Tyson tweeted that a video of MBC progamers singing karaoke would be surfacing sometime soon. But he gave no further details on this. If/when I find it, I will include it in my blog post.
Only 5 recruits, not 6?
Whatever happened to Lee Geon Hee, seen below, in the centre of the picture?
I’m not sure what happened but he hasn’t joined the team. Kespa released the list of new progamers who have joined their respective teams in April and his name was not on it. He finished 3rd in the draft evaluation competition so I consider this a loss for MBC and a wasted draft pick, which could have been used on another player, possibly the one semi-pro who did not get picked at the draft. Pity.
A New Roster: The Return of Spirit Toss?
Let’s get some HERO Gallery reaction to Pusan’s return…
박지호 = Park Ji Ho (Pusan's name)
Want more?
스피릿 = Spirit
Needless to say, MBC fans are really happy about Pusan’s return. Pusan is sometimes referred to on HERO gallery as “HERO’s forever idol”. A fan once held up a cheerful at an MBC match that said that. Pusan got a little embarassed when he saw it.
Fan Pictures from last Monday’s Match
Because the MBC practice house is located within Loox Center, fans often get to meet the players on days when their matches are held there. The fangirl managing the HERO Gallery also occasionally stops by the practice house to talk to Mumyung if she wants to organize any events for the team.
These pictures were all taken by 우비 from HERO Gallery at dcinside:
These are from 거지꼴from HERO Gallery at dcinside:
And there’s also a very short video of Check and Wow introducing themselves to fans!
View it HERE
Short Transcript:
+ Show Spoiler +
+ Show Spoiler +
Check: “I’m called Kim Min Gyu.”
*fans cheer*
Wow: “Hi, I’m 20 year-old Kim Yong Hyuk” [T/N: Doraemon! <3]
*fans cheer*
Fangirl: "What race do you play?"
Wow: Zerg.
Hyun: “He finished second at the rookie evaluation competition.”
Fans: “oooh”
And then Hyun and Sea start cracking jokes as usual.
*fans cheer*
Wow: “Hi, I’m 20 year-old Kim Yong Hyuk” [T/N: Doraemon! <3]
*fans cheer*
Fangirl: "What race do you play?"
Wow: Zerg.
Hyun: “He finished second at the rookie evaluation competition.”
Fans: “oooh”
And then Hyun and Sea start cracking jokes as usual.
Who hit who? Go Seok Hyun vs Kim Jae Hoon...
In a post-match interview on Monday, Hyun mentioned that he was caught on camera hitting (in a joking manner, but still pretty hard) Jaehoon but explained that the cameraman missed the part where Jaehoon hit him back [T/N: You do not mess with Jaehoon in MBC house.] He said he hopes he doesn’t develop a violent image because of this incident, since according to Hyun, he’s the one who’s always being harassed in MBC house, and not the other way around. Watch the moment here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASZiDDo96gc#t=09m50s
So Jaehoon probably read Hyun’s interview because the next morning, Jaehoon wrote on his cyworld diary, joking:
“After the gathering, Seokhyun hyung just hit me…
It hurt a lot and my shoulder is bruised..”
Hyun replied to Jaehoon: “?!!!”
HERO players, always so funny…
It hurt a lot and my shoulder is bruised..”
Hyun replied to Jaehoon: “?!!!”
HERO players, always so funny…
For this week’s special Player Insight segment, I present to you…
The Oh Se Ki Story
I’ve mentioned Tiny many times in my last 3 blog posts on MBC but just who is Tiny?
Tiny has been with MBC for over two and a half years. But these couple years have been tough for Tiny. In fact, growing up, he was often teased because of his name. The surname “Oh” is pronounced the same as “five” in Korean and “Se Ki” sounds similar to the derogatory word “Sae Ggi” in Korean. When he was younger, Tiny seriously considered changing his name for real because of all the teasing he received in school. He said he was under a lot of stress from the constant teasing and really used to hate his name because of this. But as he got older, he learnt how to deal with the stress so he kept his name.
When he was in high school, Tiny decided he wanted to become a progamer after watching the likes of Oov and Nada on TV. His favorite player is Oov. Tiny was originally a zerg player when he was younger but switched to Terran because of Oov.
However, unlike most progamers, Tiny finished high school [T/N: A real high school, not the type celebrities go to] and received his diploma first before preparing to participate in Courage. Most amateurs start preparing for Courage in middle school.
Tiny won Courage in 2008 and in the fall of 2008, he was drafted by MBC. However, in 2009, Tiny suffered an injury to his neck – a slipped disc which pinched on a nerve. As a result of the injury, he could not practice in 2009 and instead spent most of his time in and out of the MBC house, receiving treatment for his injury. Thankfully, Coach Ha was kind enough to keep Tiny in the MBC team. His neck has since got better but every now and then it starts to hurt again, so Tiny practices less than his teammates, because he can't spend long hours in front of the computer.
Tiny is persevering on!
When the team is not practicing, Tiny spends most of his spare time hanging out with Jaehoon and Tyson. These are his two buddies at MBC. He became even closer friends with them this season, after the team arrangements changed around a bit.
Tiny was the one who gave Tyson the nickname "Hyun Bin Toss". Picture from Tyson's twitter.
Tiny with Tyson and Jaehoon on a morning hike during the team workshop. Pictures from Tyson's twitter.
When he has the time, Tiny likes to watch movies and eat with his teammates at a shopping mall near MBC house. MBC fans who have met Tiny in person say he is well-mannered and gentle. According to Tiny though, he is talkative when among his teammates because they get along well. Earlier in the season, Tiny expressed that he really wanted to go on a workshop (a progamer’s workshop is more like a vacation) together with his teammates. Well, this wish certainly came true!
TINY FIGHTING!!!
Then and Now: The Rookie Drafts
This is the current MBC team, excluding the 5 newly drafted players:
Mumyung, Pusan, Sea, Jaehoon, Tyson, Saint, Hyun, Shark, Tiny, Hwan, Zerg[kal], Sang, Lazy and Gwak.
Do you still remember what these players looked like when they first joined the team? I've gathered some pictures of the current batch of MBC players at their respective rookie drafts. I had trouble finding Hwan and Zerg[kal]’s photos because they were originally SKT rookies so I didn't know which year they were drafted at first. But eventually I managed to complete the set for the entire team.
2011 Spring Draft photos can be found in Update 1
2010 Fall Draft + October Estro Draft
Sang: One of Sang’s nicknames used to be “Ha Tae Ki’s son” (former MBC director, Coach Ha), because they share the same last name. More recently, he was called “hippo” by Tyson because hippo in Korean is Ha Ma.
Lazy: Lazy looks more confident now than when he first turned pro. When Estro dissolved, MBC took in Lazy in October 2010. Lazy already had a fan-café on daum even before he turned pro. Lazy is particularly good friends with WoW and Crise.
2010 Spring Draft
Gwak: Gwak was recruited in April 2010, along with Bassen. Both rookies were thought to have left the team in spring 2011, having been missing from the team workshop and progamer seminars. Although Gwak rejoined the team in the summer, Bassen has not.
Gwak: second from left and Bassen: second from right.
Bassen
Gwak was a chubby kid last year but he's since slimmed down quite a bit.
2009 Spring & Fall
Zerg[kal] and Hwan were recruited by SKT in the 2009 spring and fall drafts respectively. After the 2009-2010 season, Zerg[kal] and Hwan transfered over to MBC.
Zerg[kal]: Third from left.
Hwan: Third from left.
2008 Fall Draft
Tiny: At 182m, Se Ki isn’t tiny but he was terribly skinny was he first joined MBC. Thankfully, he looks healthier now. Take care of your health, Tiny! Tiny can be seen in the last episode of "Hyungjoon Becomes a Progamer", flicking his finger against Hyungjoon's forehead. Tiny was also recruited at the same draft as Bogus and Last from STX as well as Flying (previously Estro) from Woongjin.
2007 Spring Draft
Tyson: Tyson was actually not drafted through the standard recruitment system. He was a member of the runner-up team at the Elite Schools League team competition in 2007 and was awarded a license as a result. Several A-teamers like Horang2, Great and Baby were scouted in this manner too. Tyson also finished in second place in the individual competition at the Elite Schools League in 2007. MBC asked him to join their team after that.
2006 Fall Draft
Jaehoon: Jaehoon joined MBC in the fall of 2006. Not long after he was drafted, he made it onto the team roster, playing some 2v2s during MBC’s 2006-2007 championship-winning season. Jaehoon still looks pretty much the same as 5 years ago.
This picture from Jaehoon’s draft is interesting. Despite stiff competition in the BW pro-scene, there are amazingly 5 progamers in this 2006 picture who are currently still on their respective team rosters. I’ll help you by identifying Jaehoon, in the black t-shirt, centre of picture. Can you name the rest?
2006 Spring Draft
Hyun: Hyun and Light were recruited together by MBC in April 2006. That’s one reason why they are such good friends.
2005 Spring Draft
Saint and Sea: Not that big a change for Sea, except for the hair. As Coach Park recently said, Sea is “forever 18”. Saint has put on a little bit of weight over the years, but that’s understandable.
Finally, here are some bonus pictures of Saint over the years, since I haven’t mentioned him that much in my blog.
2005:
2006:
2008:
2011:
2006:
2008:
2011:
That’s it for this week’s update!