Rounding Third

Koreans describe sOs as a merciless psychopath; the foreign community reveres him for his strategic genius. These characterizations are ultimately grasping for the same concept. Just as viewers find it impossible to predict his next move, his peers are constantly caught off guard by his shenanigans. Such is sOs’ quirkiness that it often seems as if he’s playing a completely different game than his opponents. Simultaneously, some of his more befuddling moves give the impression he can hardly keep up with what he’s doing from time to time. He’s prone to horrendous errors and capable of incomprehensibly flawless moves within the same game. If life is like a box of chocolates, then sOs is the surprise waiting inside. You never know what you’re going to get.

One of the earliest KeSPA imports to find success in StarCraft II, sOs logged his first notable individual performance during the first GSL season of 2013. The standout member of Woongjin Stars surpassed all expectations on his semifinals run, barely losing out to eventual champion Soulkey thanks to a trainwreck all-in of epic proportions on Red City. The way he quickly recovered from his crestfallen fate reinforced the notion his original showing was no fluke. Less than three weeks after falling to Soulkey he one-upped his previous result, reaching the championship match of the WCS Season 1 Finals. Waiting for him was INnoVation, widely regarded as the best Korean Terran and a breakout performer among the KeSPA fraternity. While sOs’ battle with Soulkey brought him within an inch of victory, this matchup proved to be anything but a contest—INnoVation ran him over like a semi-trailer intercepting a doe.

By the end of 2013 sOs had proven himself as a player of immense talent who had grasped StarCraft II far quicker than most of his contemporaries. Yet for all his shining potential he lacked accolades and longevity. A series of tepid results in the following months cemented his place as one challenger among the dozens gnawing on each others’ heels. He did not take center stage again until the end of the year. sOs infamously entered BlizzCon as the 12th seed, reputed as a crafty bugger with a frail strategic backbone. After his earlier playoff loses the unforeseen transformation into an assured, ruthless genius stunned the opposition. The manner in which he dispatched HerO, Polt and Bomber on the way to the finals made him look like the prohibitive favorite all along. Even Jaedong, the Tyrant who had toppled BlizzCon favorites Maru and Dear to raucous cheers, was ill-equipped for the avalanche of cheese that smothered him in the finals. sOs’ guile and subterfuge exposed Jaedong’s methodology as too rigid for the constraints of the current meta. Few predicted it going in, but at the end of the day sOs assumed the mantle of WCS World Champion.

Having sharpened his teeth against the best in the world, sOs morphed into one of the true alpha predators of the professional scene. BlizzCon gave him an identity, a championship pedigree, and the confidence to adhere to his instincts. Over the next two years he collected titles at the IEM World Championship 2014, the Hot6ix Cup and MSI Masters Gaming Arena. The latter two helped him qualify for the WCS Global Finals for the second time in 2015 after missing out the year before. It took sOs five games to survive the opening match, but once PartinG was out of the way he never looked back. He swept Rain and dismissed Rogue in similarly unceremonious fashion to make another BlizzCon finals. Waiting for him was the previous year’s champion and prodigy turned full blown terror, Life. Their series was a back and forth slugfest. sOs was forced to unleash every trick in his arsenal: numerous two base all-ins, one featuring a curious proxy stargate, tempest into three base blink stalker that earned him his third win. In the end his three base blink stalker/sentry attack, the defining build of 2015 PvZ, was the finishing blow he needed.

Nearly three years had passed since that November evening when the second Super Tournament of 2018 launched. By year’s end Maru had accrued so many WCS Korea points that a select group of players, normally out of the running with their abysmal scores, could mathematically reach BlizzCon with a solid showing. GuMiho failure to qualify left Trap, sOs, Solar and soO within striking distance of the WCS Global Finals. sOs’ Super Tournament chances appeared in peril after KeeN surprisingly won the first game of their Round of 16 match. Never one to give up easily, sOs hauled on the reins. His reversion to standard play instead of one base immortal all-ins neutralized KeeN’s momentum. With sOs safely through, the remainder of the Round of 16 saw Trap and soO lose to Stats and Bunny respectively. By the end of the second day only sOs and Solar still had a shot at BlizzCon.

His tournament began in earnest in the second round where he faced off against Maru, his teammate and best player in the world. sOs lost a hectic game one in which he barely defended Maru’s proxy cyclones only to un done by a mass banshee follow up. But just as he had against KeeN, sOs elevated his play as the series progressed. Repulsing Maru’s tank push on Lost and Found was the first sign of life from sOs, followed by winning a basetrade ages after their initial engagement. Game three was a much brisker affair, with sOs’ two base aggression bringing an abrupt end to the proceedings. On Para Site sOs never allowed Maru to get anything going. He spent ten minutes shellacking the Terran with absolute control from start to finish. Defeating Maru was a godsend for sOs especially since Solar emerged victorious in the very next match.On the final day of the Super Tournament, sOs and the Infinity Gaming Zerg faced off in a Best of 5 to see who would claim the coveted BlizzCon spot.



It seemed for a moment that sOs would have to resign himself to petitioning God when he fell behind 2-0. Solar thoroughly outplayed him on Acid Plant and Para Site, with some unusual compositions playing a major role in his victories, putting him a win away from the finals. With his back against the wall, sOs fought back in game three with an unanticipated dark templar opener; a follow up attack stocked with archons and immortals sealing that advantage. He revived the hallowed Soul Train in game four—despite it having long since been decried as unviable—and in typical sOs fashion, forced it to work. Game five turned into a topsy-turvy affair. sOs managed to sneak a pylon into Solar’s main, unleashing a dark templar hit squad that notched double digit worker kills. Forced into playing catch up Solar attempted to hide a spire while pumping roaches but sOs pushed the pace. He mustered a brutal army that gutted Solar’s main and, despite losing his entire economy to a mutalisk flock that had slipped away from the carnage, still had enough archons to force Solar to tap out.

sOs had confirmed his place in BlizzCon, but he hardly seemed to notice as the camera tracked his reaction. He took a sip of water and stared dully at the monitor, perhaps not grasping the consequence of the moment. sOs had just pulled off the most thrilling coup in StarCraft II since Rogue’s last ditch BlizzCon qualification a year earlier. Or perhaps it was less puzzling than it first appeared. His complete lack of celebration could be interpreted in a way besides being oblivious: the grim realization that he had hit upon a real stroke of luck during a long dry period.

The last three years have been desolate times for one of the most decorated players in StarCraft II history. sOs’ results had been flagging for quite some time as the calendar turned to 2018. He made it to the GSL finals twice in 2016 and 2017 respectively, but lost both times in rough fashion: he succumbed in a lopsided series to ByuN while INnoVation edged him out 4-3 in the following year. Beyond that he had to settle for a lone Round of 4 Code S exit back in early 2017. Expectations ran high at the beginning of this year as sOs scored solid runs in various qualifiers.

Once more in the spotlight, many anticipated sOs’ return to form would culminate with a victory at IEM Pyeongchang. sOs certainly looked good during the majority of the event; in fact he didn’t drop a game on the way to the finals. Once he got there it was a different story altogether. sOs may have been the odds-on favorite but Scarlett played the match of her life. Her zergling drops and various forms of aggression caught the Jin Air Protoss in a bind, dashing whatever hope sOs’ fans had that 2018 would get off to a prosperous start. Similarly sOs made a good run of it in the first season of Code S, but a curious stim timing from Maru in game five of their quarterfinal blindsided him. It was yet another example of sOs being wrong footed by his opponent and the second such loss to his teammate, with their Round of 12 meeting at IEM Katowice also ending 3-2 in Maru’s favor.

Losing to Maru is the furthest thing from an indictment of poor form, but sOs’ results elsewhere took care of that for us. Despite winning his opening group in the final two Code S seasons of 2018 sOs couldn’t clear the Round of 16 on either occasion. He lost in the first round of the first Super Tournament and didn’t even garner enough votes to join GSL vs. the World. Heading into the second Super Tournament it was inarguable that 2018, along with his dismal effort in 2016, were the worst years of sOs’ StarCraft II career. The fact that it was even possible for him to qualify for BlizzCon was more a result of Maru frontloading the WCS system than sOs displaying any degree of excellence.

We associate certain players with certain events. After 2018, Serral will be inextricably tied to the WCS Circuit. Mvp, soO, INnoVation and Maru reign supreme when it comes to GSL. As far as Dreamhack no one holds a candle to TaeJa. When someone talks about BlizzCon, only one name comes to mind—sOs. sOs has won five premier events over the course of his career, but none shine as brightly as his pair of BlizzCon titles. He entered both events as an underdog, but his lethal genius paved the way to the trophy each time. And while the StarCraft II community pines for a potential final between Maru and Serral, one fact cannot be overlooked. While the other participants of the WCS Global Finals are just visiting Anaheim, sOs is returning home.