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Polt planning to play WCS after military

Forum Index > SC2 General
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sneakyfox
Profile Joined January 2017
8216 Posts
February 07 2019 20:39 GMT
#1
Apparently Polt is planning to return to SC2 after completing his military duty this April. He's interested in competing in WCS Circuit again, as he did before enlisting.

"I saw what sneakyfox wrote on TL.net and it made me furious" - PartinG
Vutalisk
Profile Joined August 2016
United States680 Posts
February 07 2019 20:43 GMT
#2
Awesome. Captain American!
Xain0n
Profile Joined November 2018
Italy3963 Posts
February 07 2019 20:48 GMT
#3
WCS is always in need of strong Terran!
Welcome back, Polt. News of Hydra?
FrostedMiniWheats
Profile Joined August 2010
United States30730 Posts
February 07 2019 21:18 GMT
#4
Yissss! Polt just gives fun games and I'm excited to see how he'll stack up against foreigners these days
NesTea | Mvp | MC | Leenock | Losira | Gumiho | DRG | Taeja | Jinro | Stephano | Thorzain | Sen | Idra |Polt | Bomber | Symbol | Squirtle | Fantasy | Jaedong | Maru | sOs | Seed | ByuN | ByuL | Neeb| Scarlett | Rogue | IM forever
Nakajin
Profile Blog Joined September 2014
Canada8989 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-02-07 21:21:01
February 07 2019 21:20 GMT
#5
Quick hide your nexus, Polt's coming!
Writerhttp://i.imgur.com/9p6ufcB.jpg
yht9657
Profile Joined December 2016
1810 Posts
February 07 2019 22:01 GMT
#6
The greatest American player of all time
i-MajiN
Profile Joined August 2014
France113 Posts
February 07 2019 22:08 GMT
#7
that's the best new so far (with the comeback of MC & DRG)
MC, Rain, PartinG, SoO, SoulKey, DRG, Leenock, Solar, Bomber, Polt, ByuN, MMA, Taeja, Ryung, FanTaSy // SKT Forever // OGTV#YoGo
Vutalisk
Profile Joined August 2016
United States680 Posts
February 07 2019 22:54 GMT
#8
On February 08 2019 05:48 Xain0n wrote:
WCS is always in need of strong Terran!
Welcome back, Polt. News of Hydra?

Would love to see Hydra back in action. He still has one more year left I believe. It may be tougher for him to get back to pro scene. He is married and has one kid already.
Zzoram
Profile Joined February 2008
Canada7115 Posts
February 07 2019 23:10 GMT
#9
Welcome news, more WCS Terran
seemsgood
Profile Joined January 2016
5527 Posts
February 08 2019 00:59 GMT
#10
ah... captain polt ....the only one who could make thors work
this dude was literally killing 8 armors ultra with thors while others were busy whining about it tastelesss!
DieuCure
Profile Joined January 2017
France3713 Posts
February 08 2019 01:26 GMT
#11
I hope he qualifies for Blizzcon
TL+ Member
DinosaurJones
Profile Joined February 2012
United States1000 Posts
February 08 2019 02:20 GMT
#12
CAPTAIN AMERICA RETURNS
siakam
Profile Joined December 2018
Korea (South)11 Posts
February 08 2019 02:29 GMT
#13
On February 08 2019 07:54 Vutalisk wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 08 2019 05:48 Xain0n wrote:
WCS is always in need of strong Terran!
Welcome back, Polt. News of Hydra?

Would love to see Hydra back in action. He still has one more year left I believe. It may be tougher for him to get back to pro scene. He is married and has one kid already.


Hydra is already discharged from military service. And from what I know he got a job and have no plan of being a pro again.
gnuoy000
Profile Joined July 2018
31 Posts
February 08 2019 03:45 GMT
#14
I am so hype.
Zerg.Zilla
Profile Joined February 2012
Hungary5029 Posts
February 08 2019 06:52 GMT
#15
Awww yeah! One of the few terran players i liked! Can't wait!
(•_•) ( •_•)>⌐■-■ (⌐■_■) ~Keep calm and inject Larva~
nrv
Profile Joined April 2011
United States113 Posts
February 08 2019 08:32 GMT
#16
Yay more terran!
yes
Poopi
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
France12886 Posts
February 08 2019 09:22 GMT
#17
Fuck yeah!
Polt is back. I casually stayed up late just to be able to watch his stream back in the start of LotV days

So cool to see so many old yet returning players
WriterMaru
Akio
Profile Blog Joined January 2019
Finland1838 Posts
February 08 2019 09:32 GMT
#18
Awesome news! Some more top-tier Terran representation to WCS is always welcome gogo Polt~
Mine gas, build tanks.
zokker13
Profile Joined November 2009
Germany77 Posts
February 08 2019 16:31 GMT
#19
What makes him think he's allowed to participate in WCS?
fLyiNgDroNe
Profile Joined September 2005
Belgium4009 Posts
February 08 2019 17:01 GMT
#20
On February 09 2019 01:31 zokker13 wrote:
What makes him think he's allowed to participate in WCS?


cause he is an American.

What do we know about ForGG btw?
Drone is a way of living
Nakajin
Profile Blog Joined September 2014
Canada8989 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-02-08 17:13:44
February 08 2019 17:11 GMT
#21
On February 09 2019 02:01 fLyiNgDroNe wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 09 2019 01:31 zokker13 wrote:
What makes him think he's allowed to participate in WCS?


cause he is an American.

What do we know about ForGG btw?


I don't think he's an american citizen, but he had permanent residency and I think his gf (wife?) is american so it should be easier to ask for residency back if he need to. (I have no idea how long those thing last)
Writerhttp://i.imgur.com/9p6ufcB.jpg
Xain0n
Profile Joined November 2018
Italy3963 Posts
February 08 2019 17:21 GMT
#22
The restriction has nothing to do with nationality, merely with residency. There should be no problems!
fLyiNgDroNe
Profile Joined September 2005
Belgium4009 Posts
February 08 2019 17:56 GMT
#23
On February 09 2019 02:11 Nakajin wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 09 2019 02:01 fLyiNgDroNe wrote:
On February 09 2019 01:31 zokker13 wrote:
What makes him think he's allowed to participate in WCS?


cause he is an American.

What do we know about ForGG btw?


I don't think he's an american citizen, but he had permanent residency and I think his gf (wife?) is american so it should be easier to ask for residency back if he need to. (I have no idea how long those thing last)


yeah that was a bad attempt to joke from my part. I was referring to him being Cpt. America, but indeed his residency status should be fine.
Drone is a way of living
nrv
Profile Joined April 2011
United States113 Posts
February 09 2019 05:49 GMT
#24
Polt has true passion for sc2
yes
esReveR
Profile Joined February 2010
United States567 Posts
February 09 2019 07:04 GMT
#25
Polt needs a full month of residency in the US prior to the event and 100 ladder wins per month on the NA server to be eligible (4.6.c. in the WCS rules). As long as Polt makes it to the US in early-April, he would be able to play in the Spring WCS Circuit season in mid-May. Otherwise, he's stuck waiting until Fall.
Skill is relative.
ZERATUL491
Profile Joined August 2017
1 Post
April 02 2019 15:48 GMT
#26
Most Pros retire around 26 years of age. I would love to see Polt compete in WCS, but his age (which is probably around 30) would perhaps prohibit him from having as good of a chance compared to back in the Legacy Of The Void days.
seopthi
Profile Blog Joined December 2014
391 Posts
April 02 2019 15:58 GMT
#27
Tastosis once talked about the limit of age being a bit of a myth - they think the reason people get worse around that age is not physical ability but just losing motivation/dedication. A good example they used is that you can have old piano players with crazy hand dexterity.

As I am aging now (and playing piano, too) I am thinking they're right; e.g I've played SC since '98 and I think I could have what it takes to play as when I was a kid, but it's just hard to focus on it as back then.

"Old" people making comeback to BW are playing well, and it's possible that Polt will have a new dose of motivation after being back from the military.
leublix
Profile Joined May 2017
493 Posts
April 02 2019 17:05 GMT
#28
On April 03 2019 00:58 seopthi wrote:
Tastosis once talked about the limit of age being a bit of a myth - they think the reason people get worse around that age is not physical ability but just losing motivation/dedication. A good example they used is that you can have old piano players with crazy hand dexterity.

As I am aging now (and playing piano, too) I am thinking they're right; e.g I've played SC since '98 and I think I could have what it takes to play as when I was a kid, but it's just hard to focus on it as back then.

"Old" people making comeback to BW are playing well, and it's possible that Polt will have a new dose of motivation after being back from the military.

The BW argument is a bit moot, there are not many new players and those that are here haven't trained hard in a team house environment like the old dogs.
brickrd
Profile Blog Joined March 2014
United States4894 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-04-02 18:18:07
April 02 2019 18:05 GMT
#29
On April 03 2019 00:58 seopthi wrote:
Tastosis once talked about the limit of age being a bit of a myth - they think the reason people get worse around that age is not physical ability but just losing motivation/dedication. A good example they used is that you can have old piano players with crazy hand dexterity.

As I am aging now (and playing piano, too) I am thinking they're right; e.g I've played SC since '98 and I think I could have what it takes to play as when I was a kid, but it's just hard to focus on it as back then.

"Old" people making comeback to BW are playing well, and it's possible that Polt will have a new dose of motivation after being back from the military.

i'm surprised you think playing piano is physically comparable to playing SC or any sport. i play SC at diamond level, i'm 28, and i already feel my fingers tightening and slowing. piano is a fantastic talent, and i understand it places certain demands on your hands and wrists as well, but i really don't think it has the physical intensity of an esport when it comes to your hands. SC2 pros also play many many hours a day, every single day, up to 12-16 hours in extreme cases. i have total respect for piano and musicianship but it is not the same thing.

not to mention it's just very very well established fact that when you're a high performance athlete the human body simply, mathematically peaks somewhere in the late 20s early 30s. this holds true in pretty much anything that involves real physical intensity. SC isn't football or basketball, but yes, hands have limits and they slow down with age.

Artosis is a smart guy but he's not without ego. he himself is an aging dude who plays SC. i'm sure he enjoys thinking ridiculous things like "decline with age is a myth" because i'm sure he enjoys imagining that strategic skill is the deciding factor in this game. he's wrong on both counts. esport commentators are not sports physicians.

that said, while decline is a certainty, outliers are also a certainty. there's nothing that prevents Polt from being an outlier, someone in the top 1% in terms of being able to keep up with age. but we'll have to wait and see, and that's still not the same thing as age "not mattering." look at a game where age really doesn't matter like MtG and you'll see the difference.
TL+ Member
Charoisaur
Profile Joined August 2014
Germany15961 Posts
April 02 2019 20:15 GMT
#30
On April 03 2019 00:48 ZERATUL491 wrote:
Most Pros retire around 26 years of age. I would love to see Polt compete in WCS, but his age (which is probably around 30) would perhaps prohibit him from having as good of a chance compared to back in the Legacy Of The Void days.

If he plays WCS he only has to play vs foreigners though, he easily could become a consistent top 8 player there.
Many of the coolest moments in sc2 happen due to worker harassment
NinjaNight
Profile Joined January 2018
428 Posts
April 02 2019 20:21 GMT
#31
On April 03 2019 05:15 Charoisaur wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 03 2019 00:48 ZERATUL491 wrote:
Most Pros retire around 26 years of age. I would love to see Polt compete in WCS, but his age (which is probably around 30) would perhaps prohibit him from having as good of a chance compared to back in the Legacy Of The Void days.

If he plays WCS he only has to play vs foreigners though, he easily could become a consistent top 8 player there.


Yea I think it would be a very good move for him. He can definitely come back and have a ton of success in WCS as before he left.
fronkschnonk
Profile Joined November 2011
Germany622 Posts
April 02 2019 21:40 GMT
#32
On April 03 2019 03:05 brickrd wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 03 2019 00:58 seopthi wrote:
Tastosis once talked about the limit of age being a bit of a myth - they think the reason people get worse around that age is not physical ability but just losing motivation/dedication. A good example they used is that you can have old piano players with crazy hand dexterity.

As I am aging now (and playing piano, too) I am thinking they're right; e.g I've played SC since '98 and I think I could have what it takes to play as when I was a kid, but it's just hard to focus on it as back then.

"Old" people making comeback to BW are playing well, and it's possible that Polt will have a new dose of motivation after being back from the military.

i'm surprised you think playing piano is physically comparable to playing SC or any sport. i play SC at diamond level, i'm 28, and i already feel my fingers tightening and slowing. piano is a fantastic talent, and i understand it places certain demands on your hands and wrists as well, but i really don't think it has the physical intensity of an esport when it comes to your hands. SC2 pros also play many many hours a day, every single day, up to 12-16 hours in extreme cases. i have total respect for piano and musicianship but it is not the same thing.

not to mention it's just very very well established fact that when you're a high performance athlete the human body simply, mathematically peaks somewhere in the late 20s early 30s. this holds true in pretty much anything that involves real physical intensity. SC isn't football or basketball, but yes, hands have limits and they slow down with age.

Artosis is a smart guy but he's not without ego. he himself is an aging dude who plays SC. i'm sure he enjoys thinking ridiculous things like "decline with age is a myth" because i'm sure he enjoys imagining that strategic skill is the deciding factor in this game. he's wrong on both counts. esport commentators are not sports physicians.

that said, while decline is a certainty, outliers are also a certainty. there's nothing that prevents Polt from being an outlier, someone in the top 1% in terms of being able to keep up with age. but we'll have to wait and see, and that's still not the same thing as age "not mattering." look at a game where age really doesn't matter like MtG and you'll see the difference.

I think you're highly underestimating the requirements a professional piano player has to match. Some of 'em are playing pieces of insane speed and have to do tons of practice to become that good. Pain issues do happen as well.
But I also think that Artosis is wrong - or at leat is leaving out important factors. A piano player has to practice and to be fast and very precise but he has not to react. A SC2 pro has to be extremely fast by reacting to the smallest of actions seen of the opponent. This time of recepting an information, analyzing it and then transforming it into a bodily reaction is said to get slower with higher age. So you still can be as fast with your actions but your reaction time will be slower. But then again this is a tough call because this is something that SC2 pros optimated their brains to do for years, so it may be that this particular actions became somewhat instincts, infused into muscle memory. This is also why we see quite some "old" goal keepers in professional soccer. They have to react extremely fast but over the years they attained so much experience and reflexes that them being older than others doesn't make them worse.
Furthermore, I consider that some kind of Code A must be reestablished.
Anc13nt
Profile Blog Joined October 2017
1557 Posts
April 02 2019 22:04 GMT
#33
On February 08 2019 05:48 Xain0n wrote:
WCS is always in need of strong Terran!
Welcome back, Polt. News of Hydra?


Hydra made a youtube channel with a lot of SC2 and BW content. I think he has a full-time job now so I'm guessing he retired from progaming.
ordeal11
Profile Joined August 2018
Czech Republic52 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-04-02 22:06:41
April 02 2019 22:05 GMT
#34
On April 03 2019 06:40 fronkschnonk wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 03 2019 03:05 brickrd wrote:
On April 03 2019 00:58 seopthi wrote:
Tastosis once talked about the limit of age being a bit of a myth - they think the reason people get worse around that age is not physical ability but just losing motivation/dedication. A good example they used is that you can have old piano players with crazy hand dexterity.

As I am aging now (and playing piano, too) I am thinking they're right; e.g I've played SC since '98 and I think I could have what it takes to play as when I was a kid, but it's just hard to focus on it as back then.

"Old" people making comeback to BW are playing well, and it's possible that Polt will have a new dose of motivation after being back from the military.

i'm surprised you think playing piano is physically comparable to playing SC or any sport. i play SC at diamond level, i'm 28, and i already feel my fingers tightening and slowing. piano is a fantastic talent, and i understand it places certain demands on your hands and wrists as well, but i really don't think it has the physical intensity of an esport when it comes to your hands. SC2 pros also play many many hours a day, every single day, up to 12-16 hours in extreme cases. i have total respect for piano and musicianship but it is not the same thing.

not to mention it's just very very well established fact that when you're a high performance athlete the human body simply, mathematically peaks somewhere in the late 20s early 30s. this holds true in pretty much anything that involves real physical intensity. SC isn't football or basketball, but yes, hands have limits and they slow down with age.

Artosis is a smart guy but he's not without ego. he himself is an aging dude who plays SC. i'm sure he enjoys thinking ridiculous things like "decline with age is a myth" because i'm sure he enjoys imagining that strategic skill is the deciding factor in this game. he's wrong on both counts. esport commentators are not sports physicians.

that said, while decline is a certainty, outliers are also a certainty. there's nothing that prevents Polt from being an outlier, someone in the top 1% in terms of being able to keep up with age. but we'll have to wait and see, and that's still not the same thing as age "not mattering." look at a game where age really doesn't matter like MtG and you'll see the difference.

I think you're highly underestimating the requirements a professional piano player has to match. Some of 'em are playing pieces of insane speed and have to do tons of practice to become that good. Pain issues do happen as well.
But I also think that Artosis is wrong - or at leat is leaving out important factors. A piano player has to practice and to be fast and very precise but he has not to react. A SC2 pro has to be extremely fast by reacting to the smallest of actions seen of the opponent. This time of recepting an information, analyzing it and then transforming it into a bodily reaction is said to get slower with higher age. So you still can be as fast with your actions but your reaction time will be slower. But then again this is a tough call because this is something that SC2 pros optimated their brains to do for years, so it may be that this particular actions became somewhat instincts, infused into muscle memory. This is also why we see quite some "old" goal keepers in professional soccer. They have to react extremely fast but over the years they attained so much experience and reflexes that them being older than others doesn't make them worse.


Agree, I can play for 5+ hours (300 sc2 apm +) before I start to feel my wrists. Let me play any Iron Maiden song from beggining to an end on my guitar and my wrist are burning as fck.
deacon.frost
Profile Joined February 2013
Czech Republic12129 Posts
April 02 2019 22:29 GMT
#35
On April 03 2019 03:05 brickrd wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 03 2019 00:58 seopthi wrote:
Tastosis once talked about the limit of age being a bit of a myth - they think the reason people get worse around that age is not physical ability but just losing motivation/dedication. A good example they used is that you can have old piano players with crazy hand dexterity.

As I am aging now (and playing piano, too) I am thinking they're right; e.g I've played SC since '98 and I think I could have what it takes to play as when I was a kid, but it's just hard to focus on it as back then.

"Old" people making comeback to BW are playing well, and it's possible that Polt will have a new dose of motivation after being back from the military.

i'm surprised you think playing piano is physically comparable to playing SC or any sport. i play SC at diamond level, i'm 28, and i already feel my fingers tightening and slowing.+ Show Spoiler +
piano is a fantastic talent, and i understand it places certain demands on your hands and wrists as well, but i really don't think it has the physical intensity of an esport when it comes to your hands. SC2 pros also play many many hours a day, every single day, up to 12-16 hours in extreme cases. i have total respect for piano and musicianship but it is not the same thing.

not to mention it's just very very well established fact that when you're a high performance athlete the human body simply, mathematically peaks somewhere in the late 20s early 30s. this holds true in pretty much anything that involves real physical intensity. SC isn't football or basketball, but yes, hands have limits and they slow down with age.

Artosis is a smart guy but he's not without ego. he himself is an aging dude who plays SC. i'm sure he enjoys thinking ridiculous things like "decline with age is a myth" because i'm sure he enjoys imagining that strategic skill is the deciding factor in this game. he's wrong on both counts. esport commentators are not sports physicians.

that said, while decline is a certainty, outliers are also a certainty. there's nothing that prevents Polt from being an outlier, someone in the top 1% in terms of being able to keep up with age. but we'll have to wait and see, and that's still not the same thing as age "not mattering." look at a game where age really doesn't matter like MtG and you'll see the difference.

In the meantime I'm 35 and I am faster every year.

both of us proves exactly nothing.
I imagine France should be able to take this unless Lilbow is busy practicing for Starcraft III. | KadaverBB is my fairy ban mother.
Rob-Zero
Profile Joined January 2011
Germany459 Posts
April 02 2019 23:49 GMT
#36
On April 03 2019 05:21 NinjaNight wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 03 2019 05:15 Charoisaur wrote:
On April 03 2019 00:48 ZERATUL491 wrote:
Most Pros retire around 26 years of age. I would love to see Polt compete in WCS, but his age (which is probably around 30) would perhaps prohibit him from having as good of a chance compared to back in the Legacy Of The Void days.

If he plays WCS he only has to play vs foreigners though, he easily could become a consistent top 8 player there.


Yea I think it would be a very good move for him. He can definitely come back and have a ton of success in WCS as before he left.


We´ll see. He is not the first top player coming back after a hiatus/military. Most of them sadly did not return to old accomplishments (MMA, ForGG, MC, Parting, Taeja (does he even play nowadays or did he retire again?)). The WCS competition, while not nearly as strong as korea, is strong, especially at the top. Would be exciting to see him back in old form and crush some nerds, but i doubt it will be easy for him.
Dark Age of Camelot - I miss you
fishjie
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
United States1519 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-04-03 14:57:51
April 03 2019 14:57 GMT
#37
hell yes!!!!!

edit: can they let him play in NA WCS for old times sake again pls

the foreigners have caught up anyway
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland25344 Posts
April 03 2019 15:27 GMT
#38
On April 03 2019 00:58 seopthi wrote:
Tastosis once talked about the limit of age being a bit of a myth - they think the reason people get worse around that age is not physical ability but just losing motivation/dedication. A good example they used is that you can have old piano players with crazy hand dexterity.

As I am aging now (and playing piano, too) I am thinking they're right; e.g I've played SC since '98 and I think I could have what it takes to play as when I was a kid, but it's just hard to focus on it as back then.

"Old" people making comeback to BW are playing well, and it's possible that Polt will have a new dose of motivation after being back from the military.

Yeah I think this is 100% the case. I don't think it's even particularly motivation, it's just other commitments. I wasn't a particularly committed or motivated player as a youngster but I could find 10 hours to grind out games. Nowadays I'm super motivated to learn and get better, but it's condensed into a few hours here or there if I'm lucky.

I think ideas of what the age curve is going to look like in eSports are really, really skewed by the history of the activity. Korean BW players were always going to be young, then they'd have military service and the difficulty to get back to the top of the game would be wrongly attributed to their age IMO.

If concert pianists can continue into their dotage, even high level RTS mechanics aren't as demanding as that. Roger Federer can cling around Grand Slam potential in seeming perpetuity hitting back a small yellow ball that's coming at him at 100+ mph. Reaction speeds aren't really a pertinent factor either I don't think, it's mostly learned anticipation and that's cumulated experience at work.

Warcraft 3 at present it seems most of the top players are the 30+ year old veterans who were the top players way back in the day, granted SC2 is a bigger RTS so there's not a massive amount of new blood coming into that scene, but it seems there's not a massive drop off.
'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
Noocta
Profile Joined June 2010
France12578 Posts
April 03 2019 15:37 GMT
#39
There's a ton of Fighting games players ( and fps players ) that are very old for Esport standard and still do well. I trully agree with Tasteless about the age factor being a myth, it's all about motivation and interest. People want to do other things in their thirties.

As I always remind people in those discussions, Daigo Umehara is soon to be 38, and he's still winning Premiere tournaments. Tokido is the best street fighter player of the year and he's been playign for more than 20 years.

Maybe you do lose some speed and dexterity, but the RTS scene underate experience a lot compared to other genre.
" I'm not gonna fight you. I'm gonna kick your ass ! "
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland25344 Posts
April 03 2019 15:43 GMT
#40
On April 04 2019 00:37 Noocta wrote:
There's a ton of Fighting games players ( and fps players ) that are very old for Esport standard and still do well. I trully agree with Tasteless about the age factor being a myth, it's all about motivation and interest. People want to do other things in their thirties.

As I always remind people in those discussions, Daigo Umehara is soon to be 38, and he's still winning Premiere tournaments. Tokido is the best street fighter player of the year and he's been playign for more than 20 years.

Maybe you do lose some speed and dexterity, but the RTS scene underate experience a lot compared to other genre.

Which is odd because it seems to be especially common in the RTS scene to put in insane hours of practice, so they underrate on one hand and acknowledge on the other.

Honestly I'm not surprised there's such a burnout rate in the SC scene either, their practice hours seem to be excessive compared to games in other genres, in addition to that time investment there's a lot more keyboard presses to compared to most games.
'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
fastr
Profile Joined February 2011
France901 Posts
April 03 2019 15:47 GMT
#41
If there is one guy who can climb back to the top after military service, it's Polt. Yes, 30 years old is an ancient age to be playing Starcraft professionally. But first, you have to take a realistic look at the skill level difference between WCS and GSL. Yes, the gap has lessen over the years, but it still goes GSL > WCS EU > WCS US. I mean no disrespect but you don't think Polt can beat Cham or Astrea even at 30? Those players are top 6 in WCS US this season.

Another point that nobody mentioned yet is that Polt always had a more cerebral than mechanical game. He never needed 350+ apm to win tournaments because his build order and decision making were always world class. He's like the terran sOs, just a crafty, kind of slow player that just finds way to win. I think his skill set will translate much better into older age than a Maru or soO, 2 exemples of strong mechanical players but sometimes critiqued for their decision making.

Whether he is successful or not, I'm just happy to see him coming back and I look forward to his future streams figuring out the game as he returns.
Noocta
Profile Joined June 2010
France12578 Posts
April 03 2019 15:51 GMT
#42
Yeah, burnout is the real thing. It used to be insane to keep going after a few years because of how much practice you need to keep up with everyone else, especially in a scene that used to have ALL the young kids trying to get into it.

Starcraft is old now, it's doing well, but lets not lie to ourselves, we're past the days where every 13 years old in Korea plays starcraft in hope of being the next Boxer. The pool of future pros is smaller, making the requierements to stay competitive a lot less stressfull on current pros.

Especially for broodwar right now. When Bisu comes back from his military service, there won't be 30 new insane good protoss to fight against to stay relevant.
" I'm not gonna fight you. I'm gonna kick your ass ! "
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland25344 Posts
April 03 2019 15:54 GMT
#43
Yeah absolutely fastr, that as well. His builds and pre-planning were pretty top tier in his day, and I feel his on-the-fly decision making within games and improvisations were possibly the best I've seen in SC2, and if not definitely up there.
'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
Vutalisk
Profile Joined August 2016
United States680 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-04-03 16:19:56
April 03 2019 15:58 GMT
#44
Polt is not US citizen. He is full-fledged Korean. He was competing at WCS in the past under P1 visa (athlete visa). I assume an organization will recruit him and take care of the visa for him so he can compete in WCS. Envy/CM Storm has done that for him in the past. They may do it again for him. Frankly, I bet Psistorm can get him.
Circumstance
Profile Blog Joined March 2014
United States11403 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-04-03 16:39:57
April 03 2019 16:39 GMT
#45
On the subject of eligibility: He was living in the US full-time before there was even a hint of region lock being considered by Blizzard. I doubt the logistical hurdles will be difficult for him to surmount.

On the subject of age: Daigo Umehara is almost 40. Polt with his highly efficient hand actions (he had some of the lowest wasted APM back in the day) should have no problem.

On the subject of Polt's possible return: us us us us us
The world is better when every background has a chance.
SamirDuran
Profile Joined May 2012
Philippines894 Posts
April 03 2019 18:03 GMT
#46
Looks like we will be seeing him soon

https://twitter.com/Poltsc2/status/1113459212946796546?s=19
Don't practice until you can get it right, practice until you can't get it wrong.
Clazziquai10
Profile Blog Joined August 2011
Singapore1949 Posts
April 03 2019 18:04 GMT
#47
I'm really hoping for Polt to open up a can of whoop-ass on the WCS NA scene
Nakajin
Profile Blog Joined September 2014
Canada8989 Posts
April 03 2019 18:05 GMT
#48
I don't think his age his a problem as far as his play goes, but he may not want to go back to putting the time and make the sacrifice to get to the top again, plus I imagine it's gets hard when you realize that most of your friend/colleague that you used to play with are gone, can't be good for motivation.

Like it was said FGC has plenty of 30 or even 40 years old top player, including some with kids and family (Sako for example) but I presume that the more "community" focus aspect play a role in it, their community seems to be tighter then SC2 (particularly the foreign scene) mostly cause they are used to practice together in lan. But for the reaction time or whatnot aspect of it I don't think it really matter, starting young is clearly a benefit but keeping up level of skill dosen't seem that impossible as long as you don't get back or wrist problems, it's not like you need that fast of a reaction time in Starcraft anyway (as oppose to CSGO or fighting game for example).

Bottom line if Federer can be the best at running around smashing balls at 100 kh for 2 hours at 40 years old it would be silly to think that a 30 years old Starcraft player can't be at the top.
Writerhttp://i.imgur.com/9p6ufcB.jpg
claybones
Profile Blog Joined September 2011
United States244 Posts
April 03 2019 18:35 GMT
#49
How did I miss this when it was new?

As far as his age is concerned, he was already old among pros before retiring. I don't know if two more years is going to slow him down much more. He might need time to shake off rust but if he can stick around that long, I'm sure he'll be great again.
lechatnoir
Profile Joined November 2016
386 Posts
April 03 2019 18:36 GMT
#50
So excited! Let's hope he finds his way back!
brickrd
Profile Blog Joined March 2014
United States4894 Posts
April 03 2019 18:37 GMT
#51
everyone saying that being 40 doesn't make a difference from 20 for reaction time and dexterity is simply medically wrong and should immediately stop spreading misinformation
TL+ Member
Noocta
Profile Joined June 2010
France12578 Posts
April 03 2019 19:59 GMT
#52
On April 04 2019 03:37 brickrd wrote:
everyone saying that being 40 doesn't make a difference from 20 for reaction time and dexterity is simply medically wrong and should immediately stop spreading misinformation


It does make a difference, but its not as big of a deal as everyone makes it to be when someone old stops winning.
" I'm not gonna fight you. I'm gonna kick your ass ! "
deacon.frost
Profile Joined February 2013
Czech Republic12129 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-04-03 20:27:38
April 03 2019 20:26 GMT
#53
On April 04 2019 03:37 brickrd wrote:
everyone saying that being 40 doesn't make a difference from 20 for reaction time and dexterity is simply medically wrong and should immediately stop spreading misinformation

On the other hand you have the experience to not spam and use your slower reactions more wisely and update the style to follow this.

Nobody is saying he will be as fast as when he was 20, but it's not that big of a deal and this is not a full athletic sport where you need the whole body. And anyway, I remember some pro players playing in very high age - e.g. Jaromir Jagr, Zdeno Chara. (edit> and if these can play NHL at 40 where you need the whole body, what's stopping Polt? )
I imagine France should be able to take this unless Lilbow is busy practicing for Starcraft III. | KadaverBB is my fairy ban mother.
NinjaNight
Profile Joined January 2018
428 Posts
April 03 2019 22:06 GMT
#54
On April 04 2019 03:35 claybones wrote:
How did I miss this when it was new?

As far as his age is concerned, he was already old among pros before retiring. I don't know if two more years is going to slow him down much more. He might need time to shake off rust but if he can stick around that long, I'm sure he'll be great again.


Not a problem. He's still more than young enough. Federer still has the speed/reaction timing to be at the very top of the ATP tour at 37 years old. And that is much more competitive than SC2 because it's so much more popular and has massive potential prize money winnings. Much more physical too. Polt at 30 is still a young guy. The real question is motivation because physical ability will not be a problem at all unless he runs into injury issues.
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland25344 Posts
April 03 2019 22:41 GMT
#55
I just think people are massively overstating the demands of eSports on a purely physiological level.

The only argument I can maybe think that SC and pure reaction times could differ from other activities especially sporting is minimap awareness.

Roger Federer isn’t reacting to a tennis ball coming at him, most of it is subconscious prediction based on his opponents and body shape etc. We do a lot of this stuff even outside of competitive arenas, if you’re approaching someone on the street and your trajectory will be to clash you both generally realign to avoid it. If you were both quizzed why you choose the respective side you did, chances are most times you wouldn’t know.

Minimap awareness there’s not really a tell to read, something pops up out of nowhere and it’s pure reaction. Granted the response will be ingrained to a degree, say a runby in your natural you’ll know to hit that camera hotkey through experience.

Below is interesting, first thing I found when I googled about reaction speed decline, actually uses SC2. Methinks me search history has maybe pushed an SC one up.

It finds the peak is 24 in terms of pure reaction speed, which used to be considered veteran status in SC, and I guess still is to a degree.

journals.plos.org

'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
NinjaNight
Profile Joined January 2018
428 Posts
April 03 2019 23:32 GMT
#56
On April 04 2019 07:41 Wombat_NI wrote:

Roger Federer isn’t reacting to a tennis ball coming at him,



Are you kidding me? The guys at that level hit the ball super fast especially on serves. It takes amazing reaction timing to play tennis at that level, there's no doubt. Just try returning 130-140 mph serves...
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland25344 Posts
April 04 2019 00:14 GMT
#57
On April 04 2019 08:32 NinjaNight wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 04 2019 07:41 Wombat_NI wrote:

Roger Federer isn’t reacting to a tennis ball coming at him,



Are you kidding me? The guys at that level hit the ball super fast especially on serves. It takes amazing reaction timing to play tennis at that level, there's no doubt. Just try returning 130-140 mph serves...

Well no you can’t do that, based on reaction times. Not just to recognise where the ball is going, but to align your body to return it.

My point isn’t that Roger Federer isn’t an amazing talent, but he isn’t hitting those back via his reactions alone as that’s not actually possible.

It’s mostly pattern recognition, figuring out instinctively based on body shape, practiced technique for returning based on that etc

There’s a guy in Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink book for example who could really accurately predict if a tennis player was going to fault just based on those things and how they tossed the ball.

If Federer does have an advantage it probably isn’t in his innate reactions, he might be marginally better at parsing all that information faster than others, and whatever you call that ability it doesn’t appear to measurably decline in the same way with age as pure reaction times do.

'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
NinjaNight
Profile Joined January 2018
428 Posts
April 04 2019 02:09 GMT
#58
On April 04 2019 09:14 Wombat_NI wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 04 2019 08:32 NinjaNight wrote:
On April 04 2019 07:41 Wombat_NI wrote:

Roger Federer isn’t reacting to a tennis ball coming at him,



Are you kidding me? The guys at that level hit the ball super fast especially on serves. It takes amazing reaction timing to play tennis at that level, there's no doubt. Just try returning 130-140 mph serves...

Well no you can’t do that, based on reaction times. Not just to recognise where the ball is going, but to align your body to return it.

My point isn’t that Roger Federer isn’t an amazing talent, but he isn’t hitting those back via his reactions alone as that’s not actually possible.

It’s mostly pattern recognition, figuring out instinctively based on body shape, practiced technique for returning based on that etc

There’s a guy in Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink book for example who could really accurately predict if a tennis player was going to fault just based on those things and how they tossed the ball.

If Federer does have an advantage it probably isn’t in his innate reactions, he might be marginally better at parsing all that information faster than others, and whatever you call that ability it doesn’t appear to measurably decline in the same way with age as pure reaction times do.



Yes it's much more than just reaction times but my point is there is still a huge element of reaction timing in tennis at that level. I stand by the claim that being 30 is not much of a problem in physical ability in SC2. The real problem with being 30 is you probably have a lot more other things going on in your life at that age and likely don't have so much time to devote to starcraft anymore. Motivation may also be an issue as it seems the older you get the less you tend to care about video games.
skdsk
Profile Joined February 2019
138 Posts
April 05 2019 04:00 GMT
#59
On April 04 2019 00:51 Noocta wrote:
Yeah, burnout is the real thing. It used to be insane to keep going after a few years because of how much practice you need to keep up with everyone else, especially in a scene that used to have ALL the young kids trying to get into it.

Starcraft is old now, it's doing well, but lets not lie to ourselves, we're past the days where every 13 years old in Korea plays starcraft in hope of being the next Boxer. The pool of future pros is smaller, making the requierements to stay competitive a lot less stressfull on current pros.

Especially for broodwar right now. When Bisu comes back from his military service, there won't be 30 new insane good protoss to fight against to stay relevant.

Age is not a problem for Esports, "the problem" is the fact as you age you get more responsibilities and you cant play 12h per day anymore.
Rob-Zero
Profile Joined January 2011
Germany459 Posts
April 05 2019 04:35 GMT
#60
With great age, there comes great responsibility..

I´m willing to believe all you guys, but yet there is someone to come back to championship form after military. Never happened. There were other great champions that failed to even reach top foreigner level. Maybe one factor is the changing meta and patches, you don´t have to face that in Tennis, and in FGC the meta changes but I believe not on the same level as a RTS game (different build orders, counters, all ins, reactions to all of that, reactions to the reactions etc. etc.).
Dark Age of Camelot - I miss you
Zzoram
Profile Joined February 2008
Canada7115 Posts
April 05 2019 04:43 GMT
#61
Hope he streams too
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland25344 Posts
April 05 2019 05:36 GMT
#62
On April 05 2019 13:35 Rob-Zero wrote:
With great age, there comes great responsibility..

I´m willing to believe all you guys, but yet there is someone to come back to championship form after military. Never happened. There were other great champions that failed to even reach top foreigner level. Maybe one factor is the changing meta and patches, you don´t have to face that in Tennis, and in FGC the meta changes but I believe not on the same level as a RTS game (different build orders, counters, all ins, reactions to all of that, reactions to the reactions etc. etc.).

Moon in Warcraft 3. The scene doesn’t have the same depth as SC2 maybe, but it is still a pretty demanding RTS and he did get back to the top level. He’s older than Polt now as well.

I imagine military service is seen by some as a natural breaking point in their life. Try to be the best gamer they can before it, do something else with their life after it. Especially as even now it’s hard to make better money as a player than many standard 9-5 jobs.

It’s a lot of pressure when the gap between being financially comfortable and broke is putting in consistent 10 hour days and bridging the gap between being in the top 100-50 in the world at something to say, top 20+.

The real famous BW players made bank from streaming when they went back, and there were still tournaments in the post-Kespa era, they could show their personality to the fans etc. Many good players who maybe didn’t have those results or fame still found comfortable niches there.

People may love the games, sometimes doing something for living can kill that love and doing it as a hobby again might restore that.

In the same way college is a time for many to experiment, be idiots and find themselves as it’s a natural window in which to do those kind of things.
'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
Rob-Zero
Profile Joined January 2011
Germany459 Posts
April 05 2019 19:18 GMT
#63
I dont know much about the Wc3 Scene, but im sure what you say is right. I was just thinking about the sc2 Scene. But still, your argument counts. Maybe Polt is the one to show it is possible in starcraft, too
Dark Age of Camelot - I miss you
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland25344 Posts
April 06 2019 15:01 GMT
#64
Maybe, I don’t see Polt being a guy that’s totally consumed with Starcraft either, he’s been at school etc and kept up a pretty high level on and off.

My prediction would him being a good foreigner level, the tier below the Serrals and Neebs etc. Still pretty damn good
'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
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