The off-season is finally in full swing and you're finally beginning to have withdrawals. While you have been talking about the players, there has been little talk about the teams. It may almost be a miracle that we went by two months without trash talking STX for their performance in the 5th Round, and we would have forgotten Flash's ace game losing streak in the light of his recent achievements if I didn't just remind you. Meanwhile, you hear that the negotiations finally broke down and the paranoia is finally getting to you as you start interpreting every piece of news as the final end of Brood War.
You finally had enough and decide concentrating on this will drive you insane. To make yourself feel better, you look back on the season, the day you first entered the amusement park called "Proleague 09-10", and the long and exciting day you had spent there.
Revival of the Old Gamers
The season had begun with an unmistakable signal in the form of Boxer launching a Nuclear Missile to eliminate any chance Killer ever had. It was no ordinary nuke, but a message from the Emperor himself to the old gamers: Wake up.
But the signal seemed to have gone largely unnoticed. With the exception of Midas, the old gamers failed to shine as the season progressed. There were little sparks along the way, but they all failed to catch on to something consistent.
Then came Round Five.
The highlight of Round Five was Airforce Ace. Catching second wind as they found opportunities to train with other Progame teams, Ace managed a four game winning streak while managing to reach every goal they have set for themselves at the beginning of the season. Led by the Storm Zerg himself, Ace encountered a revival, allowing many of their players to finally grab their 100th win. Many of the Ace players had their first interview in years, as they rarely had a chance to win. The momentum went forward, allowing Reach and Ruby to even quality for the Starleagues.
But the revival was not limited to the Airforce. Pusan entered Round 5 with a 4 game winning streak against the likes of Bisu and free. NaDa won a TvT against HiyA, ending the season with a three game winning streak, and reminding us once again why he is called the Genius Terran.
Some Numbers
This season of the Proleague was filled with winning streaks and records. This section aims to summarize some of the more notable streaks within Proleague.
- A total of eleven Progamers have reached 100 Proleague wins this season - Flash, Bisu, Sea, Stork, Calm, Free, Kal, Light, Leta, NaDa, Anytime.
- Jaedong managed to hit a 14 game winning streak, tying Reach's record set in 2004. He also hit a 9 game winning streak against Zerg this season.
- Flash hit a 10 game winning streak this season, while setting a 20 game winning streak against Terran and a 11 game winning streak against Zerg.
- Light, through his performance in Winner's league, has hit an 11 game winning streak, with two consecutive all kills. Baby has also put forth an impressive 9 game winning streak.
- Calm hit a 15 game winning streak against Protoss, Really a 12 game winning streak against Protoss.
- Leta managed a 10 game winning streak against Terran, while Snow ended his at 9 and Violet at 8.
- Calm also managed to hit a 9 game winning streak against Zerg, followed by Bisu's 7 game winning streak on his best matchup.
And now, what about the Ace matches?
- Jaedong's ace record this season is 8-1. His eight ace match winning streak was broken by s2. This was also Jaedong's first time losing twice since 2006.
- Kal had the closest record, with a 7-1 record in the deciding matches. Leta also did well, with a 7-4 record.
- Flash had a 6-7 record in Ace matches. Comparably, Ruby ended up with a 2-6 record, and Zero with a 4-9 record. Effort and Really both had a 5-4 record in Ace.
There has also been some talk about the format change of the Proleague. There are some interesting numbers coming from this.
- When Proleague announced its matchups before the games, KT, STX, and MBC were the top 3 teams with 17-5, 14-8, 13-9 records respectively. After the format change, KT and STX recorded an 11-11 record, with MBC Game putting up an unimpressive 10-12 record.
- After the format change, WeMade,CJ, and SK Telecom were the top three teams, with WeMade and CJ with a 15-7 record, SKT with a 14-8.
Of course, it's not to say that this is all due to the format change. However, it's interesting to see how well teams such as WeMade and CJ has done after the format change.
The Personalities
BoxeR on Nukes
▲ BoxeR: There are certain fans who are watching the game who think about this a bit incorrectly. Nukes are valuable enough to be used strategically. When Nukes are launched, many people accept it as entertainment, but nowadays when Zerg obtains 4 gas and uses Nydus Canal and Defilers and start defending, it's difficult for Terran to break through. In that situation, Nukes can demolish Zerg's defensive lines in one blow. I definitely plan on using strategic nukes in the future.
Luxury, however, thinks Nukes are BM
▲ Luxury: Hoejja, a Zerg user on our team, got nuked by Fantasy. So I was really angry as a Zerg user. Because of that, I was going to Hatchery rush Bisu, but I barely held myself back. I think our team managed to win in the end because of that nuke.
Jaedong got caught smiling!
▲ Jaedong: I didn't know at first. But after I carefully checked, he twelve hatched. I got really excited and went "YES!" in my mind, but I tried to suppress it as much as I could on the outside. I wanted to stay calm because the game hasn't ended yet. When these kinds of games occur during practice, I start becoming really happy by myself. I was certain I had won the second I saw the build in the game so that's why I made that kind of expression.
What happens when Flash forgets his ruler?
▲ Flash: First, I forgot and left my Setting Ruler back at the dorm, and Coach Lee Gil Man quickly ran outside and bought me a ruler. I want to thank him.
Stork on Flash not playing in the Proleague
▲ Stork: I learned about it watching the KT players coming into the waiting room. After seeing the player that is considered the best not playing in order to practice for individual leagues in a situation where every team is concentrating on the proleague, I wondered if he was lacking a little confidence. I'm not sure if the team purposely didn't let him play or if it was requested by himself, but I was very disappointed. Back when my schedule was full, I prepared and play for both my individual and proleague games. I wanted to play him today, so I prepared my Terran matchup, so it was a bit more disappointing for me.
I really wanted to play against Flash today in one of my matchups. While you can only know the results after playing, I am confident that I am able to win. I watched in the SKT vs KT game fantasy being too happy. I thought he was being too happy since he only managed to beat flash once, and while everyone speaks as if Flash is some unbeatable opponent, I think otherwise. While Flash is a good player, he is not an unbeatable opponent. So that's why, if I am given a chance, I wanted to play Flash to win in order to show that Flash is indeed beatable. There are the 5th round games left, and if the chance is there, I definitely want to play against Flash and play a great match.
Calm, the thief
▲ Kal: I was set to play in the Ace match. The strategy I had prepared was so good that the head coach trusted me and let me play. Calm hyung only told me to the general gist of the strategy, and so I prepared all the little details. After I had won, he started threatening me to pay up for using his strategy [laugh]. All he needs is a knife to become a proper mugger [laugh].
What does YellOw and Paul the Octopus have in common?
▲YellOw: I was really amused. I didn't even think about it, but [my prediction] came true and became the topic of conversation. While it is also a coincidence, in the Uruguay match, there was a goal opportunity in the 22nd minute of the second half. Lee Chung Yong really scored at the 22nd minute so everyone who was watching with me was yelling. While I was glad that we got a goal, but I think I was even more excited because I was really amused it went in on the 22nd minute.I think these kind of coincidences generate momentum for me, and something to feel good about.
The YellOw God
▲ Violet, on losing to Yellow: How can a mere mortal like me defeat the Yellow God? Luckily, I managed to win the battle against another mortal today, so I'll accept that as consolation [laugh]
▲ Violet, on hero using the same strategy as Yellow: I was quite flustered by the fact that he had tried to imitate god. But as expected, it wasn't god tier [laugh]
The Ultimate Weapon, seeking his next prey
There's no way we can talk about this season without talking about Flash. Flash was so good this season to the point where it was newsworthy when he did lose. Do you remember Fantasy leaping for joy and smiling like he had just won the lottery after he managed to beat Flash in that Ace match? When Flash lost, at least before Round Five, it was NEWS. Leta and Really beating Flash in a TvT? Newsworthy. Flash losing twice in one day in the face of Effort and Snow? An outrage.
Newsworthy.
There is no doubt that Flash was that good this season. Whenever Flash came out to play, you just knew that he would win (before round 5 anyway). He took that swig of Pocari Sweat and absolutely dominated everyone that stood in his way. He was so good that he even got a new nickname this season, "God Young Ho", from Koreans claiming that the term "Bonjwa" would not be a satisfactory description. He had entered god mode, so to speak, and even commentators for a while began portraying him as a god. And his dominance showed as he entered three consecutive dual finals, and this season, defeating the last mortal to stand in his way.
Lee Ssang Rok only happened so often because Flash was always in the finals, and he only had Jaedong to stop him. Now that Flash has defeated Jaedong soundly in dual finals, there is nothing more we can say than "Bonjwa". Or perhaps this can start the new "god line".
There is no doubt that, Flash was the center of the Starcraft world during this season. Even though Flash doesn't have the most fans in the world, there's no doubt that he had made the biggest impact. Would KT have won this season without Flash? Definitely not.
As you look at the personalities and the games that made the season so alive, you realize how much has really went on this season. From match fixing leading to a format change in the Proleague, to many of your favorite players leaving for one reason or another, to even the very strategies being used in the game, this was a year of major change in the Proleague. But one thing that didn't change was the Brood War magic -- all so well captured through the most exciting moments, from the beginning season to the very end of the Post Season.
The magic that took us to the the famed beach in Pusan, where the final games that wrapped up the 09-10 Shinhan Proleague were played.
Results and Battle Reports
by Mystlord, Harem, and tree.hugger
by Mystlord, Harem, and tree.hugger
Game 1:
First game of the night included some epic fail from Canata. As the game starts, he sends out his 5th SCV to build a proxy Barracks inside of Violet's base, no doubt as a counter to any 12 Nexus attempt from Violet. Unfortunately, Canata's Barracks placement was so terrible that Violet scouted it and shut down the proxy attempt with Probes. Canata stupidly decided to build a Bunker despite the proxy getting scouted. Even more stupid was that he decided to follow up the failed cheese by adding 2 additional Rax, and forgetting to cancel the Bunker that he built, so that it dies.
The 2 additional proxy Raxes are scouted, and are quickly hunted down and destroyed. Violet at this point has such a large macro advantage that he basically runs over Canata once he amasses enough Dragoons.
Game 2:
The map is Polaris Rhapsody, and Bisu faces off against Stats. Similar opening builds, but Bisu decides to go 2 Gate DT into Expand, while Stats chooses to go for a 1 Gate Expand Robo into 3 Gate Obs. Stats's build essentially hard counters Bisu's build, so Stats's first observer finishes as Bisu's first DT gets to his base. Bisu's expansion is late, and he loses most of his Dragoons in a bid to defend his new natural expansion. At this point, Bisu is just too far behind to get back into the game.
Stats takes the top right expansion knowing that he's extremely far ahead of Bisu. Once he's mined some minerals from it, he unleashes his 3 base 4 gas macro wrath upon Bisu, who only has basically 2 base and 2 gas. Stats's army runs over Bisu's army, and Bisu is forced to GG.
Game 3:
With the series threatening to fall out of SKT1's grasp completely, BeSt was sent out to right the ship on Fortress against forGG. BeSt, playing from the bottom position pressures forGG, playing on the right, with two gate goon, and forces the terran to take his expansion only after a second tank. A short skirmish outside forGG's natural is inconclusive, however, and both players settle into a macro game.
forGG's lack of scouting in the early mid-game gives him trouble as he's forced to defend against all eventualities, and is unable to react to BeSt's aggressive expanding at the bottom left and inner 9 positions. Like any good terran, forGG responds by trying to split the map, but BeSt's infamous macro allows the protoss to spectacularly break the terran line, denying forGG's third and allowing BeSt to maintain uncontested map control. A successful double attack and recall is ultimately too much for forGG to handle, and with units streaming into his base, he's forced to concede.
Best then tears his shirt off and displays an absurdly tiny tatoo of something or another.
Game 4:
With SKT back in the thick of things, s2 is sent out to face Tempest on Grand Line, probably marking the first ever game on that map that didn't involve a terran. But this game had more to be confused about than just the player choices. Both players opened normally, with s2 spawning at the top left, and Tempest at the bottom left. s2 took his third expansion just minutes into the game at the normal timing and took four bases with only scourge to defend, while Tempest fast expanded, and went for sair/reaver off of two stargates. The thing is, Tempest straight up never scouts s2's third and fourth.. In fact, a protoss unit never entered the entire right side of the map for essentially the whole game. And while it was clear past a certain point that Tempest was aware of the expansions, it still didn't make any goddamn sense.
Basically, the game was decided by a highly successful reaver and corsair harass from the protoss, which s2 basically took on the chin and seemed unwilling to do anything about. Before you knew it, Tempest had a massive ground army, which s2 flanked fairly competently, and still died to. s2 eventually counterattacked, and killed Tempest's third, but it really didn't matter at that point. And then he tried to hang on with 2 bases and that didn't work either. Go figure.
Game 5:
Hoejja decides to power muta/ling while double expanding. The additional mutas clearly threw Fantasy off and Hoejja very nearly takes the game there. However, there is one huge downside to this on Match Point and that is due to the difficult to take 4th gas zvt, a zerg can be in huge trouble if Terran manages to hold this off. All the gas spent on mutalisks meant that Hoejja's lurker count was extremely low and could be whittled down very easily with Irradiates.
Add to this a zerg whose main gets dropped and loses the critical defiler mound while also having a drone count lower than YellOw ever did. To make matters even worse, Fantasy managed to take out the Zerg's third gas. ezpz for the t1 terran after a start that made t1 fans despair in agony over thought of losing to someone with such bad zvt.
Game 6:
Due to the placement of the second gas on Judgment Day, Zergs are forced to 3hat. However, as Hyuk showed in the game, it is possible to 2hat if you 12hat to the gas expo while adding a quick hydra den to help fend off incoming vultures. In case of bio, then you can just get lurks.
Anyways, Hyuk tried to muta/ling Flash but his unit organization was really sloppy. He even missed sniping a key tank which would have made his follow-up Hydra bust that much stronger and potentially win the game. However, it failed and he lost because he is Hyuk.
And with the glorious moment, Flash rushed out of his booth, as KT Rolster started popping bottles of Pocari Sweat in Flash's honor. Fireworks burst into the air, and Yellow and Reach stood there, proud and satisfied that the new generation was able to achieve something they had always dreamt of.
As you thought of Yellow and Reach, you started thinking of all the gamers that had made history. Then you remembered the last time they all gathered into one place...
Encore for the Ensemble
by tree.hugger
by tree.hugger
For a fan, there was nothing quite like Proleague All-Stars. It was a fitting capstone to the long and grueling season, and the one event that was all about the fans. After a long season where legendary games emerge infrequently amid a forest of Killer ace matches or Canata TvT’s, the Proleague All-star night promised a bunch of games that couldn’t possibly fail to be entertaining. We expected all the match-ups we wished we saw during the regular season. There would be nukes, queens, and scouts. There would be players off-racing. In short; it was the best of the best, playing with no pressure on the crème de la crème of the map pool… what’s not to love? And speaking of love…
The two teams for All-Stars were nicknamed “Challenge” and “Passion”, and managed by Coach Lee of KT, and Coach Park of SKT respectively. Mirroring recent trends, the player line-ups for All-Stars were a little bit skewed to terran, by which I mean there were four more terran (11) than the number of zergs (3) and protoss (4) combined. Being the consummate strategist, SKT’s Coach Park basically grabbed them all.
With line-ups set, and the obligatory pre-match trashtalk in the books, all that remained was to figure out the best possible match-ups out of both teams. The first set, then, didn't disappoint, with fantasy and Jaedong stepping into the booths to play on Outsider. Fantasy and Jaedong had played twice before on this map, showing two of the greatest TvZ's in recent memory in last season's playoff finals, and the subsequent OSL semi-finals. The results had been split in those games, however, making this All-Star game the rubber match.
To the surprise of no one, fantasy walled off at the 9 o'clock position and proceeded to break out a nasty two-port wraith that Jaedong seemed ill-prepared for.
Vulture-bikes of the sky.
As fantasy's invisible paper planes terrorized his drones, Jaedong responded by pumping mutalisks and gamely trying to equal fantasy's harass. After a series of thrilling aerial micro battles, in which neither side could convincingly get the upper hand, fantasy landed an irradiate that massacred nearly all of Jaedong's mutalisks, and cleared the way for a push into Jaedong's natural that forced the GG. Right after the game had ended, both teams distributed pizza to the audience, as a nice thank you to the fans.
On August 14 2010 13:03 Zozo wrote:
I bet Boxer's pizza is made of pure cheese
Thread MVP.I bet Boxer's pizza is made of pure cheese
The next match featured a 3 player relay match on Andromeda between EffOrt, Really and free playing protoss, and Sea, Midas, and Leta being bullies and playing terran. Equally exciting was the commentary debut of Boxer and Yellow, who stepped up to the announcers table for this game. As the crowd ate pizza, and the camera lingered on Boxer's girlfriend, Team Challenge made things exciting, with EffOrt forgetting he wasn't playing zerg, and pioneering a revolutionary Three Nexus Before Gateway build, which put the protoss at a formidable econ advantage. However, with Sea at the helm against a hapless Really, Team Passion was able set up a formidable contain that put protoss behind, even though free was able to eventually break it while playing against Leta. Both sides battled for space, until EffOrt got off an ineffective recall in terran's main, and free lost an arbiter to mass turrets, which sealed protoss's fate.
The third set was undoubtedly the highlight of the night, indeed, one of the highlights of all of professional starcraft. Straight out of commentating, BoxeR and YellOw walked into the booth for the resumption of their age-old rivalry, and what's becoming an All-Stars ritual. Understandably, it led to some excitement among the viewers.
On August 14 2010 13:49 flamewheel wrote:
I AM
OR
GAS
MING
RIGHT NOW
BRB CLEANING KEYBOARD
I AM
OR
GAS
MING
RIGHT NOW
BRB CLEANING KEYBOARD
The match was on Heartbreak Ridge, and began with Boxer building two supply depots much to Yellow's confusion and then walling in with an off-center CC at his natural. The game quickly evened out with Boxer rolling out a mech/valkyrie build while Yellow used his mutalisks to shut down vulture harass. Yellow then tried to be cute by slipping lurkers around the back of Boxer's natural, but this wasn't particularly effective. Boxer established a position outside of his natural with massed tanks and goliaths and take his third, while Yellow expanded around the map, and macroed up an army of hydra/muta/queen. Wait. QUEENS?
I like where this is going.
Yellow finally struck when Boxer's valkyries were out of town (presumably eating pizza), and destroyed much of the emperor's army and all the scvs at his third, although the CC escaped at half health. Yellow lost most of his army to mines and tank fire in the process however, and was obliged to pull back and macro up again. Boxer pushed out again to outside of his natural, and tried to harass his way back into the game with vultures, but by this point, there were zerg expansions at nearly every base on the map, including the center. Yellow, seeking a quick end, moved to shut down Boxer's third again, but some lucky ggaemo mines killed his entire hydra force, and allowed Boxer the time to get a nuke silo (and everyone's hopes) up. Alas, the comeback was not to be, as Yellow stormed in moments later with mass mutalisks and his few remaining queens. With his entire tank army ensnared, his CC infested, and mass mutalisks battering down his natural, Boxer GG'd, and Yellow went into the audience to steal Boxer's girlfriend. No really. Vae Victus!
With the headliners having played in the third set, it fell to BaBy and Stork to follow up in the fourth on Judgment Day. At this point, Team Passion was also ahead 3-0, which meant that Team Challenge's pride was resting on BaBy's shoulders. Dangerously, Stork went for two gate pressure, but BaBy coolly held it off and was able to expand safely. Stork meanwhile kept the pressure on with a proxy shuttle and persistent zealot/reaver drops, but BaBy already had gotten his starport and defended Stork's harass with little damage. The initiative now with the terran, BaBy took his third, and began a relentless parade of drops into Stork's natural and main which slowly whittled down Stork's probe count.
I think BaBy has his rainbow socks back.
Stork, now badly behind in economy and with too little troops to deal with BaBy's harass or his forward positioning desperately counter-attacked at BaBy's natural, and caused the CC to lift, but reinforcements eventually destroyed the last of Stork's army and he conceded the game.
For the fifth set, Reach and NaDa played a 2v2 against Tossgirl and Ruby on the ICCUP staple; Python. Like a game of bridge, each player spawned across from their partner. With Reach and NaDa at the left and right and Tossgirl and Ruby at the top and bottom. Tossgirl and Ruby played standard factory expand builds, while Reach and Nada, perhaps unaware of the potential of tank/scout went dts and four port wraith.
This is an excellent strategy.
However, Tossgirl and Ruby both held off the double cheese comfortably, which left Reach and NaDa with the awkward task of finding something that dt/wraith transitioned into. Unfortunately, this question went unanswered as a strong push from Tossgirl erased Reach's natural and third, while Ruby took his third and pressed NaDa's tank line. A last-gasp four vulture drop into Tossgirl's main tried to kill a supply depot and was mopped up easily. With his the death of NaDa's island expansion eminent, the pair called GG.
With Team Passion having convincingly defeated Team Challenge, there remained one match left to play, and two players left to play it. Oddly, Bisu against Flash on Fighting Spirit was perhaps the least interesting of all the games, although it was still fun. Flash took his expansion after a barracks, and fended off Bisu's zealot and dragoon pressure while taking a secret expansion at the top of the map. Bisu scouted it soon after, and forced it to lift, but Flash brought it back into operation the moment the dragoons had left. Meanwhile, Bisu produced two scouts, which proved hilariously useless at anything except scouting, and pretty poor at that as well. The first scout couldn't kill an scv in the time it took for a goliath to run from the main to the third. The second scout killed two scvs before being taken out by an expedition of three marines. Meanwhile, Flash turned the joke back on Bisu by going mass tanks, and successively dealing with several waves of zealots and dragoons with ease. Bisu fans were heartened by his single use of storm, and the fact that he never built an archon, but overall it was a one-sided beat-down from the ultimate weapon.
I know, I didn't know tanks didn't need siege mode to kill things, either!
+ Show Spoiler [Results!] +
Set 1
Jaedong <Outsider SE> Fantasy
Set 2
3v3 Relay Match
EffOrt, Really, free <Andromeda> Leta, Midas, Sea
Set 3
SlayerS_'BoxeR' <New Heartbreak Ridge>[NC]..YellOw
Set 4
BaBy <Judgment Day> Stork
Set 5
2v2
Reach, NaDa <Python> RuBy, ToSsGirL
Set 6
Bisu <Fighting Spirit> Flash
Jaedong <Outsider SE> Fantasy
Set 2
3v3 Relay Match
EffOrt, Really, free <Andromeda> Leta, Midas, Sea
Set 3
SlayerS_'BoxeR' <New Heartbreak Ridge>[NC]..YellOw
Set 4
BaBy <Judgment Day> Stork
Set 5
2v2
Reach, NaDa <Python> RuBy, ToSsGirL
Set 6
Bisu <Fighting Spirit> Flash
After the match, there was some interviews, and Yellow was awarded the MVP award for being a complete baller. He got flowers. The terrans all smiled. The progamers saluted their fans. And like all good things, the All-Stars came to an end. But was anything learned? Was this just yet another evening of cheap entertainment, some silly builds, some trash talk, some old faces rolled out for the occasion?
Au contraire, mon frère.
With yet another proleague season long in the bag, BW faces an uncertain future. But re-watching these games, and the finals, I'm continually reminded that this all is about much more than just the game itself. There are the fans, the commentators, the players, and the teams. There are great rivalries and histories which all intertwine to make BW what it is today. That's something to consider. The All-Star match is great because it's not really about the games, the BM, or the silly strategies. It's so fun to watch the players with big banana grins as they play because the whole scene is more than just a twelve year old game. It's a celebration of the notion of sport as a whole.
And then midnight struck, and the amusement park started to close. With the scent of fresh fireworks still lingering in your memories, you sip your bottle of Pocari Sweat, and laugh. It's been one hell of a ride, you think to yourself, and you laugh at all the news you thought marked the end of Brood War.
The off-season, after all, felt like a long roller coaster ride. For a long time you thought it was just going straight down, with no hopes of it ever going up again. You start to recall the odds and ends that you have overheard during this off-season.
Retirements and Turnovers
Every off-season, we hear of Progamers and coaches retiring. What made this season's off-season so shocking was the retirement of the three of the greatest head coaches in Brood War: Cho Gyu Nam of CJ, Cho Jung Woong of Hwaseung, and Ha Tae Ki of MBC Game. What they had done for Brood War is so immense that if I started writing about what they had done for the scene and for their teams, it would overwhelm this entire article. There is no doubt that it was the retirement of the three biggest coaches that led many to the deep ends of paranoia.
Of course, there were also many player retirements -- with the most significant figure of them being Effort. Effort, upon reaching his goal as a progamer, stepped down while he was at top, to retire, according to CJ's coach, to pursue a non-gaming related path. We all wish the best of luck to our favorite Alien.
Meanwhile, many of Woongjin's players have retired. DaezanG retired to pursue a career in commentating, getting a gig in the GSL with his new partner, Oversky. GanZi left to enter the military, while Special went back to the book-stacks. GuemChi became tired of his life as a progamer, and decided to go take a vacation to India. In the meanwhile, MVP has mentioned that it is too difficult for him to remain as a progamer, and since his retirement, showed up in a few Starcraft 2 matches in Korea.
Finally, Coach Lee Woon Jae of MBC Game left his old team in order to start a Starcraft 2 team. Joining the turnover was Iron, JulyZerg, and NaDa -- each gamer announcing their retirement from the Brood War scene in order to pursue a new career in Starcraft 2.
Contracts and Deals
The only progamer to switch teams this year has been Kwanro -- who has been traded from Woongjin to SKT for some cash. But potentially, there could have been many, many trades this season.
The first potential deal was between Woongjin and KT -- Kwanro was supposed to be traded for ForGG. However, when ForGG began slumping, the deal apparently did not go through, and the trade that could have been never happened.
There was also an incident within Khan. Samsung Electronics, who sponsors Khan, is famous in the Korea scene for being extremely cheap -- has tried to cut Jangbi and Stork's salaries, simply because Khan did not make the post season this year. January stepped up for her players, but when Khan refused to budge, January retired in order to show her protest. With this event, Stork and Jangbi was up for grabs from any team that was interested.
One team that jumped to this offer was MBC Game, who offered to trade Sea for Stork. Woongjin, in the meanwhile, started negotiating for both Stork and Sea, hoping to strengthen their team line up.
While this series of events ended up uneventfully, to an extent, we should be thankful -- Without January, Stork, Jangbi, and Firebathero, Khan would have nothing, not even a shell remaining. Samsung likely realized this, and re-contracted the three members that defined Khan at their previous salaries.
Meanwhile, KT Rolster was a bit more generous. Every player in KT received a raise to celebrate their victory -- with Flash getting a salary that can reach up to three hundred thousand dollars with incentives. Hite Sparkyz also had the same idea regarding Leta, and rewarded his one man performance in Hite by giving him a six figure salary.
Finally, we're all wondering about eSTRO. The story behind them right now is that they're in the verge of disbanding as IEG no longer has any reasons to sponsor a progame team. KeSPA announced that they will be trying their hardest to bring in a new sponsor, and in the event that there isn't a new sponsor, the eSTRO players will be drafted into the remaining progame teams (sans Ace) the beginning of October, before the next season begins.
Team Vacations and Events
There has been a lot of team activities over the post season. Here's a brief run down of the vacations, workshops, and events that were announced.
- STX Soul went to Shanghai to participate in a special match against Chinese progamers.
- SKT1 held their annual camp, with the highlight involving many of their players dancing to famous Korean Pop songs sang by girl groups.
- Woongjin held their annual fan event camp, where the proceeds went to a fund to dig a well in Cambodia. They also performed Korean Pop.
- SKT took a trip to Osaka, Japan. Photoset
- CJ Entus took a trip to Jejudo. Photoset
- WeMade Fox took a trip to a southern province in Korea. Photoset 1 2 3
- KT Rolster took a trip to Cebu, Philippines Photoset
- Hite Sparkyz went to Pusan to help out the disabled.
- Woongjin had a workshop involving waterskis, mountain autobikes, survival games (where Free apparently hurt his hands). Did I mention Waterskis?
Somewhere out there is an overexcited Realpenguin right about now.
And at the end of the day you're reflecting on the day and figuring out what made the day so exciting. Was it Boxer nuking Killer? Or was it Stork's controversial comments? Savior beating Jaedong? The ridiculous all kills? Or was it Flash's monstrous winning streak, or even his streaks coming to an end with a slice of cheese? Or was it the ceremonies? You can't pick out one specific thing that most excited you, but you pick out parts of the day where you were just depressed. Match Fixing? The power struggles between KeSPA and Gretech? Or was it all the retirements?
You sit back, and you look at the calendar. The magic is supposed to start all over again on October 16th, and you can't wait. You're cautiously hopeful, and pray that everything will start right back again, and help you remember why you were so excited. In the meanwhile, you remember the great moments.