SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — November 1, 2016 — Evil Geniuses (EG), a premiere professional gaming team, announces that one of the team’s most successful and visible StarCraft 2 players, Lee ‘Jaedong’ Jae Dong will officially retire as a player. An absolute legend of the Brood War era, and EG player since 2012, Jaedong will don his player jersey for one last time during BlizzCon this coming weekend.
I have a Jaedong story, last year at WCS on the second (?) day I was outside my hotel waiting to meet up with some people for breakfast or whatever, and out of nowhere Jaedong showed up with someone. They did not know how to get to the venue so I offered to walk him there. So yeah I got to walk him to the venue and it was pretty cool, they let him in after some convincing he was a player and I went about my day
On November 02 2016 06:59 Jer99 wrote: I have a Jaedong story, last year at WCS on the second (?) day I was outside my hotel waiting to meet up with some people for breakfast or whatever, and out of nowhere Jaedong showed up with someone. They did not know how to get to the venue so I offered to walk him there. So yeah I got to walk him to the venue and it was pretty cool, they let him in after some convincing he was a player and I went about my day
There were rumors a while ago of some high ranked Zerg account being Jaedong's on Fish or whatever so if I were a betting man I'd wager he will try his hand at Afreeca BW streaming, like all his old bros.
Probably after 2 months of saying he's not going to.
I truly believe he will return to BW. And I don't see this as a bad thing. I still mostly watch SC2, but I feel like most of the old guard only switched because they basically had to.
On November 02 2016 07:04 Heyoka wrote: There were rumors a while ago of some high ranked Zerg account being Jaedong's on Fish or whatever so if I were a betting man I'd wager he will try his hand at Afreeca BW streaming, like all his old bros.
Probably after 2 months of saying he's not going to.
There are ceremonies and practices that must be preserved
Wow that last comment in the Jaedong interview, the feels. I really loved this "final edit" of TL. Really nice to not have in forum format but in actual "fullscreen" kind of.
On November 02 2016 07:33 Solar424 wrote: One of the all-time greats. Probably made the transition from BW to SC2 better than any of the big BW names.
Yup he had a good run in SC2, better than most Progamers. That one year he made like 5-6 2nd places in tournaments and won a smallerish tournament. That was a sick year to be a Jaedong fan in 2013. I remember thinking I hope he never retires and it's sad he did, but if he streams BW or SC2 that would be cool, but if not I totally understand him just enjoying his life and not worrying about any of it.
On November 02 2016 07:33 Solar424 wrote: One of the all-time greats. Probably made the transition from BW to SC2 better than any of the big BW names.
Yup he had a good run in SC2, better than most Progamers. That one year he made like 5-6 2nd places in tournaments and won a smallerish tournament. That was a sick year to be a Jaedong fan in 2013. I remember thinking I hope he never retires and it's sad he did, but if he streams BW or SC2 that would be cool, but if not I totally understand him just enjoying his life and not worrying about any of it.
On November 02 2016 07:33 Solar424 wrote: One of the all-time greats. Probably made the transition from BW to SC2 better than any of the big BW names.
Yup he had a good run in SC2, better than most Progamers. That one year he made like 5-6 2nd places in tournaments and won a smallerish tournament. That was a sick year to be a Jaedong fan in 2013. I remember thinking I hope he never retires and it's sad he did, but if he streams BW or SC2 that would be cool, but if not I totally understand him just enjoying his life and not worrying about any of it.
I hope its BW for his own sake.
People would watch him no matter what, he could stream solitaire and he still would have more viewers than most But yeah i would prefer bw
If he decides to never stream (which would be a bad decision money wise) than that is ok too i guess, i doubt that will happen though
Yeah, not exactly surprising. It's been pretty much suspected since the beginning of the year that he'll retire in november. Still, he'll be missed. Won't exactly be surprising if he goes back to BW either. Maybe we'll have the chance to see him in one of those tournaments at some point.
I will miss him. I hope he plays some Brood War and that I get to see his BW mutalisk micro again. It was something to see. He would split mutas when they got irradiated faster than any human ever before or since.
I once watched a game in which he made four scourge and flew them to his opponent's base on the opposite corner of a medium sized map, and I swear he timed it so that his opponent's mutas emerged from their eggs the exact millisecond so that the scourge would blow them up. His games were full of moments like that. It was something to see.
On November 02 2016 07:33 Solar424 wrote: One of the all-time greats. Probably made the transition from BW to SC2 better than any of the big BW names.
Yup he had a good run in SC2, better than most Progamers. That one year he made like 5-6 2nd places in tournaments and won a smallerish tournament. That was a sick year to be a Jaedong fan in 2013. I remember thinking I hope he never retires and it's sad he did, but if he streams BW or SC2 that would be cool, but if not I totally understand him just enjoying his life and not worrying about any of it.
I hope its BW for his own sake.
I dunno he's been talking about LoL and OW this year. We'll see.
Probably depends on what Afreecas willing to offer him.
On November 02 2016 07:33 Solar424 wrote: One of the all-time greats. Probably made the transition from BW to SC2 better than any of the big BW names.
Yup he had a good run in SC2, better than most Progamers. That one year he made like 5-6 2nd places in tournaments and won a smallerish tournament. That was a sick year to be a Jaedong fan in 2013. I remember thinking I hope he never retires and it's sad he did, but if he streams BW or SC2 that would be cool, but if not I totally understand him just enjoying his life and not worrying about any of it.
I hope its BW for his own sake.
I dunno he's been talking about LoL and OW this year. We'll see.
Probably depends on what Afreecas willing to offer him.
Either of those are fine too since those are popular in Korea.
We all saw this from a mile away when he quietly faded away from the SC2 scene for so many months this year. I hope he finds his place in this changed landscape.
HuK is not even playing StarCraft anymore. Overwatch seems to be his new game. Nobody has the balls or the courage to announce anything to their fans. I was a big HuK fan for quite some time and i can´t blame him for loosing passion or anything like that, but never hearing an official statment is just sad for all the people who followed and supported him over the last couple of years.
Sorry had to share my frustration.
Kinda the same way i felt for JD, but he stayed quite in general at least, so i accept it totaly.
This is why I'll always love Starcraft. The history and storylines are unrivaled by any other eSport. If Faker or Fear or F0rest retired today, or even next year or 5 years from now, I don't think you could write an article quite like this about any of them.
On November 02 2016 08:30 klipik12 wrote: This is why I'll always love Starcraft. The history and storylines are unrivaled by any other eSport. If Faker or Fear or F0rest retired today, or even next year or 5 years from now, I don't think you could write an article quite like this about any of them.
Well, the FPS and Fighting Games scenes have quite the history too. They are, with RTS, the old guard of the Esport scene.
HuK is not even playing StarCraft anymore. Overwatch seems to be his new game. Nobody has the balls or the courage to announce anything to their fans. I was a big HuK fan for quite some time and i can´t blame him for loosing passion or anything like that, but never hearing an official statment is just sad for all the people who followed and supported him over the last couple of years.
Sorry had to share my frustration. Kinda the same way i felt for JD, but he stayed quite in general at least, so i accept it totaly. BTT is feel like a dick for writing the shit about HuK but thats how i feel.
A few words to Jaedong even if he is never going to read it:
I only was able to discover you as a player/personality in 2010 after i started playing StarCraft 2 and at the same time learning everything about the StarCraft universe in general, because SC2 sucked me up totaly as a game. I rewatched a ton of your Broodwar VODs while not even playing the game. The moment i heared you would officialy switch over from Broodwar was INSANE for me. I could have never imagined you continuing your career in SC2. 2013 was the most awesome year of StarCraft 2 for me. Every tournament was a BLAST to be watched. Having your favorite player just killing it at every tournament he goes to was just incredibly awesome even with all those second places. Same goes for 2014, with just the same amount of hype for me.
I just wanna say thank you for the 2 signatures you gave me and all the memorable moments i had while watching you play. You are an incredible caracter and i just hope you keep it up and do well in everything you do in your future. Would love to meet you another time in my life.
THANKS!
EDIT: Sorry doubleposted somehow. Is it possible to fix that?
On November 02 2016 08:30 klipik12 wrote: This is why I'll always love Starcraft. The history and storylines are unrivaled by any other eSport. If Faker or Fear or F0rest retired today, or even next year or 5 years from now, I don't think you could write an article quite like this about any of them.
It's a 10 year career built on top of another 7 years of history. Other games have a long way to go.
On November 02 2016 07:33 Solar424 wrote: One of the all-time greats. Probably made the transition from BW to SC2 better than any of the big BW names.
Yup he had a good run in SC2, better than most Progamers. That one year he made like 5-6 2nd places in tournaments and won a smallerish tournament. That was a sick year to be a Jaedong fan in 2013. I remember thinking I hope he never retires and it's sad he did, but if he streams BW or SC2 that would be cool, but if not I totally understand him just enjoying his life and not worrying about any of it.
I hope its BW for his own sake.
I dunno he's been talking about LoL and OW this year. We'll see.
Probably depends on what Afreecas willing to offer him.
Either of those are fine too since those are popular in Korea.
Oh. I was thinking about what you wrote and it hit me that he hasn't completed his mandatory military service.
Picture of an autograph my brother got me from Jaedong in 2011 when he was still playing BW. The second picture is him watching me play in MLG Anaheim 2012 against Sasquatch. He was definitely one of my biggest inspirations when I started playing Starcraft. I would have never thought or even dreamed that one day we would be on the same team together. It was definitely a unique experience. I hope he continues to do amazing things in the future and hope he stays somewhat involved with the Starcraft community moving forward. He'll be missed but will always be remembered as a Starcraft legend!
Ohh, what's left now is to see if Jiko was indeed him! Been watching that thread in the BW section getting bumped pretty often throughout the course of the last 6 months.
Rumours have to be somewhat true if that thread was that active. Right?
Is there anything you'd like to tell the fans, one last time?
Since the days of Brood War when I played in WCG, I received love from so many fans overseas, on the other side of the world. In StarCraft 2, foreign fans showed me love that was excessive compared to my results. For that, I always feel grateful, every single day. Even now, I receive messages on Twitter and social media, and I'm so very thankful for it.
I don't think anyone can change the passing of the seasons (laughs). A lot of time has flowed by, and I need to think about my life going forward. Whatever I end up doing, I'll do it while remaining thankful that I remained in the minds of some fans. I'd be thankful if when people think of StarCraft, they remembered that there was once a player called Jaedong.
T_T
Goodbye Jaedong, hopefully we'll see you play again.
I'll never forget helping him and Demuslim get a taxi in Stockholm after DH:Stockholm. Ben is very nice and all, but helping Jaedong get a Swedish cab gave me nerd chills.
"I don't think anyone can change the passing of the seasons (laughs). A lot of time has flowed by, and I need to think about my life going forward. Whatever I end up doing, I'll do it while remaining thankful that I remained in the minds of some fans. I'd be thankful if when people think of StarCraft, they remembered that there was once a player called Jaedong."
This made me sob, really...
Love the guy, hope he keeps updating his Twitter and perhaps play games for fun : ) (and maybe stream?!)
Nobody is born a champion. The guy had to go through 10 courage tournament to finally earn his progamer license in BW. He failed to win the tournament a whopping 9 times, before finally winning on his 10th try.
Talk about perseverance and determination. The guy wasn't my favorite player (+ Show Spoiler +
Flash was
) but I will always admire his never say die attitude of giving absolutely everything he has. His courage tournament story always inspires me, and I'm sure it does to a lot of people.
Started watching Brood War ten years ago. Five years ago I had the pleasure of meeting Jaedong (and many other of my heroes) at MLG Anaheim. Now, Jaedong begins a new chapter. I wish him the best in whatever he chooses to pursue in the future.
Thanks for all your amazing games in both Brood War and SC2. Thanks for all of your English interviews. Best wishes in life, and hope to see you again soon!
Oh that explains why there is the interview in the other thread ... when I first saw it, I thought "cool, gonna read it later, but why the hell are they bringing up JD now, he retired like a year ago, is this an anniversary or what?" ...
I wake up to this... and this is pretty much the best thing that could've happened to JD. Feel like he's been sitting out his EG contract for a while now.
Thanks for everything Lee 'The Tyrant' Jaedong! My fav player of all time. A bit sad that SC2 didn't really work out for him but I will always have great memories from BW.
I still have my old Hwaseung OZ shirt that I got from LilSusie from waaay back. Hwaseung never die!
I hope he returns to the old scene, lots of good times were had. All the best! <3
I just told my boss to fuck off. Nagging me about to fix this bug, fix that etc. "You know what? Jaedong just retired, so fuck off, I'm playing Broodwar for 1-2-3 hours. Got a problem with dat? Fire me." Started laughing and walked away. Luckily, now I chilled off a little.
I remember some 4-5 years ago when I asked the guys from the office to stand up when I pronounce Jaedong and JulyZerg. They didn't like it, but accepted. (2 protosses and 1 terran).
Retired from SC2, sure, but that's not a surprise. We all knew he was retired from SC2 after he didn't play, stream, or do anything in the scene for what... a year? Either way, I bet he'll return to BW and perhaps will be at Blizzcon for BW HD... who knows? He could do very well if he returned to BW and became a streamer.
The Greatness Defined article was greatly moving, pun intended and everything. Its too bad that Jaedong didn't do as well in sc2, but he still did damn good all things considered, giving SoO a run for his money in the kong line!
Jaedong was never the same in SCII after his 2013 run which culminated in him winning ASUS RoG after a year+ of trying. News isn't really surprising. We've known for a long time that he's left the scene in all but name and he's been playing BW on fish for quite a while now. Would be cool to see him stream some BW and make some good money as he plans his future. All the best Jaedong and thanks for making 2013 a memorable year ~
On November 02 2016 21:13 ETisME wrote: really hoping Jaedong to move on with his life and not going back to BW. With his talent and dedication, he can go so very far at anything
He has became a legend of the esport, don't want to see him losing that identity to just another streamer living off donations.