The EffOrt Fan Club

EffOrt is a player most well known for his impressive streak during 2009 where he went 25-3 beating the likes of Jaedong and Flash, and of course, his distinct facial features that have given him various nicknames.

EffOrt's first broadcasted match occurred in 2008 in the Ro128 of the GOM Classic Season 1 against ToSsGirL. He lost the first set, however, he came back to win the series two games to one. His run ended in the next round, where he lost 1–2 to fOrGG. Since then, he has proven to be more and more successful, and the next season became a regular on CJ Entus’ Proleague lineup, as well as reaching the Ro32 in the GOM Classic Season 2. EffOrt was dubbed the “neo-sAviOr” at that time due to his game-style’s strong resemblance to sAviOr, who is also on EffOrt’s team.

Effort was first noticed by many foreign fans in a televised match against Fantasy on Medusa. At the time, Fantasy was known for his fearsome tech-based TvZ build that many Zerg players struggled against. Effort won handedly with a 3 Hatchery Zergling all-in attack, made even more memorable because he spammed "1a2a3a4a" in the pre-game chat, suggesting he would do some sort of all-in. He was also affectionately termed "Alien Zerg" at this time due to his distinctive facial features.

During the first two rounds of Shinhan Bank Proleague 08–09, EffOrt became the most frequently used Ace player by his team. While performing sub-par in the Shinhan Bank Winners League 08–09, going 3–6 as a whole, he came back to form in SPL 08–09 Round 4. Through this he emerged as one of the best players statistically of 2009. He lasted until the Ro8 in the Avalon MSL, until Calm swept the series against him, 3–0. EffOrt was also in the semifinals of the GOM Classic Season 3, but lost to teammate, Iris, getting swept 3–0. EffOrt managed to defeat July in the 3rd place play-off, 3–1, which earned him a place at BlizzCon 2009. EffOrt was the eventual winner of BlizzCon 2009 as well, beating ZerO.

EffOrt continued his strong performances into the 09–10 Proleague Season. He finished with 10 wins and 3 losses, including 2 wins and 1 loss in ace matches with victories over JangBi and ZerO. After his strong performances in the Avalon MSL and Bacchus Starleague 2009, he was seeded into the round of 32 and round of 36 respectively. Despite his recent form, EffOrt was knocked out of his round of 32 NATE MSL group, losing 2 straight games to RuBy and Firefist. In his Round of 36 Starleague group, Effort defeated Frozean in two straight games, qualifying him into what many saw as this season’s Group of Death. Against opponents Shine, Calm and FanTaSy, EffOrt lost his first two initial ZvZs, and because of the outcome of the other matches, there would be no way he could qualify for the Round of 8. However, in his final game against FanTaSy, he could prevent a forced tiebreaker if he defeated the terran. On the final day of Starleague round of 16, EffOrt defeated FanTaSy on Heartbreak Ridge, stopping FanTaSy’s hopes of a fourth consecutive Starleague Semi-Final.

In Round 2 of the Proleague 09–10, EffOrt continued to show strong play, finishing the round with an 8–6 record and, once again, a 2–1 record in ace matches. This gives him a 19 win, 10 loss record going into Winners League and the third most wins of the league.

In the 2010 Korean Air Starleague, Effort defeated Flash, the heavy favorite, 3-2 after a 0-2 deficit. His OSL run included a 7 hour long tiebreaker in the group stage between go.go, Shine, and himself.

In September 2010, Effort announced his retirement, citing that he had achieved his goal as a progamer (to win a Starleague) and was seeking new challenges in life.

On March 21, 3:52 AM (KST), Hite Entus tweeted: "'Effort(Jungwoo Kim/Zerg)' is coming back! He will rejoin us from today and practice until he gets his pro-gamer license back on Aug 31st Plz cheer him up! Thank you!!!!!"

In his first game back, Effort defeated Hyvaa on Outlier after Hyvaa attempted to engage Effort's Zerglings who had a concave defending his ramp. Hyvaa traded poorly, a Zergling counter attack put his fast expanding economy behind Effort's one base play, and this allowed Effort to easily win the air battle capturing the team's first victory of the 2011-2012 Proleague Season 1.

Recently, I saw a show with Han Bi-ya [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_Bi-ya] “If the world has to push you to the edge of the cliff, you might as well jump off. Then, you’ll realize you have a pair of wings.” At that time, I was in my longest slump. After I heard that, I thought “do I really have a pair of wings?”

And after falling off and into the re-re-re-re-game I immediately woke up. I really am a “hawk.” Because I fell down the cliff, I was able to discover my wings, and I was able to win the gold.

Now, standing on a high place, I really have become a hawk. Now all that’s left is to fly to an ever higher place. I will definitely become an awe-inspiring hawk that soars high in the sky. I hope to become that sort of player. I sincerely hope everyone waits for it.