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Big Dark Energy - Road to BlizzCon 2019

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Big Dark Energy - Road to BlizzCon 2019

Text byTL.net ESPORTS
October 12th, 2019 02:58 GMT

Road to BlizzCon 2019: Dark (#1 WCS Korea)

Big Dark Energy

by Wax

As a Dark fan, it feels like this should be a time for celebration. The 2019 season of WCS Korea just concluded, and it may very well have been the best one of Dark's career. He finally won that bedeviling Code S title, a focal point for criticism in an otherwise dazzling career. He reached the top four in two Code S tournaments, and managed to finish in the semis of IEM Katowice as well. He wrapped up the 2019 GSL season with one of the most impressive tournament runs in recent memory, defeating defeating Maru, Stats, soO, and TY with a combined 13-2 map score to win Super Tournament 2.

All this has earned Dark the #1 seed from WCS Korea headed into the Global Finals, the second time he's won this honor. We often emphasize how it's the players with momentum who do well at BlizzCon, not necessarily the ones with the best resume on the year—Dark seems to have both angles covered. On top of everything, the Zerg faction seems to be as strong as ever, with top players readily admitting that balance is on their side. Indeed, Dark and his fans should be filled with optimism.

More info: 2019 World Championship Series Global Finals

And maybe that IS how most Dark fans feel. But for me, a pall has hung over this entire year, dampening any sense of anticipation or excitement. Even the Code S championship had some of its sense of fulfillment ever-so-slightly diminished. The problem is, all of the expectations for Dark were re-calibrated in 2018, when one Joona Sotala became the best player in StarCraft II.

*****


When Dark met Serral in the quarterfinals of IEM Katowice 2017, they produced one of my favorite series of all time. If TL.net's best games lists are for thrilling blockbusters (and occasional comedy), then this series was an art-house movie about bleakness and futility, etched onto film with acid and blood. For the up-and-coming prodigy from Finland, his mere greatness was simply not enough to contend against Dark's godliness. Dark's 3-0 sweep was the perfect encapsulation of the cruelty and hopelessness of being a foreigner in StarCraft II, and was win number 29 in what would become a 34 match undefeated streak against foreigners.



Future events have only served to make this match all the more meaningful. It's not that it was a galvanizing event—Serral didn't think much of it when I asked him about it. But it feels like an important historical marker, the low point before everything changed forever. Or, from Dark's point of view, it was the high point before the fall.

Dark has never defeated Serral since IEM Katowice 2017. In fact, he's actually been Serral's most high-profile victim since his awakening and ascent to StarCraft II legend in 2018. Twice, Dark was offered up his typical, brash comments before Serral crushed him on the way to historic championships. "I don't know why [other Koreans] lose to foreigners" he said, before losing 1-3 to Serral at GSL vs. The World. "I want to avenge my loss in GSL vs. the World ... I think Serral is the weakest player among [Rogue, Serral, and Maru] so that’s why I want to play Serral." he said, being swept 3-0 by Serral in the quarterfinals of BlizzCon 2018. Dark's head is figuratively mounted to Serral's wall, almost a separate trophy in itself (presumably with the numbers "34-1" engraved on a plaque beneath it).

The reason Serral intrudes so rudely upon Dark's story is because he's why I couldn't be 100% satisfied when Dark finally won Code S. In the past, much of Code S' significance came from the fact that winning the championship made you the de facto best player in the world. And while Code S might still boast the overall most competitive roster and rigorous format of any premiere tournament, Serral's success against Korean players has been so great that it's managed to dull some of its luster. In short: what's the point of winning Code S if it doesn't make you the undisputed, absolute best in the world?

Alright, the money is pretty important, too (just ask INnoVation). But the symbolic value of a championship isn't entirely lost upon progamers (just ask Serral or Neeb). After all, who chases trophies just for the sake of winning trophies?—it's also about earning what they represent. When a young Dark said he wanted to win 10 individual championships back in 2015, the implication wasn't that he liked the decorative value of silverware—it was that he wanted to become the greatest player of all time.

After BlizzCon 2018, Dark's tone on Serral changed considerably. "I'll work harder next year to grow as a player and get better results, and try to take on Serral as the challenger." he wrote on his fan community board. After winning the Super Tournament 2 last week, his reaction was staid, staying diplomatic about his chances of beating Serral in a Global Finals rematch.

Such comments suggest that Dark has never really been so much arrogant as he was simply speaking his mind. Digging up Dark's interview after his very first Proleague win in 2014, I came across this amusingly telling quote:

Q.Why were you so confident you'd win today?
Originally I had confidence against Terran. But in practice I ended up losing quite a bit. I was a bit anxious versing Terrans but since my opponent was Dream I was able to relax a bit.

Q. Do you really mean to say that you think Dream is a weak player?
Yes, exactly. I watched him in the preliminaries [GSL] so that's how i know.

Indeed, there might have been a time early in Dark's career when he wasn't getting interviewed because he wasn't winning matches, but I imagine he would have been brutally frank about his skill-level if anyone had asked back then. When he felt that he was the best player in StarCraft II, he spoke honestly as one might from that position. And now that it's ceased to be the case, he's admitted as much. After Super Tournament 2, he also spoke matter-of-factly about his priorities: ZvZ, Serral, BlizzCon.

While I'm wary about assuming what's going on inside progamers heads, I think all of this suggests Dark feels as many of his fans feel (or at least as I do). Winning Code S is fantastic. Winning Super Tournament is pretty good, too. But ever since 2018, the path to complete validation was always going to go through Serral. Already, he's missed a chance to atone at WESG. In 2019, the last opportunity to earn that validation will be at BlizzCon.



*****


The 2016 WCS Global Finals already feels like ancient history. 2016 saw Dark continue his growth after a breakout 2015 when he won Proleague rookie-of-the-year, achieving individual success by winning SSL Season 1 and placing runner-up in season 2 (lest one has forgotten the standing of the old StarCraft 2 Starleague, the champion won exactly as much prize money and WCS Korea points as the Code S champion).

Dark headed into the Global Finals as Korea's #1 seed in 2016 as well, having been the best all-around player that year. Alas, Dark turned out to be the antagonist in ByuN's underdog saga—the ultimate story of the right man, in the right place, at the right time, with the right strategy—losing 2-4 in the finals.

I remember vainly thinking at the time 'Dark should have won,' soon followed by 'these chances just don't get gifted to you. It may never come again.' Still, in November of 2016, if I had to pick any player to maintain the consistent excellence required to return to the BlizzCon finals, I would have picked Dark. He was potentially the most complete, all-around excellent Zerg player I had ever seen, and he seemed sure to be able to navigate any meta, patch, or map pool and rise to the top.

Unfortunately, these expectations have only half borne out. He was, indeed, consistently excellent enough to return to the Global Finals in every following year. But his actual results have been nothing to be proud of, at least by the standards of someone aspiring to be the best in the world. In 2017, he was ousted in the group stage by Elazer, a young, break-out star of the WCS Circuit. In 2018 he lost to Serral, who was making a historic run for all of foreigner-kind.

Year after year, It's been the same story: Dark is the fire-breathing dragon in someone else's fairy tale. Even as the 2019 Global Finals beckons as the opportunity for ultimate redemption, I have to wonder whose turn it will be to plunge his sword past Dark's armored scales and into his heart, and by his blood be anointed.

If there's a chance that this year is any different, it will be because Dark is no longer the most terrifying monster in the dungeon. After suffering a shock defeat to Elazer in GSL vs. The World, Dark said he had practiced like crazy. It didn't avail against him Rogue in Code S Season 3, but he still has some time to spare before the Global Finals. Unusual as it may seem, the #1 seed from Korea enters the tournament as the underdog. I hope that this time, he can exit the tournament the hero.



Road to BlizzCon 2019

WCS Circuit
Serral - Reynor - Neeb - SpeCial - TIME - HeroMarine - Elazer - ShoWTimE

WCS Korea
Dark - Trap - Classic - Maru - soO - Rogue - herO - Stats



Credits and acknowledgements

Writer: Wax
Advising: TheOneAboveU
Images: Patrick Strack via Blizzard
Statistics: Aligulac.com
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TL+ Member
Mahanaim
Profile Joined December 2012
Korea (South)1002 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-10-12 03:30:17
October 12 2019 03:22 GMT
#2
Dark has been doing well, but for some reason I can't imagine him in the Blizzcon finals. Maybe that does have to do with his constant losses against Serral, even though losing in a mirror matchup doesn't necessarily have the same impact as losing in a non-mirror one. I'll be glad to be proven wrong though.
Celebrating Starcraft since... a long time ago.
Die4Ever
Profile Joined August 2010
United States17676 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-10-12 03:32:05
October 12 2019 03:27 GMT
#3
On October 12 2019 12:22 Mahanaim wrote:
Dark has been doing well, but for some reason I can't imagine him in the Blizzcon finals. I'll be glad to be proven wrong though.

ZvZ is his only weakness, this article feels overly negative about Dark but that will probably be the most important matchup for winning Blizzcon...
"Expert" mods4ever.com
Anc13nt
Profile Blog Joined October 2017
1557 Posts
October 12 2019 03:35 GMT
#4
Nice article; I was looking forward to the return of the Road to Blizzcon series. It's a shame that there are no WCS Signature series videos for this year though.

I'm hoping for either Dark or Stats to take the Blizzcon title.

Based on form though I think Serral has like a 1/3 chance of winning, Dark has like 1/6, Rogue, Maru, Stats are around 1/10 and then the rest have lower chances.
paloma_rivers
Profile Joined September 2019
8 Posts
October 12 2019 03:36 GMT
#5
writer isnt a Dark fan he hates Dark LOL

Serral boy confirmed.
yht9657
Profile Joined December 2016
1810 Posts
October 12 2019 03:40 GMT
#6
Can't say I'm a Dark fan (because KT is best KT) but at this point he feels to me like the last warrior of the bygone golden age of Korean Starcraft 2, the only one who's got both the skills and the guts to dominate and rekt nerds. I used to laugh at Dark's arrogance whenever he lost to a foreigner in the recent years yet now I really hope to see more of it because we may never get the chance to see another one just like him, especially with the great '92 generation retiring soon. Maru's got the skills but not the guts and PartinG the guts but not the skills.
Torrefy
Profile Joined August 2014
41 Posts
October 12 2019 03:45 GMT
#7

Year after year, It's been the same story: Dark is the fire-breathing dragon in someone else's fairy tale. Even as the 2019 Global Finals beckons as the opportunity for ultimate redemption, I have to wonder whose turn it will be to plunge his sword past Dark's armored scales and into his heart, and by his blood be anointed.


That's a sweet passage
TL+ Member
RealityTheGreat
Profile Joined January 2018
China564 Posts
October 12 2019 04:09 GMT
#8
Hope chapter of Stats is also written by Wax.
Betrayed, forgotten, abandoned.
ZigguratOfUr
Profile Blog Joined April 2012
Iraq16955 Posts
October 12 2019 04:54 GMT
#9
Aww yeah. This series of articles is always a fun read.

I hope every single one of them characterizes the player in terms of Serral or their Serral storyline. The cherry on top would of course be Serral unceremoniously losing in the Ro16.
necrosexy
Profile Joined March 2011
451 Posts
October 12 2019 05:26 GMT
#10
nice title lol
Waxangel
Profile Blog Joined September 2002
United States33388 Posts
October 12 2019 05:29 GMT
#11
On October 12 2019 13:54 ZigguratOfUr wrote:
I hope every single one of them characterizes the player in terms of Serral or their Serral storyline. The cherry on top would of course be Serral unceremoniously losing in the Ro16.


Could be a monkey's paw wish
AdministratorHey HP can you redo everything youve ever done because i have a small complaint?
v5872012
Profile Joined May 2018
35 Posts
October 12 2019 05:35 GMT
#12
Deep Dark Fantasy
Mizenhauer
Profile Blog Joined February 2015
United States1871 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-10-12 05:54:36
October 12 2019 05:41 GMT
#13

Dark has never defeated Serral since IEM Katowice 2017. In fact, he's actually been Serral's most high-profile victim since his awakening and ascent to StarCraft II legend in 2018.


Or how about Stats? After all, Serral defeated Stats in the finals of the first two tournaments he won against Korean competition in 2018-GSL vs. the World and BlizzCon.


He was potentially the most complete, all-around excellent Zerg player I had ever seen, and he seemed sure to be able to navigate any meta, patch, or map pool and rise to the top.


Funny, I suppose soO or Life never played the game. Guess their generational talent don't measure up because they didn't have the luxury of an 8 armor ultralisk to which they could rush to off three bases every ZvT. (one could justifiably argue they weren't that great in the lategame, but again, 8 armor ultralisk). Not to mention the fact that Dark had only been the best Zerg in Korea for one year (aka one major patch, one meta). Before that he was firmly behind soO, ByuL, Solar and even Rogue, who despite having never advanced past the quarterfinals of Code S or SSL, was definitely a better player than Dark, even with his pair of KeSPA Cup runner up finishes.

┗|∵|┓Second Place in LB 28, Third Place in LB 29 and Destined to Be a Kong
Noa Greenini
Profile Joined April 2015
265 Posts
October 12 2019 05:52 GMT
#14
On October 12 2019 13:54 ZigguratOfUr wrote:
Aww yeah. This series of articles is always a fun read.

I hope every single one of them characterizes the player in terms of Serral or their Serral storyline. The cherry on top would of course be Serral unceremoniously losing in the Ro16.


I have to say I like the total subverting of expectations so that would be quite funny!
Noa Greenini looks like the superior LR poster - Charoisaur 04/05/2019 (Serral vs Showtime match)
Waxangel
Profile Blog Joined September 2002
United States33388 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-10-12 06:01:06
October 12 2019 06:00 GMT
#15
On October 12 2019 14:41 Mizenhauer wrote:
Show nested quote +

Dark has never defeated Serral since IEM Katowice 2017. In fact, he's actually been Serral's most high-profile victim since his awakening and ascent to StarCraft II legend in 2018.


Or how about Stats? After all, Serral defeated Stats in the finals of the first two tournaments he won against Korean competition in 2018-GSL vs. the World and BlizzCon.


Show nested quote +
He was potentially the most complete, all-around excellent Zerg player I had ever seen, and he seemed sure to be able to navigate any meta, patch, or map pool and rise to the top.


Funny, I suppose soO or Life never played the game. Guess their generational talent don't measure up because they didn't have the luxury of an 8 armor ultralisk to which they could rush to off three bases every ZvT. (one could justifiably argue they weren't that great in the lategame, but again, 8 armor ultralisk). Not to mention the fact that Dark had only been the best Zerg in Korea for one year (aka one major patch, one meta). Before that he was firmly behind soO, ByuL, Solar and even Rogue, who despite having never advanced past the quarterfinals of Code S or SSL, was definitely a better player than Dark, even with his pair of KeSPA Cup runner up finishes.



Good point about stats. I was thinking more from the POV of who got the more "LOL DUNKED" responses from the community at large, which Dark really invited upon himself with his comments. Weirdly enough, it's always felt like the Stats rivalry was more low-key, despite the stakes.

I dunno that I'd call soO 'complete,' even if he was a fantastic player with his comparativrly lopsided skillset. Life I can agree on; maybe it's a matter of subjective taste there.
AdministratorHey HP can you redo everything youve ever done because i have a small complaint?
Ej_
Profile Blog Joined January 2013
47656 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-10-12 06:30:05
October 12 2019 06:29 GMT
#16
I pity you, heathens.


Dark will set the record straight, once the foreigners are gone to a Protoss player with 2 hands.
"Technically the dictionary has zero authority on the meaning or words" - Rodya
ooCast1
Profile Joined March 2019
25 Posts
October 12 2019 06:30 GMT
#17
Big Dark Energy
Deep Dark Fantasy
Mizenhauer
Profile Blog Joined February 2015
United States1871 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-10-13 20:51:14
October 12 2019 07:03 GMT
#18
fgdgd
┗|∵|┓Second Place in LB 28, Third Place in LB 29 and Destined to Be a Kong
TheOneAboveU
Profile Blog Joined February 2011
Germany3367 Posts
October 12 2019 08:08 GMT
#19
Darkuuuuu! I really hope he can make a cool run happen. My favourite player for sure ever since ByuL retired (they have shared the honour before :D).
Moderatoralias TripleM | @TL_TripleM | Big Dark Energy!
sneakyfox
Profile Joined January 2017
8216 Posts
October 12 2019 09:06 GMT
#20
I'm not sure I really follow the main line of this article. All players have matchups that they are better at than others, and most championship runs involve at least some bracket luck - that just comes with the format. Players are never up against every single top player of every race.

I feel like the article takes too much away from Dark's accomplishments this year. For me he's clearly in pole position to be POTY at this point.
"I saw what sneakyfox wrote on TL.net and it made me furious" - PartinG
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