DongRaeGu Fan Club - Page 137

Message from DRG to Fans







Happy Holidays from DRG and the Fan Club!!

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December 19th, 2012
Paradise Lost
by Neoghaleon55

The Crusade has fallen. With the Blizzard Cup slipping out of DongRaeGu's hands this winter season, so goes the chance to reclaim his rightful seat upon the Zerg throne. DRG will continue to be, at least for the time being, the exile prince, a king without a kingdom. But do not despair fans (and especially you, DRG), if anything the Blizzard Cup 2012 showcased some of DongRaeGu's strongest plays, yet. Though his decision making continues to fail him at times, his raw mechanical skills were far beyond par of any pro-gamer to date. Against Life, DongRaeGu was consistently ahead in long macro games. In matches where he fell behind to the early game, Life could not finish him off until over the 20 minutes mark. It may not show in his results, but I know from watching DRG's play that he is constantly improving his game. The future outlook is not so bleak at all. For us fans, we can look forward to DongRaeGu's continued journey in the Iron Squid and his Up & Down matches next season.

From the fan club, I want to wish DRG a wonderful vacation and hope to see him back stronger, healthier and happier.
DRG, it's been an honor serving you in 2012. We'll be ready for you when you come back 2013.
<3

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December 18th, 2012
Crusade
by Neoghaleon55

What was once lost now stands to be reclaimed. The earlier half of 2012 saw DongRaeGu rule the Starcraft competitive landscape with an iron fist, both as the top zerg and the best player in the world. In recent times, his grip on being the very best has loosen considerably, to the point that many deemed him the weakest player at the Blizzard Cup 2012. But on the first day of the tournament, a defiant DRG showed up and began wrecking havoc amongst his peers, and by doing so, has challenged the very stars. DongRaeGu made loud and clear that night that he will not go quietly into obscurity; he reminded us why we are his fans in the first place and has reminded himself that he is nothing less than champion material. By beating the most successful names of the current generation in Leenock, IMmvp and HerO- DRG has begun his crusade to retake his lost kingdom.

The most storied game of the night, however, was DRG's match against PartinG. With only one game away from sealing the top spot in his group, an overconfident DRG threw a won match by suiciding speedlings into Parting's mass sentries and zealots army at a chokepoint, reminiscent of his match against Noblesse a week before. Ancient stories of yore often tell of heroes who are mighty as they are righteous, yet their downfalls lie with one tragic flaw: hubris. Like Achilles and Odysseus before him, DongRaeGu's pride may continue to unravel all his hard earned work. He is given another chance to amend his wrongs by advancing third in the group, but unless he learns to rein in his overconfidence, he will be destined to fall once more, for hubris has fell even kings.

There's been a lot of discussion on who the best Zerg in the world really is. If anything, BlizzardCup 2012 will finally settle this question. Five of the top six spots in the tournament has already gone to Zerg players. If there was ever a time for DongRaeGu to settle the score that he is indeed the best Zerg player in the world, it is now. Having already bested Leenock 4:1 (2:1 from Blizzard Cup and 2:0 from Iron Squid) recently, DongRaeGu stands a fair chance to reclaim the crown he once had. Tonight, in the round of 6, DongRaeGu will face GSL Season 4's champion StarTale_Life. ZvZ is currently Life's worst matchup and one of DRG's finest. Should he win, DRG will continue on to face Leenock (again) in the semifinals and most likely end his tournament run facing Sniper in the Grand Finals. The throne must be won in blood.
May DRG see it through.


Preview Blizzard Cup R6
by TommyP

DongRaeGu will first face off in a ZvZ that is sure to be epic against GSL season 4 Champion, Startale Life. DRG has said he hates playing ZvZ more than any other match up, but judging from his recent games, I think at the moment, it is his strongest. He defeated Scarlett, Vortix, and Hyun at IPL5, he destroyed Leenock in Iron Squid and beat him 2-1 in the Blizzard Cup. He also has ViOlet, Monster, and Sniper in the house to help him where Life only has Curious on his team. + Show Spoiler + Life is also a very good ZvZer though. He took down Sniper 2-1 last night and I think Sniper might have the best ZvZ right now.

Prediction:
DRG <Bel'Shir Vestige> Life
DRG <Abyssal City> Life
DRG <Daybreak> Life
DRG <Whirlwind> Life
DRG <Entombed Valley> Life

In all honesty, predicting ZvZ is hard, so I'll go with my heart.

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December 16th, 2012
Return to Blizzard Cup
by Neoghaleon55

MVPDongRaeGu has had some amazing moments in his career thus far. From the GSL championship win to his MLG Spring crowning, there has been few players in 2012 that has come close to DRG's level of success. Still, the defining moment of his career has always been the 2011 BlizzardCup Finals against SlayerS_MMA. This finals is so storied that it remains the most memorable best of 7 in the history of Wings of Liberty. Today, DRG returns to the one tournament that has made him a house hold name, the 2012 Blizzard Cup. This is the de facto tournament of champions, only 10 were selected to compete. DRG has qualified through his exemplar GSL record this year, holding third place overall in points. DongRaeGu has promised fans good games tonight, judging from his exciting showing at IPL5, consider that promise delivered.

December 16th, 2012
Blizzard Cup Group A Preview
by TommyP

Last year we all remember how close DongRaeGu came to claiming his first GSL title at the Blizzard Cup. Unfortunately, he fell to MMA in a series that went all 7 games with the seventh being arguably the greatest game ever played. Tonight, DRG starts a journey that, should he complete it, would give him redemption over his loss last year. Still, it will be a very difficult challenge. In his group he has LG-IMMvp , four times GSL champion and the undisputed best Terran in WoL history, the two hottest Protoss players right now in DreamHack Winter and NASL S4 Champion Liquid'HerO and Battle.net World Champion and WCG 2012 ChampionStarTale_PartinG , and then probably the best zerg at the moment in MLG Fall 2012 Champion FXO_Leenock. Fortunately, only two players will get eliminated tonight so DRG has a solid chance of advancing, but everybody wants first place in the group because that puts you straight into the semifinals.

Prediction:
DRG starts the night off playing Mvp on Entombed Valley where I don't expect him to win because of the map, luckily it is best of three so should DRG lose, he will be able to pick his map for set 2. If DRG wants to advance, he needs to win here because of all DRG's opponents, I think Mvp is the weakest in the group (that just shows how difficult this will be.) Given how badly he spanked Mvp last time they played, I think DRG will win 2-1 or 2-0 should his probable cheese/timing work on Entombed. DRG will then play HerO, Leenock, and Parting. DRG said in his very own fanclub that he thinks Protoss is strong right now. I think DRG will actually beat HerO, but fall to Leenock and Parting ending his day with a 2-2 score.

+ Show Spoiler +

Closing note:
DongRaeGu has always been a solid player with huge talent and a lot of heart. With a little luck, we might get to see him close out 2012 with poetic fashion, by kissing another trophy.


DRG FIGHTING!!

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December 10th, 2012
IPL5/MLG/GSTL/- A Week in Review
by Neoghaleon55

There's been a lot of DongRaeGu to watch lately and ample games for his fans to cheer for. The performances have been both overwhelming and underwhelming at the same time, which have given fans like me ambivalence on how to approach the subject of writing a review. Still, the games were none-the-less exciting and deserve recognition from the core fan base.

Starting with IPL5, DongRaeGu earned top eight at perhaps one of the biggest and best tournament of 2012, holding the three torches of GSL Finals, IPL5 and World Championship Show Matches. The tournament itself has been very well received by fans across the globe for its apex production. DongRaeGu did fairly well considering his current form. Not surprisingly, he beat out TubbytheFat then trampled over Byun with 2:0 scores each. The Byun series was especially entertaining as we get to see retro-DRG command the games with his superior game sense and multitasking abilities. Next, the MVP Zerg would go on to face IM Yoda in an uncasted ZvT match where he would lose 0:2. From the replays, the matches were sloppy at best and the cynical part of me am kind of glad they were never casted. Thus ended day 1 of IPL5, with DRG dropping to the lower bracket.

In Day 2 of IPL5, we saw DongRaeGu does what he seemingly does best in Foreign Tournaments: crawl back to the top through the loser bracket. He was able to cut through Vortix, Scarlett and Hyun in intense ZvZ series. Though most of us are sick of ZvZs by now, I highly recommend the Scarlett series for the mindblowing metagames the two players pulled on one another, ending with a spectacular double 8 pool battle in the final match. The day ending series against Hyun concluded with a nail biting 2:1 in favor of DRG. It was, in my opinion, the most important match in the whole tournament for DRG to win. Hyun has been on the rise in recent times, going 14:0 in IPL Fight Club, and with him, carries the legacy of the entire TSL line of zergs (all their builds are created by Hyun). Hyun legitimately had a claim on being the best Zerg player in the world, with top notch macro builds and timings no one has ever seen before. In order for DRG to defend that he was even top 3 Zerg in the world, he needed to beat out Hyun. And so he did, and Sniper did, too! It's starting to look like TSL Zergs for all their cunning and strategies can't catch a break against MVP Zergs.

Day 3 opened up with DRG 2:0-ing theSTC in convincing fashion. Then came the match against Bomber... Bomber is a player fans love to poke fun at for his inconsistency. TL writing staff have coined the catchphrase "Bomber's Law," in which Bomber always disappoints. But the law did not hold that day. Bomber clearly understood all of DRG's timings, he was aggressive when DRG drones and ultra defensive when DRG attacks. Being down 1 game against DRG, Bomber did an early mass marine timing that caught DRG off guard to even out the series. The last game saw Bomber's sensing a 2:2 mutabaneling bust coming and positioned tanks and turrets everywhere to stem the tide of Zerg units. Without scouting, DRG ran his whole army into the meat grinder and from there, was playing from behind the entire game until a spam of Hunter Seeker missiles took him out. Overall, DongRaeGu's IPL5 tournament line spanned 3 days, filled with memorable moments, intense highs and disappointing troughs. Mechanically, DRG is still a beast and his multitasking abilities are gifted beyond his peers. Strategically, his decisions seems a bit more rash and impatient lately and less reliant on scouting before making a massive risky maneuver.

The other tournaments we have seen DRG in lately were the World Champion Show Matches against foreigners (which I'm not even going to talk about because it's an absolute joke of an event for something that small to be called "world championship"), MLG's Tournament of Champions and the recent GSTL finals. MLG's mini-online tournament opened with DongRaeGu vs Flash, one of the most anticipated encounters in recent memory. DRG has always said that he wanted to take down Flash and gain all his fan girls. Well...that didn't happen. I have no idea what conditions the players were in at the time of those matches, but DRG did not play his best that day. He was simply outmacro'ed on Cloud Kingdom, did a failed muta baneling bust on daybreak (was actually the strategy he used to beat IMMvp in GSL, but Flash might have watched that VOD lately), and then died to double factory hellion run-by's on Ohana. To his credit, DRG did take one game off Flash with nice mutalisk control on Antiga Shipyard, so it wasn't a complete 3:0 stomp.

In the GSTL finals, DongRaeGu was sent out 2nd ( a peculiar time) against FXOLucky. DRG's superior mechanics dismantled Lucky quite stunningly, at one point doubling his opponent's supply in workers. He would eventually fall to .... of all people, Tear, on Entombed Valley, by means of ....a prehive collosi timing before spines came up. It was like watching history repeat itself from the OSL finals where a greedy DRG took a 4th base, saturated it with drones without care for static defense while teching to Broodlords. DRG really needs to pick up on the fact that people are exploiting how predictable his ZvP timing is. The alternative to straight greed is either Stephano Style or Hyun Style of ZvP. Stephano does a 3 base super defensive spinewall, tech into broodlords then double expand. This strategy might not work that well anymore considering the recent infestor nerfs. Hyun's style is to make a wall of spines immediately after taking the 4th base, then saturate it with drones. With the GSL Grand Finals coming up, I hope DRG will mix up his timings a bit more, else he might fall victim to the same obnoxious collosi push again.

I want to end this long update with the fact that, although this article seems a bit harsh, I still love DRG. He is my favorite player, I'm still the number 1 fan. He is the SOLE reason why I still watch Wings of Liberty games, with all it's flaws and stupid imbalances. I am, however, very hopeful for DRG when HotS comes out, as that game is much more mechanically demanding than WoL by a far stretch. With only Code A (against Noblesse teamKill) this week, and the GSL Grand Finals next week to look forward to before the year's end, we have to wonder how deep DRG can go on his quest to solidify that 2012 was HIS year. I have no doubt that DRG will continue to be a mainstay of Code S. To win again, will require that he maintains nerves of steel and the will of a champion. So far this week, he has shown us that he already has the latter.

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November 28th, 2012
DRG in Las Vegas!!
by neoghaleon55

It's finally happening! DongRaeGu will return to the United States this weekend for one of the biggest eSports event of the year: IPL5 and GomTV's World Championship: Korea vs The World. The event will span four days. The last time DRG came to the States was for MLG Anaheim, where he flew home with a new Championship Title and 25K of prize money. With his spirits high and claiming to be at 100%, it is likely that we will get to see some spectacular games out of Soo Ho, if he doesn't outright win the whole thing. Regardless of earning another title or not, it's freaking Las Vegas, baby!

Save a safe trip and enjoy yourself, DRG!
We'll be cheering for you!!

Read TeamLiquid's Power Rank at IPL5 here: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=384595

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Photo by R1CH

November 12th, 2012
Rest Stop
by neoghaleon55

The round of 16 this season of Code S came and went for DongRaeGu, and with it, another disappointing showing for the man who was once crowned the best Zerg player in the world. In all honesty, we all could have seen it coming. DRG hasn't been his cheerful self since the OSL finals. Even when he gloriously smashed the hardest Ro32 group in GSL history, the expression on his face was anything but satisfied. We also know for a fact that he caught a cold just recently and hasn't really kept his physical or mental health at top conditions (read: you're getting fat, DRG! lol). During group selection, he looked remarkably tired with dark circles for eyes and unruly hair. The second half of this year has dealt this man all sorts of wild hands. It was amazing that he was still standing by the time the Round of 32 came, let alone performed like a champion that we all knew he is and will be again. But eventuality catches up to us all, all debt must be repaid. DongRaeGu's exit from the GSL this season may hold a blessing in disguise: it will give him some time to recover from the all that has transpired. The freight train that is DongRaeGu's pro-gaming life will take a momentary rest stop before departing once more into the depths of competition. The GSL World Championship will be his next stop. As one of the top 5 ranking GSL players, DRG will be guaranteed a spot in this tournament held in Las Vegas during November 29th-December 2nd. For DRG-fans, we can stay assured that DongRaeGu will return soon: stronger, faster, smarter, and hopefully a bit happier.

Stay strong, DRG!
We're with you, all the way.

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Photo by R1CH

November 11th, 2012
Favorite
by neoghaleon55

MVP DongRaeGu will enter the Round of 16 in the final season of Code S, 2012 as the clear favorite. His group will comprise of CreatorPrime (again), Axiom_Ryung and StarTale_Curious. DongRaeGu was given first pick during group selection as he is currently the highest ranking member of the remaining Code S players. Strategy was evident in the picking of Creator: first of all, DongRaeGu has already figured out and proven that he can dismantle the young Protoss player in the round of 32. Since DRG's group is the first to be played, picking Creator meant that more practice time could be allocated elsewhere to ensure that DRG, himself, will have a comfortable time advancing to the Quarter Finals. Next, DongRaeGu knew that Creator had no desire to pick another Zerg or play a coin flip match in PvP, which squarely dictated that he will pick a Terran to join the group. Creator, indeed played into DRG's hands by picking Ryung, a Terran player that DRG has already stomped before in Code S Season 3. Lastly, Ryung turned to Curious as the final pick for the group, a Zerg that has never made it deep into Code S before being exiled back into Code A.

It has been a while since DRG has looked this strong among his peers. There was a time when DongRaeGu could enter any tournament and all would unanimously predict that he would come out head and shoulders above the competition. Though the days have been much grayer for DongRaeGu since his unchallenged reign in early 2012, the performance he gave in the round of 32 this season of Code S has done much to silence detractors. DRG has always been and will continue to be, the one Zerg player to look out for, whether as a competitor or spectator. Tonight, expect to see DongRaeGu redefine what it means to be the favorite, both as the fan favorite and as one to win it all.

Read Teamliquid Official Preview Here: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=381456

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Photo by R1CH

Bitter Sweet Victory Ends DongRaeGu's Run in the NASL

November 8th, 2012
Signing Off
by TommyP

This night started off terribly for DRG fans as we were told by the NASL that DongRaeGu had forfeited his match against Arthur and now may not even make the wild card round. This is the third walk over DRG has conceded to this season. If he doesn't make the wild card round, he should still be back for next season, and hopefully this time, takes it a bit more seriously.

Things did get better, as he took down Huk on Entombed Valley after holding a lot of Huk's aggression. DRG landed some great fungal growths as Huk tried to break him, and DRG found himself in a great position after this, transitioned into Brood Lords and won.

The second map was Cloud Kingdom started with Huk poking with two stalkers and did some good damage. DRG teched to infestation pit very quickly and then attacked at Huk's third base with infested Terrans and lings, spending mostly energy. Both players went home and teched up after that. While DRG made Brood Lords, some skirmishes occured that allowed him to fungal off a good portion of Huk's stalkers as Huk was retreating, DRG picks off more and more of Huk's army then proceed to kill off Huk's fourth base, He then moved up to the Protoss's third and destroyed it just as Huk's mothership came out only to die to infested Terrans. The game was essentially over at this point, DRG forced a cancel on Huk's third one last time. Huk still in the game just building an army (and another mothership) that was only going to get smashed. In the end, Huk landed a great Vortex, kills off a bunch of broodlords but then had little army left against DongRaeGu's six bases. Huk called GG.

DRG finishes the season 4-4. We have to wait and see if he'll make the playoffs.

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DongRaeGu Demolishes GSL Ro32 Hardest Group of Death EVER!! Flawless 4:0!!!!

November 5th, 2012
Risen
by neoghaleon55

Not one to be kept down, MVP DongRaeGu delivered an incredible opening performance for his GSL Season 5 debut by laying waste to the most difficult Round of 32 Group the GSL has ever seen. By merit of their names alone, four time GSL Champion and Undisputed King of the Terran race, LG-IMMvp, along with WCS-Korea Champion, TSL-4 Champion and heir apparent to Aiur's crown, CreatorPrime, presented more than a formidable challenge to our Zerg hero. However, in the hour that is most shadowed by his recent OSL exit, DongRaeGu has risen to meet these towering titans on his own terms. Against both Creator and Mvp, DongRaeGu displayed a rarely seen side of his playstyle by opting for clever timing attacks and mind games instead of his usual passivity. This uncharacteristic play ended up paying dividends for DRG, and showed his opponents, along with the rest of the world, just how deep his pocket of play-styles can be.

The night began with Creator Prime and DongRaeGu spawning on Antiga Shipyard at the 8 o'clock and 2 o'clock positions, respectively. Creator started with what seemed to be the "Soulful" StarTale_PartinG's Immortal/Sentry all-in build but hid his intentions by dancing his army near a potential third base, as if to feint a macro-build. DongRaeGu caught wind of this and prepared a ton of roaches and zerglings to assault Creator's army before it even moved out. The massive Zerg forces intercepted Creator's immortal and sentries as they were dilly dallying outside the third, splitting the Protoss army from reinforcements.

+ Show Spoiler +

A few botched force fields later and Creator's battalion of units had evaporated. The son of Aiur struggled on for a few last breaths before being overwhelmed by the tide of the swarm. GG.

The second game ended just as abruptly as the first. Creator opened Forge Fast Expand in the south position of Cloud Kingdom while DongRaeGu took on three bases to the north. After showing Creator that he had taken a third, DongRaeGu canceled his hatchery for a roach/speedling all-in. The timing hit Creator dead as scores of Zerg units bombarded the Protoss's front door. Creator had only 1 sentry and 1 zealot when DRG's legion came knocking.

+ Show Spoiler +

To add insult to injury, the one sentry Creator had was baited into his main by DRG's scouting "retard magnet" overlord. Caught with his pants down, the young Protoss player had little choice but to call out GG.

In the winner's match which followed, DongRaeGu battled the supremely successful IMMvp for the first place finish in the group. The first match started out on Daybreak with DRG spawning in the northeast and Mvp in the southwest. Mvp opened cloak banshees, but send two hellions to scout the Zerg's main. DongRaeGu cleverly concealed his Spire at the natural, waiting for the hellions to run by and get trapped in the main before putting it down. Nonetheless, Mvp rightly deduced it was Spire play after seeing very little tech from DRG, a third base missing and almost no units besides Queens. As Mvp prepares his anti-air defenses by throwing up turrets and beginning Vikings productions, DongRaeGu mixes up his play by pumping out a massive speed-baneling army. With the bulk of Mvp's defenses into anti-air, the Terran looked on helplessly as the flood of banelings washed into his base killing nearly all his workers.

+ Show Spoiler +

For the rest of the game, Mvp struggled to maintain some sort of standing army, while DRG techs up to Broodlords on 5 bases and harrassed the Terran's third with speedlings and mutalisks. They clashed one final time in the middle of the map, resulting in a 100 supply differential in favor of DRG. Broke and without an army, Mvp waves his GG flag. DRG licks his lips in satisfaction.

+ Show Spoiler +

For the final game of the night, Mvp and DongRaeGu spawned in vertical positions on the west side of Entombed Valley, top and bottom of the map respectively. Mvp's gambit was an 11/11 double Barracks pressure into triple Orbital Command. A handful of marines and SCVs waltzed into DRG's natural but failed to do much damage. The attack, however, did force DongRaeGu to make a lot more zerglings than he wanted to. The game stabilized as Mvp added Factories for blue flame hellions with a transition into full Mech while DongRaeGu took two addtional bases and defended hellion harassment with speedlings and banelings, all while teching to infestor and hive. As Mvp positioned to take his fourth base at the 16th minute mark, DongRaeGu started the Greater Spire along with his Fifth base. Seeing a pre-broodlord timing around the 18th minute mark, Mvp pushed out with an 160 supply Mech army to meet DRG's 180 supply Infestor-centric one.

+ Show Spoiler +

DRG delayed the push as best he could with fungals, infested terrans and speedlings while waiting for 4 broodlords to morph. A huge battle broke out at the center of the map and ended in Mvp's favor as thors clean up the small infestor/broodlords forces. Despite the huge victory, Mvp overextended by marching towards DRG's natural, getting surrounded and subsequently crushed by the remax on roaches and lings.

+ Show Spoiler +

Now with 5 bases and a hundred supplies over his opponent, DRG charged his roaches into Mvp's natural, taking out the gases and a few barracks along the way. The roach army gets cleaned up by tanks and DongRaeGu used his newly freed supplies to replenish a new Infestor/Broodlord corruptor deathball. Understanding that there was no way to hold off the oncoming onslaught, Mvp starts Raven production, Hunter Seeker tech and mass up on Vikings. In light of DRG's air-techswitch, Mvp commodores his now useless tanks into two separate forces, hitting DRG's fifth base and main simultaneously, in hopes of delaying the Zerg's final death push. The ploy was moderately successful and caused DRG to lug the ever immobile Broodlord army across the map to defend his various expansions. Delayed though DongRaeGu may had been, the inevitable could not be stopped. The game climaxed in a rising crescendo as DongRaeGu's Infestor/Broodlord army reached Mvp's natural. A cataclysmic battle broke out: hails of Hunter Seekers Missles bombarded DRG's Corruptors while Vikings vollied the Zerg army from a nearly 180 degree concave.

+ Show Spoiler +

With perfect control, DRG pulled back his Broodlords, seeded the floor with an army of Infested Terrans and flawlessly transfused any weakened Corruptors and Broodlords with his 5 supporting Queens. The battle came to a close as the last of the Vikings were dashed from the skies as were Mvp's hopes of advancing to the round of 16. GG.

If there is one thing to admire about DongRaeGu this night, it was his resolve. Just one week before, he suffered a tragic defeat by the hands of By.Rain in the OSL finals. Yet he did not let the past or his heavy heart hindered his practice, his mental outlook or his love for the game. DRG got up, dusted himself off and began his arduous climb to the top of the StarCraft world once again. One could not but be in awe of his talents and in reverence of his personal strength.

Rejoice fans:
DongRaeGu has Risen.

Read his Victory Interview Here: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=380282
Team Liquid's Official Recap Here: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=380380

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November 4th, 2012
Hero's Return
by neoghaleon55

MVP DongRaeGu returns to Code S tonight to perhaps his greatest challenge yet. His reception ceremony will include CreatorPrime, one of the few Protoss players that actually has a positive win rate record against him, LG-IMMvp, the undisputed best Terran player in the world and Bbyong, a rampaging elephant from the KeSPA empire. The road to the round of 16 has never been tougher and with the OSL behind him, many fans are starting to wonder if DRG has it in him for one last great fight to the GSL trophy. Here at the fan club, we continue to support Soo Ho as best we could, doing write-ups, fan arts and cheering our hearts out. But ultimately, it is up to DongRaeGu tonight to decide his own destiny. I believe he can make it through this tough group and finish out this great year. Tune in and cheer for him tonight, guys. These are the games that matters. May our cheers warm his heart and steel his resolve.

DRG Fighting!!

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October 31st, 2012
An Excerpt from our New DRG-Blog: DRG Rising
by neoghaleon55


Read the Full Article Here: http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?topic_id=379121

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October 26th, 2012
Champion's Heart
by neoghaleon55

As Tommy and I have already written a giant preview for DRG in the OSL finals here, I thought perhaps I would use this opportunity to write something a bit more personal. This finals means a great deal to DRG and to all of us fans. As the hour draws near to the Grand Final of the 2012's Auction All-Kill OSL, it is a good time to reflect on why each of us is a fan of DongRaeGu.

One year ago, DongRaeGu was a beast in the GSTL. Yet for all his triumph in the team leagues, success in the GSL single's league continued to eluded him. One year ago, RootCatz wrote an amazing blog about Blizzcon 2011. One year ago, after reading that blog, I became a fan of Park SooHo.

The Blizzard Cup Tournament happened that following December and with it came DongRaeGu's debut not just as a winner of several international tournaments (DreamHack, IEM New York and LG Cinema 3D Special League), but as a contender for the title of best StarCraft player in the world. There in the finals of Blizzard Cup, DongRaeGu showed the world his heart. Being down 0:3 and on the verge of complete annihilation, he stood up instead of laying defeated, he pushed forward instead of falling back, he rose to meet impossible odds instead of backing down. DRG would go on to tie up the series to 3:3 to give the most spectacular finals the world has ever seen. He would fall on Shakuras Plateau, after delivering a stunning final match that people still talk about to this day.

On that day, I wrote the first ever DRG-Blog, Heart of a Champion. Because at that moment, I knew with utmost certainty that DRG was destined to become the best player in the world and eventually, the best player history has ever seen. I knew that no person with 600APM, a heart of gold and a mind of steel could be held down. I predicted that 2012 will be the year of DongRaeGu, and for the first half of the solar cycle, I had been right. DongRaeGu won almost every tournament he ever entered in 2012. And even during his most trying times, he still got 3rd place in the GSL and today, he's an OSL finalist, walking the royal road.

Today, there is a lot riding on the line. Today, I believe that DongRaeGu will win the OSL and close out his 2012 record in style. This is still his year! He is still the best player in the world!! He is still someone worth cheering for!

With that, I want to dedicate a song I've composed for this special occasion.

Champion's Heart
http://soundcloud.com/jasper-lam-1/champions-heart-1

for DRG
May you always have courage, confidence and mental fortitude to become the champion you were meant to be:
champion of StarCraft and of everyone's hearts.

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DongRaeGu Returns to Code S in Style: 3:0 His U&D Group

October 24th, 2012
The Final Boss
by neoghaleon55

They call DongRaeGu the Final Boss, and boy, has he been living up to his name lately. DongRaeGu always seems to stand between Starcraft players and their ultimate goal. You want to get to Code S, RorO? -You gotta beat DRG first. You want that spot in the OSL finals MC? Have to take it from DRG. Last night in the Up and Down Groups was no different. DongRaeGu stood squarely between four players and their chance for a Code S seed in Season 5... and he didn't make things easy. Of the three players who faced him, Genius, YoDa and Bomber, only Genius made a marginal impression that he could win. They all ultimately failed, of course, because DongRaeGu isn't just any boss, he's THE Final Boss...on very very hard difficulty setting!

Yoda was the first to fall. Hailed by many of his teammates to be the best player on Team LG-IM, he had a lot to prove coming into the Up & Down group that day. Spawned at the 9 o'clock position, Yoda opened hellion expand into cloaked banshees while DRG spawned at the 3 o'clock, went for the 4 queens defense on Antiga Shipyard. A runby from Yoda managed to set DRG back by 8 drones, but with an early third up, DRG managed to replenish his worker numbers quickly while teching to muta. During the attack on DRG's natural, Yoda caught a glimpse of DRG's Spire, allowing him to respond properly by halting banshee production and starting turret defenses. DongRaeGu's mutalisks initially did little damage but were instrumental to stopping Yoda's drop play as the Terran player opted for economy instead of a 2 base timing attack by taking his third at the 7 o'clock. Instead of expanding, DRG elected aggression by massing up on mutalingbling all while pressuring Yoda's production and mineral line with muta-play. At the 15 minute mark, the tidal wave of DRG's Zerg army clashed upon Yoda's shores.

+ Show Spoiler +

With impeccable mutalisk and baneling control, DongRaeGu obliterated Yoda's MMMTank front lines and washed towards the Terran's natural. Yoda immediately lifted his third's orbital command and pulled SCVs to the main, but was unable to minimize the damage by losing over 20 workers to the onslaught. From that point onward, DongRaeGu had complete control of the game and took two additional expansions, one on the north 12 o'clock and one at the south 6 o'clock positions. Mutalisks continued to rain horror onto Yoda's main, crippling his economy and tech buildings. Desperate, Yoda pressed a push on DRG's 12 o'clock expansion, but was caught mid-way by DRG's army, where he was subsequently surrounded and dismantled. GG.

Against Genius on Entombed Valley vertical spawns, DRG went for 14 pool and rushed mass slow-lings against his former teammate's Forge Expand. Genius brilliantly scouted this maneuver and walled shut his natural expansion, rendering DRG's zergling army useless. Massively behind, DongRaeGu decided to take a risk by taking an early 4th base. Had Genius pushed by the 12 minute mark, the Zerg forces would have been powerless to stop his superior army and tech. However, perhaps shaken by both his team's recent turmoil and scarred memories from their matches in the GSL Finals in March, Genius played remarkably safe by nonchalantly expanding while grabbing the templar tech, blink and storm. This decision turned out to be a huge mistake as DRG's risky 4th begins to pay off by providing him the economy to mass up on mutalisks. At the 14 minute mark, DongRaeGu showed his hand by raining glave fire on the Protoss's base. With meticulous muta-micro, DRG continued to wither down the Genius's economy and tax his multitasking capability to its limits for the next 12 minutes, all while taking another two expansions. At the 26th minute mark, Genius's battered and tattered army was forced to move out for a base trade. The Protoss forces made it's way to DRG's front door at the natural expansion, but there it was surrounded, outnumbered and laid to waste. GG.

DongRaeGu's game against Bomber was the shortest of the three, but also perhaps the most brilliant. In summary,
DRG 8-pooled Bomber on Daybreak, pulling all but 2 drones to help in the war effort, as well. What was most interesting was that DRG did all this without ever scouting, suggesting that he had studied Bomber's play quite thoroughly and knew that the Terran player loved risky economy-centric builds. Bomber was caught with his pants down committing to a Command Center first build and taps out the final GG.

Not only did the Up & Down matches remind us why DongRaeGu is given the title of Final Boss, it perchance gives us a glimpse of things to come. In the OSL finals this coming Saturday, DongRaeGu would once again be standing between a StarCraft challenger (by.Rain) and the title of the first OSL royal roader in SC2's history. But if history were to repeat itself, Rain will find that this final boss may actually be unbeatable.

Read DRG's Victory Interview Here: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=377491
TeamLiquid's Official Recap: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=377551

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photo thanks to TeSL

October 22nd, 2012
Up & Down Preview: Running the Gauntlet
by TommyP

First, lets get some scary thoughts out of our heads: DRG may not even be in Code S next season, DRG is two bad days away from dropping out of GSL completely (although if he does win OSL, I can't imagine GomTV not giving him a seed anyway).

Ok, now that that's over with, let's focus on GSL Season 5 Up and Down Group B. The group features MVP DongRaeGu, "SlayerS" Genius, IM YoDa, STX Soul Mini, and StarTale Bomber. DRG and Yoda will square off in the first match of the night on Antiga Shipyard. DongRaeGu looked to be having some trouble vT on Antiga in last season's Code S, so let's hope he turned that around. Then, DRG will play Genius on Entombed Valley. The first two maps will be hard, but luckily he gets Bomber on Daybreak and Mini on Whirlwind (both are known as good Zerg maps.)

Although everybody in the group is a very good player, DRG got a fairly good draw. There are no other zergs, there are only 5 in his group, and he is the heavy favorite to be one of the two that advance to Code S.

Predictions
DRG>Yoda
Bomber>Genius (so hard to predict any Bomber match, but even harder with Slayers drama)
MiNi>YoDA (Mini beat Flash in Code A)
Genius>DRG (Entombed)
MiNi>Bomber
YoDa>Genius
DRG>Bomber
Genius>MiNi
Yoda>Bomber
DRG>MiNi

DRG 3-1 advances to Code S.
Mini, Yoda and Genius would play a tie breaker for the other spot. I like Yoda, so I'll take him.

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October 18th, 2012
Reports from the Front Line
by neoghaleon55

Let's get the bad news out of the way first. DongRaeGu lost his match to RorO in Code A two nights ago with the score of 0:2. As such he will have to compete in the upcoming GSL Up-and-Down matches for a spot in Code S next season. His match against RorO wasn't defined by poor play, DRG was ahead in both games, but RorO showed more practice in the art of roach infestor engagements and somehow managed to win both games from terrible positions. No one sane can blame DRG for his focus on the OSL right now. Defeating his rival, MC, with sheer brutality Tuesday night in the OSL semifinals was no doubt his greatest achievement in months. Having to play against the best ZvZ'er KeSPA has to ofter just 24 hours after his match against MC is a tall order for anyone to handle. And though things did not end well for DRG in Code A this week, it can be welcoming news for fans eager to see him play again soon in the Up-and-Down matches, where he should easily earn a spot in Code S and return to where he belongs.

On the other side of the globe, NASL's weekly results saw DRG wrecking MorroW 2:0 on Wednesday's broadcast. DongRaeGu opted for early speedling aggression that crippled Morrow's natural expansion in game 1. Minutes later a dozen mutalisks flew in for the coup de grace and Morrow ggs out. In Game 2, Morrow opted for mech play while DRG opens mutalisks. Careful placements of turrets prevented much damage done to Morrow's main, but his third was left undefended. DRG's mutalisks poked a few times at Morrow's defenses before maxing out at the 13 minute mark on roaches to roll Morrow over. The mutalisk play was a brilliant move by DongRaeGu, as it forced Morrow to over-commit to Thor productions instead of tanks, by the time roaches reached Morrow's natural, he was woefully unprepared for the tech-switched and taps out.

In IPL ProTeamLeague, MVP vs EG, DongRaeGu secures his team a spot in the playoffs by defeating EG's ThorZaIN and HuK as MVP's ace player. Sent out when MVP was down 3:4, with all on the line, DRG reestablishes his Final Boss status by wiping the floor with both of EG's finest. The penultimate game against Thorzain saw DRG open hatch first while the spoon-Terran opens 2rax pressure. The marines arrived too late because Thorzain got supply blocked and DRG successfully forced Thorzain to cancel the bunkers using only a few drones. The rush failed horribly with Thorzain doing zero damage and now was behind in both tech and economy. Around the 9 minutes mark, Thorzain pushed out again with a handfull of marines and hellions, but before they could even do anything DRG already had mutalisks ravaging the Terran's main. Unprepared for the aerial strike, Thorzain geegees out. The subsequent game against Huk did not fair any better for team EG. Huk prepared the good old 7 gate push from 2011 in hopes of catching DRG off guard. However, Huk's hesitated to attack several times in that game, backing his army away during favorable opportunities (perhaps out of fear), allowing DRG to pump out a massive roachling army to nullify the Protoss's 2base aggression. Losing his army, Huk was forced to turtle on 2 base for the rest of the game, while DRG covers the map with creep and took an additional 2 bases (total of 5). A final engagement was forced by DRG as Huk drops a third expansion. The Protoss player's army melted away as DRG's infestors neural parasited ALL THE THINGS. GG.

It's been quite an eventful week with DongRaeGu. Whether it is through his masterful play in (four different tournaments!!) or from trying to bribe NesTea on twitter, DRG has undeniably delivered top notch entertainment for his fans. Stay tuned everybody, in StarCraft, momentum's the name of the game, and DRG has just reached wrecking ball status!

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October 16th, 2012
Onward and Upward
by TommyP

Coming off his Godlike performance in the OSL Round of 4, MVP's DongRaeGu now faces an unfamiliar opponent in Samsung Khan's RorO. This is a hard one to predict because these two have never played before in a televised match, its a mirror match up and we haven't really seen either play a lot of ZvZ lately.

What we do know is DRG is one of the best zergs currently, one of the best all-time in SC2 and he is as confident and happy as ever after his crushing victory over MC last night. We also know that RorO may be the best Kespa zerg, as he was the highest placing Zerg in WCS Korea, and he probably would've done more with a Code S seed than Jaedong.

I'm predicting DRG to win 2-0, because A.) I'm a fanboy and B.) DRG seems to run off his confidence and he will be confident as ever after last night's win.

Side notes: 1. The maps are Abyssal City, Ohana and Cloud Kingdom (if necessary) in that order.
2. The loser falls to Up and Downs and the winner goes straight to Code S.

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OSL Coverage: DRG Lay Waste to MC 4:1, Advances to the OSL Grand Finals!!!!

October 16th, 2012
Slump No More
by neoghaleon55

It is really a testament to DongRaeGu's name and reputation that a handful of losses in the last few months to really strong opponents have earned him the title of "slumping." I mean,didn't he just get 3rd place in the last season of the GSL? Regardless, tonight's electifying performance against MC was such a raw display of DRG's brilliant mind and mechanics that it should silence all doubters. This victory should be a very momentous one for Soo Ho, not only does it give meaning to all the hard work he's been putting in lately to improve his game, it also solidifies his position as a world-class top Zerg player. That golden throne of his isn't going anywhere soon, regardless if another zerg wins the GSL or not. Furthermore, the 4:1 stomp on MC's royal roading dreams must have been especially gratifying: vengeance is a dish best served cold, indeed.

Congratulations DongRaeGu!!
Onward to the finals!!

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October 15th, 2012
Second Chances
by Neoghaleon55

There are few things as precious in life as the chance to redo one's mistakes. After three long months since his collapse at the GSL Season 3 semi-finals, MVP_DongRaeGu will finally have the opportunity to face the man who took him down from the peak of his career, SK_MC. It is nothing short of fateful that they should meet once again in the semi-finals of one of the largest world stage in competitive StarCraft, the OSL.

There are a couple of things different this time around that fans should be aware of. First of all, this series is a best of 7 instead of a best of 5 like the GSL format. Longer series tend to favor the better player, as many of the game's randomness are leveled out. Secondly, DongRaeGu seems to be in a better place mentally than he was in July. Though he still has a lot of pressure going into this semifinals, it is not as backbreaking as the desire to play in front of his home crowd in Busan. Perhaps it was this pressure that defeated him last time as he showed up to the match looking exhausted and stressed out. DongRaeGu has had a long road to recovery since then. His recent tweeting activities seem to indicate that he is in good spirit. Finally, DRG has had twice as much time in this tournament to prepare and study his opponent, MC, than he did in July. In his interviews, he assured his fans that the time given to him has been spent wisely.

Since defeating DongRaeGu months ago, SK_MC has had a shaky record in PvZ, losing to ST_Curious, FXO_Leenock and Slayers`Dark in quite convincing fashion. MC's only victory in the matchup since August has been a 2:0 mark against T8_Jaedong, a legendary broodwar player who is still trying to find his place in SCII. DongRaeGu, in constrast, has recently defeated Oz, a historically strong protoss player, in the OSL round of 8 with the final score of 3:1. Record wise, Soo Ho is slightly ahead of his opponent, MC.

Tonight's results will likely come down to the maps. As far as the lineup goes, DongRaeGu couldn't have asked for better. Daybreak will most likely be played twice, Ohana only once and Antiga has been favoring Zerg in ZvP as of late. The only worrisome point to note is Entombed Valley, which will be forced twice should the series reach game 7. Over all, the map pool favors DRG if the series end quickly and will favor MC if things get drawn out.

There isn't doubt in my mind tonight that DRG should win this match. There is a lot riding on the line for both players, but DRG simply wants it more. History has shown that you should never doubt this man's heart. For most of 2012, DongRaeGu has been golden, it is now time he rises again to claim the OSL trophy and defend the title as best Zerg player in the world. Be assured that DRG will waste no more chances.

DRG Fighting!!

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NASL Coverage: DongRaeGu Slams MaSa 2:0!!!!
Photo by R1CH

October 10th, 2012
Another Day in the Office
by TommyP


DRG played clean. Thats about the best way I can describe it. He didn't do anything to fancy, he just looked like the stone cold killer that he is. No disrespect to MaSa (his play really impressed me), but DRG shouldn't have been contested by him anyway.

In Game 1 on Muspelheim, DRG was on an infestor/ling/bane composition for most the game and applying a lot of pressure. He eventually got out Ultras and ran over MaSa. (Side Note: DRG's creep spread was absolutely incredible.)

Game 2 was on Ohana, MaSa started with some early fake pressure, forcing DRG to make lings. DRG had a little run-by that looked like it could be deadly, but MaSa reacted in time and pulled back his hellions to clean it up, however, this bought DRG a lot of time and he took care of the hellion/banshee combo. DRG, again with great creep spread, went for the gorgeous muta/ling/bane style. MaSa was unprepared for the Mutas, and DRG got a few kills, but MaSa had some beautiful repairs on his workers. DRG teched to Ultras again and crushed MaSa's army.

DRG is now 2-2 in NASL with a record of 4-4 (2-1 Alive, 2-0 Masa, 1-2 Polt, and 0-2 Ret by WO.) Unless DRG keeps forgetting his matches, he should make the playoffs.

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OSL Coverage: DongRaeGu Defeats Oz in Ro8, On to the Semi-Finals!!!!

October 3rd, 2012
Deliverance
by neoghaleon55

Perhaps it was an act of Mercy that DongRaeGu delivered Oz from his last grand tournament in 2012. It is no secret that Oz has had a string of losses lately, culminating in his tragic exile from GSL just the night before. Oz has been in a lot of hurt, so defeating him 3:1 was merely a 'coup de grace,' an act of kindness from the Zerg Overmind that is Park Soo Ho. Oz will now have some time to recover, reflect and perhaps improve his play. Now is the best time to aptly revisit a fan-favorite quote from DRG, one that was last applied to Slayers'Alicia before he was also royally slaughtered by the Zerg God:
"Good job [for making it to the round of 8], Oz, now you can go home."

Read DRG's Victory Interview Here: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=373129

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October 3rd, 2012
Deja vu
by TommyP


DRG and Polt recently played in the Code S Round of 16 where Polt won 2-1. In game 3, he did a marauder/hellion timing attack. The same thing happened in their NASL series. Literally, the same thing. DRG gets lucky and sees the push coming with lings, forcing Polt to move out immediately. DRG builds spines below his natural ramp. Unfortunately, none of the spines finish, banelings hit marauders and hellions shred lings and DRG dies. The only difference is in Code S the map was Antiga and in NASL the map was Whirlwind.

DongRaeGu looked stunning in Set 1. He crushed Polt on Ohana and didnt even use his amazing Muta/ling/bane style. In set 2, DRG looked to be far ahead after a successful baneling/ling attack at Polt's third and natural. He was up almost 50 workers. However, Polt responded with a drop that took out one of DRG's expansions. Polt then just kept on attacking and had some great tank spreads and demolished DRG's army of ultralisks, infestors, lings and banelings.

DRG drops to 1-2 in his group with a map score of 3-5. Hes making up his match against Hasuobs later this week according to the NASLS4 guy in chat. This loss hurts because it was so important for getting first in the group, but he's still in OSL Ro4, so I cant be too mad.

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Art by neoghaleon55

October 2nd, 2012
All the Marbles
by neoghaleon55

It's hard to fathom what goes through the minds of MVP_DongRaeGu and Fnatic_Oz today as they ready for their fateful meeting in just a few hours. With neither of them having Code S to fall back on, tonight's match is for all the marbles. Winner advances to the Semi-Finals in one of the biggest competitive stage in Korea. Loser goes home, with few opportunities to grace a grand stadium once more before the year's end.

Even though his ZvP has been suboptimal as of late, DongRaeGu still holds the edge over Oz in more ways than one. First of all, in all their chance meetings since the dawn of history... DRG has beaten Oz roughly 75% of the time. At his peak, DongRaeGu was the best player in the world for months on end, with multiple championships to his name, where as Oz has not really won anything significant in his career (his crowning achievement being an online MLG qualifier where he took top place). In recent times, DongRaeGu still sits on the throne of the Zerg Swarm, Oz, on the other hand, has been finding it difficult to even win a series. To top it off, Oz has a much worse record in PvZ than DongRaeGu does in ZvP (50% to 60%). It's hard to fathom what races through each player's mind before the match, but it's harder to imagine DongRaeGu losing to Oz in a best of 5.

DRG Fighting!!

Read the Official TeamLiquid Preview Here: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=372921
Check our new fan video here: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=372825

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Photo by R1CH

September 19th, 2012
Candle in the Dark
by neoghaleon55

Valiant effort in the GSL last night by MVP_DongRaeGu as he fought for a Ro8 spot of Code S in one of the hardest groups in history. Unfortunately, a few poor engagements and timely all-ins from his opponents have left our Zerg Hero short of another GSL championship this season. Though things may look as bleak as they did a month ago, I am confident DRG will find his way back to where he belongs: on the main stage holding a trophy once more. But in this dark hour, DongRaeGu still holds another candle of hope, one that can illuminate the path towards that championship stage: The OSL. He's in the round of 8...literally inches away from being the first to finish the royal road and winning one of the most prestigious leagues in the world. So although it is regretful that DRG won't be winning another GSL this year, it's comforting to know that he already has one of those trophies stacked somewhere in his bedroom and he's really close to getting another one that's just as big! Look forward to DongRaeGu winning the OSL trophy in the weeks to come, hopefully it won't also look like a shampoo bottle.

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photo by Thisisgame.com

September 18th, 2012
Death Groups
by neoghaleon55

There is no time for rest when you are MVP_DongRaeGu. Immediately after defeating his long time rival,MarineKingPrime, DRG is thrusted into the group of death for this season of Code S. Tonight, the Zerg Hero will face three very strong opponents: Polt, By.Rain and TaeJa.

DongRaeGu will square off against Polt first. Having destroyed Polt in the Ro32 just one week prior, DRG seems to be in a commanding position to do the same tonight. With Soo Ho at the top of his game, Polt will undoubtedly have a difficult time in their matchup. Unless Polt brings a very unique build to the table, we can expect an easy walk-by for DRG.

Where the group becomes hard to predict is actually between Taeja and by.Rain. Both are really strong players at this point in time. Since PvT is Rain's worst matchup, I would have to predict a win for Taeja. Between a DRG and Taeja head to head, the odds slightly favor DRG due to his dominating ZvT play as of late. In the off chance that DRG faces by.Rain, it would really come down to the maps as Rain is very good at making timing attacks count on small rush distances.

Each player in this group tonight has something to prove if they are matched against DRG. Taeja wants to show that he's the current best player in the world, to do so, he needs to beat the best Zerg player in the world. By.Rain wants to demonstrate that his victory over DRG in the OSL isn't just from luck of the map pool. And Polt wants to prove that getting wrecked by DRG last week was just a fluke. As for DongRaeGu, he now wants nothing short of the GSL championship, once more.

As far as groups of death go, DongRaeGu has historically performed well when he finds himself in one of them. During Season1, he was able to advance from the monstrous group which included NesTea, MarineKing and Genius. Yesterday, we saw him advance from the OSL's toughest group featuring MarineKing, By.Rain and Jangbi. As such, there's simply no reason why DRG can't pull forward to the quarterfinals. With a little luck and the right mind set, DongRaeGu will be the one dealing out the deaths.

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OSL Coverage: DongRaeGu Destroys MarineKing in Ro16, Continues on Royal Road!!!!

September 18th, 2012
Sweet Retribution
by neoghaleon55

With a big smile on his face and a ticket to the quarter finals in one of Korea's most prestigious StarLeagues, MVP_DongRaeGu couldn't be happier with himself. It was a well deserved win, on a tough map against a strong opponent. As expected, MarineKingPrime opted for mech play on the small map, Ohana. Taking advantage of MKP's lack of anti air until the first Thor came out, DRG hit a critical timing that shuts down the Terran's third base for an extended time, killing a slew of SCVs while he was at it. As MarineKing pushed out, he was constantly met by DRG's roach back-stab that harassed his natural. While occupying the king-of-marines with his roach micro, DRG took two additional bases, keeping up with his economy while teching to broodlords. A few poor judgments by MKP soon after lost him almost all his unsieged tanks, as roaches ravages the much slower mech army. Frustrated, MKP decided to push while DRG continues to back-stab the natural of his opponent. MarineKing managed to raze two of DRG's bases at the 7 and 9 o' clock positions, only to be ambushed by a ton of speed roaches at the ramp. This engagement costed MKP his entire army, setting him behind by over 100 supplies. DongRaeGu took charge of his lead by maxing out on an infestor/broodlords/corruptors composition and pushes the Terran straight out of the OSL. GG.

What makes this victory even more satisfying is the underlying story behind it. Just weeks before, during group selection, MarineKing cajoled an always trusting DongRaeGu to add him to DRG's OSL Ro16 group, promising to pick a weaker player soon after so that they both could advance onto the Ro8, together. DRG was hesitant, but ended up agreeing to MKP's plan...only to be betrayed by the sly Terran just moments later. Indeed, MarineKing instead picked By.Rain, a Protoss player with some 80% winrate against Zergs and a much weaker 60% winrate against Terrans. Thus, MKP had effectively screwed over DRG by ensuring that his own chances to advance was much higher than that of his longtime rival.

This isn't the first time MarineKing has screwed someone over during group selection. The last season of GSL Code S Ro16 saw MarineKing screw his then-best-friend, MC, by placing him into the group of death. Yet for all his manipulations and scheming, fate has not been kind to this Terran king. His plan backfired...twice. MC immediately crushes MarineKing in their group that season... just like DongRaeGu had snapped him in half today. What was more ironic this time, was that MarineKing ended up losing to byRain as well, a loss that has contributed to ending his dreams for the OSL championship this season.

So points to ponder:

1. Karma's a bitch
2. DON'T F#$% with DongRaeGu.

Read DRG's Victory Interview Here: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=369774

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photo by sodaniechea

September 16th, 2012
Rivalry Renewed
by TommyP

Park Soo Ho. Lee Jung Hoon. You may know them better as MVP_DongRaeGu and MarineKingPrime (MKP), respectively. These are two of the most respected names in Starcraft. They have dominated the competitive scene since early 2012 but their sworn rivalry started almost a year earlier. In the ace match between teams MVP and Prime in 2011 May GSTL, at the score of 3:3, DongRaeGu was sent out to stop the wrecking ball that was MarineKingPrime. With everything on the line, the untested DRG (his very first professional match) took down MKP, dissolving Team Prime's hopes for the championship that season, and began one of the longest, most epic rivalries in E-Sports history.

It would not be long after their first meeting that DongRaeGu would face MarineKing again. During the first GomTV Arena of Legends, the two faced off in the finals, where MarineKing defeated DRG with a score of 4:1. However, at the start of 2012, DRG returned the favor by destroying MKP in the GomTV's King of Kongs and the FXO Invitational Series V with scores 3:1 and 4:0, respectively.

Soon after, DongRaeGu met MarineKing in Code S, and took him down with a score of 2:0 in the round of 16. From there, DRG would go on to win the GSL championship, achieving the most prestigious title a StarCraft II professional can earn (something that MKP, to this day, has yet been able to do).

It wasn't long after their GSL meeting that DongRaeGu was again confronted by MarineKing, this time in New York City for the MLG Winter Arena. They met in the finals, the first of many. On that day, MarineKing exacted his revenge and slew DRG with a score of 4:2

Just weeks later, DRG would find himself in the grand finals of MLG Winter Championship in Columbus, Ohio... once again facing MarineKing. There, MKP got the better of DRG and sent him home with another silver; final score: 5:2. After this, DRG went into a bit of a slump, dropping from Code S the very next season. Yet in time, another MLG Arena came along, and with it, a third MLG finals in a row for DRG and MKP. However, this time DongRaeGu finally got the monkey off his back and ended his slump by vanquishing MarineKing in an epic series spanning 7 games, ending with a score of 4:3. The raw emotions displayed by DRG after winning showed exactly how special this rivalry is.

+ Show Spoiler +

The games played in all their meetings were nothing short of spectacular. These two players are so evenly matched, and arguably, just better than anyone else in 2012 (especially during their MLG runs) that they put spectators on the edge of their seats just waiting for something amazing to happen. Personally, the three MLG finals these two played against each other are the best moments I have ever had watching StarCraft II. The excitement I felt each time is simply indescribable.

Their latest meeting was at MLG Anaheim in the winner's bracket finals, where DRG 2-0'd MarineKing, sending him to the loser bracket where MKP would fall to the runner up, Alicia (who made the finals only to get curb stomped by DRG).

Now, in the most storied esports tournament in Korea, the All-Kill OSL, they face each other once again... with everything on the line. Loser goes home, winner advances to the Round of 8 and continues his journey on the royal road. One map decides it all. Even though I will be nervous, I wouldn't have it any other way.


September 16th, 2012
Dog Builds
by neoghaleon55

DRG: I just play normal. He uses something weird build...2 rax...and cheesing...
HB: Dog build?
DRG: Yea! Dog Build! (*laughs)

+ Show Spoiler +

The map is Ohana, which has one of the shortest rush distances in any tournament map pool. The contender is MarineKing, who favors early game aggression and of course "making marines." MKP has had a bad streak of TvZ lately, ever since the queen buff, he can't seem to catch a break, losing to Symbol, CoCa and Curious. His only victories were from a slumping NesTea and SCII inept Jaedong.

Historically, DongRaeGu has lost the most games to MarineKing when cheese is involved and has won the most games when standard play is executed by both parties. The situation is ripe, the map favors it and MKP can't seem to get good footing in lategame TvZ...this calls for a dog build. Whether it's proxy rax or bancheese...count on the king of marines to pull a fast one this coming match.

Now on the off chance that MKP does not take the early game with cheese, I expect full-on mech play with banshee support. Like I said, the rush distance is insanely short... a Thor could reach the Zerg base in a few steps. Couple this with the fact that there are few counter attack pathways on Ohana, make it ideal for many Terrans to favor mech. If this happens, I would like to see DRG do some crazy drop play.

This best of 1 is anything but predictable, but the odds for shenanigans are high. It'll be a good time to see some of that legendary mental fortitude Soo Ho is known for...to shine through and put that dog-build-shit on a leash!

---

photo by IGN Pro League

NASL Coverage: DongRaeGu Defeats aLive 2:1!!!!

September 13th, 2012
The Train Keeps on Rollin'
by TommyP

Today is a great day to be a DRG fan. After his stellar performance in the Code S Round of 32, MVP_DongRaeGu continues his winning streak by defeating Fanatic_aLive 2-1 in his first ever NASL match. In game one on Whirlwind, it seemed DRG controlled the game from the start. He looked as dominant as he was at the peak of his career, and as he did last night.

In game 2, Alive played really greedy and DRG let him get away with it. However, it was on DRG's least favorite map (Entombed Valley.) Then in game 3. DRG took care of business and played just as well as he did in Set 1. In all the games DongRaeGu went for the Muta/Ling/Bling style that he showcased in Code S. The way he plays that style is so elegant and beautiful, like the masterstrokes of a Picasso painting. There is simply little doubt that DRG currently stands as the best ZvT'er in SCII history.

VODs at: http://www.twitch.tv/nasls4/b/332091923
starts at 1:33:00

---

Photo by R1CH

DongRaeGu Crushes Group in Season 4 GSL Code S Round of 32!!!!

September 13th, 2012
"I'm Still DRG"
by Neoghaleon55

Once in a while, we get to see a player demonstrate such deep knowledge and skill in a set of games that it changes the way we view a matchup, forever. Last night MVP_DongRaeGu defeated Bomber and Polt in high style (ending with the scores 2:1 and 2:0, respectively)with muta/ling/banes. Using only Lair tech units, DRG was able tip Bomber's macro game off the edge while wiping the floor with the eventual group runner up, Polt. The games were fantastic, every player performed exceptionally, DRG was just better. But let's take a minute to discuss how DongRaeGu might have just once again changed how ZvT is played at the very top level.

Long before the infestor buffs, Zerg would play muta/ling/bane against Terran to some great effect. Then the buffs came and the maps grew bigger, people started to abandon muta/ling/bane all together in exchange for fast Hive Tech. You can kind of understand why people stopped using muta/ling/bane: as the maps got bigger, it became more difficult to spread creep efficiently all while maintaining world class macro. Without creep, banelings cannot hit their marks and will often result in a GG for the Zerg player. The Muta/ling/bane playstyle is so micro-intensive that many Zerg players will start missing injects and creep spread (see Leenock's games at MLG Summer Champ). In summary, muta/ling/bane is a much more difficult style to master than infestor-tech to early Hive.

Thus, the mentality for most Zerg players these days is to defend, defend, defend, get hive, then try to kill stuff. Many pro-gamers, including the former god-of-zerg Nestea, has decried mutalisks as an inferior playstyle in the current metagame....and we believed him...until today. So what sets DongRaeGu apart from the other Zerg players? How does he make muta/ling/bane work again in late 2012, where TvZ timings are as sharp as a scalpel?

A few months back, I had a chance to attend MLG Anaheim to see Soo Ho playing live. That was when I objectively saw how much better DRG was than everyone else in the world. Remember that Anaheim hosted possibly all the best Zerg players in the world at the time which included: Symbol, Violet, Stephano and DRG. By the semifinals in the winners bracket, only DongRaeGu and Stephano were left. They both eventually played against MarineKingPrime...on the same map...using very similar openings. At around 14:30 minutes, MKP would usually take his third base, let's compare creep spread from stephano's to DRG's

+ Show Spoiler +

Notice the difference? DongRaeGu's creep is far superior than any other professional at the time (and maybe even now). His raw mechanics allowed him to use muta/bane/ling on said creep more effectively, all while maintaining macro that's better than any Zerg player on the planet!

The victory earned in Code S last night is an important milestone for Soo Ho. It officially ends his 2 months-long slump full of heartbreaks and pained losses. This victory also marks the beginning of a revitalized player, one who now hungers for the chance to grace the championship stage once more. Whether or not DRG is still the best player in the world is up for debate, but there isn't a doubt that his ZvT remains unrivaled by any world standard.

Congratz Soo Ho!
I am glad you are still DRG.

Read DRG's Victory Interview Here: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=368553
VODs: http://www.gomtv.net/2012gsls4/vod/70586

---

Photo by R1CH

September 12th, 2012
Death by DRG
by Neoghaleon55

There was a period of time between late 2011 through the first half of 2012 where the causes of death for most Terran players in StarCraft tournaments were from either: 1. Wrist Injury or 2. Death by DRG. MVP_DongRaeGu has not been just a Terran Slayer, he was effectively the Arc Angel of Death for the Terran race in that long stretch of time, the reaper from the dark. Across the globe, at MLG, Dreamhack, GSL and GSTL, Terran players were lining up in droves to get curb stomped by DRG. So perhaps it is a blessing that after months of non-stop ZvP, Soo Ho will finally get a chance to show off his Terran-Killing strokes once again.

Tonight in GSL Code S, DRG will face off against three Terran players in his round of 32 group: Polt, GuMiho and Bomber. The three challengers have very different playstyles. Polt plays a very cerebral game, often devising strategies to catch his opponent off guard. Gumiho plays like a ripe apple tree, dispersing drops everywhere and hope that one of them can damage the Zerg's economy enough for him to win. Bomber prefers long macro games with plenty of production facilities to accompany his macro-centric style. If DRG wants to win tonight, he needs to discern the strengths and weaknesses of all three Terrans: he should probably play safe against Polt, who seems to be immune to early game attacks, play calm and alert against Gumiho to shut down drop harassment and play aggressive against bomber to interfere with his macro capabilities.

Of the three, Polt is by far the most dangerous due to his ability to sniff out weaknesses from watching someone's replay.
Recently, Polt has even beaten DRG in the WCG qualifiers by defending DRG's trademark roach attack and then pushing his advantage to a victory. Judging from the Polt games, a couple things can go wrong for DRG tonight if he's not careful. First is that early 3rd bases against Terran is very risky play if your early game roach pressure did not do enough damage. When you lose 12 roaches trying to kill off 20 SCVs, the Terran can still counter push, pulling all his workers to try and snuff you out. So it's probably best not to skimp on static defense (at least 3 spines) to hold off the counter push. Secondly, mutalisks on Ohana are just bad...This map has a very short rush distance, it has few dead space behind the main, and the natural and third are so close to each other that a few marines or 1 Thor can deny harassment with relative ease. I hope DRG has an infestor build for this map, instead.

Starting with tonight and lasting to the following week, DongRaeGu will have a long stretch of Terran opponents to slay. It's really a good thing because Soo Ho has to prepare for only 1 matchup, his favorite matchup, the matchup that has catapulted him into Stardom and has earned him the most fans. So to the 5 Terans waiting for the DRG-guillotine , aLive (NASL tonight), Polt, Gumiho, Bomber and MarineKing (next week in OSL)....I hope you guys bought life insurance.

TeamLiquid Official Preview Here: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=368359

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Photo by R1CH

September 10th, 2012
NASL: DRG to the Americas
by Neoghaleon55

Due to his outstanding tournament results in 2012, MVPDongRaeGu has been formally invited and has accepted the seed into the North American Star League (NASL) Season 4. The tournament format will compose of a 10-weeks long season of online matches followed by an offline LAN finals. Forty-Five StarCraft II professionals, with big names including MMA, Stephano, Hero and Taeja, are divided up into five different divisions. DongRaeGu has been placed into division 1. The games will be played online and the matches casted from replay (1 or 2 days production time). You can find the full schedule in the NASL thread or from their website. Weekly DRG match broadcast schedules will be posted in the front page of this thread. Due to the nature of broadcast (not being live), the DRG Fan Club will not preview and review full articles for all matches. We do, however, encourage that you support NASL by purchasing their Premium Ticket: support DRG by supporting the tournaments that seeds him. It is great news that we get to see Soo Ho play almost every week. It's even better news that if he does well, DRG could be in the Americas again quite soon (for the finals).

Full Schedule (Thanks to TommyP):

+ Show Spoiler +

NASL website: http://nasl.tv/
NASL teamliquid thread: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=366434

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September 5th, 2012
A Minor Setback
by TommyP

DRG has lost his second OSL match against (by.Sun) by.Rain. Rain is arguably the current best KeSPA SC2 player and they were playing a ZvP on Entombed Valley... To make matters worse, it wasn't cross position, making timing attacks even deadlier due to shorter rush distance. However, things started off very well for our Zerg player. He was able to just macro up and secure a 4th base, he even chain fungaled 5-6 of Rain's phoenixes to death! DongRaeGu was sitting on over 100 drones (this may have been his downfall) and 4 bases, but Rain hit a pre-BroodLord timing that was too strong, even with DRG's wall of spine crawler, infestors and a few lings. Rain killed his fourth and was on a path to kill everything, but DRG GG'd out.

ZvP is very difficult right now. Even TSL's Symbol (possibly the best ZvP player in the world) said recently that he fears Protoss most and thinks ZvP is really hard judging from recent tournaments results and the metagame in Korea. I would have to agree, however I don't think its a game imbalance; Zergs just needs to do somethings different (seems to me like mutas are working really well in the current ZvP meta, see Leenock at MLG, Curious' Code S games and DRG looked good with Mutas against Creator.)

To be honest, even if he'd won today, he would've had to beat MKP later or else there would've been a three way tie (I'm assuming that Rain will beat out JangBi.) So I hate to call this game meaningless because now first place in the group is impossible, but really it seems like it will come down to the MKP match either way.

This is just a minor setback, after all he is far from being eliminated from the tournament and his Code S round of 32 group has no Protoss players in it! The only concern I have is whether it will hurt his confidence, but honestly I don't think DRG minds losing a ZvP on Entombed, especially when he is just one map win away from being in Ro8.
On the bright side, next week we get to see DRG in Code S!!!

PS.
Make sure you check out our new fan video!
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=366363#1

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September 3rd, 2012
Sun and Sea
by neoghaleon55

The Auction All-Kill OSL might be the hardest tournament DongRaeGu has ever played in his life thus far. It runs during one of the lowest points in his career, his groups consistently have the best players in the world and the map pool is absolutely abysmal for Zergs. Though I still believe he has a good chance to get out of his round of 16 group alive. To me, DRG as a player, is much like the Sea, which ebbs & flows like his play-style. His career, too, has been like the tide, with floods of success and traumatic losses.

DongRaeGu's next opponent is perhaps his toughest challenge yet, By.Sun (Rain), the most formidable player from the KeSPA roster. This challenger has shown to be a well rounded player, having beaten MarineKing just last week and possessing a respectable ~80% win rate against Zergs In fact, some have started calling Sun the best PvZ player in the world, and truth be told, that's not much of an exaggeration. This is going to be an uphill climb for Soo Ho, who has to fight a Zerg-killing machine, during an unpredictable time for PvZ, at the trough of his career, in the WORST imaginable map for ZvP ever created
(Entombed Valley)(damn you Blizzard!!).

Still all is not lost. DongRaeGu does have a better record ZvP on Entombed than Ohana (lol). This match will depend heavily on the spawning locations of these two players. At close spawn horizontal, we can expect warp prism 8-gate(ramp forcefield) by Sun. This NEEDS to be scouted or will result in an auto-loss for our Zerg hero. At close spawn vertical, we can expect the usual (slightly imba) immortal sentry all-in. Due to the large amounts of chokes available on this map, this strategy is very potent and has killed countless Zergs in the last 8 months. If scouted, Soo Ho can try the Symbol-esque overlord drop, Nestea's muta ling, or maybe fast infestors. Counter attacks are completely useless on this map due to how well forcefield can defend the Protoss's ramps. At cross spawn, Sun might even try StarGate opens, at which point DRG can only rely on his superior scouting to save him. It's definitely a tough match, may god Kerrigan watch over him.

So what are the odds of DRG actually winning this match? I'm going to say, "not as bad as we all think". Historically DRG has shown some of the most creative builds ever when it comes to Entombed Valley. Remember that roach bust against Genius in the GSL finals? What about that sick sick spine crawler/infestor hold against Naniwa in last season's quarter finals? Given enough preparation (better be practicing, DRG!!), DongRaeGu can take down this elephant EZPZ and secure his place in the round of 8. If his game against Jangbi (owned!!) is any indication of his current skill level, we can expect high tides that night.

Bonus: Stay happy, DRG!!
We love you!

+ Show Spoiler +

---

August 28th, 2012
EZPZ
by neoghaleon55

No seriously, it was ezpz. Two things we've learned from that game: DongRaeGu's back in business and Jangbi definitely needs more time practicing with SCII. There's a reason why DRG's the most feared Zerg in the world in 2012: scouting. In fact, DongRaeGu has scouting down to an art form. At 5 minutes into the game, DRG's initial overlord was already patrolling Jangbi's base, at 7 minutes that same overlord saw a StarGate open allowing him to react by making extra queens, getting a spire and infestation pit. At 9 minutes, a group of lings ambushed Jangbi's unsuspecting stalkers and ran into the main, spotting the twilight council, which allowed DRG time to make infestors and roaches. Jangbi was completely outplayed; what ever tech Jangbi threw out, DRG found it and had the counter. DongRaeGu's meticulous play is coupled by Jangbi's inexperience (i.e. using guardian shield instead of force field...making stalkers in the face of mass speedlings) created one of the most lopsided ZvP we've seen in a long while. I'm not exactly sure if DRG has recovered fully at 100% yet, but it was sure nice to see him smile again.
Welcome back, god of Zerg!

VOD: http://www.twitch.tv/ogn_star2/b/330233995 (starts at 15:00)

Read the Post-Match Interview (Translation thanks to SeeKeR):
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=364066

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August 27th, 2012
War of Kings
by neoghaleon55

Not long before his slump beginning just about 1 month ago, DongRaeGu was widely considered the best player in the world. But being the best carries a heavy price: you become the target in everyone's cross-hair. If you look at the caliber of opponents that took down DRG, you will notice they are all consistent, high level, hardworking monsters. DongRaeGu's string of loses from players like Hero, MC, Leenock, Creator(eventual champion of WCS Korea) and most recently Eff0rt is actually not that hard to comprehend. These people are serious business; any one of them could be a real contender for the GSL trophy. They meticulously studied how Soo Ho played and abused the holes in his game. Normally, DRG would still win, but after a slew of personal trials (starting with the "I want to cry" tweet) the Zerg hero has not been performing as sharp as he could be.

So it's been a difficult month for both Soo Ho and his fans, and we've thrown him all sorts of support. But the truth is, only DRG can climb out of this hole he is in, a process that may start this very night. His opponent is the current King of
Brood War, JangBi, having won the very last OSL in the most beloved game for an entire generation of people. JangBi picked DongRaeGu during group selection, stating that he wanted to face the best of the best. But it is obvious that Janbi isn't telling the whole truth, Jangbi knows Soo Ho is currently an easy target at a vulnerable state in a vulnerable time. With his ZvP win-rate taking a nose dive, DRG will have to be quite inventive tonight to win the best-of-1 match. If Soo Ho plays his (currently figured out) standard openings, there is a good chance he might lose. One good thing going for DRG is that the map is Antiga instead of abominations such as Entombed Valley or Ohana. Still, we have to be perfectly honest with ourselves: this match will be nothing but a complete coin flip.

The current PvZ metagame is a very strange one. Protoss will always attempt to fast expand (now with 1 gate as well as the typical forge) and apply pressure with either a warp-prism raid or some sort of sentry immortal allin. StarGate opens are more complex and risky; if I was a betting man, I would say that Jangbi is not comfortable enough to pull one off, especially against someone of DRG's caliber. What I think is likely to happen, and typically WILL happen on this map, is a full set of 8 Gate warp-prism push on 2 bases supported by proxy pylons on the low ground. The Zerg player will need good map awareness to stay alive until spire tech, at which point the roles are reversed and most Protosses just die. Like I said, coin flippy. Not to mention that Jangbi is from a whole different school of thought than the rest of the eSF players, which means he might bring some new unheard of allin to the table.

Tonight is a battle between kings, one from the old world and one that we've all come to know and love.
It is a match DRG must win as it is crucial to continuing his journey on the royal road, as well as repairing his reputation.

The odds are definitely against him.
....but since when did DongRaeGu give a flying #$% about the odds?

---

August 14th, 2012
Almost...again
by neoghaleon55

A very close series by DongRaeGu but the free fall continues.
Sorry, not much else to say.
Go rest up, DRG.
We still love you.
<3

---

August 13th, 2012
A Happy DRG
by neoghaleon55

You know what they say, a happy DRG is a nerd-slaying-champion-DRG. Recently, DongRaeGu seems calmer, more composed and most importantly, happier. Whether it's from photos with his girlfriend or just tweeting positive thoughts on twitter, it seems Soo Ho is slowly recovering from the trauma that is July, 2012. Tonight in the WCS Korea Lower Bracket R1, he is matched against EffOrt, a KeSPA zerg player with little to no experience playing StarCraft 2 on the competitive stage. Let's be honest,
DongRaeGu should win.

Statistically, ZvZ has always been Soo Ho's best matchup with a whooping 72% win rate internationally and 68% win rate in Korea. His opponent, EffOrt, also has a good win rate at 100%....but from only 6 matches...against other unseasoned KeSPA players. I can say without exaggeration that unless DRG gets his food poisoned by Genius tonight or his gf breaks up with him 2 hours before the match, EffOrt is going to get completely rolled.

It's really not the fact that DongRaeGu is the current best Zerg player in the world, or that his mechanical skills presently are unmatched in professional StarCraft II...it's that he's feeling good. When DRG is feeling good...you get the @#$% out of that booth!

---

August 8th, 2012
Signs of recovery
by neoghaleon55

Ok, so DongRaeGu did not win his first round at WCS, it was however, a very close match ending with a 2:1 score in favor of Creator. After an awful decision in game 1 which costs him the map , fans of DRG were honestly ready for another 0:2 performance from Soo Ho. However, in game 2, DRG showed glimmers of his past brilliance by usage of his world class multi-prong mutalisk harass that ended up taking out Creator's main and sealing the victory for our Zerg Hero. Game 3 came really close in DRG's favor, but ultimately ended with a well executed stalker split, warp prism surround by his opponent. Once again, DongRaeGu lost a series, but if it's any consolation for fans, game 2 was a vast improvement from his previous ZvP exhibitions as of late. Don't forget, he's not out of the tournament,yet; there is still the loser's bracket to go through.

Don't lose hope, Soo Ho, you're almost there, again.
<3

VODS: http://www.gomtv.net/2012wcskorea/vod/70387/?set=1


Words of Encouragement for my Fellow DRG Fans,
by TommyP

Remember MLG's Winter Arena?? If so, you probably remember DRG losing in the first round only to dominate the entire losers bracket and make the finals. So if anybody can do it, DRG can! Also, either MC or Leenock will be in the same position DRG is in now and MKP didnt even make the tournament so its all good. DRG doesnt want to win GSL, GSTL and WCS Korea because he figured achieving Royal Road (winning the first OSL you play in) would be enough. DRG is so nice that he realizes if he wins everything like he can that SC2 will never grow in Korea. DRG saving esports!!

But in all seriousness, Creator is one of the best protoss players in the world and at least DRG looked competitive in all three games, where as [a few weeks ago] against HerO and MC, i thought maybe his GF was playing (she's still better than me though, she is Korean!) Also these loses that DRG has been enduring will only make his eventual victories that much more special.

For example, one of my favorite DRG moments was at MLG Spring Arena 1 earlier this year. Although it was only an 8-players tournament, it was there that DongRaeGu was able to get the MKP monkey off his back, thereby breaking his slump and becoming the best player in the world once again (the final game was freaking epic)

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WCS: A grand return to form?

By TommyP:

August 2nd, 2012
DONGRAEGU WCS Information


WCS Korea Brackets announced!! http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=357592

DRG plays on August 8th against Creator Prime in round one and will play the winner (liquid Hero) of Effort(Kespa zerg) and Liquid Hero. So there is a 99.99999% chance that he plays two ZvP's in a row(should he beat Creator). Hopefully he looks like DRG and not what we saw against MC and Hero in Round of 4 and Tac3 respectively. Please get your ZvP back!!

Honestly looking at the bracket, he'll probably play puzzle(slayers toss) in the round of 8 (if he gets there) so his ZvP needs to look the exact opposite of what it was against MC And then in round of 4 he could potentially play another toss is either Genius, Squirtle or MC (hard for me to believe that one of arguably the top 3 tosses, wont be in that spot) And then Im going to predict that a terran makes the winners finals through the upper part of the bracket (ill take my chances on the likes of Alive, sC, MVP, Polt and Gumiho.)

Here are the dates for the rest of the tournament + Show Spoiler +

An informative message from GomSnowbird about WCS + Show Spoiler +

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July 19th & 20th, 2012
End Lines for DongRaeGu
MC defeats DongRaeGu in a sweeping 3:0 upset.
Team MVP loses to FXO in GSTL SemiFinals

DRG, please know that your fans all care for you very much.
Please do not be disheartened.
There are many great things waiting for you in the near future.
We will be there to see you win again.

Live report by TommyP
Field Editor
+ Show Spoiler +

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July 19th, 2012
DONGRAEGU IN THE GSL SEMIFINALS TONIGHT!!!!!!

DongRaeGu will battle MC tonight in the GSL for a seat at the Finals. This will be a clash between titans as both players are former GSL champions. The stage tonight might as well be the finals, folks, we have the BossToss MC vs The Final Boss DongRaeGu. Both players are forerunners of their respective race with a record of 6:6 against each other from recent tournament results. Many have already called the winner of this match to take the entire tournament, itself. This is a night you won't want to miss. Stay up and cheer for DRG, yo!

Read TeamLiquid Official Preview: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=354037

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DongRaeGu at his first OSL

July 16th, 2012
DONGRAEGU LIGHTS UP OSL: 2:0 HIS GROUP, ADVANCES TO ROUND OF 16!!!!!!

In a momentous effort last night, DongRaeGu crushes opposition San and rising Zerg star Symbol to secure not only his seat in the round of 16 but also his rightful place on the Zerg throne. Advancing from the OSL round of 32 will now seed DRG into the OSL proper, where he will begin battle with Brood War players for the first time in StarCraft 2. The OSL round of 32 is notoriously difficult due to the Best-of-1 format, however, DongRaeGu once again proves to the world why he is amongst the tip top caliber of StarCraft players. There is no longer doubt that when people think of Zerg in StarCraft II, DongRaeGu is first name that comes to mind.

VODS here: http://www.twitch.tv/ooooophidian/b/325099852
Starts at 2:14:00

Read DRG's post match interview here: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=353415

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DRG likes to scare his fans into thinking he could lose.

July 12th, 2012
DONGRAEGU PUSHES THROUGH NANIWA, MAKES IT TO THE GSL SEMIFINALS!!!!!!

Results:
+ Show Spoiler +

Live report by TommyP
Field Editor
+ Show Spoiler +


Read the Interview with DRG here: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=352335


DONGRAEGU'S MESSAGE TO FANS

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July 12th, 2012
DONGRAEGU IN CODE S QUARTER FINALS TONIGHT!!!!!!

It's hard to describe this match as anything but lopsided. DongRaeGu has been destroying nerds since the beginning of the year and NaNiwa has proved to be of little resistance in his path of dominance. Let us recount what happened the last few times they met on the tournament stage:

Winter Arena: DRG:2:0:Naniwa
Winter Championship: DRG:2:0:Naniwa

Mentality plays a large role as the GSL winds down to the stage of single elimination. DongRaeGu stated that he is confident in taking the series regardless of how the games will play out tonight. Naniwa, in contrast, seems to doubt his own abilities by admitting he is the heavy underdog of the series and is least confident against DRG. If victory in the GSL is a test of will, then DRG has already won.

Read Team Liquid Official Preview Here: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=352162
Follow the Live Report Here: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=352028

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DRG at IPL Hot Import Nights in Los Angeles.

July 7th, 2012
DONGRAEGU EARNS SECOND PLACE AT IPL HOT IMPORT NIGHTS LOS ANGELES!!!!!!

DongRaeGu beats out long time rival MMA in a spectacular series then loses to HerO in the finals to earn second place. Beating MMA 2:0 and then 3:2 in Los Angeles is a momentous recovery point to end the painful memories at Blizzard Cup last winter. With both his strongest rivals fallen (MarineKing and MMA), there should be little left weighing on DRG's mind as he enters the GSL Round of 8 in the coming days. And although he did not win the grand prize this weekend, DRG has won the hearts of many fans by showing his signature resilience and fortitude when the games do not go his way. Here's to the best Zerg player in the world!!

VODS here: http://www.twitch.tv/ignproleague/b/324036283


DONGRAEGU'S MESSAGE TO FANS

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Easy Peasy for the handsome Zerg Overmind, DongRaeGu.

July 5th, 2012
DONGRAEGU SMASHES CODE S, ADVANCES TO GSL SEASON 3 QUARTER FINALS!!!!!!

Results:
+ Show Spoiler +

The wins this night will secure DongRaeGu's Code S status for another GSL Season.
Read DRG's victory interview here: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=350539


DONGRAEGU'S MESSAGE TO FANS


I hereby declare this fan club, the Church of DRG.

+ Show Spoiler +

---

July 5th, 2012
DONGRAEGU IN CODE S - ROUND OF 16 TONIGHT!!!!!!

DongRaeGu sets out to destroy two Terrans, SuperNoVa & Ryung, and the former Zerg King, NesTea,
tonight in the GSL. Can DRG deliver his promise to humiliate another Slayers Terran [Ryung] to make up for the suffering he endured during the Blizzard Cup? Can Park Soo Ho defend his crown as the rightful Zerg Overmind?
Stay up tonight to cheer, everyone! It's going to be entertaining.

Follow the Live Report Here: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=350379#18

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June 27th, 2012.
DONGRAEGU HAS BEEN SEEDED INTO FIRST STARCRAFT II OSL
DongRaeGu along with MC, NesTea and Mvp have each been given a seed into the first OnGameNet StarLeague (OSL) featuring StarCraft II. As such, these players will not have to compete in the grueling qualifier to obtain seating in one of the biggest and most prestigious StarCraft tournaments in Korea. It has been reported that while MC, Nestea and MVP were given seeds due to having won the most GSL tournaments to date, DongRaeGu earned his seed by being the most successful player in 2012.

Source: http://www.thisisgame.com/board/view.php?id=1229924&category=13438

Congratulations DRG!!

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June 20th, 2012.
DONGRAEGU TAKES FIRST IN HIS GSL GROUP, ADVANCES TO CODE S ROUND16!!!!!!

Results:
DongRaeGu: Maru 2:1

DongRaeGu: viOLet 2:1

HOORAY!!

DONGRAEGU'S MESSAGE TO FANS

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DRG appreciates you for cheering!

June 20th, 2012.
DONGRAEGU IN CODE S - ROUND OF 32 TONIGHT!!!!!!

Group G: Maru, Oz, Violet, DRG
Team Liquid Live Report: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=346477

Stay up and cheer for him, everyone!!
You know he would do the same for you!!

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DONGRAEGU WINS MLG SPRING CHAMPIONSHIP ANAHEIM!!!!
This is the second Premium League Tournament win for MVPDongRaeGu in 2012.
His first big win this year being the prestigious 2012 GSL Code S Season 1.
The victory in Anaheim solidifies DongRaeGu's position as the undisputed best Zerg player in the world.
Read DRG's Victory Interview Here!

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Project: Zergling for DongRaeGu Status: Delivered!
Project Concluded as of June 21, 2012.
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=324832