EPT![[image loading]](http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/2008/roughvi3.png)
The Bonjwa That Almost Was...
"He who blinded by ambition, raises himself to a position whence he cannot mount higher, must thereafter fall with the greatest loss."- Niccolo Machiavelli
A Familiar Scene
![[image loading]](http://i468.photobucket.com/albums/rr47/DoctorHelvetica/Flash/1225262321_1.jpg)
Consistency is the sanctuary I seek...
"Plagguuuu!", the all-too familiar cry of the MBCGame commentators rings throughout the hall..
Flash's science vessels have just been destroyed, and he quickly leaves the game. He leaves the booth with a disheartened expression, and the no-name zerg to which he conceded leaves his with a look of complete mirth. How could it be that a player such as him, who came so close to the title of "Bonjwa", could fall so hard, so fast, and so many times. This wasn't his first slump; ever since that damn loss to 
Luxury in the EVER 2008 OSL, things just haven't been the same. One minute you're on top of the world, and in the next you feel like Atlas. His play-style shows the inconsistent emotion of a teen going through puberty; those delicate years in which your self-esteem is affected at the slightest event. Like I said, one win and you feel like the champion of the universe, and all it takes is one loss to bring you down to rock bottom. I know how
Flash feels, I'm a teenager too. The invisible audience haunts me at every corner, my ego is either too large or too small. I just haven't had the time to discover my own emotional balance. Could one imagine discovering such a complexity, with as much pressure places upon you as is placed upon Lee Young Ho? Pressure is the enemy that divides the strong from the weak. It is ones ability to act cool under fire that makes someone truly great. It's that consistent temperament that seems to conflict so naturally with the raging hormones of adolescence. How can our little monster fare? The better of the two Lee Young Ho's (Sorry Lucifer...) had fought this enemy his fair amount of times. Can he win? Will he win? Or will it defeat him again and again.
One thing is certain.
This "Ultimate Weapon" has not been living up to his own potential. Before you prepare your argument against my "Anti-Flash Propaganda", realize the point of my statements. I will say it now, and I will only say it once. Flash is the best StarCraft player in the world. But he's like me. He's a teenager in a big world, trying to figure out his place in this big mess. This is merely the story of a teenager, much like myself. Trying to find his place in the world, and overwhelmed by what he sees as the great achievements and failures of his lifetime. His little world amplified sevenfold, and his every action scrutinized by fans and media the pressure is enormous. What human being could live up to this, much less such a little monster?
![[image loading]](http://www.1worldglobalgifts.com/images/Awards/AtlasAwardLG.gif)
When you feel the weight of the world on your shoulders, how can you be the best at anything?
Growing Up
![[image loading]](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v122/JadedEnmity/Flash.jpg)
"One day, I'm gonna be the best, and you'll all remember my name."
Flash burst onto the StarCraft scene as a young Terran player known for his cheesy builds and cute micro. While he was no top-5 material, he went 39-24 in his first year of professional StarCraft. Not too shabby, for a rookie. Flash did well; garnering love for his obvious skill, and hatred for what was perceived as his unfair play.
Flash showed enormous potential, being only 15 years old, and even more amazingly he had only played StarCraft for 3 years. He earned the title "Little Monster", and amazed his teammates. Within the walls of KTF, it was thought for sure that he would be the next big thing. And they were right.
Flash demonstrated the perfect balance between macro and micro, and the incredible timing sense that was necessary to be a StarCraft champion. While Flash is lauded more for his macro now, and his pioneering of many macro heavy TvP builds (and infamous attachment to the 14cc build), many forget how incredible his micro is. Every unit moves exactly where he wants it to, while he flawlessly streams units from all of his production centers.
But Flash was written off as just another lucky rookie, who would get lucky and disappear. We've seen many of those (BackHO comes to mind), but many people insisted that Flash would be a different story. There was a definite potential in his play, while it may have certainly been the play of a rookie, it was not the play of fortuna. As Machiavelli would say, virtue is far more valuable than fortuna, and Flash had plenty of virtue regardless of naysayers claims.
His elimination of Bisu and great games against GGPlay and others put him in the spotlight as one of those players you look for in the next season. Who just seemed as if they would be a household name among fans of the game. While other players walked away with the titles, Flash looked as though he was going to soon be able to live up to his true potential. (Leta and Thezerg remind me of Flash in this stage).
The young man couldn't wait to show his true stuff. Of course, the players on KTF knew what he was capable of. They took a fondness of the young player, and set about to reinvent him. To create a little monster. The results would be the same as the last "ultimate weapon" in history. Utter destruction.
+ Show Spoiler +
by.Flash: A Young Genius at Work
These games demonstrate Flash's brilliant micro, and ability to execute risky builds flawlessly. The latter two more so than the first, which shows true balance between macro and micro, resulting in a great TvZ.
These games demonstrate Flash's brilliant micro, and ability to execute risky builds flawlessly. The latter two more so than the first, which shows true balance between macro and micro, resulting in a great TvZ.
The Creation of an Ultimate Weapon
![[image loading]](http://i468.photobucket.com/albums/rr47/DoctorHelvetica/Flash/Flash_OSL.jpg)
Who thought that one day he would hold his dreams in his own hands?
Bacchus OSL. GOMtv Star Invitational. Seemingly in a day, Lee Young Ho turned his play-style around and became more than anyone expected.
+ Show Spoiler +
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsDSMKny-7o
Surprise. Flash just killed the best player in the world in a straight-up game. The only thing he needed was his own genius.
Surprise. Flash just killed the best player in the world in a straight-up game. The only thing he needed was his own genius.
Flash destroyed everyone in the OSL and GSI, convincingly and unexpectedly. He demonstrated not only his micro intensive builds from the season before, but his new skill in macro builds. His fast double armory and risky FE becoming staples of Terran play within weeks.
As a first-time watcher of StarCraft during the GSI, he never seemed to amaze me. His incredible comeback v.s sAviOr in the group phase, where he demonstrated the power of SK Terran and his own incredible micro, melting sAviOr's expansions like candlewax. his games were truly impressive, and he shut down opponents that no one thought he could beat in a million years. Destroying Jaedong with beautiful micro and highly agressive early game play, destroying Anytime, and narrowly beating out the best PvT in the world with an unstoppable TvP build proved that he was a serious contender.
Flash prison raped Stork, the best PvT in the world in the Bacchus OSL,a nd beat him convincingly in GSI, earning the Bird Toss two silvers, and flash a place in the hearts of fans across the globe. This is the kid that won two golds in one season, in more than convincing fashion. Is this your new bonjwa? Perhaps. He had all the elements of a true great. Not only were his mechanics flawless, but so were his game sense, and his psychological warfare. It didn't seem unlikely that he could perhaps command a real army to victory. People wanted to know where this genius came from, and it was only fitting that the GSI, the first officially english casted Korean tournament, was his introduction to the S-Class stage.
But one was always reminded the he was just a child. Could someone so young dominate so much? Could the new BoxeR be almost half his age? It seemed impossible, that a 15 year old high school kid, having played the game for only 3 years was suddenly the best in the world. There were certainly skeptics, for the most part those who didn't like his early style. But he proved them wrong again and again.
+ Show Spoiler +
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNff93znz18
If you want to see TvP, this is it. Flash heaped on the early tank pressure, forcing Stork into reverting to his standard PvT build. Safe, but unable to keep up with Flash's intense builds and play. In the end, Stork was raped, and he rode Flash's bus all the way to the end of the finals.
If you want to see TvP, this is it. Flash heaped on the early tank pressure, forcing Stork into reverting to his standard PvT build. Safe, but unable to keep up with Flash's intense builds and play. In the end, Stork was raped, and he rode Flash's bus all the way to the end of the finals.
![[image loading]](http://i468.photobucket.com/albums/rr47/DoctorHelvetica/Flash/1223188075_1.jpg?t=1225427764)
Damn it feels good to be a gangster.
It was clear that something was going to be stirred up in the world of StarCraft by this young one. People already thought he was going to be the next Bonjwa, forgetting the delicate nature of his age. And as peoples opinions of the player rose, so did their expectations. With rising expectations comes rising pressure.
KTF had found its new pride. The days of Hong Jin Ho, Kang Min, and Park Jung Suk were over. Lee Young Ho was the new star, the ace in the hole. The Magicians put their hopes in him, and it seemed he would not disappoint. He did incredibly well in the individual leagues, and just as well in proleague. However they had to act delicately, don't put too much on his plate, he's just a boy. How much can he chew? It didn't seem like it would be a problem, because he didn't just chew his enemies, he swallowed them whole.
Invincible?
![[image loading]](http://i468.photobucket.com/albums/rr47/DoctorHelvetica/Flash/15.jpg)
Winning is like breathing for a baller like me.
The 2008 Summer Season Flash immediately exploded onto the scene, raping everyone left and right. He did it in every tournament, the level of his play on par with oov in his prime. In the eyes of his fans, he was invincible, and this was precisely the stone that tripped him on his path to becoming the greatest. While his utter dominance earned him the #1 spot in Kespa and the highest TvP record of all time, it wouldn't last.
I don't have to post his stats. I don't have to show you his games. There is no insightful analysis, except this. Flash is simply amazing. His timing was perfect, his macro was perfect, his micro was perfect, and his decisions were perfect. He caught the world off guard, and he changed the meta-game. There is no secret to his play. He won through pure skill and perfect mechanics. You were there, you saw the games. You know the utter annihilation of which I speak. This wasn't Flash. This was a weapon of mass destruction.
Flash took the matchup of TvP, and took it into a whole other dimension. Every noob on iccup was copying his brilliant fast armory build, and his gosu goliath play struck such fear into the hearts of protoss that carriers nearly disappeared from play. His vultures seemed just a bit faster than the other player's were and his marines seemed to shoot just a bit further.
If there was any ability Flash was known for then, it was his ingenious metal build (again the double-armory goliath, basically destroying every light tech Protoss), and his incredible sense of timing. He was able to take an expansion at the perfect time, like oov, and attack when he had exactly the right amount of units to do so. His scouting was supernatural, leading him to making timing decisions based on more information than his own supply count, which is a fairly common and useful way to do a timing push. His eyes and units were all over the opponent, and while his style was not ultra aggressive like Iris or NaDa, but rather his mental game was incredibly aggressive.
Flash made sure that every opportunity to gain a small advantage he took, and he rode his momentum not only to victory but complete rape. If he won the first game in a series, it wasn't long before he left his opponent questioning their own ability to play the game. He was an intimidating figure, and at only 15 years old, it must have felt amazing and extraordinary to be the one and only bane of protoss players everywhere. It seemed that no protoss could even give him a run for his money, much less challenge him. After his complete rape of Stork in the Bacchus OSL, the best PvT player in the world, what Protoss could seriously feel confident in playing this monster?
But it wasn't just TvP that Flash dominated in. TvT and TvZ were by no means weak. His micro ability was very vast, and as such he could use the powerful SK Terran build with ease. Almost no Terran could challenge Flash at this time and come out on top. Only one player posed a serious threat to Flash during this phase, and it's too bad that by the time they met this phase was done. You'd think it would take an army to stop this monster.
But all it took was one match...
I'm just a kid
![[image loading]](http://i468.photobucket.com/albums/rr47/DoctorHelvetica/Flash/f05.jpg)
No one ever told me it would be this hard...
I can imagine myself in his place. Losing a series to a zerg no one thought would beat you in a million years. Losing the next few proleague matches after that, I just don't feel like the same player. Surely it can't be bad luck. There must be something wrong with me.
How am I supposed to go to High School while I do all this? I'm expected to win this OSL and this MSL? I can't practice for all this, I don't have enough time. I don't even know who I am. I'm just a kid, and now I'm scared. This fame and power, it came too quickly. Now I don't know what to do when I don't live up to the expectations of my fans. I just need experience. Is that the problem? Is it puberty?
It isn't a scenario that has been ignored by anyone. The field of psychology dedicates an entire field, solely to development. The change of a psyche over time captures the interest of many professionals, many of whom have studied situations much like Flash's. The downfall of child actors, young musicians, trust fund kids, and many others in comparable environments have been analyzed through and through by developmental psychologists.
Erik Erikson, world reknowned developmental psychologist describes the teenage years as a stage of Identity v.s Role Confusion. The teenager tries to establish himself a role or identity in terms of society. Flash had been established, in an alarmingly short period of time as the best player in the world. However, according to Erikson, role-confusion occurs when that identity is proven false in some situation. His loss to Luxury and ForGG, his streak of bad luck in Proleague, is exactly that confusing situation which seems to the very identity he had established for himself.
One may think that such a simple situation could not cause such a downward spiral, and a long standing period of inconsistent play. Let's look at yet another profession beyond psychology. Politics.
![[image loading]](http://www.judiciaryreport.com/images/barack-obama-5-14-08.jpg)
Recognize this guy?
President-Elect Barack Hussein Obama, is entering the office in January with unprecedented high expectations. This can only set him up for dissapointment. No President has ever left office with the same approval ratings he had when entering. The leader of any state must face the demons of dissapointment, that he or she cannot satisfy the needs of the state that they lead. How they deal with this reality is telling.
Barack Obama has the cool temperament necessary to understand this. But does Flash? Certainly, he doesn't have the emotional stability of a 47 year old senator, but Flash seems pretty cool-headed for his age. Is it enough?
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Manifesto7/flash.jpg)
Do I have the extraordinary maturity that I need?
Focused on the stress of highschool, family, friends, girls, and trying to find his niche in the social structure, how can Lee Young Ho confront the demons of his loss? It all seems to blend together for the lad, it seems overwhelming. Isn't this what I have been told I was the greatest at? I was the hope of my team, and I let them down. I let myself down. I let the fans down. How can I win with this shattered confidence? With this shattered dream...
What's the cause, exactly?
![[image loading]](http://organizations.uncfsu.edu/psichi/History%20Pic/erikson.gif)
Erikson would say "Role Confusion".
Or what is holding him back? Is it too much on his plate to eat? Maybe, he is still a young boy after all, inexperienced and unused to such pressures in life. You can blame Luxury for starting the chain reaction, the coaches for overworking him, or puberty for confusing him and amplifying the stress of being a progamer.
Anyone who looks back upon their teenage days can remember that sense of confusion that Flash may feel. Psychologists describe teenagers as experiencing the "invisible audience", a conviction that every action is judged by those around them, amplifying their self-consciousness to extreme ends. One slip-up seems like an incredible failure, and a simple win seems like a championship title. Self-consciousness cannot exist in the world of a successful progamer. Confidence must overrule completely, mistakes must be educational nor heartbreaking. That kind of cool temperament is easier talked about then had. It is not the temperament of the young.
StarCraft is the game of the youth, but one will note those players who are incredibly young experience an alarming rate of inconsistency. (Flash, inter.Mind, Sea[shield], and now even Jaedong) Whatever caused it, one thing is painfully clear. This is no "Ultimate Weapon". This is just a kid. A kid who feels the stress of Atlas, the stages of Erikson, Kohlberg, and Piaget in all the wrong ways. A kid who just dreamed of being the best, and now must face his failure to become what he wanted to be.
Don't get me wrong. Flash is still a very good player. Even now, he went on a five game win streak after his embarrassing loss to GGPlay in the OSL, and at the time of writing this he is tied for top 1v1 in PL. Flash is again showing the monstrosity he is capable of demonstrating. One must ask, however, how long will it last? Even now, the game is still not living up to the potential of the player. Those in charge of him need to learn why. Stress of time or stress of life, it must be eliminated.
Flash is the best player in the world.
So why isn't he acting like it?
+ Show Spoiler +
Thank you DJ (twoeightsix) for the incredible banner. The fading is a pretentious visual metaphor for Mister Lee Young Ho's ever fading dominance.
Thank you also to my friend Richard for giving me some good ideas for this article.
Thanks to Flash for being the reason I play Terran.
Thank you also to my friend Richard for giving me some good ideas for this article.
Thanks to Flash for being the reason I play Terran.
