Sora's real life fairy tale at the WCG Korea qualifiers

by Zealously and Waxangel

The World Cyber Games have become a less relevant StarCraft tournament with every passing year, but it remains a competition with some unique merits. For one, it's still taken very seriously in its country of origin, South Korea, where winning a WCG is almost a rite of passage for the great StarCraft players of their era.

Also, by a stroke of fate, the WCG Korean qualifier has ended up as the grandest open tournament in the whole country if not all of StarCraft 2. All the pro-gamers in the Mecca of StarCraft come together for one giant competition, where (almost) everyone must start on the same footing. Even in such a perilous open bracket format the most famous and most skilled progamers are typically the ones to make it through, but there's still the tantalizing promise that anything and everything could happen.


When Sora entered the WCG Korean qualifier as one of CJ Entus’s latest recruits, he joined the mass of other B-teamers who were to brave a minefield of Code S players and former champions in the qualifier. The 22-year old CJ rookie was only distinguished by how much bleaker his chances seemed than his fellow bench-warmers. He was almost forbiddingly old, coming into progaming after playing for years as a hobbyist in order to chase his dream. Just by earning a spot on CJ Entus' practice squad, Sora had surpassed expectations. With zero official games played and having had trouble earning his semi-pro license, Sora was perhaps the last player the average fan expected to make an impact.

Qualifer to the Qualifier: Unbroadcasted Games

The unbroadcasted portion of the WCG Korea qualifier is a sort of 'qualifier for a qualifier,' and is the point where everyone begins. Although such giant, one day LANs held behind closed doors aren't always a reliable way to determine someone's potential on the big stage, Sora at least partially telegraphed what was to come. In the bowels of Sindorim auxiliary Esports stadium, Sora recorded a stellar map record of 8 - 0 against players like JKS, FanTaSy, Shine and Bomber with just a handful of journalists and tournament administrators watching on.

It was hard to give Sora the benefit of the doubt with just that run, as the long history of Korean had shown similar runs to be flukes in the past. But whatever Sora's future was to be, he had achieved the initial goal of any progamer by becoming at least a blip on the crowded progaming radar. Even if he headed into the televised Ro16 of the qualifier as a virtual unknown, a player without a single broadcast game going up against opponents like players like Innovation, Soulkey, Rain, MarineKing, MMA, and Parting, he had at least planted the seeds of hope.

Going Live

Sora's first match on the live stage was against Code S veteran Curious, a player facing identity issues of his own as his top-tier status in WoL was being severely questioned following the release of the HotS expansion. Thus, there was room for skepticism even as Sora utterly dismantled the Startale Zerg 2 - 0, showing fantastic micro, macro, and general decision making. Was it just the newest low in Curious' steep decline, losing to a total newcomer in his broadcast debut match? In any case, Sora at least made one, very important thing clear as he dismantled the former Code S regular. Under the pressure of the live stage—a brick wall for so many promising talents before him—he had risen to the occasion.

The quarter-final match against FXO’s GuMiho (VOD) was where the realization truly started kicking in. "Holy s***, this kid is for real." Gumiho had always been known as a streaky player, both inside a single game or in a multi-game series. His style revolved around making that one move to knock his opponent off balance, making that one crucial domino fall so he could finish his opponent off with a barrage of relentless attacks. Similarly, his all-kills in the GSTL showed that once he got rolling, not even the best players in the world could stop him.

In typical Gumiho style, the master of aggression tried to be everywhere and do everything at once. Drops were sent out to hit multiple locations simultaneously, while the infantry that couldn't fit into the medivacs marched on foot to add to the chaos. Typically, such games spiral out of control until one player get overwhelmed by the sheer pace of the game—whether it's the defending player cracking under he pressure or the aggressor simply running out of steam.

However, Sora refused to play Gumiho's game, and managed to slow the tempo down just enough to turn the games in his favor. Sora stayed calm and collected despite the multi-pronged aggression, trading evenly with Gumiho’s constant drops. He patiently waited Gumiho out until a fatal mistake was made, as Gumiho committed his force to an ill-advised attack on an expansion. Sora willingly gave up his base in exchange for killing most of the Terran army and counter-attacked to march on to victory.

The Sky is The Limit

With his victories up to that point, Sora had earned much respect and put his name on the StarCraft 2 map. But while further victories would mean further glory, there was more on the line as Sora went into the semi-finals. With the top three players earning qualification, a semi-final win would confirm Sora's place as a Korean representative at the WCG 2013 finals in China.

Though Sora had extended his WCG winning streak to twelve games at that point and had more than proven his live-stage chops, it seemed like it would finally be the end of the line as he was matched up against Soulkey. It was one thing to beat old Code S veterans but another thing entirely to face a player who was absolutely thriving in HotS, and had the ultimate prize to show for it: a GSL championship.

Always the underdog and having risen to the occasion every step of the way, Sora showed all of his strength in game one (VOD). Passive starts saw Sora sit back and allow Soulkey to reach hive without doing much to contest it, but with Soulkey also allowing Sora to reach his tier 3 tech in exchange. Using distracting zealot runbys to great effectiveness, Sora was able to keep the Zerg economy and army in check as he switched over to a powerful skytoss composition. The Zerg army evaporated once it came into contact with the Protoss force, leaving Soulkey looking flabbergasted as he GG'd out of game one.

In the second game (VOD), Sora showcased mastery of something that’s not often given credit: building placement. After taking an early third, Sora constructed an artificial landscape across his bases that allowed him to withstand dangerous roach/ling aggression from Soulkey that might have crippled a player with poor urban planning.

In the end, Soulkey somewhat defeated himself—he went into spire tech and then stayed there for the duration of the game. Sora built a million phoenixes in response, whittling down Soulkey’s forces and forcing him to spend more and more money on replenishing his army. Utilizing the zealot runbys that had become a hallmark of his play over his WCG run, Sora both inflicted economic damage to Soulkey while building a deadly army of his own. As credit to Soulkey, he was still very much in the game as the two players headed to a final engagement, despite his failed early aggression and constant losses to zealots. However, as it had been for Sora's last 13 games, Sora would not be the player to make the fatal mistake.


A crucial clump up of air units over enemy archons left Soulkey's forces devastated and crippled, forcing the final GG of the series to make it fourteen and zero. Sora, a man who had put everything aside to pursue a childhood dream, had earned the right represent his country. Having only played StarCraft as a hobby until January of 2013, he had beaten seven players who had more years of combined professional experience than he had spent living on this earth. All without dropping a single map.

Here's Where the Story Ends

If everything had ended there, with Sora celebrating in the studio with his family at the end of miraculous run, then it would have been the perfect ending. Unfortunately, reality is a pesky thing, and this story is just slightly marred by the fact that Sora went on to have his streak broken by PartinG in the finals. However, without any prize money or qualification stakes on the line, there was not much more for Sora to gain except some pride, and he had earned enough of that in his 14 - 0 run. So yes, Parting looked like the superior player by far in the Protoss mirror as he was crowned the king of the qualifier, but it was clear to everyone who its true star was.

So, what lesson do we take away from this real life fairy tale? Maybe it's that WCG still has some real value to go along with its storied legacy, filling a niche that no tournament can in Blizzard's scheme. Maybe it suggests Blizzard should make their masterplan more flexible, so more players have a chance to flourish in a variety of different tournaments. Maybe it tells us that becoming a pro-gamer isn't just some foolish dream, and that the words "too late" and "too hard" are only excuses.

Or maybe it's just a simple lesson: Keep playing, watching, and loving this game. You never know what you might experience.

Writer: Zealously.
Supplemental writing: Waxangel.
Editor: Waxangel.