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GuMiho: Pandemonium in a Bottle - Rank 9 - Road to BlizzCon

Forum Index > SC2 General
115 CommentsPost a Reply
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GuMiho: Pandemonium in a Bottle - Rank 9 - Road to BlizzCon

Text byTL.net ESPORTS
Graphics byshiroiusagi
October 17th, 2017 14:32 GMT
Photo Credit: Shayla
GuMiho
Koh Byung Jae
PSISTORM Gaming


Pandemonium in a Bottle


by Zealously


Meticulous. Medivacs and MM pushes pick apart the world’s best players and end a tournament in a stunning sweep, a symphony of annihilation. Explosive. Gumiho goes out in a blaze of glory, the game as out of control to him as it is to his opponent. Unpredictable. Unusual compositions, timings bordering on the bizarre and an unmatched potential for streaks inject a dose of fear into the bloodstream of the Korean competitive circuit. Affable. A seven-year career goes unmarred by controversy. Resilient. The ceiling of a booth collapses during a match and hits him in the head, and he proceeds to win the game after a break. Timeless. He neither burns out nor fades away.

"For a player of so many defining characteristics and fabled moments, Gumiho is a perpetual shadow over the world of competitive StarCraft."
For a player of so many defining characteristics and fabled moments, who has been praised in as many ways as he, Gumiho is a perpetual shadow over the world of competitive Starcraft. From GSL playoffs in 2011 to jaw-dropping GSTL sweeps in 2012, through his nailbiters against Losira on repeated occasions and all the way through Heart of the Swarm into the game’s current iteration, Gumiho has maintained that tinge of alacrity that sometimes fade from players that iron out their mechanical identities. Some players – most, in fact – can only thrive in the microcosm they create for themselves in-game, in which they dictate the terms. INnoVation has often been a good example, matched in the foreign scene by the 2010-2011 boneheaded game plans of IdrA. There are players who excel in their zones, who will push the boundaries when left to their own devices. Gumiho, on the other hand, has neither feared the nitty-gritty multitasking that so defined early Terran play nor shied away from the carefully planned mech play that became an almost mandatory skill once Swarm Hosts became talk of the town in Korea. Left to his own devices, Gumiho has tended to make something new for himself each time.

No, Gumiho’s shtick has always been that he has no devices. At least, none that so bind him that he becomes crippled in an unfamiliar scenario. If bio play would not do the trick and mech proved to unwieldy, Gumiho mastered the degrees in between. When nothing formulaic would cut it, Gumiho levelheadedly abandoned the algebra altogether. Instead of mastering the predictable, he has found his greatest successes in metagame flux and in games that spiral way out of control. In games that are too strict and detail-oriented, Gumiho possesses a battering ram of a playstyle that cracks anything more rigid than he. There is something a little comical in a player who gets his nickname from sweating profusely (see: hyperhidrosis) – something typically associated with nervousness or significant stress – being at his very best in panicked situations. But when a game spirals out of control, Gumiho takes the reins, and very few players have ever been able to stop him.



Winrate


66.78% vs. Terran
65.82% vs. Protoss
64.10% vs. Zerg

Rank


Circuit Standings
6

WCS Points


6800



He has been pinned as a future champion not once or twice or a dozen times over the years but countless, as revered for his adaptability as he is respected for his mechanics. That he finally joined the ranks of GSL champions in 2017 might have felt overdue for how good he has been at many points in his career, but it is also endemic to the small subset of players to which Gumiho belongs: a category that he, with his trophy and his longevity, now headlines. It is of course impossible to claim that he has always done everything better than everyone else – that Gumiho has suffered long bouts of insignificance is hardly a secret. But it is similarly impossible to claim that Gumiho has ever been helpless, or out of contention completely. Like a lightning bolt let free of its mystical bottle, he can surge skyward at a moment’s notice, only to bend over the horizon in the next. That his GSL victory came almost six years later than many of us expected was surprising, but also an incredibly fitting conclusion to his long hunt for a Starleague trophy.

All of this said, no fantastical story or unique identity pays the bills. A moderately successful stint on a CJ Entus that never lived up to its theoretical potential puts no dent in the history books. If Gumiho is characterized by his perseverance and brilliant moments burned onto our collective retina by the light of a star, then he has need for the second occurrence to cement the first. Gumiho is a champion now, and his place in the annals of the GSL can no longer be disputed, but this is rarely enough. There is need for expansion, for the next step on the perilous ladder of tournament merit. The title of champion gives Gumiho undeniable cred, but opens a door to much greater glory that might close at a moment’s notice. Each year added to the final tally of a Starcraft player’s career makes the continued investment difficult, both physically/mentally and motivationally. There is no indication that Gumiho would throw in the towel here and now, but “the next year” always tastes of unknowing and risk. What if 2017 is his best opportunity, and the Global Finals presents Gumiho with the best opportunity at immortalizing himself?

Gumiho must strike now. Not because he is at immediate risk of fading away, or because his wrists carry the immutable signs of Carpal Tunnel that seem to strike all Terrans, or because his skills are deteriorating past the point where they allow a revival.

No, this is the best opportunity for Gumiho because of who he is – lightning in a bottle, a wild storm sweeping in over land, the wild fluctuation inherent to a scene so cutthroat as to defy long-term prediction. He is the Starcraft embodiment of the double-edged sword, the equivalent of a kamikaze with a taste for survival. Gumiho was always capable of winning, always possessed the skillset necessary to do it. That it has taken him so long to get here is a byproduct of what has also given him this opportunity: the capacity for streaks, the ability to break barriers. Ask anyone what defines this player, and the answers will be polarizing. For bridging gaps between playstyles, for achieving success in Korea as well as overseas, in offline settings and online. For doing the unthinkable in one moment, falling far short of the simple in the next.

Gumiho might not be a favorite to take this trophy. Unquestionably, there are at least several players whose current forms seem better than his. But he has demonstrated championship form this year, as he has every year, and if we have learned anything from his blitzes, it is that he could very well do it again. After all, the player to eliminate him the season after his own championship victory later went on to win the event. The score between them at the time was 3-3.

Blizzcon is, in essence, year-long form pulled tight into a week-long event. Is this a boon or a hindrance for the most historically unpredictable player in the field? It will depend entirely on who shows up; whether he unleashes the lightning or leaves it locked in its bottle.








Writer: Zealously
Editor: Olli, munch
Photo Credit: DreamHack, Shayla
Statistics: Aligulac
Facebook Twitter Reddit
TL+ Member
Ej_
Profile Blog Joined January 2013
47656 Posts
October 17 2017 14:37 GMT
#2
This placement is a disgrace.
"Technically the dictionary has zero authority on the meaning or words" - Rodya
Powerfoe
Profile Joined April 2011
Canada167 Posts
October 17 2017 14:38 GMT
#3
Ranking a foreigner above a GSL winner is just disrespectful, I don't care who it is.
NOW YOU SEE?
engesser1
Profile Blog Joined December 2016
264 Posts
October 17 2017 14:45 GMT
#4
He beated Neeb's ass hard enough this year and he is still 9! Are you fcking kidding? NO NO NO NO NO.

#9! Gumiho is #9! This is so dead. I don't care too. fck it!
Maru, he is the reason why i'm still playing and watching sc2
Charoisaur
Profile Joined August 2014
Germany15953 Posts
October 17 2017 14:48 GMT
#5
cool read. wonder if soO or Neeb comes next.
Many of the coolest moments in sc2 happen due to worker harassment
Olli
Profile Blog Joined February 2012
Austria24417 Posts
October 17 2017 14:48 GMT
#6
I knew this would be where the fun in the comments begins.
Administrator"Declaring anything a disaster because aLive popped up out of nowhere is just downright silly."
engesser1
Profile Blog Joined December 2016
264 Posts
October 17 2017 14:53 GMT
#7
so much fun, as my quote, but so much fun and disrespectful.
Maru, he is the reason why i'm still playing and watching sc2
CynicalDeath
Profile Joined January 2012
Italy3381 Posts
October 17 2017 14:53 GMT
#8
...my ocd and those Gumihos...
ModeratorSC2 LP Admin - My Life for Aiur - Let the Metal flow - @Cynical_Death
Durnuu
Profile Joined September 2013
13320 Posts
October 17 2017 14:53 GMT
#9
On October 17 2017 23:37 Ej_ wrote:
This placement is a disgrace.

http://aligulac.com/results/search/?search=&after=&before=&players=Neeb 4495
GuMiho 44&event=&bestof=all&offline=both&game=all&wcs_season=&wcs_tier=

:D
BUNNYYYYYYYYY https://i.imgur.com/BiCF577.png
Olli
Profile Blog Joined February 2012
Austria24417 Posts
Last Edited: 2017-10-17 14:54:34
October 17 2017 14:54 GMT
#10
It's not disrespectful to rank him here. He's fallen off a lot as of late and that factors in.

As for head to head, it remains the worst indicator of skill.
Administrator"Declaring anything a disaster because aLive popped up out of nowhere is just downright silly."
Luolis
Profile Blog Joined May 2012
Finland7104 Posts
October 17 2017 14:56 GMT
#11
Why do you guys feel like losing your sleep over Gumiho being lower in a pre-ranking than Neeb? Why would you care so much about a random ranking before a tournament. :D It's just a ranking, i don't think you should take it so seriously. In the end, it means nothing, only the actual tournament games. Just wait for the games to begin and we'll see who does well and who doesn't. :D
pro cheese woman / Its never Sunny in Finland. Perkele / FinnishStarcraftTrivia
engesser1
Profile Blog Joined December 2016
264 Posts
October 17 2017 14:56 GMT
#12
On October 17 2017 23:54 Olli wrote:
It's not disrespectful to rank him here. He's fallen off a lot as of late and that factors in.

My newest quote.
Maru, he is the reason why i'm still playing and watching sc2
engesser1
Profile Blog Joined December 2016
264 Posts
Last Edited: 2017-10-17 15:04:44
October 17 2017 15:02 GMT
#13
Actually he is right. Gumiho, he is fallen off a lot, escpecially SHOUTcraft Kings September 2017 (8 games in a row, sick 8 games!), Ballistix Brawl Finals (against Rogue and Byun? <- losers), oh, and Gosu_PvP Cup (4:0 Neeb), and Master's Coliseum 1 and TaKe's Penthouse Party 2 (3:2 Neeb, and then 4:0 Showtime). Right, so bad.
Maru, he is the reason why i'm still playing and watching sc2
DieuCure
Profile Joined January 2017
France3713 Posts
October 17 2017 15:05 GMT
#14
On October 17 2017 23:37 Ej_ wrote:
This placement is a disgrace.


Rofl no, it was really predictable between him and Neeb.
TL+ Member
Ej_
Profile Blog Joined January 2013
47656 Posts
October 17 2017 15:10 GMT
#15
On October 18 2017 00:05 DieuCure wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 17 2017 23:37 Ej_ wrote:
This placement is a disgrace.


Rofl no, it was really predictable between him and Neeb.

GSL winner vs a guy who placed lower than NoRegret.
"Technically the dictionary has zero authority on the meaning or words" - Rodya
Avicularia
Profile Joined February 2012
540 Posts
October 17 2017 15:11 GMT
#16
It does not matter what's the score in Neeb vs Gumiho. It's more about their overall form lately.
engesser1
Profile Blog Joined December 2016
264 Posts
October 17 2017 15:14 GMT
#17
On October 18 2017 00:11 Avicularia wrote:
It's more about their overall form lately.

okay, show us the real overall from lately.
Maru, he is the reason why i'm still playing and watching sc2
Luolis
Profile Blog Joined May 2012
Finland7104 Posts
October 17 2017 15:16 GMT
#18
On October 17 2017 23:56 Luolis wrote:
Why do you guys feel like losing your sleep over Gumiho being lower in a pre-ranking than Neeb?

Re-asking my question xd
pro cheese woman / Its never Sunny in Finland. Perkele / FinnishStarcraftTrivia
DieuCure
Profile Joined January 2017
France3713 Posts
Last Edited: 2017-10-17 15:17:00
October 17 2017 15:16 GMT
#19
On October 18 2017 00:10 Ej_ wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 18 2017 00:05 DieuCure wrote:
On October 17 2017 23:37 Ej_ wrote:
This placement is a disgrace.


Rofl no, it was really predictable between him and Neeb.

GSL winner vs a guy who placed lower than NoRegret.


Gumiho had the run of his life, then nothing in offline tournaments compared to the top top, sure they are near for the powerrank and maybe a little biaised because it's the best foreigners etc
TL+ Member
engesser1
Profile Blog Joined December 2016
264 Posts
October 17 2017 15:19 GMT
#20
Not losing but respect. His games, it's an art style. He did so many this year, so much addictable. He rediscovered mech, tons of builds, and so much crazy things in GSL! RESPECT HIM! god damn.
Maru, he is the reason why i'm still playing and watching sc2
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