• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 18:42
CEST 00:42
KST 07:42
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
RSL Season 1 - Final Week6[ASL19] Finals Recap: Standing Tall15HomeStory Cup 27 - Info & Preview18Classic wins Code S Season 2 (2025)16Code S RO4 & Finals Preview: herO, Rogue, Classic, GuMiho0
Community News
Esports World Cup 2025 - Brackets Revealed18Weekly Cups (July 7-13): Classic continues to roll8Team TLMC #5 - Submission extension3Firefly given lifetime ban by ESIC following match-fixing investigation17$25,000 Streamerzone StarCraft Pro Series announced7
StarCraft 2
General
Who will win EWC 2025? Heaven's Balance Suggestions (roast me) Esports World Cup 2025 - Brackets Revealed The Memories We Share - Facing the Final(?) GSL RSL Revival patreon money discussion thread
Tourneys
Sea Duckling Open (Global, Bronze-Diamond) FEL Cracov 2025 (July 27) - $8000 live event Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament RSL: Revival, a new crowdfunded tournament series $5,100+ SEL Season 2 Championship (SC: Evo)
Strategy
How did i lose this ZvP, whats the proper response
Custom Maps
External Content
Mutation # 482 Wheel of Misfortune Mutation # 481 Fear and Lava Mutation # 480 Moths to the Flame Mutation # 479 Worn Out Welcome
Brood War
General
Flash Announces (and Retracts) Hiatus From ASL BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ Soulkey Muta Micro Map? BW General Discussion [ASL19] Finals Recap: Standing Tall
Tourneys
2025 ACS Season 2 Qualifier [BSL 2v2] ProLeague Season 3 - Friday 21:00 CET [Megathread] Daily Proleagues CSL Xiamen International Invitational
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers I am doing this better than progamers do.
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Path of Exile Nintendo Switch Thread CCLP - Command & Conquer League Project The PlayStation 5
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine US Politics Mega-thread The Games Industry And ATVI Stop Killing Games - European Citizens Initiative
Fan Clubs
SKT1 Classic Fan Club! Maru Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread [Manga] One Piece Korean Music Discussion Movie Discussion! [\m/] Heavy Metal Thread
Sports
2024 - 2025 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 NBA General Discussion
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Ping To Win? Pings And Their…
TrAiDoS
momentary artworks from des…
tankgirl
from making sc maps to makin…
Husyelt
StarCraft improvement
iopq
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 723 users

TRUE: Never Change - Rank 15 - Road to BlizzCon

Forum Index > SC2 General
19 CommentsPost a Reply

TRUE: Never Change - Rank 15 - Road to BlizzCon

Text byTL.net ESPORTS
Graphics byhexhaven
October 11th, 2017 13:30 GMT
Photo Credit: DreamHack
TRUE
Bang Tae Soo
PSISTORM Gaming


Never Change

by Olli


Evolution is key to success. Charles Darwin knew it long before the news reached the StarCraft II scene, but it applies equally in our esport as it does in nature. Only the best adapted win the battle and remain alive. As animals have over the span of thousands of years, pro-gamers are faced with the reality that they cannot always stick to their preferences and comforts. As the game, or even the esports landscape around it, change, so do players. Most of them are young people who, as their career goes on, grow up as individuals. But especially in StarCraft II, metagame shifts have forced essentially everyone in the game to adopt new ways of playing the game, only to abandon them again with the next change. Everyone but TRUE.

"Metagame shifts have forced everyone to adopt new ways of playing the game. Everyone but TRUE."
TRUE is one of a kind, an anomaly of nature. He has never changed. The style of play commonly associated with him is still the exact same as it was years ago, when he was not yet a WCS player, but competed under the Jin Air banner in Korea. The aura he exerts is the same as it always was—he is almost predictably volatile. He is intimidating because the way he plays is effective and difficult to counter even if it is expected. Builds that regular Zerg players would never think of doing TRUE has crafted and refined.




(P)MyuNgSiK switched to Overwatch shortly after.


This article could have been written about Jin Air TRUE in 2014. Even then he would always favor unorthodox, usually zergling-heavy early game strategies, preferably ones that also incorporate queens, even as offensive tools, over a standard macro game. If a match moved past that stage TRUE would mass banelings and never transition. Even then he already had a long standing reputation for having an out-of-the-meta kind of approach to the game. No KeSPA team-house drove out the maniac in TRUE. You can imagine what happened when he was put into an environment with considerably fewer factors to discipline him. Today he is no different. TRUE will cheese his opponents because that is what TRUE has always done. In many ways it is his standard, and to deviate from it would be throwing a curve-ball.



Winrate


65.07% vs. Terran
62.45% vs. Protoss
68.66% vs. Zerg

Rank


Circuit Standings
7

WCS Points


3170



When he made the move to the United States in 2016, TRUE had no chance but to win a WCS Circuit Event in order to qualify for BlizzCon, as he had missed the first two due to visa issues. And so he did. He brought a brand of play that nobody in the region was prepared for, but that TRUE had been accustomed to for years. That was the point in his career where TRUE should have dropped off and disappeared. Given enough time and exposure, his idea of playing StarCraft II should not have been enough to propel him to another Global Finals, no matter how comfortable TRUE was with a style that was truly his own. It is where evolution should have run its course and TRUE should have been punished for his lack of adaptation, where others should have been rewarded. That was not the case. TRUE, the dinosaur, survived.

He survived because there is nobody like him. Preparing to face TRUE must be a nigh impossible task. Even if you, as a potential opponent, found someone who knew the full spectrum of absurd early aggression TRUE employs, they would never possess the same level of finesse and execution with it that he does. These strategies and odd mind-bending variations are second nature to TRUE and nobody else on the planet will be able to replicate them. Once you have prepared, and you find yourself in the game against him, the paranoia is set to begin. Where are his hatcheries? Is he hiding tech somewhere? Is he cancelling anything? How is he trying to trick you this time? This essentially lets TRUE dictate the flow of every game he plays.

It is, however, a fact that he has been much less successful this year. Perhaps that stems from the same source as his longevity. Despite how broad the spectrum of TRUE's strategies is, they all ultimately follow a similar trend. They are most likely very aggressive builds that attack early on. Even if not perfectly scouted, most players at BlizzCon are good enough to remain defensively solid until they are certainly safe, especially against a player like TRUE. A lot of aggressive strategies are defended quite similarly. And because TRUE has stuck to his guns, he will lose games to that reality.

Nobody knows how TRUE will fare at BlizzCon. He could be a huge success, or he could crash and burn. If the latter happens, so be it. That is the price TRUE is willing to pay to stay true to himself. Winning has never been the ultimate goal for TRUE. It has always been winning his way. He could have adapted a different approach long ago, become a macro player striving for the lategame—he certainly has the mechanical ability for it. But that is not who TRUE is. Every game is an accurate replica of his mind. He expresses himself more strongly than most other players, and that is what makes him as exciting and unique as the games he produces.








Writer: Olli
Editor: munch, Olli
Photo Credit: DreamHack
Statistics: Aligulac
Facebook Twitter Reddit
TL+ Member
engesser1
Profile Blog Joined December 2016
264 Posts
October 11 2017 13:43 GMT
#2
True and #15? Really?????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Maru, he is the reason why i'm still playing and watching sc2
Argonauta
Profile Joined July 2016
Spain4906 Posts
October 11 2017 13:45 GMT
#3
Wow Darwin and SC2, my 2 passions, together in a sc2 article. Weird and beautiful read.
Rogue | Maru | Scarlett | Trap
TL+ Member
Mun_Su
Profile Joined December 2012
France2063 Posts
October 11 2017 13:47 GMT
#4
On October 11 2017 22:43 engesser1 wrote:
True and #15? Really?????????????????????????????????????????????????????

He desserves 16th

Good read !
INno <3 - TY - Maru - Taeja - Rain <3 - Classic <3 - Stephano <3 - soO <3 - Soulkey - Dark - SERRAL =O / END REGION LOCK
Fango
Profile Joined July 2016
United Kingdom8987 Posts
Last Edited: 2017-10-11 13:51:47
October 11 2017 13:50 GMT
#5
TRUE's hatch blocks were some of the funiest things to watch. And his run in Montreal last year reminds me of Neeb's kespa cup. Both players went to a brand new region and brought a style that no one was ready for

Still don't think he has much of a chance at blizzcon,. Maybe against Gumi if he seriously derps out?
Zest, sOs, PartinG, Dark, and Maru are the real champs. ROOT_herO is overrated. Snute, Serral, and Scarlett are the foreigner GOATs
Boggyb
Profile Joined January 2017
2855 Posts
October 11 2017 13:54 GMT
#6
On October 11 2017 22:47 Mun_Su wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 11 2017 22:43 engesser1 wrote:
True and #15? Really?????????????????????????????????????????????????????

He desserves 16th

Good read !

Nah. SpeCial should have been 16th.

While TRUE was 7th in WCS Circuit standings, his most recent result was a top 4. Admittedly, he did that off the back of ZvZ so that isn't super impressive.
Fango
Profile Joined July 2016
United Kingdom8987 Posts
October 11 2017 13:56 GMT
#7
On October 11 2017 22:54 Boggyb wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 11 2017 22:47 Mun_Su wrote:
On October 11 2017 22:43 engesser1 wrote:
True and #15? Really?????????????????????????????????????????????????????

He desserves 16th

Good read !

Nah. SpeCial should have been 16th.

While TRUE was 7th in WCS Circuit standings, his most recent result was a top 4. Admittedly, he did that off the back of ZvZ so that isn't super impressive.


SpeCial stands a small chance at blizzcon, TRUE doesn't. That's why SpeCial is higher
Zest, sOs, PartinG, Dark, and Maru are the real champs. ROOT_herO is overrated. Snute, Serral, and Scarlett are the foreigner GOATs
geokilla
Profile Joined May 2011
Canada8230 Posts
October 11 2017 17:04 GMT
#8
Not going to lie.. I'm surprised TRUE made it to Blizzcon.
FilthyRake
Profile Blog Joined June 2010
United States473 Posts
October 11 2017 17:17 GMT
#9
On October 12 2017 02:04 geokilla wrote:
Not going to lie.. I'm surprised TRUE made it to Blizzcon.


right, only 3 top 4 finishes in the WCS circuit?! What a scrub!
Co-owner of PSISTORM Gaming
dragoon
Profile Joined December 2010
United States695 Posts
October 11 2017 17:47 GMT
#10
damn guys, yall are fucking brutal. goodluck at blizzcon TRUE you're very talented and i know you want to perform well!
i love you
Hadronsbecrazy
Profile Joined September 2013
United Kingdom551 Posts
October 11 2017 18:01 GMT
#11
lowest ranked korean on power ranks FeelsBadMan

User was temp banned for this post.
No need Build Orders, Only Micro,Favourite Players: Maru, Zest, soOjwa , CJherO
The_Red_Viper
Profile Blog Joined August 2013
19533 Posts
October 11 2017 18:17 GMT
#12
Interesting premise for this article, i am not 100% sure how true (hehe) it is but i will just believe you now
Nice read regardless though, enjoyed it very much.
The ranking also seems decent, he really didn't look super strong this year.
IU | Sohyang || There is no God and we are his prophets | For if ‘Thou mayest’—it is also true that ‘Thou mayest not.” | Ignorance is the parent of fear |
[16thSq] Kuro
Profile Blog Joined April 2014
1213 Posts
October 11 2017 20:10 GMT
#13
I will just point out that recently he's been actually adapting and changing his style a bit, for example making it more macro, but it's still his own style. There is indeed no one else like him.
|| All my links: bento.me/16thsquadsanseki || Co-founder of CranKy Ducklings || SC2 Info Fairy ||
Rolltide
Profile Joined May 2017
United States447 Posts
October 11 2017 22:06 GMT
#14
Nah. SpeCial should have been 16th.


Why would Special ever be ranked below Kelazur? He has a 31-15 record against him playing the same race.

Rolltide
Profile Joined May 2017
United States447 Posts
October 11 2017 22:09 GMT
#15
I honestly think Impact might be better than True and Impact was ranked 40th in Korea in WCS points.

Boggyb
Profile Joined January 2017
2855 Posts
October 11 2017 22:34 GMT
#16
On October 12 2017 07:06 Rolltide wrote:
Show nested quote +
Nah. SpeCial should have been 16th.


Why would Special ever be ranked below Kelazur? He has a 31-15 record against him playing the same race.


SpeCial finished 8th in WCS Circuit standings and failed to make it out of group stages at the most recent WCS event. SpeCial might have more upside than Kelazhur but he hasn't been particularly good lately.
Fango
Profile Joined July 2016
United Kingdom8987 Posts
Last Edited: 2017-10-11 23:15:29
October 11 2017 23:14 GMT
#17
On October 12 2017 07:34 Boggyb wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 12 2017 07:06 Rolltide wrote:
Nah. SpeCial should have been 16th.


Why would Special ever be ranked below Kelazur? He has a 31-15 record against him playing the same race.


SpeCial finished 8th in WCS Circuit standings and failed to make it out of group stages at the most recent WCS event. SpeCial might have more upside than Kelazhur but he hasn't been particularly good lately.


You don't usually base rankings of purely the latest tournament. You look at their acheivments over the year and make a guess about how strong they could be. In terms of skill, MajOr has almost always been ahead.

Kela technically had a better finish in the latest WCS, but it still wasn't particularly impressive. He beat Ziggy, Namshar, and ShoWTimE to get the ro8 right? None of those players were contenders for anything this year
Zest, sOs, PartinG, Dark, and Maru are the real champs. ROOT_herO is overrated. Snute, Serral, and Scarlett are the foreigner GOATs
Danglars
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States12133 Posts
Last Edited: 2017-10-12 05:08:32
October 12 2017 04:56 GMT
#18
That is the price TRUE is willing to pay to stay true to himself.

Okay, which author couldn't resist a line like this? haha Olli
Great armies come from happy zealots, and happy zealots come from California!
TL+ Member
ParksonVN
Profile Joined October 2015
Australia370 Posts
October 12 2017 07:00 GMT
#19
I’m impressed the most by his name: Bang the Soo :D
Executer08
Profile Joined June 2015
Germany163 Posts
October 14 2017 19:00 GMT
#20
(P)MyuNgSiK switched to Overwatch shortly after.


hehe, nice remark.

TRUE definitely disappointed after he just straight up won WCS Montreal last year and i think 15th place in this ranking is pretty accurate.
"You have the image of being a robotic, stoic player among foreign fans. What do you think about that?" - "I don’t think it’s incorrect." || letodSWAG
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 11h 18m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
CosmosSc2 102
JuggernautJason90
Ketroc 63
ProTech60
Nina 25
StarCraft: Brood War
firebathero 200
Aegong 47
Shine 37
yabsab 24
Dota 2
monkeys_forever608
LuMiX1
League of Legends
Grubby4855
Counter-Strike
fl0m2543
Other Games
tarik_tv23308
summit1g12461
ViBE182
Skadoodle161
Trikslyr80
ForJumy 45
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick2700
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 17 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• HeavenSC 79
• RyuSc2 60
• musti20045 38
• davetesta18
• Kozan
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• sooper7s
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• HerbMon 65
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
Dota 2
• masondota22533
Other Games
• imaqtpie1948
Upcoming Events
Sparkling Tuna Cup
11h 18m
Online Event
17h 18m
BSL 2v2 ProLeague S3
19h 18m
Esports World Cup
2 days
ByuN vs Astrea
Lambo vs HeRoMaRinE
Clem vs TBD
Solar vs Zoun
SHIN vs Reynor
Maru vs TriGGeR
herO vs Lancer
Cure vs ShoWTimE
Esports World Cup
3 days
Esports World Cup
4 days
Esports World Cup
5 days
CranKy Ducklings
6 days
BSL20 Non-Korean Champi…
6 days
BSL20 Non-Korean Champi…
6 days
Bonyth vs Sziky
Dewalt vs Hawk
Hawk vs QiaoGege
Sziky vs Dewalt
Mihu vs Bonyth
Zhanhun vs QiaoGege
QiaoGege vs Fengzi
Liquipedia Results

Completed

CSL Xiamen Invitational: ShowMatche
RSL Revival: Season 1
Murky Cup #2

Ongoing

BSL 2v2 Season 3
Copa Latinoamericana 4
Jiahua Invitational
BSL20 Non-Korean Championship
CSL Xiamen Invitational
2025 ACS Season 2
Championship of Russia 2025
Underdog Cup #2
FISSURE Playground #1
BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 7
IEM Dallas 2025
PGL Astana 2025
Asian Champions League '25

Upcoming

CSLPRO Last Chance 2025
CSLPRO Chat StarLAN 3
BSL Season 21
RSL Revival: Season 2
SEL Season 2 Championship
uThermal 2v2 Main Event
FEL Cracov 2025
Esports World Cup 2025
ESL Pro League S22
StarSeries Fall 2025
FISSURE Playground #2
BLAST Open Fall 2025
BLAST Open Fall Qual
Esports World Cup 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall Qual
IEM Cologne 2025
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.