EPTWe look at Zest now as the clear number one player in the world, the best Protoss player by a country mile and possibly the best to have ever represented the race. Yet this fact is taken for granted as if the path to this point was easy, as if it was preordained.
The truth of the matter is that in many ways, Zest’s rise to the top was both unlikely and improbable. There was no fanfare about his BW playing career. He was a solid PL player for KT, but not much else. Even his debut into SC2 was lackluster as he continued to put up results in Proleague but nowhere else.
By the time 2014 rolled around there were multiple Protosses that people expected to dominate the world. There was Rain, the savior of PvP and the best Protoss player in both WoL and early HotS. MC, the greatest Protoss of all time who continued to stay relevant after leaving Korea for WCS EU. sOs, the winner of Blizzcon, who had forced the world to recognize his skill after his destruction of Jaedong. Dear, the GSL and WCS Season 3 back-to-back winner, and the Protoss in the hottest form. herO, ace of CJ, the IEM Champion and a consistent GSL player. Parting, the best micro Protoss player to have ever lived.
If you asked anyone before the 2014 season started, everyone would have chosen one of them as the Protoss to watch. We were all wrong.
On February 11th, Zest announced his candidacy for the best Protoss player on earth. He didn’t do it through any interview or post. He did it by all-killing SKT, the best team in the world. He beat Parting, soO, Soulkey and Rain. That was only the start as he faced off against sOs in the Ro8 of GSL. sOs had just come off winning the winner-take-all IEM $100,000 tournament. Zest stomped him into the floor 3-0. He then faced Rain, the best Protoss player that had transferred over from KeSPA. A player that was winning championships when Zest was struggling and failing to get out of Code B. Zest beat him 4-2. In the finals, he beat soO,the best Zerg player in the world and the only player in history to have reached four consecutive GSL Finals.
Zest’s reign in 2014 was so dominant that the only comparable eras were Mvp’s 2011 dominance and Life’s late 2014-early 2015 era. Yet the peak never lasts and by 2015 he had gone from the best Protoss player to merely one among many. He was on a downward decline and as one of the participating players of BlizzCon he had no time to practice for LotV (unlike Lilbow) so he was already behind everyone else. There was no guarantee that he’d even be as good as he once was.
Instead, Zest had a renaissance. He became nearly unstoppable as he crushed his way through the competition, most notably destroying Terrans with such ease that every pro player in the world could only watch in complete awe. He is so far ahead of the meta that he has forcibly dragged every Protoss player forward in skill and understanding by osmosis.
Yet what makes Zest so amazing in the current climate of SC2 is that he is the last surviving titan of SC2. Mvp is retired. Life has been convicted of match fixing. Taeja is counting the days till retirement. MC has come out of retirement and hasn’t been at his peak for years. Polt’s best days are behind him. MMA, Rain, NesTea, and MarineKing are all retired. Leenock, soO and INnoVation have all fallen from their primes.
Zest is the last remaining player that can make headway not just as the best player in the world right now, but the best Protoss player of all time and possibly the last player that may be able to surpass Mvp as the Greatest SC2 player of All Time. While it is unfortunate that there is less depth than ever before in Korean SC2 with the number of retirements, what Zest is doing right now is still amazing and noteworthy. It has reached the point where MC, one of the most self-assured and confident players in SC2, has admitted that Zest will surpass him soon as the greatest Protoss there ever was.
The only player left on the list that can even challenge him is Maru, a player who Zest has decisively beat in every major confrontation they’ve had except for the last Proleague Round Finals. There are still great players like Stats and Dark, but their legacies have just started and they have a long way to go before they can crack into the halls of the Greatest of All Time.
Zest right now is the last remaining player that can not only challenge for the throne of the greatest Protoss, but possibly also the greatest player of all time. What we are witnessing is not just the resurgence of Zest dominance, but a rewriting of the history of SC2. We are witnessing greatness in action.
The truth of the matter is that in many ways, Zest’s rise to the top was both unlikely and improbable. There was no fanfare about his BW playing career. He was a solid PL player for KT, but not much else. Even his debut into SC2 was lackluster as he continued to put up results in Proleague but nowhere else.
By the time 2014 rolled around there were multiple Protosses that people expected to dominate the world. There was Rain, the savior of PvP and the best Protoss player in both WoL and early HotS. MC, the greatest Protoss of all time who continued to stay relevant after leaving Korea for WCS EU. sOs, the winner of Blizzcon, who had forced the world to recognize his skill after his destruction of Jaedong. Dear, the GSL and WCS Season 3 back-to-back winner, and the Protoss in the hottest form. herO, ace of CJ, the IEM Champion and a consistent GSL player. Parting, the best micro Protoss player to have ever lived.
If you asked anyone before the 2014 season started, everyone would have chosen one of them as the Protoss to watch. We were all wrong.
On February 11th, Zest announced his candidacy for the best Protoss player on earth. He didn’t do it through any interview or post. He did it by all-killing SKT, the best team in the world. He beat Parting, soO, Soulkey and Rain. That was only the start as he faced off against sOs in the Ro8 of GSL. sOs had just come off winning the winner-take-all IEM $100,000 tournament. Zest stomped him into the floor 3-0. He then faced Rain, the best Protoss player that had transferred over from KeSPA. A player that was winning championships when Zest was struggling and failing to get out of Code B. Zest beat him 4-2. In the finals, he beat soO,the best Zerg player in the world and the only player in history to have reached four consecutive GSL Finals.
Zest’s reign in 2014 was so dominant that the only comparable eras were Mvp’s 2011 dominance and Life’s late 2014-early 2015 era. Yet the peak never lasts and by 2015 he had gone from the best Protoss player to merely one among many. He was on a downward decline and as one of the participating players of BlizzCon he had no time to practice for LotV (unlike Lilbow) so he was already behind everyone else. There was no guarantee that he’d even be as good as he once was.
Instead, Zest had a renaissance. He became nearly unstoppable as he crushed his way through the competition, most notably destroying Terrans with such ease that every pro player in the world could only watch in complete awe. He is so far ahead of the meta that he has forcibly dragged every Protoss player forward in skill and understanding by osmosis.
Yet what makes Zest so amazing in the current climate of SC2 is that he is the last surviving titan of SC2. Mvp is retired. Life has been convicted of match fixing. Taeja is counting the days till retirement. MC has come out of retirement and hasn’t been at his peak for years. Polt’s best days are behind him. MMA, Rain, NesTea, and MarineKing are all retired. Leenock, soO and INnoVation have all fallen from their primes.
Zest is the last remaining player that can make headway not just as the best player in the world right now, but the best Protoss player of all time and possibly the last player that may be able to surpass Mvp as the Greatest SC2 player of All Time. While it is unfortunate that there is less depth than ever before in Korean SC2 with the number of retirements, what Zest is doing right now is still amazing and noteworthy. It has reached the point where MC, one of the most self-assured and confident players in SC2, has admitted that Zest will surpass him soon as the greatest Protoss there ever was.
The only player left on the list that can even challenge him is Maru, a player who Zest has decisively beat in every major confrontation they’ve had except for the last Proleague Round Finals. There are still great players like Stats and Dark, but their legacies have just started and they have a long way to go before they can crack into the halls of the Greatest of All Time.
Zest right now is the last remaining player that can not only challenge for the throne of the greatest Protoss, but possibly also the greatest player of all time. What we are witnessing is not just the resurgence of Zest dominance, but a rewriting of the history of SC2. We are witnessing greatness in action.
