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The Tragic Champion: Woongjin_Soulkey - Road to Blizzcon #7

Forum Index > SC2 General
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The Tragic Champion: Woongjin_Soulkey - Road to Blizzcon #7

Text byTL.net ESPORTS
November 5th, 2013 16:55 GMT
2013 WCS Finals

by Waxangel

Of the sixteen players at Blizzcon, (Z)Woongjin_Soulkey's tale is uniquely tragic. When a player wins a championship, he usually gets some some time to enjoy it. A respite to enjoy the title of "best in the world," and look down on the rest of the competition thinking 'I own all of you.'

But in the case of Soulkey, his one miraculous run, his one prayer answered by heaven was spent on a moment that was overlooked within a week.

Soulkey's title win came right at the height of the age of (T)INnoVation, as the robot Terran was hitting 70%+ win rates in each match-up (that's bonjwa class) and appearing to be on a different level from every other player in HotS. As he booked a June 1st finals date against INnoVation in Code S/WCS Korea, Soulkey seemed destined to fill the part of Yellow to Boxer or MarineKing to Mvp. He was the strong, credible opponent who was worthy of the finals, prepared for sacrifice in a bloody ritual to annoint the new Terran savior.

For three games Soulkey followed the script, playing at a high level but still getting dismantled by INnoVation's flawless play. But with INnoVation just one game away from winning the championship, Soulkey started fighting back from a position where no one had ever won before. Two successive roach bane all-ins brought him back to 2 – 3, and a failed cheese from INnoVation tied the series at 3 – 3. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, Soulkey had come back from certain death and had made the finals a best of one.

Twice before in the GSL a player had recovered from an 0 – 3 deficit, and he had failed to complete the comeback. Squirtle played the games of his life against Mvp, only to choke against cheese in the final minutes of the final map. DongRaeGu earned himself a game seven against MMA, played his heart out in one of the greatest games of WoL, but ultimately fell short at the conclusion.

Soulkey? With all the pressure in the world on his shoulders, he kept his calm and became the first player to make the machine feel, and what INnoVation felt was panic. In a move that defied all reason and logic, INnoVation scanned Soulkey's mutalisks and proceeded to fly three loaded medivacs right into their path. Soulkey seized the opportunity and squeezed the final GG out of INnoVation.

What a story. Soulkey, the man who fought his destiny to be a sacrificial lamb. The man who interrupted the tale that was being written for months, interjecting himself as the new protagonist while reducing the proceeding chapters to a prologue. Soulkey, the best player in the world!

That's how it felt in that dramatic moment as Soulkey lifted the trophy in front of his tearful family members, but alas, it didn't take long for everyone to settle back down into reality. Here's some excerpts from our June Power Rank that came out just four days after the finals.

Let's start with the beginning of this month, the group of death... ...Innovation took this all in stride and proceeded to win the group, producing two of the most high-level and impressive games we'd see this month. He then went on to face both the winner and runner-up of the last GSL, dispatching both rather effortlessly. In Proleague, Innovation also ended round 5 with a 11-3 record including two all-kills...

...It seems quite harsh that all of this would be negated by the difference of just one game, even if that's the biggest one game there can ever be (that same one game that once separated Mvp and Squirtle; look at where they are now). Taking the whole month into perspective, Innovation was just the more impressive player over Soulkey, both in terms of results and the vigor of their play.... ...in the end, it was not his skill that failed him, but his composure, composure that slowly corroded over the course of those final four games and finally gave out when his three medivacs flew into the welcoming arms of Soulkey's idle mutalisks...

...Think of it this way: you have to bet your life on either Soulkey or Innovation in a bo1 against an arbitrary player. Who would you choose?

For the vast majority of us, the answer to that last question was INnoVation. The more you looked at the context, at every other result outside that single best of seven final, it became clear that Soulkey wasn't the new hero the narrative would shift to follow – he was just the star of a spectacular but short highlight reel.

Just a week after Soulkey's dramatic triumph in the Code S finals, the WCS Season 1 Finals were held. Soulkey lost to his teammate sOs in the semi-finals, who went on to be crushed by INnoVation in the grand finals. Soulkey's championship had been but a brief episode during the age of INnoVation.

******

Respected, feared, and highly successful—but never the best. That has been Soulkey's identity in Heart of the Swarm. He has been the #1 Zerg and a top three player for all of HotS, and enters Blizzcon as the #1 seed from the unforgiving WCS Korea region without any point padding from international tournaments. Yet he is still overlooked, always outshone by another player's rising star.

The hellbat-nerf saw INnoVation fall from his perch and open up an opportunity, but INnoVation made sure to grab onto Soulkey's ankle as he hurtled downward, eliminating the Woongjin Zerg from the Auction OSL. In the final WCS Korea of the year, Soulkey was toppled by SKT's soO, whose will to redeem the name of all SKT Zergs proved to be stronger than Soulkey's desire to redeem himself. Soulkey was able to take a degree of vengeance by helping train Dear to defeat soO in the finals, but it came back to bite him as he would face Dear at the WCS Season 3 Finals in Canada. Soulkey fell 0 - 4 to the very player whom he had helped practice.

It's hard to feel sympathy for a player who is one of the favorites to win an entire tournament, and it's going to be harder still when you see him stepping on the dreams of one those courageous underdogs. But the players close to the summit have their own unique struggle, because the gap between first and second is just as far as the gap between second and last. Soulkey won a championship, only to discover that the championship itself is but a means to an end. More than the money, more than the trophy, the most important thing for Soulkey at Blizzcon is earning the only title that matters: Best in the world.


WCS Grand Finals
Brackets and info on Liquipedia

1: Soulkey - The Tragic Champion
2: INnoVation - The Man in the Machine
3: Jaedong - In Search of Lost Time
4: Polt - Prince of the Tides
5: HerO - Fire and Ice
6: Dear - The Unending Royal Road
7: Maru - The Prince Who Would be King
8: Bomber - I Fought the Law (And I Won)
9: MMA - Out of Exile
10: MC - Cash Rules Everything Around Me
11: TaeJa - Fire and Ice
12: sOs - On the Cutting Edge
13: aLive - The Iconoclast
14: Mvp - The King
15: duckdeok - Faceless
16: NaNiwa
17: Revival - ???


Writers: Waxangel.
Photo: Silverfire.
Editor: Antoine, Waxangel.
Facebook Twitter Reddit
TL+ Member
NeThZOR
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
South Africa7387 Posts
November 05 2013 16:57 GMT
#2
He can easily take the tournament.
SuperNova - 2015 | SKT1 fan for years | Dear, FlaSh, PartinG, Soulkey, Naniwa
The_Templar
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
your Country52797 Posts
November 05 2013 17:01 GMT
#3
this is even better than I thought.
after reading this I wouldn't mind a soulkey vs innovation finals too much
Moderatorshe/her
TL+ Member
MirageTaN
Profile Joined June 2012
Singapore871 Posts
November 05 2013 17:02 GMT
#4
Soulkey thats a tragic story he had so much promise during season 3 finals
#TLWIN TI7, TLDota BEST TL
Muffloe
Profile Joined December 2012
Sweden6061 Posts
November 05 2013 17:05 GMT
#5
Interesting insight to Soulkeys 2013. Thought it would be way more consistency wanking
Gorlin
Profile Joined November 2010
United States2753 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-11-05 17:11:08
November 05 2013 17:10 GMT
#6
"Squirtle played the games of his life against Mvp, only to choke against cheese in the final minutes of the final map"

Bleh, I don't like how Mvp's maneuvering to set up a sick trap is so often discredited as Squirtle choking. It feels like it happens all the time, that good plays are just called blunders by the opponent.
The_Templar
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
your Country52797 Posts
November 05 2013 17:11 GMT
#7
If soulkey hadn't beaten innovation in the WCS KR finals I think we'd be seeing him as a choker more than an unfortunate figure
He's lost a lot of series in high-up WCS events 4-0 or 3-0:
0-3 against innovation in the RO8 in season 2 WCS KR
0-3 against soO in the RO4 in season 3 WCS KR
0-4 against Dear in the finals of WCS season 3
Add an 0-4 against innovation into there...
Moderatorshe/her
TL+ Member
herMan
Profile Joined November 2010
Japan2053 Posts
November 05 2013 17:13 GMT
#8
Soulkey took Symbol's mantle by hitting at least quarterfinals every season.
Jonas :)
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
United States511 Posts
November 05 2013 17:14 GMT
#9
Soulkey had the best 2013 of any player in the world. He is honestly the most deserving champion that there is.

But that will not stop me from rooting for MVP and Naniwa! :D
lolfail9001
Profile Joined August 2013
Russian Federation40190 Posts
November 05 2013 17:16 GMT
#10
On November 06 2013 02:11 The_Templar wrote:
If soulkey hadn't beaten innovation in the WCS KR finals I think we'd be seeing him as a choker more than an unfortunate figure
He's lost a lot of series in high-up WCS events 4-0 or 3-0:
0-3 against innovation in the RO8 in season 2 WCS KR
0-3 against soO in the RO4 in season 3 WCS KR
0-4 against Dear in the finals of WCS season 3
Add an 0-4 against innovation into there...

Well, apparently one break is what separates ZerOs and GGPlays of Woongjin.
DeMoN pulls off a Miracle and Flies to the Moon
Keeemy
Profile Joined November 2012
Finland7855 Posts
November 05 2013 17:17 GMT
#11
Soulkey <3
Hello
laerteis
Profile Joined August 2012
United States78 Posts
November 05 2013 17:20 GMT
#12
All of these articles are giving me chills xD. If the games are half as good as the hype we're set.
support Axiom eSports http://www.axiomesports.com/
The_Templar
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
your Country52797 Posts
November 05 2013 17:22 GMT
#13
On November 06 2013 02:20 laerteis wrote:
All of these articles are giving me chills xD. If the games are half as good as the hype we're set.

I'm cancelling all of my events and appointments and practices for this so they better be!
Moderatorshe/her
TL+ Member
Sabu113
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
United States11070 Posts
November 05 2013 17:23 GMT
#14
"Soulkey's title win came right at the height of the age of (T)INnoVation, as the robot Terran was hitting 70%+ win rates in each match-up (that's bonjwa class)"

Christ. It would be nice if Innovation could not be hyped to hell for one moment. It was obvious that the boost and hellbats played a massive role in differentiating him from past multi-taskers. Maybe I'm just jaded by never ever catching one of those games were INnovation was so impressive like a Rain or Life.

Poor soulkey though. Kinda modern Sniper in terms of recognition for his title.
Biomine is a drunken chick who is on industrial strength amphetamines and would just grab your dick and jerk it as hard and violently as she could while screaming 'OMG FUCK ME', because she saw it in a Sasha Grey video ...-Wombat_Ni
slowbacontron
Profile Joined October 2012
United States7722 Posts
November 05 2013 17:23 GMT
#15
Nice article! It definitely puts things into perspective, knowing that the #1 WCS seed has as much to prove as anyone else here.
jjakji fan
Nekronaut
Profile Joined October 2013
Germany6 Posts
November 05 2013 17:24 GMT
#16
every day i am waiting for these articles and they havent disappointed at all! thanks so much!
Can you appreciate the beauty of a Tank-Line greeting the enemy who dares to defy us, young one?
lolfail9001
Profile Joined August 2013
Russian Federation40190 Posts
November 05 2013 17:27 GMT
#17
On November 06 2013 02:23 Sabu113 wrote:
"Soulkey's title win came right at the height of the age of (T)INnoVation, as the robot Terran was hitting 70%+ win rates in each match-up (that's bonjwa class)"

Christ. It would be nice if Innovation could not be hyped to hell for one moment. It was obvious that the boost and hellbats played a massive role in differentiating him from past multi-taskers. Maybe I'm just jaded by never ever catching one of those games were INnovation was so impressive like a Rain or Life.

Poor soulkey though. Kinda modern Sniper in terms of recognition for his title.

About Inno:
I can suggest you watch his games against Life himself in that infamous group that was created by the genius of PartinG. He did not even drop like mad, he just made Life look like a scrub (what is even more funny, group was played like couple of days after Inno's loss to Soulkey in macro game on the same map with same spawns) at Life's own game.
And yes, poor Soulkey, he needs ZerO back!
DeMoN pulls off a Miracle and Flies to the Moon
lystier
Profile Blog Joined August 2013
China877 Posts
November 05 2013 17:28 GMT
#18
The longest one so far?
Startale forever.
prabhbhambra13
Profile Joined April 2011
United Kingdom424 Posts
November 05 2013 17:29 GMT
#19
I think Soulkey is the bet player going into Blizzcon, He's been so consistently good over all of 2013.

The only players who can beat him are Dear, who is coming in with ridiculous momentum and Maru.
SECO SECO SECO
Greendotz
Profile Joined October 2011
United Kingdom2053 Posts
November 05 2013 17:30 GMT
#20
Poor poor Squirtle
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