• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 15:31
CEST 21:31
KST 04:31
  • 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
Serral wins HomeStory Cup 2914Serral wins Maestros of the Game 243ByuL, and the Limitations of Standard Play3Team Liquid Map Contest #22: Results and Winners7Code S Season 2 (2026): RO4 and Finals Preview12
Community News
ZeroSpace Early Access is Now Live!17Weekly Cups (July 13-19): Terran & Protoss rise; Zerg falters2Balance hotfix patch 5.0.16b (July 16)84Reynor: GSL Loss Wasn't About Preparation Format16[IPSL] Spring 2026 Grand Finals - This Weekend!18
StarCraft 2
General
How would you feel about frequent/monthly balance patches for SC2? Balance hotfix patch 5.0.16b (July 16) Clem: "I don't have that much hope in Blizzard" Weekly Cups (July 13-19): Terran & Protoss rise; Zerg falters [D] Wireframe Casting Removed
Tourneys
RSL Revival: Season 6 - Qualifiers and Main Event Master Swan Open (Global Bronze-Master 2) WardiTV Summer Cup 2026 GSL CK #5 Race War HomeStory Cup 29
Strategy
[G] Having the right mentality to improve
Custom Maps
[M] (2) Industrial Park New Map Maker - Looking for Advice - Love or Hate
External Content
Mutation # 535 Assembly of Vengeance The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 534 Burning Evacuation Mutation # 533 Die Together
Brood War
General
BW General Discussion BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ Animated Gateway HORROR STARCRAFT MOVIE How Famous was FlaSh before his Debut?
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [IPSL] Spring 2026 Grand Finals - This Weekend! Escore Tournament - Season 3 Small VOD Thread 2.0
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers PvT advise for noobs Fighting Spirit mining rates Creating a full chart of Zerg builds
Other Games
General Games
Path of Exile General RTS Discussion Thread Diablo IV ZeroSpace Early Access is Now Live! ZeroSpace at Steam NextFest - Last free demo
Dota 2
Looking for a Dota Mentor Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
TSM pausing esports and CLG Dead
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Power Rank NeO.D_StephenKing vs This Guy From 1 Million Dance TL Mafia Community Thread Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
Russo-Ukrainian War Thread US Politics Mega-thread Artificial Intelligence Thread How to buy a book - shipping from Korea to Europe The Games Industry And ATVI
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club The HerO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread Series you have seen recently... Movie Discussion! [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 Formula 1 Discussion MLB/Baseball 2023 McBoner: A hockey love story
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread Simple Questions Simple Answers FPS when play League Of Legend on laptop
TL Community
Northern Ireland Global Starcraft The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Hello guys!
LIN1s
Role of Gaming on Mental Hea…
TrAiDoS
ASL S22 English Commentary…
namkraft
Poker (part 2)
Nebuchad
An Exploration of th…
waywardstrategy
ramps on octagon
StaticNine
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 4089 users

The gap has closed between foreigners and Korea - Page 11

Forum Index > SC2 General
Post a Reply
Prev 1 9 10 11 12 13 14 Next All
Xain0n
Profile Joined November 2018
Italy3963 Posts
August 19 2019 15:04 GMT
#201
On August 19 2019 23:47 Wombat_NI wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 19 2019 23:36 nanaoei wrote:
i don't understand your reasoning surrounding koreans moving abroad.
they have to do it currently if they want to participate.
they don't have to consider it at all if it is unlocked to all regions again.

moving abroad won't make it any easier to participate in WCS events, and it only dilutes GSL if they decide not to participate because of scheduling with other events, which is already often accounted for by TO's.

My point is that unlocking regions will just see the current Korean gatekeepers make more money in foreign tournaments, it’s not going to give opportunities to the guys below them, which is the rationale some people have in doing it.

The top of Korea is pretty fine, one bad tournament doesn’t really change that, it’s beneath that and the lack of new talent breaking through that is worse for the long term prospects of the scene.


Apparently korean audience isn't really fond of Sc2 and there haven't been new prospect rising to a decent level in years, in korean's pro scene; I seriously doubt you can hope to revert this process right now.

On the other hand, western audience likes Sc2(and maybe the game is on the rise in China as well) and there is a good amount of promising young players; reuniting the scenes to welcome top koreans would be a threat to them, mostly.
Given the good level foreigners are displaying at the moment, one can hope top koreans wouldn't strangle the prospects, let alone the whole foreign scene at it happened during HoTS.

I despise the "dead game" meme and I think Sc2 could go on for at least other 2-3 years as an esports, but we have to see what happens after the release of Wc3 reforged; WCS and GSL redisigned and merged into a global scene could be one interesting experiment.
Waxangel
Profile Blog Joined September 2002
United States33662 Posts
August 19 2019 16:15 GMT
#202
there aren't any esports solutions to SC2's GENERAL popularity problems
AdministratorHey HP can you redo everything youve ever done because i have a small complaint?
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland27222 Posts
August 19 2019 20:23 GMT
#203
On August 20 2019 00:01 deacon.frost wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 19 2019 23:39 Wombat_NI wrote:
On August 19 2019 04:29 SC-Shield wrote:
On August 18 2019 23:00 NinjaNight wrote:
On August 18 2019 16:32 SC-Shield wrote:
The gap hasn't closed. It's a consequence of events:
- KeSPA abandoned StarCraft scene
- Korean pro teams disbanded
- region lock / less tournaments for Koreans

Over time effects of these are beginning to show. When you weaken something, it doesn't mean "the gap has closed". It means level has gone down.


What? The level going down is what causes the gap to close lol...


When people say "the gap has closed" they mean Koreans and foreigners are equally good. No, they're not. Koreans lack the environment to play more seriously so level is going down. What I call "closing the gap" is when foreigners and Koreans are able to reach their peak without external influences (region lock, etc).

Having Korean corporations sponsoring full time team houses in a quite centralised country, with a league that requires you to stay in a country that is quite difficult for many foreigners culturally isn’t external?

What Korean corportaions sponsor full time team houses? Name 2 or more(better to name more than 2). I'll await the names of the corporations eagerly.

Well I’m hardly talking about now am I?
'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
Fecalfeast
Profile Joined January 2010
Canada11355 Posts
August 19 2019 20:25 GMT
#204
On August 20 2019 01:15 Waxangel wrote:
there aren't any esports solutions to SC2's GENERAL popularity problems

Do you think there are any solutions at all or is the decline inevitable in your opinion?
ModeratorINFLATE YOUR POST COUNT; PLAY TL MAFIA
Shuffleblade
Profile Joined February 2012
Sweden1903 Posts
August 19 2019 20:41 GMT
#205
On August 20 2019 05:25 Fecalfeast wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 20 2019 01:15 Waxangel wrote:
there aren't any esports solutions to SC2's GENERAL popularity problems

Do you think there are any solutions at all or is the decline inevitable in your opinion?

I know the question wasn't aimed at me but I think you can never know what will become popular in the future. There is still time for SC2 to get a massive boost. If specific things are done to signal boost it or not, just look at how minecraft has exploded again after pewdiepie released new videon on the game. All of a sudden its popularity soared back to old heights.

Depending how tired players get of being fed the same mobas and royales and if someone exposes enough people to Starcraft 2 at the right time it could still happen. Not saying it will just that it could, you never know what the next big thing will be.
Maru, Bomber, TY, Dear, Classic, DeParture and Rogue!
AlexZhang1012
Profile Joined June 2019
63 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-08-21 07:58:30
August 20 2019 02:08 GMT
#206
The foreigner scene is thriving no doubt, but Korean players are suffering because there's far less tournaments for them. If there are more non-blizzard-sponsored games for Koreans to play, there's no need to remove region lock anyway.

Edit: I mean non-blizzard-sponsored tournaments. The chinese team league is a good example.
TelecoM
Profile Blog Joined January 2010
United States10794 Posts
August 20 2019 04:40 GMT
#207
On August 20 2019 11:08 AlexZhang1012 wrote:
The foreigner scene is thriving no doubt, but Korean players are suffering because there's far less tournaments for them. If there are more non-blizzard-sponsored games for Koreans to play, there's no need to remove region lock anyway.

has Korea came up with any new RTS that they play outside of BW / SC2? That is the real question.. =P
AKA: TelecoM[WHITE] Protoss fighting
JimmyJRaynor
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Canada17701 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-08-20 04:44:00
August 20 2019 04:43 GMT
#208
On August 20 2019 13:40 GGzerG wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 20 2019 11:08 AlexZhang1012 wrote:
The foreigner scene is thriving no doubt, but Korean players are suffering because there's far less tournaments for them. If there are more non-blizzard-sponsored games for Koreans to play, there's no need to remove region lock anyway.

has Korea came up with any new RTS that they play outside of BW / SC2? That is the real question.. =P

maybe Koreans are getting better at other stuff and its costing them in Starcraft? Canada is producing more basketball players than ever before while producing fewer top notch hockey players than ever before.
Ray Kassar To David Crane : "you're no more important to Atari than the factory workers assembling the cartridges"
deacon.frost
Profile Joined February 2013
Czech Republic12132 Posts
August 20 2019 07:25 GMT
#209
On August 20 2019 05:23 Wombat_NI wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 20 2019 00:01 deacon.frost wrote:
On August 19 2019 23:39 Wombat_NI wrote:
On August 19 2019 04:29 SC-Shield wrote:
On August 18 2019 23:00 NinjaNight wrote:
On August 18 2019 16:32 SC-Shield wrote:
The gap hasn't closed. It's a consequence of events:
- KeSPA abandoned StarCraft scene
- Korean pro teams disbanded
- region lock / less tournaments for Koreans

Over time effects of these are beginning to show. When you weaken something, it doesn't mean "the gap has closed". It means level has gone down.


What? The level going down is what causes the gap to close lol...


When people say "the gap has closed" they mean Koreans and foreigners are equally good. No, they're not. Koreans lack the environment to play more seriously so level is going down. What I call "closing the gap" is when foreigners and Koreans are able to reach their peak without external influences (region lock, etc).

Having Korean corporations sponsoring full time team houses in a quite centralised country, with a league that requires you to stay in a country that is quite difficult for many foreigners culturally isn’t external?

What Korean corportaions sponsor full time team houses? Name 2 or more(better to name more than 2). I'll await the names of the corporations eagerly.

Well I’m hardly talking about now am I?

The present tense confused me... maybe you should avoid talking about the past as a reply to nowadays situation?
I imagine France should be able to take this unless Lilbow is busy practicing for Starcraft III. | KadaverBB is my fairy ban mother.
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland27222 Posts
August 20 2019 10:46 GMT
#210
On August 20 2019 16:25 deacon.frost wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 20 2019 05:23 Wombat_NI wrote:
On August 20 2019 00:01 deacon.frost wrote:
On August 19 2019 23:39 Wombat_NI wrote:
On August 19 2019 04:29 SC-Shield wrote:
On August 18 2019 23:00 NinjaNight wrote:
On August 18 2019 16:32 SC-Shield wrote:
The gap hasn't closed. It's a consequence of events:
- KeSPA abandoned StarCraft scene
- Korean pro teams disbanded
- region lock / less tournaments for Koreans

Over time effects of these are beginning to show. When you weaken something, it doesn't mean "the gap has closed". It means level has gone down.


What? The level going down is what causes the gap to close lol...


When people say "the gap has closed" they mean Koreans and foreigners are equally good. No, they're not. Koreans lack the environment to play more seriously so level is going down. What I call "closing the gap" is when foreigners and Koreans are able to reach their peak without external influences (region lock, etc).

Having Korean corporations sponsoring full time team houses in a quite centralised country, with a league that requires you to stay in a country that is quite difficult for many foreigners culturally isn’t external?

What Korean corportaions sponsor full time team houses? Name 2 or more(better to name more than 2). I'll await the names of the corporations eagerly.

Well I’m hardly talking about now am I?

The present tense confused me... maybe you should avoid talking about the past as a reply to nowadays situation?

If any gap closing now is devalued due to ‘external influences’ and doesn’t count, then it’s entirely appropriate to examine the gap and why it existed before no?

'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland27222 Posts
August 20 2019 10:56 GMT
#211
On August 20 2019 05:25 Fecalfeast wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 20 2019 01:15 Waxangel wrote:
there aren't any esports solutions to SC2's GENERAL popularity problems

Do you think there are any solutions at all or is the decline inevitable in your opinion?

The rewiring of the human psyche?

Between the maturation of VoIP and how that dovetails well with team games, vs how it doesn’t especially well with a 1v1 where you have to focus hardcore, other games just are a more sociable experience that’s hard to compete with with a general gaming audience.

Starcraft’s still doing pretty well compared to other 1v1 games.

A lack of other RTS games and it generally not being a particularly prominent genre these days doesn’t help either. Some people who are drawn in that I’ve convinced haven’t played RTS at all, so it’s a pretty big hurdle to get ready for ladder, although they all enjoyed the campaigns.

Hopefully WarCraft reforged brings in some new blood from the MOBA world and WoW players who maybe haven’t tried RTS yet and may enjoy it.
'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
Acrofales
Profile Joined August 2010
Spain18387 Posts
August 20 2019 11:04 GMT
#212
On August 20 2019 00:01 deacon.frost wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 19 2019 23:39 Wombat_NI wrote:
On August 19 2019 04:29 SC-Shield wrote:
On August 18 2019 23:00 NinjaNight wrote:
On August 18 2019 16:32 SC-Shield wrote:
The gap hasn't closed. It's a consequence of events:
- KeSPA abandoned StarCraft scene
- Korean pro teams disbanded
- region lock / less tournaments for Koreans

Over time effects of these are beginning to show. When you weaken something, it doesn't mean "the gap has closed". It means level has gone down.


What? The level going down is what causes the gap to close lol...


When people say "the gap has closed" they mean Koreans and foreigners are equally good. No, they're not. Koreans lack the environment to play more seriously so level is going down. What I call "closing the gap" is when foreigners and Koreans are able to reach their peak without external influences (region lock, etc).

Having Korean corporations sponsoring full time team houses in a quite centralised country, with a league that requires you to stay in a country that is quite difficult for many foreigners culturally isn’t external?

What Korean corportaions sponsor full time team houses? Name 2 or more(better to name more than 2). I'll await the names of the corporations eagerly.

JinAir is the only one I can think of right now, but that doesn't mean all the Samsung, KT, or SKT veterans don't still have the benefit from the environment in which they learned to play the game.

The main difference is that with the death of proleague, those teams are gone, and the current (Korean) teams have no incentive to invest in young talents. There aren't enough online tournaments that offer chances to potential talents either, and the EU/US online tournaments have too much lag for Koreans to compete with peers who, without the team houses and their practice regimen and learning opportunities, are their equals.

As for the region lock: what should probably happen is for more weekenders to move to Korea, and the GSL preparation format branch out to include international stops (think: GSL season 1 in Korea, season 2 in the US and season 3 in Europe somewhere). That way you can stay in Korea and have equal opportunities to win big WCS events. Or you can travel with the GSL tour and try to qualify for Blizzcon in only preparation style tournaments. And you can do the same if you live in Europe or the Americas.

But a restructuring like that requires a huge investment by someone (probably Blizzard) that is simply not going to happen. And that leaves the region lock as the only somewhat fair system: you want to compete in GSL? You basically have to live in Korea. So on the flipside: you want to compete in the WCS Circuit? You have to live elsewhere.

And I agree it is not fair that Scarlett and Special can do both. But it is a pretty unusual situation.
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland27222 Posts
August 20 2019 11:40 GMT
#213
On August 20 2019 20:04 Acrofales wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 20 2019 00:01 deacon.frost wrote:
On August 19 2019 23:39 Wombat_NI wrote:
On August 19 2019 04:29 SC-Shield wrote:
On August 18 2019 23:00 NinjaNight wrote:
On August 18 2019 16:32 SC-Shield wrote:
The gap hasn't closed. It's a consequence of events:
- KeSPA abandoned StarCraft scene
- Korean pro teams disbanded
- region lock / less tournaments for Koreans

Over time effects of these are beginning to show. When you weaken something, it doesn't mean "the gap has closed". It means level has gone down.


What? The level going down is what causes the gap to close lol...


When people say "the gap has closed" they mean Koreans and foreigners are equally good. No, they're not. Koreans lack the environment to play more seriously so level is going down. What I call "closing the gap" is when foreigners and Koreans are able to reach their peak without external influences (region lock, etc).

Having Korean corporations sponsoring full time team houses in a quite centralised country, with a league that requires you to stay in a country that is quite difficult for many foreigners culturally isn’t external?

What Korean corportaions sponsor full time team houses? Name 2 or more(better to name more than 2). I'll await the names of the corporations eagerly.

JinAir is the only one I can think of right now, but that doesn't mean all the Samsung, KT, or SKT veterans don't still have the benefit from the environment in which they learned to play the game.

The main difference is that with the death of proleague, those teams are gone, and the current (Korean) teams have no incentive to invest in young talents. There aren't enough online tournaments that offer chances to potential talents either, and the EU/US online tournaments have too much lag for Koreans to compete with peers who, without the team houses and their practice regimen and learning opportunities, are their equals.

As for the region lock: what should probably happen is for more weekenders to move to Korea, and the GSL preparation format branch out to include international stops (think: GSL season 1 in Korea, season 2 in the US and season 3 in Europe somewhere). That way you can stay in Korea and have equal opportunities to win big WCS events. Or you can travel with the GSL tour and try to qualify for Blizzcon in only preparation style tournaments. And you can do the same if you live in Europe or the Americas.

But a restructuring like that requires a huge investment by someone (probably Blizzard) that is simply not going to happen. And that leaves the region lock as the only somewhat fair system: you want to compete in GSL? You basically have to live in Korea. So on the flipside: you want to compete in the WCS Circuit? You have to live elsewhere.

And I agree it is not fair that Scarlett and Special can do both. But it is a pretty unusual situation.

I like some of these ideas for sure.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, I wonder how the scene would look if some of the current structures had been implemented way earlier.

The WCS Circuit works pretty damn well in its current form unfortunately it really came into its modern form when Korea had the Kespa pullout etc.

It feels to me that we’ve at some point had all the pieces needed for the optimal calendar puzzle, but never at the same time alas. A hypothetical Starcraft timeline when you have frequent weekenders, GSL, another StarLeague, Proleague with its team-based and prep based format, WCS circuit and Katowice and Blizzcon as the big prestige weekenders.

'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
deacon.frost
Profile Joined February 2013
Czech Republic12132 Posts
August 20 2019 12:08 GMT
#214
On August 20 2019 20:04 Acrofales wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 20 2019 00:01 deacon.frost wrote:
On August 19 2019 23:39 Wombat_NI wrote:
On August 19 2019 04:29 SC-Shield wrote:
On August 18 2019 23:00 NinjaNight wrote:
On August 18 2019 16:32 SC-Shield wrote:
The gap hasn't closed. It's a consequence of events:
- KeSPA abandoned StarCraft scene
- Korean pro teams disbanded
- region lock / less tournaments for Koreans

Over time effects of these are beginning to show. When you weaken something, it doesn't mean "the gap has closed". It means level has gone down.


What? The level going down is what causes the gap to close lol...


When people say "the gap has closed" they mean Koreans and foreigners are equally good. No, they're not. Koreans lack the environment to play more seriously so level is going down. What I call "closing the gap" is when foreigners and Koreans are able to reach their peak without external influences (region lock, etc).

Having Korean corporations sponsoring full time team houses in a quite centralised country, with a league that requires you to stay in a country that is quite difficult for many foreigners culturally isn’t external?

What Korean corportaions sponsor full time team houses? Name 2 or more(better to name more than 2). I'll await the names of the corporations eagerly.

JinAir is the only one I can think of right now, but that doesn't mean all the Samsung, KT, or SKT veterans don't still have the benefit from the environment in which they learned to play the game.

The main difference is that with the death of proleague, those teams are gone, and the current (Korean) teams have no incentive to invest in young talents. There aren't enough online tournaments that offer chances to potential talents either, and the EU/US online tournaments have too much lag for Koreans to compete with peers who, without the team houses and their practice regimen and learning opportunities, are their equals.

As for the region lock: what should probably happen is for more weekenders to move to Korea, and the GSL preparation format branch out to include international stops (think: GSL season 1 in Korea, season 2 in the US and season 3 in Europe somewhere). That way you can stay in Korea and have equal opportunities to win big WCS events. Or you can travel with the GSL tour and try to qualify for Blizzcon in only preparation style tournaments. And you can do the same if you live in Europe or the Americas.

But a restructuring like that requires a huge investment by someone (probably Blizzard) that is simply not going to happen. And that leaves the region lock as the only somewhat fair system: you want to compete in GSL? You basically have to live in Korea. So on the flipside: you want to compete in the WCS Circuit? You have to live elsewhere.

And I agree it is not fair that Scarlett and Special can do both. But it is a pretty unusual situation.

But that was the point of the original post Wombat(I beieve) reacted to. There's not enough incentinve in Korea alone as most tourneys are targeted at the pro level while Korea is very dense in terms of skill in comparison to WCS.

The issue with the region lock was shown pretty well when there was a decision - if you go for your Code S RO32 group you're not allowed to play at WCS because you have to live there a month prior the match... this doesn't affect foreigners who can technically fly in and out. Which doesn't help either.
I imagine France should be able to take this unless Lilbow is busy practicing for Starcraft III. | KadaverBB is my fairy ban mother.
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland27222 Posts
August 20 2019 13:10 GMT
#215
On August 20 2019 21:08 deacon.frost wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 20 2019 20:04 Acrofales wrote:
On August 20 2019 00:01 deacon.frost wrote:
On August 19 2019 23:39 Wombat_NI wrote:
On August 19 2019 04:29 SC-Shield wrote:
On August 18 2019 23:00 NinjaNight wrote:
On August 18 2019 16:32 SC-Shield wrote:
The gap hasn't closed. It's a consequence of events:
- KeSPA abandoned StarCraft scene
- Korean pro teams disbanded
- region lock / less tournaments for Koreans

Over time effects of these are beginning to show. When you weaken something, it doesn't mean "the gap has closed". It means level has gone down.


What? The level going down is what causes the gap to close lol...


When people say "the gap has closed" they mean Koreans and foreigners are equally good. No, they're not. Koreans lack the environment to play more seriously so level is going down. What I call "closing the gap" is when foreigners and Koreans are able to reach their peak without external influences (region lock, etc).

Having Korean corporations sponsoring full time team houses in a quite centralised country, with a league that requires you to stay in a country that is quite difficult for many foreigners culturally isn’t external?

What Korean corportaions sponsor full time team houses? Name 2 or more(better to name more than 2). I'll await the names of the corporations eagerly.

JinAir is the only one I can think of right now, but that doesn't mean all the Samsung, KT, or SKT veterans don't still have the benefit from the environment in which they learned to play the game.

The main difference is that with the death of proleague, those teams are gone, and the current (Korean) teams have no incentive to invest in young talents. There aren't enough online tournaments that offer chances to potential talents either, and the EU/US online tournaments have too much lag for Koreans to compete with peers who, without the team houses and their practice regimen and learning opportunities, are their equals.

As for the region lock: what should probably happen is for more weekenders to move to Korea, and the GSL preparation format branch out to include international stops (think: GSL season 1 in Korea, season 2 in the US and season 3 in Europe somewhere). That way you can stay in Korea and have equal opportunities to win big WCS events. Or you can travel with the GSL tour and try to qualify for Blizzcon in only preparation style tournaments. And you can do the same if you live in Europe or the Americas.

But a restructuring like that requires a huge investment by someone (probably Blizzard) that is simply not going to happen. And that leaves the region lock as the only somewhat fair system: you want to compete in GSL? You basically have to live in Korea. So on the flipside: you want to compete in the WCS Circuit? You have to live elsewhere.

And I agree it is not fair that Scarlett and Special can do both. But it is a pretty unusual situation.

But that was the point of the original post Wombat(I beieve) reacted to. There's not enough incentinve in Korea alone as most tourneys are targeted at the pro level while Korea is very dense in terms of skill in comparison to WCS.

The issue with the region lock was shown pretty well when there was a decision - if you go for your Code S RO32 group you're not allowed to play at WCS because you have to live there a month prior the match... this doesn't affect foreigners who can technically fly in and out. Which doesn't help either.

Well his point read like any closing of the gap doesn’t count because Koreans don’t have their optimal environment, my response was merely pointing out the foreign scene has never really had that model either.

There are two separate things here, top Koreans vs top foreigners, which is generally where we see them face off, and not top Koreans and how they’re doing. Be that basically non-existent new talent, military returnees, or Code S gatekeepers.

If there is a decline in the S class Korean players, it’s not a giant fall, relatively marginal. If we were to rewind and look at foreigner games from years ago vs now there’s a marked improvement. Foreigners were visibly worse mechanically in a way that’s not nearly as pronounced now.

The WCS Circuit has helped a lot in that regard, there’s a clear trajectory for talented ladder heroes to start qualifying, keep working and run deep and ultimately win tournaments. I’m not sure that we see some of this new talent remaining full time if the gatekeepers to progression are facing the best Koreans in the world from the start of your pro career.

While veterans do post solid results too, in foreign land it is mostly younger players who are surpassing what came before them in this environment and moving beyond that, which is basically the exact opposite to what we have in Korea.

I don’t think removing region lock at this stage will even help all that much, perhaps alternate solutions are worth exploring. More Korean tournaments with decent prize money for low placing players to give them something to work with and build from. Perhaps have another Katowice style tournament actually in Korea too, it’s difficult to justify flying to try and qualify at the event in Europe if you’re not already an established top player with backing.

As I see it removing region lock and the existing S class Koreans will still clean up in qualifiers etc, but also I’m not sure peripheral Koreans can compete with good foreigners either. Plus guys on the periphery lack team backing doesn’t help either.

'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
Solio
Profile Joined June 2016
France145 Posts
August 20 2019 16:24 GMT
#216
yea the gap is closing when the korean sc2 scene is completely dead
fishjie
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
United States1519 Posts
August 20 2019 17:44 GMT
#217
gap closed cause region lock killed korean scene. there are no new up and coming korean players, once the current batch of gsl code s players retires for military it is all over. the end. RIP
Musicus
Profile Joined August 2011
Germany23579 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-08-20 18:28:14
August 20 2019 18:05 GMT
#218
On August 21 2019 02:44 fishjie wrote:
gap closed cause region lock killed korean scene. there are no new up and coming korean players, once the current batch of gsl code s players retires for military it is all over. the end. RIP

What difference does it make for an up and coming player if Stats, Dark, Maru, TY and 4 other top Koreans fly out to a WCS event 4 times a year?

I would love to see region lock removed, so we get to see more cool games, but it would do nothing to help the Korean scene.

It would not result in more people playing or watching sc2 in Korea and it wouldn't bring back Kespa teams or Proleague either. The korean scene is declining, because there is almost no interest in sc2 in Korea. Of course the matchfixing stuff back then didn't help.
Maru and Serral are probably top 5.
NbaLover
Profile Joined May 2019
24 Posts
August 20 2019 19:27 GMT
#219
On August 21 2019 03:05 Musicus wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 21 2019 02:44 fishjie wrote:
gap closed cause region lock killed korean scene. there are no new up and coming korean players, once the current batch of gsl code s players retires for military it is all over. the end. RIP

What difference does it make for an up and coming player if Stats, Dark, Maru, TY and 4 other top Koreans fly out to a WCS event 4 times a year?

I would love to see region lock removed, so we get to see more cool games, but it would do nothing to help the Korean scene.

It would not result in more people playing or watching sc2 in Korea and it wouldn't bring back Kespa teams or Proleague either. The korean scene is declining, because there is almost no interest in sc2 in Korea. Of course the matchfixing stuff back then didn't help.



High IQ post

Korean scene is dying because SC2 is just not a popular game in Korea for potential new talents. Simple as that

Also I don't feel sorry for the Korean scene anyways. They screwed it up for themselves with that that matchfixing nonsense.

But the "korean elitist" will blame it on region lock, unfair opportunities, blizzard being racist, etc. Those people are in total denial and delusional.
deacon.frost
Profile Joined February 2013
Czech Republic12132 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-08-21 08:29:00
August 21 2019 08:26 GMT
#220
On August 21 2019 03:05 Musicus wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 21 2019 02:44 fishjie wrote:
gap closed cause region lock killed korean scene. there are no new up and coming korean players, once the current batch of gsl code s players retires for military it is all over. the end. RIP

What difference does it make for an up and coming player if Stats, Dark, Maru, TY and 4 other top Koreans fly out to a WCS event 4 times a year?

I would love to see region lock removed, so we get to see more cool games, but it would do nothing to help the Korean scene.

It would not result in more people playing or watching sc2 in Korea and it wouldn't bring back Kespa teams or Proleague either. The korean scene is declining, because there is almost no interest in sc2 in Korea. Of course the matchfixing stuff back then didn't help.

If the region lock is so awesome, region lock Korea then? To help the Korean scene, or do we care only for the foreigners and let Korea die? From my view it's the latter and I don't like it at all.

On August 21 2019 04:27 NbaLover wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 21 2019 03:05 Musicus wrote:
On August 21 2019 02:44 fishjie wrote:
gap closed cause region lock killed korean scene. there are no new up and coming korean players, once the current batch of gsl code s players retires for military it is all over. the end. RIP

What difference does it make for an up and coming player if Stats, Dark, Maru, TY and 4 other top Koreans fly out to a WCS event 4 times a year?

I would love to see region lock removed, so we get to see more cool games, but it would do nothing to help the Korean scene.

It would not result in more people playing or watching sc2 in Korea and it wouldn't bring back Kespa teams or Proleague either. The korean scene is declining, because there is almost no interest in sc2 in Korea. Of course the matchfixing stuff back then didn't help.



High IQ post

Korean scene is dying because SC2 is just not a popular game in Korea for potential new talents. Simple as that

Also I don't feel sorry for the Korean scene anyways. They screwed it up for themselves with that that matchfixing nonsense.

But the "korean elitist" will blame it on region lock, unfair opportunities, blizzard being racist, etc. Those people are in total denial and delusional.

So that's why the studios are empty and no one watches GSL... oh, wait, no, that's not happening.

It's insanely hard to make a living out of SC2 in Korea because you have to fight not only the Koreans, you have to fight the foreigners too. The same damn reason why region lock was created for foreigners. Again, if the region lock works, region lock Korea, screw foreginer house.
I imagine France should be able to take this unless Lilbow is busy practicing for Starcraft III. | KadaverBB is my fairy ban mother.
Prev 1 9 10 11 12 13 14 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 4h 29m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
ByuN 543
IndyStarCraft 173
BRAT_OK 78
Railgan 58
MindelVK 25
StarCraft: Brood War
Calm 3186
Mini 777
Jaedong 657
EffOrt 434
ggaemo 209
Soulkey 164
Noble 23
sorry 21
Dota 2
Pyrionflax209
LuMiX1
League of Legends
Doublelift740
Counter-Strike
fl0m4860
Heroes of the Storm
Liquid`Hasu354
Other Games
tarik_tv6870
Grubby2540
ceh9676
Beastyqt657
Mlord390
B2W.Neo369
UpATreeSC226
XaKoH 155
ArmadaUGS150
JuggernautJason118
Livibee81
Trikslyr64
SteadfastSC53
ODPixel39
OptimusSC23
Organizations
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 16 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• blackmanpl 56
• iopq 4
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• TFBlade1100
Other Games
• imaqtpie705
• Shiphtur453
• WagamamaTV232
Upcoming Events
OSC
4h 29m
CrankTV Team League
15h 29m
Replay Cast
1d 4h
CrankTV Team League
1d 15h
Big Brain Bouts
1d 20h
Soulspirit vs goblin
TriGGeR vs Bunny
Korean StarCraft League
2 days
Afreeca Starleague
2 days
RSL Revival
2 days
Serral vs SHIN
herO vs Solar
Online Event
2 days
Replay Cast
3 days
[ Show More ]
RSL Revival
3 days
Clem vs ByuN
Rogue vs Lambo
OSC
3 days
WardiTV Weekly
4 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
5 days
PiGosaur Cup
6 days
The PondCast
6 days
Kung Fu Cup
6 days
Patches Events
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-07-21
HSC XXIX
Eternal Conflict S2 E3

Ongoing

CSL 2026 Summer (S21)
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 3
Proleague 2026-07-22
RSL Revival: Season 6
CranK Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League
SCTL 2026 Spring
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S3: W4
ASL S22 SEASON OPEN Day 2
Escore Tournament S3: W5
ASL Season 22: Qualifier #1
ASL Season 22: Qualifier #2
CSLAN 4
ASL Season 22
HSC XXX
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
Light Tournament 2026
Eternal Conflict S2 Finale
ESL Pro League Season 24
Stake Ranked Episode 4
Logitech G Connect 2026
SL StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #5
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
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 © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.