Best Player So Far Award - (TIE) HOT, Xellos and Boxer. Their records speak for themselves. Pure domination by all three of them. HOT's looking better than ever (just how the heck this guy's managed to stay in form all these years is beyond me...). Xellos is now officially the best Terran player on the GO team - and still unbeatable on Neo Bifrost unless you happen to be Nada. And Boxer, despite the initial speed bump (the aforementioned Nada), looks set to run the tables in the next stage (all his opponents are Zerg. OMG, Boxer must be out drinking every night now and laughing like a maniac...)
The Player Nobody Wants to Face Award - Boxer. No question. Still the player to beat. Special mention (if you happen to be either Boxer or Xellos) goes out to Junwi. Despite his thorough beating by Boxer on Nostalgia, Junwi is still the most feared ZvT player in the universe - and both Boxer and Xellos have the ego-bruises to prove it. You can also bet Boxer will be playing to avoid Junwi (ie losing on purpose, if necessary a la Nada last season) at all costs should Junwi end up in the top 2 in his Group.
The Surprise Player Award - Jinsu. Jinsu who? I rest my case. No one expected Jinsu to be in the next stage at 3-0. You're either Jinnam or you're lying if you say you did.
The Disappointing Performance Award - (TIE) Kingdom and Nada. After showing some major fireworks in his destructive run through the Challenge League, Kingdom was thought by many to have a shot at duplicating Reach's classic performance in last year's SKY 2002 Starleague. But, instead of showing us more fireworks, the guy himself got lit up like a Christmas tree against opponents he was expected to beat. What a fag. Then there's Nada, who's, like, the returning champion of every frickin' major tournament in the cosmos - and he's now out, having won just ONE of his three round robin matches. The losses were understandable, but disappointing nevertheless - at least if you're a Nada fan. Which I'm not. So, good-bye, ya loser, bwahahaha! Speacial mention goes to Zeus. Thought he would make more noise. But, on OGN maps, perhaps a bit too much to expect...
The Why The Heck's He Playing Here Award - Mumyung. Who else? Prior to his meaningless win v a tired and slumping [Oops]Lee, Mumyung had SEVEN straight Starleague losses under his belt. I got flamed a bit last year when I wrote Mumyung (along with Shinji_NT) should not be playing in Starleague and that he was only taking up valuable space from worthier players. The argument against me at the time was matter-of-fact: he made it into Starleague fair and square. Why go on about him not deserving a place? Because he will never ever make it past the first stage and everyone knows it. Because he will never be the kind of competitor people wil want to see playing at this level. Because he's boring. Because he's never won an important game in Starleague ever and probably never ever will. THAT'S WHY. Players at Starleague-level of skill should at least have SOME chance of advancing, or at least be entertaining in the process. Not so, Mumyung. He continues to set new and daringly lofty standards for mediocrity and lifelessness every time he steps onto the Starleague stage. Fuck him. And fuck all those who told me I was wrong about him last year. Here's hoping Mumyung gets his ass kicked out of the next Duel Tournament and stop stinking up the pro tournament scene here. Knowing his luck in Duel Tournament tho, he'll probably get stuck with three Toss users on Neo Bifrost and Nostalgia. Oh, gawd...
The Best Non-Korean Player Award - ElkY. Again. And again. And again. On the other hand, can a guy who's not gay (at least not that I know...) and hangs out with Korean guys with his arms around their shoulders all the time still be considered a "non-Korean?"
The Best Match Award - Nada v Junwi. Only Nada could've mounted the kind of comeback he did v a seriously lethal Junwi. Not exactly must-see stuff (at least not for me), but impressive nevertheless. Anyway, this category was a tough one to call, not because there were so many good matches worth noting, but because of the opposite - not many good ones worth remembering. Quite a contrast from the scintillatingly entertaining, in-your-face, no-holds-barred, fire-fights we see in the MBC Game Starleague. I think we need a "regime change" at OGN, as well. Who's got Bush's phone number? :O
Most Anticipated Dream Final Award - Boxer v Junwi. Like I said, the sparks would FLY if this match-up ever happened.
Ok. That's it for now. Here's hoping the next stage is as good as the first... Just kidding. I'm actually hoping things improve by A LOT. The round of 16 sucked.
(Coming Soon: Ye Ol' Liquibet!)