EPT![[image loading]](http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a96/Weroe/bw/light.jpg)
I'm posting this because I feel it warrants posting. My team, LighT (aka Pandemic aka eX) is probably the oldest competitive non Korean team besides ToT. The team has been around since 2002 when Green, Star, and Ruby founded it. We've gone through four generations of leaders culminating in me being the leader since the end of 2005 to the present day. However this week I decided to close down the team after 8 glorious years. ToT now stands alone as the oldest team.
Being one of the most difficult decisions I've ever made, and because it marks the end of one of BW's oldest teams I decided to make a public post about it. We never were a really famous team and never had huge superstar players, but throughout the years I feel as if we'd develop a small fan-base (maybe). Anyways, hopefully you'll enjoy this post!
The Beginning... [2002-2004]
LighT was founded in 2002 by Green, Star, and Ruby. The team was really just a friendly east clan. Shortly after being formed some of the team members started playing on the WGTour ladder (which was pretty damn new at the time and there were very few Americans initially playing on it).
The average skill of team LighT members at the time was around C4 or C3 for the best of them (Future at the time!). *Note: by ICCUP standards that probably equates to D+ and C3 would be C- maybe. As the team grew and people started getting engrossed in the competitive atmosphere of the WGT ladder, Future became the leader (probably by 2003) and the team entered WGTCL for the first time being a lowly Division 4 team.
Some talented players like Raptor, RinoA, and MhX were a part of the team around this time, all three of them along with Future became the core of the team and started working through clanwars and massgaming on the ladder. The skill of the team slowly and steadily increased and LighT was able to climb to Division 3.
The Middle Years [2004-2006]
In order (probably... I never figured out why this change was made) to focus more on gaming, leadership of the team fell to Hap around the middle of 2004 or so. This is when I first joined the team under the name DreaM[LighT]. The team had finally climbed up to Division 2 of WGTCL for the first time and it was a really exciting experience to start playing really strong teams like 0rk0, CkG, ash, and CDS. The fist season of Division 2 ended up with us going either 1-7 or 0-8 and being demoted back to Division 3.
RinoA and Raptor had become really strong players and left for bigger teams like oG) and SW) (if you remember those teams)... the core of LighT during this time was Future, B_Saint, MhX, Trey, and myself for awhile.
After a period of inactivity due to school, I returned to BW and played with a Norweigan team (NW) for awhile before coming back to LighT. I ended up bringing with me friends from that team - Bandit, SchiSm, and my cousin Sirex (more known recently as eZ). Bandit quickly became one of the leaders of the team and at the time there was a group of three leaders - Bandit, Hap, and Simon, and Amber.
Near the end of 2005 I joined as the 4th leader of the team, mostly by getting side clanwars and organizing other events since the team was really active and one league didn't satisfy all the players. I quickly started getting 4-5 clanwars per weekend and the whole team played the PGT ladder like crazy.
Bandit became a top level foreigner, Raptor rejoined, and newer players like SchiSm and RepeNt started to get really good. By 2006 I became the sole leader of the team as Simon and Hap scaled back their BW playing and Bandit focused more on gaming.
WCG Canada 2006
WCG Canada 2006 was a huge event; it was the first time LighT members would meet in real life under the tag. I decided (in what became a yearly tradition for me) to fly out to Canada for WCG to hang out with my teammates. We had Bandit, Raptor, and Freaky competing in the event. JF was also in LighT around the time of WCG but had joined MgZ right before the event.
One of the biggest moments was when Bandit beat Testie 2-1 in the Group Stage, in some REALLY FUN games. Raptor got 2nd in the event, losing to Testie in the finals and Bandit got 4th, losing to Vasmos in the LB final. Raptor went on to the WCG Grand finals in Monza (although that was disappointing for him).
![[image loading]](http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a96/Weroe/bw/BenLighT.jpg)
SchiSm in the LighT hat!
![[image loading]](http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a96/Weroe/bw/LighTFamily2.jpg)
Senator, Simon, SchiSm, Engage, Senator - WCG Montreal 06
![[image loading]](http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a96/Weroe/bw/LighTfamily.jpg)
SchiSm, Bandit, Simon, Xeris
![[image loading]](http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a96/Weroe/bw/XerisLighT.jpg)
Me in the LighT hat
Modern Era.... [2007-2008]
Two awesome years. We finally became a Division 1 team and we ended up getting top 8 in WGT's World Team Cup which was our biggest achievement at the time since over 100 teams participated. We lost to the eventual champions of that, MgZ. We also had climbed up to Division 1 of BWCL after going undefeated through Division 4, 3, and 2. We were the first ever North American team to advance to BWCL Division 1. No other North American team would get that far until NrG in the middle of 2009. Also BW Massacres league started and we were getting top 3 almost every season. In addition I hosted the Yankee League which we got 1st place 2 of the 3 seasons (Media won Season 1).
We were showing that we were the top North American team and able to compete with many international teams, although MYM destroyed us every time and we had yet to face off against ToT.
WCG Canada 2007
WCG Canada came again and we had even more of a presence than before. This year we had CoolTemplar, Bandit, SchiSm (who finally won WCG Montreal by beating the heavy favorite Oldy 4-1 in the WB and Grand Finals), Freaky, and JianG. AeriALs was also there but this was slightly before his time! The event was great, especially because the organizer Stephan had brought me to be the head administrator, which has been one of the biggest honors of my SC career.
The games were also very good, although Testie was totally dominant, not losing a single game. SchiSm got the closest to taking a game off of him that year. Bandit reached the finals after defeating JF in a really intense series in the semi finals... Then, JF lost to CoolTemplar to end up 5th place two years in a row, and SchiSm beat CoolTemplar to face off against Bandit in the LB finals.
That series was really epic because the two had become Canada's top players besides Testie and they were teammates and very good friends. Bandit ended up taking the series 2-1 and went on to get destroyed by Testie in the finals (T_T!).
![[image loading]](http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a96/Weroe/bw/teamcanada.jpg)
Big group pic of all the LighT / ex LighT at WCG Canada - CoolT (camera), SchiSm, Freaky, JF, Senator, Xeris, Bandit, AeriALs, (I forgot FML)
![[image loading]](http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a96/Weroe/bw/teamgosus.jpg)
We own... Freaky, Xeris, Bandit, SchiSm, AeriALs
Sponsorships and Stuff
2008 was when I first started flirting with sponsorships. We joined some random multigaming team called 50 Calibre for a short while. We were briefly sponsored by Starfeeder and Ballerpoker, and then eventually always reverted back to LighT. 2008 was a little bit of a sad year because Hap, Bandit, and SchiSm officially quit the game for good. The end of 2008 also saw AeriALs (who had become a top Canadian player), Shad (a top Polish player), and Louder (who had become a top USA player) leave the team.
However, two more events in the summer of 08 were very awesome for us!
CAN LAN 2009
Since Canada had no WCG that year, TT1 and myself organized the CAN LAN (sponsored by BinaryBeast and Fayth!). We had once again a LOT of players... TT1, AeriALs, Freaky, SchiSm, and myself all particiapted. We all got top 8 at the event. It was one of the best events for me personally because there I was able to take games off both AeriALs and SchiSm, and I nearly beat TT1 in the Ro8 (but he was too good/experienced for me in the end).
Ultimately, JF edged out Oldy in the finals, with AeriALs taking 3rd place and TL's own Chill beating out SchiSm to get 4th. Sadly, nobody really took pics of this T_T!
[pic here]
WCG USA 2008
We had Future and Louder at the event... Future had just come back from being pretty inactive since 2006, and Louder had just come back from being inactive for even longer. Everyone talked shit about them and said they would be free wins... but Louder was able to shock everyone by finishing 3rd and even taking a game off Nony in his insanely dominant form.
It was a really impressive event for Louder and the team! There were many fun happenings those nights.
![[image loading]](http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a96/Weroe/bw/wcgus08.jpg)
Psyonic, Future, Louder, eZ (my cousin), Xeris
![[image loading]](http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a96/Weroe/bw/light-2.jpg)
Me and Future throwin' up the LighT gang sign!
![[image loading]](http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a96/Weroe/bw/cuties.jpg)
Machine and Louder, they were enemies but became friends as I predicted! Machine was in LighT twice before!
The End... [2009-2010]
In 2009 we joined up with eXpertise - another multigaming team. This was much more official and legit than our previous experience. 2009 was another strong year as we recovered nicely from losing literally the entire core of our team (SchiSm, Louder, AeriALs, Shad). After years of work, I finally convinced my lovely Gretorp to join, KawaiiRice started showing his potential, and CaStrO came into the picture.
In 2009 we were able to take top 4 in every single team event we participated in. We got 3rd in the WGT CW Tournament in January of 09 (for the top 2008 teams), we were able to get 4th in BWCL, 4th in the e-Sports International... in which we were able to defeat ToT and MYM (aka ESC aka mouz) and had a close loss against Fnatic. We also got 4th in the WGT Titans League (biggest CL ever, with a $1400 prize pool). In the following season of BWCL (most recent one), we finished 3rd... and we narrowly missed out on 4th in the most recent WGTCL season by 1 point.
All in all, it was a great year for the team. It was sad however, our 2v2 expert Tenryu left for Iraq (he is serving in the armed forces) and DeA (his main 2v2 ally) went inactive.
Near the end of 2009 eXpertise fell apart, and I was able to hook up with Pandemic, which has long been known as the other top American team next to EG. It was a great fit.
We were able to send two players (Assem and Gretorp) to IEF in Korea, and KawaiiRice became the youngest WCG USA finalist. Our former USA hero Louder was also able to get 2nd (too bad he had joined EG in May!), and KawaiiRice didn't end up doing too well, but at least he beat Lz (heheeheh!)
![[image loading]](http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a96/Weroe/bw/menkawaii.jpg)
Me and Kawaii!
![[image loading]](http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a96/Weroe/bw/mengret.jpg)
Me and my lover, Gretorp
![[image loading]](http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a96/Weroe/bw/gretnkawaii.jpg)
The Terran Tandem... Gretorp & Kawaii
All good things must come to an end however. After 6 years of being in the team, and 5 years leading it.. it has come time to close its doors. Pandemic as an organization has fallen, and life has taken root in the hearts of my teammates. Without enough strong active people to compete at the level we have been accustomed to, I figured it would be best to end the team on a high note, after just finishing 3rd in BWCL rather than revert back to mid-level status.
And so, it is with great sadness, I seriously cried when I came to this decision last weekend, that I say goodbye to team LighT. It has given me some of the happiest moments of my life and kept me going when things got tough. I met some of my best friends here who I still talk to years later. I hope you all will remember my team fondly, and say some nice words - if you have any memories of us, share here!
Lastly, thanks to (all the members I can remember)!
RepeNt - the American wonder Zerg, shame you quit before getting bonjwa good, seriously this kid was beating up on Nony in 2007.
Hap - Preston my love <3 !
Shad - Polish potato farmer, the first thing I ever did as the leader of LighT was bring you into the team and I never once regretted my decision
AeriALs - Paul I love you, we've known each other since 2005 or 2004, we've practically grown up together.
Freaky - we met on the metro in Canada in 2006 and I knew then that you were my brother from another mother
Browar - the original Polish potato farmer, dude would show up to clanwars after having drunk 10 beers and still destroyed everyone in 2v2 back in the day
Live2Win - DAN! You were there when I first came to LighT and you were always awesome.
Tenryu - Dan you were everything this team was and more. I couldn't have ever asked for someone more dedicated. You came to every CW when you were stationed in Japan, staying up all through the night.
Horizon & Alastair - the unsung Canadians, I seriously hated you Ala!
CoolT - CLAUDEEEE
SeasOn - the original Kyle, you carried us with Bandit when we had nobody else.
tErrOr - fuck Dave you were so good at 1v1 and 2v2, but your ass did way too many drugs
Senator - Joel you were good, I remember spending hours with you figuring out speed shuttle / reaver micro mechanics
Devaz - you beat Nony in a Yankee League matchup, and you were insanely good at 2v2.
DeA - MALAKA KEFTES BITCHHHHHHCANDY!
GoTuNk - the coolest Latin on BW
Praetor - fuckin Vampire user yo!
Tear - hi ok? You're really inactive right now and never check TL and probably don't know about this. I'm sorry T__T!
StRyKeR - I'm sad you joined too late, but you were also everything this team was.
Angel - Kyle <3 ! We went through rough patches and I kicked you out of the team 3x but you never gave up and you're gosu now.
Stalife - Sung-toss is fuckawesome
Simon - I miss you Simon I don't know if you even check TL anymore.
Loco & Engage & Kayo - Frenchies!
Oldy & JF - you guys were briefly in the team, and super awesome
Machine - Bryce, you so bad.
B_Saint - you invented CW-mode... that goes without saying
Green - You pretty much had quit BW by the time I joined, but you founded this team so I <3 you!
Future - Rich you inspired me back in 2005 because of how hard you worked, and you loved this team as much as anyone and have been here since the beginning. You'll be my friend always!
Trippy - Jim, nobody really remembered you but I do, you were an awesome zerg!
Juan - fuck you Mexican!
CaStrO - you're a professional in every sense of the word.
Nooks- you were in the team for awhile when you started playing again before quitting again... so fuckin good.
Cake - METAL[X] you finally joined after I tried to get you for 1 year, HAHAHA!
Skyless - Medo you're fuckin gosu at 2v2 man
Sun - YOURE A FUCKING LIAR GOD DAMN! But I still <3 you, lololo.
Amber - Tom you pretty much had scaled back BW by the time I joined but you're awesome.
JiYan - you did a pretty nice job as my sidekick yo!
Raptor - Rayray, keep your head up!
ChOseN - you fucking Jehova's witness. It's incredible what you could've been if you weren't so flaky Shawn, but I love you still.
Moo & NighT - the old school Korean gosus
Sadist - Drew, who woulda known some random guy I asked to join turned out to be Sadist. You've been awesome over the past 3 years man and you didn't even know it!
SchiSm - Ben, you were with me way back when I re-started BW in 2003 / 2002.. from WiN] to FaN_ to NW_ to [LighT]. I can't describe how awesome you were.
Bandit - Mitch, aka Gymtoss, you are far removed from this game sadly, but you know we'll always be friends.
TT1 - My fellow Terrorist, I salute you!
Kawaii - I smashed you in 2007 WCG, you got good. You used to piss me off, actually, you still piss me off but I love you all the same. You ain't goin nowhere bitch!
Gretorp - Andre. <3 ! If we were both gay we'd be boyfriends. You're my boo forever.
Louder - Who the fuck would have thought that one day Nooks randomly said "hey let my friend Louder in the team he just started playing after 4 years but he used to be good"... would have turned into this? Our friendship has gone far beyond BW and it's going to probably last forever.
FirebatHero - you were in the team for 3 weeks, goofing off and practicing English, but you were funny as fuck and so damn good at BW.
That's it for me folks. I'm still sad but I'll live. LighT will always live on forever anyways!
<3 !
