• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 11:31
CEST 17:31
KST 00:31
  • 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
[ASL22] Ro16 Preview: Holy Diver5[ASL22] Ro16 Preview: Rough Waters10[ASL22] Ro24 Preview: Siren's Call8[ASL22] Ro24 Preview: Summer's End9Serral wins HomeStory Cup 2915
Community News
Weekly Cups (Sep 7-12): SHIN, ByuN, MaxPax double down1StarCraft open world shooter announced at BlizzCon100Weekly Cups (Aug 30-Sep 7): herO thrives amid growing schism10Official StarCraft website teases new content ahead of BlizzCon?179Stellar Fest TWO the Moon (Dec 16-20)9
StarCraft 2
General
38 yo Retired SWE looking to save SC IP I have 0 hope Blizzard doing anything with SC IP SC4ALL II: StarCraft 2 Player Announcement 8/8 Balance hotfix patch 5.0.16b (July 16) The Death of Cheese: From a Professional Cheeser
Tourneys
Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament RSL Revival: Season 6 - Qualifiers and Main Event RSL goes to London! 2026 Offline Finals Nov 21-22 SC2 AI Tournament 2026 Fall KSL Week #92
Strategy
[H] ZvP Mid-Late Game: Stalkers Collossi HT
Custom Maps
Nexus Wars 2021 GUIDE [M] (2) Industrial Park
External Content
Mutation # 543 Enhanced Defenses The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 542 The Ascended Mutation # 541 Binary Choice
Brood War
General
Bot on ladder Working 1v1, 2v2, 3v3 Ladder an AI researcher's take on the ladder bot Syncronization issues and can't find games Man Bnet can't even load profile now, WTF
Tourneys
[ASL22] Ro16 Group D [BSL23] SM: Ret vs TerrOr - bo7 - Sunday 9pm CEST [Megathread] Daily Proleagues [ASL22] Ro16 Group C
Strategy
Replay Review Process - What do you do? Simple Questions, Simple Answers Odyssey Mineral Stack Saturation Game Theory for Starcraft
Other Games
General Games
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne Nintendo Switch Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread EVE Corporation Diablo IV
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
[TL LoL EUW IHs] Teemo shall perish
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread Post Your Watch!
Fan Clubs
MarineLorD Fan Club The Creator Fan Club The ShoWTimE Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! [Manga] One Piece Diablo Animated Series on Netflix
Sports
Football (Soccer) Thread TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 MLB/Baseball 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
Recent Gifted Posts
Blogs
Can Bots Beat Pros?? Starcr…
namkraft
[meme] I finally understa…
LUCKY_NOOB
Virtual Romance, Real-Life C…
TrAiDoS
Regacy Esports:Our Goa…
regacyesports
Dreaming of BW patches (mod…
c3rberUs
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 8621 users

The gap has closed between foreigners and Korea - Page 5

Forum Index > SC2 General
Post a Reply
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 12 13 14 Next All
Charoisaur
Profile Joined August 2014
Germany16090 Posts
August 30 2018 13:24 GMT
#81
On August 30 2018 20:46 xelnaga_empire wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 30 2018 16:44 Charoisaur wrote:
You don't know for a fact that better foreign players lead to more viewers.
WCS tournaments get more viewers because of the timezones.


GSL vs the World got twice the viewers as it did last year. The time zone was the same as last year.

And can you prove this is because foreigners are more competitive and not because of the overall growth following f2p?
Many of the coolest moments in sc2 happen due to worker harassment
allmotor1
Profile Joined December 2017
153 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-08-30 13:40:32
August 30 2018 13:40 GMT
#82
On August 30 2018 13:59 hiroshOne wrote:
Not only the gap has closed, but in case of European vs Korean Zergs it exceeded Koreans. Esoecially after this season of Code S, I feel like foreign Zergs understand the meta much better. Serral is the main proof, but the rest of Foreing Zergs still look much better than soO, Dark or Rogue. In Rogue vs Neeb series at GSL, Rogue, who's supposed to be the best Zerg in Korea just looked clueless. Sad but true.



um not really. Besides Serral, the korean zergs are still better. you took that 1 series of rogues vs neeb, did you see neeb vs dark at gsl vs the world?

The_Red_Viper
Profile Blog Joined August 2013
19533 Posts
August 30 2018 14:32 GMT
#83
On August 30 2018 22:24 Charoisaur wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 30 2018 20:46 xelnaga_empire wrote:
On August 30 2018 16:44 Charoisaur wrote:
You don't know for a fact that better foreign players lead to more viewers.
WCS tournaments get more viewers because of the timezones.


GSL vs the World got twice the viewers as it did last year. The time zone was the same as last year.

And can you prove this is because foreigners are more competitive and not because of the overall growth following f2p?


It's not one or the other, both things influence the popularity of the game and both most likely in a positive way.
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 |
Vutalisk
Profile Joined August 2016
United States680 Posts
August 30 2018 14:51 GMT
#84
On August 30 2018 10:12 Fango wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 30 2018 02:51 Vutalisk wrote:
I never thought Korean scene comes down to the point Maru needed to proxy rax twice in a row to win vs KeeN.

You can't be serious right? Maru proxy raxes everyone, regardless of how good they are. Out of his 10 games in gsl this season, i think 7 or 8 have been proxies. Just because he does it doesn't mean he needs to.

I said that because the first series between them were 2 standard macro games and Maru lost 0-2 to KeeN. In decider match, he proxied twice in a row (same type of proxy too) and won 2-0 within like 10 minutes. Of course, Maru cheeses but the fact he was not confident to go toe to toe with KeeN in standard games is disappointing to me as a viewer especially in the past Maru was not cheesing as much as he does these days. Hey, does whatever it takes to win. I don't blame him for doing it.
TheZergishOne
Profile Joined October 2016
27 Posts
August 30 2018 19:07 GMT
#85
Region lock is slowly strangling the Korean scene and is horrible for SC2 overall.
ReachTheSky
Profile Joined April 2010
United States3294 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-08-30 19:42:38
August 30 2018 19:36 GMT
#86
On August 31 2018 04:07 TheZergishOne wrote:
Region lock is slowly strangling the Korean scene and is horrible for SC2 overall.


I disagree.

Every scene EXCEPT for korea is negatively affected when there is no region lock. Koreans just kept taking all the prize money leaving little incentive for local scenes to continue. A long time ago Catz had brought up the subject. I didn't quite understand it then but after reflecting on the last several years of the non-korean scene's development, I feel like he was 100% spot on.

Only one scene is affected by region lock and that is korea. It just means they don't get access to easy money anymore, poor them, right?

Every place should have their own scene with tournaments only for those who reside there. In a way, I look at it the same as "supporting local small mom/pop shop type businesses instead of corporations". Keep the money local if you want things to improve locally.

I'm glad there is a region lock and I hope it stays that way forever.

Anywho, In regards to the gap, I don't believe it has closed. I think there are a couple foreigner outliers who are extremely good, but foreigners don't have consistency. Koreans are still winning the majority of the tournaments they participate in. If those tournament wins start to even out closer to 50%/50% between koreans and foreigners on a regular basis, Only then could we say the gap has closed.

TL+ Member
Tappo
Profile Joined July 2018
101 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-08-30 20:13:45
August 30 2018 19:44 GMT
#87
On August 31 2018 04:36 ReachTheSky wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 31 2018 04:07 TheZergishOne wrote:
Region lock is slowly strangling the Korean scene and is horrible for SC2 overall.


I disagree.

Every scene EXCEPT for korea is negatively affected when there is no region lock. Koreans just kept taking all the prize money leaving little incentive for local scenes to continue. A long time ago Catz had brought up the subject. I didn't quite understand it then but after reflecting on the last several years of the non-korean scene's development, I feel like he was 100% spot on.

Only one scene is affected by region lock and that is korea. It just means they don't get access to easy money anymore, poor them, right?

Every place should have their own scene with tournaments only for those who reside there. In a way, I look at it the same as "supporting local small mom/pop shop type businesses instead of corporations". Keep the money local if you want things to improve locally.

I'm glad there is a region lock and I hope it stays that way forever.


Local scene? Are you talking about Europe and America being local scenes? Not to mention that every foreigner is automatically a member of that local scene. You should rethink "Local".
What is this place you are talking about? How does Foreigner winning money helps in any way their local scene (wherever Local is)?
Looks like you are a fan of racism. TRUE is the perfect example that this is happening. Everyone but koreans are playing in the same tournaments. Its not even region locked.
What advantage does the "korean race" have?
DSK
Profile Blog Joined February 2015
England1110 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-08-30 19:52:34
August 30 2018 19:52 GMT
#88
Mind the gap between the Foreign hype train and the Korean platform.

OT: I'm glad that foreigners are doing better against Korean opponents but I'm deeply gutted that it is at the cost of the Korean scene losing player spots, with Foreigners allowed to double dip into GSL and WCS.
**@ YT: SC2POVs at https://www.youtube.com/c/SC2POVsTV | https://liquipedia.net/starcraft2/SC2POVs @**
Charoisaur
Profile Joined August 2014
Germany16090 Posts
August 30 2018 21:33 GMT
#89
On August 31 2018 04:36 ReachTheSky wrote:


Every place should have their own scene with tournaments only for those who reside there.


Where's this place for koreans?
Many of the coolest moments in sc2 happen due to worker harassment
dankobanana
Profile Joined February 2016
Croatia244 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-08-30 22:09:21
August 30 2018 22:07 GMT
#90
On August 31 2018 04:52 DSK wrote:
Mind the gap between the Foreign hype train and the Korean platform.

OT: I'm glad that foreigners are doing better against Korean opponents but I'm deeply gutted that it is at the cost of the Korean scene losing player spots, with Foreigners allowed to double dip into GSL and WCS.


but thats not the cost. The korean scene is not loosing players because of WCS. Its loosing players because SC2 just isnt popular in Korea. Look at the viewership of any WCS event and GSL. WCS>>GSL. Even the WCS Challenger, an online tournament had more viewers than GSL.

if you ask me, the region lock is a 100% success story. it gave the ability for foreign players to develop and earn a living wage because in general, people want to watch more foreigners. deal with it. because of region lock and f2p, sc2 is growing (everywhere but Korea)
Battle is waged in the name of the many. The brave, who generation after generation choose the mantle of - Dark Templar!
Carminedust
Profile Joined October 2014
487 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-08-30 23:27:38
August 30 2018 23:25 GMT
#91
i do agree region lock is bad like onions mixed with ice cream bad but the issue of seeing the same players play over and over again been an issue since the second half of 2015 i remember seeing the same list of players play dream hack over and over again with only like 5 players swaping which ones they wanted to play time to time

Edit: i also like how almost every the gap is closing thread turns into a debate about region lock and how sc2 is dying thread
Maybe was Zoun only Fan before he retired idk
FrkFrJss
Profile Joined April 2015
Canada1208 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-08-31 01:00:01
August 31 2018 00:57 GMT
#92
The thing is, in terms of prize pool, WCS and GSL are very similar. Global events are a side category. The amount of money the foreigners take from GSL events is not a large amount.

With approximately the same budget, WCS has four tournaments and 20 challengers. GSL has two STs and 3 long tournaments.

There is no challenger to foster growth, and if you don't qualify, you have to wait for months until the next GSL.

The problem is not the region lock, because they have about the same prize pools, and foreign amount taken from GSL is minuscule compared to money won from foreign tournaments from 2011-2015.

The problem is that SC2 is not popular enough in Korea. WCS supports a global scene of many times more the number of players of Korea and a much larger local audience.
"Keep Moving Forward" - Walt Disney
Die4Ever
Profile Joined August 2010
United States17750 Posts
August 31 2018 01:41 GMT
#93
On August 31 2018 04:36 ReachTheSky wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 31 2018 04:07 TheZergishOne wrote:
Region lock is slowly strangling the Korean scene and is horrible for SC2 overall.


I disagree.

Every scene EXCEPT for korea is negatively affected when there is no region lock. Koreans just kept taking all the prize money leaving little incentive for local scenes to continue. A long time ago Catz had brought up the subject. I didn't quite understand it then but after reflecting on the last several years of the non-korean scene's development, I feel like he was 100% spot on.

Only one scene is affected by region lock and that is korea. It just means they don't get access to easy money anymore, poor them, right?

Every place should have their own scene with tournaments only for those who reside there. In a way, I look at it the same as "supporting local small mom/pop shop type businesses instead of corporations". Keep the money local if you want things to improve locally.

I'm glad there is a region lock and I hope it stays that way forever.

Anywho, In regards to the gap, I don't believe it has closed. I think there are a couple foreigner outliers who are extremely good, but foreigners don't have consistency. Koreans are still winning the majority of the tournaments they participate in. If those tournament wins start to even out closer to 50%/50% between koreans and foreigners on a regular basis, Only then could we say the gap has closed.


but the problem is that the new competitiveness is with a lower skill level, I would rather watch 16 really great koreans in GSL Code S than watch 16 not-as-good players spread across the world
"Expert" mods4ever.com
reincremate
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
China2216 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-08-31 03:30:47
August 31 2018 03:30 GMT
#94
Out of genuine curiousity, why does it matter to so many SC2 fans what race/nationality a player is? Personally, I'm totally fine with all of my favourite players in a game being Korean or being of any other nationality, even though I'm not Korean myself and do not speak the language.
Proko
Profile Joined February 2011
United States1022 Posts
August 31 2018 04:43 GMT
#95
On August 31 2018 12:30 reincremate wrote:
Out of genuine curiousity, why does it matter to so many SC2 fans what race/nationality a player is? Personally, I'm totally fine with all of my favourite players in a game being Korean or being of any other nationality, even though I'm not Korean myself and do not speak the language.


It matters because Korea has dominated every other nation's SC players for 20 years. The skill/lack of skill of non-korean players is a narrative that SC has thrived on for two decades.
Caster duos should compliment each others' strengths. "You look very handsome today, Tasteless."
reincremate
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
China2216 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-08-31 05:22:21
August 31 2018 05:07 GMT
#96
On August 31 2018 13:43 Proko wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 31 2018 12:30 reincremate wrote:
Out of genuine curiousity, why does it matter to so many SC2 fans what race/nationality a player is? Personally, I'm totally fine with all of my favourite players in a game being Korean or being of any other nationality, even though I'm not Korean myself and do not speak the language.


It matters because Korea has dominated every other nation's SC players for 20 years. The skill/lack of skill of non-korean players is a narrative that SC has thrived on for two decades.

What I'm asking is, why is it even such a big narrative? Why is it anything more than simply acknowledging "yeah, Korea has the best esports infrastructure, culture, etc., and therefore most or all of the top players come from there" and then moving along?
Fango
Profile Joined July 2016
United Kingdom8987 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-08-31 06:10:27
August 31 2018 06:05 GMT
#97
On August 30 2018 23:51 Vutalisk wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 30 2018 10:12 Fango wrote:
On August 30 2018 02:51 Vutalisk wrote:
I never thought Korean scene comes down to the point Maru needed to proxy rax twice in a row to win vs KeeN.

You can't be serious right? Maru proxy raxes everyone, regardless of how good they are. Out of his 10 games in gsl this season, i think 7 or 8 have been proxies. Just because he does it doesn't mean he needs to.

I said that because the first series between them were 2 standard macro games and Maru lost 0-2 to KeeN. In decider match, he proxied twice in a row (same type of proxy too) and won 2-0 within like 10 minutes. Of course, Maru cheeses but the fact he was not confident to go toe to toe with KeeN in standard games is disappointing to me as a viewer especially in the past Maru was not cheesing as much as he does these days. Hey, does whatever it takes to win. I don't blame him for doing it.

Yah Maru going up to 3CC too early and dying to three cyclones is a great example of a "standard macro game". Just because the games technically went on for longer doesn't mean Maru hadn't lost.

Him proxy-ing every other game isn't new either. Even his 2013 OSL run was full of it.
Zest, sOs, PartinG, Dark, and Maru are the real champs. ROOT_herO is overrated. Snute, Serral, and Scarlett are the foreigner GOATs
FFW_Rude
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
France10201 Posts
August 31 2018 06:12 GMT
#98
On August 31 2018 06:33 Charoisaur wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 31 2018 04:36 ReachTheSky wrote:


Every place should have their own scene with tournaments only for those who reside there.


Where's this place for koreans?


Seconded
#1 KT Rolster fanboy. KT BEST KT ! Hail to KT playoffs Zergs ! Unofficial french translator for SlayerS_`Boxer` biography "Crazy as me".
FrkFrJss
Profile Joined April 2015
Canada1208 Posts
August 31 2018 06:50 GMT
#99
On August 31 2018 15:12 FFW_Rude wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 31 2018 06:33 Charoisaur wrote:
On August 31 2018 04:36 ReachTheSky wrote:


Every place should have their own scene with tournaments only for those who reside there.


Where's this place for koreans?


Seconded

GSL. The person only said "reside." Arguably, the foreigners who play in GSL also reside there (I am aware that reside also means permanent residence, but it also means "to live").
"Keep Moving Forward" - Walt Disney
Charoisaur
Profile Joined August 2014
Germany16090 Posts
August 31 2018 07:29 GMT
#100
On August 31 2018 15:50 FrkFrJss wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 31 2018 15:12 FFW_Rude wrote:
On August 31 2018 06:33 Charoisaur wrote:
On August 31 2018 04:36 ReachTheSky wrote:


Every place should have their own scene with tournaments only for those who reside there.


Where's this place for koreans?


Seconded

GSL. The person only said "reside." Arguably, the foreigners who play in GSL also reside there (I am aware that reside also means permanent residence, but it also means "to live").

With that definition koreans should be allowed to compete in WCS if they live abroad.
Many of the coolest moments in sc2 happen due to worker harassment
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 12 13 14 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Online Event
14:00
BamPatch 1.0 Weekly #2
SHIN 79
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
ByuN 389
SHIN 79
MindelVK 26
CosmosSc2 24
StarCraft: Brood War
Shuttle 1166
Mini 481
Soulkey 473
firebathero 431
Soma 319
Stork 262
Last 110
Zeus 80
sSak 69
Dewaltoss 56
[ Show more ]
910 36
Barracks 36
ToSsGirL 22
Sharp 19
yabsab 19
Terrorterran 14
PianO 13
Free 8
Trap 8
Dota 2
Gorgc6200
Dendi1238
Counter-Strike
fl0m630
byalli79
Heroes of the Storm
crisheroes279
Other Games
singsing1666
FrodaN905
B2W.Neo842
Beastyqt482
Lowko474
Hui .304
KnowMe190
Mew2King94
QueenE61
Trikslyr32
Organizations
Dota 2
PGL Dota 2 - Main Stream6619
PGL Dota 2 - Secondary Stream3430
Other Games
gamesdonequick963
EGCTV816
StarCraft 2
WardiTV303
Other Games
BasetradeTV44
[ Show 14 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• poizon28 33
• mYiSmile120
• intothetv
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• C_a_k_e 2876
League of Legends
• Jankos1668
Other Games
• WagamamaTV165
• Shiphtur68
Upcoming Events
AI Arena Tournament
1h 29m
Replay Cast
8h 29m
GSL
19h 29m
Shopify Rebellion Sundays
23h 29m
Spirit vs Mixu
BSL
1d 3h
Ret vs TerrOr
Replay Cast
1d 8h
Afreeca Starleague
1d 18h
Shine vs Rush
WardiTV Weekly
1d 19h
Monday Night Weeklies
2 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
2 days
[ Show More ]
Afreeca Starleague
2 days
Light vs EffOrt
PiGosaur Cup
3 days
Kung Fu Cup
3 days
The PondCast
4 days
Replay Cast
5 days
Korean StarCraft League
6 days
CranKy Ducklings
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-09-18
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Big Dog Cup 2026 Div 1

Ongoing

K-JUNGMAN
ASL Season 22
Super Anchor Qualifying S3
CSL 2026 AUTUMN (S22)
Acropolis #5
Acropolis #5 - GSA
Calamity Invitational
Logitech G Play Connect 2026
SL StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #3
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026

Upcoming

Acropolis #5 - GSB
Acropolis #5 - GSC
SC4ALL II: Brood War
HSC XXX
Stellar Fest 2: Lunar Cup
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
RSL Offline Finals
Copium Cup
PGL Major Singapore 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 6
BLAST Rivals Fall 2026
IEM Beijing 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 5
PGL Masters Bucharest 2026
1win Private Club #2
Thunderpick World Champ. '26
ESL Pro League Season 24
Stake Ranked Episode 4
1win Private Club #1
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.