KeSPA's Custodian

October 16, 2016.

It’s the day the troubled relationship between KeSPA and StarCraft II came to an end. It began in tempestuous waters, with heated words and a begrudging acceptance that the organization came late to the party; it ended in quiet defeat, with little more than a whimper as they retreated into the night.

KeSPA helped transform the original StarCraft into a cultural phenomenon by giving it legitimacy and corporate backing, but now its descendant would have to live without such support. Gone was Proleague and with it the structure of team houses and the promise of a safe salary. Those who labored in the system had watched their peers fly through high school and university; whether they were anxiety ridden or zealously hopeful, the discarded players bravely embarked into the new age, never having been given a choice.

One year later, it’s hard to remember the days when players lined up opposite one another fighting for sponsors and comrades instead of personal glory. That’s partly because 2017 has been so special in terms of how players have adjusted to the post-KeSPA era. We’ve witnessed the resurgence of soO, the meteoric rise of Rogue, the dominance of INnoVation and, after a brief interruption, the breathtaking stylings of Dark. And, of course, the humdrum consistency of Stats.

The current stars leading the scene come off as individuals with aspirations and nuance as opposed to conservative macro players rolling off the assembly line. Sure INnoVation is a former Proleague ace and once embodied such play, but he quit on his team in 2016 out of slothfulness and disinterest. soO’s freakish mechanics are exactly the sort of sublime genius one identifies with KeSPA players, but his gripes with SK Telecom are well documented. Our newest champion Rogue was raised in the team house environment, but he always felt like an outsider that complied just enough to get by. Dark took advantage of what SKT was offering, but the eSF scoundrel never allowed the training to overwrite his DNA.

And then there’s Stats. Hard working, loyal, humble and focused. Adaptable and creative, but not erratic and illogical, Stats is exactly what KeSPA had in mind when they established the team house environment. KeSPA is gone and StarCraft II may very well be better off for it, but its last son Stats is still playing, still winning the old way.

We’ve gotten to know Stats quite well over the years. We admire him for his tireless work ethic, the type of nose to the grindstone attitude we all wish we could embody. He has very few critics, if any, as people are drawn to his affable nature. Then there’s the indisputable fact that he’s talented, though he seems blissfully ignorant of how phenomenal those gifts are. He just keeps pushing himself harder and harder, going from Proleague regular to ace, to champion, avoiding the pitfalls of Kongdom along the way. He was never satisfied with his results and always strove for more. It’s what his fans love and respect about him. It’s why they look at him so fondly and cheer for him so fervently. They may not be shouting his name from the rooftops like supporters of other elite players, but they see something in Stats they can relate to: confirmation of the age old adage about hard work.

Stats has always been LotV’s brightest star even when publicity and scheduling connived to make him a wallflower. He’s made the semifinals of eleven premier events, winning GSL Season 1 and SSL Premier Season 2 within the last seven months. He’s shaped metas and defined matchups. He’s been an indefatigable force over the last two years, and he’s done it all under the shadow of his contemporaries. For someone who was reduced to the role of understudy for much of his time on KT Rolster, playing second fiddle was nothing new. KeSPA always had stars, but the system was structured in such a way that everyone was required to give it their all, even when some never even got to take the stage after years toiling away in the team house. Players like Billowy got their moments in the sun, but there were far more B-Teamers like PenguiN or DynaMite who never got a chance to shine. It almost seemed natural for Stats, someone who had to work from the ground floor up, to cede attention to Dark and ByuN. Those players faded in time, supplanted by INnoVation, but Stats persevered.

KeSPA couldn’t teach every lesson. They could give players tools and structure, but an individual still had to take the next big step on their own if they wanted to achieve greatness. On KT, Stats stood besides Flash and Zest. If he wanted to inherit their legacy, he had a lot of work to do.

Stats was already a capable player when Legacy of the Void was released, but he was far from realizing his potential. His play was still rough around the edges. He lacked a greater understanding of the game, inevitably falling victim to rigid decision-making and a frail grasp on strategy as tournaments dragged on. He couldn’t dictate the pace of a game let alone manipulate the tides of a series, a deficiency which made a grand victory hard to come by. Riddled by hesitancy and uncertainty, he crumbled when the pressure was on.

It took another year of hard work before he began learning the lessons KeSPA couldn’t teach. Results started to pile up and although he lost his first Starleague finals to Dark, evidence of improvement was clear as day. He was seeing thing other players didn’t—for instance, how to fully exploit oracles against Zerg. He beat soO in GSL Season 1. He had learned to win. Whether it was with a deft timing or in a lengthy macro game, it didn’t matter. He could battle through the muck and come out the other side just as he could pioneer a comeback when in dire straits. Stats had gained the intangibles, the hidden teachings KeSPA could never advertise on one’s first tour of the team house.

Legacy of the Void has been a series of dramatically shifting landscapes, with most players failing to keep up. While aLive, Maru, ByuN and ByuL imitated Achilles with their brief, blinding moments of glory, Stats opted to be wily and grounded like Odysseus. Part of it has to be the resiliency gleaned from his time with KT Rolster. He never made excuses for himself and always kept improving. That’s the perspective with which he approaches the game to this day.

It’s hard to extrapolate what once was into the present but, looking at Stats, it's clear KeSPA’s values lives on. It’s through them that he’s become the greatest player of the last two years. Though overshadowed by Dark, ByuN and INnoVation, Stats was never in it for the attention. They may have shone far brighter, but they were really the ones standing in his shadow. Stats is KeSPA’s custodian, the pinnacle of the Korean model of humility, dedication and hard work. When he takes the BlizzCon stage, he does so with nearly fifteen years of history behind him. Champions like NaDa, iloveoov, Flash, Jaedong are arrayed behind him, those who strode KeSPA’s path before him. Stats will be fighting for himself and for their legacy, ready to carry the old ways to new glory.