Mvp Fan Club

Who is Mvp?
Why, that's a silly question, but I'll answer it anyway. He is simply the most accomplished StarCraft II player of all time. He has earned over $380,000 and won 9 premier tournaments, achievements which are unrivaled thus far. His era of domination attracted many fans who adore his crisp, clean macro play. Mvp's play relies upon no gimmicks or luck, but instead displays his astonishing skill. Before we get into that, however, let's take a step back and see how his story began.

The Beginning
Mvp kicked off his pro-gaming career with StarCraft: Brood War, where he was an upcoming rookie with untapped potential. Sure, he was no bonjwa back then, but he was pretty good. In fact, he took a game off Flash in an insanely long, action-packed TvT macro game. That was an important victory for him, but it turns out that his victory over Flash was only the beginning of prosperity.

Fast forward a few years and Mvp's decision to become a pro-gamer was looking increasingly destitute. His family is somewhat poor, so Mvp needed some magic. As it turns out, that magic came in the form of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. Mvp was unsure whether to continue his pro-gaming career or not, but the support and encouragement of his parents allowed him to make his decision. It was a gamble, but Mvp decided to try out this new game, find his old passion, and realize his true potential.

2010: Preparation
In 2010, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty was officially released and GSL held its Open Seasons. Mvp did not get very far in any of the Open Seasons, but his performance was enough - he was seeded into the very first Code S of 2011. Furthermore, Mvp had been sharpening his blade and refining his technique. He shot ahead to first place on the Korean ladder by a sizable margin, and everyone knew that he was an absolute monster waiting in the depths. The only question was when he would break out and dominate the scene.

2011: Domination
GSL January 2011: It turns out that his domination came very soon. In the very first Code S of Wings of Liberty, Mvp displayed an utterly dominating performance, only dropping one map in the entire tournament to his teammate. He crushed through the tournament and humiliated MarineKing in the finals, leading to the very first 4-0 GSL finals. This marked the start of both MarineKing's Kong curse and Mvp's advantage over MarineKing.

GSL World Championship 2011: Just when everyone expected Mvp to crush through the next GSL, Mvp promptly fell out of Code S into Code A. While Mvp fought through Code A, another opportunity to shine presented itself to him: GOMTV's GSL World Championship tournament. Once more, Mvp plowed through the competition (though he did drop more maps this time around) and met MarineKing in the finals. This time, MarineKing managed to take two maps off Mvp, but the end result was the same: MarineKing could not overcome Mvp. That's right, Mvp was the champion of the entire world, and he shortly returned to Code S.

MLG Anaheim 2011: However, Mvp could not make things happen in Code S again. He managed to stay in Code S, but he did not advance very far. Soon, the MLG-GSL exchange program agreed to fly over Korean pros and Mvp was one of the chosen few. MLG Anaheim would be remembered for its utter Korean domination, and Mvp was a large portion of that. Mvp went undefeated throughout the tournament going 5-0 in Pool Play and crushing through the Championship Bracket. In the finals, Mvp met MMA, the winner of the previous MLG and his future rival. This time, Mvp won over MMA by a score of 2-1 and secured his first foreign victory. Also, it seemed to rekindle the embers of Mvp's soul...

GSL August 2011: If you had to point to one tournament in Mvp's career that best exemplifies his dominance, I would choose GSL August. Still hot from his MLG victory, Mvp started to heat things up in Code S. At the time, Mvp's run was hailed as "the hardest path for any GSL champion" because he faced champions such as Polt and MC along every step of the way. Finally, he made it to the finals and crushed poor TOP in a dominating 4-1 series. Mvp truly did look unstoppable in this tournament.

GSL October 2011: Rarely has any player risen up to take back to back tournaments, yet it looked like Mvp was going to accomplish this feat in October. He rose up through the group stage and through the playoffs, looking just as strong as the month before. Does this guy ever get tired of winning? Turns out he does, for he met MMA in the finals which were held at BlizzCon. MMA and SlayerS truly prepared well for Mvp, leading to a 1-4 loss in the finals. Still, Mvp took home a large check for 2nd place and, to be fair, there was something else on Mvp's mind...

BlizzCon 2011: The very next day after Mvp's loss to MMA, he had another tournament with a comparable prize pool. As expected, he brushed aside foreign competition and faced his teammate, NesTea, in the grand finals of BlizzCon. Even though NesTea started off with a Best of 3 advantage in the finals, Mvp ignored his deficit and won, 2-0 and 2-1. The final game was an epic game which featured Nukes, Nydus Worms, Ultralisks, Brood Lords, 100+ Banelings, Mvp's famous multi-pronged drop play, and mass Ghost Snipes... which ultimately led to the Ghost Snipe nerf. It was a fun series and one that shows how Mvp always bounces back from defeat.

WCG 2011: Funnily enough, Mvp qualified for this tournament by beating MarineKing in the Korean Qualifier finals. Anyway, towards the end of 2011, Mvp's performances were still incredible, but they were one step short of the finals. 4th place in MLG Providence, 3rd/4th place in GSL November, and 3rd/4th place in Blizzard Cup are certainly worthy achievements, but Mvp was hungry for the championship. Mvp came to WCG with two of his Korean countrymen, but his Korean countrymen (Supernova and MarineKing) quickly fell in the playoffs. Mvp remained as the sole Korean representative as he faced off against XiGua in the finals. Game 1 was a quick Bunker attack, and Game 2 demonstrated Mvp's multitasking and Snipe-oriented TvZ lategame. A 2-0 victory for Mvp and he was waving the Korean flag, upholding Korea's tradition at WCG.

2012: Injury
From the end of 2011, Mvp began discussing his wrist conditions. It turned out that his condition was quite severe, an inverted disk in his spine which caused pain when playing for long periods of time. This condition bit Mvp hard in 2012, but even an injured king knows how to fight back. 2012 was characterized by poor performances and increasing worry over his wrist conditions, with occasional domination we have come to expect from the King of Wings.

GSL Season 2 2012: This was a classic underdog story all the way through. Mvp's wrist injuries made him the underdog, and his race was looking weak as well. This GSL was filled with Protoss domination as rising stars like HerO, PartinG, and Squirtle looked poised to take the championship. Lategame PvT was skewed towards Protoss, and these new Protoss stars were especially good at PvT. In comes Mvp who defeats NaNiwa and PartinG on his way to the finals. He had one final Protoss opponent, Squirtle, and his series against Squirtle was voted as the Best Series of 2012. It had an insane comeback (Mvp 3-0, then Squirtle caught up to 3-3), Game 5 involved a Battlecruiser Archon Toilet, and the series was won by a 2 Rax in the middle of the map. It was truly an inspiring victory.

IEM Season VII - Cologne 2012: A few months later and Mvp was looking atrocious. His results were getting worse and worse, and he was barely hanging on to Code S. Mvp and NesTea were invited to GamesCon, perhaps due to sponsorship obligations. However, LG would see that it was a worthwhile investment. Mvp fought back against TvZ woes with Raven Seeker Missle usage and an innovative Mech/Banshee build. After beating foreign Zerg after foreign Zerg, Mvp beat Nerchio in the finals, 3-1. This completed his Triple Crown - MLG + BlizzCon in America, IEM in Europe, and GSL + WCG in Asia.

GSL Season 4 2012: Mvp arrived home and seemed stronger, but he was still the underdog. Still, this season featured Mvp beating MarineKing (again) and MMA (his old rival) and a key victory over KeSPA star Rain (maintaining the integrity of eSF). Rain's PvT was so fearsome that it made TaeJa cower, but Mvp prevailed again. In the finals, Mvp met Life, the young Zerg prodigy who was a ZvT maestro. Even with the Zerg domination in ZvT, Mvp's injuries, and Life's stunning new ZvT style, Mvp managed to take it to Game 7. Unfortunately, Mvp lost by a slim margin, 3-4, but 2nd place made him, once again, the best player in GSL for that year.

2013: Renewal?
Mvp's performances were especially disheartening in the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013, though he did manage to win the NesTea Award (for 10 consecutive seasons in Code S). Soon after, Mvp dropped down to Code B for the first time since GSL May 2011. However, all hope was not lost, for Heart of the Swarm promised to shake up the metagame. Can Mvp show us another period of domination? We shall hold our breaths and wait.

WCS Season 1 2013 EU: An initial string of successes at IEM World Championship proved that Mvp could adapt well to the expansion. With the unveiling of Blizzard's WCS system, Mvp had two choices: fight through Code B in WCS KR or accept a seed into WCS EU Premier. Mvp saw his opportunity and he certainly made the most of it. After barely advancing from the Round of 32 due to online lag issues, he also advanced from his Round of 16 group while dropping a set to LucifroN. Then came playoffs time and Mvp displayed immense TvZ skill despite practicing mainly for TvT! TLO and DIMAGA fell 3-0, and Stephano was defeated in the finals 4-1. The King was back again!