Professional Play
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Ranking Methodology
KeSPA stands for Korean e-Sports Players Association and publishes a monthly calculation of rankings based on a point scale. It is a rolling system based on the past 12 months of performance in both major and minor events, awarding points based on winning percentage, finish, and prize money. It is further scaled based on the relative importance of the event.
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Notable Professional Starcraft Players
* Lim Yo-Hwan (SlayerS_`BoxeR`) (Terran)
Main article: Lim Yo-Hwan
Known to Koreans as the "Terran Emperor", Boxer is the most popular Starcraft player in Korea. He is also probably the most successful (with the possible exception of Nada), having won the World Cyber Games (WCG) twice and having won the OnGameNet Starleague (OSL) twice. In 2005, Boxer is still going strong, ranked 11th in the September 2005 KeSPA rankings.
* Guillaume Patry (X'Ds-Grrrr...) (Protoss)
Canadian player Grrrr... was easily the number one player in the world for some time in the era before professional gaming fully took off in Korea, and played successfully in Korea for some time (including winning an OSL) before fading from the scene as new players surpassed his skill. Some credit him with catalyzing the pro-gaming scene and making it mainstream.
* Kim Dong-Soo (Garimto) (Protoss)
One of only four players to win the OSL twice, Garimto was notable for succeeding even during Boxer's height of dominance. He also innovated heavily with Protoss build-orders, making frequent use of "hidden" tech buildings and other tricks. Garimto had to quit SC in order to do his Korean military service, but now regularly acts as a commentator for games. In his commentary he is known for criticizing current Protoss players for playing sloppily and hence not achieving the potential of the race.
* Hong Jin-Ho ([NC]...YellOw) (Zerg)
The most successful Zerg player in the past, Yellow, the "Storm Zerg", is known for his aggressive play, and for his rivalry with Boxer (who is usually on the winning end, at least when it comes to important finals). He also seems to suffer from a certain degree of angst due to continued strong showings (6 second place finishes at major events) combined with failure to win one of the major leagues. After some time since he last won a league, Yellow won the Snicker's All-Star league vs. Nada in 2005 (in fact, Yellow is noted for his success in all-star leagues). He is currently 8th in the September 2005 KeSPA rankings.
* Park Jung-Suk ([Oops]Reach) (Protoss)
Reach, the "Standard Protoss" (or "Hero Protoss") is the Protoss player who has been most consistent in the long term, beating Boxer in an OSL final near the height of his dominance, and generally placing well in tournaments. As his nickname suggests, he is generally known for his standard/solid/safe style of play, with strong macro and use of Psi Storm (the latter of which also earned him the nickname "Mudang Protoss", meaning Witch Protoss or Mystic Protoss in Korean, owing to the uncanny accuracy of his Psi Storm use), although he has been leaning away from this slightly in recent times due to changes in the playing style of the other races. He is currently 6th in the September 2005 KeSPA rankings - the only Protoss in the top 10.
* Lee Yun-Yeol ([ReD]NaDa) (Terran)
The 'Tornado Terran' started his progaming career by beating ChRh (Choi In Kyu) on the "Amateur vs Pro" tv show. Statistically, he's the best player in history, having achieved the highest KeSPA score of any player before it was re-scaled. He has a consistent and dominating style, backed up with excellent macro. He has been on the team IS, KTF and now the Pantech & Curitel Curriors, formerly known as Toona SG. Nada has won 2 OGN Starleagues, 3 MBC Starleagues, and the first KT-KTF invitational tournament (the most monetarily rewarding of StarCraft tournaments). As of September 2005, he is 4th in the KESPA rankings. He also ended up first in PGTour Season 3.
* Choi Yeon-Sung (iloveoov) (Terran)
The number five ranked player as of September 2005, iloveOOv's macro is even better than Nada's, leading to him being jokingly known as the "Cheater Terran" in Korea due to his ability to seemingly summon armies out of thin air. He is also somewhat more aggressive than Nada and seems to have a more varied playstyle, and possibly a somewhat better strategic grasp of the game, which may account for his greater current success. Oov has won the MBCGame Starleague (MSL) three times in succession, an amazing feat, and in November 2004 finally won the OSL, cementing his place as one of the strongest players of the game.
He has an interesting relationship with Boxer (who is on the same SK Telecom T1 Progaming Team with him); he sees Boxer as a kind of "older brother" or mentor and as a result was somewhat regretful for beating him (3-2) in the finals of EVER OSL in November 2004.
* Park Sung-Jun (JulyZerg) (Zerg)
The number one ranked player as of September 2005, July, "God of Fighters", is credited with revitalizing what had been stagnant Zerg play, and of leading the way for a kind of "Zerg renaissance" with his highly dynamic and aggressive style, incorporating a strong understanding of his opponent's weaknesses. He is the first Zerg player to win an OGN Starleague (beating IloveOOv 3:2 in the semi-final and Reach 3-1 in the final) and also won the second KT-KTF Premiere League. In July 2005 he won a second OSL, something that to date only Boxer and NaDa have accomplished. July is known for being closer to the amateur community than the average pro player, having played in amateur leagues such as the WGTour Speed Ladder in the past, and was one of the players on the Asian team for the friendly Blizzard Invitational Tournament held in early 2005.[edit]
History of Pro-Level Tournament Winners
All listed from oldest to most recent. Note that many of the Starleagues are named after the corporate sponsor for that year and that the other finalists are given in descending order of their finish.
Winners of the OGN Starleague:
* FreeMura over TheBoy, Ssamjang (99 Progamer Korea Open)
* Grrrr... over H.O.T-Forever (Hanaro Communication Tooniverse Starleague 1999-2000)
* Garimto over Skelton (Freechal 2000)
* Boxer over Jinnam, Grrrr... (Hanbitsoft April - June 2001)
* Boxer over Yellow, V-Gundam, Tss)Issac (Coca-Cola July - September 2001)
* Garimto over Boxer, TheMarine, Yellow (Sky 2001 October - December 2001)
* Sync over H.O.T. Forever, Chrh, Oddysay (NATE April - June 2002)
* Reach over Boxer, Yellow, Elky (Sky 2002 July - October 2002)
* NaDa over Chojja, Yellow, Junwi (Panasonic November 2002 - February 2003)
* Xellos over Yellow, Boxer, Junwi (Olympus April - June 2003)
* Kingdom over Nal_rA, Junwi, Reach (MyCube August - October 2003)
* Nal_rA over Zeus, Silent_Control, Jju (NHN Hangame December 2003 - March 2004)
* JulyZerg over Reach, iloveoov, Silent_Control (Gillette April - July 2004)
* iloveoov over Boxer, Reach, Yellow (Ever August - November 2004)
* NaDa over JulyZerg, Gorush, Goodfriend (IOPS December 2004 - March 2005)
* JulyZerg over Goodfriend, Xellos, Gorush (Ever May 2005 - July 2005)Winners of the MBC Starleague:
* Boxer over Yellow, IntoTheRain, Chrh (KPGA 1st Tour)
* NaDa over Yellow, Black, Chojja (KPGA 2nd Tour)
* NaDa over Reach, Boxer, Chrh (KPGA 3rd Tour)
* NaDa over Chojja, Kos, Jinnam (KPGA 4th Tour)
* Nal_rA over NaDa, Zeus, Chojja (Stout May - August 2003)
* iloveoov over Yellow, NaDa, GoodFriend (Trigem September - November 2003)
* iloveoov over NaDa, TheMarine, Nal_rA (HanaFOS January - March 2004)
* iloveoov over Kingdom, Nal_rA, GoodFriend (Spris May - August 2004)
* GoRush over NaDa, Xellos, Chojja (You're the GolfKing)
* IPXZerg over Reach, Chojja, iloveoov (UZOO June-August 2005)KBK (Knights Bridging Korea) winners:
* TheMarine over I.LOVE_STAR (1999)
* [GG99]Slayer over I.LOVE_STAR (2000)
* TheMarine over PRO_NT.SONJJANG (2001)Winners of the KT-KTF Premiere League:
* NaDa over Reach (2003)
* JulyZerg over GoRush (2004)Winner of the Snickers All-Star league:
* Yellow Over Nada (2005)Winners of the World Cyber Games in Starcraft: Brood War:
* Gorush over I.LOVE_STAR (2000; technically this was the "World Cyber Challenge" rather than the "World Cyber Games")
* Boxer over Elky (2001)
* Boxer over Yellow (2002)
* Ogogo over [pG]Fisheye (2003)
* Xellos over Midas (2004)List of players with two or more major victories:
* 6 NaDa
* 5 Boxer
* 4 iloveoov
* 3 JulyZerg
* 2 Gorush, Xellos, Garimto, Nal_rA, TheMarine
