EPTByuL: The Forgotten Great
by MizenhauerIt’s simply impossible to remember everyone.
Across two games, five expansions, and 27 years of professional play, StarCraft has been graced by hundreds of progamers. Those ID’s come with thousands of tournaments and hundreds of thousands of games. We try to cram everything we can into our heads, but it’s simply impossible. Some players inevitably slip through the cracks.
Yet, among these names, there's one name I want to designate for historic preservation. A player whose mastery during a specific era matched that of the all-time greats, and made those all-time greats even more legendary for having overcome him. A player whose passion and conviction brought tears to the broadcasters' eyes. A player, who is, sadly, on the verge of fading from the community's collective consciousness.
*****
When CJ Entus signed ByuL in 2014, fans of the storied KeSPA squad gave him a warm reception. Technically, it was a re-joining. Like many SC2 pros, ByuL had begun his career as a KeSPA trainee in Brood War, and CJ Entus had been one of the stops on his journey. However, CJ supporters weren't celebrating a reunion—few of them were even aware of ByuL and CJ's shared history. Rather, they were eager to add the former ace of Incredible Miracle to the roster, with ByuL having lifted IM from the bottom of the Proleague table with his 18-11 record during the 2013-14 season. Nevermind that he had achieved little of note in individual competitions outside of a runner-up in the infamously weak WCS America—he looked to be the perfect fit as a solid third option to back up herO and BByong.
No one could have predicted what would happen next. ByuL's Proleague results in the 2014-15 campaign were just as good as expected, if not even better. ByuL tallied a 21-16 win-loss record (7th most wins among all players), and became the second biggest contributor behind herO on a CJ team that finished second overall in the regular season.
However, the real surprise came in individual leagues. After sitting out of Season 1 of GSL and SSL 2015 (for whatever reason ByuL didn’t even participate in the qualifiers), ByuL exploded to go on a six-month run of historic proportions. He reached the grand finals of Code S Seasons 2 and 3, as well as SSL Season 3—all while putting up an incredible 16-6 match record across the aforementioned events. In all of SC2 history, the only other players to have finalled three or more major Korean leagues (Code S and SSL) in a calendar year are Mvp (2011), soO (2014), and Maru (2018)—some of the best to ever play the game.
While it would be criminally reductive to portray ByuL as a one match-up wonder, his incredible ZvT played a crucial role to securing this legacy. In ZvT, his mechanics rivalled or even surpassed that of INnoVation, and he almost trivialized playing Muta-Ling-Bane against bio. ByuL’s macro mechanics, scouting, and control were all lethal weapons, but it was his Mutalisk micro and his understanding of how to use the nimble flyers that elevated him to the pinnacle of the match-up. It didn't matter how strong the foe—ByuL's Mutalisks always found a way to force Terrans into a dilemma with no answer. You either lost all your production and economy to marauding Mutalisks, or you ventured onto Creep and saw your army dissolved in a lake of acid. Or, you could just cower at home, while ByuL built the economy needed to bring those endless waves of Muta-Ling-Bane to you. Perfection is rarely attained in StarCraft, but for ByuL in 2015, he found a way to solve Muta-Ling-Bane against bio.
The following trio of games demonstrate just how frightening an instrument Mutalisks became in ByuL’s hands.
Exhibit A: vs INNovation - 2015 SSL Season 3 RO8 Game 1
Sadly, ByuL's loss to INnoVation in the finals of 2015 Code S Season 3 is probably the TvZ series most fans remember. However, the pair also faced off six weeks earlier in the quarterfinals of SSL Season 3, with ByuL winning 3-2. Both of these encounters took place during a period when nearly every Terran went for mech in ZvT, but in this particular SSL series, INnoVation defied conventional wisdom and opted for bio in game one. INnoVation had every reason to be confident (he won Code S not long after this and was in the midst of his second peak), but it seems bizarre in hindsight given how hard he got dominated by ByuL in game one.
The game in question took place on Coda, a map that surely ranks among the greatest of all time. It could also be described as rather Mutalisk friendly. Coda's first three bases were set up in such a way that Mutalisks (and Zergling runbys) could easily apply pressure at every base, and ByuL gave a perfect demonstration.
The game unfolded with both players going for typical macro openers, followed by the mutual massing of maxed-out armies. ByuL kept the pressure light during this build-up phase, seemingly unconcerned that his token harassment was not impeding INnoVation from maxing out. In so many other games, this would have been an ideal start for INnoVation. But in this case, he barely even got to play the game.
Once both players had fully assembled 200/200 armies, ByuL really started to turn the screws. Zergs often fear Terran reaching critical mass because it makes it difficult to defeat them in a straight-up fight, but for ByuL, it only meant he had the critical mass to make each of his harassment moves all the more deadly. ByuL's Mutalisks and Ling-Bane runbys terrorized even the steadfast INnoVation, who became pinned down in a situation where every decision became a bad one.
Never the most decisive player, INnoVation continuously waffled between attack and defense to the point that accomplishing either task became impossible. Finally having had enough, INnoVation forced part of his army across the map. However, he found himself facing off against well-prepared Zerg defenses including 36 Banelings—eight more than the number of Marines at his disposal. Predictably, the fight went ByuL’s way—despite the fact that ByuL brought less than half of his Banelings to the front lines. Meanwhile, ByuL’s Mutalisks were still wreaking havoc, camping INnoVation’s natural and unit production. When INnoVation decided for the second time that he’d have enough, he ventured forth with an army that had 17 Medivacs and barely anything beneath them. ByuL’s persistent harassment meant INnoVaton was never able to muster much of a force on the ground, and, while each Marine virtually had its own Medivac, they weren’t much of a threat against ByuL’s accumulated forces. When ByuL brought everything to bear, INnoVation’s final last ditch effort was quashed with all the scorn of an irritated tutor.
INnoVation might just hold the title as “the best parade pusher in history”, but ByuL’s constant harassment made it so INnoVation could never capitalize on his ability to wear Zerg down with endless waves of units. For just one game, the greatest Terran in the world seemed like a rank amateur.
Exhibit B: vs Maru - 2015/16 Proleague Round 3
While undoubtedly the best Terran player in the second half of 2015, INnoVation's style of bio played perfectly into ByuL’s hands. His parade pushes might have been mighty, but they, and their construction, occupied virtually all of INnoVation’s focus. Maru, meanwhile, was a completely different story. Able to play with a speed relative to his peers that would make present day Clem blush, it’s fair to say Maru was the most dynamic player of his time. Capable of ending the game with one punch or a thousand cuts, the Jin Air Terran represented an entirely different test for ByuL—one he handled with aplomb.
The game in question between ByuL and Maru began with a massive departure from the norm (most of this is due to Vaani Research Station, but that’s a story for another day). ByuL led with a Pool first before gambling on a fast expansion at the gold base. Maru, meanwhile, was working his way towards a Hellbat push—a build which seemed perfectly suited to exploit the fact that ByuL’s Queens could not defend both the natural and main at the same time.
While ByuL held off the attack by evacuating Drones and patiently massing Zerglings, the lost mining time—plus a follow-up Hellion runby from Maru—meant the economic damage was already done. ByuL couldn't even get his Mutalisks out on time, needing to recover his economy before he could start making his signature unit.
However, once the Mutalisks were out, the ByuL was firmly back in control. He started off by picking off buildings opportunistically, taking out a Refinery and Engineering Bay (researching +2 attack). Maru seemed flustered by even this moderate damage (he knew very well what happened in ByuL's ZvT games), and decided he needed to take the initiative quickly with a frontal attack of his own. However, he only played further into ByuL's hands, with Ling-Bane wiping out the bio force while a small backdoor strike with Zerglings picked off some SCVs.
Having taken a firm lead, ByuL rinsed and repeated the pattern to even more devastating effect. An even larger flock of Mutalisks continued to torment Maru, only to join up with his Ling-Bane forces just in time to repel a desperate Terran attack.
Eventually, Maru was forced to gather up all of his troops, abandon his bases, and go all-in on one last attack. Up six bases to four, it was an easy decision for ByuL to call Maru on the basetrade. ByuL actually didn't play the basetrade as cleanly as he could have, but it didn't matter given his tremendous lead. In the end, his Mutalisks returned home after eliminating all of Maru's CC's, and together with Ultralisks, quashed the final remnants of Maru's once-mighty army.
Exhibit C: vs TY - 2015 Code S Season 2 RO32 - Group E Decider Match Game 3
TY was not yet a world championship-caliber player in 2015, but he was on the rise as a GSL/SSL regular and regular rotation player for KT Rolster in Proleague. Unfortunately for him, at this point in his career, facing ByuL in a GSL group decider match was too great a challenge to overcome.
ByuL began with his favored 2-Hatchery Mutalisk opener, while TY went for a typical 2-base bio opener while eyeing one of the central gold mineral expansions as the location for his third base. 'Expand while attacking' is a bit of strategic advice that's been given since the Brood War days, but it probably didn't have the intricacies of pro-level play in mind. TY's attempt to besiege ByuL's third while taking the gold base completely fell apart, with ByuL shrewdly splitting up his army to both parry the attack with Ling-Bane while destroying the undefended gold base with Mutalisks.
The nature of HotS economy meant that this wasn't yet game-ending damage for TY, but ByuL's Mutalisks would soon blow the game wide open. After dancing around TY's Marine-Medivac in the middle of the map, ByuL's Mutaslisks found an opening and slithered into TY's main. ByuL wiped away 15 SCVs with his first strike, and then took out 15 more on his second visit.
While the game was theoretically still playable for TY, and he did end up putting up some very respectable resistance, this effectively ended the game against a player of ByuL's caliber. TY still possessed a formidable army, and against a lesser foe, he might have had a chance of taking a decisive victory in a head-on engagement. However, ByuL knew exactly how to play out his economic lead, using his superior mobility to keep TY's army at bay. Even though TY did well to keep up with ByuL's pace and even sniped a few Hatcheries, he was ultimately doomed when he had to take a fourth base. That spread him too thin to handle the hyper-mobile Zerg force, and ByuL inevitably found the opening to launch a two-prong attack that shattered TY's economy past the point of no return. After gathering his forces together, ByuL mopped up the last of TY’s army and claimed victory—bringing him one stage closer to his finals match against Rain.
*****
ByuL’s 2015 remains as unique a six month run as any in StarCraft history—Brood War or otherwise). We've seen a handful of one-off champions who came from out of nowhere, but it's rare to find players who were championship caliber for such a short, multi-tournament burst. It’s quite possible that ByuL is the only player who never won a major event while also having such an impressive peak.
ZvT was definitely the highlight of ByuL's play, but his ZvZ was also extremely formidable with only soO ranking above him. However, top-level ZvP was ByuL’s Achilles heel, with two of his three final defeats coming at the hands of Rain and herO. However, he regularly took care of lesser competition, with perhaps the most high profile being his 4-3 victory over Dear in 2015's Code S Season 3. Overall, he profiled as the prototypical KeSPA macro monster—the type of player who always seems to have more stuff than anyone else would in the same situation.
Unfortunately, ByuL’s career tapered off after his 2015 run. He had a pair of bright spots at 2016's IEM Gyeonggi and 2017's SSL Season 2, but, outside of these tournaments, both of which took place while Mutalisks were meta, ByuL reverted back to the player he was in 2014. He was just another solid hand—someone you could rely on as your third option in Proleague.
More than a decade removed from his prime, ByuL’s six months in the sun have been forgotten by most. Truthfully, it’s not overly surprising. While players like soO and Dark were eventually able to shuck their second place habits, ByuL never had another opportunity. Not only that, but many of the fans still following SC2 in 2026 do not look upon the HotS era particularly fondly. ByuL's peak was so short and admired by such a specific group of fans—Korean scene elitists circa 2015—that his name was doomed to fade into the periphery.
But for those like me, who remember that era as the pinnacle of StarCraft II competition, ByuL is positively unforgettable. He inspired us by pushing a composition beyond its known limits, and gave us the pathos of being a great player who never got across the finish line.
It’s a shame ByuL failed to capture his white whale before retiring, but his story remains one worth telling and retelling 11 years later. The tale of a player whose greatest strength brought him everything he could have imagined except the thing he had been chasing the most, all along.
In an article to come we’ll further explore ByuL’s quest for greatness and how his diligent approach to playing StarCraft II made him one of the greatest standard players of all time.
