Searching for Rebirth

It's easy to call Kelazhur the year's breakout player, especially among the foreign crowd. After lurking on the fringes of the StarCraft scene for much of his career, 2017 has seen him evolve into a mainstay, making the Round of 8 three times to secure his position as one of the most consistent terrans in the WCS Circuit. In a scene after MarineLorD's retirement, when uThermal disappointed, with the absence of Polt, Kelazhur was given a golden opportunity to shine as the best foreign terran—a double-edged sword, given the relative paucity of options in prior years, but an impressive title nonetheless.

But, that's not how it played out. Kelazhur was defined by his quest for greatness—to be the best terran in his region; in WCS; in the world, and thus his rivalry with SpeCial became essential to him. Due to their regional position, they played each other a total of 46 times, with Kelazhur taking the short end of the stick by far—SpeCial leads their annual head-to-head with a 31-15 record. While Kelazhur did get a couple essential wins, especially to take home the gold at Copa America Season 2, he was crushed in arguably their most important match, where he and SpeCial played at GSL vs the World. It was a potential opportunity for Kelazhur to shine in the darkness, for him to truly stand out after a largely faceless career, and he didn't even get that chance. He just lost to SpeCial. Again.

This tinge of disappointment carried on his breath the entire year, turning good events into unfulfilling ones. It began in Austin; early wins over Neeb in the group stages and Snute in the Round of 16 led to him having a real chance to make a run, but he lost in a tight series to Nerchio instead. Even his strongest showing during WCS Jönköping, where he dominated two of his competitors for 'best terran' and made his first career semifinal in Premier competition, ended in disappointment due to an absolutely disastrous series against Neeb. By WCS Valencia, it was a pattern, and one could see the wear on Kelazhur play, the stress given by disappointments. He looked sloppy playing MaSa, and was utterly crushed by Snute.

Montreal was a rebirth of sorts for Kelazhur, a chance for him to return to his prime form one last chance before Blizzcon, to reclaim the tournament runs he had lost. To reach out and grab the victory which so woefully eluded his fingertips. But, it wasn't meant to be. His bitter loss to Harstem in group stages doomed his bracket, and although he did look legitimately good against ShoWTimE, he once again fell short in TvZ, losing to Snute in a fairly solid effort which ultimately mattered little. Good play is always held in high esteem, even when the player ended up losing. We often remember those who played well, alongside those who won. It dulls the blade of defeat, for some. Yet, defeat is ravenous, unescapable—every time it returns, as sharp as ever, ready to inact pain and misery.

Kelazhur's entire career has been spent trying to evade defeat, trying to fumble around the shadows until he found the light. Not only is he present in a region which few give attention to, but he's in the obvious shadow of a Latin American terran who has always exceeded his accomplishments. The comparision to SpeCial has been around ever since he began playing competitively, but this was when it really stung. The two were in direct competition for the title of best terran west of Korea, and it was under this bright light where Kelazhur truly failed—before this year, his win record when playing against SpeCial was close to 50/50. Perhaps a slight edge in the Mexican's favor, but not an indisputable one. Yet, it was this year—Kelazhur's absolute greatest by far as a pro player—which featured him crumbling against his rival in the one year where it mattered; the one year where surpassing SpeCial meant true, honest glory. It's a cruel irony of life for wins to come when they matter least, always tinged by the defeats which unavoidably mattered more.

All this leaves Kelazhur as perhaps the only player—Korean or otherwise—at BlizzCon to never have a moment in the sun. All year, there has never been a definitive moment where one could say Kelazhur had a golden opportunity in his bracket. The event featuring his strongest form, WCS Austin, cruelly matched him up with one of the known foreign killers in Nerchio. He fought, of course - he fought as hard as he reasonably could. But that has come to be Kelazhur's greatest weakness. He fights not only his enemy, but reason, and fate. He's never been in good enough form to win a championship, never favored by the odds, and never blessed by a miracle. But does that matter?

We often speak about championships as though they are the most essential piece of a career, and while that's true in many situations, there's something to be said about silent consistency. There's a certain beauty in being the type of player to show up with good form, having practiced hard, and eliminate one or two great players- even if those players are considered favored. Even if that means losing to someone with more skill, it equally means that an attempt was made, and it usually leads to high quality games due to the practiced passion on display. BlizzCon provides him an opportunity greater than any he has seen before in his career. While he faces difficult odds in his group, he's faced difficult odds his entire career - and that hasn't stopped him yet. Slowed, maybe. Stalled, perhaps. But never stopped. It would be easy to count Kelazhur out. To say he's just another failing foreign terran with a history of disappointments. But, it's every bit as easy to say that he's ruthlessly determined, that he practices as hard as anyone in WCS, and that he'll aim to surprise everyone watching. And, as we saw with Elazer last Global Finals, results accrued over the year mean nothing once one sets foot on Anaheim soil. Blizzcon is a rebirth, a cleansing of all disappointments and heartaches suffered throughout the year. It is Kelazhur who, more than anyone, stands to change his fate, to battle against his destiny, in the dimming light of late October.