Grasp of Fate

Legacy of the Void’s maiden tournament, 2016 SSL Season 1, featured a double elimination format never before seen in Korean StarCraft II that produced wild results. Upsets and surprises abounded as players struggling to attune themselves to an undefined, protean meta. In the end, Stats and Dark squared off in the final. Both had been fixtures of the Korean scene for years, but here they stood, finally cementing their status among the elite. It took six games to decide a winner, with Dark reigning supreme when all was said and done. Here was a new champion for a new expansion. He had earned the right to defend his crown.

Five months later he found himself in his second consecutive SSL finals, this time against Solar. Where Stats had folded in six games, the series against Solar went the distance, with an unscouted all-in ultimately sealing Dark’s ruin. Most mortals would have been discouraged by the loss but Dark took the setback in stride. Less than two months after his agonizingly close loss, he audaciously declared that his goal was to one day win ten championships. You’d think he had never lost a match in his life, he stated it with such veracity. It was hard to take such braggadocio seriously when the speaker had only emerged victorious in one out of four premier event final appearances. And yet, he momentarily made us doubt our bemusement at BlizzCon. Dark carved a swathe of destruction that brought him within a win of being crowned world champion. The only one standing between Dark and glory was ByuN. We all know who hugged the Gosu Trophy at the end of the day.

Dark’s fourth finals defeat marked the latest in a long train of bittersweet memories. By this point it was tradition for him to disappoint when the pressure mounted. Starting from a pair of silver medals from the 2015 KeSPA Cup series, Dark’s career had perilously flitted with Kongdom during the interregnum; his SSL championship—and the Cross Finals, if you’re feeling generous—proved the sole lighthouse amidst the rocky surf. Missed opportunities came to characterize the rest of 2017 as well. He fell short on the final stage once more in 2017 in his third SSL finals, his sixth second place overall. He also dropped out in the semifinals of IEM Gyeonggi, IEM Katowice, the second Super Tournament and the third season of Code S. Even the WCS Global Finals turned out a nonstarter. He returned with high hopes but Elazer ended his obscenely long win streak against foreigners during opening weekend. His tournament was over before BlizzCon even began.

Dark’s torrid tale has continued unabated this year. He was widely considered the best Zerg in the world when he took on Maru at WESG 2017 and the GSL Season 1 semifinals, but he ended up on the losing end of both tilts. If it were up for debate before, these losses quashed all doubt. Dark wasn’t just good, he was great...but couldn’t win a tournament to save his life.

It all came to a head in the first Super Tournament. Dark got off to a swift start with aLive proving little more than a speed bump, but TRUE gave Dark a far tougher time than anyone expected. After three games of standard ling/bane theatrics, TRUE evened the series on Catalyst in a shocking one-sided beatdown. His back against the wall, Dark regained his bearings on Neon Violet Square. Well-timed mutalisks, a superior economy, artfully crafted engagements and an obscene number of ravagers saved Dark from embarrassment. His close win positioned him for a rematch of his WESG showdowns with Classic.

It’s impossible to undersell the gravity of the match. Classic had been considered the best player in the world during the early stages of 2018, the only one who could topple Dark in a protracted series. While Classic’s collapse at IEM Katowice was a piteous sight he remained a highly-regarded foe heading into the Super Tournament—a suspicion confirmed when he defeated Maru in the Round of 8. Now it was time for him and Dark to do battle once more.

The hype fizzled out in quick order. Dark looked untouchable throughout the affair, only dropping the third game. Any hope that was the entrance point for a tightly contested series was subsequently extinguished on Neon Violet Square, when Classic failed to muster a defense against the timely proxy hatchery and roach-heavy compositions.

It should have come to no one’s surprise that Stats wound up being Dark’s opponent. This particular meeting marked their third premier event final, with Stats having gotten revenge for his 2016 loss in Season 2 of SSL 2017. Dark entered the match riding a wave of hype from his semifinals beatdown, resigning Stats to the role of interloper; Stats’ SSL triumph, more than half a year earlier, was his last significant result.

Dark was the better player on paper and the more combative one in-game. His proxy hatch, roaches and baneling bust boosted him into a quick 3-1 lead. Dark was only a game away from his long awaited second premier event title. While victory wouldn’t have absolved him of his past failings, it would have validated his persistent bravado and confirmed his status as one of the game’s best. Then the unthinkable, the banally predictable, happened: he choked.

It all started when Dark somehow threw away an extremely advantageous position on Blackpink. From there the series turned to Eastwatch where his lategame ling/bane force proved impotent in the face of archons and carriers. Dark looked despondent in the moments leading up to the fateful seventh game, his countenance one of someone who had already accepted defeat. He managed to kill 17 workers in the later stages of the game while his roach/ravager army scrambled at home to ward off immortals and never ending storms. Warding off encroaching despair Dark gave it his all, fighting to his last breath, and yet it was all in vain. Stats’ comeback was complete. On that night, the 8th of April, Dark’s tale was confirmed for the umpeenth time.

Such a devastating loss often precipitates a drop in form, but Dark entered the Round of 16 of both the second and third seasons of Code S as a favorite. It wasn’t by luck he achieved this distinction: his results in prior weeks had reminded us he still boasted championship-quality skill. It seemed he hadn’t missed a beat—he remained as ruthless and cunning as ever.

When it came time to play, however, Dark’s form wavered. He dropped games he should have won, or perhaps ones he would have won on a different day. Of course he didn’t make it easy on himself. Dark’s fate was exacerbated by the manner in which he stacked his groups: on both occasions, he chose the toughest possible competition. When all was said and done, Dark was left by the wayside wondering what had gone wrong. We were left wondering why we thought it would have gone differently this time around.

Despite a past littered with failures and close calls, Dark entered GSL. vs the World on the back of the fan vote. Eager to prove us and fate wrong, Dark found himself enveloped by those same murky waters. He easily disposed of Neeb and barely overcame Classic, but when it came time to put an end to Serral’s coup, it was clear that the best Zerg in the world didn’t hail from Korea. He suffered a similar fate in the second Super Tournament, though this time in even more lamentable fashion. Facing Classic in the semifinals, he took a 2-0 lead only to be reverse swept, squandering a chance at redemption.

Dark only scrounged up enough points for seventh place in the 2018 WCS Korea final standings—a step down from 2016 and 2017, where he earned the first and third most points respectively. That’s not to claim he’s a diminished player. Dark is still innovative and intelligent, a deadly strategist with a thirst for blood. No one questions his talent. He’s been the best, or at least second best Zerg, since the beginning of LotV. Yet all the goodwill and recognition can’t wash off the insidious narrative that stubbornly clings to him like a shadow. Irrespective of respect, the record reminds us he’s 1-7 in finals with another eight semifinal exits to his name. Despite winning a Starleague, the weekend of April 8th may have affirmed Dark as a chronic loser in perpetuity.

Fortunately condemnation is a state as easily malleable as veneration. Given one weekend, Dark can shatter that perspective and write a brand new story. The surface benefits are obvious. A victory here would be sweet recompensation for the loss he endured two years ago. More than pride or money, this WCS Global Finals represents an opportunity for redemption. Dark once dreamed of a StarCraft II career littered with trophies and triumphs. And for all his talent, he's never been able to make good on his aspirations. Only at BlizzCon, the grandest of stages, can Dark rebuke history and continue his journey towards the tenth title.