more... maybe just because he was younger?
Being a Flash fan in late 2008 - mid 2009 was pretty painful. It was obvious that he was a "top player," but he lost his individual league magic (thanks 14CC?) and kept losing to the likes of Kwanro. I can imagine that a year later, Bisu fans must've felt the same thing, but by then, Flash was God and I didn't care about the likes of Bisu
2011-12 Flash was back to disappointing, at least compared to the absurd standard he'd maintained before. Versus other top players, he began looking a little mortal again. As a Flash fan, I'm sad to say that I doubt he would've returned to his previous heights had SC2 not come along; maybe he would've returned to #1, but staying God for so long, especially with his hand problems, seemed unlikely.
Flash is great, but he was especially good at beating Jeadong in finals. At a time when Jeadong was the best (so he would beat everyone else for Flash), that was especially valuable. I wonder if Jaedong was not there, if Flash's dominance would have been quite as staggering.
On August 13 2016 04:52 figq wrote: Flash is great, but he was especially good at beating Jeadong in finals. At a time when Jeadong was the best (so he would beat everyone else for Flash), that was especially valuable. I wonder if Jaedong was not there, if Flash's dominance would have been quite as staggering.
If Tyrant wasn't there Flash could grab 2 more trophies - 4th OSL and MSL. Also he lost to JD 2008 GomTV starleague which was pretty important tournament. Same rule if God wasn't there JD could grab 4th OSL and 3rd and after then 4th MSL. Flash robbed two times Jaedong's triple MSL champion achievment golden badge.
Waxangel you have a typo/mistake. Should be "god", not "God". God with capital is the only one christian God while there can be many gods, each one of his own domain so Flash cant be "God" but he can be "god".
I always thought/had a feeling that in that GOMTV StarLeague (s1) when Flash obliterated Savior from a seemingly hopeless position (natural cc lifted, the zerg muta harassing effectively) on Blue Storm, and when Flash beaten oov on Beakmagoji in a mass vult tvt, meant eternal slump for both savo and oov. edit: Not sure off or not, but I think I`ll share it. I seen a couple of posts claiming whoever was the best player. We have to consider time and other important factors into this (like the map styles completely changed from the beginning). As all sports/games do evolve in their lives. First we had a Boxer with his great insight, innovations and magic tricks, superb micro, etc. He got surpassed by a generation of "more complete" players, they already had those properties what made they predecessors great, they didn`t had to put too much tgought into the game, but they had a more round execution, better overall mechanics, faster hands. Like the era of Nada/oov, etc. The game evolved, we had some innovators on the way, but mainly the better players were the mechanically better (I`m not talking about apm). The game nowdays rewards the mechanically better players. This is normal evolution. If we take glance at the chess world, the majority of good gms have a pretty solid knowledge of theory. Theory what the predecessors (or computers) had to put thought into. Today gms don`t have to. The fifth move of a sicilian maybe was a new thing for somebody back in the day, and in the present (some years ago) Vishi won a 40 move game against Carlsen from pure preparation with the computer and assistants. Chess is pretty rewarding for players who have great work ethics, great memory, the percentage what talent counts decreases. Give me any 4 year old, and I bet you, I`ll make him chess GM. Take a look at bodybuilding: in the early years we had great physics with symmetry. The only facet in which the bodybuilders could improve was mass and dryness. So they grew bigger and bigger (while ruining their symmetry completely), we now have Ronnies and Phils with GH guts, going to the stage half dead (literally). All these have some (same) things and points in common, while a sport`s/game`s scene getting better, the competition getting harder, you`ll have fewer and fewer rooms to improve, and these "rooms" will be accentuated over everything else.
Great article, however Flash was not able to best NaDa in, perhaps the most important factor to determine the greatest player of all time, NaDa's body will remain strong.
On November 22 2016 16:32 DyEnasTy wrote: I miss Brood War...
Why ? It's not gone. There's Jaedong, FlaSh, Bisu, Hiya, nada. And there's tournaments
True. But its not near what it was when I was heavily into the game. Its different now, and I am different. I have a family, self employed and a fraction of the free time I used to have. Maybe the better term is: I miss the old days.
On November 22 2016 16:32 DyEnasTy wrote: I miss Brood War...
Why ? It's not gone. There's Jaedong, FlaSh, Bisu, Hiya, nada. And there's tournaments
True. But its not near what it was when I was heavily into the game. Its different now, and I am different. I have a family, self employed and a fraction of the free time I used to have. Maybe the better term is: I miss the old days.
In a future far far away you will be able to live a life like that in your older days aswell
EPT
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this was a great trip down memory lane though.
