EPT
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Xeofreestyler/toboltistoboxer.jpg)
If you are what you say you are
a superstar
then have no fear
the crowd is here
and the lights are on and they want a show
a superstar
then have no fear
the crowd is here
and the lights are on and they want a show
To Bolt is to Boxer
By Plexa
Teamliquid Final Edits
The name Usain Bolt was only known within track and field circles up until these current Olympic Games. But then something extraordinary happened; his showmanship and charisma transformed the 100m final into a joke. Not only did he utterly destroy the world record for the 100m sprint, but he did it with style. After about 80m he stopped running as hard as he could, dropped his arms and began his celebrations; crossing the finish line sideways. This kind of showmanship is unprecedented within track and field. But his sheer brilliance coupled with his attitude made him an overnight phenomenon.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Plexa/TBITB/bolt3.jpg)
All around the world people were transfixed with the domination Bolt had over the 100m sprint. People who normally would only casually tune in to watch the final of an event, not really caring about who won or lost, found themselves tuning in just to watch Bolt tear up the world’s best sprinters and then watch his boyish antics as he paraded around the stadium – incredibly proud of his achievements. Track had found a star that it had desperately needed to revitalize the sport.
Indeed Bolt went on to make unprecedented history by winning the 100m and the 200m sprints both in world record time. In doing this he became the most sought after athlete for any track event purely because he was the best. Not only that, but the crowd loved him and his skill in working the crowd complemented this love perfectly. Bolt rescued track from obscurity and thrust it back into the lime light. The showman saved the day.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Plexa/TBITB/bolt1.jpg)
Change your dial back to Korea. Our beloved e-sport has experienced the grace of such a showman before. Cast your thoughts back to 2000 when progaming was still in its infancy and a non-mainstream television event. Then Boxer happened. Boxer’s brilliance in Starcraft thrust Starcraft into the mainstream and within a few years multiple TV stations were broadcasting Starcraft in prime time. Boxer is very similar to Bolt, they were both incredibly talented and far ahead of their peers in almost every respect. Boxer’s advantage over every other gamer was found in his ridiculously fast hands which weaved magic on the battlefield. Dazzling displays of micro and comebacks thought impossible by all won the crowd and indeed Korea over.
Boxer created the foundations for the modern Progaming scene through his showmanship and charisma. When YellOw tested him to his limit – fans were only more enticed as the best there has ever been was stretched to his limit but came out on top, cementing his status as the greatest. Obviously, Boxer could not last forever as the premier gamer and other gamers eventually had to take his place as the crowd puller.
![[image loading]](/staff/Plexa/TBITB/stars.jpg)
Walking down through memory lane reminds me of the time that Nada destroyed Reach in an unprecedented 3-0 victory. The incredibly controversy surrounded that final and the hype around him. Then came Oov, who dominated Nada and with his natural showmanship embarrassed almost every other progamer with his ridiculous macro. Times like his mass ghost vs JJu stirred up the progaming scene and created the legend of iloveoov. Then we had the epic July vs Oov confrontations with people never knowing exactly what July might do. Savior emerged a little later and became the ultimate villain of the progaming scene. His dominance and flair was unmatched throughout history and people started to tune in just to watch how badly Savior would destroy his opponents. The desperate attempts to beat him from Midas, Daezang, Nal_ra and Iris created a legend that will never be repeated.
The natural charisma of the likes of Boxer, Yellow, Nal_ra, Nada, Reach, iloveoov, JulyZerg and Savior propelled the scene forward and attracted more and more viewers. With more viewers and the power of each of these gamers to draw a huge crowd resulted in OGN and MBCGame swelling in size to the point where they too could sponsor progaming teams. The success of the e-sports scene can be directly linked to Boxer’s initial flair and pizzazz which stirred up the masses.
![[image loading]](/staff/Plexa/TBITB/bisu.jpg)
Bisu followed on from where Savior left off. With his dazzling good looks and paramount PvZ he looked to be the next generation of the superstars. Then Stork happened – with his difficult to market image and high talent he posed a problem to both OGN and MBC as he would take out their golden boy Bisu. The GOMTV S2 finals went exactly as the script intended and Bisu walked away champion after one of the breathtaking finals from 2007 and things look to be well for the progaming scene.
In EVER 2007 the stage was set for Bisu to win his OSL, but then he got sick. After Stork destroyed Bisu 3-0 things turned from bad to worse for the superstar. He just managed to limp over UpMagic before falling into a small slump and dropping his grip on the Protoss throne. Stork continued his domination of the scene with uninspired play which promoted the stagnation of the Protoss race; where each game was a carbon copy of the next. Flash was able to defeat the stagnant Stork in both the GSI and Bacchus OSL finals but with equally boring and standard play. The scene had reached a stagnant point and ratings began to fall – despite Bacchus pulling the number 1 rating for the final.
People had dropped off from being hardcore scene followers into people who just watched the final, because as a fan they should, and not really interesting in the result. Just like the 100m and 200m sprints people had lost interest. Without a superstar to guide the scene things are looking dire for the game that has given us so much over the years.
![[image loading]](/staff/Plexa/TBITB/heart.jpg)
It’s not that the flair has gone from the scene; one only needs to look at FireBatHero to see the flair and spark alive. Indeed at the moment FireBatHero is the one person who still manages to pull in the crowd despite his dwindling skill. People come to watch his ceremonies – not his games – which ultimately pulls in the crowd. But sadly, without the S-Class skill these kinds of players can’t save the scene from dwindling crowds as they simply aren’t playing in enough tournaments. Much has also looked promising in this regard, although from his recent games it appears that the infamous “heart” game was a one off. Nevertheless, temporarily Much was able to draw in more people and bolster his fan club.
So what is left? The scene needs a dominant figure with natural charisma and flair to boot.
![[image loading]](/staff/Plexa/TBITB/jjb.jpg)
Pictured above are your three contenders – Best, Jaedong and July. Each which has the potential to save the scene but just hasn’t quite gotten there yet. Best is the most striking candidate of the three purely because he exploded from nowhere from a sea of stagnation to become one of the most innovative and promising Protoss of 2008. Best’s spirit-esque macro style coupled with Bisu’s Dark Templar/Arbiter flair resulted in games that played out differently to the norm. With daring fast arbiter builds being used in PvT, people took notice as he wasn’t doing the normal fast carrier lame which killed PvT. With his advance to the EVER2008 Final he looked like he would be the face for a generation – but was cut short at the final hurdle.
![[image loading]](/staff/Plexa/TBITB/july.jpg)
Best was stopped by this man, July, who is another person who could potentially revive the scene. July has a long history in Starcraft – mostly thanks to his confrontation with Oov and his triumphs in the OSL over Reach and Goodfriend. His style is naturally charismatic. People come to watch July games because they know he is going to do something crazy, they know the strategies he has prepared are going to be lethal. But most of all they know he is a brilliant player with unequalled micro. July has featured in the pimpest plays many times because of this – and that means that people love to watch his play. Indeed, July performed exactly like July in the EVER08 Final against Best and with dazzling and off the wall strategies won 3-0. If July can keep this up, he will become the new face of progaming however if the OSL curse is anything to go by this won’t happen.
![[image loading]](/staff/Plexa/TBITB/jaedong.jpg)
Lastly we have Jaedong – one of the more interesting and frustrating cases. Jaedong rose to stardom initially through his monstrous ZvT and his insane Proleague record. But in EVER2007 he experienced a meteoric rise to “superstar” with his new found ZvP talent and “ee han timing” mutalisks. Jaedong, however, was cut short in Bacchus by Flash which created a buzz about Flash but took a large blow at Jaedong’s “superstar” status. Jaedong won the GOMTV S4 MSL over Kal, but that victory was hollow so long Flash kept beating him, like he did in the GSI. After being frustratingly knocked out of the OSL by his team mate Backho, Jaedong appeared to be a mere mortal. This idea was perpetuated in his 0-3 loss to ForGG in the MSL final.
Jaedong however shows signs of staying around for a long time to come due to his innate skill. He managed to pick up his game and utterly destroy Flash in the GomTV Classic, but one has to wonder if the magic has gone. Jaedong is still a very talented player, but his play style has lost the charisma of July, Best or indeed himself in EVER 07. For Jaedong to revitalize starcraft he needs to have that charismatic element – but after his “superstar” status was assaulted by Flash and ForGG so ruthlessly, he doesn’t look like he will be able to return the charisma to his play.
![[image loading]](/staff/Plexa/TBITB/jd3.jpg)
The Korean scene seems to have realized that it needs a superstar to retain high ratings, and the change made by OGN to the OSL format seems to reflect this. Thus far the format change has resulted in only four new players in the OSL, and the players dropping out weren’t stellar to begin with meaning that the number of dropouts next season will probably be less. This means that Incruit OSL will most likely have a champion who also played in EVER 2008 OSL which increases the chance that players will post more consistent results season to season. Obviously this is an attempt to retain players for longer, like the OSL used to do in 2001-4, and hence create more superstars. Only time will tell if this ploy will pay off.
The MSL has suffered from a poor qualification system as well, following his defeat to Mind in the GOMTV S3 MSL, Bisu was eliminated in the Round of 32 thanks to the ODT style bracket. This rapid changing of players from season to season seems to be strongly connected to the stagnation of Protoss and Terran while cutting back the number of Zergs. Could it be that the qualifications systems for each of these tournament is directly responsible for removing superstars from the scene and hence killing ratings? It certainly seems so.
Even though July, Jaedong and Best are the most likely to save ratings at this point – the chances are it will be none of these. Indeed when Brood War turns on hard times thanks to difficult qualification systems and stagnant play there is really only two options – look for a new talent to destroy the scene or turn to Boxer.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Xeofreestyler/boxerface.jpg)
Boxer returns from his air force duties very soon, and despite a heavily reduced practice schedule, has posted a 40% winrate against the top gamers of today. Indeed when Starcraft was in danger of becoming dry in 2004 with Oov destroying everything – Boxer stepped up and created the EVER2004 finals. When the fd reigned supreme and 2 gate power goon/dt threatened to destroy the entirety of the Terran race thanks to Pusan and Anytime – Boxer stepped up and created the comeback of 2005 and an amazing final. Every time Starcraft has needed someone, Boxer has answered the call. He is the Usain Bolt of Starcraft. Nay; Usain Bolt is the Boxer of sprinting.
![[image loading]](/staff/Plexa/TBITB/box1.jpg)
The Emperor is returning with one goal in mind – winning the Golden Mouse. Boxer will show us the way forward through these dark times and revitalize the glorious Starcraft scene and preserve it for years to come.
